How Metrolinx Selects a Train Yard in Toronto

1.     Spend two plus years of ‘extensive study’ to create a short list of technically feasible options.

2.     Keep list of sites secret during public consultations regarding transit route and station locations.

3.     Select preferred site and secretly select and consult 2 corporate interests.

4.     Change preferred site to satisfy two potentially affected corporate interests.

5.     Pivot to site occupied by small businesses adjacent to low-income community with high population of newcomers.

6.     Don’t consult community leaders or anyone else (including elected and presumably accountable representatives) that might have an understanding of that site and its relationship to the local community.  Define and determine ‘community impacts’ without discussing potential social impacts with anyone from the community.  Rely on Google Earth and a voluntary employment survey to determine impacts on the local community.

7.     Instil fear and lawyer it up.  Meet in secret with small business owners at new preferred site, initiate expropriation/re-location discussions and command their ongoing silence with non-disclosure agreements.

8.     Announce final selection of site to unsuspecting community.

9.     Organize virtual public consultation meeting on religious holiday to answer questions and declare that site selected is not subject to change.

10.  Take advantage of unlimited powers granted to unelected, unaccountable Crown agency operating under new Ford Government regulation that stripped key provisions from the Environmental Assessment Act.

11.  Work with PR firm and phalanx of in-house communications staff to prepare a few slides and talking points to rationalize and justify decision.

12.  Feign more public consultation as PR exercise and limit discussion to implementation issues.

13.  Push limited and skewed information at community without showing detailed work or analyses.

14.  Refuse to reveal how policy criteria were determined, weighted or evaluated.

15.  Use considerable resources to rag the puck and wear down under-resourced residents.

16.  Blame government for decision then shield same government by answering for AWOL elected decision makers.

17.  Employ copious amounts of Verster Bluster.

18.  Exploit opportunity to divide community opposition - Zero-in on landowner with long-stated intention to sell current real estate and use proceeds to build new facility on land already purchased nearby.

19.  Meet in secret with said landowner, adopt and assume the narrative that planned community facility couldn’t happen without the foresight of Crown transit agency.

20.  Set terms to acquire property.  Announce expansion of new religious facility on behalf of landowner that engaged law firm to force removal of the local community’s 10,000 strong public petition against the location of the train yard from circulation.

21.  Boast how listening to the community and building transit infrastructure leads to community improvements (to some).

22.  Continue to secretly displace 1,246 small business jobs from site and publicly trumpet addition of 300 new jobs at train depot.

23.  Proceed to gut real potential of transit investment by neutering valuable real estate for a train depot next to a new subway station that could otherwise have been a real catalyst to community improvements - such as affordable housing, jobs and public amenities.

To contact SaveTPARK:

Email: notrainyard@savetpark.ca  or Phone: 1-855-657-2750