City councillors have voted in favour of subways rather than light-rail transit for Scarborough.
The 24-20 vote Tuesday evening came following a heated day of debate at city hall.
Fireworks erupted earlier in the afternoon after a Scarborough councillor introduced a motion to bring back a planned light-rail transit line for the east-end neighbourhood.
Coun. Paul Ainslie’s motion called on council to affirm its support for a previously-approved and fully-funded LRT project rather than an extension of the Bloor-Danforth line that would require a property tax hike.
The motion drew the ire of Coun. Doug Ford, who screamed repeatedly at the Scarborough East councillor before his microphone was cut off and a 10-minute recess was called.
Ford then continued to criticize Ainslie in an impromptu scrum with reporters in council chambers.
“This is a person that is voting against his own people. This is disgusting,” Ford said. “He (Ainslie) should not be representing the people of Scarborough. The people of Scarborough have spoken very clearly that they want subways. He is voting against his own people.”
Despite numerous debates, votes and public announcements, there is no finalized plan to replace the aging rapid transit line that runs from Kennedy to McCowan stations.
At its first meeting after the summer break, councillors were debating one of two familiar options – subway or LRT – and decide whether to boost property taxes to cover its share for a subway extension.
If council reconfirms its support to extend the subway at a cost of $2.5 billion, the city plans to hike property taxes by 1.6 per cent over three years (0.5 per cent in 2014 and 2015 and 0.6 per cent in 2016) and increase development fees by an undetermined amount to pay for its share.
Councillors also voted 29-15 in favour of pursuing public-private partnerships to help cover costs associated with subway expansion.
“When you have the provincial government offering $1.4 billion to build an LRT line and then take complete control of maintenance and operating costs that is an excellent options for us and for the residents and citizens of Toronto,” Ainslie said of the LRT plan in an interview with CP24. “The alternative just isn’t very fiscally responsible.”
In July, council gave its conditional support to abandon the LRT project and extend the subway line from Kennedy Station to Sheppard Avenue East. One condition was that the province must match its original LRT commitment and contribute $1.8 billion for the subway.
After months of political back-and-forth, the provincial government has committed $1.48 billion in funding, while the federal government is kicking in $660 million. That leaves a gap of nearly $400 million.
“We have to decide as council whether we are going to call it a day and go back to the LRT or whether we are going to work with the subway option conscious of the fact that it will cost us several hundred more million dollars,” Coun. Joe Mihevc told CP24 Tuesday morning. “This will be a raucous debate, but it is a big issue. It’s a very difficult thing for all of us to figure out.”
In addition to the subway debate, the agenda includes a discussion about what to do with the Sam the Record Man sign, a motion to ask the federal and provincial governments for financial assistance to pay for damage from the July 8 rain storm, and a debate about whether a Toronto landmark should be named after former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
The meeting is scheduled to end Thursday.
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