Chow releases 1st attack ad labelling Tory as a ‘flip-flopper’

Toronto, It also took aim at his change of heart on making the downtown relief line a top transit priority and criticized Tory for comments he made as the head of Civic Action.

“Mr. Tory loved to talk about the need for honesty and how transit can’t be built for free. That’s changed, too,” a statement on Chow’s campaign website said.

“Now he holds up his high-risk funding scheme—which a California study says fails 89% of the time—as a way to pretend transit can be built with no cost to taxpayers.”

Chow’s team will also be airing a second, and markedly more positive, ad showcasing an inspirational speech Chow delivered at a recent debate. Two online ads released Wednesday also take on a more positive tone.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, Chow continued to attack Tory’s transit plan. Chow claimed Tory’s transit “scheme” overlooks the fact that SmartTrack would put Union Station over its capacity for trains. Chow said Tory’s plan would require Union Station to handle 150 more trains a day, which puts the station over its capacity by about 16 per cent.

Citing an engineering report drafted on behalf of Metrolinx in November 2011, Chow said that Union Station currently handles about 400 train movements per day including GO Trains, Via Rail and freight. As GO service expands, the station will be required to handle more than 900 movements a day but the capacity for the station is 929, Chow says.

The report concludes that in order to move beyond the station’s capacity, “significant operating changes or capital investments will be required.”

“How is (John Tory) going to be able to run 150 trains a day through this jam-packed corridor? We don’t know,” Chow told reporters Wednesday.

John Tory has previously said his SmartTrack could be built in seven years at a cost of $8 billion.

In an article published in The Toronto Star in August, a number of potential SmartTrack troubles were addressed, including capacity issues at Union Station.

Tory was quoted in the article saying, “Seven years gives you a lot of time to get this done. It starts with the will. It starts with the mandate.