Once a trusted ally of mayor Rob Ford, Ms. Karen Stintz turned on the mayor and abandoned his mandate to get rid of Transit City which included the light rail transit (LRT) and he was going to replace it with subways which the people of Toronto had wanted when we elected him mayor.  The situation is currently up in the air  as the mayor and his trusted team needs to regroup to find a way to deal with the mess he had been dealt.

Ms. Stintz decided, in her wisdom, to call a special meeting of city council on Wednesday, February 8th to debate how to use the $8.4 billion provincial funding and she had rallied enough support on council and most of them decided with a vote of 25-16 to go with her vision of what to do regarding the money, in effect neutralizing mayor Rob Ford's vision of subways for all.  It seems like the people in Scarborough might not have a subway after all and will in fact be treated as second class citizens if Transit City, a project by former mayor David Miller, does prevail.  The people of Scarborough will be  then be riding the slower trains.

Despite being hand picked for the role of TTC Commissioner by mayor Rob Ford himself, Ms. Stintz was supposed to do the job that the mayor had entrusted her to do, but she somehow had other ideas.  And, because of her defection she might end up losing her job later on once the mayor decides what to do with her with help from his allies on the TTC board.  However, Ms. Stintz did leave wiggle room for mayor Rob Ford to still fulfill part of his subway plan either as goodwill gesture for him not to lose face or in fear for councillors who voted with her getting trounced in the next election because they decided to vote against the wishes of the people.

Building subway is the right thing for Toronto's long-term growth to get people around in quick and efficient manners, however, one has to wonder why there is such a struggle to build the LRT at ground level.  Yes, it will probably  be good for certain businesses and neighborhoods, but should we be jeopardizing our future for a few neighborhoods and businesses in that way.  There must be better ideas to rejuvenate depressed business areas and dilapidated neighborhoods.

And, if we are to talk about costs associated with the subway, most people would rather pay for that than for streetcars that are loud, slow and need replacing as the lifespan of streetcars are a lot less than subways.  In addition, with the constant constructions of digging up of the road for different reasons including potholes, laying cables and sinkholes, we are really going to regret it if Transit City comes to fruition.

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Related article:

Building subway is better for city than Eglinton LRT plan , Jan 27, 2012