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Metrolinx: Other Items (catch all)

nfitz said:
My guess is there's a major shortage (if not complete absence) of people to work in Metrolinx at government rates, and this was merely a mechanism to get the expertise they needed in-house.
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There are, for good and obvious reasons, quite strong rules about politicians and some civil servants moving from government to private industry without a 'cooling off period'. It seems extraordinary to me that someone could be brought 'the other direction' and be expected to be able to compartmentalise their lives and loyalties while simultaneously being a senior officer in government and a senior executive of a private company.
 
Just to put some colour on the discussion above; I can confirm that there are other consultants working at Mx, in essence full-time; though they are, in point of fact, employees of another business.

This is not a unique arrangement.

****

That said, we all understand why it looks bad in this case.

That's something of which Mx ought to be more conscious.

I honestly can't say whether contracts in this case were doled out inappropriately.

What we can say is, that sole-sourcing, in these circumstances, is something likely to draw negative inferences should it become public.

As such, Mx, should either be avoiding the sole-sourcing or be upfront, with a ready, and convincing justification.
 
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This is why everything costs so much in the 21st century - the insertion of these bullshit, grifter 'consultants' at virtually every level of everything.

These idiots add no value whatsoever, they simply scam.

Ask this clown what he does every day and he'll inevitably respond that he 'Coordinates, facilitates, ameliorates.. blah blah blah...'

In other words: he's of the highly paid parasite class.

Good 'work' if you can get it! (having the right Daddy helps)

This is endemic throughout corporate culture, these useless do-nothings.

That we're we're all subsidizing.

These people are a feature of our failing economic system.
 
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Northern Light said:
Just to put some colour on the discussion above; I can confirm that there are other consultants working at Mx, in essence full-time; though they are, in point of fact, employees of another business.

This is not a unique arrangement.

****

That said, we all understand why it looks bad in this case.

That's something of which Mx ought to be more conscious.

I honestly can't say whether contracts in this case were doled out inappropriately.

What we can say is, that sole-sourcing, in these circumstances, is something likely to draw negative inferences should it become public.

As such, Mx, should either be avoiding the sole-sourcing or be upfront, with a ready, and convincing justification.
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I mean this is dead standard. I know the TTC's development review team is mostly contracted out staff from a private engineering consultant firm, for example. They work in the TTC offices (or at least did pre-covid), but aren't technically TTC employees.

It's mostly done to save on staff costs as it can be cheaper in certain situations to contract out than hire internally, particularly if you need to scale quickly in staffing or expect a temporary workload which will reduce over time.
 

Metrolinx sells public land to developer for $64.5M with no conditions for affordable housing​


Ontario's regional transit agency sold a piece of prime public land next to the Port Credit transit hub to a private condo developer last month without insisting that the buyer provide affordable housing — a move that housing advocates and local politicians are criticizing as "a missed opportunity."

The site, a parking lot about three quarters of a hectare, was sold by Metrolinx to Edenshaw Queen Developments Ltd. for $64.5 million. The lot is on Queen Street next to the Port Credit GO station and the Hurontario light rail transit station, which is still under construction. It's at the heart of an ambitious transit hub for GO trains, the LRT and Mississauga buses.

Mississauga Coun. Stephen Dasko, who represents the neighbourhood, called the decision not to insist on an affordable housing component as a condition of the sale "a missed opportunity" for the city.

"It was owned by the public...and I think some conditions could have been put to it to ensure that we had some things done, like affordable housing."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/provincial-land-transit-hub-private-developer-sale-1.6330555
 
tiffer24 said:

Metrolinx sells public land to developer for $64.5M with no conditions for affordable housing​


Ontario's regional transit agency sold a piece of prime public land next to the Port Credit transit hub to a private condo developer last month without insisting that the buyer provide affordable housing — a move that housing advocates and local politicians are criticizing as "a missed opportunity."

The site, a parking lot about three quarters of a hectare, was sold by Metrolinx to Edenshaw Queen Developments Ltd. for $64.5 million. The lot is on Queen Street next to the Port Credit GO station and the Hurontario light rail transit station, which is still under construction. It's at the heart of an ambitious transit hub for GO trains, the LRT and Mississauga buses.

Mississauga Coun. Stephen Dasko, who represents the neighbourhood, called the decision not to insist on an affordable housing component as a condition of the sale "a missed opportunity" for the city.

"It was owned by the public...and I think some conditions could have been put to it to ensure that we had some things done, like affordable housing."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/provincial-land-transit-hub-private-developer-sale-1.6330555
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Is that not Mississauga’s responsibility? Or am I missing something?
 
sacred said:
Is that not Mississauga’s responsibility? Or am I missing something?
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Mississauga could choose to impose IZ (inclusionary zoning).

That is true.

But it is equally true that Mx can impose any conditions of sale it wishes on any property its selling.

I have critiqued Canada Lands Co. for a similar absence of social responsibility.

The idea that one can only be responsible if another level of government chases you down and 'forces you' is not good form, in my opinion.

One doesn't generally expect the private sector to be generous for its own sake (wouldn't that be nice); but surely we ought to expect that of public agencies buying and selling public lands, in theory for the public good.
 
If we want any further evidence that the government (all levels) really doesnt understand the scope of the housing crisis we're in (both affordable housing, and lack of housing in general) just take a look at what government agencies are doing. Whether it be CreateTO, Metrolinx, CLC, you name it virtually all of them have been woefully pathetic on the issue.

And the root cause comes from the politicians at the highest levels who we elect, who are out of touch because they've lived in pampered environments all of their lives without knowing what struggle really is. The only way we'll get any serious change in the matter is by electing politicians who have experience around these issues. Until then, it's all lip service.
 
Amare said:
If we want any further evidence that the government (all levels) really doesnt understand the scope of the housing crisis we're in (both affordable housing, and lack of housing in general) just take a look at what government agencies are doing. Whether it be CreateTO, Metrolinx, CLC, you name it virtually all of them have been woefully pathetic on the issue.

And the root cause comes from the politicians at the highest levels who we elect, who are out of touch because they've lived in pampered environments all of their lives without knowing what struggle really is. The only way we'll get any serious change in the matter is by electing politicians who have experience around these issues. Until then, it's all lip service.
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Same problem with the TTC Commissioners and City Hall councillors when they make decisions on public transit and they do not even use public transit. Except for photo ops or ribbon cutting or groundbreaking shovel ceremonies.
 
Thought I'd drop the overall tracking data for Mx-led Capital Projects here; this is from the Capital Projects report to this week's Mx Board Meeting:

Report here: https://www.metrolinx.com/en/docs/pdf/board_agenda/20220217/20220217_BoardMtg_Capital Projects.pdf

From the above:

1644854528989.png
 
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