Rob Ford’s Sheppard Line could be built solely by casino-money—500 years from now

Metro blogger and noted Rob Ford critic Matt Elliott attacks the idea of a Toronto casino today (and without invoking the future of the city’s children). Instead, he does some math to see whether turning Ontario Place into a massive and swanky “entertainment destination” really could bankroll ambitious projects like the mayor’s cherished subway line to Scarborough. Doubling the direct revenue the City of Niagara Falls got from its casino in 2010 (because Toronto’s casino would be much bigger), and estimating that a subway would cost $300 million per kilometre, Elliott calculates that a casino-funded line to Scarborough Town Centre would open in—drum roll—about 500 years. Which is about as long as it’ll take for urban and suburban councillors to come to an agreement about whether a casino is a good idea. Read the entire story [Metro] »