the newsmagazine University of Toronto’s Independent Weekly
Vol. I N0. 1
THE
Q&A
May 20, 2010
ISSUE
TORONTO UNDERGROUND CINEMA
ATOM EGOYAN
page 4
page 7
TRANSIT CITY backpage
U of T’s APOLLO 13 DREAM TEAM page 3
LIFE AFTER SCHOOL? page 6
the editorial
2
May 20, 2010
Welcome to
UTSU vs. Guess Who?
the newsmagazine
Our student government leaves questions unanswered
This summer, the editors here at the newspaper are launching the newsmagazine. Like the newspaper, the magazine will be independent, which means that rather than seeking any subsidy from the university’s administration or unions, we run solely on advertising revenue and are therefore beholden only to our readers. Unlike our weekly paper, the newsmagazine comes out on a monthly basis. This better reflects the pacing of the summer news cycle on campus, and allows our contributors to take a longer look at the current events that shape the student experience.
Each magazine is a themedriven exploration of the news and arts we regularly cover in our weekly newspaper. In our inaugural issue, we built our stories around Q&As that we conducted with the spring newsmakers: U of T students, alumni, professors, directors, city transit activists, and freshly-minted theatre managers. The June magazine will explore Nature & Culture around campus; July will look at Food & Drink; and August will test the relationship between Art & Science. the newspaper will continue printing over the summer, alternating with the magazine on a biweekly schedule.
cover illustration by OCAD student Patrick Kyle
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the newsmagazine Editor-in-Chief Helene Goderis
Arts Editor
Features Editor
Sarah D’Angelo
Diana Wilson
Layout Editor
Photo Editor
Victoria Dobbs
Dan Epstein
Business Manager
Copy Editor
Jamaias DaCosta
Gord Brown
the newspaper Editor-in-Chief Helene Goderis
Arts Editor
News Editor
Sarah D’Angelo
Amy Stupavsky
Layout Editor
Illustrations Editor
Victoria Dobbs
Melinda Mortillaro
Science Editor
Photo Editor
Tim Ryan
Alex Nursall
the newspaper 1 Spadina Crescent, Suite 245 Toronto, ON M5S 1A1 Editorial: 416-593-1552 thenewspaper@gmail.com www.thenewspaper.ca ads@thenewspaper.ca the newspaper is U of T’s independent weekly paper, published by Planet Publications Inc., a non-profit corporation. All U of T community members, including students, staff and faculty, are encouraged to contribute to the newspaper.
There is no question that there is ongoing tension between the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) and Antonin Mongeau, former president and current alumni chair of EFUT (U of T’s French club). Their strained relations reached a critical point on April 25 when UTSU Executive Director Angela Regnier sent an email to Mongeau asking him to “cease and desist any contact with staff and executive members of the University of Toronto Student’s Union effective immediately” because of his alleged “displays of hostility and aggression against staff and executive members of [UTSU].” Mongeau played a controversial role in the recent UTSU elections. He posted a confrontational video on YouTube showing a Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) exec campaigning on behalf of the Stronger Together slate. In reaction to the video, the UTSU election’s Chief Returning Officer issued 25 demerit points to the Change slate based on harassment from a “non-arm’s-length party.” This compelled Change to publicly distance themselves from Mongeau. A few days after the cease and desist email was sent, UTSU held an open forum on the state of the Student Commons project in a University College classroom. Mongeau de-
In the spirit of our Q&A issue, the newsmagazine hoped to provide a platform for UTSU to respond to Mongeau’s questions. Mongeau denies UTSU’s claims of harassment, stating that UTSU’s unwillingness to answer his questions is symptomatic of their opacity. the newsmagazine sent Mongeau’s queries to UTSU with a disclaimer that they do not represent the views of our paper and that the organization should take the opportunity to correct any possibly misleading information. UTSU President Adam Awad’s response: “I am not in a position to debate with Mr. Mongeau at this time.” (Note: The explanations in brackets following the questions were also written by Antonin Mongeau): How much money was put into the Clubs Funding Rollover fund this year? (During the 2008-09 elections VP Internal & Services Adnan Najmi promised the establishment of a roll-over fund for clubs funding. He later confirmed that the fund was in fact operational beginning this year. The fund would presumably house any unused moneys from one year to increase the next year’s budget. Clubs are chronically underfunded, and the smaller ones have a
