Yeah, that's real fiscally conservative alright.
Hudak is ridiculous. Then again, it's not like he'll actually get any of this transit built. I would bet dollars to donuts that he would just put it off until the budget is balanced to excuse his doing nothing.
Eglinton Crosstown won't be stopped. It's too far along and like any politician, the goal is to stay in power as long as possible. He knows full well that public transit is a HUGE issue to Torontonians and another betrayal on Eglinton would be the end for his re-election dreams. He will hack and slash in social programs way before touching the transit file in Toronto. For the first time (which is shocking), he just realized that he can't be Premier without Toronto. Why do you think he said the DRL would be built after the budget is balanced? If he balances the budget in 3 years, the studies for phase 1 and possibly phase II will be completed, right on time for the beginning of construction. Even if he wanted to get the line built tomorrow, it would be impossible without those studies.
Also, I too have my fair of doubts towards Tim Hudak but I trust Doug Holiday on the transit file to stay the course. I could see him quit in disgust if Hudak backtracked on his promise.
The line is already budgeted for as are Finch and Sheppard so far. By redirecting the funds to Eglinton, he just buried the entire line right there (although elevating the east portion would have allowed for more rapid transit going west of Mount Dennis)
This is a theme that keeps coming back here so let me slow down things a little bit...
Since when the "right" was anti-transit??? So the Tube was only built by Liberals in the UK? Have there ever been a left wing president in the USA while they embarrass us in public transit??? The Ontario PC never funded transit, ever??? Hell, even Harper is writing cheques for transit. Does he care about transit? Probably not but infrastructure investments was needed and thus the program funded transit plans across the country. There's no such thing as right or left on the transit file. There's only a different view on the matter. If there's one thing the right does very often is to
spend on INFRASTRUCTURE . For the right, it's a mean to stimulate the economy, create jobs and increase productivity. They would rather spend on infrastructure than on social programs (see NDP with a total lack of transit plan) while the Liberals at the centre have tried to balanced the 2 items as much as they could.
It's funny to see this forum traumatized by Harris cancelling Eglinton Subway and irrationally believe that every
PC leader will kill transit in the future. Yes Hudak was part of that government and yes he might be worshipping in an hidden room a self made idol of Mike Harris but Harris was the one to call the shots, not him. Harris is one man, he's not the living embodiment of the right.
I really don't see why he would turn around and cancel everything on the transit file all of a sudden. Like his plan says, he will pretty much go to war with Ontario public service and social programs. Yes it's a major shift in ideology and to the right, but it's not incompatible with transit expansion. It's a major infrastructure expense aimed at stimulating the economy and creating jobs. Would Transit City accomplish that? Debatable but building the DRL ahead of everything else makes wayyyyy more sense which would transform Toronto forever once it opens...along with better and more GO Trains to change the face of the GTA...more so than 2 LRT lines in suburban Toronto.
And if I'm wrong, then he'll betray us all, Holiday will quit, and Toronto will rather become it's own province than vote PC ever again and Hudak will be out of a job in 2018. He might be an empty uncharismatic (I'd rather have a beer with Harper than him) shell but the man's not an idiot.