Ontario's Plan for Taking Over Toronto's Subway Revealed

An article by Rob Ferguson, Robert Benzie, and Ben SPurr details the recently revealed details of a proposal that would transfer ownership of the city of Toronto's subway system to the province of Ontario.

Premier Doug Ford’s government on Tuesday released the terms of reference for the deal to “upload” the building and maintenance of new and existing TTC subway lines to the province from the City of Toronto.

The plan, a cornerstone of the Progressive Conservatives’ election platform last June, would leave the TTC responsible for day-to-day operations of the subway while keeping fare box revenues.

Buses and streetcars would continue to be run by the city.

The article includes a lot more detail about the proposal and the big financial questions it raises.

A separate article by Ben Spurr digs into more of the political debate surrounding the proposal, and digs into the arguments on each side of the issue.

"The province has greater financial resources than city hall to ensure new lines are completed, the reasoning from Premier Doug Ford’s government goes, and infighting at city council will only continue to delay projects," according to Spurr.

But not all experts agree, and some political observers say the provincial government is just as capable of messing up transit as the local government.