New petition calls on feds to hold province accountable for long-promised expanded GO service

Kitchener is still waiting to get a timeline on when the city might see two-way, all-day GO service. The expanded service into Toronto is a promise that’s over a decade old. The MP and MPP of Kitchener Centre called for more accountability during a press conference, held Oct. 4 in Kitchener.

MP Mike Morrice is calling on the feds to ensure the funding they allocated will actually be used by the province to deliver the long-awaited promise. The feds committed to funding 40 per cent of the costs of the project back in 2017.

“It seems reasonable that if the federal government has put up that much money for the project, that they should be expecting for the province to give them a timeline for when our community is going to get this service,” Morrice said in an interview with 570 NewsRadio.

Morrice mentioned he repeatedly hears from members of the community about how the commute to Toronto is exhausting with limited options, forcing some to wait around for overcrowded buses.

Morrice was on the floor in Parliament Sept. 18 asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to hold the province accountable to get the GO service delivered to the region.

“This government has put record amounts of infrastructure investment on the table to support Canadians, in building transit, in building the infrastructure that they need to get to and from work, to be able to afford better homes closer to work. These are the things were continuing to invest in and we call on all premiers to step up in their investments,” replied Trudeau.

Morrice said he will be back on the floor next week to continue advocating for the expanded GO service.

“Until we get a timeline, both Aislinn and I are going to use the tools available to us in our federal and provincial legislatures because our community just deserves better.”

MPP Aislinn Clancy, in an interview with 570 NewsRadio, said the premier needs to be reminded that he isn’t the ‘Premier of the GTA’ but is the Premier of Ontario.

“We don’t need the premier to just create pipe dreams for GTA. We want him to realize that the cars coming from Kitchener add to the gridlock in Toronto and that we can avoid that by having good and quick transit options,” said Clancy.

“We don’t want a solution 15-years down the road, we want some relief right now and I think folks need to put pressure on the premier.”

An e-petition launched Oct. 4 by a Kitchener resident asks the feds to hold Ontario’s provincial transit agency and ministries accountable to deliver on their commitments, demand project completion timelines and report results to municipal and regional leaders, as well as the public.

Morrice said they only need 500 people to sign it to allow him to present it on the floor of Parliament, adding the more people that sign the better so the profile is raised.

That petition can be found here.