The latest speculation from the Star's Edward Keenan:
Opinion | Is Phil Verster leaving Metrolinx good news — or a sign something bad is coming down the track?
It’s hard to hope that whoever is coming in to take over from Phil Verster will do a better job.
www.thestar.com
For the benefit of those who can't access the page, the key points are:
"And then there’s another thought that might temper the celebration some are tempted to feel. It’s the same one I raised
a few months ago when those directly in charge of the Crosstown left their jobs in a shakeup intended to break the construction logjam.
Verster is reportedly leaving to take another job. Is that something he would likely do right now if he were on the verge of having good news to announce? There have been growing hints that maybe, finally, the Eglinton Crosstown and/or the Finch West LRT might be ready to open sooner rather than later. But if it were a matter of a few months, wouldn’t Verster try to stick around to make the announcement, cut the ribbon and go out on a high note?
I mean, is it possible he is leaving to avoid having to stand up in front of the cameras again and deliver even worse news? After 14 years of Crosstown construction futility capped by two full years of “we don’t have any idea when it will be done, and we aren’t even willing to propose a target date,” it’s hard to even imagine what worse news would be.
Whatever news, it will be announced by Infrastructure Ontario CEO Michael Lindsay, who is taking over as interim Metrolinx CEO. He’ll be the third Metrolinx boss in the Eglinton Crosstown era, since construction on that line started. We can only pray he will be the last."