As the Ford government faces questions about the muzzling of Metrolinx, Global News can reveal how escalating internal concerns over public perception drove the agency’s CEO to vent his frustrations with top staffers at Queen’s Park.
As Global News first reported, the provincial government has a firm grip on how Metrolinx communicates to the public, preventing the taxpayer-funded transit agency from issuing statements or responding to media questions without prior approval from political staffers.
In December 2022, public sentiment towards Metrolinx began to plummet after a leaked internal document revealed there was no “credible plan” to finish the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, originally due in 2021.
Metrolinx officials grew frustrated as internal weekly data tracking positive or negative impressions of the agency began to show signs of deep public dissatisfaction.
“Every community trust and media impression measure Metrolinx tracks have dipped,” Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster told Premier Doug Ford’s office on Dec. 22, 2022, in an email obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws.
Verster complained to Ford’s chief of staff Patrick Sackville and transport minister Caroline Mulroney’s chief Michael Beaton. He said Metrolinx officials “were not allowed to say” the reasons behind the construction delays because the government “makes these comms decisions” and felt Metrolinx had “lost credibility” as a result of its silence.
Data showed public dissatisfaction
According to a weekly public sentiment snapshot obtained by Global News, perceptions of Metrolinx plummeted during the month of December, driven by the Eglinton LRT issue.
On Dec. 2, as Metrolinx was cutting down trees at Osgoode Hall to make way for the Ontario Line, the agency reported “neutral sentiment” in digital and broadcast news segments.
On Dec. 8, multiple news outlets began reporting on a leaked Metrolinx document indicating that the LRT’s testing schedule was “overly ambitious and not achievable,” leaving the opening date in limbo.
The next day, on Dec. 9, the agency saw a notable drop in negative impressions with a 46 per cent negative broadcast news sentiment and less than one per cent positive coverage.
“News about Osgoode Hall tree removal and the leaked Eglinton Crosstown LRT documents drove negative sentiment,” the internal tracker noted.
Those numbers were sustained on Dec. 16, after Toronto city councillors Josh Matlow and Mike Colle introduced a motion at Toronto city council demanding answers from Metrolinx.
Days later, on Dec. 22, Verster vented his frustrations with the Premier’s Office, highlighting the impact of the communications clampdown.
“We have taken a beating on ECLRT and we have lost credibility by not responding fully to this question 6-8 weeks ago,” Verster said.
Speaking to Global News about Verster’s email, Matlow renewed his calls for an inquiry.
“The Ford government, along with Metrolinx, has put their own communications and political interests before the best interests of the people of Toronto,” Matlow said.
“As long as they are being secret and don’t support the truth and transparency, then I am going to be calling for an inquiry to finally get the facts on the table.”
On Tuesday, Ford said he did not “direct or control anyone,” adding that Verster should speak his mind.
“I have talked to Phil Verster on this item directly, and I always tell him, ‘If there’s something on your mind, go out and say it,’” the premier said.
Global News sent questions to Metrolinx and Mulroney’s office. Neither addressed the email or the relationship between the arm’s length organization and the Ford government.
A spokesperson for Mulroney said the two organizations “share the same goal” and want to open the Eglinton Crosstown LRT “as soon as possible when it is safe to do so.”
Critics call for change
The revelations over just how tightly the Ford government controls Metrolinx’s operations and how sensitive the arm’s length agency is to public perception have sparked outrage.
“I just find it appalling — and not surprising — but appalling and shameful,” Cassandra Nicolaou, owner of Supercoffee in the Mount Dennis area of the LRT’s route, told Global News.
“I just think that we deserve better. … It’s just astonishing to me that there hasn’t been more transparency. And I just wonder, who is going to step up and take responsibility and stop with (the) backroom finger-pointing and just get this line open?”
Matlow said an obsession with perception, along with the influence of poll-sensitive politicians, meant Metrolinx could not fulfil its mandate.
“Metrolinx was set up to be an independent, arm’s length transit agency to provide objective and evidence-based advice about transit expansion projects and get them built,” Matlow said.
“What the Ford government has been doing is controlling their communications because the Ford government seems to be more worried about their own political interests and communications problems than actually being transparent and honest with the people of Toronto.”
The Ontario NDP said the province was putting its reputation ahead of building new transit.
“Instead of improving our transit infrastructure and services, the Ford government seems more interested in saving face,” said Joel Harden, the NDP’s transit and active transportation critic, in a statement.
“Ontarians who rely on public transportation deserve better, and their needs should be at the forefront of transit management decisions.”
The Ford government has yet to provide an opening date for the line.
One source told Global News a credible opening schedule for the route from its builders has still not been received by either Metrolinx or the province.
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