“Union Station is one of the most important economical sites in the city — its future role is going to be even bigger,” said Councillor Doug Holyday when he got his chance to weigh in on the latest proposal to revitalize the heritage station during council’s last session before the holiday break. Others expressed similar sentiments about Toronto’s busiest transportation hub.

Seven years ago, Holyday championed turning the job of revitalizing Union Station over to the private sector, a plan that failed after six years of unsuccessful talks. Today, he supported a proposal that would see the public and private sectors both playing a role in a revitalization plan that involves a $137 million retail mall, in addition to $101 million in repairs. Add on heritage- and transportation-related improvements and the total cost comes out to $388.3 million. The new plan would allow the city to maintain control of the transportation hub, while the private sector would be invited to invest in the retail area. A small minority of councillors believed the building should simply be sold. “I don’t think we should be in the business of creating a mall,” argued Michael Walker, unleashing a lecture from Budget Chief Shelley Carroll on the importance of retaining city-owned assets.

“We forget all the time that the reason we can pass a [capital] budget with a significant amount of debt is because of our assets,” she said. “A city is not viable if it’s got nothing but assets that it sells and sells and sells. They are your credit rating. If you start to sell them this year, then you’ve got to sell them next year and the year after that. It’s time to stop talking about this city being for sale.”

Support for supportive housing
It was heartening to see city council almost unanimously vote in favour of three new supportive and transitional housing projects on Dec. 13 — particularly a 29-unit building planned for 1908 Gerrard E. that was vehemently opposed by some vocal NIMBY residents. Councillors from across the political spectrum stood up to deliver passionate speeches on the importance of showing leadership.
“Councillor Sandra Bussin has gone out of her way to consult individuals, to make sure they are aware of it and that they understand it,” said David Shiner, in opposition to a motion from Doug Holyday that would require more community consultation.

Others spoke of how they’ve struggled against community opposition to similar projects. “We had a condo [in my ward] that was recently approved. Later, we added affordable housing to it and when that happened there was an uproar,” said Pam McConnell. “It was the same condo; nothing else had changed. The only difference was the people.”

In the end, only Doug Holyday and Rob Ford voted against the controversial project.  “I’m not going to pretend I know a lot about all this, because I don’t,” admitted Ford. “I’m going to vote how I vote all the time and that’s with the bosses. Our bosses are our taxpayers, and they don’t want it…. In the real world if you don’t listen to your boss, you’re out of a job.”

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