In the 2018 Provincial election Ford promised to make sure transit (mostly subways) gets built faster and more efficiently by giving the Provincial Government responsibility over funding of new subway projects and the maintenance of subway lines. The Province has a much bigger budget and much more capacity than Toronto, so why not accept the deal? Sounds like a win-win, right? Well Doug isn’t giving you the whole story. There are a lot of reasons to doubt this plan.One is that the commitment to pay for subways contradicts Ford’s 2018 election promise to make deep spending cuts to the Provincial budget. Their solution is to finance this expensive infrastructure by selling or giving away the “air rights” - our public assets - along the subway line to developers. Ford claims City Council delays important transit decisions, but the reality is that he’s also responsible for delays in building transit. As City Councillors, Doug and Rob Ford delayed building Toronto’s entire LRT network in 2011. That is why our Finch W. LRT has yet to be completed. Based on his record, do we really believe he’ll build transit faster?He also claims that the Province is more effective and less wasteful than the City, however the Ontario government bears a lot of the blame for our TTC problems. Many subway tunnels have been filled in due to past provincial governments, they have failed to properly fund the TTC and, most recently, they have been in charge of implementing the very problematic Presto Program. Ontario forced Toronto and other municipalities to adopt the Presto card despite the its enormous - the cost to roll it out was the same as the new 11 km Finch LRT system. It is over-budget, the fares have not been fairly integrated and riders cite glitches using their Presto card. How can we trust the Ontario government to take over our subway when they created many of its problems?Ford proposes to fund $160 million per year, but TTC needs $16.2 billion over next 15 years - falls $14 billion short of what Toronto needs to maintain the existing subway system. So is he really serious about funding our transit? If he is, the numbers don’t add up.Based on Ford’s track record at city council, the plan’s major flaws and Ontario’s role in the TTC, the upload doesn’t look promising. So what can us transit riders in Downsview do to make sure that this plan gets shelved? Fortunately there are strong opponents of Ford’s plan who are raising awareness and pushing back. TTCriders, community organizations and labour groups held a massive day of action on Feb 22nd at 35 subway stations to tell riders about Ford’s plan to take over the subway. Public pressure works. You are a powerful force and there are many ways to help and make your voice heard. Tell Ford not to steal our subway.Check out the website for ways to take action and for a list of MPPs, templates, and online petitions: http://www.ttcriders.ca/oursubway/TTCriders is a grass-roots advocacy group that fights for transit riders to make fares more affordable, expand service and make sure that the TTC is not privatized.