Time to Amalgamate GTHA Transit Authorities and Systems.

In all honesty, it is the Premier and elected members of her liberal political party’s government who are not being fully transparent, as usual, and playing a chaotic game of dodgeball concerning tax increases or new additional taxes for transit!

This editorial opinion, from the Toronto Star, fails to mention the fact that the Premier, her Transpiration Minister, the liberal party and the 23 MPPs, who supposedly were elected to represent the City and others elected to represent the GTHA all have not, had an adult conversation or taken a public position on their preferred tax increases and additional taxes (revenue sources) for funding transit being considered by the provinces own agency Metrolinx?

The legislative authority for such proposed tax increases and new additional taxes is the sole responsibility of the current Premier along with all members of the Provincial legislature and NOT the city of Toronto’s elected career politicians or the non-elected city bureaucrats and technocrats.

These provincial politicians, the Premier and her Liberal party’s scandalous government have once again been revealed as feckless, inept and reckless.

They are the ones who forfeited their standing in the debate on transit expansion and how best to pay for it as they preferred to wait and see what political recommendations Metrolinx makes to them!

And not only in E-health, Orange, Canceled Gas Plants, Energy Policies or the Chemo Drug scandal but now in their refusal to take a stand and advise the voters of Ontario as to their position on any funding proposals (taxes) for the future of regional transit throughout the GTHA regions!

As a Provincial agency, Metrolinx gets its funding from the province and thus is NOT at all impartial to the funding decisions that must and can only be decided by the Province.

Unfortunately for the past 40 years, all political parties and their incumbent career politicians from all three levels of government have mismanaged and failed our cities when it comes to transportation infrastructure and funding.

Further, the current makeup of its Board members that excludes the Mayors from Ontario’s 3 cities within the GTHA makes it politically impossible for this agency to effectively coordinate the region’s transit and transportation needs.

The amalgamation of all the GTHA area public transit authorities, especially the TTC, systems and operations of GO, TTC, Halton, Peel, York, Durham and HSR into one Regional Transit Authority for this region is a must.

This revised Provincial and Federal Metrolinx ( GTHA) Regional Transit Authority must have a Board of Directors that includes 2 elected political representatives from the Province, the Federal government; the Mayors of Mississauga and Toronto. Along with 1 elected political representative from Halton, Peel, York, Durham and the Mayor of the City of Hamilton.

In addition, this amalgamated transit authority would be directly responsible for all public transportation, subways, Go operations, systems, and financing. The GTHA would be under the control of the above elected Board members and directors of a CEO and COO who must have professional transportation qualifications from within the world's private and public transpiration systems and industries.

All three levels of our government elected and non-elected alike must completely once and for all understand that public transit and transit infrastructure must come from a lasting financial commitment in the form of a 1% or 2% transit levy on corporations or a 1% or 2% increase in the GST. 

Such funds must be designated for transit only as per legislation from both the provincial and federal governments. 

 Source
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2013/05/12/toronto_city_council_bungles_the_transit_file_editorial.html