Mayor Rob Ford makes vomiting sound in reaction to Metrolinx revenue proposals

Mayor Rob Ford reacted to Metrolinx’s list of potential ways to pay for a massive transit expansion by grabbing this throat and making a vomiting sound.

Ford laughed after making the noise and rejected outright the agency’s long-awaited report on how GTA residents can help fund a war on traffic congestion that is sapping the region’s prosperity.

“You can’t tax people, implement these new taxes to pay for transit,” Ford told reporters in the City Hall atrium after kicking off the “Clean Toronto Together” four-week city spring cleanup.

“You want to pay for transit, I’ve got a good idea — it’s called a casino,” Ford said.

“You get a lot of money to pay for a good amount of the transit, you get the private sector involved — people aren’t ready for new taxes yet.”

Ford is far from Toronto’s final word, however. The proposal for a downtown casino looks like a longshot and the mayor long ago lost his ability to command a majority of council votes on many issues including transit expansion.

Many councillors have expressed support for new revenue tools and Metrolinx will look for input from council as a whole — not just Ford.

Metrolinx’s options include property taxes, transit fare increases and parking levies, including parking at GO Transit stations, as well as more innovative schemes including one that would see motorists charged for each kilometre they travel in the region.

Premier Kathleen Wynne reacted positively to the proposals, saying they at least show the problem is finally about to be tackled.

Wynne said people naturally don’t want to pay more on first blush “but if the question is ‘do you want to have the transit that is needed in this region?’ . . . the answer is yes. Everyone wants that.”

“And the next question has to be ‘how are we going to pay for that?’And it is a combination of investments that the government has made . . . but it has to be in combination with the federal government and other revenue streams. There just isn’t any other way to continue to build,” she told reporters at the end of her tour of an executive jet refurbishing facility

While Ford was mock-gagging, Metrolinx chief executive Bruce McCuaig was publicly unveiling the proposals first revealed Tuesday morning by the Star’s Tess Kalinowski.

McCuaig told reporters that, in drafting its list, Metrolinx had four principles: A clear link between revenue and projects; fairness among population groups; geographic equity; and accountability.

Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author:  David Rider