Council votes to dissolve current TTC board, new members appointed

Toronto city council has voted 29-15 in favour of dissolving the current TTC board and replacing it with a new one comprised of seven councillors and four citizens.

The seven councillors newly appointed to the board are: Karen Stintz, Raymond Cho, John Parker, Maria Augimeri, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Josh Colle and Peter Milczyn.

The motion was put forth by Stintz, who was also voted to remain as TTC chair.

The citizen members will be elected this fall.

Stintz earlier asked that council rescind the existing commission so that “we” have a commission that supports the will of council.

She also added that it wasn’t unprecedented referring to the Toronto Community Housing Corp.’s board, which was replaced when it became out of sync with council.

“Let’s put the commission in place. Let’s move forward in a unified way,” she successfully argued.

The previous board was made up of nine councillors, most of them allies of Mayor Rob Ford.

Coun. Michael Thompson had proposed a nine-member board made entirely of private citizens. His plan was endorsed by the mayor and his brother Coun. Doug Ford on their two-hour Sunday afternoon radio talk show.

Thompson argued councillors don’t have the full skill set to make crucial transit decision and wants highly-qualified private citizens to take those positions.

“We continue to play political football with respect to transit in the city of Toronto,” Thompson said.

“This [ all-citizen board motion] is a game-changer, no doubt … [politicians] have not been able to bring the professional expertise that’s needed, the vision—we tend to squabble. This is something the citizens of Toronto cannot continue to wait for.”

Adding another layer to the debate, Coun. Frances Nunziata recommended that responsibility for the TTC be turned over to Metrolinx, the province’s transportation agency.

“It’s time we gave the responsibility back to the province. Let them make the decision,” she said, adding  ‘because obviously we can’t manage” the TTC.

Coun. Adam Vaughan followed up by suggesting that the pro-transit B.C. government assume responsibility for the TTC instead of the Ontario government, or that the federal government, where the mayor has friends, take responsibility.

“This is fun,” Nunziata responded. “This is like the comedy hour.”

“Except nothing you’ve said is funny,” Vaughan retorted. “We have to do all the work.”

Coun. David Shiner recommended that council adopt a commission of 11 members, including five councillors, four citizens and two representatives from the provincial and the federal governments. 

Aside from all the wrangling about the future of the commission’s leadership is a left versus right and a light-rail transit (LRT) versus subway battle on council.

Stintz led a fight for the TTC to move forward with surface LRTs on Eglinton and Finch avenues. Ford is pushing for a Sheppard subway extension, but his plan doesn’t have full financing in place. Council is expected to vote on how to proceed with Sheppard on March 21.

The province has promised the city $8.4 billion for new transit projects.

Last month Gary Webster was fired from his position as the TTC’s general manager. Many believe he was dismissed for voicing opposition to Ford’s subway plan and supporting the LRT plan.

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