The Streetcar Saga Continues

Toronto's plans for more than 200 new streetcars, to be built by Bombardier in their Thunder Bay facilit, is looking increasingly doubtful. While the McGuinty government has thrown its weight behind the purchase, it appears that the necessary federal contribution will not be forthcoming. In yesterday's Globe, columnist Marcus Gee argued that the ten year project does not qualify for short-term stimulus funding, and this indeed is the position minister Baird is taking.

But Conservative Senator Elaine McCoy has another take. She suggests that this is a question of patronage, as the Thunder Bay ridings that would see the greatest benefit are held by the NDP. And she links to a Halifax Chronicle-Herald article which describes a record of Tory patronage as follows

On April 30, the two levels of government announced $55.8 million in projects. Mr. Donham, a former journalist, used the province’s freedom of information law to get the list of projects that the province submitted for federal approval.

He found that the province had proposed 39 paving projects, but only 20 were approved. Of those, 10 were in Tory ridings and seven others were in Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, which was represented by Independent Bill Casey until recently. A byelection in the traditionally Tory riding must be scheduled for the months ahead.

"Projects in ridings held by Conservative MPs were almost four times as likely to receive federal approval as those in Liberal-held ridings," wrote Mr. Donham on his blog, http://contrarian.ca.

Nova Scotia has a long tradition of winning rural votes with the judicious application of pavement.

Mr. Donham’s research shows that six of seven projects proposed for Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s Central Nova riding were approved, while only one of seven was approved for Kings-Hants, the riding of Mr. MacKay’s longtime rival, Liberal Scott Brison.

Only three of 10 projects proposed for the two Liberal Cape Breton ridings were approved, while four of five projects in the Conservative ridings of South Shore-St. Margarets and West Nova got federal funding.

Halifax-area ridings, without extensive highway systems, were mostly ineligible.

There is ample evidence that this is a government for whom the political trumps all. It is also one that is increasingly desperate as the Liberal opposition, with a growing lead in the polls, is simply waiting for an opportune time to pull the plug. Of course, the Miller government has played this one with incredible ineptitude as well.

Toronto deserves better than this.