Province could absorb skilled TTC staff if subway upload goes through, Toronto’s city manager says

Thestar.com
April 12, 2019
Ben Spurr

The skills of TTC planners shouldn’t be lost if the province takes ownership of Toronto’s subway system, the city’s top bureaucrat says, raising the possibility of a mass transfer of municipal employees to the Ontario government.

At a meeting of the TTC board Thursday, city manager Chris Murray said the transit agency’s staff have “tremendous expertise” in building new lines and it would be a “major mistake” if they aren’t retained in the event Premier Doug Ford’s government follows through on its contentious proposal to “upload” the rail network to Queen’s Park.

The TTC board will meet at 1 p.m. at city hall to debate the city’s transit plans.

Murray wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency, absorbing TTC employees as part of a transit governance shakeup.

“I don’t know how important it is to individuals what logo is on their cheque. I think to me it’s more important that the skill sets that are already working right now are able to continue working,” he said.

The TTC subway carries about 215 million passengers annually, compared to roughly 60 million on Metrolinx’s GO Transit rail network. Given the disparity between the size of the two agencies, the city manager said Metrolinx taking over the TTC subway network would be akin to “the tail wagging the dog.”

Asked whether the staffing issue has been discussed during ongoing negotiations with the province about the upload, Murray said: “We all use ‘collaboration’ and hopefully we all have the same understanding of what that means.”

He stressed he was eager to work with the province to get new lines built.

The Ontario Progressive Conservative government says it wants to take ownership of the TTC subway network because the province is better able to finance and execute expensive new transit projects. Ford has charged that the TTC has done a poor job planning and buliding new lines.

Taking ownership of new lines is a linchpin of the $28.5-billion transit plan Ford announced Wednesday.

His government says it plans to introduce legislation this spring that would put the province in charge of new lines, but it would defer a move to take over the existing network until next year.

The TTC has between 450 and 500 employees in its capital group who split their time between expansion projects and other work such as state of good repair maintenance on the system.

Agency spokesperson Stuart Green said he couldn’t speculate on how an upload could affect staff.

“In terms of what, if any, impact changes to the expansion projects would have on our staff, it’s far too early to say at this point,” he said.

Mike Winterburn, a spokesperson for Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek, didn’t answer directly when asked if the province is planning to take on TTC employees.

“Yesterday, our government announced the biggest investment in new subway builds and extensions in Canadian history and we look forward to engaging with partners -- cities, experts, businesses and more -- to deliver transit to the people of Ontario,” he said.

A spokesperson for Metrolinx didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

TTC and city staff have been working for years, in some cases in co-operation with Metrolinx, to advance planning and design for projects such as the Scarborough subway extension and relief line.

The provincial government would alter those lines by adding two stops to the Scarborough extension, which the city envisions as a single stop, and converting the relief line subway to a lighter rail service with a much longer route called the Ontario Line.

The province says it wants to build on design work done to date, but it’s unclear how much of the existing work could be repurposed.

TTC CEO Rick Leary said the province hasn’t given his agency enough information for his staff to be able to determine how much design work already completed could be used.

“I don’t know, to be honest with you. Because they don’t know what’s being proposed as well,” he said.

Leary said he was pleased with some aspects of the province’s plan, including the government’s recognition that a new line needs to be built to take pressure off the TTC’s crowded Line 1.

He couldn’t say whether the province’s 2027 planned opening date for the Ontario Line was realistic. Some experts have doubted the 15-kilometre line through the heart of Toronto could be built so quickly.

“There’s a lot more detail that needs to be known and understood to be honest with you.”