[Tuscani01]

A recent Facebook post from the project page hinted at unique cladding and blue lighting planned for the elevated guideway.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

A recent Facebook post from the project page hinted at unique cladding and blue lighting planned for the elevated guideway.

The post:

 

[afransen]

And there in lies the problem with Metrolinx ladies and gentlemen:

"Premier Ford has asked that I direct Metrolinx...."

So much for that supposed arm-lengths agency huh?

At least the minister is being open in unintentionally admitting that it isnt. They might as well just have Metrolinx be absorbed into the Ministry of Transportation, especially since their overall role will be shrinking in 2025.

Does 'directing Metrolinx' have any force of law? I can write a letter to Metrolinx as well. Whether Mr Verster or the Board pay it any heed is another matter.

 

[Amare]

Does 'directing Metrolinx' have any force of law? I can write a letter to Metrolinx as well. Whether Mr Verster or the Board pay it any heed is another matter.

Well I mean seeing as though the provincial government has the direct control over Mr.Verster's contract/salary, what incentive would he have to go against the premiers orders? *cough I mean "wishes"*.

 

[ARG1]

Does 'directing Metrolinx' have any force of law? I can write a letter to Metrolinx as well. Whether Mr Verster or the Board pay it any heed is another matter.

I think the problem is its hard to be an arm's length agency when your funding depends on making sure the people in charge are happy. If there isn't much stopping Doug Ford from slashing your budget if he isn't happy with your output, its hard to claim that you operate an arm's length away.

 

[afransen]

I think the problem is its hard to be an arm's length agency when your funding depends on making sure the people in charge are happy. If there isn't much stopping Doug Ford from slashing your budget if he isn't happy with your output, its hard to claim that you operate an arm's length away.

But, it might be a lot less control than one might think given how utterly Metrolinx is dependent on the province for funding. Sort of like how the TTC is strangely unaccountable to the City. Likely has something to do with the optics of prying certain individuals out of senior roles.

 

[crs1026]

Have a good read of the Metrolinx Act. The Minister’s power to direct ML is pretty broad. The Premier’s office is simply giving Ford the credit, but the reality is that the Premier tells the Minister who tells ML what to do.
I have no problem with this setup provided the direction is minuted and discoverable by FOI or otherwise. The problem comes when the direction is made verbally and/or by intermediates so that it is deniable/untrackable later.
When I worked in the public sector (elsewhere than ML) we were accustomed to receiving “Shareholder’s Resolutions” which represented written direction feom QP. I know of situations where a bold CEO actually told the Minister to put something in writing, and backed this up with a legal opinion that the CEO might be violating their fiduciary duty if they took action on something that arguably was a “hit” to the agency, unless specifically ordered to do so by the shareholder.
I wonder if Mr Verster is that kind of CEO.
- Paul

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Have a good read of the Metrolinx Act. The Minister’s power to direct ML is pretty broad. The Premier’s office is simply giving Ford the credit, but the reality is that the Premier tells the Minister who tells ML what to do.
I have no problem with this setup provided the direction is minuted and discoverable by FOI or otherwise. The problem comes when the direction is made verbally and/or by intermediates so that it is deniable/untrackable later.
When I worked in the public sector (elsewhere than ML) we were accustomed to receiving “Shareholder’s Resolutions” which represented written direction feom QP. I know of situations where a bold CEO actually told the Minister to put something in writing, and backed this up with a legal opinion that the CEO might be violating their fiduciary duty if they took action on something that arguably was a “hit” to the agency, unless specifically ordered to do so by the shareholder.
I wonder if Mr Verster is that kind of CEO.
- Paul

Perhaps the better question is whether the province is the type that would hire that kind of CEO.

AoD

 

[Allandale25]

Article from a few days ago.

Is Brampton’s decade-long downtown LRT saga finally coming to an end?

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is optimistic the provincial government will fund its $1.7 billion LRT tunnel proposal.

www.bramptonguardian.com

Is Brampton’s decade-long downtown LRT saga finally coming to an end?
Transportation minister instructing transit agency to create a business case for project expansion
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is optimistic the provincial government will fund its $1.7 billion LRT tunnel proposal.

By
Graeme Frisque
Brampton Guardian

Saturday, January 27, 2024
Article was updated Jan 27, 2024

[Picture: Patrick Brown and Doug Ford]
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown (left) says he's optimistic Premier Doug Ford's provincial government will support Brampton council's desire for a tunnelled LRT route under the city's downtown.

Graeme Frisque Metroland

It was recently revealed the Ontario government is exploring extending the Hazel McCallion light rail transit line into downtown Brampton.

