Updated February 10, 2012 at 1:00 am:
The description of the reporting mechanism and due date for Sheppard “expert panel” has been corrected to match what Council actually passed. The information previously quoted here came from the original version of the motion.
Updated February 9, 2012 at 2:00 pm:
The minutes from the Special Meeting of Council are now available online.
Updated February 9, 2012 at noon:
On February 8, Toronto Council voted to seize control of the transit agenda from Mayor Ford and to support much of the original Transit City / Metrolinx 5-in-10 Plan that was approved in 2009. I will publish a separate article on the debate and the motions later today.
Additional coverage is available from Torontoist, and a compendium of links to other media is available at Spacing Toronto.
The two most important motions were from TTC Chair Karen Stintz.
The first confirms Council’s support for the originally planned subway-surface alignment of the Eglinton LRT line, for the conversion of the Scarborough RT to LRT technology with an extension north to Sheppard (and eventually to Malvern), and for the Finch LRT west from Keele (the future Finch West station on the Spadina subway) to Humber College. Council also authorizes the TTC to discuss with Metrolinx the feasibility of several future projects: a Sheppard West extension to Downsview, a Sheppard LRT to the Zoo, a Danforth subway extension to the Scarborough Town Centre, an Eglinton extension from Jane to Pearson Airport, and the Downtown Relief Line.
The second creates a special panel with broad enough representation to command political and technical respect. This panel will advise Council on “the most effective means of delivering the greatest number of riders with the funds currently allocated for a public transportation project on Sheppard”. The panel is to report back to a special meeting of Council no later than March 21, 2012.
Reaction from Mayor Ford and his faction was predictably hostile, but now extends to openly defying the will of Council. Meanwhile, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, Bob Chiarelli, issued a press release affirming the importance of support from “council, as a whole”. Chiarelli has asked Metrolinx to report as quickly as possible on the effects of Council’s position.
Original post from February 6, 2012 follows the break.
The Globe and Mail and the Star report today that Karen Stintz, Chair of the TTC, will file a request with the City Clerk for a special meeting of City Council. The business to be debated will be a reaffirmation of the 2009 Memorandum of Understanding for LRT lines on Eglinton, Sheppard and Finch, and the conversion of the SRT to LRT. Unlike Mayor Ford’s agreement with Premier McGuinty, this MOU has been approved by Council.
A special meeting can be called at the request of a majority of Council (23 members) and must be held within 48 hours making Wednesday, February 8 the likely date for a showdown with the Mayor.
The Globe article suggests that this move will doom Stintz’ position as TTC Chair and will result in the swift removal of Gary Webster, who Stintz has supported against the open wishes of the Ford brothers, as Chief General Manager. This begs the question of whether another special Council meeting will be required to replace the existing members of the TTC board with a more balanced group that will not attempt to thwart the will of Council on the rapid transit file and many other issues.
Steve Munro 
Wow. Just when things looked dull. At least she has given transit city a fighting chance and shown mayor ford he doesn’t have free reign over what happens in Toronto. Perhaps this will bode well for Toronto in the future in terms of transit?
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Seems clear that Stintz’s comments about always knowing this day would come, that she was never serious about putting Eglinton underground east of Don Mills. Which would likely explain the lack of progress on an EA, etc. since that time. Presumably Webster is in on this as well.
Presumably we’ll be seeing the petition for an emergency TTC meeting on Tuesday to fire them both?
Steve: The Commission cannot “fire” Stintz, only remove her as Chair. As for Webster, a wrongful dismissal suit would be in order. What is really needed is another special council meeting to remove the existing TTC board.
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Well, I haven’t been this guardedly optimistic for a while. The absurdity of the times is revealed in The Star’s quote of Stintz:
Principles of utilitarianism aside, I thought that Council’s first job was to represent the public and to consider the well-being and interests of the City (City of Toronto Act Section 131(a)). Compromise with the Mayor over his reckless allocation of funds and the hubristic execution of his office are not, nor have they ever been, part of the job description.
Still, I suppose 14 months isn’t all that long to sober-up, and I praise Ms. Stintz and the other councillors’ petition.
