Spadina Subway Extension

[Suicidal Gingerbread Man]

Money for Spadina line extension coming from Feds

$1B transit windfall for Ontario
Cash from Ottawa will come in next week's budget to help with subway expansion -- as well as housing and campus buildings.
Apr. 26, 2006. 05:17 AM
ROBERT BENZIE AND LES WHITTINGTON
STAFF REPORTERS

The Ontario government is expecting a $1 billion windfall from Ottawa that will help extend the Spadina subway line and improve transportation throughout Greater Toronto.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered the good news in a confidential four-page letter on March 24 to provincial Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.
Flaherty wrote that as part of the new Conservative government's "collaborative management of the federation," the provinces and territories would receive additional funding of $3.3 billion from the massive federal surplus run up last year.
The Harper government, which had planned to reveal the new funding when its first budget is delivered to Parliament next Tuesday, will set up five independent trust funds to distribute the money.
The trusts would make money available to the provinces for bricks and mortar spending for post-secondary education (up to $1 billion), affordable housing (up to $800 million), public transit (up to $900 million), northern housing (up to $300 million) and off-reserve aboriginal housing (up to $300 million).
Details of what provincial projects will qualify for funding are not yet available.
The trusts are a device to reserve some of the surplus from one year for spending in the next.
Otherwise, any money left over on March 31, the end of the federal fiscal year, would automatically be used to reduce the federal debt.
Duncan told the Toronto Star that his officials estimate that, based on Ontario's population and eligibility, the province would receive about $1.08 billion of the total new federal funding commitment.
He said it is great news for Ontario and will make it easier to pay for much-needed public transit improvements.
Word of the new cash from Ottawa comes on the heels of Duncan's March 23 provincial budget that included $1.2 billion for infrastructure, including $670 million toward the $2 billion extension of the Spadina line from Downsview station through York University and north of Steeles Ave. into Vaughan.
The long-awaited scheme would be the Toronto Transit Commission's first subway line in the 905 area.
"We fully anticipate that it should be fully new money," said Duncan, who added that Flaherty's missive was the kind of letter finance ministers dream of receiving.
"This is money that Ontarians have paid into Ottawa. It essentially represents money that they (federal authorities) have decided through their own legislative processes and financial processes to give back to the provinces. This is our portion."
"It's certainly encouraging, but we do need clarification," said the provincial treasurer, who has written to Flaherty seeking details.
In the March 23 budget, Duncan devoted a total of $838 million for transit in the GTA.
Aside from the subway, money will be spent to develop the Mississauga Transitway, which is a dedicated bus-only line along Highway 403 and Eglinton Ave., and Brampton's Acceleride bus program, among other non-TTC projects.
In exchange for Ottawa's largesse, Flaherty wants to ensure that the federal government is given lots of credit by the provinces and territories, which are trying to address Canada's fiscal imbalance in which some of them struggle with budget deficits while Ottawa records surpluses.
"In the spirit of the new, more collaborative relationships between our governments, we look forward to working with you to ensure all partners receive appropriate recognition, such as, for example, the display of Government of Canada wordmark on all assets and services connected with this funding," Flaherty wrote.
"A formal announcement of this commitment will be made by the federal government later this spring," he concluded.
In the House of Commons, Liberal finance critic John McCallum accused the Conservatives of "flip-flopping" on budget matters by utilizing Bill C-48 to earmark the additional money for the provinces.
When they were in opposition, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives fiercely opposed that Liberal legislation, which allows the government to spend surplus cash from one fiscal year in the following fiscal year.
Prior to C-48, any money left over in Ottawa's coffers when a fiscal year ended on March 31 had to be used to pay down the $499 billion national debt.
The bill, which was part of a deal between the Liberals and the NDP, was intended to provide extra federal funding for universities, public transit, affordable housing, foreign aid and aboriginal people.
At the time, Harper called C-48 irresponsible fiscal policy and the Conservatives tried, but failed, to bring down the Martin government over the legislation in May 2005.
In response to McCallum, Flaherty confirmed that the budget on Tuesday will "be dealing with surplus issues" and will provide money to deal with the priorities covered by Bill C-48.
"I am sure the member will look forward to May 2 when we will be able to provide the information that he is seeking concerning many of those issues," Flaherty added.
Outside the Commons, he refused to provide details.
Because of the unexpectedly strong performance of the economy over the past 12 months, the federal surplus for the 2005-06 fiscal year that ended March 31 is forecast to reach $9 billion or higher.
This has provided Flaherty with unexpected manoeuvring room as he designs his first budget.
But he had to decide what to do with the extra money before March 31 and thus turned to the mechanism in C-48.

