Current positions of THE TORONTO PARTY.

Metrolinx Chair Rob MacIsaac has recommended that the City of Toronto should permit the province take over the cost of the subway and other TTC services with "regional implications." The Toronto Party Transportation Committee Chair, Mr. James Alcock, agrees that it is worthy of examination. This could save the City more than $1 billion annually, and thus eliminate the need for new or higher taxes. It would also help to eliminate the existing road repair backlog which is estimated to reach $400 million by 2011.

With questionable spending still coming from City Hall and city councillors using their office budgets like a personal bank account, we seriously question why the staffing budget for a city councillor is nearly equal to the staffing budget for an MPP or MP when a city councillor represents only half the territory of a provincial or federal elected representative ($252,149 per councillor; $254,200 per MPP; and $268,300 per MP). A reduction in this area could save the city more than $4 million a year.

We oppose the road reduction on Lansdowne Avenue, between Bloor Street West and College Street, and support the efforts of the Toronto Lansdowne Residents' Association in their fight to stop the project that will only lead to more congestion in the neighbourhood and in the city. Visit their fight at http://torontolansdowne.googlepages.com/.

We oppose the imposition of new tax measures as permitted by the City of Toronto Act and in particular oppose the new municipal land transfer tax and motor vehicle registration tax.

We support efforts to introduce waste-to-energy technology to deal with municipal waste and support announcements made by Premier Dalton McGuinty and Leader of the Opposition, John Tory in this respect. Claims made by environmental groups against new waste-to-energy facilities on the grounds that they emit harmful toxins are outdated and unproven.

We support many aspects of the Toronto Transit's Commission ambitious "Transit City" LRT plan since it includes many parts of our party's comprehensive transportation policy passed by party members on February 25, 2007. We caution, however, that the use and implementation of surface-level LRTs should not take away from lane space on roadways, the result of which could be more traffic congestion. The party also continues to promote the use of dedicated LRTs on hydro corridors.