TTC board votes to terminate GM Gary Webster

In the least surprising news of the day, the TTC board voted 5-4 to terminate General Manager Gary Webster shortly after 5 p.m. this afternoon. The board deliberated in-camera (i.e. privately) for approximately three hours before returning to the public eye to proceed with the vote. As expected, the same councillors who signed the petition to call the special meeting of the board made up the majority needed to fire Webster without just cause: Norm Kelly, Cesar Palacio, Vince Crisanti, Frank DiGiorgio and Denzil Minnan-Wong.

TTC Chair Karen Stintz and Commissioners Maria Augimeri, Peter Milczyn, and John Parker voted against the proposal to terminate the GM, who has served the TTC for 35 years. That this move is political goes without saying, but the big question is where the TTC goes from here. Along with the severance that Webster is due — estimated at $500,000 — it may prove a challenge to replace him with a qualified candidate. Not only that, some are calling for city council to disband the TTC board, which is within its rights to do.

Stay tuned, the fireworks may be just beginning.

Photo by Mariam Matti