fied the cease and desist by attending the meeting. Forty-five minutes after the scheduled start of the meeting, outgoing UTSU President Sandy Hudson announced that it was cancelled due to “unforeseeable circumstances.” An attendance list went around to the approximately 35 attendees asking for their names, affiliated organizations, and email addresses. Then the meeting dispersed. Within half an hour, telephone calls went out to a select group of attendees to notify them that the meeting would reconvene immediately at the Graduate Students’ Union basement at 16 Bancroft. Mongeau caught wind of the new location and entered the basement partway through the meeting. Campus police were contacted and a recess was called. Police came and talked to Mongeau privately before escorting him out of the building. The basement door was subsequently locked. Regnier’s cease and desist request was not a formal injunction against Mongeau. It was not sent to him through UTSU’s lawyers, but was upheld by the campus police. UTSU refused to comment on their harassment claims. Campus police and the university administration have also officially declined to comment.
tendency not to pick up their second and third instalments, meaning that of the purported $180K allocated for clubs, less than $100K actually went out the door. Where is the rest?) Where will the Student Commons actually be? If a democracy had a 100% incumbency rate, wouldn’t you say it needed drastic electoral reform to introduce more democratic accountability? (The incumbents have never lost an election since the CFS took over in 2002. No functioning democracy has a similar incumbency rate.) How often does the UTSU use police to silence dissent? What proof do you have that Antonin Mongeau is harassing you? Given that Antonin’s attendance at UTSU meetings and events on University property has been sanctioned by both the police and the administration, how long can you continue to hide in the GSU basement?
The Faculty of Architecture has decided to move into 1 Spadina Cres. The University has tentatively offered the Architecture Faculty’s current space at 230 College St to the U.T.S.U. as the new home for the Student Commons. The original plan for the Commons was a new building on Devonshire across from Varsity Stadium. At the April 28th meeting newly minted UTSU president Adam Awad presented photos, layouts and some sketches for possible renovations of the old building. He explained that the College St. building would have a little more useable space than the planned Devonshire space and, with careful retrofitting, would still be eligible for LEEDS certification. Without anything formalized yet, the renovations are projected to cost 15 million dollars. The secretly rescheduled meeting ended in a yes vote to explore the possibility of moving the Student Commons project to 230 College Street.
by Diana Wilson May 20, 2010
Q&A issue
the newsmagazine
the campus
May 20, 2010
3
Houston,
we have a solution On April 16th 1970, the staff at UTIAS (University of Toronto Institute of Aerospace Studies) were in the midst of a routine staff meeting when they were interrupted by a phone call that would change the course of Aerospace history forever. It was US based Grumman Aerospace, calling to convey the message NASA had received moments before, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.� Apollo 13 had experienced an oxygen tank explosion that had crippled the Service Module, leaving the Apollo 13 crew stranded in the Lunar Module (LM, formerly called LEM), which was connected to the Command Module. The even bigger problem? How much pressure would be necessary to safely separate the modules and get the three stranded astronauts home. 40 years later the UTIAS team, Professors Barry French, Phil Sullivan, Rod Tennyson, Irvine Glass and Ben Etkin were honored during a ceremony at The Canadian Air and Space Museum for providing NASA with the exact calculations needed to bring the Apollo 13 crew home safely. We asked Professors Barry French and Phil Sullivan to share some of their memories about that famous day.
the newsmagazine talks with two members of the UTIAS Apollo 13 Rescue Team, (left to right) Professors Phil Sullivan, Rod Tennyson, Irvine Glass, Barry French, and Ben Etkin, pictured below spacing out.
the newsmagazine: How did the U of T Scientists get involved in Apollo 13? Why did Grumman Aerospace contact you? Phil Sullivan: Having obtained research support from various US government agencies, UTIAS already had a strong reputation in the USA. In particular Dr. French’s highly sensitive quadrupole mass spectrometer for trace gas analysis had been used on a NASA mission to Mars, as I recall. I think his involvement with US space programs was thus well known to senior personnel at Grumman, the builders of the LEM.
