Waterfront T.O. tizzy turns out to be nothing more than a typo
Sometimes even the backing of governments that actually have power in Canada (read: not Toronto) isn’t enough to keep a project moving smoothly. In theory, Waterfront Toronto—backed by the city, Ontario and Ottawa governments—should have an easy time of things, but ever since Rob Ford and his allies (namely, his brother) started musing that the city might take its land and go home, Waterfront Toronto’s backers have been understandably skittish about every new bit of news that comes out—which is exactly what happened last week.
A typo appeared to send Waterfront T.O. into a tizzy this time after a report posted to the TTC’s agenda said that the TTC would start planning to rebuild tracks along Queen’s Quay in their current form—instead of the new geography Waterfront T.O. wants to use—unless Waterfront T.O. comes up with the full funding for the its revitalization project by tomorrow. As it turns out, the deadline—“by the end of June 8”—was supposed to read “by the end of June,” so Waterfront can breathe a sigh of relief (sort of).
The weird thing is there’s no shortage of money—it’s just a matter of asking permission from Toronto, Queen’s Park and Ottawa. Moreover, Ottawa’s a big fan of the revitalization project: Jim Flaherty came by to open a new part last week and Toronto Sun columnist Rob Granatstein says the finance minister knocked some heads together to get the Fords to play nice. And that’s how bizarre Toronto politics has become—if Waterfront T.O. manages to protect, redevelop and revitalize the waterfront, one of the harshest Conservatives from the Mike Harris and Stephen Harper governments will end up being one of the heroes in keeping Toronto beautiful.
• Queen’s Quay Revitalization About to Get Derailed? [Torontoist] • Is the TTC Sabotaging Queen’s Quay’s Redevelopment? [Steve Munro]
