There is a positive side to Transport Minister Steven Del Duca’s interference with Metrolinx’s business case assessment of a GO station in his riding. It may help to clarify the degree of independence Metrolinx needs if it’s to play a more effective role in regional transportation.

Metrolinx is supposed to operate at arms length from the provincial government. It was established to champion, develop and implement an integrated transportation system across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.

There is a memo of understanding that governs the relationship between Metrolinx and the Transport Ministry. The government controls Metrolinx’s funding, board appointments, reporting and communications.

In theory the minister doesn’t have the right to interfere with Metrolinx’s planning and business case analysis of transportation infrastructure. For example, the agency’s value-for-money review of the $100 million Kirby station in the Minister’s riding was supposed to be free from political interference.

The station did not meet Metrolinx’s criteria. However, after pressure from the ministry the agency staff changed their advice to the board. The board eventually voted for the Kirby station. This is just the latest example of a deeply flawed transit decision-making process in the Toronto region chronicled in the Star on Monday.

In addition to condemnation of the minister, the Metrolinx board chair, Rob Prichard, has been criticized for caving under political pressure. I faced the same kind of coercion at the TTC, and later at Canada Post. Minister’s often want things they’re not supposed to have. And it’s very difficult to bite the hand that feeds you.

At the TTC, Premier Bill Davis insisted we use the “Intermediate Capacity Transit System” (ICTS) from Kennedy Station to the Scarborough Town Centre. It was provincially developed, untested technology that Davis wanted to demonstrate to the world. He controlled the funding. We finally agreed to his expensive alternative when a street car line on a dedicated right of way would have been a better option. Sound familiar?

The Star's Ben Spurr takes a look at the proposed $100-million Kirby Go Station in the riding of Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca.

At Canada Post Corporation, our first minister, was also the minister responsible for Quebec. He was fond of putting pressure on me to direct major contracts to Quebec companies. I was able to resist because the CPC legislation required the minister to give any political direction by way of a public Order in Council. None ever came.

Prichard has done the right thing by putting his house in order. Del Duca’s Kirby Station and Mayor John Tory’s Lawrence Station (also questionable) will be reviewed again. In the future all business case analyses will be made public before the Metrolinx board votes. Notices of any private board meetings will be posted and minutes made available later,

These are important transparency and procedural improvements. Metrolinx is a vital agency whose decisions are shaping the urban form of this region for generations to come.

So far, all Minister De Duca has done is acknowledge in a letter that “some concerns have been raised.” This isn’t enough. The government can’t have it both ways. Keeping Metrolinx at arms length when it likes their decisions. Interfering when their decisions don’t serve political ends. This substitution of political bias for evidence-based decisions has serious consequences.

The Scarborough subway is a classic example. In 2013, Metrolinx said they believed an LRT “would provide an effective rapid transit solution to the transportation challenges in the area.” The agency maintained support for an LRT even after the three levels of government opted for a subway. However, Metrolinx did agree to a short “Transit Project Assessment” process.

This meant no embarrassing value-for-money analysis by Metrolinx of a subway vs. an LRT. That lack of a comprehensive value-for-money comparison has allowed Mayor Tory, Premier Wynne and Trudeau to troll for support in vote-rich Scarborough with a $3.3 billion, one-stop subway option that shouldn’t even be on the table.

The provincial government already has control over Metrolinx’s board appointments, strategic plan and annual budget. This should be enough influence to satisfy the needs of elected oversight.

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If Premier Wynne wants more control over the planning and analysis of major transit projects she should dismantle Metrolinx and absorb its functions into the Transport Ministry. If she still wants objective, professional, transit decisions then clearer lines of authority need to be established.

She should consider elevating Metrolinx from an “operational enterprise agency” to a more independent crown agency with a strengthened mandate and greater decision making authority.

R. Michael Warren is a former corporate director, Ontario deputy minister, TTC chief general manager and Canada Post CEO. r.michael.warren@gmail.com

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