PS: Basically, classic “back-ofthe envelope� estimates using engineering judgements based on past experience, Newton’s three laws of mechanics, and some known scaling laws for the propagation of blast waves. Data on masses and the like was supplied by Grumman, and physical constants were obtained from readily available text books. I used a slide rule to “crunch the numbers.� Given such a short time to respond, the approach today would be basically the same, except for possibly using the internet in place of text-books for rapid access to physical constants, as well as a hand calculator in place of a slide rule.
tn: With only four hours to help, what resources did you use to calculate the correct pressure? Would you use the same resources today?
tn: As the story goes, UTIAS was in the middle of a routine staff meeting when the phone call from Grumman came through. What was that moment like? Can you
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recall the thoughts going through your mind? Barry French: I left the meeting to take the call... I was a bit overwhelmed but we instantly and unanimously agreed to help all we could. PS: I expect most of us thought that Apollo 13 was “game over� for the astronauts. I can distinctly remember hoping that some one else was doing similar calcs, and was surprised to learn later that we were the only ones. I suspect that the engineering teams involved at NASA and elsewhere had judged that the proposed separation solution would work, but because of the huge risks involved, wanted an independent opinion. tn: How has the Apollo 13 incident influenced your career and/or life? BF: It was an immensely gratifying experience to have partici-
pated in such a high profile event and in helping to save four human lives. And my grandchildren love the story (and all this unexpected publicity 40 years later). PS: In later years I used it in lectures to engineering students as an illustration of “engineering at work� validating some of the material we teach, and as an example in a philosophy of science text to refute the postmodernist claptrap that passes for serious critiques of science in certain disciplines.
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photo courtesy of Joan DaCosta May 20, 2010
Q&A issue
the newsmagazine
the inside
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May 20, 2010
the newsmagazine layout editor & former Bloor Cinema
If you’ve never seen the 700-seat movie palace hidden beneath Toronto’s Queen & Spadina fashion district, you’re not alone. Lodged in the rear end of a half-vacant mall under a condo building at 186 Spadina Ave, the theatre hasn’t seen regular operation since its doors were shuttered in 1995 after a stint showing Chinese-language cinema. Enter Nigel Agnew, Alex Woodside and Charlie Lawton, three entrepreneurial twenty-somethings who are giving Torontonians the chance to become reacquainted with the venue they’ve dubbed Toronto Underground Cinema. The action started Friday May 14 when a packed double-bill of Clue and Big Trouble in Little China played for an excited near-capacity audience. Regular screenings will begin May 28th. My memories of working with Alex and Nigel at the Bloor Cinema are mixed with triumph and heartbreak. We dreamed big and delivered: bringing directors Edgar Wright, Kevin Smith, and launching the largest shows in Toronto Fringe Festival history, where Charlie Lawton met his cinephile soulmates. After the Bloor’s owners booted them to the curb, this trio of hardcore film geeks got busy greenscreening themselves into a world making Toronto movie magic. After the interview, while picking out props for the photo shoot, Lawton asks me “Can you take some photos of us where we don’t look like total nerds?” Sorry, Charlie. That’s not possible.
