crs1026
Superstar
McGuinty, and more fabulously Wynne, talked expansively about transit but in a way that was patently disprovable: Ontario simply did not and does not have either the money, or the depth of construction capability, to achieve it all. It was a bit like somebody being engaged to two people at the same time. We may have congratulated them on their decision to marry, but clearly it wasn’t going to end well.
In fact, reality did bite - McGuinty scaled things back fairly quietly, Wynne just kept talking but never came through with the goods. Things like hydrail demonstrate that reality had set in, but rather than admit to promising fiction, Wynne looked for Hail Mary plays and doubled down on impossible, destructive over borrowing. The public didn’t buy it.
The truth is, there was an actual ramping up of spending under both administrations, but again truth hurts. You can’t deliver new service unless you build the underlying enabling infrastructure: ownership of rail lines, expanded layover yards, maintenance bases, track, signalling. None of these are sexy or politically marketable. I would argue that the Libs did in fact deliver that foundation investment, so they served us well. But they overlaid that sound and prudent forward progress with a healthy icing of puffery, unfulfillable promises, and self serving photo ops. Which branded them as liars and opportunists when, underneath, some good work was done.
The priblem with Ford is that clearly he has no good ideas and is choosing to simply mumble and study instread of delivering a different plan. The problem with Conservatism these days is that they can’t grapple with the need for growth.... anything progressive sounding is discarded as ‘liberalism’. This us especially unhelpful with transportation, as the old solution (cars, and roads) has run its course and a new strategy is needed.
Personally I would like to see the Ministers of Finance and Transport agree on a sustainable per-year amount to be spent on transportation infrastructure. Instead of being ‘against’ things, they can simply declare what is first on the list, and then build it- but only as fast as their agreed to purse will permit.
We need Ford’s determination to restore fiscal sanity, but we need him to be ‘for’ things instead of resisting them. It that means that subways rise to the top of the list, development and transit habita will adapt to that. Not my preference, but it’s better than false promises and waiting for things that never arrive.
- Paul
In fact, reality did bite - McGuinty scaled things back fairly quietly, Wynne just kept talking but never came through with the goods. Things like hydrail demonstrate that reality had set in, but rather than admit to promising fiction, Wynne looked for Hail Mary plays and doubled down on impossible, destructive over borrowing. The public didn’t buy it.
The truth is, there was an actual ramping up of spending under both administrations, but again truth hurts. You can’t deliver new service unless you build the underlying enabling infrastructure: ownership of rail lines, expanded layover yards, maintenance bases, track, signalling. None of these are sexy or politically marketable. I would argue that the Libs did in fact deliver that foundation investment, so they served us well. But they overlaid that sound and prudent forward progress with a healthy icing of puffery, unfulfillable promises, and self serving photo ops. Which branded them as liars and opportunists when, underneath, some good work was done.
The priblem with Ford is that clearly he has no good ideas and is choosing to simply mumble and study instread of delivering a different plan. The problem with Conservatism these days is that they can’t grapple with the need for growth.... anything progressive sounding is discarded as ‘liberalism’. This us especially unhelpful with transportation, as the old solution (cars, and roads) has run its course and a new strategy is needed.
Personally I would like to see the Ministers of Finance and Transport agree on a sustainable per-year amount to be spent on transportation infrastructure. Instead of being ‘against’ things, they can simply declare what is first on the list, and then build it- but only as fast as their agreed to purse will permit.
We need Ford’s determination to restore fiscal sanity, but we need him to be ‘for’ things instead of resisting them. It that means that subways rise to the top of the list, development and transit habita will adapt to that. Not my preference, but it’s better than false promises and waiting for things that never arrive.
- Paul
