No surprises in provincial budget, Stintz says

TORONTO – TTC Chair Karen Stintz says there are no surprises in the provincial budget and there is no more money coming from the province for transit than previously promised.

“I don’t think there are any surprises. I think it is good news for the City of Toronto that the minister has confirmed the Big Move is moving forward,” she said.

She says the idea of charging single-occupant vehicles a fee to use the HOV lanes is a good one, but the money should not be used to fund transit.

“I actually don’t think it’s a way to fund the Big Move but I do think it is a good way to manage congestion,” she said.

“What’s good about HOV lanes is people can choose to use them or not and people can choose to value the cost of their own time and again it’s an issue of managing congestion, it’s managing flow of traffic and it’s an important component of the overall package that I think council will need to debate.”

“They’re not a solution in and of themselves. It doesn’t replace the need to discuss revenue tools and it’s an important discussion that council needs to have.”

Budget Chief Frank Di Giorgio says there is some good news for the city in this budget but it is largely a “political budget.”

“It is a budget that is very clearly intended to sprinkle some goodies out to Ontarians and to allow the government to go at least another year under the minority government,” he said.

Mayor Rob Ford released a statement saying he was pleased with an “emphasis on creating jobs in the budget.”

“I look forward to learning more about how these initiatives will help reduce unemployment in Toronto,” he said.

However, he said, he was concerned about the potential cost to the city due to the Ontario Works rate increase.

He added that city staff will review the budget in greater detail to see how it will impact the city.