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Imagine you hire contractors to do a home renovation project. You’ve finally saved enough money to add that second bathroom you’ve always wanted. What do you do if, in the middle of the job, the contractors come to you and say that the costs have suddenly doubled, and the only explanation they have is inflation?
Most people tend to fire contractors on the spot and find someone else to do the job. Inflation is one factor, but double? Be reasonable. And, even if you decide to retain those contractors to complete a job, you definitely won’t hire them for your next project.
Well, it turns out Ontario Premier Doug Ford isn’t like most people.
Ford decided to put Metrolinx, a Crown agency, in charge of building the government’s major new subway projects.
Ford chose Metrolinx to lead the charge even though the agency has a terrible track record.
Every project the agency handles is over budget. But Ontario politicians aren’t just learning.
Three years ago, Ford announced a plan to build a new subway infrastructure in Toronto.
At the center of that plan is the new Ontario line, planned to connect the Ontario Science Center to Ontario Place. Its cost was originally pegged at $10.9 billion. Metrolinx was put in charge of the project.
Just a few days ago, news broke that the Ontario line, which is at least five years from completion, is now set to cost taxpayers at least $19 billion.
That’s a 75 percent cost increase.
That extra $8 billion could pay for seven new hospitals.
The transportation ministry is slamming Metrolinx and blaming inflation for the increased costs.
While inflation has certainly hit the province, Ontario hasn’t seen 75 per cent inflation in the last three years.
The Ontario line is not the only example of poor Metrolinx management.
Metrolinx was also tasked by Ford’s predecessor, Kathleen Wynne, with overseeing the construction of the Eglinton Crosstown Line through midtown Toronto.
The Eglinton Crosstown project is three years behind schedule and is set to be at least $325 million over budget.
That’s enough money to hire over three thousand nurses for an entire year.
Metrolinx has also wreaked havoc on the budgets of smaller cities in the General Toronto Area. The cities of Burlington and Oakville decided to build a railroad underpass and split the cost, originally set at $60 million.
Now, Metrolinx told the two cities that, due to cost overruns, the price tag is up to $177 million.
Metrolinx’s track record is an utter failure. The contractor goes over budget, time and time again. And Ontario’s politicians aren’t the only ones learning.
And while Metrolinx continues to fail to deliver, its president and CEO is paid more than $500,000 every year he’s on the job.
Ontario’s balance sheet is deep in the red. The province has a debt of more than $450 billion, most of which was accumulated due to irresponsible spending.
The Ford government has four more major subway projects in the works, and it plans to have Metrolinx manage all of them.
With such a poor track record, there’s no way Ford should trust Metrolinx with another dollar of taxpayers’ cash.
It’s time for the province to hit the reset button. It is time for the government to remove Metrolinx as the province’s contractor.
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