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Good for her, no matter her motivations. About time for a coup de Frères Ford. See, what the Ford have shown in pushing people to a place where they have nothing to lose, is that their hubris is as huge as their wits are small.
Now if only Toronto can stop electing morons from the ‘burbs. Not that everyone from the ‘burbs are morons, but Mel, Doug and Rob…
Steve: In defense of the burbs, I can think of several former Toronto councillors (the old city) who were not the most shining beacons of intelligence.
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Does this mean that Stintz’s “compromise plan” is off the table?
Steve: Yes. We are back to the version with three LRT lines and the SRT to LRT conversion, assuming this passes Council.
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I truly respect what Karen has just done for all of the citizens of Toronto. She knows that what she is doing is whats best for the city and shes risking her duties to put forward a plan of what is best for the thousands of residents in Toronto. I’ve gained more respect for her ever since I’ve heard of her plans and I wish I could personally thank her for what she has/is doing. If she was running for mayor I would vote for her after what she has done. Thank you Karen. Hopefully we can say bye bye to Rob Ford’s ridiculous transit plan which every person that has common sense was opposed to. I would even bet the common sense guy (aka Mike Harris) would be opposed to it….but than again he would kill every transit proposal.
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This is the best news I could have woken up to on a Monday morning! I can’t wait till Wednesday, though; I worry that the wheels might somehow come off this plan.
It’s amazing that the plan could be brought back. Just as the city and the outside workers negotiate an agreement with compromise, the transit file gets pushed from Ford lack-of-vision (i.e., nothing to be built) to the 2009 Transit City plan.
And yes, Steve, a replacement of the Commissioners is of the utmost importance if Wednesday’s meeting yields the sane result. Those Ford sycophants have to go.
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Again, it’s amazing that she went from loyalist to leading the charge against the Fords in mere days. And only because when she thought she’d gotten a clean signal on what she was allowed to do, she hadn’t.
Steve: The clear signal she got was for the Ford faction on the Commission to show her who was really running the show, or thought they were. Payback time.
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I would certainly welcome Council engaging in a full debate on whether to rescind “Transit City” and to discuss the pros and cons of the various options if TC or some modify version of it is no long what Council supports. Unfortunately, given the dialogue up to now, I’m not confident this debate would be an intelligent one. My sense is that Toronto collective, not just Council, as a server case of “tunnel vision” with its fixation on subways as the only option for transit expansion.
Alas, LRTs are still thought of a “just” fancy streetcars that will be little different from what we experience now with the existing streetcar lines and the TTC has done an abysmal job of explain the difference (almost as if they want subways too). And St Clair is brought up as the poster child for why we should not build TC. I wish Stintz well and will send along my support, but any vote will likely be close. Given Ford’s recent “win” on the labour front, I’m guessing he and his supporters may feel they can win on getting a subway-only vision from Council.
Phil
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It can only be assumed that the 23 Councilors will vote for a new TTC board. There’s no chance the current board will do anything but hinder work on LRTs.
Two questions: Are you surprised they only have 24? Seems tight, a swing vote or two and it’s all for naught.
Secondly, I can’t recall, but was funding ear marked for a revamped Scarborough RT during Transit City? Going back to 2009 MOU brings up funding question again.
Should be a riveting week…
Steve: Not the original TC, but the 5-in-10 Metrolinx plan that is the basis for the 2009 agreement includes the conversion of the SRT. The TTC dragged its feet far too long on that, and their persistence in talking about ICTS was rather embarrassing considering that Richard Soberman, whose own report they claimed to be following, thinks the SRT was a huge mistake.
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The papers keep saying that they want to revert to the plan where the Eglinton LRT is above ground to the east and west of the subterranean portion. Does that mean a reversion to the western extension to Pearson? Because I thought it was supposed to be underground to Black Creek/Jane anyway…
Steve: The section from Black Creek to Jane is still the subject of much debate which Wednesday’s vote could reopen. However, the section to the airport from Jane is not yet funded and is not part of this proposal.
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How amazing that Transit City might come back to life. I wish Ottawa’s council could have realized their mistake midway through O’Brien’s term. We still don’t have construction underway on the new Transitway LRT and the original North-South LRT would have been running for over a year now.