That may sound familiar to those who were paying attention to Brampton politics 10 years ago, when the Ontario government — then under Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne — planned to do the same.

The decision was revealed in a Jan. 17 letter sent from Transportation Minister and Brampton South PC MPP Prabmeet Sarkaria to Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster, instructing the transit agency to create a business case for the project expansion and present it to the government next month.

“Taking note of the significant milestones achieved to deliver Phase 1 of the Hazel McCallion LRT, along with ongoing changes in ridership and usage projections, Premier (Doug) Ford has asked that I direct Metrolinx to bring forward a plan to build the downtown Mississauga loop and an extension into the downtown Brampton,” the letter read.

In 2015, Brampton council infamously turned down hundreds of millions of dollars from the province to bring the then-called Hurontario or Hurontario/Main Street Line into the city’s downtown. The reason? A slim majority of city council at the time wanted the province to spend hundreds of millions more to route the tracks around the downtown instead.

The province cancelled the expansion plans and pulled the funding as a result, deciding instead to end the line several kilometres short of downtown Brampton.

Currently, the project scope for the Hazel McCallion LRT line is to have it run along Hurontario Street from the Port Credit GO station in Mississauga to the Brampton Gateway Terminal at Steeles Avenue.

Any kind of extension of the line into downtown Brampton appeared to be dead in the water after council rebuffed the province's offer nine years ago. However, the next city council under incumbent Mayor Patrick Brown elected in 2018, began advocating to the new provincial government under Ford to revive it in 2019.

This time, council’s preferred option includes an even more expensive proposal, including a tunnel beneath the downtown core. A report from the Region of Peel in 2022 estimated tunnelling under downtown Brampton would cost an estimated $1.2 billion more compared to a surface route.

The new plan didn’t appear to gain much traction with the province in the intervening years, with Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy seemingly suggesting the price tag for a tunnel over a surface route might be a little too hefty during an event hosted by the Brampton Board of Trade in January 2023.

It's worth noting Sarkaria made no mention of including a tunnel in the new plan in his letter to Metrolinx. And it remains to be seen if the province — like the Liberals in 2015 — will even entertain anything more than a surface route through the downtown.

Brown believes the province is receptive to the city’s tunnel proposal, adding the tunnel option was the only business case the city included in its in application to the province for funding.

“We’ve been lobbying for this for five years. It’s a topic of conversation every time we’ve spoken to the premier and the various ministers of transportation we’ve had. So, I would say, the response is we’re elated. It’s exciting,” Brown said in an interview.

“Obviously, Metrolinx still has to come back with its business case, but I’ve spoken to both the premier and the minister of transportation about it, and they appear very committed to this.”

However, the question remains: will [C]ity council accept the funding should the province and Metrolinx only be willing to fund a surface route through the downtown? Or will they dig their heels in on their preferred option as their predecessors did in 2015 if it comes to that?

GF
Graeme Frisque is a reporter with the Mississauga News and Brampton Guardian.

 

[sixrings]

Article from a few days ago.

Is Brampton’s decade-long downtown LRT saga finally coming to an end?

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is optimistic the provincial government will fund its $1.7 billion LRT tunnel proposal.

www.bramptonguardian.com

If Brampton gets an underground lrt we have fully lost hope in transit. Every project going forward will be full of NIMBYs who will reject anything but underground and will all point to Scarborough and Brampton as why should they be the ones who accept at grade transit. Projects will cost more. Things will take longer if anything is built at all.

 

[micheal_can]

If Brampton gets an underground lrt we have fully lost hope in transit. Every project going forward will be full of NIMBYs who will reject anything but underground and will all point to Scarborough and Brampton as why should they be the ones who accept at grade transit. Projects will cost more. Things will take longer if anything is built at all.

For some places, fully underground transit does make sense.

 

[T3G]

For some places, fully underground transit does make sense.

Those places are downtown Toronto, and not its suburbs.

 

[reinventingthewheel]

Underground would be great if it was a full scale metro. The capacity of the LRT can’t really increase by moving the tail end of the line underground. Moving underground doesn’t unlock higher density developments and greater return on investment. It’s a no from me dawg.

 

[sixrings]

For some places, fully underground transit does make sense.

This isn’t that place.

 

[ARG1]

This isn’t that place.

Its a historic downtown with very limited roadspace that the city is interested in pedestrianizing part of. Its not the greatest excuse, but its far from the worst excuse that has been made for burying a section. Its no worse than burying the section of Eglinton between Mt Dennis and Bathurst that's for sure. Its the same reason why burying the Yonge St Rapidway between Major Mackenzie and Levendale was on the books for a significant portion of the Yonge Rapidway's planning process.