Longueuil's mayor is going to battle with Montreal over the city's decision to hike fares for Longueuil metro users by $41 on July 1.
The $70 Montreal transit pass will no longer be accepted at the Longueuil metro station. Users will be required to use a train-metro combo pass, which costs $111 a month.
Further north in Laval, metro users have been paying the higher fare ever since the Laval metro system opened up back in 2007. Laval Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt retaliated by withholding his city's $2 million annual metro deficit payment, and Longueuil Mayor Caroline St-Hilaire said she'll do the same.
"Injustice"
In a strongly-worded press release, St-Hilaire accused Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay of caving into pressure from Vaillancourt and Montreal transit corporation president Michel Labrecque.
"I cannot and will not accept this," said St-Hilaire. "Effective immediately, Longueuil will do as Laval has done and will stop paying its share of Montreal's metro deficit, to protest against this injustice."
St-Hilaire also made her views known Thursday when regional officials met to discuss transit financing issues.
She says Montreal is violating a deal that would have frozen transit fares for Longueuil metro users until 2011.
Response
A spokeswoman for the Montreal transit authority says the $40 hike is all part of a public transit reform package that other south shore municipal leaders have agreed to.
The transit agency says only 15 per cent of Longueuil metro users will be affected by the hike.They add that most commuters already have the more expensive monthly pass that gives them access to the Longueuil bus network as well as Montreal's bus and metro system.
