Doug Ford, Olivia Chow and ilk couldn’t wait to have another photo-op as usual
$3.7 BILLION FOR THIS?! How Ford’s Ontario & Chow’s Toronto Delivered a Snail-Pace LRT That Gets Beat by Cars… and the Damn Bus It Replaced
By Eddie Hardie 🍁 Integrity Canada
Let’s cut the f—ing bullsh-t. After 17 years of planning, four years of delays, and a mind-blowing $3.7 billion in taxpayer money, the people of Toronto have been gifted a “rapid transit” line that moves with the urgency of a sedated sloth. The Finch West LRT—the pride of Doug Ford’s province and Olivia Chow’s city—isn’t just a disappointment. It’s a monumental, staggering betrayal of every resident who was promised a faster commute.
The numbers don’t lie; they scream. A car drives the 10.3 km route in 23 minutes. The old TTC shuttle bus it replaced did it in 31. The brand-new, billion-dollar LRT? A pathetic, soul-crushing 47 to 55 minutes! You read that right. We spent more money than the GDP of some small nations to build a train that gets its a– kicked by a bus. This isn’t just incompetence; it’s a scandal.
The “Rapid” Transit That Stops for Red Lights Like a Common Peasant
How is this possible? Simple. In a decision so absurd it borders on performance art, the geniuses who designed this line did not give it transit signal priority. That’s right. Your shiny new $3.7 billion train must sit and wait at red lights behind someone making a left turn to a Tim Hortons drive-thru. It’s like building a Formula 1 car and then making it obey a school zone speed limit.
“It’s wrong that the Finch & Eglinton LRTs don’t have signal priority. Billions of dollars were spent, only for ‘rapid transit’ to go slower than the buses it replaced.”
– Toronto Councillor Josh Matlow, stating the bleeding obvious
Mayor Olivia Chow, after taking two rides, was forced to admit the pace “isn’t cutting it.” No sh-t, Madame Mayor. Your administration inherited this fiasco, but now owns its failure to fix the basics before launch. Promises to “push for signal priority” now ring hollow. Why wasn’t this non-negotiable feature baked into the plan a decade ago?
A Masterclass in Failure: Delays, Breakdowns, and Ghosts of Corruption
Let’s revisit the timeline of this dumpster fire:
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Proposed in 2007. Yes, 17 years ago.
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Four years of delays and cost overruns.
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Opens in 2024 to immediate reports of signal issues and breakdowns, stranding riders by Day 3.
The stench of failure is overwhelming. For residents of neighbourhoods like Jane and Finch, this project was supposed to be a lifeline—a symbol of investment. Instead, it’s become a symbol of neglect and cynical governance. They get a slow train, and soon, they’ll get the gentrification and skyrocketing housing costs that follow, pricing them out of their own communities. The ultimate insult.
And let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the money. $3.7 BILLION. Where did it all go? The concrete? The wires? The consultants’ fees? When a project of this scale fails this spectacularly on its most basic function—speed—people have every right to be suspicious. It reeks of the kind of bloated, kickback-friendly, political vanity contracting that has plagued Ontario infrastructure for decades. It’s a profound, sickening waste, and the bill has been handed directly to the overtaxed, overcharged, and now underwhelmed public.
The Verdict: A Cautionary Tale of Epic Proportions
This is more than a transit fail. It’s a civic tragedy. It’s proof that the political machinery—from Queen’s Park to City Hall—is utterly broken when it comes to delivering for the people. They promised a racehorse and delivered a glorified, electric-powered park bench.
The citizens of Toronto are not just disappointed. They are furious, resentful, and feel a deep sense of betrayal. They were sold a dream of efficient, modern transit. What they got was a $3.7 billion joke that makes their commute worse.
Doug Ford’s province funded it. Olivia Chow’s city is now stuck with it. And the riders of Toronto? They’re left waiting at a red light, watching the old bus and every damn car on Finch Avenue speed past them, wondering how their leaders could possibly have failed them this completely.
Welcome to Line 6. The slowest “rapid” transit in the developed world. Your tax dollars at work.
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