Doug Ford’s to-do list in Waterloo Region

Somewhere in Doug Ford’s book of political priorities there should be an entire chapter on Waterloo Region.

While far from being Ontario’s biggest urban centre, this growing region is blazing a trail for how the provincial economy can reinvent itself and, as well, is an anchor for the emerging high-tech corridor that stretches west from Toronto and could someday rival California’s world-beating Silicon Valley.

As the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party that won a majority in last week’s provincial election and who will be sworn in as premier later this month, Ford needs to appreciate these realities and act accordingly.

Toronto and the municipalities around it may have more voters to satisfy. But with all its innovators, entrepreneurs, high-tech gurus and startups, Waterloo Region punches above its weight.

What’s good for it and its nearly 600,000 citizens will be good for the rest of the province.

And topping the list of what’s good for the region is better train connections with Toronto.

The GO train service provided by the province is not only too little but, with a one-way trip usually taking over two hours, often too late to offer a practical alternative for most commuters.

Local business leaders, especially in our tech sector, have vociferously championed better GO service — not just to help the region’s commuters who journey to Toronto but the significant number of Toronto-area commuters travelling here.

It’s not good enough for two-way, all-day GO trains to Waterloo Region to start running six years from now — as Kathleen Wynne’s now-defeated Liberal government repeatedly promised.

Without enhanced service long before 2024, this region will not realize its potential for growing its economy and creating new jobs. Ford needs to deliver more trains and faster trips ASAP.

Meanwhile, he has other options for developing the Toronto-Waterloo Region Corridor as one of the world’s innovation “super ecosystems.” One would be providing targeted investments for developing technology.

Another would be addressing the overpriced housing market which is increasingly out of reach for ordinary working Ontarians who want to settle here. While especially prevalent in the Toronto area, exorbitant housing prices are increasingly a problem in Waterloo Region, where there are as many as 3,000 unfilled tech jobs.

The new government should explore ways to increase the housing supply. This doesn’t mean sprawling onto the greenbelt that protects farmland and environmentally sensitive areas.

It does mean making regulatory changes that would speed up development on underused land and help knock down the barriers to home ownership for so many.

To be sure, economic development is far from Waterloo Region’s only concern. This region urgently needs more affordable and supportive housing, As Ford rightly keeps an eye on Ontario’s unsustainable deficitspending, he should manage to increase rather than cut the money Queen’s Park transfers to the region for these necessities of life.

Likewise, the region’s hospitals require either more money or leadership in becoming more efficient.

The abuse of opioids, which led to 71 local overdose deaths last year, also begs for action. Ford should reconsider his opposition to opening supervised injection sites to make life safer for drug users. These sites are one important way Ontario can cope with a major health crisis.

Let’s hope the incoming premier gives full consideration to these requests.

If he overlooks them, friendly reminders should be forthcoming from the region’s voters, relayed of course through the region’s three newly elected PC MPPs.