Not sure whether to yawn, get excited or be completely freaked out about the speculation the province is “open” to assuming total control of the TTC.
At least, that’s what the Globe is reporting. The Star quoted Finance Minister Dwight Duncan as saying a takeover is not in the cards.
The Star’s version of the story would seem closer to the truth. Why would the Libs, who’ve shown no inclination to return full funding to the TTC, all of a sudden want to assume the full load of those costs when it’s teetering under the weight of a $20 billion deficit? Doesn’t make sense, really.
The empire builders at Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency, though, would no doubt like nothing more than to add the biggest transit system in the country to its portfolio.
The idea of a provincial takeover of the TTC is not a new one. Both left and right on councils past and present have embraced the notion. In fact, the Libs floated the idea David Miller’s way when he was chief magistrate. Miller said no for a whole bunch of good reasons.
The TTC is an integral part of the city’s identity, not to mention a valuable asset. Relinquishing control could be a disaster. If you think the TTC has customer service issues now, wait till a behemoth like the province is in charge. But I digress.
For the Ford administration, faced with where to find $1.7 billion in “efficiencies” in a $9.2 billion budget, offloading the TTC would seem a no-brainer.
The trickier question is, what’s in it for the province?
Queen’s Park covers some 75 per cent of the operation of the TTC now, so a takeover is not completely out of the realm of possibility, despite the financial contraints. The province is currently looking into making the TTC an essential service, which would protect it from any future labour disruptions.
However, assuming control of the TTC only really makes sense for the Libs if transit systems in Peel, Vaughan and Durham, the vote rich 905 “donut” around Toronto, are also brought under the Metrolinx umbrella.
In that context, all the takeover talk would seem logical if viewed as part of the Libs’ pre-election messaging strategy – or posturing as the case may be.
The Libs are feeling vulnerable in Hogtown. It would be nice to believe McGuinty’s crew, knowing that many Torontonians are freaked about the prospect of a rush to privatize transit by Ford and Co., are keen on winning a few votes as the defenders of public transit.
The interesting twist is whether Transit City could form any part of the province’s thinking under a takeover scenario. Would Ford, for example, drop his costly subway fantasy, or at least part of it, in exchange for the province agreeing to upload TTC costs? Not likely.
Even if the province were to assume total control of Toronto transit, the building of Transit City anywhere close to as originally envisioned, is not a given. The city would still exercise authority over what happens on its roads, and in Ford’s world roads are made for cars, not light rail. Back to the drawing board.
