Premier Kathleen Wynne slammed for not following transit funding plan

Aurora Banner
March 14, 2014
By Sean Pearce

Liberal Vaughan MPP Steven Del Duca is defending Thursday’s announcement from Premier Kathleen Wynne vowing to build new transportation and transit infrastructure without increasing the HST, gas levies or personal income taxes on middle-class earners.

The province has invested nearly $14 billion in public transit infrastructure since taking office in 2003 and there are more enhancements and expansions planned, Mr. Del Duca said, while stressing the cost of these improvements will not be borne on the backs of middle-income Ontarians.

However, he wouldn’t confirm if the government will continue to adhere to the Big Move regional transportation plan and provided few specifics on how new transit would be paid for except to say the Trillium Trust announced in the fall and revenue streams outside those recommended by Metrolinx and the transit investment strategy advisory panel could play a role.

More clarity will come with the spring budget, he concluded.

“The role of a government is to make the decision that makes the most sense for the economy of the day,” Mr. Del Duca said. “At the end of the day, more details will be revealed in budget 2014.”

The apparent rejection of some revenue tools comes after months of consultations on the matter with GTHA residents first by Metrolinx and then by a transit investment strategy advisory panel chaired by Anne Golden. The latter released its findings in December.

Progressive Conservative Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees described Thursday’s announcement as little more than Liberal government propaganda and suggested the move was an attempt on the part of Ms Wynne to try to entice NDP Leader Andrea Horwath into supporting the government when it tables the budget later this month or early next.

The fact the government has vetoed a few new taxes and fees doesn’t mean it won’t bring forward others later, such as parking lot levies and corporate taxes, as a means of generating the needed funds, Mr. Klees said, adding the sudden shift in direction after months of consultations should be seen as an insult to the electorate.

“This government is incompetent and doesn’t deserve our confidence,” he said. “If this level of ineptitude and indecision was demonstrated in any other corporation or organization, the people at the top would be fired.”

Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson, who serves as the NDP transportation critic and house leader, referred to the move by Ms Wynne as cynical politics. Neither NDP leader Andrea Horwath nor PC leader Tim Hudak have shown any interest in supporting a budget that includes hikes to the HST, gas taxes or income taxes for the middle class to pay for transit, so the shift in policy is less about Ms Wynne having a change of heart and more about her recognizing the position she now finds herself in, he said.

In any event, Mr. Bisson views Ms Wynne’s announcement as less about appeasing either the NDP or the PCs and more about making the upcoming budget palatable to the voting public in the event of an election. He isn’t certain if the NDP will support the document when it’s tabled, but said the PCs pledge to vote down the Liberal government’s fiscal plan prior to seeing its contents doesn’t help anyone.

“Tim Hudak has effectively dealt himself out of the provincial parliament,” he said, adding the PC leader’s consistently contrarian stance is disrespectful to the public and how it voted in 2011.

If any word describes the Liberals’ stance on transit at the moment, it’s confused, Mr. Bisson said. The government’s priorities are muddled as, on one hand, we’ve been told we require new taxes and fees to find $2 billion per year to fund needed expansions and on the other, the Liberals have found enough room in the province’s $127-billion budget to propose corporations get a tax cut on their entertainment expenses, such as stadium box rentals and dinners, he said, adding the measure could cost up to $1.5 billion annually.

Regardless, Mr. Bisson doubts talk of increases to the HST, gas levies and personal income taxes are truly gone for good.

“If the Liberals got a majority government today, they would raise taxes on the middle class to pay for this,” he said. “We’ve seen this movie before when it was called Dalton McGuinty and the HST and I, for one, don’t want to see a re-run.”

Mr. Del Duca dismissed the notion taking increases to the HST and gas tax out of the equation were measures aimed at earning support from the NDP for the budget. The government is simply acting responsibly, he said, adding the PCs and NDP have no right to criticize the government’s performance on the transit file.

The opposition leaders have no plans and no track records, he said.

“The PCs are infamous not for expanding subways, but rather for filling in holes that were already dug and the NDP have no plan. Period. Full stop.”

Representatives for Metrolinx declined a telephone interview but, in a prepared statement, spokesperson Anne Marie Aikens said the government has been making steady and strong investments in transit in recent years and stressed the investments need to continue on a sustained and substantial basis to implement the Big Move.

It is important for all levels of government to work together, she said, adding each will have to determine how best to fund its share.

“Our mandate at Metrolinx is to continue to plan and execute these investments, building on the major progress already underway,” Ms Aikens said. “The Government of Ontario has been a strong partner for us and we are optimistic this will continue and the budget will include a plan for doing so.”

In response to the announcement, the Greater Toronto Civic Action Alliance renewed its call for dedicated transportation funding to be included in the spring budget.