Backtracking on transit, Ford seeks a handout

Marcus Gee, Opinion, The Globe and Mail:

Earlier this year, Rob Ford threatened to sic “Ford Nation” on Dalton McGuinty unless he came through with millions for roads, child care and public transit. On Wednesday, he was back at the Liberal Premier again, asking him for help with the proposed Sheppard subway extension.

It is an odd tack for a guy who once scolded city leaders for going to Queen’s Park with a rattling tin cup every time they had money trouble. It is even odder from a mayor who said as recently as March that the taxpayer whom he claims to respect so deeply would not be left on the hook for the Sheppard line.

“I’m not quite sure where taxpayers’ money is coming in when we’re raising money from the private sector,” he said then. “All the details will have to come out, but it will be built with private money.” Wednesday, after meeting with Mr. McGuinty, he said that “We’re going to obviously need help from all three levels” of government to build the subway.

That should come as no surprise. It was always fanciful to think that private companies would rush in merrily with billions for an extended Sheppard line. The idea of luring them with the promise of a share of future tax revenues from development around the line is untried on this scale in Canada. Most experts who have looked at it are highly skeptical.

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