The City of Regina is facing a $1 million spike in operating costs for its transit fleet, thanks to U.S. tariffs. City administration says the cause of the rising expenses is mainly due to tariffs driving the cost of replacement parts up. Following the meeting of city council on Wednesday, Mayor Chad Bachynski said the city is trying to adjust its practices to ensure stability during a particularly unstable time of trade and international relations. “At the end of the day, we do have contracts and things that we have to review, and so that’ll be part of that review,” the mayor explained. “Are there local suppliers? Are there adjustments that we can make based on the economy that we have here in Canada?” Bachynski criticized the U.S. trade policies, calling the tariffs “frankly ridiculous.” “It is not helping anybody, it is hurting everybody, and so I think the longer it goes on we’re going to see those impacts across the country,” the mayor added. Bachynski added there are plans to talk more about what kind of impact tariffs could have on municipal projects and operations across the country the next time the big city mayors caucus meets with federal officials. “I back up our prime minister, we want to have respectful adult conversations at the negotiating table,” he said. “So that’s what I expect and when the American government is ready to have those conversations, I expect we’ll be at the table.” With files from Cole Davenport
