To be fair, Forgotten is not wrong at all to say that York Region is drowning in massive (and growing) debt - the highest per capita in the GTA in fact. Obviously it's not entirely because of subways, but it has a lot to do with their bad city planning over many years.
Yes this is all true and the debt, last I checked, was over $2B. Still "failed European state" was a bit much (the province regulates how much debt they can take on for a reason). I don't think
Moody's praised Greece's "prudent and far-sighted fiscal management" or "track record of positive operating outcomes." They also haven't had a series of credit score downgrades (I think only one; not more than 2) but, yes, they have a lot of debt. Some is due to the Spadina line but water infrastructure is the biggest thing, I'm pretty sure.
Anyway, I guess I've said my piece (again). And if I'm regarded as some sort of zealot, so be it. But this thread cycles around on itself every few months so we'll probably all be back in the summer. To sum up:
-the line is planned, the line is not funded
-the line is a priority for Metrolinx and the province and York Region and less so for Toronto (where the idea of a "transit priority" is a moving target, at best anyway)
-It should have lots of benefits north of Steeles and plenty, but fewer, south of Steeles
-It's not going to magically become a plan for a BRT or an LRT no matter how many fantasy maps show it as such
-It's not going to instantly cripple the existing TTC network but the DRL (or some realistic substitute) should be built soon
-It's not going to be an empty "subway to the suburbs"
-A subway on Yonge Street, contiguous with existing intensification, is about as sure a bet as you're going to find in The Big Move
-It's not York Region's "fault" they were told they were getting a subway and planned accordingly
-The politicians in York Region have not remotely given up on it
-The pols in Toronto have probably forgotten about it; but their planning still accounts for it
-If Steeles wasn't a municipal border drawn in 1971, few people would think it's a natural terminus and if/when it opens, it will fundamentally change how people travel in North York and south York Region (in particular, YR residents who walk to the 53 and 60 buses, inflating TTC's numbers and undermining YRT's would be able to travel seamlessly on a single system)
-Transit planning and co-ordination in this region are messed up and Metrolinx could fix that, but they haven't. In the meantime, this line is rather emblematic of everything wrong, from city-vs-suburbs fights to announcing something and not building it etc. etc.
-We need apolitical planning and ongoing revenue tools to generate funds and encourage transit use
Everything else is just noise.
EDIT: Just to pile on poor Denton for asking a silly question; YR council had its monthly meeting today and one of the first items was the rapid transit co's
annual report. It's got a page on the subway which says, "Continuing to work with Metrolinx, TTC and the City of Toronto on a regional relief strategy to improve capacity on the Yonge Street corridor and to secure funding." Not surprisingly there was a Q from a Markham councillor about how the upcoming "transit budget" from the province will affect them, which is pretty obviously a reference to the subway too. Not a dead issue.