As a former TTC chief general manager, I was skeptical about John Tory’s transit election promises. I assumed he’d bought into a politically appealing transit plan, thinking it was achievable.

Faced with hard evidence, I thought he would level with ratepayers and adopt a value-for-money approach. Instead, he’s holding onto his misguided transit plans like a drunken sailor to a lamppost.

Tory wrote recently, “Throughout my time in office I have tried to be completely honest with the people of Toronto.” Really? There is mounting evidence he’s being less than honest on multiple fronts. His transit rationalizations are verging on the absurd.

Tory promised a 22-stop “surface subway” to cost $8 billion and be completed in seven years. SmartTrack would be built “without increasing property taxes.” Toronto’s $2.7 billion share was to be financed by Tax Incremental Financing (TIF): borrowing now against future tax revenues from development along the line.

If Tory were honest he’d acknowledge there’s little difference today between the province’s pre-existing GO Regional Express Rail (RER) plan and SmartTrack. There will be 15, not 22, Toronto stops. The six city stations not originally included in RER will cost Toronto about $1 billion and take 10 years to complete.

In the face of this reality Tory bobs and weaves.

“I’ve said from the beginning that I’ve put forward a concept.” Just a concept? Not a transit plan? What were we thinking?

He makes the ridiculous claim he’s actually delivering more stations than he originally promised using a convoluted argument that defies analysis. He also says service levels for the SmartTrack stations will be better than GO. Not according to Metrolinx.

Tory still supports his much-touted TIF transit financing scheme but last December he seemed ready to break his election promise to limit taxes to inflation. He proposed a .05 per cent property tax hike for “City Building” projects.

But that amounts to only $70 million annually. Not enough to pay for a quarter kilometre of subway — or put a dent in the city’s $26 billion in unfunded capital projects.

The city must commit the necessary funds for the six SmartTrack stations by Nov. 30. But Tory, who’s been in office for 18 months, still has no plan to finance the main plank in his election campaign.

He continues to stubbornly advocate for a wildly expensive ($3.2 billion) one-stop Scarborough subway over a more affordable and accessible, ($1.9 billion) seven-stop LRT.

If Tory were “completely honest” he would acknowledged that politics are at the centre of his support for the “vanity” subway. Instead, in a Star op-ed article he questions whether the LRT option is still open, and says there are corridor issues that will take years to resolve.

Tory knows the Master Agreement between the city and Metrolinx for the LRT is still in place. The province is still prepared to pay for the line and Metrolinx sees no alignment issues. So his “technical” issues are suspect.

His “trust and credibility” argument is equally weak. “With a change in plans there is no guarantee their (federal and provincial) contributions would remain committed to Scarborough transit.”

First, the provincial contribution isn’t going anywhere. Premier Kathleen Wynne, like Tory, is constantly trolling for support in vote-rich Scarborough.

Second, so is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The feds have confirmed they will invest were the city dictates. Is Tory being “honest” by telling Ottawa they need to commit $660 million to a subway extension that’s a staggering waste of money?

Finally, Tory argues when people say $3 billion is “too much to spend on a subway, the inference seems to be that’s too much to spend on this part of the city.” That’s not what Toronto ratepayers are saying. They want the best transit solution for Scarborough at the lowest cost.

Tory still has a chance to deliver an extensive 24-stop LRT network across Scarborough for the cost of his one-stop subway. The province will pay for the seven-stop LRT to the Town Centre. That frees up enough money to build the much needed 17-stop, $1.7-billion LRT extension along Eglinton Ave. E.

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That’s the most honest, affordable and effective way of achieving mobility equity in Scarborough.

Correction- July 4, 2016: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said the six city stations not originally included in the RER will cost Toronto about $6 billion. It fact, that figure is $1 billion. As well, the article was edited to make clear that John Tory still supports his TIF transit financing scheme.

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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