Who you gonna call? After Bloor Cinema owners booted them to the curb, Toronto Underground Cinema’s (left-to-right above) Manager of Public Relations Charlie Lawton (age 22), Manager of Operations Nigel Agnew (age 25) and Manager of Finance Alex Woodside (age 24), got busy greenscreening themselves into a world making Toronto movie magic.
the newsmagazine
Q&A issue
May 20, 2010
the inside
May 20, 2010
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manager catches up with her ex-colleagues in their new the newsmagazine: What’s your favourite film to watch on 35mm? Nigel Agnew: Off the top of my head I would say The Godfather. I feel like watching it on 35 is akin to eating a seven-course Italian meal. Alex Woodside: It’s complicated because my favourite film is 2001 and my second favourite is Apocalypse Now but I prefer to watch both of those on 70mm – but that’s impossible. So I would say The Big Lebowski then because that’s shot on 35. Charlie Lawton: Ooh, that’s really tricky. Probably an old classic. I would love to see Indiana Jones on 35 or one of those movies I loved when I was younger. So that, or Ghostbusters, or Clockwork Orange would be beautiful on 35. tn: How is the experience of watching a film on 35mm different from watching a DVD at home? NA: The most important thing about watching it in a theatre as opposed to at home is that you have an audi-
ence to watch it with. CL: When you see it with a crowd it just has an energy and electricity to it that you don’t get at home. AW: You’re not only interacting with what’s going on the screen, but you’re also reacting to how the audience is reacting to what’s going on. It just makes it a bit of a more complex and layered experience. NA: 35 has its own character. You can see the cigarette mark on the top on the right hand corner when they need to change the reels and sometimes they have some wear and tear that adds to the overall feeling of watching something that’s been crafted on film. AW: I always think that 35 looks better than DVD or even Blue Ray because that’s the way it was shot – if it’s shot on 35 I think it should be viewed on 35. If it’s shot digitally then I think watching it through a digital medium is the best way to view it. But nothing beats 35 for a film shot on 35. tn: Not everyone gets the opportunity to revive a forgotten cinema. What circumstances led you
here? NA: Really the opportunity was almost sheer luck. AW: After leaving the Bloor Cinema I spent the day with Leslea [a former colleague] tracking down who was running this space – like a full day. I had known about the space for about 5 years but I’d never been inside, so I was really excited. We had a conversation with [the owner] but ultimately we decided it wasn’t the right time. Then a whole bunch of months later Charlie was really bugging me… CL: We were talking and Alex mentioned this theatre and I was like “That sounds like the best job you could possibly have, why did you not do anything with that?” and kinda smacked him on the back of the head and said “Give me the information, I’m going to go do it”. Then I got in touch with Nigel. NA: We came in and spoke with the owner and told him that we would provide infrastructure and operate the theatre if he was willing to put some money into it, and he agreed. tn: Has your experience so far at the Toronto Underground Cinema differed from your expectations? AW: The reaction from the community is what really sur-
prised me. It’s not only from general people on Facebook but people within the film community who have really let us know that they really want us to succeed and that they’re really excited. CL: There’s a bit more dancing and listening to music than I thought there would be. tn: What do you think people should know about the TUC? CL: Most importantly I think they should know where it is. AW: We’re located in the basement of a condo building. We’re really hard to find, which is a problem for us but it’s why we called ourselves the Toronto Underground Cinema. NA: It’s a cinema that’s being run and operated by 3 very enthusiastic movie fans. We live and breathe cinema and that’s what’s important to us. When you’re coming here you’re not just a seat number, you are somebody. We’re working to make sure this is a place you want to come regardless of what’s being shown because you know you’ll always have a good time. tn: In your wildest dreams, what do you want for the TUC? CL: I’d love it to become a part of Toronto’s culture so everyone knows the Underground Cinema. Like
digs the Alamo Draft House in Texas. NA: I’d like it to become the premiere event space in Toronto. I’d like to have directors when they’re filming in the city come here and use the space to enjoy nights with their audience. CL: Kevin Smith one month, Quentin Tarantino another, Martin Scorsese…. NA: I’d like to be able to put enough money into the place where it’s top of the line and can compete with the big boys like AMC and Cineplex. AW: I want to be able to spend enough money on the lobby to make it look like Tony Montana’s mansion in Scarface. I want a “the world is yours” globe, lit with neon lights, that spins. tn: What are the most terrifying obstacles between you and success? NA: The most terrifying obstacle is the amount of work it will take. CL: Making sure everything is ready for the opening is probably the most terrifying part. But really the terrifying one that keeps me up at nights is the xfactor, the audience. We could turn this into the best theatre in the world, the floors paved with gold, but for all we know the audience might not show up.
