Three Toronto city councillors are pushing for more insight and input into the massive Ontario Line project, slamming the provincial transit agency charged with building the multi-billion dollar subway line for being too secretive.

Ausma Malik, Chris Moise and Paula Fletcher received the backing of their colleagues on the Toronto and East York Community Council this week to create a sub-committee to dig into the project. The group will begin meeting next month and will receive formal updates from city staff and can hear deputations from community members. 

Malik, who represents Ward 10, Spadina-Fort York, said they decided to form the sub-committee because as planning for the Ontario Line has proceeded, communities and the politicians representing them have been consistently left out of the process.

“Metrolinx and the provincial government have fallen short in terms of their community engagement, in terms of their responsibility to ensure that they’re listening to local stakeholders,” she said.

The 15.6-kilometre Ontario Line was announced by Premier Doug Ford in 2019. The route is set to have 15 stations and run through the downtown core from Ontario Place in the west to the Ontario Science Centre in the east.

Its initial price was pegged at $10.9 billion. But in November, the province updated that estimate, revealing that because of supply chain issues and inflation the price tag has jumped to between $17 and $19 billion. Those figures don’t include a number of costs, including the actual trains themselves or storage facilities for them.

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