{"id":48190,"date":"2014-04-07T08:30:59","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T12:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=48190"},"modified":"2014-04-06T22:54:58","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T02:54:58","slug":"lorinc-chow-dithers-downtown-relief-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2014\/04\/07\/lorinc-chow-dithers-downtown-relief-line\/","title":{"rendered":"LORINC: Chow dithers on downtown relief line"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"feature-lorinc\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On his radio show last week, The Grid\u2019s Ed Keenan<\/a> asked Olivia Chow to clarify her position on the [insert euphemism here] Relief Line. Her answer:<\/p>\n

\u201cI support it. The environmental assessment is being done right now. In the summer, we\u2019ll see the options of which route we\u2019ll take, which stops, and we\u2019ll need to look at the funding options, etc. But according to the TTC\u2019s report from a year and a half ago, the fastest we can build there is 2031. So we\u2019re talking about 17 years. \u201cCan we do it faster? Maybe. But it\u2019s $8 billion. That\u2019s a lot of money, so we need to negotiate with the federal and provincial government on how we\u2019re going to do this. But I don\u2019t think this should be an election issue because<\/em> nothing is going to break ground for another five years, six years.<\/em>\u201d [my emphasis added].<\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s the answer I\u2019d like to have heard:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Relief Line is the single most important infrastructure investment Toronto is going to make in the next 50 years. It will benefit people commuting from Scarborough. It will benefit those traveling from Etobicoke and North York. And yes, the Relief Line will benefit downtowners, although they\u2019ll bear the brunt of the construction. It will make the air cleaner, reduce congestion on our roads, foster economic growth. It is an investment in the future of the whole city.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut no government so far has had the guts to make the tough decisions about financing it. The federal government ignores Toronto. The provincial Liberals build billion-dollar subways to suburban malls and leave local taxpayers holding the bag on operating costs. The current mayor has shown over and over that he has no clue about transit. And my rivals have no plausible plan to pay for this project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to fight every day for the funding to make the Relief Line happen — not just when I\u2019m mayor but starting now, during this race. I am calling on Kathleen Wynne to show us the money. And I challenge Tim Hudak and Andrea Horwath to demonstrate to this city\u2019s voters that they care about Ontario\u2019s economic engine.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay, I’ll get off my high horse.<\/p>\n

The problem with Chow\u2019s position, in my view, is that she\u2019s telegraphing the message that she\u2019s not prepared to go to the wall to secure the investments necessary to deliver a Relief Line, whatever the configuration. Look for the passive construction in her answers. The money will materialize, somehow, \u201ceventually.\u201d Ergo, it doesn\u2019t need to be an election issue.<\/p>\n

Nothing could be further from the truth, and Chow of all people should know better. John Tory, who\u2019s doing plenty of equivocating of his own, was nonetheless right to call her out<\/a>. In local politics, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Rob Ford knows that. Mel Lastman knew that. David Miller and Hazel McCallion did, too.<\/p>\n

Instead of feisty advocacy, Chow conflates process with resources. Yes, technical work will be done<\/a> by technical people tasked with technical analyses. But nothing can happen until — and unless — our leaders create the political conditions that allow the public to support the necessary spending. There\u2019s no reason we need to wait for all the reports to be completed to have a broad debate about money.<\/p>\n

So when I listen to Chow\u2019s evasions, I hear the following:<\/p>\n