Desperate for a cinefix? Regular screenings start May 28th Check the cinema’s listings from
torontoundergroundcinema.com or on Twitter @TO _ Underground
by Victoria Dobbs photos by Dan Epstein, graphics by Victoria Dobbs
May 20, 2010
More photos of the Toronto Underground Cinema available at thenewspaper.ca
Q&A issue
the newsmagazine
the arts
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May 20, 2010
the newsmagazine Arts Editor probes the brain of U of T graduate Alex Nursall about the existence of life after school Remember being a plucky high school graduate, flipping through the brochures of post secondary education? I do. The future seemed like such a warm place. But I’ll spare you the sentimental rehashing of my own little Kunstleroman and get to the point. University did not endow me with clarity or purpose. Not in the way I had dreamt it would when I was 18. Going through the motions of school feels like being in a clip from a National Geographic documentary. Maybe one of baby sea turtles hatching on land, then waddling frantically through the sand while birds of prey swoop down and snatch them up into the sky. If one in a hundred make it to the ocean it’s considered worthwhile. And I do feel like someone’s breakfast most days of the week. Studying a fine art form is finicky. Arguably, it relies more on a student’s ability to see beyond the classroom than on monitoring a looming GPA. It’s the seemingly s y m biotic relationship between the term ‘student’ and ‘artist’ that gets
me wondering if post-secondary is necessary for success. If you’re a driven artist, is sweating through an undergraduate degree anything more than an expensive expansion of your social network? It’s not uncommon for students to drop out in the middle of a program or finish their degree only to scrap it completely to pursue new directions. I want to know what it takes to make the most of university, so I interviewed recent U of T Fine Arts graduate Alex Nursall. While a student, her list of extracurricular activities was remarkable: she worked as an associate photo editor for both The Varsity and the newspaper, hosted The Beaver Lodge on CIUT, played the bassoon for the Hart House orchestra and the HH symphonic band, volunteered as a sexual health counsellor at SEC, worked as a residence don at UC, announced volleyball games for the Varsity Blues, ran Varsity track, and played in a punk band called Too Far North.
by Sarah D’Angelo
the newsmagazine: What are you currently studying? What year are you in? Alex Nursall: Currently I’m studying the terrors of the real world. I just finished my 5th year at U of T and now I need a break from school. I do have a degree though, in English and Visual Studies, which makes me qualified for jobs such as stand-up comedy, apple picker, or a writer for Two and a Half Men (rimshot).
some of the classes; if you’re only there for that lovely 80%, why the fuck would you care about building yourself as an artist, especially if it’s
tn: Did you have any expectations about the program initially that have been fulfilled or disappointed? How have your perceptions of the program changed?
