I just came across an entry in Wikipedia on Ontario’s Highway 407 Express Toll Route. Apparently not all is roses with their Toll Road sale of about 73 miles of highway which appears to be similar to the one contemplated by the General Assembly for Indiana’s Toll Road.
As part of a controversial plan to finance revenue for tax cuts, the highway was sold to a conglomerate of private companies in 1999 for $3.1 billion. The deal included an unprecedented 99-year lease agreement, unlimited control of the highway and its tolls, as well as a clause protecting the corporation from any competition, not the least of which includes a ban on construction of any nearby provincial highways that may reduce toll revenue. When purchased, the highway ran from the junction of Highway 403 in Mississauga to Markham Road in Markham. Extensions westward to the Queen Elizabeth Way and eastward to Highway 7 and Brock Road in Pickering were constructed by the corporation, as mandated in the lease agreement. Both of these extensions were not part of the original Highway 407 plans, rather, these protected corridors were to be future, non-tolled 400-Series highways. The westward extension from Highway 403 in Mississauga to the Queen Elizabeth Way in Burlington was initially intended to be part of Highway 403.
Today, the highway is valued at over $10 billion, and the Progressive Conservative party has been heavily criticized for the poor terms of sale including underestimating the value of the road. Many “905ers” in the rapidly growing Greater Toronto Area who had been expecting to be served by a much-needed non-tolled Highway 407 consider its sale and skyrocketing toll rates a sellout and this significantly eroded the Conservative’s formerly strong support base in that region. The CAA considered the 407 contract a fiasco and adopted a platform where they would not support the tolling of any new or existing highways. Even though the succeeding Liberal government have been unsuccessful in their attempts at legal action against the 407 ETR operators, the contract still reflected badly upon the opposition Conservatives who defended it. Current Conservative leader John Tory has distanced himself from his predecessors on this issue and has said that he would not have sold Highway 407 if he had been Premier.
The company, known as 407/ETR International Incorporated is 30% owned by the Australian Macquarie Infrastructure Group, one of the largest private developers of toll roads in the world.
It is odd that with a black eye like this one that many papers are expecting the conservative party to take control of the government in Canada.
Even more odd when you consider Bush’s approval rating, previously mentioned here. Many feel that the new government would align with Bush.
I think the folks involved in the ’99 sale are probably mostly out of the picture now, at least on the national level where the predicted conservative victory is taking place. Also, I’m sure this is just one issue of many.
The Conservative Party of Canada is not the same party as the former Progressive Conservative Party, but rather a merger (or more accurately an absorbtion by) the primarily western based Conservative Alliance of Canada of the remnants of the old Progressive Conservatives. The “Progs” were almost wiped out in the federal election of 1993 going from forming the government to two seats in the lower House of Parliament. While the recovered somewhat in later elections they were never able to reestablish themselves in the prairie provinces, where a new right wing party had become established (then called “Reform”. “Reform” reformed itself a few times and eventually became the dominant conservative political movement. Because the two “conservative” groups were competing for votes in ridings in Ontario they were essentially shut out Canada’s most populous province over several elections giving the Liberals as easy path to power.
Having said that, provincial parties in Canada, while often having the same name as the federal parties, are far more independent of the federal parties than are state parties in the United States. For example, no one in Canada cared much when the Progressive Conservative faction leader in the federal parliament (Jean Charest) ran as a Liberal for a seat in the Quebec National Assembly, and then led a Liberal Government in that Province for several years. Mr. Charest was one of only two Conservatives to have won a seat in the 1993 election.
The point of this digression is that a discredited, former Progressive Conservative provincial government in Ontario had almost no significance to the outcome of last Monday’s federal election in Canada.
The new Conservative government of Mr. Harper, with only 124 out of 308 seats looks like a very weak minority government. But it might well have staying power if only because there will be little taste on the part of the Liberals to force a quick return to the polls. There own, now ousted, minority government lasted only 17 months. The BQ (Quebec nationalists) so hates the Liberals (the “grits”) that it might quietly support the Tories for a time in return for more taxing power for Quebec. Besides, by Conservative standards, the Tories just enjoyed something of a breakthrough in Quebec winning ten ridings. Liberals and the BQ need some time to rethink their strategies.
Four parties is so much more fun than just two.
Thanks for the background, Paul!