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401

Wednesday October 2, 2024

October 2, 2024 by Graeme MacKay

Doug Ford’s proposal to build a tunnel under the 401 is an impractical, costly distraction that would worsen traffic congestion instead of solving it, diverting attention from more effective solutions like public transit investments.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 2, 2024 (also published in the Toronto Star)

Animated making-of clip here!

Doug Ford’s 401 Tunnel: A Far-Fetched Fantasy That Deserves to Be Shut Down

Political blame games and distractions from leaders like Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford are stalling any real progress on Canada's housing crisis, which requires bold government intervention rather than market-driven tweaks.

September 27, 2024

Premier Doug Ford has once again put forward a grandiose idea, this time proposing a tunnel beneath Highway 401 to address Toronto’s infamous traffic congestion. On paper, it may sound like a bold, out-of-the-box solution. But let’s not kid ourselves — this tunnel plan is nothing more than a fantasy. It should be stopped in its tracks before any serious time, money, or energy is wasted on what would inevitably become Ontario’s most expensive and disruptive boondoggle.

Traffic congestion in and around Toronto is undeniably a major problem. Every day, commuters spend countless hours crawling through the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), their lives eaten away by the city’s overwhelming gridlock. And yes, solutions are desperately needed to tackle this growing crisis. But a 50-kilometre tunnel under one of the busiest highways in North America is not the solution — in fact, it’s a laughable idea.

Globe & Mail Editorial: Doug Ford is driving Ontario down the wrong road

May 12, 2022

Let’s start with the basics. Shutting down the 401, even temporarily, would create a logistical nightmare. This isn’t just a highway — it’s the main artery of Ontario’s road system, carrying millions of vehicles every week. Any construction work, let alone digging a multi-billion-dollar tunnel beneath it, would cause absolute chaos. Traffic would be forced onto already congested side roads and highways, exacerbating an already dire situation. And for what? A project that, even if completed, would likely create more problems than it solves.

The reality is that this tunnel wouldn’t alleviate congestion; it would induce more traffic. It’s simple economics — add more road space, and more cars will come. We’ve seen this happen time and again. From the Gardiner Expressway to the Don Valley Parkway, expanding capacity doesn’t ease traffic; it encourages more drivers to hit the road, creating more gridlock in the long run. This tunnel would do the same, all while bleeding the province of billions of taxpayer dollars.

October 30, 2001

Even if Ford could magically snap his fingers and build the tunnel overnight, it still wouldn’t address the core issue: Toronto’s over-reliance on cars. More cars on more roads won’t solve the problem. What we need are smarter, more sustainable solutions that focus on reducing the number of vehicles on the road, not increasing them.
There are countless alternatives Ford could pursue that don’t involve digging a tunnel beneath the 401. Investing in better public transit, for one, would have a far more meaningful impact. Expanding and modernizing the transit system — projects like the Eglinton East LRT or the Waterfront East LRT — could move thousands of people more efficiently, easing road congestion without the need for more highways. These are real, tangible solutions with existing business cases that simply need funding.

Toronto Star Editorial: Doug Ford’s tunnel fantasy gives politics a bad name

May 30, 2003

Ford could also consider measures like road tolls, congestion pricing, or policies that incentivize fewer cars on the road. These ideas may be less flashy than a massive tunnel, but they are effective. Major cities around the world, from London to Singapore, have seen significant reductions in traffic thanks to congestion pricing. Toronto could follow suit, but that would require serious, hard work — something Ford’s tunnel fantasy allows him to sidestep.

More frustratingly, Ford’s tunnel proposal is a massive distraction from the other pressing issues Ontario faces. While the premier was out selling this fantastical idea, the province’s healthcare system continues to suffer from severe underfunding, hallway medicine persists, and students are stuck in crumbling schools. Housing is increasingly unaffordable, and social services are stretched to their limits. Yet instead of addressing these crises, Ford is focused on selling us a tunnel to nowhere.

At best, Ford’s tunnel plan is a misguided attempt to appeal to voters frustrated by traffic. At worst, it’s a cynical distraction — a shiny object meant to pull focus away from his government’s failures in health, education, housing, and the environment. Either way, this tunnel must never be allowed to leave the drawing board.

Doug Ford may pride himself on being a man of big ideas, but sometimes the biggest ideas are also the worst. And this 401 tunnel is one of the worst. Instead of wasting time and resources on a pipe dream that would lead to more traffic and more problems, Ford should focus on real, actionable solutions that benefit everyone, not just drivers. Let’s hope this tunnel gets buried before it ever gets dug. (AI)

 

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: 2024-18, 401, animated, buzz lightyear, cars, congestion, Doug Ford, highway, Jules verne, Ontario, science fiction, traffic, Transit, transportation, tunnel

Friday September 27, 2024

September 27, 2024 by Graeme MacKay

Political blame games and distractions from leaders like Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford are stalling any real progress on Canada's housing crisis, which requires bold government intervention rather than market-driven tweaks.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 27, 2024

Political blame games and distractions from leaders like Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford are stalling any real progress on Canada’s housing crisis, which requires bold government intervention rather than market-driven tweaks.

Canada’s Federalism Is Stalling Housing Solutions, and Canadians Are Paying the Price

Recent byelection losses in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun and Toronto-St. Paul’s raise serious questions about Justin Trudeau's leadership and the future of the Liberal Party, suggesting a pressing need for new direction to regain voter trust.

