waterloowarrior
Senior Member
Veteran bureaucrat to take reins at Metrolinx
Deputy minister of transportation Bruce McCuaig to replace Rob Prichard
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...at-to-take-reins-at-metrolinx/article1655385/
Sarah Boesveld
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published on Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010 10:46PM EDT
Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010 10:52PM EDT
Ontario’s deputy minister of transportation will become the new head of Metrolinx, inheriting oversight of the agency’s massive transit growth and the task of running GO Transit.
Bruce McCuaig will become president and chief executive officer of the regional agency, replacing Rob Prichard who will stay on as chair of the board of directors, the Transportation Ministry announced Wednesday.
The bureaucrat, with 26 years of public service, many of them in leadership roles, is trained in land-use planning. He has helped Metrolinx on Toronto’s Transit City plan. The expansion will happen in 10 years instead of eight due to provincial budget constraints – a move Toronto Mayor David Miller met with outrage.
“I understand the perspective of the city of Toronto on wanting to achieve their Transit City objectives as quickly as possible,†he said. “The [new plan is], I think, a very reasonable approach to address that fiscal reality the province would face.â€
He said he has a number of strong relationships with federal, provincial and municipal transit officials, calling his relationship with Toronto Transit Commission manager Gary Webster one of “great respect.â€
At the same time, some wonder whether this appointment will drive too much provincial government influence in an agency that’s supposed to be arm’s length.
The announcement came a little too quietly for Conservative transportation critic and former minister Frank Klees.
While he said he has the utmost respect for Mr. McCuaig, who served as assistant deputy minister when Mr. Klees was minister of transportation, he was quick to point out his “very serious concerns†about the move.
He has long advocated that Metrolinx be separate from the government and free from its influence, and a step in that direction was taken last year when the board was ordered to no longer include elected officials.
“My concern now is this may well be a way for the McGuinty government to feel that they now will have a reach into the Metrolinx board and have an influence over the decisions that are made there,†he said.
When TTC chair Adam Giambrone was asked how he feels the appointment might impact issues the TTC has been dealing with (such as open payment and transit expansion funding), he said they have nothing to do with Mr. McCuaig’s leadership.
“We’ve worked with him as deputy minister of transportation, so I wish the deputy well,†he said, adding that he does have major challenges ahead of him as president and CEO of Metrolinx.
Mr. McCuaig said crafting a sound relationship with the TTC is going to be one of his key commitments.
“One of the key challenges I’ll be taking into the new role is maintaining a sense of partnership and collaboration with the TTC,†he said. “That’s what Metrolinx has been trying to build in the last 18 months. I’m just going to be continuing that.â€
He will continue to commute from Mississauga, by car and by GO Train, when he starts the job Sept. 7 and will no longer have any duties with the ministry, he said.
Metrolinx, which is a regional transit agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas, announced Wednesday that it has purchased four tunnel-boring machines, priced at $54-million each, to help build the Eglinton light-rail transit line – one of Toronto’s Transit City projects.
Deputy minister of transportation Bruce McCuaig to replace Rob Prichard
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...at-to-take-reins-at-metrolinx/article1655385/
Sarah Boesveld
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published on Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010 10:46PM EDT
Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010 10:52PM EDT
Ontario’s deputy minister of transportation will become the new head of Metrolinx, inheriting oversight of the agency’s massive transit growth and the task of running GO Transit.
Bruce McCuaig will become president and chief executive officer of the regional agency, replacing Rob Prichard who will stay on as chair of the board of directors, the Transportation Ministry announced Wednesday.
The bureaucrat, with 26 years of public service, many of them in leadership roles, is trained in land-use planning. He has helped Metrolinx on Toronto’s Transit City plan. The expansion will happen in 10 years instead of eight due to provincial budget constraints – a move Toronto Mayor David Miller met with outrage.
“I understand the perspective of the city of Toronto on wanting to achieve their Transit City objectives as quickly as possible,†he said. “The [new plan is], I think, a very reasonable approach to address that fiscal reality the province would face.â€
He said he has a number of strong relationships with federal, provincial and municipal transit officials, calling his relationship with Toronto Transit Commission manager Gary Webster one of “great respect.â€
At the same time, some wonder whether this appointment will drive too much provincial government influence in an agency that’s supposed to be arm’s length.
The announcement came a little too quietly for Conservative transportation critic and former minister Frank Klees.
While he said he has the utmost respect for Mr. McCuaig, who served as assistant deputy minister when Mr. Klees was minister of transportation, he was quick to point out his “very serious concerns†about the move.
He has long advocated that Metrolinx be separate from the government and free from its influence, and a step in that direction was taken last year when the board was ordered to no longer include elected officials.
“My concern now is this may well be a way for the McGuinty government to feel that they now will have a reach into the Metrolinx board and have an influence over the decisions that are made there,†he said.
When TTC chair Adam Giambrone was asked how he feels the appointment might impact issues the TTC has been dealing with (such as open payment and transit expansion funding), he said they have nothing to do with Mr. McCuaig’s leadership.
“We’ve worked with him as deputy minister of transportation, so I wish the deputy well,†he said, adding that he does have major challenges ahead of him as president and CEO of Metrolinx.
Mr. McCuaig said crafting a sound relationship with the TTC is going to be one of his key commitments.
“One of the key challenges I’ll be taking into the new role is maintaining a sense of partnership and collaboration with the TTC,†he said. “That’s what Metrolinx has been trying to build in the last 18 months. I’m just going to be continuing that.â€
He will continue to commute from Mississauga, by car and by GO Train, when he starts the job Sept. 7 and will no longer have any duties with the ministry, he said.
Metrolinx, which is a regional transit agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas, announced Wednesday that it has purchased four tunnel-boring machines, priced at $54-million each, to help build the Eglinton light-rail transit line – one of Toronto’s Transit City projects.