In the last week, it sounded like the plan forming was a Sheppard Subway extension and a BRT on Finch. So was that plan only out there to try to get Ford to come on board with a compromise? Is that option off the table now, or is it something that could be voted on at the special meeting?
Is it likely this special council meeting will be available live online as a webcast?
Steve: I think it was a genuine attempt at compromise, but now we see the political dynamics, compromise is off the table. Going back to the original plan avoids the can of worms of drawing up a new one without an agreement already in place with Queen’s Park, and with the need for the usual horse-trading among Councillors. If further fixes are required, there’s plenty of time given the 9 year construction period. There’s also a municipal election in fall 2014.
Don’t know about a webcast. You will have to check the City’s website to see whether it’s available. This is one of the most important meetings of this Council, and I can’t imagine not broadcasting it.
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This is the first time I’ve ever heard of an expiry date (next month) for Transit City. Why wasn’t this spoken about before?
Knowing the expiry date is next month explains why we can’t wait for a council vote in March or April.
Steve: The date only came up recently in the letter from Rob Prichard in which Metrolinx states that they need to know which plan they should continue working on.
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I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present! The gift of common sense.
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Is Karen Stintz trying to run for mayor in 2014? I expected a non-Ford ally to be leading this.
Steve: At one point Stintz was rumoured to be interested in the job, but more recently, as I understand things, she isn’t. The mantle of leadership has not yet descended on a specific Councillor.
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Are the identities of the 23 pro-Stintz councillors known? I suspect that there is a mushy-right group of councillors ready to bail on Ford Island, if enough pressure is brought to bear by their constituents.
Steve: The list is included in an article on the Torontoist website which gives a good overview of the calling of the special meeting.
Ford Island has already communicated to their faithful to contact their councillors of their support for a subway in the suburbs.
Now’s the time people to go from blogging & commenting to emailing & calling your councillor to support Transit City. Join the Save Transit City Facebook group, TTCRider’s petition, and CodeRedTO.
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The General Manager is an employee of the City – can they be simply fired by Commission? If so, that would make the General Manager a de facto political appointee, which should not be the case.
Steve: The CGM is an employee of the TTC which is, on paper, a seperate entity from the City. From an accounting point of view, it’s a wholly owned subsidiary. From a political point of view, the separation of bodies gives Council cover for an “independent” agency doing things even against Council’s wishes.
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Would there be time for Stintz and Webster to be removed before council could protect them? Do they actually have the political support of the current majority?
Steve: There is a mechanism for calling a special meeting of the TTC at which this could happen, but that would only fuel a drive to remove those responsible from the Commission. This is a power struggle unlike anything I have seen in city politics.
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The only way to fight bullies is to “grow a pair” – about time.
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Sounds like Council has finally realized that it dictates what happens in Toronto and not the Mayor.
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I want subways. I also want 25°C weather in February. I also want a pony. I also want… You get the picture.
Yes, I want subways… where needed. We need one for a Downtown Relief Line, where the density would be cost effective and to relieve congestion on the Y-U-S line. A subway along Sheppard is not cost effective, nor is one along Eglinton East where the roadway and density would allow for surface rapid transit.
We NEED Transit City that would serve more people ALL across the city and not just a small section.
Rob Ford is transit illiterate, still doesn’t know the difference between streetcars and light rail, avoids public transit, takes his gas-guzzling SUV instead of walking (AKA exercise) to bus stops, has a phobia against surface rail, and ignores facts and figures that do not support his way only.
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It would be another good thing if the possible forecast ousting of both Ms. Stintz and Mr. Webster would be immediately followed by a reformulating of this TTC Board.
Most of them are not transit riders, are car-onies and car-onlies of Ford. The core of the City, which uses transit far more, and also helps pay for the suburban service is now shut out as I don’t think Ms. Stintz can really qualify as a core Councillor. There should be someone on this Board that has streetcar “service” within their ward, and do we have anybody that really has the Bloor/Danforth subway in it?
Maybe a new commission would recommend to Council that they start getting user pay from the cars to half the extent that TTC riders now pay for their services. That could help buy a few streetcars etc. eh?
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Hi Steve, This 2009 MOU, out of curiosity, how did councillor Ford at that time?