AN: When you enter into an art program fresh out of high school, you expect it to be this sort of highly detailed instruction process where your profs are constantly swooping around you, trying to create the next Vermeers or Banksys or whatever. What I got was kind of that, but there were times where it felt like they just sort of hucked you into the fray and hoped you could swim through the mess of paints. Tortured metaphors aside, I found it to be a relatively interesting program, but it was limited. Lots of fun classes were cancelled or filled up in a nanosecond, meaning that lots of the time you just got placed in something just because you needed the credit, which is bullshit. No wonder people didn’t care in
not your medium? I’m a photographer, and if you put me in a performance art class, you’d probably just find me hiding in a corner, giggling and cowering. It’s not that I don’t think performance art is important, it’s because I myself am not a performer, and would be utter shit at it, and am way too self-conscious. Did that even answer the question? Fuck. tn: Do you feel that there are specific limitations to art school? AN: Well, they’re trying to instruct you in a program that (aside from the knowledge of past artists and techniques)
really focuses on y o u r personal expression. And it’s hard when people seriously suck at it. I know I’ve made some pathetically shitty work in my time there, and so has everyone else. You’re limited because you’re trying to express yourself while trying to conform to the likes and dislikes of the prof, which fucks with your head after awhile. I once did this detailed photo project for a class, and after hours of editing, realized that it wasn’t going to work. So instead, I fired up Word, typed in three words in a nice, simple font, printed it out, and handed that in. I got an ‘A’. An ‘A’! What the fuck is that? tn: How would you rate your overall undergraduate experience so far? If you could, would you change anything? AN: It was interesting, and I learned a lot, blah blah etc, but by the end I was pretty tired of it. Partly, it’s because I’m kind of cranky and figured out later on that while I love photography, what I really love is photojournalism, and you don’t go into VIS to become a photographer for the New York Times. Maybe if you had spoken to me the moment I got out of the program, I might have been a bit crankier about it all, but since I’m a year out, it sort of makes everything seem a little nicer with hindsight. I’m starting to lose my teeth in my old age.
self-portrait by Alex Nursall, illustration by Sarah D’Angelo May 20, 2010
Q&A issue
the newsmagazine
the arts
May 20, 2010
Set in Toronto, Chloe is an erotic thriller about a woman (Julianne Moore) who hires a prostitute (psychologicallytangled Chloe, played by Amanda Seyfried) to test h e r husband’s fidelity. Chloe is a smart script: intimate, gripping, dark, complex, and filled out with a throbbing soundtrack. Its twisted plot is buoyed with nuanced performances by Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried that convincingly realizes the psychic tension between their two
7
characters. The script’s seductiveness rubs off on our city, which is exactly what Egoyan had in mind when directing the film last year. Whereas most directors that descend on Toronto try to transform or hide the city, Atom Egoyan’s Chloe celebrates Toronto – from close-ups of Yorkville street signs, to illicit rendezvous set in iconic city bars, to the familiar rattle of a streetcar as it cuts through the background of a scene.
the newsmagazine caught up with Atom Egoyan on his way to Cannes to talk about directing Chloe, his first foray into filming another writer’s screenplay the newsmagazine: This is your first time directing someone else’s script. What was it about the script that pulled you into directing Chloe? Atom Egoyan: I was attracted to Chloe because it offered a chance to set an erotic drama with complex characters in Toronto, which presented a great opportunity for me. tn: A lot of Chloe seems to be about establishing connections. For many Torontonians, this is a film that helps them connect with their city, not hidden or transformed as some other city, but as the real Toronto. Did this film change your relationship to Toronto in some way? AE: It confirmed that we live in a unique city, and that it has been greatly under-utilized in film. When I was offered the script, it was originally set in San Francisco, and I convinced the producers that I could make Toronto look equally sexy. What’s surprising is
how many Torontonians don’t recognize certain locations, because they’ve never seen them given such a lush film treatment. tn: You brought out the city through marked references. Did you want Toronto to function as a character in this film?
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AE: I felt that Toronto was a little like Chloe, usually being paid a lot of money to pretend it was something else (New York, Chicago, even San Francisco), and that this was a chance to be itself. tn: Chloe was a departure in some ways from your previous films – has Chloe broadened what you’re capable of directing or opened you up to any new directions? AE: I think it has shown that I can direct a more linear and accessible film. The problem is that most of the stuff I’m being offered right now are sex thrillers, and that’s that last thing I want to do. I’m reading a lot, and have started writing some new ideas. I’m looking forward to taking the summer off.
