THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay residents will receive a 25-per-cent discount on parking after council voted in favour of a resolution at Monday’s meeting.
The discount will be offered to residents who live in the main street zone at the Crooks daily lot (on Court Street and Red River Road) and for residents who live within the downtown zone in the south core it will be at the Courthouse lot (on Archibald Street and Miles Street W) and Victoriaville parkade.
John Collin, city manager, said it is a common practice within municipalities to not subsidize parking.
“We recognize the strategic aims of the City of Thunder Bay are to make parking self-sustaining, self-sufficient and without subsidization as we move forward.
“Although we as administration recognize that the use of vehicles is still a predominant method of transportation within the city, progress towards going green needs to occur.”
“It is to a degree counter-intuitive to subsidize the use of vehicles when we had declared a climate emergency back in 2020.”
Collin said city council has invested heavily in active transportation and in the public transit system.
Although “there is a strategic objective to make parking self-sufficient – we are not there. Based on the recent amendments that we have made, it will take us some time to evaluate when we will actually get there.
“We don't know the impacts of the changes we have made to parking so far.
“That said, through continued public consultation and the role of this council, we are putting forward a modest but important residential discount for people who reside in the core areas should they choose to use the parkades or the surface lots,” Collin said.
Coun. Shelby Ch’ng made a point to include the Waterfront Business Improvement Area staff.
“They're not chain restaurants, locally-owned businesses typically pay a little bit lower, closer to minimum wage. Those employees are now having to pay upwards of $20 a night just to go to work,” she said.
Collin said parkades are very inexpensive.
“Certainly, once we make a deal (and) address their safety concerns, use of the parkades would be a viable alternative to those who are close to minimum wage.
“Secondly, and it's admittedly a bit more of a philosophical argument, providing assistance to businesses to help compensate their employees basically means we are now subsidizing the business community.
“That is not something the municipal level of government should consider,” he said.
Ch’ng said she was hopeful that council would be open to including those who work in the downtown core as part of that 25-per-cent discount.
Coun. Rajni Agarwal said she thought it was very shameful for council to look at only one area for businesses.
“We have a whole city here, an entire city that employs people throughout it. Why are we giving one (a break) and not the other? We're going to have residents and business owners from other areas of our city coming, who may want discounts.
“Looking at $1.50 per day or $2 a day for the cost of a pass – you know, it's not a lot of money. If you get a monthly pass, it's not a lot of money. I don't think it's worth asking administration to go back and do this kind of work,” she said.
Ch’ng’s request for a referral was voted down by council. The original plan was approved. Everyone present voted in favour of the plan, with Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds not in attendance.
For more information on zoning refer to page 423 and 424 of councils agenda package.
Correction: The headline and content of this story was adjusted at 4:15 p.m. to include information about parking discounts that will be offered to people who live in the south core.
