Toronto election: Mayoral candidate David Soknacki would cancel Rob Ford subway
Former Scarborough councillor said he would cancel $1B borrowing in favour of light rail transit he says would require no tax increase
By: Paul Moloney City Hall Bureau reporter, Published on Tue Jan 14 2014 Toronto Star
Toronto mayoral candidate David Soknacki announced Tuesday that if elected he would seek to ditch the Scarborough subway in favour of light rail transit.
Speaking to reporters at Lawrence East SRT station, the former city councillor for Ward 43, Scarborough East said the LRT offers better service at lower cost to Toronto taxpayers.
The former budget chief under mayor David Miller said Mayor Rob Ford’s subway plan requires borrowing almost $1 billion.
Soknacki said he would cancel Ford’s “property tax increase needed to pay for the subway option.”
Cancelling the subway at this point will not cost anything as city officials have not signed any contracts for the project. Some money has been approved by council to begin the project but it has not been spent. Cancelling the LRT will cost $85 million with much of it used to pay for cancelled contracts.
Soknacki said his LRT would have seven stops, “require no tax increase, no add to the city’s debt and be built years sooner than a subway,” Soknacki said.
Ford has railed against LRTs as glorified streetcars that block motorists, and said Scarborough residents deserve and want subways like downtowners enjoy.
Soknacki set his announcement on the existing SRT line to show it runs in its own route, not on roads, so it doesn’t impede cars.
On support for a Scarborough subway, Soknacki says Scarborough residents say they want subways but when details are canvassed, they warm up to the idea of light rail transit.
“Everyone wants subways and then you say, ‘Do you want two or three stops or do you want seven stops. Do you want service faster?’”
When those questions are posed, support for a subway drops, he said.
“They want better service, they want faster service, they want cheaper service. And that’s what this is all about.”
Under Ford’s plan, a subway costing $3.5 billion would be built with $2 billion from the province, $660 million from the federal government and $910 million from the city of which $745 million would be borrowed.
To pay off the debt, Ford’s plan would required raising property taxes – starting with a hike of 0.5 per cent this year.
Soknacki said the $660 million in federal money would not be lost but could be diverted to other infrastructure needs, the provincial money would build the LRT and the city wouldn’t have to borrow.
Money saved could be put toward other transit priorities such as a new subway to act as a downtown relief line, he said.
“A seven-stop LRT in Scarborough will save hundreds of millions of public dollars that can be redirected toward our top transit priorities,” he said.
Mayor Ford, who was scheduled to address reporters at 3 p.m., was the target of a few swipes from fellow Etobicoke politician, Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, who is supporting Soknacki.
“I think he’s got a really good head on his shoulders,” she said. “And he’s a self-made businessman. Daddy did not give him a business to run, he made it on his own, and that’s an important ingredient for the city.”
Under Ford, “we’ve been shortchanged and sloganed to death. It’s about time we got on with business.”
Also flanking Soknacki was Councillor Paul Ainslie, a former aide to Soknacki and the sole Scarborough councillor to split with Ford and back an LRT.
Along with vision and policy ideas, Soknacki has “the temperament that we need in a mayor to move this city forward,” said Ainslie, who holds Soknacki’s old council seat.
“You look at what the current mayor is doing in terms of grandstanding and politicking, I don’t think he’s moving the city forward in a practical or a fiscally responsible manner.”
He lays it out very well. Simple, truthful, sound and rational. Transit policy based upon fact, evidence, merit and sound judgement.
Any self-professed fiscal conservative or reasonable person cannot possibly disagree.
It is time to derail THE STUPID TRAIN
Former Scarborough councillor said he would cancel $1B borrowing in favour of light rail transit he says would require no tax increase
By: Paul Moloney City Hall Bureau reporter, Published on Tue Jan 14 2014 Toronto Star
Toronto mayoral candidate David Soknacki announced Tuesday that if elected he would seek to ditch the Scarborough subway in favour of light rail transit.
Speaking to reporters at Lawrence East SRT station, the former city councillor for Ward 43, Scarborough East said the LRT offers better service at lower cost to Toronto taxpayers.
The former budget chief under mayor David Miller said Mayor Rob Ford’s subway plan requires borrowing almost $1 billion.
Soknacki said he would cancel Ford’s “property tax increase needed to pay for the subway option.”
Cancelling the subway at this point will not cost anything as city officials have not signed any contracts for the project. Some money has been approved by council to begin the project but it has not been spent. Cancelling the LRT will cost $85 million with much of it used to pay for cancelled contracts.
Soknacki said his LRT would have seven stops, “require no tax increase, no add to the city’s debt and be built years sooner than a subway,” Soknacki said.
Ford has railed against LRTs as glorified streetcars that block motorists, and said Scarborough residents deserve and want subways like downtowners enjoy.
Soknacki set his announcement on the existing SRT line to show it runs in its own route, not on roads, so it doesn’t impede cars.
On support for a Scarborough subway, Soknacki says Scarborough residents say they want subways but when details are canvassed, they warm up to the idea of light rail transit.
“Everyone wants subways and then you say, ‘Do you want two or three stops or do you want seven stops. Do you want service faster?’”
When those questions are posed, support for a subway drops, he said.
“They want better service, they want faster service, they want cheaper service. And that’s what this is all about.”
Under Ford’s plan, a subway costing $3.5 billion would be built with $2 billion from the province, $660 million from the federal government and $910 million from the city of which $745 million would be borrowed.
To pay off the debt, Ford’s plan would required raising property taxes – starting with a hike of 0.5 per cent this year.
Soknacki said the $660 million in federal money would not be lost but could be diverted to other infrastructure needs, the provincial money would build the LRT and the city wouldn’t have to borrow.
Money saved could be put toward other transit priorities such as a new subway to act as a downtown relief line, he said.
“A seven-stop LRT in Scarborough will save hundreds of millions of public dollars that can be redirected toward our top transit priorities,” he said.
Mayor Ford, who was scheduled to address reporters at 3 p.m., was the target of a few swipes from fellow Etobicoke politician, Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, who is supporting Soknacki.
“I think he’s got a really good head on his shoulders,” she said. “And he’s a self-made businessman. Daddy did not give him a business to run, he made it on his own, and that’s an important ingredient for the city.”
Under Ford, “we’ve been shortchanged and sloganed to death. It’s about time we got on with business.”
Also flanking Soknacki was Councillor Paul Ainslie, a former aide to Soknacki and the sole Scarborough councillor to split with Ford and back an LRT.
Along with vision and policy ideas, Soknacki has “the temperament that we need in a mayor to move this city forward,” said Ainslie, who holds Soknacki’s old council seat.
“You look at what the current mayor is doing in terms of grandstanding and politicking, I don’t think he’s moving the city forward in a practical or a fiscally responsible manner.”
He lays it out very well. Simple, truthful, sound and rational. Transit policy based upon fact, evidence, merit and sound judgement.
Any self-professed fiscal conservative or reasonable person cannot possibly disagree.
It is time to derail THE STUPID TRAIN
