Fate of rapid transit may hinge on squeaker of a council vote on Hydro land

A nail-biter of acouncil vote on the purchase of Manitoba Hydro land could determine the fate of Winnipeg's first dedicated bus corridor.

City council meets today to consider a plan to buy 16 acres of Crown corporation land Winnipeg Transit needs to build the seven-kilometre second phase of the Southwest Transitway, the busway that currently runs from Queen Elizabeth Way to Jubilee Avenue.

Some city councillorsare annoyed withthe $19-million purchase because the city and Hydro once had a non-binding agreement that would have resulted in a $4.7-million pricetag, had the Crown corporation not balked at the appraisal methodology for the land.

Others areopposed to thepublicdollars involved incompleting the transitway and widening Pembina Highway at a new Jubilee Avenue underpass andsense an opportunity to kill the $587-million project altogether. Winnipeg Transit director Dave Wardrop has warned a "no" vote would delay busway construction planned for this summer and cause the city to squander countless millions.

'Derailing rapidtransit'

Fort RougeEast Fort GarryCoun. Jenny Gerbasidescribed this as madness, noting the additional cost of the Hydro purchase is a small portion of the overall transitway budget and is already built in to the project'scontingency budget.

"Todelay and cancel a project of this magnitude is astounding. Ithink it would beaterribledecision.It would essentially be derailing rapidtransit for the City of Winnipeg," saidGerbasi, the longest-serving member ofcity council.

"Dowe want to give the money back to fix the Pembinaunderpass and widen it? Do we want to cancel rapid transit again and go back, wait another decade and spend hundreds of millionsmore,or be a city without rapid transit?

"That'sactually where some peopleare taking thisand i think it's really blown out of proportion."

• Manitoba Hydro approves rapid-transit land sale to City of Winnipeg
• Winnipeg Transit's purchase of Manitoba Hydro land up in the air

A straw poll ofcouncillors'voting intentions on Tuesday suggests the Hydro land purchase could pass by the slimmest of margins if it does pass at all.

If all 16 members of council are present for the Wednesday debate about the deal, nine "yes" votes are required for it to pass. As of Tuesday, nine members of council either planned to vote in favour or were leaning that way. They include rapid-transit advocates such asGerbasiandMayor Brian Bowman, but also morecouncillorswho have expressed reservationsabout the purchase, such asMartyMorantz(CharleswooodTuxedoWhyteRidge),RossEadie(Mynarski) and MattAllard(St.Boniface).

'No' voters, fence-sitters

On the other side, fivecouncillorseither intend to vote no or are leaning in that direction. Their ranks includeTransconaCoun. Russ Wyatt, who wants to delay a council decision on the purchase for several weeks.

Twocouncillorsare sitting on the fence: speakerDeviSharma (OldKildonan) and public works chairJaniceLukes(South WinnipegSt. Norbert). SinceLukes'portfolio includes transit, a vote against the Hydro purchase could leadBowman to take some form of action against the rookie suburbancouncillor.

"I think it's still too close to call,"Allardsaid.

If the mayor senses he does not have enough votes to pass the Hydro sale, he has the option of trying to pullthe deal from the council agenda and bringing it back at a later date, such as the July council meeting. Former mayor Sam Katz executed this maneuver on several occasions when it appeared motions he supported were destined for defeat.

On Tuesday, Bowman declined to say whether he believed he had enough votes to get the Hydrodeal approved. Since his election nearly two years ago, he'salready lost at one significant vote: In 2014, council voted 10 to6 against his effort to cut back their severance payments.

How the vote is shaping up:

Yes or leaning yes (nine): Mayor Brian Bowman and Couns. Matt Allard (St. Boniface), Ross Eadie (Mynarski),Jenny Gerbasi (Fort RougeEast Fort Garry), Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre),Brian Mayes(St. Vital), Marty Morantz (CharleswoodTuxedoWhyte Ridge), John Orlikow (River HeightsFort Garry) andMike Pagtakhan (Point Douglas).

No or leaning no (five): Couns. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan), Shawn Dobson (St. Charles), Scott Gillingham (St. JamesBrooklands), Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-East Kildonan) andRuss Wyatt (Transcona).

On the fence (two): Couns. Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan) and Janice Lukes (South Winnipeg-St. Norbert).