Article content continued

Anne Golden will do her job and prepare a thorough, professional report. But we know already what needs to be done — build more transit — and we already have a plan to do it. Premier Wynne may not relish the idea of implementing a plan that raises taxes with a minority government and an election believed imminent. But she’s not fooling anyone with this report. It’s a punt, to buy time. Nothing more.

Read full column…

[/np_storybar]

Former Conference Board of Canada president Anne Golden is entitled to a maximum payout of $90,000 over the next three-and-a-half months as her panel examines the Metrolinx investment strategy, conducts further public consultations and considers “other options” to help pay for the $50-billion Big Move regional transportation plan.

Premier Kathleen Wynne maintains the panel will “build” on the work Metrolinx has already done, rather than repeat it. But critics quickly pounced, calling the panel a costly and redundant exercise from a government “incapable of making decisions” on its own.

“It’s excessive. It’s just a further waste of taxpayer money, and for a job that’s already been done,” said Candice Malcolm, Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “It seems like a step backward.”

Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak decried the process as “another study group wrapped in a committee buried in a panel.”

Metrolinx, a provincial agency created in 2006 to develop and implement a regional transportation network throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, unveiled a list of proposed transit-funding tools in May. The tools, developed over months of planning and consultation, included a one-percentage-point HST hike, a fuel tax, high-occupancy toll lanes and a handful of other fees.