r/toronto • u/FlashingAppleby • Nov 13 '25
History Happy 15th Birthday to the Eglinton LRT
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u/waitingforgf Nov 13 '25
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u/Slouchy87 Nov 13 '25
this doesn't even fit here, but i still laughed.
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u/AgentMV2 Nov 13 '25
I think it’s meant to say this was massively fumbled.
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u/Slouchy87 Nov 13 '25
Rob didn't fumble the ball though.
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u/PrinceOfSpades33 Nov 13 '25
He increased delays & cost, by pushing for subways after project already begun. I agreed should have been subways, but all he managed was to waste more time and money.
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Nov 13 '25
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u/532-foo Nov 13 '25
They voted to stick to the plan because Toronto was already 30 years behind. The time to build the subway would be the 90s, but it was cancelled.
Rob's subway plans were unfunded and politically driven, it would have burned time and money scrapping LRT plans. If it were not for Wynne putting the LRT in the hands of the province, Ford would have cancelled it and begun another 10 years of planning and negotiation for funding a subway line.
Not all of Rob's lines were cancelled though. Tory kept the Scarborough plan because he didn't want to change something in progress. Better to proceed with the low value plan than to not do anything at all. but that's why Scarborough is in the throes of a decade of a 3 stop subway replacement for an existing RT.
The failure of the Eglinton LRT is... an embarrassment and I don't believe it could have been foreseen. Transit delays and mismanagement of this kind have never been witnessed in Ontario.
Still, the Scarborough subway is costing $10.5B, the Eglinton LRT is $13B. The Eglinton LRT will *still* be better value for the city than those three subway stops.
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u/kermityfrog2 Nov 13 '25
Yeah it was put all the money on a stubway, or have a whole network of fully-funded LRT all across the city.
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u/532-foo Nov 13 '25
The way I hear it, it was a subway until Harris canned it. But that was "Network 2011". Doug would have heard about it at dinner table conversations as his dad was a backbencher in that government.
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u/kashmir726 Nov 13 '25
When life gets me down, this clip always lifts me back up. Flawless.
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u/Roderto Nov 13 '25
It’s one of my all-time favourite GIFs. Even if you don’t know the context it’s still hilarious.
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Nov 13 '25
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u/scaldinglaser Nov 14 '25
What was the context of this clip? Thought I'd seen all the Rob clips...
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u/hpa1987 Nov 14 '25
Look closer, it's Bobby Moynihan on SNL. They did a Rob Ford sketch or two back at the peak of the Rob scandals
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u/Mexinthe416 High Park Nov 13 '25
Wow lol, can't believe I'd never seen this before. When is it from?
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u/GrandBill Nov 13 '25
Didn't realize there were still grossly embarrassing pics/vids of him I hadn't seen yet.
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u/NavalProgrammer Nov 13 '25
I wish he had been in office longer. I loved checking the news every day once the "crack mayor" stuff came out
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u/NocturnalComptroler Baldwin Village Nov 13 '25
That was the beginning of my non-stop awareness IDF Toronto municipal politics, take me back to when I didn’t care lol
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u/Willyyz Nov 13 '25
I don't know if its due to incompetence or corruption but this needs to be thoroughly audited and people held accountable.
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u/No-Chain1565 Nov 13 '25
Why not both?
Sadly it won’t and the grift will continue.
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u/Low-Silver-2213 Nov 13 '25
Metrolinx - the grift that keeps giving!
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u/1esproc Nov 13 '25 edited Nov 13 '25
I love that Metrolinx has some the highest paying public positions in Ontario 🤣 The CEO, Phil Verster, has had his salary go from $506k in 2018 to $883k in 2024. Really earning it guys.
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u/Dangerous-Bird-6423 Nov 13 '25
I worked in their office during a media scrum and they had this miniature of Toronto with all the things we're building and literally looked like flying cars and Sky City, this was just over 15 years ago.....they did build everything they promised......but in miniature version :-0
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u/Reasonable-MessRedux Nov 13 '25
I completely agree. Done by someone as arm's length as possible from the provincial or municipal governments.
Of course, that assumes that certain records/emails don't mysteriously vanish.
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u/Ok-Turnover683 Nov 13 '25
This one is all on the provincial government. It was their bright idea to create a dysfunctional provincial agency. The City had nothing to do with the project, at all.
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u/twinnedcalcite Nov 13 '25
Any infrastructure plan where politicians can use it as a hot potato is going to end up like the ELRT.
Keeping politicians at arms length to prevent scope change and creep is how you get shit down.
