Windsor's mayor has announced that he plans to veto city council's decision to save the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel bus.
Mayor Drew Dilkens announced on X that "as a result of the economic threat posed by Donald Trump on my country and community, I intend to veto City Council's decision to continue subsidizing the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel bus that brings 40,000 people to Detroit to spend money every year."
The social media posting goes on to say, "Why would we want to subsidize economic development in the United States when their President is assaulting our communities? We receive almost no benefit in return. In addition, we will be pulling our sponsorship of the Detroit Grand Prix if these tariffs are implemented and will review all other spending to ensure the City of Windsor is maximizing purchases of Canadian made goods. Canada first."
As a result of the economic threat posed by Donald Trump on my country and community, I intend to veto City Council's decision to continue subsidizing the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel bus that brings 40,000 people to Detroit to spend money every year.
— Mayor Drew Dilkens (@drewdilkens) February 3, 2025
On Jan. 27, city council voted 7-4 not to eliminate the Transit Windsor tunnel bus and special events bus in the propsoed 2025 budget, a move that would have resulted in a $1.4 million cost savings.
Council also voted to increase rates to $20 each way.
Dilkens indicated after that meeting that he would consider vetoing the amendment.
Under Ontario's Strong Mayor powers, Dilkens had 10 days to veto any council amendments following the Jan. 27 meeting.
During a news conference Monday afternoon, Dilkens says he's willing to extend the school bus extras until the end of the year - which had been eliminated by council during budget.
"We will look at where those gaps are, and I'm certainly willing to recommend taking some of the savings from the tunnel bus program and looking at how we can continue to work with the school board for an existing semester - so basically September to December."
He says due to the increase in price for the service, he believes they'll lose ridership.
"Working through these tariff issues and still having time, I can't in my mind in good conscious suggest that bringing 40,000 people from Windsor over to Detroit to spend their money and create economic development opportunities in the City of Detroit for 40,000 people jives with what's happening here right now in Donald Trump's tariff scheme."
Dilkens says the service would "wind down", and a 30-day suspension notice of the service will be provided to residents.
He says the city will keep the license for the tunnel bus even if it's not actively running.
"There may be a time in the future where we say if council wants to get back in, and at the appropriate time let's have that discussion. So I don't want to throw the whole thing out and say we're out of this forever and a day. There may be changes that come federally after another election, maybe or maybe not. There may be things down the road that happen that make the economics make more sense."
Meanwhile, ward 3 Councillor Renaldo Agostino, who voted to save the tunnel bus, says he hopes they can have a conversation about this because it feels like two separate items.
"If we're vetoing it because of the relationship that one man in the states has damaged, we should all sit down and talk about this," he says. "If he's choosing the veto because of the financial reason, I believe he has every right to do that.
Agostino says there isn't a point to making a retaliatory move when we don't know what's being negotiated behind closed doors on the tariffs front.
"What we shouldn't do is we shouldn't make any moves that could harm anyone in Michigan or anyone in Ontario for that matter until that process has sorted itself out," he says.
The council now has 15 days following the veto announcement to overturn the mayor's decision, but that would require two-thirds of the council or eight votes going against the veto.
In 2024, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 616, which represents almost 300 Transit Windsor employees, ratified a new collective agreement that includes 10 federally mandated paid sick days for all workers.
The issue has been one of the main reasons behind the push to eliminate the tunnel bus, as the costs associated with the sick days are directly related to the tunnel bus falling under federal jurisdiction.