John Tory is one of those people that refuse to be convinced of things they don't want to be convinced of. Whether it's what to do with the Gardiner or now, the transit file. SmartTrack, which he campaigned on can't work. And Tory is still pushing it through (like the Scarborough Subway which will cost us BILLIONS in losses), because, well...he's John Tory.
When his plans come up short of his promises—SmartTrack will not provide 13 new stations (six are proposed) in seven years (it looks like 12 years), with no new taxes (it needs more money) as he campaigned—you’d think that’s fair game for criticism. After all, he regularly scoffed at Olivia Chow’s pledge to stick with staff proposals for transit, saying that would take too long.
While Tory conceded today that SmartTrack looks different than what he campaigned on, he argued that’s responsible, because he was responding to new information. Sure, journalists and rival candidates provided that information during the campaign, and he and his team dismissed them as nattering nabobs of negativism, but he had a campaign to win.
So what’s his excuse now? Well, his critics don’t have a transit plan of their own.