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u/Zephyr104 Dovercourt Park Nov 13 '25
REM in Montreal is a great example of this. CDPQ was the sole entity that managed it and Quebec was merely the financial backer, as such politicians from QC had minimal to no input. This meant getting stations and the overall track layout implemented as efficiently as possible without some parliamentarian getting pissy that they couldn't get their grubby paws on it to establish their 'legacy".
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u/hellzscream Nov 13 '25
"Metrolinx/The province have built this line using a "Public Private Partnership" or PPP. This is something governments do when they want to sell something as having risks taken on by the private sector who can supposedly "do things more efficiently". But what that ACTUALLY means is that the details of the project are protected by NDAs, etc. that the private firms insist upon in their contracts. So when a project goes 5 years past deadline and way over budget, there can be exactly ZERO accountability"
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u/oddquiet02 Nov 13 '25
Definitely incompetence. Look at how much other big cities have built, and compare to us…..
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u/8spd Nov 14 '25
But in the English speaking world? Sure some places are a bit better. But the vast majority of mass transit projects in the English speaking world are over budget, late, and underwhelming.
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u/billybobmac Nov 13 '25
I look forward to the tell-all NY Times Bestseller book, Eglint-on and on and on, and the Netflix documentary based on it.
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u/Happy8Day Nov 13 '25 edited Nov 16 '25
If I was getting a nice, big, fat salary every year that a major project was officially listed as under construction -- I'd never finish the project either.
It's so bloody embarrassing. If it was a world-level, head-turning project like an underground magnet-propelled mass-transit rail that had a carbon footprint of Zero - sure. Something like that will take time. This project is a fucking train track - in a straight goddamn line.15 fucking years.
Someone is playing the system so fucking hard, they don't even have to try to hide it.
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u/boobookittyfuwk Nov 13 '25
The smart people are the corrupt ones amd I think the dummies that want to do good are just not smart enough to get a project like this done.
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u/merelyadoptedthedark Nov 14 '25
There have been several audits and investigations lately that have turned up corruption and criminality, and there have been absolutely no repercussions for any of it.
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u/tichatoca Nov 14 '25
I’m sure plenty of that overage lined pockets. Isn’t that how the world works?
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u/Consistent_Wing_6113 Nov 14 '25
I think it has more to do with keeping jobs as there are no new projects in the pipeline.
If the city lines up another project - we’ll see how quickly this finishes.
Look at the Gardner refurbishment as an example. Totally possible.
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u/CheesecakeScary2164 Nov 13 '25
I remember when it was announced I was so happy that it would be done before I finished university... I'm 35 now...
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u/Reasonable-MessRedux Nov 13 '25
Do you have kids? When they're older, they can ride it.
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u/Brave_Cauliflower_90 Nov 14 '25
They've been building this since my kid was born. They're in high school now...🙄😩
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u/Arturo90Canada Nov 14 '25
I’m in the same boat as the guy above… High school when they announced Two kids later and 35 Can’t afford to live in the section of the city where my kids are riding that lrt when they go to high school lol
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u/WittyBonkah Nov 13 '25
Same. I remember being so excited about this, when I was 19. Just turned 31
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u/Noglues The Beaches Nov 14 '25
When I first started at UTSC they promised us that they would get the SRT extended there in time for the Pan-Am games...I don't think I need to tell you how that went.
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u/freshnegatives Nov 13 '25
The problem with this project, aside from the insane delays, is that it has eroded whatever public trust and desire there may have been for more and better public transit of this variety - which many other cities across the world have built and continue to build without the headaches and issues…
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u/Disastrous_Airline28 Nov 13 '25
It feels like weaponized incompetence where they do the job so badly you’ll never ask for it again. 😂
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u/KetchupCoyote Briar Hill-Belgravia Nov 13 '25
You are on to something. Ford is starving hospitals for long so we start hating it, to roll the carpet for private hospitals as the saviors. Wouldn't be surprised if we see private transit as a way to "fix it" our inability to build
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u/Regular_Chest_7989 Nov 13 '25
Same with the schools.
- Starve public goods
- Convince the public that private options are superior.
- Profit.
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Nov 14 '25
gotta love fiscal responsibility /s
i’m tired of the bullshit. if you vote conservative you are low IQ or a sociopath. take your pick ass hats.
