The 2014 election (or Doug Ford’s election to Queen’s Park) could kill Transit City again
Rob Ford has been silent since Metrolinx resurrected the LRT-based transit plan he cancelled on his first day in office, but the mayor’s brother Doug (as usual) was less shy. Yesterday, Doug vowed to continue fighting for subways into the 2014 election—even though construction on the Sheppard LRT line is scheduled to start in the summer of 2014. “We are going to run on subways,” he told the Globe and Mail, saying that councillors who voted in favour of the LRT-based plan “are going to be held accountable in the next election” (we can just picture the construction-site press conferences). Moreover, if Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal minority topples before 2014, Doug said he would leave his brother’s side, run as an MPP and try to help direct the transit debate from Queen’s Park. Though that’s several steps off, Doug’s comments do serve as a reminder that this plan is only secure as long as the Liberals maintain their hold on Queen’s Park—the Progressive Conservatives’ Tim Hudak has already shown how much he supports subways. [Globe and Mail]
Stop it already! We all support subways, I’m a subway geek actually, but what I don’t support is building subways where they don’t make sense. Whenever you say the Fords or Hudak “support subways” it makes it seem as if whoever doesn’t agree with their plan is against subways. Far from the truth, what we need is a Downtown Relief Line (which ironically would benefit suburbs the most)
Those Ford brothers are such an irritation. I wish they would just go away and leave Toronto alone. I suspect Doug Ford is serious that he would do what he can to thwart the will of the people of Toronto to have his way with us.