Mayoral candidates Fred Eisenberger and Jon Haddahl went on the CBC’s Metro Morning program this morning, and the candidates both opined on Mayor John Tory’s pending decision to announce his legacy of tolls on the Gardiner Expressway to pay for subway expansion projects. Their comments:
Fred Eisenberger:
People outside of Toronto are not aware that because there are tolls on the Gardiner, the cost of those transit projects to the city has skyrocketed. You’ve got two projects that are not going to happen, at least not right away, and just to pay for the Moray Gate station, it’s going to cost another $30 billion.
It’s a pretty basic issue that if we were actually doing what we say we’re going to do, why should we borrow more money for a future that may not come to fruition.
Jon Haddahl:
Well, I haven’t seen that analysis yet, but I think the benefits will outweigh the costs in terms of the impact on traffic in the city of Toronto. The easiest way to pay for these transit projects is to increase our reliance on public transit. That is how this works at a political level. What I would hope, if you really care about the future of this city and you really care about the quality of life of the citizens of this city, you’d do both. It’s not just paying for the projects. It’s paying for the infrastructure that supports the projects.
Fred Eisenberger:
I think this is not how you do it.
Jon Haddahl:
Well, of course it’s not how it’s done. It’s just another way of doing it in the absence of prioritizing, for crying out loud.
Fred Eisenberger:
You look at it. Let’s stay with the $1.6 billion. After all the money that’s being spent out there, you’ve got $1.6 billion left. The idea that you need to borrow $30 billion for something that won’t come to fruition is utterly ridiculous.
Jon Haddahl:
That $1.6 billion cost is based on some numbers. The transit report actually said the air above the Gardiner is polluted. The Gardiner is a blight. When you look at the numbers, it’s not economically feasible.
Fred Eisenberger:
I’m paying my municipal tax in dollars. My civic taxes. That’s not what I want to see right now. We need to prioritize something and we need to be able to do that in a way that people can understand, not just having to borrow $30 billion or whatever it is to pay for something that’s not going to happen because you can’t pay for it over the long term.
Jon Haddahl:
That’s why you’re going to have a referendum. That’s why we all voted against the Exhibition Centre. It’s money that we have to put together for some projects, not just servicing existing debt because in a poll this week, people did not want to vote for it. You will not have a referendum. You will have another round of budget spending. That’s what will go on.
Fred Eisenberger:
So far, you all seem to be reluctant to move to a referendum. It’s a difficult decision to make. I don’t have an answer, but I’m asking you to listen to the people, understand what they’re saying, and I think it’s pretty plain.
–Toronto Life