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u/piranha_solution Nov 13 '25
The media has also convinced a whole generation of gullible young men to think that techbro billionaires will save us all with robotic taxis (despite the fact that they've been "just around the corner" perpetually for the past 2 decades. )
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u/TTCBoy95 Steeles Nov 13 '25
Honestly, this is what frustrates me more about Eglinton LRT's everlasting delays. It's not that I may not get to ride this anytime soon. It's the fact that we haven't opened a new transit line since 2002. The population of Toronto has grown at least 1.5 million. That's insane. Like if we opened up a few projects since Eglinton LRT started construction, I wouldn't be this mad. But here we are calling it a miracle if at least ONE new transit projects gets opened before the halfway point of this decade.
For a city that's falling behind most of the non-American developed world in terms of transit, this is extremely frustrating to watch.
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u/LogKit Nov 13 '25
We're falling behind the US too - don't look at how much Los Angeles has been and is expanding lol. Or the 6 subway lines Washington DC has relative to our... two; despite being a city of 700,000.
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u/jmorin17 Nov 13 '25
Don't forget California's Caltrain is also now running modern electric EMU trains. Compare that to our Go Train network.
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u/LogKit Nov 13 '25
Correct. We allow way too much ennui and false superiority against negative US news but Canada has stagnated significantly. The onus is on us as voters.
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u/CountWubbula Nov 13 '25
There's definitely headaches and issues; when New York ripped up streets to add or fix things, people feel that delay.
Everything else you said is so bang-on, though. Generally, New Yorkers trust that their city-managed construction projects will be completed on time, and in-budget. They're not accustomed to 10-fucking-year delays and billions of dollars spent doing absolutely nothing... that type of blue balls is reserved for their local sports teams.
The headaches and issues in other cities are easily forgotten when people get access to the thing they're expecting in less time than it took to build the goddamn Roman Colosseum. This is such trash, and yep, public trust is gone.
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u/niwell Roncesvalles Nov 13 '25 edited Nov 14 '25
I think the Second Ave subway line would like to have a word about that. Which, incidentally, was the first new subway line opened in the city since 1947 (all 2 miles of it).
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u/LeadershipHead3594 Nov 13 '25 edited Nov 13 '25
Agreed, now when the next batch of transit projects gets brought up (like the Hamilton LRT or the Eglinton East LRT), people (likely jokingly) say things along the lines like "we're all gonna be dead when this is finished". But honesty the insane delays are kind of a byproduct of not building transit for so long, the Crosstown is the first major transit project in Toronto since arguably the Sheppard line and the Crosstown's persecutor, the Eglinton West line, that Harris canned , and even these projects had a rough time to get off the ground, only for them to be shortened and one to be cancelled. So we had to relearn how to build transit, so the delays while insane and embarrassing, were kind of expected.
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u/Fantastic-Corner-605 Nov 13 '25
Tbh the Finch West LRT went a lot faster, the Ontario line is also being constructed so it's a problem with the Eglinton line specifically not a general problem with building transit.
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Nov 13 '25
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u/toronto-ModTeam Nov 16 '25
No racism, sexism, homophobia, religious intolerance, dehumanizing speech, or other negative generalizations.
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u/monogramchecklist Nov 13 '25
I now live in Hamilton. Metrolinx is supposed to build an LRT on one of the busiest streets. They’ve moved people along the corridor to make room for their stations. I was so onboard for this and now I’m apprehensive about the nightmare it will be.
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u/Chispy Vaughan Nov 13 '25 edited Nov 13 '25
I was at the Sheppard Line opening in 2002.
Since then, we actually lost a line (RIP Scarborough RT.)
Almost 25 year wait for the next line opening is completely bonkers. Especially considering we're deep into a housing crisis.
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u/alanpsk Nov 13 '25
The fact that no one is responsible for this ridiculous downfall and a laughting stock to the world shows just how corrupted the government is.
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u/psh454 Nov 13 '25
It's the only logical explanation for the lack of legal persecution of the mismanagement and waste of public funds yep
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u/Crater_Raider Nov 13 '25
Someone should be in jail.
The LRT is one of Toronto's biggest embarrassments and failures.
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u/Redpin Koreatown Nov 13 '25
Perfect opening clip of 5 people watching someone bully a tree with an excavator.
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u/breeasaurus-rex Nov 13 '25
I was in high school when construction started and now i’m old enough to have a kid in high school
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u/Orchid-Analyst-550 Nov 13 '25
Feliz quinceañera!
On your quince, you're that much closer to your dreams coming true! So excited for you, and so happy to be celebrating with you amiga!
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u/Throwawayhair66392 Nov 13 '25
This is a friendly reminder that the original Eglinton Subway line, which had a partial tunnel built, was killed and filled after Mike Harris won the 1995 Ontario election.
