Lol. "A line or so in the next decade...", um isn't that precisely what SOS has been after all along? If we could get a line to the airport and another line to Scarborough Town Centre completed within this decade, would that not be a remarkable feat of the right mix of political will and fiscally responsible building protocol? I ask you this seriously because I'm wondering what it is you even stand for at this point.
Not really. SOS wants a series of subway lines built immediately using the current TC funds, and then progressive subway expansion beyond that. I don't doubt his ability to cancel Transit City, I doubt his ability (or rather his will) to replace it with actual subway expansion. We may get a subway to STC, but that's all I really expect. If he wins and happens to actually deliver more, I'll be impressed, and be happy to eat my words. But until then, I have my doubts.
My point is simply that politicians say stuff to get elected that they don't really mean. Obama made a big deal about re-opening negotiations on NAFTA, but really he had no interest what-so-ever in doing so. Ford says he wants subways across the city, yet I believe he has no intention what-so-ever of actually doing so. You quoted a Star poll regarding subways. To me that just screams to a candidate like Ford "if I promise subways, even if it's an empty promise, people will vote for me!". For a candidate that is actually serious about subway expansion, that's a huge boost. But for someone who is just looking to grab naive voters, that poll is quite dangerous.
Don't get me wrong, I want subway expansion, but I also want a candidate who pledges to build subways to actually follow through with their promise, and not just pander to people's want of subways to get votes.
Harper said he would lead a more open and transparent government. His actions have clearly shown that he's doing the exact opposite. I believe Ford is doing using the same kind of tactic.
Instead of belittling me for looking at the big picture here and seeing that the TC agenda will go through so long as Toronto/Ontario continues to elect in self-interested union-loving career politicians; need I remind certain individuals that’s posting here that the window of opportunity to present Rob Ford with your suggestions for subway expansion is still very open for business (unlike the nonresponsive Thomson/Smitherman campaigns)? Time wasted here arguing with (or on behalf of) LRTistas ad nauseum won’t change anything, getting a frontrunner mayoral candidate n’sync with your viewpoints can.
I think your looking at the big picture is blinding you to the fact that the person who's holding up the "big picture" has no intention of actually making it a reality. He'll cut services left and right "to pay for subway expansion", and then find some BS reason to say "we can't do it, sorry", and then not restore the funding to those programs that were cut.