“A day late, and a dollar short!” MPP Jill Andrews speaks out on Eglinton Crosstown delays

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Rasta Flex. Closed! Carib Jewellery. Closed! These are only two of the over 100 shops and small businesses that have either been closed, or severely affected due to the Eglinton Crosstown construction.

If you have driven down Eglinton Avenue in the last few months to a year, you would have observed: tall fencing, obstructive barriers, and construction scaffolding, all that have blocked customers from accessing the many businesses located along the stretch of Eglinton Avenue.

What is disturbing is the fact that as of mid-February, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario made clear that they were not making precise predictions of the project completion date at that point. They were claiming that Crosslinx Transit Solutions (CTS) were facing a number of challenges since the project started. First of all, the project started nine months later than planned. Then, they were slow to finalize the designs. They have made some progress, but they are still way behind schedule. Metrolinx spoke on the fact that they do not want to compromise safety or quality, so they don’t think we will see the completion of the project until 2022.

To compensate for that, the Ontario government announced last week that they would be providing an extra $3 million to support areas impacted by the Eglinton Crosstown delays. According to the Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney, the money will go toward marketing, promotions, and clean-up assistance. It is in addition to the $6.6 million given to business improvement areas for promotions, parking discounts, window cleaning and local procurement.

The NDP are not buying it. Jessica Bell, Ontario NDP Transit critic has called on Doug Ford to speed up the delivery of upcoming transit projects by stopping the use of P3 procurement, which was initially introduced by the Liberal government.  “The Liberals let Ontarians down by pushing public-private partnerships that have seen transit project after transit project blow over budget and past deadlines, and now Doug Ford is taking things from bad to worse by using the same blueprint.”

What are P3s? They are public-private partnerships, which are an expensive form of privatization. Ontario’s auditor general found that the former Liberal government wasted an extra $8 billion of Ontario’s money by using P3s for 74 projects. The NDP party is afraid that Ford is continuing down the same path as the Wynne Liberals, and who is suffering?

Toronto Caribbean Newspaper had an opportunity to speak with Jill Andrew, NDP MPP for Toronto-St. Paul’s, who most recently called for the province to put a plan in place to help them.

“This project delay is ruining many people’s lives in the St. Paul’s district,” started MPP Andrews. “People are going into debt, physical health is being compromised, there is a strain on business owners because they don’t have the foot traffic, emotional and mental health is being affected. This $3 million dollars Carolyn Mulroney has announced; is this a band-aid solution, or a long-term plan? We want small businesses to be helped by the government. They need support. People are exhausted and depleted. $3 million is not enough. It is a day late and a dollar short.”

In 2012, the TTC warned the government and warned the public that these P3 partnerships were not going to build the Eglinton Crosstown quickly enough, and it looks like they were right. There are many issues to be considered including the fact that there are some severe safety issues due to construction: sidewalks are not being cleared, and there is not a clear path for pedestrians.

“The government would consult with the community, they could hear it from them directly,” MPP Andrews explained. “There is very little consultation. The community is not afraid of development. Development is needed for communities to thrive. We are asking for responsible development. We need to make it all come together.”