2018 Provincial Election Transit Promises

[nfitz]

Mandate letters were a joke and a political exercise. They didn't exist before these Liberals and likely won't exist after.

This is not true. Mandate letters have existed for years. The only things that Wynne and Trudeau did differently is make them public.

But of course, they weren't the first in Canada to do so!

Voters put 1/3 of PC's as women (25 of 76). 7 of 21 is that exact ratio - which seems pretty fair.

That's because the PCs nominated far fewer women than any other party. Which seems quite unfair.

But hardly surprising, given the long history of misogyny in that party!

Still, the Premier is always free to right this wrong. There's no restriction on appointing 3 or 4 more women to cabinet, to show that the PCs and Doug Ford do respect women.

It's not like that there were a surplus of strong male candidates, with the likes of Monte MacNaughton and Raymond Cho joining cabinet!

 

[hw621]

At least one MPP rode transit to work today lol

 

[muller877]

This is not true. Mandate letters have existed for years. The only things that Wynne and Trudeau did differently is make them public.

But of course, they weren't the first in Canada to do so!

That's because the PCs nominated far fewer women than any other party. Which seems quite unfair.

But hardly surprising, given the long history of misogyny in that party!

First MP - CCF (NDP)
First federal woman cabinet minister - conservative
first female PM - conservative

First Ontario MPP - CCF (NDP)
first female Ontario cabinet minister - conservative
first female Ontario Premier - liberal

You may want to get your facts straight.

You also can look at the senior responsibilities in the cabinet that Ford has picked and over 1/2 the major roles are female. He did select several males with minor roles in cabinet to fill regional needs. It's almost reversed to what Wynne did. Wynne also had about 40% female from 2016-2018. Before that there were less & after more. So i'd say its similar. Hopefully over time it grows but it looks like Ford picked the best from his MPP's.

 

[nfitz]

You may want to get your facts straight.

I'm not sure what facts you don't think I got straight. All those examples predate the long history of misogyny in the Ontario PC party. Patrick Brown, Monte MacNaughton, Sam Oosterhoff, Rob Ford, Doug Ford, etc.

You can't compare the old centre-right Big Blue Machine of Robarts, Davis, and even Mulroney, to the immoral right-wing extremists have appearing in the Ontario PCs for over 30 years.

 

[felix123]

Is that a serious question?

Yep, unlike you, I don't have all the answers already -- hence why I asked the question. I'm looking for educated guesses about the next four years of ON transit. I think that's fair.

 

[innsertnamehere]

I think you are going to see increased focus on highways - but I don't expect a ton of new transit funding.. or large scale transit cuts. I suspect they will keep existing commitments - but not really introduce new ones beyond the promised subway funding. The liberals introduced probably $20 billion in new capital funding over their 4 year term, I expect the PCs to keep it exactly at their promise of $5 billion.

I wouldn't expect huge operating increases - GO may have to shoestring their way to RER a bit more. And integrated GO fares is going to be a much tougher sell.

 

[Neutrino]

@nfitz Good god man, get a grip. Just because society's organizations don't exactly mirror the racial and gender composition of the society does not mean the organization is somehow bigoted beyond belief. On the contrary, quotas and artificial balancing make things worse for everyone. Maybe we should also account for all the other 57 genders our literati tell us are out there? I see T̶r̶u̶m̶p̶ Ford Derangement Syndrome is real.

 

[Neutrino]

That being said, I'm not sure having a rural transportation minister bodes well for Toronto transit.

 

[crs1026]

Yakabushi knows well about the loss of the transcontinental rail lines through the Ottawa Valley. And he is close enough to Ottawa to likely have had some exposure to transit in that city.

What I would like to know is....how often has he used VIA Rail to travel to Toronto while an MPP, and what does he think of that service?

- Paul

 

[W. K. Lis]

Yakabushi knows well about the loss of the transcontinental rail lines through the Ottawa Valley. And he is close enough to Ottawa to likely have had some exposure to transit in that city.

What I would like to know is....how often has he used VIA Rail to travel to Toronto while an MPP, and what does he think of that service?

- Paul

VIA Rail is federal. Unless he wants GO Transit to run into his riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

From link.

 

[crs1026]

VIA Rail is federal. Unless he wants GO Transit to run into his riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.
From link.

Yeah, but as MPP he will have heard plenty from his costituents about the loss of the OVR. And, getting to Ottawa is a big issue up that way.

Also, Moose wants to go to Pembroke..... and it’s private sector, and driven by development.... I’m sure they will be knocking on his door, if they haven’t already.....

- Paul

 

[hw621]

Just curious, did John Tory show up at QP today? It will indicate how well he will work DoFo in the future.

 

[blacktrojan3921]

So with Ford in office now, guess it'll mean that there will be quite a big push for subway oriented transit in the Toronto area huh?

Kind of makes me wonder about what'll happen to the LRT projects like Finch West and Jane; though I will admit I would love to see the Shephard subway being extended instead of the east end turning into an LRT lane. But that's just me.

 

[OneCity]

So with Ford in office now, guess it'll mean that there will be quite a big push for subway oriented transit in the Toronto area huh?

Kind of makes me wonder about what'll happen to the LRT projects like Finch West and Jane; though I will admit I would love to see the Shephard subway being extended instead of the east end turning into an LRT lane. But that's just me.

Itll be very interesting to see what happens with the current above ground portion of the Crosstown and FWLRT. These two could be difficult to overturn at this stage and as much as I dislike the lack of grade separation on Eglinton I still see benefits for both lines when combined with the broader network of increasing subway & GO RER.

EELRT & Waterfront LRT will likely need to become mainly City initiatives to keep moving forward, Jane also will have to be City driven if its even to be discussed. I also look forward to seeing the bigger ticket subway projects prioritized, taken out of the Citys incapable hands and receiving detailed attention from the Province.

 

[nfitz]

@nfitz Good god man, get a grip. Just because society's organizations don't exactly mirror the racial and gender composition of the society does not mean the organization is somehow bigoted beyond belief. On the contrary, quotas and artificial balancing make things worse for everyone.

Not sure how god being good or not is relevant to your point! No, gender in-parity does not mean that an organization is bigoted beyond belief. The converse however remains a possibility!

Still, given I tend to be overly optimistic about these things, I'm surprised that there's anyone who is pro-transit, who is more optimistic about what these dullards and dolts will delivery than I!

So with Ford in office now, guess it'll mean that there will be quite a big push for subway oriented transit in the Toronto area huh?

There's been quite a push lately, with both Line 1 and Line 2 extensions planned, along with the DRL south and DRL north.

Personally, I think this will slow things down some, though they'll still push ahead. I'd be very surprised if there's anything new however in underground subway; possibly an in-fill station here and there, or a 1-station extension. What they could do however, is find ways to push surface subway into the suburbs by sacrificing various GO alignments. But I do tend to be overly optimistic about these things.