WHEN city councillors gather this morning to pass final judgetment on rapid transit, they will do so without input from Premier Gary Doer.

Rapid trnsit, and its $50-million price tag, has become the dominant issue at city hall. and yet, as he has done so many times in the past when the fur is flying on Main Street, the premier has declared himself ineligible to comment.

This was the case when former Mayor Glen Murray floated his infamous "New Deal" on taxation. Big idea, big debate, big silence at the Manitoba legislature.

On this most recent issue, the seeds of Doer's silence are sown in the tripartite funding deal that was to make rapii transit a reality. One year ago, the city, provincial and federal governments agreed to share the $50-million cost of the first phase of a system that moves buses on mostly dedicated lanes from the University of Manitoba's Fort Garry campus to downtown.

Newly elected Mayor Sam Katz is following through with an election promise to derail rapid transit. It seems a logical question to ask: What do the city's funding partners think of this?

Doer said this week that because rapid transit was identified as a city priority in the tripartite negotiations, city council alone must decide whether to proceed or spend the money on other priorities. When pressed, Doer has refused to ouline his own opinion of rapid transit.

This is curious for two reasons. Remember that as a roughly equal partner, the province is responsible for about one-third of the $50-million rapid transit price tag. Will the Premier support any new priority outlined by Katz and council? He won't say.

More importantly, transit is a big, and more importantly expensive, issue for the province. The province already provides an annual grant of about $17 million to support Winnipeg Transit.

The grant has remained about the same for the past decade, even though ridership has declined by about one-third. The province only gets relief from this subsidy when, or if, ridership increases. And one of the biggest byproducts of rapid transit, say proponents, would be increased ridership.

Even if the money wasn't important, you would think Doer would be moved by the simple fact that when something goes wrong, like the massive failure of the city's sewage treatment system, the province gets the bill. (And in fairness, the province's priority in the tripartite infrastructure deal was, you guessed it, rebuilding Winnipeg's Sad Sack sewage system.)

Doer's rationale for staying out of the rapid transit debate is not frivolous. The cit is in charge of its own fate, responsible for making its own policies and overcoming challenges.

Especially at a time when city hall has demanded increased legislative authority from the province, Doer has argued it would be wrong for the premier to carry a veto on city issues.

But is this respect for civic autonomy, or fear of inheriting an issue that could become a political migraine in the next provincial election?

It's no secret that rapid transit is a divisive issue. A Free Press opinion poll shows Winnipeggers are equally divided on whether to shelve the dedicated bus lane or proceed with haste to rapid transit. Issues that are split 50-50 are the landmines of electoral politics in which there is no right answer.

Doer has dismissed any suggestion he is concerned about the political fallout from rapid transit. And yet, not even the most persistent reporter can get him to comment on the issue.

Doer has deferred to city hall on this one. But it remains to be seen whether the city itself is better off for his silence.