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Toronto, Olivia Chow is accusing John Tory of failing to do “his homework” on his SmartTrack transit proposal as an advertising campaign to tout the benefits of the plan officially hits the airwaves.
Chow held a press conference at a residential construction site at the corner of Eglinton Avenue West and Widdicombe Hill Boulevard Tuesday morning to demand answers from Tory on how he would run 12 kilometres of light-rail track through the area in order to connect the Mount Dennis neighbourhood of Etobicoke with the Airport Corporate Centre in Mississauga, as a previously released route map calls for.
“No engineering studies are going to be able to put a line behind me. There are homes. How could you possibly put heavy rail right through someone’s home? How is that possible?” Chow asked. “I believe the voters deserve the right to know the answer.
Tory’s Smart Track proposal primarily relies on the use of existing GO Transit track, however about 10 per cent of the 53-kilometre, 22-station route would have to be built along Eglinton Avenue.
In a press release issued Tuesday morning, Tory called Chow’s press conference “a desperate stunt” to “resuscitate her failing campaign” and noted that the exact alignment for SmartTrack has not yet been determined.
Chow, meanwhile, said that there is no way to run track through the area in question and criticized Tory for refusing to provide concrete details.
“We are surrounded by four condominium complexes. Is he going to build it right on top of the condominiums? Under the condominiums? Will he build it on the road? He has to build somewhere around here and the area is filled with condos, townhomes and apartment buildings,” Chow said.
Chow’s press conference was held hours after Tory officially launched a campaign to convince voters of the benefits of SmartTrack.
The campaign includes a television advertisement, which calls SmartTrack the line that would “move the most people in the shortest amount of time,” and a website that allows visitors to determine how long their commute would be if the $8 billion plan were to become reality.
