As former TTC Chair and board member from 1988 — 1994, I have had first-hand involvement in many aspects of Toronto’s Subway Saga over the years that continued when I became MPP in 1995 and still continue to this day.

I think it is important to respond to the endless stream of armchair critics sharing negative comments about the new six-station extension of the Yonge-University Line to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.

From the outset, those of us who have supported this extension looked at this project as much more than just a pure transportation decision based on technology, engineering, and short-term costs.

A major driving force behind this extension into the northwest part of the city and into York Region was the social imperative of this investment which linked the people and communities in these areas with the heart of the city. For too long, the Keele Corridor, or Jane Finch Community residents have felt left out of rapid transit plans and investments.

The employment, social, and economic challenges faced by residents in the northwest area of Toronto have lacked access to employment and post-secondary education, especially given their transit dependency, they spend far too many hours on buses trying to get to their jobs. In fact, part of the Jane Street North Corridor has some of the lowest household income levels in Canada, with many unable to afford cars.

These six architecturally magnificent stations connect an often forgotten part of the City with the heart of Toronto and also bridges one of the fastest growing regions in Canada, York Region, to the city centre of Toronto.

For the first time, a subway line breaks through the transit wall between Toronto and the cities north of Steeles. Toronto has debated ad nauseam transit routes, costs, and technology going back to the days of Horatio Clarence Hocken, who served as Mayor of Toronto from 1912-1914. Mayor Hocken dreamt of including decking underneath the Prince Edward Viaduct for a future Bloor-Danforth Line. Hocken was defeated at the polls for supporting this future transit investment.

Having lived through the planning and building of the Eglinton Subway that was filled in and cancelled by the Mike Harris Government in 1997, I know too well the incredible waste of money and time in second-guessing and cancelling major subway projects.

Yes, there are valid criticisms of the extension to Vaughan and the six new stations, and no doubt an argument can be made in the support of other proposed projects, like the Yonge Street Extension and the downtown Relief Line. We need to put an end to the endless second guessing and dithering, for this only results in is more delays and more cost.

What we must appreciate and acknowledge is that this new six-station extension I like to call “the line above Toronto” is much more than mere subway cars, stations, and tracks. These new stations are a validation for the hard-working people of moderate means who will benefit from this subway line. Plus, it is a game changer when it comes to our attempt to curtail the car culture and initiate a modal shift toward public transit in the suburbs.

There is much more value in this long-awaited subway extension to the North-West than simply getting from A to B. This is a transformational public transit investment that improves the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands of residents who, until now, were ignored and left to bounce from bus to bus.

Mike Colle is the Liberal MPP for Eglinton-Lawrence.