LARRY'S CORNER- Hamilton's Former Mayor Speaks

GoTransit and Metrolinx Merger: Benefits and Implications

By Larry Di Ianni
(posted April 1, 2009)

On Dec. 13, 2007, I wrote an essay about Metrolinx (then called the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority) and the benefits which this organization would bring to the region generally and Hamilton specifically. I mused that for Metrolinx to be truly successful, the Provincial government had to empower it with real teeth and an armload of money. Most observers were pleasantly surprised by the largesse given this organization in terms of dollars. The concomitant ‘teeth’, however, seem to have been hampered by the structure of the Board which includes all of the sitting Regional Chairs and the three Mayors from Toronto, Mississauga and Hamilton. Stories are now surfacing that the primary reason the province has for wanting to eliminate politicians from the Board, while merging GO with Metrolinx, is to avoid the turf-wars that each member brought to the table. The province evidently wants a bigger view taken of Metrolinx’s role, other than that of meeting the parochial whims of elected officials. The question to be asked is whether this structural change will help the new Board or mire it more deeply in political fights. Let me take a step back before trying to answer that question.

I was proud to have lobbied long and hard to have Hamilton included in the Metrolinx Board. In fact, it was the late Dominic Agostino who first asked the question in the legislature of the then Minister of Transportation whether Hamilton would be included in the mix, that we got our first positive response from the young McGuinty government. Then there was a cabinet shuffle and a change in portfolios. With a new Minister of Transportation, we began to get disturbing signals that the make-up of the Board and Hamilton’s involvement wasn’t a sure thing. Community scepticism about this city’s involvement followed. But we persevered and I received private assurances that Hamilton was in. I was one of the sitting politicians asked to comment on the structure of the Board and its mandate directly with the Minister. I made my views known: the first was that GoTransit should be part of the mix since Go provided much of the public transit across the regions. It didn’t make sense to me to leave them out. Secondly, I advocated that this regional board also have a say in land use planning, since transportation should be integrated with orderly growth, rather than playing catch-up to the unfettered development that we have seen across the province. It seems that the Province is now addressing the GO issue. Whether they will eventually accede to the larger planning role remains to be seen. In fact, the Minister of the day also agreed that it would make sense for GO to be part of the new structure, but he wisely wanted to ‘walk’ before running. However, from the outset, they did work closely with GO and at the Board level even appointed the Chair of GoTransit to be the vice-chair of Metrolinx. The dots were there for people to follow from the start.

As we discussed the structure of the Board at a GOTransit retreat attended by the Minister, it was obvious that all the participants there were concerned about political battles. All alluded to another structure attempting regional transportation strategies which went down in flames because of political infighting. When I was asked privately what should be done if Metrolinx descended into parochialism, I pledged to do my part to stay with the big picture, but also indicated that if that didn’t happen, the province should take the step of ‘dis-inviting’ those it had generously invited to the table.

Now it seems that the Province is in the process of selecting a Board of non-political members so they can more expeditiously and without turf wars enact the provincial mandates concerning public transit. It seems that the Mayor of Toronto has expressed some concerns but is in line with the moves. Hamilton’s Mayor hasn’t been heard from in a significant way on this issue; and Mississauga’s fabled Hazel McCallion is in full-fledged support. One has to conclude that the Province did some homework before the announcements became public.

My take is that this move is a very good idea. Politicians have many skills and many responsibilities. They also have many constituencies, and are always expected to play to the home crowd in any decision being made. They will tell you they are not doing that but you know they are. I speak from experience, having taken positions against public sentiment on occasion and paid the price for it. An independent Board made up of individuals from the contributing communities will know what the home crowd wants, but will also know what the Board needs in order to move forward, and can more easily balance the two.

For example, we witnessed the spectacle of Hamilton trying to get ahead of Toronto’s and York’s LRT needs even though Mayor Fred should have known that Hamilton wasn’t as ready as the other two municipalities to move as quickly as was wanted. A more realistic member of the Board from this area can still press the point without seeming as if he/she is obstructing. Another equally important example is the whole area of tolling roads to raise revenues in support of public transit. Mayor Fred would love to do that, since he has publicly advocated this stance with the Red Hill Valley Parkway, but backed away from it because of the political hit he would justifiably take. An independent Board can examine this issue with dispassionate eyes to see if it makes sense. It can also dictate without fear of political reprisal the tolling of the new Mid-Peninsula road, should it be built, a feat that a sitting politician may not be able to do as easily.

Once again the McGuinty government is moving boldly on public transit issues. The Premier has wanted to be remembered as the ‘education Premier’ and he has done good things for schools; but he may well be better remembered as the ‘public transit Premier’ because of the courageous moves being made on this front.

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