Council approves 25-cent transit fare hike as 2018 budget passes

Bus fares are going up a quarter a ride next year, as city council has approved Winnipeg's spending plans for 2018.

Council voted 11-5 on Tuesday to approve $1.08 billion worth of spending on city services next year, as well as $246 million on infrastructure, including $116 million on road renewals alone.

The budget also calls for a 25-cent transit fare hike and a $1.50-an-hour rise in on-street parking costs.

Councillors Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan), Shawn Dobson (St. Charles), Ross Eadie (Mynarski), Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-East Kildonan) and Russ Wyatt (Transcona) voted in opposition.

Earlier in the day, Mayor Brian Bowman encouraged all members of council to vote for the budget, poking fun at councillors who vote against budgets but still take credit for investments in road renewals.

"We see the votes go one way, and then we see everybody show up to the ribbon cuttings," Bowman said on the floor of council, later clarifying he was taking a jab at Wyatt.

Wyatt, in turn, called the spending plan a "fake-news budget" because the city is expecting the province to make a contribution to road renewals before the Progressive Conservative government has made a firm commitment for that funding.​

He and Eadie made separate attempts to amend the budget. Both died on the floor of council.

A Wyatt motion to divert money away from Portage and Main improvements failed 11-5, while an Eadie motion to cancel a business-tax cut lost by a 12-4 margin.

At the start of the special meeting, council heard from three delegates in favour of the budget and nine who spoke against it, primarily because of the transit fare hike.