Keeping Ontario Moving: PM Announces Major Upgrades for the Go Transit System

Check against delivery

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

Greetings to Premier McGuinty.

You hear a couple of sayings quoted everywhere these days. The first is: "May you live in interesting times."

We certainly do live in interesting times, perhaps a little too interesting – what with the worst economic crisis the world has experienced in generations.

But the other saying you hear is: "A crisis is terrible thing to waste."

For Canada, the crisis does represent an extraordinary opportunity to invest in today’s needs and, in the process, to prepare our country for renewed growth and greater prosperity when the recovery comes, as it inevitably will.

Our Government’s Economic Action Plan has been adapted to take advantage of this crisis, in particular, by using short-term actions to make long-term investments in everything from education and research, to strategies in traditional and cutting-edge sectors, and, of course, to infrastructure, from the smallest household renovation to major national projects.

Today’s announcement is an example of using short-term needs to address long-term goals.

Southern Ontario and the GTA have been hard hit by the slowdown. But it is still a bastion of our national economy and will remain so when the recovery takes hold.

That’s why it’s so critical to keep the economy of this region thriving, to keep people working, and to keep them moving.

Every day, over 200,000 commuters rely on the GO Transit system to get to work and get home to their families. The system is essential to the economy and to people who depend on it.

So today I am pleased to announce, in partnership with the Government of Ontario, that our Government is taking action to upgrade and revitalize GO Transit infrastructure.

More than a dozen separate projects will be covered under this initiative. They will provide jobs for construction workers throughout the region. And they will help the GO system handle the huge increases in ridership that are projected throughout the Golden Horseshoe during the next decade.

I’ll leave the details to Premier McGuinty, but I want to make it clear that today’s announcement is not just about the GO system upgrades or the jobs that go with it, it is also about where we’re heading as a country.

As the world struggles with the effects of the global recession, we as Canadians are looking ahead.

And, in the weeks to come, our Government will be announcing more initiatives under our Economic Action Plan, all designed to create jobs and boost economic activity in communities across the country. 

By looking forward today, and investing in key infrastructure like public transit, our Government is seizing the opportunities, that will help get us through tough times, and ensure Canada emerges stronger than ever.

Thank you.

All News

---

Related Items