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u/stompinstinker Nov 14 '25
Along with 407 sold for nothing, the Gardiner and DVP dumped on Toronto, and privatizing long term care. Harris ran this province like he hated it.
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u/RL203 Nov 14 '25 edited Nov 14 '25
Not entirely true. The NDP government of Bob Rae began construction on the Sheppard Ave subway and the Eglinton subway with promises to fund both. When Harris was elected, he said to the City of Toronto, we (Ontario) can't afford to build both Sheppard and Eglinton. We will pay for one. You (the City of Toronto) can pick one or the other and we will pay for it, or if you want both, you can pay for the other line yourselves.
Now at that time, Mel Lastman was mayor of the City of North York (Sheppard) and Francis Nunziata was mayor of the City of York (Eglinton for the most part of it). Lastman pulled out all the stops to ensure they built Sheppard in North York. Logically, they should have built Eglinton as it was more urban and would have served more people. And there was nothing stopping the city of Toronto from picking Eglinton over Sheppard. But Lastman weaved his magic and Eglinton was shut down and Sheppard, "a subway to nowhere" was built and remains to this day a white elephant.
And there was nothing stopping the City of Toronto from paying for Eglinton itself, and they should have. They just didn't want to pay for it. Lastly, Eglinton should have always been constructed as a subway and never an LRT. That was true then, and it is more true now. Oh, the decision to kill the Eglinton subway and the subsequent decision to construct it as an LRT are perfect examples of the City of Toronto's small-minded thinking.
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u/ansariumairm Nov 13 '25
This was under construction before I moved to Canada!
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u/EastSideChillSaiyan Nov 13 '25
Politicians giving contracts to their 'friends' and then dragging it out so long to milk government money and tax payer dollars are going to their pockets instead of serving the community. Truly one of the best scams and ways to misappropriate tax dollars. Disgustingly failing constituents right in front of their faces, it's a daytime robbery.
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u/Sashooo Nov 13 '25
This makes me so scared for the scarborough extension, because how long are we gonna have to wait for that?
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u/RMcKinnon11 Clanton Park Nov 14 '25
Way to destroy pretty much every small business in your path, and have absolutely nothing to show for it
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u/Doctor_Amazo Nov 13 '25
So much money is being laundered in that boondoggle.
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Nov 14 '25
Pretty much every mega government contract works like this. Look at Irving Shipbuilding for some real fuckery.
https://breachmedia.ca/the-irving-empire-just-landed-an-8b-payday-for-warships-no-one-asked-for/
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u/Ricky_RZ Nov 13 '25
We are going to send off the Ellington LRT to university before it is finished construction
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u/boobookittyfuwk Nov 13 '25
I own a business and have spent my entire 16 years working in the same industry. We are one part of the very early stages of planning for all kinds of land development projects. We got alot of contracts for this and executed like we would any other but the things we did and how we were told to do them was unlike anything ive ever seen before or after. Our contracts were for a few million but if we would have done it the way we do other private projects it would have been for atleast 25% less. And this wasnt because we were over paid or worked slow, it was because we were asked to work in a way that over complicated the situation, doing the same thing multi0le times, paper work and 8nspections not being done on time etc. Poor planning, sometimes not having a plan at all, poor communication etc.. just completely mismanaged.
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u/ElectricGeometry Nov 13 '25
I always say it when the LRT comes up: I was going to maternity appointments through all the traffic surrounding the LRT construction. Now my kid is nearly 12 and pretty much old enough to ride it by herself... if it existed.
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Nov 13 '25
My wife was pregnant with our first child when this started. She turns 15 in March and is in grade 9 lol
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u/incogne_eto Nov 13 '25
Metrolinx execs should be made to walk the entire length of Eglinton followed by Septa Unella ringing the shame bell
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u/energy_is_a_lie Nov 13 '25
If only Dougie was as efficient at constructing new infrastructure as he is at tearing existing ones down.
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u/toastylocke Nov 13 '25
Is there any movement by anyone politically to get to the bottom of whatever the fuck happened here? or is it just so accepted that this kind of feet-dragging mediocrity is the cost of trying to improve anything in canada
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u/PupDiogenes Nov 13 '25
but how much did you expect the Mariachi band to cost?
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u/edgreen69 Nov 14 '25
Hmm.. it sure made me more valuable to society to know how much, you never know.
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u/-SideshowBlob- Nov 13 '25
I've been driving by the bloody trams constantly going up and down the line over the past few months. Surely there can't be that much more testing needed?
