On Friday February 22nd thousands of morning commuters at over 35 subway stops throughout Toronto engaged with hundreds of volunteers campaigning to stop the ‘grab and sell’ scheme floated by Doug Ford’s provincial government.
Volunteers from Toronto’s labour movement, transit advocates, and community activists organized a Day of Action at subway stations across the city— leafletting commuters with a key message to Conservative MPP’s: don’t steal our subway.
Toronto’s Labour Council is part of a broad coalition headed by the TTC Riders organization, trying to stop Queen’s Park from taking over this vital public asset and splitting Toronto’s transit system. Experts have warned that the Province’s plans will likely delay new lines and switch priorities for construction yet again.
“Instead of this reckless sell-off of the TTC, the province should respect riders and fund transit properly. It was the last Conservative government which cancelled subway lines and cut funding for transit operations – and people today are still coping with overcrowded buses and long waits for space on subway cars.”
“Breaking apart the subway and the bus could mean higher fares for riders, even more transit planning chaos, and opens the door to privatization”, says John Cartwright, President of the Toronto & York Region Labour Council”. “Big business and developers donated money to the Conservative party-- now the province wants to hand over our subway and public land to return the favour”.