steveintoronto
Superstar
Spoken like a true Con Party ApparatchikIf you want total conspiracy theory...
SNC Lavalin that was the key backer of the Blue 22 plan.
SNC has previously accepted a plea bargain finding them guilty of illegal contributions to the Liberal Party.
SNC has accepted that they are guilty of bribing various Quebec municipalities
SNC had a contract to build the Union-Pearson line but somehow was able to exit the contract with no financial penalties.
And guess who organized this chaos? David Collenette
The same person who messed up a 2 km link to the airport was then asked by Wynne to do the HSR study.
What a great choice!!!!!
...maybe for the Liberal party only
There was never a "contract" per-se:SNC had a contract to build the Union-Pearson line but somehow was able to exit the contract with no financial penalties.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pearson_Express[...]
Transport Canada made a request for proposal for an airport rail link in April 2001. In May 2003, the submissions were pared down to four pre-qualified private consortia, who were then invited to submit business cases. An SNC-Lavalin subsidiary named the Union Pearson AirLink Group was selected as the successful respondent to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain an airport rail link on November 13, 2003.[16] The service was to be called Blue22, as a trip would take 22 minutes to or from Pearson with a stop at the Bloor GO/Dundas West TTC Station. Trains were to be refurbished Budd Rail Diesel Cars, and were expected to begin running between 2008 and 2010.[15]
By 2008, there had not been significant progress on the project because of failed consensus in negotiations, regulatory hurdles and community opposition. In June 2008, the Ontario government revised the environmental assessment process from a required three-year period to six months, and later that summer it resumed negotiations with Union Pearson AirLink Group on terms for a public-private partnership. Furthermore, the high-speed link received public statements of strong support from Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty, Toronto Mayor David Miller and the federal government.[17]
In November 2008, Metrolinx, the Ontario government agency for Greater Toronto and Hamilton transportation, released its Regional Transportation Plan titled The Big Move, outlining how an airport rail link was part of a strategy to establish multi-directional high-order transit connectivity to the Pearson Airport district, in addition to the Mississauga Transitway, rapid transit corridors along Highways 427 and 407, and light rail transit lines along Eglinton and Finch Avenues.[14] In December 2008, Metrolinx became the proponent of new EA that would simultaneously assess a combination of both the UP Express and GO Transit's Georgetown South expansion.[18] The final Environmental Project Report was released on July 30, 2009.[14]
Metrolinx takeover
After two years of failed negotiations and financing difficulties, the public-private partnership between Ontario and the Union Pearson AirLink Group was called off in July 2010, and Metrolinx was handed responsibility to directly own and operate the service.[19][20] Metrolinx established the new operating division that would become Union Pearson Express.[21] The name 'Air Rail Link' was used as a placeholder until the official name was unveiled on November 29, 2012.[4]
Metrolinx largely preserved the same project scope as had been approved in the environmental assessment, with the service designed for air travellers rather than for conventional commuters. Changes from SNC Lavalin's former proposal included refinements to take into account synergies with GO Transit.[21] In November 2010, the Board of Directors of Metrolinx authorized its staff to enter into negotiations with Sumitomo Corporation of America to supply Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs); the contract was approved by the Board in February 2011 and executed on 31 March 2011.[22] Kathy Haley was named the first president of the division in July 2011.[23]
[...]
SNC has previously accepted a plea bargain finding them guilty of illegal contributions to the Liberal Party.
SNC-Lavalin made illegal donations to Liberals, Conservatives from 2004 to 2011
Construction giant enters into deal with elections watchdog after company illegally donated $118,000 between 2004 and 2011.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada...s-in-donations-to-liberals-conservatives.html
Seems the Cons are no better....I'm just so shocked...
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