I go away for three days and Mayor Sam Katz kills rapid transit and deep-sixes the dink diner.
Wow, I should go away more often. Things get done in this city when I'm not here.
I was happy to learn while in Ottawa that Katz had pulled the plug on rapid transit — or at least the version proposed by his predecessor.
It's nice to have some common sense in the mayor's office for a change, instead of the reckless stewardship of the public purse we've seen in the past.
Some of the proponents of (bus) rapid transit — including Coun. Donald Benham — are planning a publicity campaign over the next two weeks to try to save rapid transit.
I look forward to that.
We're going to hear a lot of emotional commentary about why we need rapid transit. But we don't have any rational arguments about the net benefits of the proposal because Winnipeg Transit hasn't done it's homework on it.
When you haven't done your homework on a project of this magnitude, it's impossible to present a rational, evidence-based argument.
I don't know if they've enlisted former Mayor Glen Murray to help them with their campaign or not.
But I do know he's back in town because he was on the same plane as me late Wednesday night from Toronto to Winnipeg. (The guy didn't even say hi — sheesh.)
I challenge Benham & Co. to hold a press conference and take their best shot at presenting a logical, evidence-based argument for why we need rapid transit.
I don't mean the quick radio hits and the emotional buzzwords we've heard so far. I mean something comprehensive on paper to prove to taxpayers that this is a good idea.
After all, Benham used to work in the mayor's office, and Coun. Jenny Gerbasi — another ardent supporter of (bus) rapid transit — was, er, (not for long) on executive policy committee. they must have some paper on this. Let's see it. Show us the money.
That's what proponents of the dink diner on the footbridge were asked to do. And as we found out this week, they didn't make the grade.
The city spent $5 million to build a plaza on the dink bridge — including the award-winning million-dollar toilet — without doing their homework on whether running a restaurant was viable.