Sparks Fly At Emergency T.T.C. Meeting

Rick Ducharme expected to catch the last T.T.C. bus out of town next November.

He’ll be leaving on Friday instead.

That’s the decision at Toronto City Hall, where Transit Commission members met in a closed door emergency session Wednesday about what to do with the system’s disgruntled general manager.

Ducharme submitted his resignation 24 hours ago, blaming political interference for his sudden departure.

And if there was any doubt about who he was unhappy with, it was dispelled at the sometimes fractious meeting.

He blamed Commission Chair Howard Moscoe for his decision to leave, claiming the councillor forced him out.

The surprise exit follows a wildcat walkout last week that left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded. Another one was said to be a go this Monday, until last minute late night negotiations between the city and the Amalgamated Transit Union brought an uneasy labor peace – and kept the trains, buses and subways running.

It now appears Moscoe was the one who instigated the at least temporary peace treaty, perhaps undermining the hard line Ducharme was taking with the union over shift changes.

Ducharme called it ‘meddling’ and accuses Moscoe of alienating his predecessors, including David Gunn and Al Leach, speeding up their own exit strategies.

He made it clear it was Howard or him – and the Commission chose Howard.

The now dismissed/resigned G.M. is infuriated he wasn’t allowed to speak his piece at the gathering that decided his fate.

“First of all, I wasn’t in the meeting there,” he fumes. “Okay? Let’s get that clear. I had no participation, no input. What they have decided is to terminate me as of Friday, and as far as I’m concerned I’ll be getting a lawyer.”

But Moscoe insists Ducharme quit of his own volition and refuses to be drawn into the controversy.

“He resigned publicly,” the North York-Spadina politician told reporters. “You all have his letter of resignation, which you’ve read. It was sent out as a news release . He’s done a good job as the chief general manager. We value his services and we thank him for them.”

But not all of his colleagues are quite so sanguine.

“From my perspective, I think Councillor Moscoe should resign and they should not accept the resignation of the Chief General Manager Mr. Ducharme,” contends Councillor David Shiner. “He’s done an excellent job.”

Councillor Karen Stintz is equally blunt.

“If Councillor Moscoe is . committed to the issue of transparency, he could have brought Rick Ducharme to the table with the unions and worked out the issues that are clearly evident in the current labour relations.

“Last week the Mayor told us it was inappropriate to interfere with union negotiations. This week it’s a different story.”

The T.T.C. has appointed Operations Manager Gary Webster to assume the role of G.M., but the official posting for the $265,000-a-year job will be made in a few weeks.

Whoever gets the position can expect they won’t be in for a smooth ride.

• Speculation at City Hall says it was Mayor David Miller who made the final decision about Ducharme’s future, giving him a mandate to try and bring labour peace to the T.T.C. before the municipal election in November.