Steve: Ford’s votes on several Transit City related matters are tabulated together with all Council members on Matt Elliott’s Ford for Toronto site. I’m not sure where the vote was to approve the 2009 MOU.
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Ford has really backed himself into a corner here. He’s created a scenario where anything less than a complete victory on his place will be a substantial defeat.
And even if he does win, you have to wonder what sort of permutations this plan will go through and what the end result will be. Especially on the private funding aspect of a Sheppard subway extension.
And of course, there’s the added irony that this situation is entirely of his own making. He could have easily avoided it and won his plan. The irony seems lost on few except for the Fords themselves.
Given that, I doubt that its really sunk in that they have probably lost more then their transit plan. The way that they have treated Karen Stintz can’t have been lost on a lot of Ford’s less strident supporters. By all accounts she was as close as you can get to being to the inner circle without sharing a name with a Model T. She also apparently went to them before floating the initial trial balloon and they appeared to be at least willing to discuss the issue publicly. Yet their response once she did was to slap her down and not even pretend to have the conversation, followed by the shenanigans of last week.
They’ve made an enemy for no good reason. And that could ultimately do more damage to the Ford Administration than losing control of the transit file.
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As long as we have a resolution to this mess soon.
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Steve said:
EX 16.8 Toronto Transit Commission Governance
“9-member board comprised of 5 citizen members and 4 Council members”
What do you think of citizen members? 55% citizen, 45% councillor. more citizens than politicians.
“a Council member appointed by Council as Chair upon the recommendation of the Striking Committee, and a citizen member appointed by the Toronto Transit Commission as Vice-Chair”
I thought the process is that the TTC commissioners appoint the Chair not Council directly/per say.
I like the idea of citizen member as Vice-Chair.
Steve: It’s anyone’s guess where that report is going. Now that Ford has lost control of council, any move to reconstitute the TTC is also an opportunity to strip Ford’s influence over it. Really bad timing on Ford’s part.
My attitude to the TTC has always been clear. The Commission is de facto a committee of Council and as the most expensive part of the City’s budget, should be governed as such. Any hopes you might have for enlightened citizen members will fall victim to the usual political cronyism at City Hall. You may not remember the days when the TTC was a sinecure for failed politicians awaiting a new home, including a certain dentist.
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The Mayor seems determined to suffer defeat to avoid compromise. At the budget debate the Mayor was offered the compromise budget amendment to present as his own (the $19MM in restored spending taken from the surplus.). He could have presented the concession as his olive branch and all would have been happy. Even the “lefty” councillors would have seemed to be “working with” the Mayor. Instead, a majority of Council (present) ended up passing the same motion in defiance of the Mayor and it looked like a defeat.
Now, when it is accepted by many Councillors that burying the eastern portion of the Eglinton LRT is a waste of money, the Mayor was offered a compromise by his “hand picked” TTC Chairperson. This would have allowed him to save face by spending a large portion – if not all in the end – of the savings on his Sheppard Subway project. Instead he offered total rejection and Ms. Stintz has moved on to Plan B. It would appear that in order to get enough support to stop the waste on Eglinton it has been necessary for Ms. Stintz to instead embrace pretty much a full restoration of Transit City and once again the Mayor will look defeated. We’ll see how it turns out in the end, but I do think that if the Mayor had embraced Ms. Stintz’s first approach he would not be facing this potential complete defeat.
I am not campaigning for the role of Ford’s strategist because I disagree with his goals – even after compromises. However, I do conclude that his inability to think through survival strategies reflects the lack of intelligence and thought that went into designing his entire programme. It is also increasingly clear that when the opposition is urged to “work with” the Mayor they are really being asked for total capitulation to the Mayor’s dogma and not to seek a compromise programme that benefits all Torontonians.
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Hi Steve
This is certainly a most welcome turn of events. While it contains an awful lot of pitfalls, it does effectively let the air out of Ford’s tires. One thing concerns me, and I hope that Stintz will come clean on this, and that is the goings on around it. She mentioned that there were discussions going on with Doug and the he was aware of what she was doing on and why it was being done. The events of today paint quite a different picture. It could be that Rob spoke to Doug and nixed the entire idea. Doug Ford’s comment about the TTC needing an enema is also cause for concern. Ford and his allies seem to have a limitless supply of idiots to choose from and, as you have stated, will probably get rid of the wrong people. Interesting times indeed.
