^ I debated whether I should bother expanding on my thinking or just move on to other topics, but I decided to at least provide more on my perspective. Not trying to win an argument here and understand some may disagree. I realize a distinction between the Province, the Government, and Metrolinx is somewhat nuanced. The challenge in my mind that I've seen MPPs (of all parties), or municipal councillors, use Metrolinx as a convenient punching bag or scapegoat when things go wrong, or they defer to it and claim there's nothing they can do or everything is their fault. In this case, as best I can tell and in my opinion, Metrolinx is implementing what they are being asked to do. It's the government that's taking the risk that they'll have a deal with CN. I'm not suggesting the people that work at any agency, or municipal staff, are always right, perfect, and don't have room for improvement.
When there's an agency that's responsible for delivering and operating transit and requires public confidence and trust and yet has to take direction on service planning, announcements, timing, funding priority, etc from the Minister/Province/MPPs, I believe it can start to erode that public trust and confidence when the people with the ultimate responsibility aren't referenced or mentioned. I'll close with another example.
The AG report on Metrolinx looked pretty bad, but the reality was (someone can correct me if I'm wrong) they only looked at a small percentage of projects. Again, certainly there's room for Metrolinx to be more open and that's come up before, but on the specific topic of service expansion, deals or the lack of deals with CN and CP, I see it as elected officials want things to open as quickly as possible and send orders to make it happen. I am doubtful we will ever see an elected official step up and say, "You know what, I really wanted this service and directed Metrolinx to make it happen. I underestimated how difficult it would be to get an agreement with CN/CP. I was the one who decided to take the risk." Or, "yes, we spent a lot of money and didn't get access to all the way to Bramalea Station from CN. I see the downsides of the deal I, as Minister/the Government struck."
Plus, while the opposition talks a big game about doing things differently, they'll face the same pressures as the current government to expand service, and I wonder if anything will change in terms of how a Minster/government/MPPs treat the agency. The Cambridge service expansion situation. and recent comments, is an interesting example.