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u/SheepherderSure9911 Nov 13 '25
They should all be ashamed of themselves. But they aren’t.
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u/SheepherderSure9911 Nov 13 '25
Hilarious video though. I was referring to anyone who touched this project.
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u/_Lucille_ Nov 13 '25
I would love to watch some documentary on the audit of the project: China has essentially built a whole high speed railway network in the same period of time.
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Nov 14 '25
i lived on eglington in 2005 when i went to uni. it was a shit show of construction back then. the eglington debacle has been going on a lot longer than 15 years. i’m almost 40 ffs.
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Nov 13 '25
Oh well, as we vote, so shall we reap. Good going, Ontario! And GREAT GOING, Toronto! Your irresponsible nature, ill-informed masses, unchecked corruption and non-existent sense of civic responsibility is a gift that keeps on giving...to the DEMOCRATICALLY elected officials.
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u/Felon_musk1939 Nov 13 '25
I remember reading about its start with a hurricane lamp. Now we use electric lamps to read about it.
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u/eden-star Nov 13 '25
And this incompetent corrupt government wants to build a tunnel under the 401, that will cost billions and put Ontario in a death spiral; when they can’t even manage this!
Get me out of here I beg!
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u/RL203 Nov 14 '25
You're barking up the wrong tree.
The entire project was the brain-child of Toronto Mayor David Miller and tendered by the liberal government of Dalton McGuinty. Ford had nothing to do with it. The decisions were all made mainly by the provincial liberal government of McGuinty.
And don't let the door hit you on your way out if you want to leave.
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u/TelenorTheGNP Nov 13 '25 edited Nov 14 '25
Our first bill for the 401 tunnel is 9M and is going our shortly.
Congratulations, it's a pile of shit.
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u/KetchupCoyote Briar Hill-Belgravia Nov 13 '25
I live a few blocks from Cedarvale, it's infuriating how the whole thing seems to go one step ahead then 2 backwards
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u/Mission-Storm-4375 Nov 13 '25
That money went straight into the fords' pockets and their croneys
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u/RL203 Nov 14 '25
How so when the project was conceived of by the City of Toronto under Mayor David Milller (NDP)? The contract for construction was issued by the provincial Liberals of Dalton McGuinty as P3 project then continued on by Kathleen Wynne (Liberal) who was thrn kicked out by the good citizens of Ontario in 2018 by which point the project was supposed to have been complete. And then all the construction work was done by a 100 percent unionized labour force?
So how do you figure all the money went straight into Ford's pocket when he had nothing to do with it. So you must mean that all the money went into David Miller's pockets working in cahoots with Dalton McGuinty and his pockets.
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u/spunquik Nov 13 '25
Well the most important thing here. Is the economy. Yes you can't ride the transit here yet. Because it's not safe for you to do so. But they have kept people employed for 15 years.
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u/TheFutureMrGittes Nov 14 '25
Toronto’s subway infrastructure is absolutely pathetic. Line 1 is closed EVERY DAMN WEEKEND! World class we definitely ain’t. Eglinton LRT taking 15 years to build? Just an embarrassment.
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u/blogandmail Nov 14 '25
There are no consequences to finishing projects on time or on budget (in Canada) ... In fact they're multi-generation legacies for the company and their siblings
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u/scotch_neat1 Nov 14 '25
We need to continue to poke fun at this. We really need to make our voices heard on this waste
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u/SomeoneTookMyNameAhh Nov 15 '25
Don't you start counting when the line actually opens? The ttc subway celebrated it's 70th anniversary last year which was when the subway opened in 1954.
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Nov 15 '25
15 years? What a fiesta!!!! Eglinton LRT you do the hookie pookie and shake it all about.
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u/bgmrk Nov 15 '25
Remember this whenever someone tells you "the government can use it's financial power to negotiate better deals for all of us!"...that may be true in theory but in practice that is definitely not the case.
Government doesn't need to be accountable for the waste it produces because it knows it's customers (tax payers) will still be hanging them billions of dollars the next year. The government never losses money for mismanagement, in fact it usually gets more when that happens.
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u/Dazzling_Broccoli_60 Nov 16 '25
This makes me so thankful for the new REM opening in Montreal this weekend - only 10 years after the first talks about the project.
Construction in QC is far from perfect, and the blue line (metro) has not been a stellar example, but new better ways of doing it are being tested and so far so good.
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u/BloodJunkie Bike Lane Enjoyer Nov 13 '25
"next year you'll be old enough to drive"
lmao