Mayor John Tory's executive committee approves plan for $3.35 billion one-stop Scarborough subway

But critics charge that uncertainty over the final costs and the funding from Ottawa and Ontario will turn the subway into a "colossal mistake."

Thestar.com
March 7, 2017
By Jennifer Pagliaro

With no certainty on funding from other levels of government or certainty on costs, Mayor John Tory's executive committee supported moving ahead with a one-stop subway extension in Scarborough Wednesday.

While critics called the plan estimated to cost at least $3.35 billion an “albatross” that is destined to be a “colossal mistake,” Tory and supporters said they were “diligently” moving ahead with the plan as promised while contradicting evidence from city staff on the benefits of a subway.

“It’s time to build,” Tory said at the committee ahead of a vote, adding a reference to his 2014 mayoral campaign slogan: “It’s time to say to Scarborough, you are included in One Toronto.”

Executive committee approved the plan, which includes aligning the subway along McCowan Ave., in a near-unanimous vote. Only Councillor Paul Ainslie (Ward 43 Scarborough East), who has supported a light-rail plan, voted against it.

A motion from Tory to review options for the private sector to help finance a $187 million bus terminal - recommended by staff and now included in the cost of the subway extension - was also approved.

Council has the final say at the end of the month.

The debate Tuesday saw lobbyists paid for by Scarborough Town Centre owners Oxford Properties Group through newly-created organization ConnectScarborough advocate for the one-stop subway while members of the citizens’ group Scarborough Transit Action argue that the money would be better spent on a network of LRTs.

There were emotional arguments made by both members of the public and councillors Tuesday on the time that could be saved on commutes with the subway - time better spent with family.

At one point, Tory asked a resident to speculate on how much faster he could get where we would be going on a line that is not yet built. The resident guessed 15 minutes could be shaved from his commute.

But in a report released in June, city staff said the replacement of the SRT with a one-stop subway could save riders “up to five minutes.”

Asked about that assessment by staff and whether it was responsible for him to ask members of the public to speculate, Tory told reporters:

"Well, I guess, you know it’s funny because we have lots of experts and we get lots of reports from them but actually nothing substitutes for the experiences that people among the public actually have on a day-to-day basis. You can have all the expert reports you want but I think nothing replaces the lived experiences.”

Council originally planned and the province agreed to fully fund a seven-stop LRT to replace the aging Scarborough RT. But that plan was halted when council flip-flopped to approve a three-stop subway under mayor Rob Ford in 2013.

Three levels of government originally committed $3.56 billion to a three-stop subway - funding city manager Peter Wallace told committee members on Tuesday, needs to be confirmed and is “to some extent at risk.”

In January 2016, facing ongoing criticism of the justification for the subway, Tory and senior city staff presented a new plan - a one-stop subway to Scarborough Town Centre which they said would allow a 17-stop LRT to be built within the same funding envelope.

Since then, the cost of the one-stop subway extension has climbed from an approximate estimate of $2 billion to $3.35 billion, effectively pricing out the Eglinton East LRT. Tory has said the other levels of government will pay for that line. Neither government has signaled a willingness to pay for it.

“This is not a referendum about subways and LRTs,” budget chief Councillor Gary Crawford said at committee. “We are moving forward diligently.”

Councillor Anthony Perruzza countered that the subway would burn through the available funds for Scarborough transit while serving a small number of residents.

“We are making a colossal mistake.”

Longtime Scarborough resident Ashwani Bhardwaj said his part of the city paying their “fair share of taxes” has been “neglected” by council.

“I believe that Scarborough subway has been overdue,” he said. “It will make Scarborough Centre an economic hub to attract employers and would provide greater Toronto opportunities for Scarborough residents.”

Zuzana Betkova, who currently lives in Davenport and previously lived in Scarborough, said what that region needs is a “rapid transit network as soon as possible.”

“I’m wondering, though, about the people in Scarborough who do not want to go downtown Toronto, who want to live and work in Scarborough and who do not have transit options within Scarborough and I don’t see how this one-stop Scarborough extension will help those people,” she said, adding she favours the light-rail option.

Councillor Frances Nunziata challenged Betkova, saying council had already made up its mind and that an LRT-only option was no longer on the table.

To which Betkova replied: “I want to just speak to the fact that you’ve already voted on it. I, as a taxpayer, am fully entitled to keep disagreeing with you and to speak, right? Because it’s a democracy.”