 

[roch5220]

I hate to admit, but each month, to me, it seems the tories take 2 steps forward, and only 1 step back.

My only question relates to the former liberal gov't:

Gov'ts have to record the expenditures that they promise in the current fiscal year, hence, the multiple TTC deals they agreed to , (I remember 2 in detail, one they agreed to 1/3 share of 10 Billion, and a 2nd, they agreed to 1/3 of 3 billion), where did all of this funny money go?

 

[Suicidal Gingerbread Man]

^
I would assume the money goes into a trust. When was this?



The feds have quite the windfall at the moment. It could be a good time for transit investment across the country.

 

[alik01]

I hope they wont spend the money on the busway. HOV lanes are useless.
We need more high speed trains and subways. Thats the only way the get people out of their cars.

 

[cacruden]

^^

The feds may have quite a windfall, but they have a number of commitments that the previous Liberal committed to (which are not all going to be reversed) -- in addition to promises during the election -- so really -- there is not as much money as you may think.

 

[afransen TO]

I hope that this becomes a habit for governments in Ottawa, where they take a significant proportion of surplusses and hand them off to trusts to be spent over the next few years, but strictly on infrastructure. It's a much more logical use of funds than large-scale debt repayment, and a much saner way to fund infrastructure projects (as opposed to madly trying to find a project to fund over the course of weeks).

 

[TdotTrickyRicky]

"Duncan told the Toronto Star that his officials estimate that, based on Ontario's population and eligibility, the province would receive about $1.08 billion of the total new federal funding commitment.
He said it is great news for Ontario and will make it easier to pay for much-needed public transit improvements."

What gets me is the title "1B transit windfall for Ontario". Is the globe and mail purposely trying to angry up the blood in other parts of Canada? I can hear the moans and growns from other provinces about the fat cats in Toronto when clearly the 1B is not a windfall for Ontario but an allocation of money based on population.

 

[Suicidal Gingerbread Man]

What gets me is the title "1B transit windfall for Ontario". Is the globe and mail purposely trying to angry up the blood in other parts of Canada?

^
Read more carefully.

Toronto Star

 

[bizorky]

With the budget arriving on may 2nd, I assume we will continue to see a contingency fund, such as the one started by the Liberals, that will be turned into debt repayment if it should go unused. The Conservatives will reap the benefits of the measures already put into place by the previous government that was pursuing structural savings on procurement and management within government. This could add up to one or more billion dollars saved.

As for "excessive" spending by the Liberals, the Conservative policies are quite clear: they have their own big ticket spending priorities as well. Right now, long term funding commitments put into place by the previous government stand in the way of the Conservative agenda. Once those commitments fall off, there will be plenty of things the Conservatives can focus on in terms of spending. Don't expect a big budget shrink any time soon.

Please also note, there will be considerable emphasis on showing the federal government name and sponsorship of these transit spending projects. Remember all those "your tax dollars at work" signs on the side of Ontario highways during the Harris government? You will be seeing much more of the same from the feds now.

 

[samsonyuen]

From: www.theglobeandmail.com/s...t/Ontario/
_________________
Where's the cash for Spadina subway extension?
JEFF GRAY
Number crunchers at Queen's Park say federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's budget, despite boasting of a $1.3-billion cheque for public transit, doesn't include any money for the province's proposed Spadina subway extension to Vaughan.

And a spokesman for Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said the Conservatives actually failed to provide a single cent in new money to the province for public transit in last week's budget.

