Waterfront Transit Reset Phase 1 Study

[Filip]

and they want to kill waterfront LRT.

And all parties support Park Lawn GO.

The PCs will literally be the worst party for HBS in terms of transit, I don't know how you could debate that.

Sure Waterfront West may be 14 years away.. but Doug will just make it 18 years.

Dude, don't be so naive! WWLRT has already been delayed by so many decades that it's a running joke.

Ride times from HBS to downtown on the WWLRT will be comparable to the 501! Why do we need it then? I'm asking a serious questions.. What is the need for a WWLRT? I agree, it should be delayed or cancelled. 55 mins to travel less than 10 km on a 'rapid' transit line doesn't make too much sense.

 

[ADRM]

Look quite frankly I'm trying to be less naive moving forward.

...by voting for a party that has not put forward a description of what they want to spend money on or how they will accomplish it?

 

[TheTigerMaster]

...by voting for a party that has not put forward a description of what they want to spend money on or how they will accomplish it?

They’ve put forward a description of what they want to spend money on. They just haven’t explained how they plan to pay for a dime of it. So far they’ll be running $7 Billion in defecits, bigger than any of the other parties.

 

[DopeyFish]

Basically the only thing that could maybe save the waterfront lrt if PCs get in power is the federal liberals, or the infrastructure bank.

 

[ADRM]

They’ve put forward a description of what they want to spend money on. They just haven’t explained how they plan to pay for a dime of it. So far they’ll be running $7 Billion in defecits, bigger than any of the other parties.

They've put together a partial list of things they want to spend money on without any description of any of their assumptions. For other things they've said they'd do, they haven't even offered a cost. Then there's an entire Liberal budget-worth of spending items they haven't indicated whether they'd continue in part or in full. And for some of the things they have provided a partial costing for, they've offered no explanation of how it'd be paid for; it's a huge joke, and every Ontario voter is bearing the brunt of it.

There's no plan; anyone who's voting for the Conservatives is doing so without any real knowledge of what they're voting for. It's nuts.

 

[Filip]

I'm looking out for myself (and my finances).

PCs offer the best short term financial plan for me. I don't see myself in Canada more than 5 more years.

 

[Filip]

...by voting for a party that has not put forward a description of what they want to spend money on or how they will accomplish it?

No, I just don't believe stupid promises that can be delayed or cancelled down the road. There has been quite enough of those here to date, thanks.

Hence why grand programs/promises don't work on me anymore - it's all about my bottom line (less taxes = my vote).

 

[Leo_Chan]

I'm looking out for myself (and my finances).

PCs offer the best short term financial plan for me. I don't see myself in Canada more than 5 more years.

Thanks for making this clear. The question I have, which probably is a much larger political question, is should I be voting for the party that will make my life better and more affordable, or should I be voting for the party that will be better for everyone in the more grand vision of the GTA and all of Ontario?

 

[Streety McCarface]

I'm looking out for myself (and my finances).

PCs offer the best short term financial plan for me. I don't see myself in Canada more than 5 more years.

People like you are the reason nothing gets done in this city. People don't want to pay taxes, fine, I don't like spending all my money either. However, it's imperative to me, and the city I live in, that I support all the programs that go into making a healthy community and bettering the lives of the youth that are to replace me. Your selfish ideology is what costs us and everyone after you billions of dollars in lost productivity and lack of SOGR.

 

[Leo_Chan]

People like you are the reason nothing gets done in this city. People don't want to pay taxes, fine, I don't like spending all my money either. However, it's imperative to me, and the city I live in, that I support all the programs that go into making a healthy community and bettering the lives of the youth that are to replace me. Your selfish ideology is what costs us and everyone after you billions of dollars in lost productivity and lack of SOGR.

Blame Politics and Democracy.

 

[Hopkins123]

Thanks for making this clear. The question I have, which probably is a much larger political question, is should I be voting for the party that will make my life better and more affordable, or should I be voting for the party that will be better for everyone in the more grand vision of the GTA and all of Ontario?

