ttc upload

Toronto won't be able to stop province from taking over TTC

Toronto City Council is completely at the whim of the province, we learned, when Premier Doug Ford slashed the size of it in half just months ago. 

Now, the city is being reminded of that powerlessness again as the province discusses uploading management of the TTC to the provincial government. 

In a confidential document retrieved by the Toronto Star, legal experts explain that city council has basically no viable option when it comes to the upload. 

The province, with all its glorious power, can essentially relegislate or redistribute property as it wishes, and it doesn't even need to fairly compensate Toronto. 

In the doozy of a report, experts explain how the province could leave TTC-related debt with the city, or even dissolve the transit agency altogether. 

The only power that can stop the province for good is the federal government, but it'll be choosing its battles carefully as the Liberals gear up for a federal election in 2019. 

While transit advocates, many city councillors and staff oppose the upload, the province says it wants to expand the subway system to outlying GTA suburbs like Pickering

Council is voting on Thursday whether to authorize Chris Murray, the city manager, to start discussions with the province. Whether the province will listen, however, is a historical "no." 

Lead photo by

LRayG


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Here's a preview of what it will be like to ride on new Toronto LRT line

There's a brand-new $26M TTC subway station entrance in a popular Toronto park

Ontario's largest snake grows up to 2 metres and squeezes prey to death

Ontario is home to world's oldest pool of water at a staggering 2 billion years old

Stunning new Toronto park set to open next year

Toronto somehow isn't home to Ontario's jankiest LRT

A Toronto transit project is actually going to finish early for once

People worried about Ontario police's plan to use facial recognition software