Transit City 'not tenable' without council support: minister
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 | 8:32 PM ET
CBC News
The Transit City plan calls for the installation of light rail lines across the city. Ontario's transportation minister says the completion of Toronto's Transit City plan is "not tenable" without the support of the city's incoming council.
Kathleen Wynne qualified those remarks Tuesday by saying that the province has "no more money" to build additional subway lines, which mayor-elect Rob Ford has said he wants to do.
She spoke one day before Ford is to meet with TTC general manager Gary Webster. A number of media outlets reported Ford will ask Webster to stop work on Transit City, which calls for the installation of light rail transit lines across the city.
But Ford cannot build any more subway lines without the support of the province, which has already allocated $9.3 billion to a transportation plan for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, of which Transit City is a component.
"Obviously we think there's a plan in place and we'd like to continue with that plan. If city council and the transit commission has a different idea, we'll have to have that conversation with them," Wynne said.
"To go ahead without the co-operation of the city would not be tenable."
$1.3B committed in contracts
However, $1.3 billion has already been committed in Transit City-related contracts, Wynne said. The province would have to pay penalties for breaking those contracts in the event that the Transit City plan is abandoned. Wynne said she did not know how large those penalties would be.
The TTC has also spent $137 million on the project, and construction of the Sheppard Avenue East light rail line has already begun.
Ford has said he would not ask for new transit funding; rather he would try to persuade the Ontario government and its transportation agency Metrolinx to divert $4 billion in funding already allocated to Transit City.
One of his top priorities is to complete the Sheppard Avenue subway line from Downsview station to the Scarborough Town Centre, adding about 12 kilometres and 10 new stations to the line by 2015. He also hopes to extend the Bloor-Danforth subway line to Scarborough Town Centre.
Wynne has said she has not spoken directly to Ford about any future transit plans, but said the province worked for years with the city to develop Transit City.
"This was not a plan that was imposed by the province. This was developed as part of regional transit plan," she said.
Share Tools
Latest Toronto News Headlines
- Truck dangles on overpass after 401 crash in Ajax
- A section of Highway 401 is closed for hours after a tractor-trailer collides with an SUV, slides off the highway and hangs perilously over the roadway below. more »
- GO Transit train damaged by debris on tracks
- A GO Transit train is damaged after striking a short track section that appears to have been deliberately laid over the rails. more »
- Everest team unable to bring down Toronto woman's body
- Bad weather has hampered the recovery team that is attempting to bring down the body of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest. more »
- Man shot dead in Oshawa
- A man in is mid-30s is dead after he was shot at a house in Oshawa on Friday night. more »
Top News Headlines
- Teen struck by lightning in Ottawa dies
- The victim of a Friday lightning strike during a storm in east Ottawa has died, CBC News has learned. more »
- Syrian children massacred by the dozens, UN says
- More than 90 people have been killed by regime forces in a district of central Syria, with the head of the UN team in the country confirming at least 32 children and 60 adults were killed in an artillery attack. more »
- Missing Winnipeg children found in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children reported missing and possibly in Mexico have been found alive, according to unofficial reports from an agency that works to find missing people. more »
- Everest team unable to bring down Toronto woman's body
- Bad weather has hampered the recovery team that is attempting to bring down the body of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest. more »
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- Serial carjacker gets life term for fatal crash
- Highway 401 crash in Ajax closes eastbound lanes
- Timmins fire crews aided by calmer winds
- Toronto throws open its doors
- GO Transit train damaged by debris on tracks
- 'Gay-straight alliances' get green light under Ontario bill
- Man shot dead in Oshawa
- 'Save me' last words of Mount Everest climber

