Wynne aims for votes by braking road tolls

Achallenge that has dogged Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals since she was sworn in as Ontario’s premier has been a lingering budget deficit. Wynne’s response in 2013 wasn’t to suggest that public spending be curbed, but to declare the government needed more tax revenue — or as she delicately put it, new revenue tools.

But now she’s vetoed a revenue tool born from necessity and logic. A toll on commuters using two highways within the Greater Toronto Area would raise approximately $200 million annually for Toronto’s municipal treasury, according to Mayor John Tory.

Noting that Toronto will need to spend about $33 billion over the next two decades to expand and improve its major transit and infrastructure, Tory suggested a toll on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway was not only necessary but also appropriate.

Wynne at first demurred, but in early December agreed with the plan. Yet now she’s backed away, despite the fact the proposed toll clearly demonstrates the type of “new revenue tool” thinking she was promoting four years ago.

What changed between December and now? Perhaps her fear of political mortality. Gearing up for a re-election bid for June 2018, Wynne appears to be trying to cleanse her government of any action that may turn off voters, particularly those in the Liberal-friendly GTA.

Last September, she surprised Ontarians by halting further movement on the Green Energy Act — legislation and policy that in 2009 was declared to be progressive and necessary by her predecessor, Dalton McGuinty.

Since September Wynne has distanced herself from that policy, while struggling to make amends for the higher cost of Ontario’s electricity. Speaking to her party’s annual general meeting in November, the premier took personal responsibility for the hydro debacle and promised to fix it.

Now she’s nixed the toll plan, which was predictably unpopular with commuters.

Yet her government is investigating the possibility of toll roads within the 400-series of highways. Six months ago, the Ministry of Transportation rolled out a pilot project that established special toll lanes on the Queen Elizabeth Way from Oakville to Burlington. A three-month permit costs $180. According to the MTO’s website, the pilot project will “help the province learn more about and plan for a more efficient highway network in Ontario.” Loosely translated, the MTO is examining a new revenue tool.

Such toll roads are likely going to happen in the future, no matter what Wynne thinks about the Toronto tolls.