NDP: Eglinton Crosstown LRT announcement is too little, too late

QUEEN’S PARK – MPP Jill Andrew (Toronto-St. Paul’s) stood in the legislature to demand answers on the long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

“When governments hire private corporations to finance and control public infrastructure, taxpayers pay more and the projects tend to go off the rails,” said Andrew. “We’ve lived through years of shuttered small businesses, flooding, residential road closures, ongoing construction – with no clear plan.”

New Democrats have called for a full public inquiry into the ongoing Eglinton Crosstown LRT fiasco and the removal of Phil Verster as CEO of Metrolinx.

“We are in year 13 and this project hasn’t met a deadline or milestone,” added Andrew. “We are now being teased with a possibility of an opening hopefully sometime in 2025. The people of Midtown and Little Jamaica deserve so much better. We deserve answers, and we deserve transit leadership we can depend on.”

Quick Facts:

• Construction began on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT in 2011. It is yet to serve a single rider.
• Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster has long been one of the most well-compensated public servants in Ontario, with a salary of $838,097 in 2023.