September 18, 2024

The political circus in Canada, from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s survival battle in Parliament to Premier Doug Ford’s distracting antics, is only worsening the housing crisis. Canadians are struggling, and instead of real solutions, they get half-baked policy tweaks, partisan sniping, and absurd diversions. Trudeau is clinging to power, navigating one confidence vote after another, all while the housing crisis festers. Meanwhile, Doug Ford, rather than proposing concrete housing solutions, diverts attention by bizarrely announcing a 401 highway tunnel project and bashing homeless people, telling them to “get off their a-s-s-e-s and get jobs.” This political theatre does nothing to address the urgent need for affordable housing across the country.

As Canadians face rising rents, homelessness, and crippling mortgage debt, the bickering between political parties only makes matters worse. The constant jurisdictional blame game—whether it’s Ford deflecting housing responsibility onto Ottawa or Trudeau promising yet another hollow federal measure—is killing any real progress. The recent proposal for 30-year mortgages to “ease” the burden of homebuyers is just another market-driven, debt-fuelled policy that ignores the actual supply problem. And Ford’s approach, far from fixing Ontario’s housing mess, seems more focused on enriching developers through questionable Greenbelt sales.

November 23, 2022

As Tyler Firth argued in his Hamilton Spectator article, the solution to Canada’s housing crisis won’t come from market tweaks or false hopes that extending mortgage terms will solve the problem. What’s needed is a public housing initiative, led by government, that builds affordable homes for Canadians who are languishing in precarious living situations. Firth suggests creating an Ontario Housing Acquisition Authority (OHAA) to purchase existing rental properties and incorporate them into the public housing stock, ensuring long-term affordable housing for the people who need it most.

Opinion: The private sector has failed us on housing 

Carolyn Whitzman’s critique of the federal government is equally damning. The Liberals’ continued focus on propping up homeownership by increasing debt loads only pushes prices higher, without addressing the core issue of supply. It’s a glaring example of federalism gone wrong. Canada used to invest heavily in public housing, creating affordable homes for low- and middle-income Canadians. Yet, since the 1990s, public investment has dried up, leaving the private market to determine housing outcomes. The result? Housing is now an investment opportunity for the wealthy, rather than a basic right for all.

Opinion: Canadians need more homes, not longer mortgages and more debt 

As homelessness continues to rise in Ontario, especially highlighted during the AMO conference, it is imperative for politicians at all levels and across party lines to unite and implement effective strategies to eliminate encampments and ensure that every citizen has a safe place to call home.

August 21, 2024

Ford’s rhetoric blaming the homeless for their situation, combined with nonsensical distractions like his tunnel plan, only exacerbates the public’s frustration. His disregard for housing solutions is evident, as his government continues to prioritize profit-driven development over expanding affordable public housing. Meanwhile, Trudeau’s preoccupation with staying in power means little political will is left to push for radical housing reforms.

Both Firth and Whitzman understand the simple truth: the market has failed us. Canadians don’t need more opportunities to accumulate debt, they need a robust supply of affordable homes. Yet, the blame game between the federal and provincial governments has stalled any meaningful action. And as political leaders continue to distract and deflect, it’s ordinary Canadians who pay the price.

In an era where political leaders are more interested in scoring points and securing re-election than solving the problems facing their citizens, it’s time to demand better. The housing crisis requires bold, cooperative government action—building and acquiring homes, not diverting attention with politically motivated distractions. Trudeau and Ford need to stop using federalism as a shield for inaction. Canadians can’t afford to wait any longer. (AI)

Posted in: Canada, Ontario Tagged: 2024-17, 401, affordability, Canada, Doug Ford, encampment, federalism, homelessness, housing, Justin Trudeau, Ontario, Parliament, partisans, tunnel

Friday August 24, 2012

August 24, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Friday August 24, 2012

Corporate Quebec braces for the worst

The hangover from the 1995 sovereignty referendum was not pretty for Montreal. Half a year after a vote that brought Canada to within a sliver of possible breakup, Quebec’s biggest city was left badly shredded.

Its 11% unemployment rate was the highest in urban North America. Residential real estate prices were falling. The vacancy rate for downtown office towers topped 20%. Companies like Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. continued their slow head-office exodus. One Toronto property broker trying to drum up business ran ads in Montreal newspapers that read: “When the road leads you away from Montreal to Toronto, we’ll be at the other end to make you feel right at home.”

There were larger pan-Canadian consequences too, of course. Amid the constitutional crisis, lenders demanded higher interest rates to hold Canada’s debt. That November the dollar fell a cent and a half as post-referendum optimism vanished amid a realization that Canada’s unity problem remained unsolved.

Today, nine years of Liberal Party rule have restored a certain level of stability to the city and to the province as the federalist party wooed private enterprise and buried unity disagreements with Ottawa. But as Quebecers get set to vote again Sept. 4, the corporate world is bracing for change.

“It’s the first time in my life that I sense from the business community a concern this large about the result of an election and the aftermath,” said Yves-Thomas Dorval, head of the Conseil du Patronat, Quebec’s largest business lobby. “There is a lot of worry that the climate for reinvestment won’t be the same.” (Source: Financial Post) 

 

Posted in: Canada, Quebec Tagged: 401, bienvenue, business, Canada, exit, exodus, highway, Parti Quebecois, Pauline Marois, politics, PQ, Quebec, separatism, sign, welcome

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