Mr. Speaker, on this Valentine's Day I just want to tell the House that I love public transit. Too bad about Toronto.
Three years of construction has started on the air rail link between Union Station and Pearson Airport. It was a Liberal scheme for a private train that would not cost taxpayers one nickel. It will now cost federal and Ontario taxpayers well over $1 billion and the private operator is long gone.
Is public transit not good for the environment and good for the poor and the middle class to get home quicker from work? Not this one. It is designed to be a premium service for business-class passengers to the airport. Those people do not want to rub shoulders with ordinary Torontonians going to work, so the fares will be high enough to discourage ordinary folk from using it. It will have only two stops, so it will whiz by transit-starved neighbourhoods in Toronto.
We will be the only country in the world running diesel trains to an airport. They will actually pollute more than the cars they replace.
The federal government needs to step in, demand that it be electric and that it serve the taxpayers who are paying for it.
It is a great opportunity for the government to help Mayor Ford put in rapid transit that does not take up roadways.