by Helene Goderis photo found in the newspaper archives features Atom Egoyan circa 1979 at our editorial desk in his days as the newspaper arts columnist
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Q&A issue
May 20, 2010
the city
8 “There must be something in Toronto’s tap water, because our transit history is just torture,” joked Paul Bedford, U of T professor and Metrolinx board member. At the May 19 Metrolinx board meeting, Bedford waved around yellowed copies of newspaper articles that underscore a long history
of TTC expansion plans fraught with roadblocks and delays. Transit City, the TTC initiative to build eight new Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines in Toronto’s priority neighborhoods, is no different. In its 2010 budget, the province delayed $4 billion in funding for four LRT lines, putting Transit
City in jeopardy. Bedford’s joke was a welcomed bit of levity at the board meeting, where the provincial agency unveiled the revised Transit City plan in response to budgetary cuts. Metrolinx unanimously approved to move forward on five priority projects, to be split into
May 20, 2010 two phases over the next ten years. For Transit City, that includes the Sheppard East, Eglinton Crosstown and Finch LRTs, and Scarborough Rapid Transit. The revised plan trims 20 kilometers of track from the original Transit City plan, extends the project’s timeframe, and cuts the number of Light Rail Ve-
the newsmagazine asked a panel of individuals involved in Toronto’s transit future to weigh in on Transit City. Our questions Q1: Briefly, what do you think the greatest shortcomings of the current Transit City plan are? Its greatest success? Q2: What would you add to or remove from these plans?
hicles purchased from 300 to 182. The Toronto Board of Trade, which has a vested interest in the municipal economy, has advised Metrolinx to look at other funding options, such as a gas tax, tolls, parking charges, and a one per cent regional sales tax. While taxes are unpopular, the Board of Trade says that they are necessary to build investment and move forward on transit expansion. City Hall, the TTC, and Metrolinx now await the green light from the provincial government for Transit City, the last stop in this transit expansion plan.
ERIC MILLER Director, Cities Centre
Q3: Other than the recent cut in provincial funding, what is jeopardizing our chances to improve Toronto transit?
DAVID MILLER Mayor of Toronto A1: Transit City was developed by the TTC in response to my election promise but is more than a transit plan. A transit city is one where it is possible to make every trip, not just your commute to work, through some combination of transit, walking and biking anywhere in the city at any time of day. Its greatest success is that a public consensus has formed around the principle that every neighbourhood deserves transit. It was quickly adopted by McGuinty as a top government priority and election promise, and was subsequently incorporated into the Metrolinx regional transportation plan. The recent cuts, however, jeopardize these fundamental principles. Metrolinx now proposing a subway from Forest Hill to Leaside at the expense of Rexdale, Jane-Finch and Malvern among many other neighbourhoods. The risk is that future transit planning will focus on where the next line goes, pitting neighbourhoods against each other and ensuring that only those with political influence will ever get rapid transit. A2: Obviously the $4 billion in cuts needs to be restored, but we also need to start moving forward on Scarborough-Malvern, Jane, Don Mills and Waterfront West. A3: Transit systems can only be effective if they form part of a network. Any discussion of contracting out parts of the network to private operators could cause permanent damage to the TTC’s ability to provide mobility to Toronto. There also needs to be sustainable and predictable operating funding in the form of a return to the 50-50 cost share agreement between the TTC/City and the Provincial government as was in place under the Davis, Peterson and Rae governments.
the newsmagazine
STEVE MUNRO transit activist
ADAM GIAMBRONE TTC Chair A1: The greatest success of the Transit City Plan is that it started 2.5 years from conception with actual construction on Sheppard Avenue last October. In addition, it is affordable, serves all areas of the city, especially all the “Priority Neighbourhoods” (under-serviced communities as identified by the United Way) and is build-able quickly as LRT construction is not as difficult as subway projects that take a long time and are expensive. The drawback is that the Province has cut its previously committed-to funding and is refusing the City’s offer to help find solutions (like covering the interest on the first couple of years worth of debt) As a result Torontonians are being denied access to better transit because of broken promises by the Premier. A2: Transit City was a complete plan, that at this point has most of the engineering done, so really it is only the Province’s backtracking on funding the stands in the way of Transit City. A3: In terms of other improvements to TTC, it’s mostly a lack of funding that inhibits improvements. 2010 marked the first year the Province provided no operating funding for the TTC since 1973. We all know that we need expansion, repairs to stations and other things, but without adequate funding, this is difficult. The TTC is the least subsidized system in North America. Having said that, the TTC can focus on things like better customer relations by its staff that don’t really cost too much.
