TTC Exposed – Flawed leadership, hidden stories, and systemic racism at TTC

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

I am going to tell you this now; this story is only the beginning of what looks like a long string of stories that are meant to expose the corrupt, and underhanded management of one of the oldest organizations in Toronto, the Toronto Transit Commission.

I have had the privilege of connecting with a group of brave, determined individuals who believe that now is the time to let the citizens of Toronto know exactly how their tax dollars are being misused.

I swear, it was like opening Pandora’s box. It was hard to focus on one topic, which is why the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper will be doing a series exposing some of the deepest secrets of this organization. I write only what is being reported to me, and I am open to speaking to any representatives from TTC. I am sure that what I am about to share is going to ruffle some feathers, but I would not be doing my job if I didn’t speak the truth.

Flawed Leadership

There are so many places that I can go, but let’s start with some news that was not shared widely on mainstream and for good reason; the news would probably spark some panic, and lead to many questions.

In any organization, great leadership is needed. In the case of the TTC, this seems to be the biggest issue. I think my first concern is why TTC would hire an individual who is not only incompetent but has been responsible for serious crashes in his previous role at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Prior to his arrival at the TTC in 2014, Rick Leary was General Manager for York Region Transit/VIVA. Leary began his career working for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority out of Boston as a train attendant in 1984 rising through the ranks and eventually serving as Chief Operating Officer until he retired in 2009.

What is interesting is that his retirement came after he had been ordered to address a damning federal safety report regarding two serious rear-end crashes on one of MBTA’s lines within one year. During his time with MBTA, there were frequent complaints concerning a “lack of safety culture at the T.” Instead of dealing with accusations of his inefficiencies as a leader, he retired, and hightailed to Canada, where he commenced his role as CEO at TTC.

What is disturbing is that for some reason, wherever this man seems to go crashes seem to follow, and he never has answers, or seems to want to take responsibility.

My question here is, what type of background check did the commission do, if any? Did they not take a look at his track (no pun intended) record to see what type of leader he was?

Osgoode Pocket Incident

The subway incident, which the union refers to as the “Osgoode Pocket Incident,” happened on Line 1. The city was inches away from disaster, and many have been shocked and appalled to learn that the TTC covered up the near miss incident, causing concern and worry about what else is being hidden from the public.

The story is that a southbound train going into a siding (or “pocket”) near Osgoode station moved over to the northbound track to fill in for a temporarily delayed train at St. Andrew station.

While the move was in progress, a subway guard at the back of the pocket spotted the delayed subway train from St. Andrew coming in at “full operating speed” on the same northbound track.

Thankfully, the Operator reacted immediately and had been proceeding cautiously at only 7.16 km/hr (6.5ft/sec). The union reported in their statement. “His train came to a stop less than five feet from the northbound track as the passenger train from St. Andrew sped by. Less than a second later, had the pocket train still been moving, it would have caused a massive collision, derailment and an unknown number of fatalities and serious injuries.”

There was an investigative report conducted by The Toronto Star, after they obtained an internal TTC review summarizing the details of the event, as well as a video of the moment it had happened. According to their investigation, the TTC hadn’t publicized the details of the incident.

“Someone is responsible for that cover-up attempt,”

President of ATU Local 113

A union that represents nearly 12,000 transit workers called for the dismissal or resignation of TTC CEO Rick Leary. ATU Local 113 alleged Leary attempted to cover up the “near-catastrophic” subway crash

Carlos Santos, President of ATU said in the release “Who else would have the authority to keep such a major incident under wraps? Someone could only be the CEO.”

Believe me when I say, that is not all. Incidents against both customers and employees have risen since Rick Leary took his position as CEO. He has reportedly created a hostile and toxic workplace where employees fear interaction with him. The fear of abuse and reprisal is constant. His intimidation tactics are constant. He is known for shouting, swearing, and threatening employees, and for some reason, Rick Leary maintains his role as CEO without fear of being reported or investigated. Well, of course he does; he got away with it in Boston; why not try to get away with it here in Toronto?

Rick Leary reportedly has made directives that his managers have told him are dangerous to public safety. Directives like the one that lead to the fatal accident in Boston, the very same accident and investigation that lead to Leary retiring from MBTA. Leary appears to be using the same tactics at the TTC as he did at the MBTA forcing managers to make decisions that they know are not safe.

News flash *Many people do not know this, but there have been three near misses in recent history: Osgoode, Davisville (actual contact) and Keele, all under the watch of CEO Rick Leary.

Wasting Taxpayers Money and Systemic Racism at TTC

This is the part of the story that I will be continuing in the next few editions. I am only going to touch on certain aspects of them in this article.

This pandemic has exacerbated the concerns of employees that work at TTC. How they have handled their employees is a topic on its own, but since we are talking about leadership, I figured I would focus on operational aspects of the organization.

I had the opportunity to speak to two members of management, and what I was told is very disturbing. As representatives of the African-Caribbean community, the first thing they shared was that systemic racism is real at the TTC.

“It is obvious that we are not welcome,” one member of the management team told me. “We are tolerated. They tell us that they are equal opportunity employers, but the only way that you can be promoted to the highest levels of management is if you sleep your way to the top, and I know this for a fact.

In my 21 years here, I have never in my life felt this threat of termination (something that we will look into later). It first came as indirect, but then came directly. They stop at nothing to use and abuse our community. It is our responsibility to advance ourselves; sometimes we just jump into a role as a token. They wave the dollars, and you start to see how much people are willing to sell out themselves.”

“People need to pay attention to the history,” the second management team member told me. “I work for my people. When I became part of the management team, we were working with an old structure. They keep changing our title; which allows them to continue to create and change rules.”

A few years back, TTC upgraded their communication system to a new one called VISION.

“This changed the whole paradigm, but the system has not been effective,” shares management. “Every day, I was told that the night system would keep crashing at around 1:00 am. Upper management did not respond to it because then they would have to acknowledge that the new system, that the taxpayers had paid all this money for, was not working. We don’t have landlines for communication, everything is digital. One of the roles of the supervisor is to communicate with operators, and if the system is always crashing, this can become a safety issue. It makes things difficult.

When the system fails, the night supervisors lose communication functions. The operator loses visual and can only use their cell phone. This can be extremely dangerous, especially if an operator is in a dangerous area, or could be dealing with dangerous people. They won’t acknowledge that the system they are using is out-dated. We are the laughingstock of the transportation industry. It is such a waste of taxpayer’s money. They keep telling us that they are passing it up to management, but nothing is being done, and the system continues to crash.”

Wow! This is just an introduction to a detailed investigation that I will be conducting in the next few weeks. I encourage any other TTC Operators who would like to speak out against TTC to contact me. I will keep your name confidential, but the truth needs to be uncovered about another corrupt system in our beautiful city.