We can have both. If everyone has more disposable income as they would under a PC government, than that's more people having more to spend.

And there's no grand vision of the GTA being offered by the Liberals nor NDP. It's not visionary to lay some tracks on a road in an exclusive right-of-way and call it rapid transit. Is the 510 or 512 considered rapid transit? We've seen what Liberal and NDP gov'ts (i.e. David Miller) have to offer. No thanks!

 

[DSC]

Thanks for making this clear. The question I have, which probably is a much larger political question, is should I be voting for the party that will make my life better and more affordable, or should I be voting for the party that will be better for everyone in the more grand vision of the GTA and all of Ontario?

I think you know the answer to THAT question! (Even if you, like me, are not sure who that may be!)

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

I'm personally just looking for some tax cuts to offset other increases in my cost of living...

I hate to break it too you most people aren't likely to see a cut in their taxes at least the ones that think they will get one. Most of the Tax cut the PC party has promised in the past have been ones to people that make the highest income levels and to corporations. The last PC governments tax cuts are why Ontario has so much debt. The same can be said with the federal govermnt. When the Liberals left office in Otwas ther was a budget surplues thatr if it was manged porpperly insted of using it all it would have lasted for years. Insted under Steaphean Harper it was spent in one budget.

 

[drum118]

We can have both. If everyone has more disposable income as they would under a PC government, than that's more people having more to spend.

And there's no grand vision of the GTA being offered by the Liberals nor NDP. It's not visionary to lay some tracks on a road in an exclusive right-of-way and call it rapid transit. Is the 510 or 512 considered rapid transit? We've seen what Liberal and NDP gov'ts (i.e. David Miller) have to offer. No thanks!

Lets see what your views will be in 4 years under a PC government.

Please tell us where it will come from and how much more we will have as disposable income under a PC Government.

Not spending money on the waterfront LRT is a joke since there is no need for a subway there as well few votes can be had compare to Scarborough. Ford hates streetcars and can't even build a subway extension in his own ward/riding that is needed.

 

[Start Fox]

We can have both. If everyone has more disposable income as they would under a PC government, than that's more people having more to spend.

I understand that less taxes theoretically = more disposable income (though the "theoretically" is key, because while I as the average taxpayer may have more income in my pocket, I may now have additional expenses because of the programs lost to the tax cuts - maybe my health care costs go up, maybe my transit/commute costs go up, etc.). But - putting aside the issue of whether my disposable income actually goes up or down - more disposable income and (possible) improvements in the economy that flow from this does not mean that suddenly more transit will be built, more teachers will be hired, more nurses will be hired, or more affordable housing will be built simply because the economy is booming. All of those things come from the government. No individual is going to say "I have so much disposable income now, I'm going to spend it on building a subway and hire a new teacher at my kid's school!" No, instead their money will go towards the banks (via their mortgage) or a corporation (via groceries and gadgets). So you're comparing apples to oranges: disposable income and taxes are spent on different things.

So really, the debate isn't "tax increases" vs. "tax cuts". It's "teachers, transit, nurses for all" vs. "a couple fancy dinners and the latest iPhone for all". The debate is about what you view as more important for yourself and for everyone else.

Also, what I actually like about taxes is my money is essentially being leveraged (probably the wrong word, but you'll get what I mean). If my taxes go down by $200/year then I and everyone else get $200 in disposable income and we can each spend that on a couple nice dinners in the city for ourselves. But if my taxes go up by $200/year, everyone else's go up by $200/year as well. Given there's 13.5 million people in Ontario that means there's now 2.7 billion/year to be spent on things like transit, health care, and education. My agreeing to (i.e. voting for) a $200 increase has essentially been leveraged by me to allow for 2.7 billion of new things - things that will probably impact my, my friends', and my family's quality of life far more than those two nice dinners were going to.

(Disclaimer: yes, it's an oversimplification to say that everyone in the province would pay the same tax increase. And yes, the example presumes that I was in a decent enough position that I didn't immediately need that $200 to survive.)