A1: Successes. Transit City takes a network view of transit needs, not an approach of proposing one line that takes a decade to build and serves only one small segment of Toronto. Also, the plan focuses on movement between parts of the city that have to “make do” with bus service. Shortcomings: There has not been enough flexibility by Transit City proponents (especially the “official” ones) to recognize that it needs modification to improve the plan’s credibility. A2: Don Mills: The south end of the line should be at Eglinton where it would meet the north end of the “downtown relief” subway line. This would make Don Mills and Eglinton a major node in the network. Eglinton: Redesign section west to Hwy 427 to run side of road taking advantage of the available right of way and development patterns. Waterfront West: A complete rethink is required. Scarborough Malvern: build the 2km stretch south from Sheppard to UTSC as part of the Sheppard line. A3: The lack of sustained, dedicated funding for both capital and operating costs. Every discussion focuses on how “we can’t afford” to spend more, and the result that transit is always planned on a “barely enough” basis. Transit is not seen as an essential, ongoing part of public spending. Underbudgeting causes debates about alternatives to take place on a “one at a time” basis with jockeying for what gets built first. This does not generally produce what is needed most, only the construction of lines with powerful supporters.
Q&A issue
KATHLEEN WYNNE Minister of Transportation A1: Unfortunately, due to the Province’s fiscal situation, we had to spread the investment into these projects over a longer period of time. The greatest success is yet to come. Metrolinx has advised us that even though we are spreading the investment over a longer period of time, all four Toronto projects will get built. The successes will be visible in the construction jobs that will be a result of these projects moving forward and the thousands of cars that will be taken off our roads when these projects are completed. A2: It’s important to note that almost all of the $9.5 billion invested into the projects are from the Province. There is a little bit of Federal money, but again, the majority is Provincially funded. Our preferred investment model would include partnering with other levels of government. A3: As a provincial government, we have been clear that the funding has not been removed. Due to the economic downturn, the decision was made to stretch out the investment into these projects. Metrolinx has advised us that the projects can be completed in 10 years instead of the 8 years in the original funding model. What would put Toronto transit improvement in jeopardy is if we lost momentum, or if we decided to stop building.
A1: The proposed east-west routes are very long and that the average speeds along these routes will be relatively slow [due to] short stop spacings. Both the Spadina and St. Clair lines have quite slow speeds. The result, worst case, might be a service that is not significantly improved relative to current buses. The exclusive focus on LRT as opposed to subway is unfortunate. While subways are more expensive, plans for some of the LRT lines are also quite expensive. At a minimum, a subway option for the Eglinton Avenue route should be seriously considered given that this corridor might well justify the extra capacity, better level of service and travel speeds that a subway would probably provide. A2: While addressing accessibility deficits in some of the suburban portions of the City, the plan does not increase transit capacity into the City’s Central Area. A3: The funding cuts are very disturbing. But they are just the latest in a long history of failing to “put transit first” and of actually doing something about improving transit. In the mid-1980’s Toronto had a very aggressive transit expansion plan. Nothing has materialized out of that plan except a stub of a subway line along Sheppard Avenue and a poorly designed and implemented streetcar upgrade along St. Clair. We are 25 years behind in building the transit system that the City and the Toronto region needs, and the cost and the magnitude of the job facing us is now extremely daunting. The danger facing us is that we will let the challenges discourage us from doing anything. The alternative, however, is a recipe for economic, environmental and social decline in the City. We must find the political consensus and the political will to move forward quickly to significantly improve the transit system.
by Helene Goderis illustration by Peter Mohideen For more questions & panelists’ full responses, visit thenewspaper.ca
May 20, 2010