Did politics ensure the Yonge subway route got moved in Thornhill? Some fighting Metrolinx transit plans think so

Thestar.com
Dec. 10, 2021
Ben Spurr

Toronto community groups campaigning for changes to provincial transit projects in their backyards are reacting with a mix of anger and optimism to Metrolinx’s decision to shift the proposed route of a new subway in York Region.

Groups upset by the change to the $5.6-billion Yonge North Subway Extension accuse the province of bias for heeding complaints from homeowners in an Ontario PC riding along the route while failing to listen to less-affluent residents who don’t vote Conservative. But others say the revised design gives them hope the province is willing to amend its projects to reflect local input.

Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster announced Wednesday the agency would relocate a section of the 8-kilometre Yonge North project so that it will run beneath fewer homes in Thornhill’s Royal Orchard neighbourhood, where residents had claimed it could damage their properties and have other negative effects. While some locals say the change doesn’t go far enough, Metrolinx said the decision demonstrates its commitment to listening to communities.

But Aamir Sukhera said his response when heard about the new Yonge North route was “rage.”

His SaveTPARK group has been campaigning against Metrolinx’s plans to build a train yard for the $11-billion Ontario Line in Thorncliffe Park. The residents group says the 175,000-square-metre facility will displace small businesses and eliminate scarce community space in a neighbourhood where poverty rates are more than twice the city average and four out of five residents are visible minorities.

Sukhera said the decision to shift the Yonge North line is proof that Metrolinx will accede to “people that are affluent and well-off” but won’t listen to Thorncliffe residents “because we’re just renters.”

“This is inequality and inequities in neighbourhoods like ours that I just don’t think is fair,” he said.

Floyd Ruskin, whose Don’t Mess With the Don group opposes Metrolinx’s proposal to build a layover for GO Transit trains in the Don Valley, said revisions to Yonge North aren’t proof Metrolinx is committed to listening to all communities -- only certain ones. He noted that Thornhill is represented by the Ontario PCs, while other projects facing opposition in east downtown Toronto and elsewhere are in historically Liberal or NDP areas.

“Metrolinx is a highly politicized agency” and will only change plans if “they see the political writing on the wall,” Ruskin said.

But Paul Young of the Save Jimmie Simpson group said Metrolinx’s amendment to Yonge North sends the right message that the powerful agency can be swayed. He and other residents have demanded that Metrolinx scrap plans to build the Ontario Line above ground through Leslieville and Riverside and put it below ground instead.

“Generally, I think it’s good news,” Young said. “It signals that Metrolinx does change its plans. We’re hopeful that Metrolinx will listen to the thousands of people and businesses in Leslieville and Riverside.”

Friends of Small’s Creek, which opposes Metrolinx designs to widen a GO rail corridor in an ecologically sensitive ravine near East Danforth, also welcomed the Yonge North revision. The group said in a statement that while the transit agency has suffered from “a lack of trust,” members are “pleased to see Metrolinx change their approach to planning to one that reflects the issues that arise in consultation.” It suggested the change could help Friends of Small’s Creek hold Metrolinx accountable to its pledge to protect wetland in the ravine.

Metrolinx spokesperson Fannie Sunshine said any claims that the agency has shown favouritism to residents of Royal Orchard over those of Thorncliffe and elsewhere are false.

“We value all of the communities we serve and our commitment to listening and responding to feedback does not waiver from community to community,” she said.

According to Metrolinx, the agency decided to locate the Ontario Line train yard in Thorncliffe after “an extensive study” determined “it was the only option that could meet all of the technical needs for the project while preserving local jobs.” Sunshine said Metrolinx is helping to relocate affected businesses, community organizations and jobs to locations nearby.

Sunshine said in addition to Yonge North, Metrolinx has already made changes to other projects in response to local feedback, including shifting the route of the Ontario Line through Thorncliffe to take it farther away from homes, and minimizing disruption in Leslieville and Riverside by keeping construction within the existing GO corridor and promising to build park space.

A spokesperson for Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney, who oversees Metrolinx, didn’t directly answer questions about whether the Yonge North decision was political.

“Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is stepping up and putting the Yonge North Subway Extension on the map as a priority transit project after years of ‘no’ from the previous Ontario Liberals,” said Jordanna Colwill.