Province eyes Metrolinx shakeup

[nfitz]

If Dalton does lose in the next election he could always stage a coup *form a coalition. Is there anything comperable to the Governor General for Ontario?

.. uh you mean the Lieutenant Governor?

 

[DavidH]

Seemed to be as much a criticism of their own politicians for not standing up. What DOES Durham have on the table to be funded about from an east-west BRT? Though they should do well in the Lakeshore electrification ...

Durham has $80M committed for a BRT phase 1, equivalent to current VIVA, on Highway 2. A fully-separated implementation is in the Metrolinx RTP as one of the first-priority projects.

The problem with Durham politicians on transit is not that they don't want transit, but they never want to lead with their own money. It's always about getting someone else to pay for things, even when it comes to the kinds of studies that York has done to get their projects moving forward.

I'm not arguing that DRT does not need significant improvement - no one who has read my blog would think that; I've been very very critical. The problem is the lack of leadership at regional council. Sadly, the Metroland papers have taken to repeating Council's position that Durham is losing out constantly instead of recognizing that there are significant projects that benefit Durham on the list, and that more would come if Durham would take the lead.

Hopefully the Durham Long Term Transit Study will get us somewhere; I'm on the community advisory committee for that.

 

[waterloowarrior]

http://www.news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2...n-go-service-improvements-across-the-gta.html
GO Transit riders will benefit from an additional $213 million in service improvements as part of the $500 million joint investment between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. These projects will reduce wait times for commuters and get more cars off the road.

"These investments in public transit will give people more time with their families while also creating jobs and making a real difference to the communities GO serves," said Canada's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, John Baird. "We're getting people moving, and the economy going."

"Ontario is investing in public transit to combat congestion and climate change and make transit more convenient so more people leave their cars at home," said Ontario's Transportation Minister, Jim Bradley. "Supporting public transit creates jobs that help boost the economy."

Today's announcement builds upon the $249 million in federal and provincial funding previously announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty for expansion of GO Transit parking facilities across the Greater Toronto Area and the Hamilton Junction rail-to-rail grade separation project, bringing the total commitment to date to $462 million. The remainder of the joint Canada-Ontario commitment will be confirmed in the near future.

In addition to maintenance activities across the system, GO will refurbish locomotives and purchase new two-level passenger rail coaches, install snow-melt systems and build bicycle shelters using the federal and provincial funding.

A backgrounder with information on the GO Transit revitalization projects, including a complete list of funded projects, is attached.

 

[ShonTron]

There's no attachment (on the provincial news release).

What a let down. Ho-hum.

 

[isittimetomoveyet]

There's no attachment (on the provincial news release).

What a let down. Ho-hum.

Yup... just as I predicted!

 

[doady]

^I've said it before and I'll say it again. If Torontonians want federal dollars for anything they are going to have to stop being so faithful to the Liberals. If the Conservatives won even just one seat in Toronto, I'd be willing to bet we'd be getting billions from the feds. As long as Toronto is full of Liberal safe seats, no party has any incentive to try and bribe us for votes.

You are saying we should vote for parties that delibirately ignore us? That is backwards.

 

[kEiThZ]

You are saying we should vote for parties that delibirately ignore us? That is backwards.

How much funding did the feds provide for subways and network expansion during the Chretien/Martin era (other than the gas tax revenue which has continued)? Parties fund ridings with potential or ones that are threatened. Liberals have no incentive to invest in Liberal safe seats. Ditto for the Conservatives. Why would they invest in safe Liberal areas? Torontonians need some lessons from the Maritimers on how to play with federal governments.

 

[jks]

^^Um, yes, I'm sure that will work, with Toronto being the most liberal city in North America. What major federal funding have the Maritimes got exactly due to changing their representatives. And no seat in Toronto will even potentially be Tory. Don Valley West is the only one that came close. And the Cons do more harm then good, overall, and the do deliberately ignore us, so there is no way in hell they will win a seat, and even if they do, it's just one seat. You can't force people to stop being faithful to Liberals. That's like telling all of Albera thay should vote Liberal. I mean it's not like they got anything for being Conservative safe seats either.

 

[kEiThZ]

Even Alberta had Annie for the longest time. Heck, Ralph Klein used to work to help Annie get elected so that Alberta had a rep in cabinet. 416 no such luck. But hey if you think the Libs are different prove it. Look up how much they pitched in for the Sheppard subway. You can't force people to change how they vote. But you shouldn't have to hear them whine when their votes don't pay off either. As for the Maritimes, are you kidding me? If we pulled a tantrum like Danny boy we'd have the feds paying for all of TC. But to do that the seats have to be in play.

 

[lordmandeep]

The thing is Alberta started to boom before Harper came in office...

People in Alberta always forget that...

There was nothing Harper did that really caused the boom, it was already in place.

 

[afransen]

Even Alberta had Annie for the longest time. Heck, Ralph Klein used to work to help Annie get elected so that Alberta had a rep in cabinet. 416 no such luck. But hey if you think the Libs are different prove it. Look up how much they pitched in for the Sheppard subway. You can't force people to change how they vote. But you shouldn't have to hear them whine when their votes don't pay off either. As for the Maritimes, are you kidding me? If we pulled a tantrum like Danny boy we'd have the feds paying for all of TC. But to do that the seats have to be in play.

Not a chance. Even if they were worried about losing 22 seats in Toronto, they can't afford to heap largesse on the city because it could and probably would cost them in other areas with the most resentment. You'd have Maritimers and Quebecers whining about where their piece of the pie is (the gall!), and Albertans just pissed off. That's more seats than Toronto has, and certainly factors into the CBA.

 

[kEiThZ]

All I know is that the federal Liberals don't exactly have much of a record to brag about. Indeed, all the Conservative contributions to GO and Union Stn rehab could add up to more than Chretien or Martin did for T.O.

 

[GraphicMatt]

Federal politics in Canada has been historically anti-urban and, more specifically, anti-Toronto. Much of the Conservative Party's recent gains in the 905 have been on the back of anti-urban sentiment.

Blaming the voters for not supporting a party - and thus deserving nothing in return - is supporting corrupt politics. If the Conservatives want Toronto votes, they should try running candidates in Toronto with good ideas and urban-oriented politics instead of bloggers who think the solution to violence in Toronto is more guns.

 

[kEiThZ]

Not a chance. Even if they were worried about losing 22 seats in Toronto, they can't afford to heap largesse on the city because it could and probably would cost them in other areas with the most resentment. You'd have Maritimers and Quebecers whining about where their piece of the pie is (the gall!), and Albertans just pissed off. That's more seats than Toronto has, and certainly factors into the CBA.

That can apply equally for the Liberals. It probably explains why the Chretien/Martin governments did so little for Toronto. I abhor the anti-urban (and particularly anti-Toronto) sentiment in this country. But let's not pretend that's restricted to just one side of the aisle. The Libs talk a good game but their record belies the truth. Mike Harris did more for the TTC than Chretien. Provincially though, I'd agree the Liberals actually do live up to their promises.

 

[afransen]

I don't think it's fair to compare Harris to Chretien as if they were in the same position. Rapid transit is not traditionally an area of federal jurisdiction. And Harris did what he did out of inertia coming out the NDP era. I agree that the Chretien Liberals didn't do much for the GTA, but I think the comparison you used is misleading.