Just earlier this week, a constituent of mine, Tonoy Saha, reached out. He’s a student from York University. He was 30 minutes late for his exam. Despite coming early for the bus, he waited for half an hour extra, and then he was 30 minutes late for his exam.

That’s just a small example of the reality in Scarborough, when it comes to transit, because of the delays we’re facing. And with recent cuts to TTC bus 905 and bus 9, we’ll have more overcrowding, more wait times and more delays, and it puts so many people in Scarborough at an unfair disadvantage, unlike others. This is because of the cuts that we are seeing from our government when it comes to transit.

My question is simple: What do you say to Tonoy and so many people who feel that they’re at an unfair disadvantage—and the fact that we’re not setting these people up for success?

Tonyo and many other students who wait for so many minutes, for hours for their buses, for their trains, would not be satisfied with that answer.

The experts, the advocates for transit are calling for more operating budget increase from this government. We are seeing an increase in violence in our TTC, in our transit system right now that is exacerbated because of the cuts. We need to invest and address the root causes of these problems.

My question is, will this minister and her government invest in the operating budget that was cut by the Liberals and now exacerbated by this government as well?

I thank the member opposite for her question.

What I say to the people of her riding is that residents of Scarborough deserve the same level of transit as the rest of the city of Toronto, which is why our government has put forward a plan to have a three-stop subway in Scarborough, but that member opposite and her party voted against it.

Our government has put forward measure after measure to support transit expansion and the operation of transit in the GTA, but time after time, whether it’s Safe Restart funding or whether it’s capital projects for new transit in the city of Toronto, the members of the opposition consistently vote against it. They can’t have it both ways. Either they’re for more transit and they vote with us, or they’re just against it.

Throughout the pandemic, under the leadership of our Premier, we put more than $2 billion into the operation of transit systems across this province. Why? Because we know that transit is essential. During the pandemic, it was essential to getting our workers to and from home, to work safely. So we put billions of dollars. The number one beneficiary of our Safe Restart funding was the TTC.

We have been there every step of the way. But sadly for the constituents in the ridings of the members opposite, they all voted against that critical support that we provided for transit.

Mr. Speaker, we’re continuing to build transit in the city of Toronto, including—

I’m very pleased to read this petition to the House. It is entitled “Enhancing Public Transit Accessibility.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas access to public transit is essential for Ontarians to be able to work, go to school, and for their day-to-day activities;

“Whereas youth, seniors, and families across Ontario rely on public transit to access basic necessities such as groceries, health care, recreation, and more;

“Whereas people living with disabilities face immense accessibility barriers, physical and otherwise, when accessing public transit;

“Whereas there are public transit stations across the province, including in the GTA, that are not equipped with facilities that allow people living with disabilities to be able to reach the trains, bus bays, streetcars, LRT, etc., without leaving the premises;

“Whereas transit agencies such as TTC have begun the work to ensure accessibility on transit vehicles and some stations, there are many stations across the city, as well as stations operated by various transit agencies across the province, that need to continue adding and enhancing accessibility features to ensure transit access for all Ontarians;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, call on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to pass Bill 82, Enhancing Public Transit Accessibility Act, 2023, and ensure that Ontarians living with disabilities or who have accessibility needs can use public transit.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature to it and give it to the Clerk through Mikaeel.

I’m glad the member is talking about having people in communities and cities for building hospitals, building services.

As of January 12, 2003, the Kerr report has said that London was Ontario’s third-fastest growing community after Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo and Barrie. So, I looked through the budget. Transit is a huge topic in our city and as you know, Via is no longer operating from London to Toronto. Your government started running a pilot project in October 2021 to expand GO train services to London, and I’d like to ask the member why there’s nothing in the budget with respect to expanding the GO train services in London. Why did his government abandon this pilot project?