“I campaigned on building subways and I stand behind that commitment 100 per cent, because it is the right thing to do,” Ford said at an outdoor rush-hour news conference at Eglinton and Victoria Park Aves. “Putting trains down the middle of congested, jammed-up streets like the one behind us is not the answer. It is wrong.”
Tuesday’s vote was a bruising defeat for TTC chair Karen Stintz, who supports running part of the LRT above-ground and using the $2 billion saved for other transit projects. When asked whether Stintz should stay on as TTC chair, Ford said “the commission spoke loud and clear in how they voted.”
TIMELINE: HOW TORONTO’S TRANSIT MESS UNFOLDED
Stintz repeated Wednesday that she has no plans to resign. She’s looking forward to steering the TTC’s customer service initiatives and new performance standards, she said. But she stressed that the Eglinton issues need a public debate.
On Wednesday, Ford was flanked by supportive councillors Michelle Berardinetti, Gary Crawford, Mike Del Grande and Norm Kelly. Seven of 10 city councillors from Scarborough have signed a letter supporting Ford’s plan to bury the LRT.
Those councillors aren’t thinking about the entire city, said Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, whose Scarborough Centre ward extends to Scarborough Town Centre, where the Sheppard subway and Eglinton line would terminate under Ford’s transit plan.
Obviously, people along Eglinton would like a subway, he said. But, “the consequence is to exclude tens of thousands of people who will not get mass transit for 50 to 60 years.”
De Baeremaeker was among the left and centre councillors who want Stintz to stay on as leader of the TTC board, despite her board’s lack of support. She has the more critical support of the majority of council, he said.
“They didn’t move a non-confidence motion. They disagreed on a policy issue,” De Baeremaeker said, praising her commitment to putting the facts on Eglinton before the public.
Denzil Minnan-Wong, one of the five transit commissioners who voted against the report, wouldn’t say whether Stintz still had his confidence, and of resigning said: “That’s a decision she needs to make.”
Some councillors are saying a memorandum of agreement between the city, the TTC and Metrolinx dated November 2009 is further proof that Toronto and the province are still bound legally to the old Transit City plan.
The agreement, which has a stamp of council approval, “is iron-clad,” said Councillor Maria Augimeri, who sits on the TTC board, and it is still in effect.
“The MOA also shows exactly how an agreement for transit expansion plans should be arrived at: democratically through council, not unilaterally from one person,” Augimeri said.
A copy of the agreement obtained by the Star, marked confidential, includes several letters from Metrolinx head Rob Prichard extending the terms of the plan. The last extension includes detailed cash flow forecasts to March 31, 2012.
On Wednesday, Ford responded to a letter from Metrolinx asking the mayor and Stintz to clarify which transit plan the city wants the province to pay for. Ford’s response restates his commitment to building Eglinton underground and extending the Sheppard subway.
He goes on to say he understands the province’s difficulty in financing Sheppard or putting savings from Eglinton toward other projects.
Until the province or city agree to match $330 million that the federal government has said it would provide for Sheppard, the city can’t access that money, Stintz said.
“Eventually that’s going to be clawed back, I would expect. How long are they going to reasonably keep that money allocated to the city? The City of Toronto’s in no position to match those funds,” she said.
Ford also says Gordon Chong’s report on financing Sheppard will go before his executive committee Feb. 13.
Councillors contacted by the Star Wednesday refused to discuss whether they are moving to hold a special council meeting to force a vote on the transit plan. A special meeting can be held if a majority of councillors sign a petition to the city clerk.
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Michael Woods and Tess Kalinowski
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