No Scarborough subway talks until city council makes decision, Glen Murray says

Ontario’s transportation minister has criticized Toronto’s city council over its indecision on a Scarborough subway expansion, and says there will be no further discussions on the matter until council reaches a clear consensus.

Glen Murray was peppered with questions at a media event Thursday morning for the planned Union Pearson Express.

“There are no discussions going on regarding making the LRT into a subway,” Murray said. “We’re not currently negotiating a deal with the city of Toronto on this.”

He did confirm that he had recently had discussions with Toronto Transit Commission chair Karen Stintz about plans for connecting Scarborough to the downtown core.

But Murray was unequivocal: he wants clarity from the city before he will make any commitments.

He said he hopes to get that clarity at the July 16 city council meeting when city manager Joe Pennachetti will submit his recommendations.

“We’ve had the Miller plan, the Ford plan and now the Stintz plan and in May there was another contradictory motion,” he said. “Projects aren’t happening because people are changing their minds and having a conversation instead.”

The minister said that whether it’s an LRT or a subway that replaces the current Scarborough Rapid Transit line, the most important thing is that progress is made.

“This is about jobs and investment and Scarborough has never gotten the full benefit of transit investments that other parts of the GTA has,” he said. “Scarborough needs to be a full and equal partner.”