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Well, I guess the best thing to say is that we live in interesting times and I cannot wait to see how things play out over the next week.
Oh, and since I live in Mississauga (and my sister lives in Hamilton and … well, and I know people who live in Kitchener-Waterloo), I’m just going to ask:
If the Transit City MoA expires in March without anything happening, what are the chances of the funds earmarked for Transit City being transferred to the fully-supported LRT plans in Mississauga & Brampton (and Hamilton and K-W).
Cheers, Moaz
Steve: Queen’s Park has stated quite clearly that the money for Toronto will be spend in Toronto. The question is on what.
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I hope the councillors check carefully with Metrolinx before they discuss this issue. McCuaig’s comments regarding the 5 in 10 Plan being reinstated sounded somewhat guarded. It would be a shame if a close vote on the council said “reinstate the 5 in 10 Plan”, and Metrolinx reiterated that they need a consensus, rather than one more flip-flop.
I worry that indecision and political infighting will give Metrolinx a reason to run away from building transit in Toronto. They do not have to “cancel” their deal, just “defer” it until they are satisfied that the City of Toronto has reached a consensus, which may be never.
I am not taking sides here, just encouraging the political leaders to get something built.
Steve: If Metrolinx throws a spanner in the works, then they will violate their own request for clarity from the City. If, as I suspect, there is a pro-underground fifth column at Metrolinx, they would do well not to embarrass the folks at Queen’s Park.
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This is all exciting new…
My question would be…is there a cost for reverting to the original plan? The cars that were cancelled, can they be brought back? Do we still pay a cancellation fee?
My other question is related to timetables of any new plan, would we be flicking the switch on Shepherd? Or is it going to be delayed.
What happens if the city passes two plans? Is it possible that the mayor also brings the MOU and somehow gets it passed? Also is there a potential for shenanigans with respect to amendments that could be added on Wednesday to potentially poison any deal that could be had…or delay further with more reports…
Has there been any discussion in the transit city community about any rallies to show support on Tuesday night?
Steve: We don’t know the details of what a revival would entail or how the finances will sort themselves out. As for penalties, it was Metrolinx who were foolish enough to spend money on a new plan that didn’t have the support of Council. A shame they did all that work, but the City never agreed to pay for it. Time for Metrolinx to admit they were not exactly sitting on the sidelines in this debate but actively participated in Ford’s Folly.
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Good news all around.
I did a bit a research on the 2009 MOU and found that council approval was for the City Manager to enter a MOA at the 30 Sept 2009 meeting.
It was approved 30-3 with 12 absent including R Ford. All of the present TTC commissioners approved it with the exceptions of Stintz and Minnan-Wong, both absent, and Crisanti who was not on council.
Wednesday’s meeting is listed as item CC17.1 with the background.
Regards
Steve: Thanks for tracking down this approval.
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George Bell asked
The order was never cancelled. They are still on order to begin delivery in December (according to the contract).
Steve: There are two sets of cars. One is for the “legacy” system — the existing streetcar lines — and the other is for Transit City. Prototypes of the former arrive this year with production deliveries beginning in 2013. If the Sheppard LRT is revived, Metrolinx will need new cars sooner than in their current (no Sheppard) plans and will have to accelerate work at Bombardier that, I understand, has been on hold for quite some time. There was always an order, only the quantity and delivery dates were changed when the Finch and Sheppard LRT proposals were “cancelled” by Ford.
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I sent out a personal email yesterday via the Save Transit City web form to all the councillors. I received two issue-specific form-letter responses so far (other than a number of automated “thanks for your email, we’ll get back to you” messages). Interestingly they are polar-opposite analyses of the situation – One from Mayor Ford’s Office and one from Councillor Fletcher’s. I couldn’t stand to read fully through Ford’s letter, although it was clear that it was written by someone else on his staff far more eloquent than him. Ms. Fletcher’s response was concise and well-worded. One thing she mentioned was that “According to the Board of Trade, delaying the expansion project will cost Toronto approximately $2 billion in lost productivity.”
