Collaborative approach needed to address transit safety says Thunder Bay city councillor after incident

Addressing violence on Thunder Bay transit will require a collaborative approach, a city councillor said.

The city is currently investigating an altercation between a transit driver and member of the public, which occurred Friday morning at the city hall terminal.

In an email to CBC News, Fred Caputo, president and business agent for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 966, which represents transit operators in Thunder Bay, confirmed that an operator was injured in the altercation.

The operator has been place on paid leave while the investigation takes place, which Caputo said is normal procedure.

Caputo said the union will provide further comment when the investigation is complete.

No other details about the altercation have been provided.

Coun. Brian Hamilton, who represents the McKellar Ward — City Hall is in McKellar Ward — said the issue is a complex one, and the city needs to work with social service agencies if it's going to be addressed.

"The city did put out an EOI [expression of interest] in the winter months, and that was related to hopefully engaging with social agencies that could maybe assist in finding people down in tough circumstances, like around city hall, and connecting them to services," he said. "I don't think we had a lot of ... take up on that."

"Part of the reason could be a lot of these organizations are at max capacity," Hamilton said. "So there's capacity issues, there's labour crunches that are happening right across multiple sectors, including the social services sector."

Hamilton said it's also important to "keep the lines of communication open" with the union, and frontline transit workers, to hear any ideas they have.

"Our staff needs to hear them," he said. "City council needs to be aware."

"I know there's a bunch of initiatives, including mental health and deescalation techniques and all kinds of additional training happening. If there's more, as a city councillor, I need to know that."

"I think the rest of the council is going to be very interested in what we can do to move the dial, make the transit system safer in every way that we can," Hamilton said. "Indeed, it's quite safe, but we have to be vigilant, and we have to ensure the safety of our drivers."

On Friday afternoon, Thunder Bay city administration issued a media release about the altercation, saying the matter has been reported to Thunder Bay police, and that "no interviews will be granted at this time."