Ontario Premier Doug Ford is expressing “total confidence” in Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney amid the province’s ongoing struggle to deliver the Eglinton LRT, which is over budget and far behind schedule.
The province has been engaged in a months-long public battle with Crosslinx Transit Solutions (CTS), a consortium of companies responsible for constructing the project, over a credible timeline to finalize the 19-kilometre transit line.
While the government claims the project is 98-per cent complete, Metrolinx identified 260 deficiencies with the project that the provincial transit agency believes renders the Eglinton LRT unsafe for riders and transit operators.
Metrolinx has leveraged the existing contract with CTS, signed in 2011 by the former Liberal government, to withhold payments from the consortium until the project has a more realistic timeline for completion.
CTS, meanwhile, is taking Metrolinx to court, claiming it has allowed officials with the TTC — which will eventually operate the line — to go unchecked and raise issues with the project at the expense of CTS.
On Tuesday, Mulroney told the Ontario Legislature that her government “take(s) full responsibility for the entire transportation network, including the Eglinton Crosstown,” leading to questions about whether the premier continues to back the minister.
“Confidence in the transit system depends on the Minister of Transportation. My question is to the Premier: does the Premier still have confidence in this minister?” asked NDP leader Marit Stiles.
Ford immediately backed up his one-time leadership rival and cabinet minister.
“I have total confidence in my minister,” Ford said. “I have total confidence that the minister is responsible for building the largest transit project in North America.”
When asked whether she is the right person for the job, Mulroney was emphatic.
“Yes, I do,” Mulroney told journalists at Queen’s Park. “I have been working for four years on our transit expansion and we’ve seen more progress in four years that we’ve seen in Ontario in 15.”