Guest column: Ford's highway tunnel plan a way to change channel

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Article content By: Robin Baranyai

Changing the channel is a pretty familiar gambit. Predictable, even.

When a public figure lands in the hot seat, expect them to schedule a funding announcement, unveil a big new plan or identify a threat; anything to change focus.

Remember when Donald Trump tried to “buy” Greenland? Six days before that story broke, a whistleblower filed a complaint detailing how the former U.S. president illegally pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden. By Christmas, the U.S Congress would vote to impeach Trump.

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Nevertheless, news outlets diligently reported on Greenland’s geopolitical importance, the potential for mineral extraction beneath its melting ice, and the consternation of the Danish prime minister, who seemed astonished to have to say: “Greenland is not for sale.”

By now, you’d think we’d be wise to this timeworn tactic. Yet here we are, reporting on a mega-tunnel under Highway 401.

Not that we have much choice. Premier Doug Ford has proposed — indeed, promised — to tunnel under the busiest highway in North America. Like it or not, it’s news. Ford suggested new vehicle lanes and transit could stretch from Mississauga to Markham. That’s about 55 km.

In quick succession, the premier announced both a feasibility study, and a determination to forge ahead regardless of what the study might say. This is a man desperate to change the channel.

Still, it must be reported. Journalists are diligently putting Ford’s “visionary” promise in perspective. They’ve plumbed comparisons to Boston’s Big Dig, which delivered 12 km of underground highway for $14.8 billion. They’ve reported the reactions of other party leaders, from “silly” to “a complete joke.” They’ve called upon experts to test Ford’s assumption that adding vehicle lanes will, in fact, relieve traffic congestion.

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The argument for more and bigger highways is an enduring zombie of public policy, repeatedly shot down but very hard to kill. Former New York City traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz told CBC News what study after study has shown: “the more lanes you introduce, the more people are likely to drive.”

Schwartz described proven alternatives, such as transit investments and high-occupancy toll lanes, which relieve congestion by reducing traffic. Even building transit down the centre of the 401 would make more sense than what Ford’s proposing.

Meanwhile, away from the cameras, the RCMP continues its criminal investigation into the Greenbelt scandal.

Two provincial watchdogs already sharply criticized the government’s improperly managed site selection process, which stood to enrich a handful of developers to the tune of $8.28 billion. The premier’s office has denied any involvement in choosing specific sites for development. Ultimately, Ford reversed course, leaving the Greenbelt intact.

During the summer, this government commanded a striking number of headlines, including funding announcements, alcohol in corner stores, a retreat on supervised consumption sites, and shuttering the Ontario Science Centre. Some of these actions are just the business of governing, and some may be unnecessary and ill-advised, but the premier kept that remote firmly in his grasp.

Through it all, the media reported on hints of an early election, perhaps next spring. Ontario could go to the polls ahead of the results of what is a criminal investigation. This government has no business contemplating an election before voters have answers.

A mega-tunnel under the 401 may strike voters as decisive, out-of-the-box thinking — or a boondoggle in the making. It’s actually something else.

This is our Greenland, folks.

Robin Baranyai’s columns are regularly featured in Postmedia News publications. She can be reached at write.robin@baranyai.ca.

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