News   May 03, 2024
Rebar Reigns Supreme as Cielo Condos Staging Slab Pour Set for May
 297     0 
News   May 03, 2024
News Roundup for May 3, 2024
 387     0 
News   May 03, 2024
Gap-Toothed
 820     0 

Mayor Olivia Chow's Toronto

The Gardiner teardown option was never going to happen. And Toronto being forced to pay for the re-build (and maintenance) was a very real possibility.

The best part of this deal is that it shows The Province has recognized Toronto has financial issues that it cannot fix on it's own, and it builds trust and confidence for both parties to continue working with one another in the future.

DoFo was going to do what he wanted with Ontario Place no matter what. There's still a non-zero chance he does something criminal with it, and get's exposed before it is even built.
 
Blovertis said:
So let me get this straight. In a single move, Chow just threw under the bus: (i) people who wanted to save Ontario Place. and (ii) people who wanted to tear down the eastern Gardner and free up land for redevelopment.

Don't blame me, I voted for Matlow
Click to expand...

I voted for Matlow as well, but, realistically, the chance of a different outcome were almost non-existent, since Ford can just completely override any municipal rules he doesn't like anyways. While I would greatly prefer the Gardiner to be torn down, and I hate that we'll be seeing a monument to Ford's corruption live on in Ontario Place for decades, in the end, the city has significantly more issues on it's plate than dealing with those two things, and this will do more to get the city to a better place in the long run. Sometimes, compromises suck when you negotiate from a weaker spot, but that's life.
 
Northern Light said:
So capital funds for new Line 2 Trains
Click to expand...
My read is that this is contingent on Federal financing, which may not (probably will not) appear.
Blovertis said:
People voted for Chow expecting her to do something to stop the Therme deal and by extension the relocation of the Ontario Science Centre.

She didn't even try.

And the uploading of the costs associated with maintaining the eastern Gardner is a "win" only if one pretends there wasn't another option: tearing it down altogether.
Click to expand...
Honestly? No one was going to tear down the Gardiner. We will have to wait 4 decades from now to even consider it.

I am interested to hear that they’re talking about moving the parking lot from underground to Exhibition? That’s a win (financially) at least?
 
Blovertis said:
People voted for Chow expecting her to do something to stop the Therme deal and by extension the relocation of the Ontario Science Centre.

She didn't even try.

And the uploading of the costs associated with maintaining the eastern Gardner is a "win" only if one pretends there wasn't another option: tearing it down altogether.
Click to expand...
It was useful to hear Chow's position about OP and the OSC during the election to have an idea of her values, but politicians (Singh is a good example) constantly promise things they have no control over, so I didn't pay any attention to her promises. It would have been unproductive for the city to wage a losing battle against Ford on those issues.
 
My read is that this is a pretty good deal. And, kudos to both Doug Ford and Olivia Chow here.

Yes, Olivia Chow gave up on both OP and the Gardiner, but I think what she got in return (room in the capital budget, operating funding for the Crosstown and Finch, and more) was worth it. And for Doug Ford - honestly? - this was very mature of him. He could have pulled a “Ford to City: Drop dead” (ironic that you can reuse that headline, almost 50 years later), but he didn’t - even though he had the much stronger hand. I’ll take the win, and thank them both.

PS. I do hope the city can use that capital room and build the Waterfront East LRT. Pretty please?
 
allengeorge said:
I certainly hope so! I’d no idea that the Federal government was even entertaining that kind of spend right now.
Click to expand...

Renewing the current infrastructure program commitments is baked into the budget; but how these will be allocated has not.

This is the pot of money that's available:

Infrastructure Canada - Building Canada's public transit future: Healthy and sustainable modes of transportation for all

Infrastructure Canada - Home
www.infrastructure.gc.ca www.infrastructure.gc.ca

3B per year for 10 years. But that's everything transit, nationally.

I'd expect Ontario's share to be ~40% which is 12B over a decade.

Money becomes available in 2026-2027.

That works for this item.

There are also unspent dollars from the last tranche.
 
Northern Light said:
Renewing the current infrastructure program commitments is baked into the budget; but how these will be allocated has not.

This is the pot of money that's available:

Infrastructure Canada - Building Canada's public transit future: Healthy and sustainable modes of transportation for all

Infrastructure Canada - Home
www.infrastructure.gc.ca www.infrastructure.gc.ca

3B per year for 10 years. But that's everything transit, nationally.

I'd expect Ontario's share to be ~40% which is 12B over a decade.

Money becomes available in 2026-2027.

That works for this item.

There are also unspent dollars from the last tranche.
Click to expand...
Ah. I hope the city gets on that right quick and signs a deal. I know the Feds could renege after a government changeover, but I suspect that’s unlikely.

Getting that chunk of money under Polliviere sounds much, much harder.
 
allengeorge said:
Ah. I hope the city gets on that right quick and signs a deal. I know the Feds could renege after a government changeover, but I suspect that’s unlikely.

Getting that chunk of money under Polliviere sounds much, much harder.
Click to expand...

The CPC is not that stupid.

If Ford and the City of Toronto are both dumping in money to support it, they do not have a leg to stand on. What will they say, that everyone else needs to step up to the plate?
 
Richard White said:
The CPC is not that stupid.

…

What will they say, that everyone else needs to step up to the plate?
Click to expand...
“Canada must live within its means. The capacity of the Federal government is not infinite. We have inherited a financial mess from the Liberals, and until that is cleaned up, we can’t support this purchase.”

Or, more likely - they’ll say nothing, and the request will just wait and wait and wait.
 
allengeorge said:
My read is that this is a pretty good deal. And, kudos to both Doug Ford and Olivia Chow here.

Yes, Olivia Chow gave up on both OP and the Gardiner, but I think what she got in return (room in the capital budget, operating funding for the Crosstown and Finch, and more) was worth it. And for Doug Ford - honestly? - this was very mature of him. He could have pulled a “Ford to City: Drop dead” (ironic that you can reuse that headline, almost 50 years later), but he didn’t - even though he had the much stronger hand. I’ll take the win, and thank them both.

PS. I do hope the city can use that capital room and build the Waterfront East LRT. Pretty please?
Click to expand...
I am really happy with today's happenings. The city was never going to win the Ontario Place battle but hopefully grassroots organizations will still push against the Cons at Queen's Park.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top