"We don't consider it at all money for the subway [extension]," Sean Hamilton said. ". . . They're just moving pots of money around to someplace else."

Ontario, when it got a heads-up about the federal government's budget plans, told Ottawa that more money would be required to build the Spadina subway extension, for which the provincial Liberals announced $670-million in their March budget. But Mr. Hamilton said the province hasn't received a response.

The federal budget promises at least $500-million over three years for Ontario alone for public transit. But Mr. Hamilton says all of this money was either committed by former prime minister Paul Martin in the deal he made with the NDP to keep his minority in power last year, or it is cash transferred from a pact signed long ago between Queen's Park and Ottawa for funding meant for climate-change programs.

Meanwhile, Toronto Transit Commission officials are gearing up for a marketing campaign to make sure riders know that, as of July 1, they will be able to claim a tax credit on their monthly Metropasses, as promised in the federal budget.

And no wonder: The tax credit, if you can manage to keep track of your old Metropasses in order to claim it, provides enough of a discount that it may persuade riders to switch from tokens and tickets to a monthly pass.

Public transit activist Steve Munro had done all the math: The current Metropass costs $99.75, meaning you have to ride the TTC at least 47.5 times a month (at $2.10 a ride) to break even. (Most passholders ride the TTC much more than that.)

But if you get a 15.25 per cent tax credit on each pass, that effectively reduces the price to $84.54, or about the equivalent of a 40-ride break-even point. Forty tokens is about what you would use going to work and back on weekdays for four weeks, meaning all other travel, if you had a Metropass, would feel "free."

That could mean a big boost in Metropass sales, of the order that saw the TTC run out of the cards last year when it first made the pass transferable between different riders, TTC chief general manager Rick Ducharme told Dr. Gridlock.

TTC staffers haven't worked out how many more riders, or pass users, the tax measure will generate. But the more people use Metropasses, the better it is for the TTC. For one thing, passes are easier to administer, and don't involve moving coins around or dealing with constant lineups.

And they create habitual, regular riders, more likely to use the system in off-peak hours, when the TTC has extra capacity.

"We're very positive," Mr. Ducharme said. "It's a good-news story."

The TTC boss had no idea whether, buried in the blizzard of federal budget numbers, there was funding for the Spadina subway extension. But he said that since it will be an eight-year project, there will be lots of time to sort out how to pay for the thing.

Last week's column on the sometimes deadly mix of cyclists and trucks caught the attention of reader and cyclist David Weatherston, who laments the apparent belief of many cyclists that they have the "absolute right of way" when coming up behind a right-turning truck.

"Aside from the unreasonableness of this belief with respect to all other traffic laws," he writes, "it flies in the face of what sailors call the 'Gross Tonnage Law,' which states that a collision between a large vessel and a smaller one is always a catastrophe for the smaller, no matter how 'right' he may be."

 

[billonlogan]

Ontario minister fears Harper reneging on funds

article

Courtesy: The Globe and Mail
May 10, 2006
KAREN HOWLETT AND BRIAN LAGHI
With a report from Steven Chase

TORONTO and OTTAWA -- Government officials in Ontario and Saskatchewan say they are concerned that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is reneging on funding commitments to the provinces made by his predecessor.

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said yesterday that the province does not appear to be getting any new money for public transit, despite an accord with former prime minister Paul Martin that promised $600-million for infrastructure projects over five years.

Under the Harper government's first budget released last week, Ontario is to receive $352-million of the $900-million allocated to public transit for all the provinces. But those funds are earmarked for gas taxes and climate change in Ontario, leaving nothing for public transit.

Mr. Duncan said he is seeking clarification on whether Mr. Harper intends to honour the agreement between Mr. Martin and Premier Dalton McGuinty, which promised the province $5.7-billion for various programs over five years.

"The deeper I dig, the more concerned I become," Mr. Duncan told reporters.

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said yesterday that he has written a letter to Mr. Duncan, explaining that the Tories have, in fact, provided for the accord with the previous government.

"The Canada-Ontario agreement is fully funded, fully sourced in budget 2006," Mr. Flaherty told reporters. "I specifically wrote a detailed letter to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Duncan in Ontario, breaking down the sources and the allocations of the almost $6-billion over six years," he said.

