No answers and no completion date in sight for Eglinton LRT as Ford’s Conservatives waffle

QUEEN’S PARK – The Eglinton Crosstown LRT project currently has no opening date as the project continues to face delays, quality control issues, and ongoing questions about transparency regarding the project schedule.

During Question Period, NDP GTA Issues critic Bhutila Karpoche (Parkdale – High Park) asked the Minister of Transportation about the future of this project, as the government has failed to get an updated timeline from Metrolinx or Crosslinx.

“Small businesses lost revenue…were forced to shut down. People have been stuck in traffic and lived with construction dust and noise for over a decade,” she said. “There seems to be no attempt at accountability by this conservative government. What is the government’s plan for wrapping up this project and when can we get moving?”

The Minister failed to give Ontarians any assurance about the future of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project from the government’s P3 partners who are being paid billions to deliver this project.

“Ontarians deserve answers about when they can get the much-needed transit projects this government has promised them, and they deserve answers about how this government is using taxpayer dollars as private infrastructure partners continue to rack up millions of dollars,” said Joel Harden (Ottawa Centre), the Opposition critic for Transit.

“Metrolinx already paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to the P3 consortium and the project keeps falling further behind. With all the secrecy from this government, how can Ontarians trust this government to deliver this project without wasting more public dollars?”

Latest reports also suggest that Metrolinx is lobbying to increase their CEO, Phil Verster’s salary to upwards of a million dollars, as the project continues without an updated schedule.