OC Transpo Strike Cost $5.9 Million: AG

Josh Pringle with Stephanie Kinsella
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The full fare for the 53-day OC Transpo strike on Ottawa taxpayers was $5.9 million.

The city had initially said the strike by OC Transpo drivers, dispatchers and mechanics would save taxpayers $3 million a week.

Auditor General Alain Lalonde's report on the incremental costs of the strike last winter shows the city had to pay $855-thousand for a fuel contract that it would not use because OC Transpo didn't have appropriate storage facilities.

The taxi chit program costs the city $1 million, while extra Para Transpo service cost another half-a-million dollars.

OC Transpo General Manager Alain Mercier says the city's supply management program is addressing a recommendation from the Auditor General to change the fuel contracts to eliminate those penalties.

Lalonde says $27.4 million in revenue was lost during the strike, and there was $21.5 million in expenses.