Public transit dominates third Liberal leadership debate

About 300 Liberals attended the Toronto debate in person, and almost 1,000 watched online.

Oct. 25, 2023
Kirstin Rushowy

A regional transit authority that makes decisions based on local needs -- not provincial politics.

GO Transit service that is available in all parts of Ontario.

These were two of the ideas proposed by Liberal leadership candidates at a debate held Tuesday night in Toronto.

“We need to give people options to get to work. We need to get people out of their automobiles,” said Bonnie Crombie, a former MP who has taken a leave as mayor of Mississauga to pursue the Liberal leadership.

“ … We need to commit to a plan and fund it properly and I’ve often thought there should be a regional transit authority that makes those decisions on behalf of the GTA and the GTHA -- take the politics out of it,” said Crombie in response to a question about projects like the Eglinton Crosstown, co-ordinated by provincial agency Metrolinx, which has faced numerous delays.

“ … If the Hamilton LRT makes sense, let’s fund it. The same for Scarborough, same with Mississauga … but more investment needs to go into public transit rather than building highways” as the Ford government has done, she added.
Yasir Naqvi, the current MP for Ottawa Centre and a former provincial cabinet minister, said he has “imagined a GO Transit system all across Ontario.
“We can only accomplish our population living in all parts of the province when if we have connectivity,” he said from the stage at the Isabel Bader Theatre on the University of Toronto campus.

And “good public transit … the foundation, the backbone with the GO Transit system” could do that, he added. “My dream is GO East, or GO Southwest, or GO Niagara or GO North -- and all of them connected because that is how we’re going to build the province.”

The four leadership candidates -- Crombie, Naqvi, Beaches-East York MP Nate Erskine-Smith and Kingston-area MPP Ted Hsu -- squared off in their third official debate, with two more to come before voting begins at the end of November.

A fifth candidate, Don Valley East MPP Adil Shamji, bowed out of the race last month, throwing his support behind Crombie.

About 300 Liberals attended the Toronto debate in person, and almost 1,000 watched online.

The final two debates are scheduled for Nov. 8 in Ottawa and Nov. 19 in Brampton.

Voting takes place on Nov. 25 and 26 under the Liberals’ new “one member one vote” election system which gives all 124 of the province’s riding the same value despite population differences. The new leader will be named on Dec. 2.

On Tuesday evening, all four candidates took a number of shots at the Ford government, which is mired in controversy over the Greenbelt issue, which forced two cabinet ministers to leave and prompted an RCMP investigation.

“Today, the Ford government is a dumpster fire,” said Hsu, who represents Kingston and the Islands. “I can smell the smoke. I’m not sure if it’s the smoke of the dumpster fire or somebody’s pants are on fire on the government’s side.”

On transit, Erskine-Smith said “there are many municipalities across this province that have public transit that depend on public transit, but other communities that don’t. So what’s the answer? Any leader has to articulate a vision for clean, reliable and affordable transportation -- and that includes, of course, investments in public transit.”

Those investments, he added, “have to be certain for municipalities over the long term, prioritizing projects that are from-the-ground-up projects that make sense to improve ridership” and keep it affordable but also offer “high-quality service.”

“Ultimately, at the end of the day,” he said, “we need governments that stop politicizing public transit.”

Crombie is the apparent front-runner in the race, having raised more money than all of her competitors combined.