TTCriders, Moya Beall and Brenda Thompson's letters re: Spadina subway cost overruns in Toronto Star.

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Dear Editor Toronto Star, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s comment that they should have used “alternative financing and procurement” (AFP) to build the Spadina subway is both disappointing and disturbing. Disappointing because it shows she has very little regard for or confidence in public sector procurement — she would rather privatize than ensure we retain the capacity to build infrastructure publicly. Disturbing because AFP, also known as a public-private partnerships (P3), is no solution. The most recent provincial auditor’s report showed 75 of the AFP projects undertaken by our provincial government cost Ontarians an extra $8 billion.

Brenda Thompson, Toronto

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca’s scrappy comments about the York Spadina line are a long way from the “adult conversation” that Premier Wynne once promised about public transit. He is all too eager to distract attention from his government’s dismal record on major projects — the gas plant fiasco, the MaRS boondoggle, the social assistance computer mix ups and the botched hydro smart meter rollout, for example.

To say that the problem stems from being a TTC-build project rather than a P3 is misleading. There are realistic reasons cited for the delays that have nothing to do with it being a public project.

With the Ontario auditor general’s finding that the government’s P3 projects have cost taxpayers $8 billion, we are very fortunate that this is not one of them.

Moya Beall, Toronto You can read the full article here

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