He added that officials in his office met with their counterparts in Ontario to go over the numbers and "clarify any ambiguities that they might have thought were there."

However, Mr. Duncan said Mr. Flaherty's letter contradicts assurances made by Mr. Harper both during the election campaign and again last week to Mr. McGuinty that Ottawa would honour the accord.

"The letter did not assuage my concerns at all," Mr. Duncan said.

Under the accord, $589-million was to have flowed to Ontario for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006, according to a memorandum of agreement signed by senior federal and provincial officials. But a spokesman for Mr. Duncan said the province has received only $2-million for immigration while municipalities received $155-million for public transit.

Mr. Duncan said Ontario will go ahead with its planned $1.2-billion subway extension in Toronto, even if Ottawa does not kick in one cent for the project. The subway extension was the centrepiece of the provincial budget and Ontario was counting on help from Ottawa.

"This project will go ahead, with or without them," Mr. Duncan vowed yesterday.
-------------------------------------------

Government officials in Ontario and Saskatchewan say they are concerned that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is reneging on funding commitments to the provinces made by his predecessor.

despite an accord with former prime minister Paul Martin that promised $600-million for infrastructure projects over five years.

Let me get this straight, Harper reneging on promises made by former PM Martin.

 

[GregWTravels]

www.cbc.ca/toronto/story/...60510.html

Lack of federal funds won't halt subway extension: Duncan
Last updated May 10 2006 08:34 AM EDT
CBC News

Toronto's subway extension to York Region will go ahead even without federal funding, although the project will likely take much longer to complete, the province's finance minister says.

"This project will go ahead with or without them," Dwight Duncan said Tuesday.

"Our hope from the beginning has been that [Ottawa] would be there. They've made undertakings publicly about supporting infrastructure and we'll see where that money lands."

In his March 23 provincial budget, Duncan earmarked $670 million to extend the University-Spadina subway line to the Vaughan Corporate Centre at Jane and Highway 7.

At the time, the province was hoping Ottawa would match its contribution.

At a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper last week, Premier Dalton McGuinty said he received verbal assurances there would be money for some of Ontario's mega-projects, like public transit.

But when McGuinty and Duncan sifted through the May 2 federal budget, they found no funding specifically for the subway.

Ottawa did promise $1.3 billion for public transit in cities across the country. But unless half of that money comes to the Toronto Transit Commission, Duncan said the province will have to dig into its own reserves.

"We have fiscal room. We have contingency [funds]," he said.

If that is the case, however, Duncan said the project would likely take longer than the planned 10 years.

------

If that is the case, however, Duncan said the project would likely take longer than the planned 10 years.

So, after they finish York in 2025, they can work on the 10 year late SRT replacement. And then sometime in 2045 we can look at other transit options?

Why can't we live in a country where all levels of government can agree that transit is important and FUND it? Or at least a country that sees building subway and transit lines as good make work, fuel the economy projects and fully funds them?

 

[rbtaylor]

Why can't we live in a country where all levels of government can agree that transit is important and FUND it?

Simple. Voters don't understand the economics of the country (primary sources of tax revenue) and politicians have no interest in educating them since it would change the playing ground.

What isn't important to the voters isn't important to politicians. Politics follows general concensus by about 3 to 5 years.

It is important to the people in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa -- that's really about it, and even then it is a fairly low percentage of the region that push the matter.

Most other places want highway investments instead of public transit subsidies -- yes, that is the way they're commonly thought of by most Canadians.

 

[Darkstar416]

Most other places want highway investments instead of public transit subsidies -- yes, that is the way they're commonly thought of by most Canadians.

Although saying "highway subsidies" and "transit investments" is equally correct.

If the feds pull their money, maybe this thing will only ever get built to Steeles West which is as far as I think it should go anyway.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

^ Assuming York Region and Toronto split their 1/3 evenly on the to-VCC stretch, if the feds pull out, Toronto will have to pay over $150 million more to get the extension to Steeles.