The continued absurdity of Ford’s waste and disrespect for taxpayers long ago broke through the stratosphere like a rocket ship on the way to Newt Gingrich’s 51st state Moon colony (another loosely-illegal fantasy the conservative establishment would rather distance themselves from).
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I apologize if this has been aired before. A couple of people on the Globe boards have brought up the problem of crowding at Yonge-Eglinton Station. Does anyone have an idea of what the ramifications of that might be. I would have thought that any intensification of east-west traffic might run the risk of overloading the Yonge line in general unless the majority of people are headed over to the Spadina side.
Steve: Much depends on where the people getting off at Eglinton and Yonge are headed. There will definitely be a circulation issue within the station, and there is already problem with crowding from the north. However, if we also build a DRL up to Eglinton and Don Mills, this could provide an intercept on the east equivalent of the Spadina subway on the west. Much of the debate on the eventual peak demand on Eglinton turns on which network you presume and how the demand model shuffles riders around. The all-underground version according to Metrolinx carries more people because it shifts them off of the Danforth subway rather than by attracting new riders.
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Steve Said:
Sorry for the confusion. The TC cars were supposed to be delivered starting December, but that was because the Sheppard LRT was supposed to start operating next fall. Obviously that could’ve been changed, but I just never read anything about it and assumed that someone was asleep at the wheel (considering the Finch and Sheppard cars hadn’t been cancelled yet either).
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I received a broadcast note from my councillor (Berardinetti, Ward 35) requesting opinions on the Eglinton Crosstown Line. Her note stated she had intended to hold a “townhall meeting” on the issue at the end of the month, but obviously tomorrow’s special meeting as trumped that. Her note clearly favoured the “subway” option as being faster and thus more attractive, that transit expansion would have to be coordinated with proposed development along Eglinton between V.P. and Kennedy, and that there was no assurance from the Province that any savings from going above ground would be available for other transit projects.
I wrote the following in support for the surface LRT option:
I doubt this will change her point of view but at least I’ve expressed mine.
Phil
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I was wondering the same thing that Moaz was about the March expiry date of 2009 memorandum of understanding that’s supposed to be in effect still and the possibility that the province could take the money back once that date comes and goes if everything’s still up in the air at city hall by then. Depending on how tomorrow goes, everything could still be up in the air.
Yes, Queen’s Park has been saying so far that the money’s going to be spent in Toronto. But consider the total lack of agreement on anything, the arbitrariness from the mayor’s office including not taking the new MOU to council to be voted on as specified in its conditions, and the totally reckless way that $8 billion dollars is being tossed around as if it’s pocket change – at what point does Dalton McGuinty stand up and say enough’s enough of this Toronto BS being totally irresponsible and cavalier with $8 billion of Ontario taxpayer money when the province’s budget is tight and call the whole mess off to recover the money if this nonsense continues past tomorrow? Can the city of Toronto afford to play chicken with someone who can cancel the cheque for much longer, reassurances that the money will be spent on something-anything in Toronto notwithstanding?
I really hope that the light rail plan is put back on tomorrow. I don’t care what non-Transit City name they have to call it to make it palatable, I just hope that cooler heads prevail and the light rail plan’s reinstated and everybody involved, the city, the province, TTC, Metrolinx falls in line to get the job done. The lost time and lost money have already cost enough as it is.
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Steve, care to share your thoughts on a post-transit city revival issue: ten years down the road, do we link the Yonge line with the Spadina line via a Sheppard subway, or via a lrt running along finch as outlined in the broader transit city scenario? What would make the most sense from your perspective?
Steve: The Downtown Relief Line. If we are going to spend money on a subway, build one we actually need.
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Listening to Nick Kouvalis, Ford’s former chief of staff, on Josh Matlow’s The City on Sunday you can hear one line that is going to be spun to try and peal away support from Stinz — that she is just being a dupe of the Province which wants to save money and not spend on transit in T.O. ie if we don’t just go along with Ford’s plan, Province might not spend any money in T.O. on transit. And while the province is scared of its fiscal problems, it seems that this is a total red herring attempting to scare monger councillors into going along with Ford’s MOU.
I hope sensible heads prevail at council on Wed and we get back on track with building true LRT in Toronto that makes the best use of public money that is available.
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