Well let the war begin in the city of Toronto. In an apparent move to remove all opposition to Mayor Rob Ford’s subway plans a special Toronto Transit Commission meeting called with only one item on the agenda. A vote to remove Gary Webster’s from the Toronto Transit Commission. The nine-person commission voted 5-4 to remove Gary Webster. I am not sure how this will play out for the mayor and his allies, but I do not foresee it going well. Rather than seek an alternative, and work with council, they have decided to attempt to take control. This is not the best way to promote subways and I believe in the end Rob Ford may lose the battle.
The Liberal government originally promised $8.15 billion in 2007 to Transit City. Transit City was almost entirely funded by the province, with the federal Conservatives chipping in $300 million. It was a plan, and we did not have to agree with all aspects of it, but for the first time we had all levels of government in agreement. If Transit City had gone ahead there would have been a renaissance. However, Mayor Rob Ford declared that David Miller’s transit vision was dead. He called the highly advanced trams, seen in Europe, Australia and many cities around the word streetcars. Yes, they operated on portions of the street, however this is not the St. Clair right-away. He should have worked with council and now a full-out war has been declared. The question is, will anything ever get done?