March 30, 2004
Ottawa, Ontario

SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER

Check against delivery

It’s great to be in Toronto at this milestone event.

Fifty years ago, Mayor Lamport and Premier Frost together pushed the lever that turned the signal from amber to green. Thus inaugurating Canada’s first subway system. But did you know – and I didn’t – that there was a song about it? The Toronto Subway Song, originally recorded in 1950.

I won’t sing it for you – but here are some of the words: “Yes, we’re gonna have a subway in Toronto; we’ve got to get the working man home pronto…”

Well, it’s not going to win any Junos. And we need to update the words. Because it’s not longer just the “working man” – it’s getting the working woman home pronto. Even more – today it’s getting the working family home, the kids home from school, from music lessons, sports events, the friends over for a visit, the groceries home in the fridge.

Having a subway like Toronto’s is vital. Vital not just to the working man – but to all of the 80% of Canada’s population who today live in cities.

Jane Jacobs – that venerable philosopher of cities and Torontonian – said: “Vital cities have marvelous innate abilities for understanding, communicating, contriving, and inventing what is required to combat their difficulties.” Having an efficient and environmentally sustainable public transit system is also about the quality of life we want to have. How we live as individuals; how we live together.

To some, quality of life in the city may be more associated with health, with good food and drink, with a sophisticated and creative arts and cultural scene. Quality of life is also closely associated with transportation – with the ability to get around.

Yet there are also costs that come with certain kinds of transportation. Costs that have an impact on the quality of life. Atmospheric pollution, environmental damage, endless ribbons of concrete crowding out green spaces and cutting through the natural features of a city.

If we are not careful, if patterns don’t change, our lives may become filled with too much cement and not enough trees. Filled with too much time spent in traffic – and not enough spent at home with the family.

That is why we have to make public transit more than just an alternative choice – it has to be compelling. It has to become the first choice.

Today, I am pleased to announce the Government of Canada’s partnership with the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto in a $1 billion funding package to renewing the Toronto Transit Commission and public transit in Toronto. Under the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund, the Government of Canada will contribute $350 million over the next 5 years.

This partnership investment will go towards modernizing the Subway and improve stations. It will extend the life of Canadian Light Rail Vehicles. New subway cars and hybrid or alternatively power or “green” buses will be purchased. Bus rapid transit service will be enhanced to benefit commuters. The improvements to the system announced today go a long way towards reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emission and minimizing airborne pollutants in the city.

The statistics speak for themselves. The TTC moves 1.3 million passengers daily – all potential automobile users, in the absence of public transit. Even more impressive: 1 subway line in Toronto takes 53,000 cars per hour off the road.

The TTC carries the equivalent of 365 million automotive trips annually, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 8 megatons per year. The TTC is truly the cardiovascular system that supports the vitality of this great city. It is what drives this city forward – and sustainably – towards the future. It keeps the heart of Toronto’s economic, cultural and social life alive and throbbing.

You could even say that – without the TTC – it would have been impossible for Toronto to be the city of international renown that it is today. The Government of Canada’s funding contribution to a rejuvenated TTC will better serve Torontonians and improve the quality of life.

For this Government, quality of life in our cities is a priority. That is why, in the Speech from the Throne, we announced a “new deal” for Canada’s cities. A new deal based on partnership with the provinces and territories, while fully respecting their spheres of responsibility.

We meant what we said. And last week, the Budget proved that our word is good. Proved it with billions of dollars of GST rebates to Canada’s municipalities over the next 10 years. Proved it with funding for immigrant language training, support to urban Aboriginals, clean-up of federal contaminated sites, development of environmental technologies, support for the community-based and non-profit sector. And today we are proving it once more – in the funding of infrastructure for municipalities.

What the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto have created with this package shows what the three orders of government can do together – in the service of people of the Greater Toronto Area and of Ontario. That is what our citizens want from us – from all of their elected leaders.

Let me congratulate all those who have brought this spirit of collaboration and cooperation together in this important project for the people of Toronto.

This great city deserves no less. And what better way to show this than on this 50th anniversary day.