Tory's published defence of Scarborough subway draws fresh criticism
Accusations about sidelining immigrants in mayor’s opinion piece on thestar.com draw swift rebuttals from anti-subway councillors.

thestar.com
June 27, 2016
By Jennifer Pagliaro

Mayor John Tory is taking heat for suggesting those who oppose a $3.2-billion Scarborough subway are sidelining immigrants.

In an opinion piece posted on thestar.com on Monday and published in Tuesday’s Toronto Star, Tory wrote: “But many of the subway’s loudest critics do not live or work in Scarborough, where more than half the population is born outside of Canada. When they say this is too much to spend on a subway, the inference seems to be that it’s too much to spend on this part of the city.”

Those comments drew ire among his council colleagues and online Monday night, where the mayor was accused of stooping to divisive and offside rhetoric more typical of the late Rob Ford.

“John Tory has always preached civility and says that he cares about the facts,” Councillor Josh Matlow, who has been one of council’s most vocal opponents to the Scarborough subway, told the Star.

Matlow accused the mayor of trying to “smear” critics of the one-stop subway, “as not caring about immigrants.” Not only is that unfair, he said, “but it’s also factually untrue, as those critics are advocating for building far more rapid transit stations that would serve immigrants and all Scarborough residents in many more neighbourhoods … for the same $3 billion price tag.”

Others expressed the view that Tory’s statement, in defence of a plan that has become increasingly expensive and continues to be questioned by councillors, residents and experts, was a break from his promise of building “One Toronto” by healing divides in the city left in the wake of the Ford era.

Councillor Gord Perks, an outspoken critic of Tory’s mayoralty, tweeted: “I wonder @JohnTory if this is what you meant by improving the tone at council and getting us to work together.”

Asked about the comments Monday night, Tory’s spokesperson Amanda Galbraith said the mayor’s opinion piece was “not meant to be divisive but to point out an inequity in our transit system that needs to be addressed.”

“In it, he warned that cancelling the project would cause further transit delays, impact our partnerships with other levels of government and leave the people of Scarborough without transit for even longer,” she said in an email. “He also pointed out that Scarborough, which has a large population of new Canadians, remains the only part of Toronto not connected into the subway system.”

“The bottom line is Scarborough is underserved by transit. Dramatically so compared to the rest of the city. Many of the people who live in Scarborough are newcomers to our city, and they need opportunities for mobility on transit.”

Galbraith said the mayor supports a revised transit plan for Scarborough, one that includes an LRT with up to 17 stops along Eglinton Ave. that would run through the heart of five priority neighbourhoods.

The subway serves only one priority neighbourhood.

But the LRT line is now jeopardized by the ballooning cost of the one-stop subway, which requires almost all of the $3.56 billion in committed funding that was said to be available for both projects. Tory’s piece also did not acknowledge that a seven-stop LRT to replace the aging Scarborough RT - council’s original plan that was backed and paid for by the province - would have served twice as many people within walking distance of a station.