The provincial Liberals were prepared to endorse a light-rail line in Scarborough instead of a controversial subway if council decided to return to that plan, internal emails show.Despite claims from Mayor John Tory that the province might not be willing to return to that plan or cover additional costs, the emails, obtained from Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office through a freedom of information request, suggest otherwise.Senior officials in Wynne’s office and that of then-transportation minister Steven Del Duca were preparing for any outcome ahead of a key council vote at city hall in 2016 on the future of transit in Scarborough, the emails reveal.At the time, Tory was championing a one-stop subway extension of the Bloor-Danforth line that was originally said to cost around $2 billion. But as a July 2016 vote to confirm that decision approached, city staff reported that the cost had ballooned to $3.2 billion. It is now estimated to cost at least $3.35 billion based on very little design work.At the time, the increasing costs renewed a push led by Councillor Josh Matlow, who has championed a network of LRTs for Scarborough, to revert to the original plan for a seven-stop LRT fully-funded by the province.The LRT was the original plan to replace the aging Scarborough RT, agreed to with the province and its transportation agency Metrolinx in 2012. As part of that signed master agreement, the province agreed to pay for all construction costs.That plan was scrapped by council in 2013, under then-mayor Rob Ford, in favour of a three-stop subway. Three levels of government contributed a total of $3.56 billion in funding. The province agreed to contribute the LRT funds promised, totalling $1.48 billion in 2010 dollars. The federal government under then-prime minister Stephen Harper kicked in $660 million. Council decided to raise the rest, $910 million, by taxing all Toronto homeowners for at least 30 years. In January 2016, then-chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat ...
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