Metrolinx calls on Finch West LRT builders to stop legal action and “get back to work.”

Metrolinx calls on Finch West LRT builders to stop legal action and “get back to work.”

Metrolinx is calling on the consortium responsible for building the Finch West LRT, which has launched legal action, to “get out of court and get back to work” as a growing dispute threatens to delay the opening of another light rail line in Toronto.

The province’s transit authority issued a harsh statement against Mosaic Transit Partners – the group awarded a $2.5 billion contract to design, build and maintain a light rail line on Finch Avenue – after ” Mosaic had taken legal action, claiming that Metrolinx had entered into a problematic deal with the TTC.

The fight comes as the government celebrates significant progress on the Finch West LRT project, originally scheduled to be completed in 2023 and connecting Toronto Subway’s Line 1 to the Humber Polytechnique campus.

In its lawsuit, first reported by Global News, Mosaik argued that an agreement between Metrolinx and the TTC violated the original terms it signed and made it impossible to complete the line.

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Until the Finch West LRT is substantially completed, Metrolinx will retain approximately $500 million from the consortium.

“We are working closely with Mosaic to get passengers onto the Finch West LRT as quickly as possible,” Metrolinx said in a statement sent to Global News.

“The CEOs of Metrolinx, Mosaic and our partner companies meet several times a month to discuss challenges or issues that may arise in implementing this project. This goes beyond the day-to-day working relationship between our technical teams.”

Earlier this year, when Mosaic “signaled” it was having liquidity issues, Metrolinx offered the consortium a significant advance on the $500 million it had withheld until completion. The consortium has not yet rejected or accepted it, sources told Global News.

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“Mosaic was unable to reach an internal agreement on this offer,” Metrolinx said.

“Mosaic’s recent loss of six weeks of schedule due to poor work planning and project management is unacceptable. It is time to complete the necessary work to begin TTC driver training and prepare the line for opening.”

Meanwhile, frustration is growing over delays in Toronto’s public transit construction.

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Currently, neither Eglinton nor Finch West have opening dates, prompting a desperate plea from Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.

“Please open these lines,” Chow said Tuesday during an unrelated news conference at City Hall. “It has to be done yesterday.”

NDP transportation critic Joel Harden told Global News the situation has become “completely ridiculous” and believes the Ford government needs to hold those responsible at the agency accountable.


“Since Doug Ford was elected prime minister in 2018, the number of executive vice presidents at Metrolinx has tripled and now stands at 72,” Harden said. “We’ve seen (Metrolinx CEO Phil) Verster’s salary increase tremendously and we haven’t seen mass transit built, but people are stuck in traffic.”

While the NDP has long called for the CEO’s firing, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria told a committee at Queen’s Park in September that he had “100 percent confidence” in Verster and Metrolinx.

“The minister has to demand action and if he doesn’t, the opposition will,” Harden said, suggesting his party will raise the issue in the Ontario legislature when it resumes on Oct. 21 becomes.

There are also calls for the Prime Minister to intervene in the Finch West LRT contract dispute.

“The fact that Metrolinx is withholding funding makes it deeply concerning that there will be no solution any time soon, which will only mean further delays and higher costs for people,” said Green Party leader Mike Schreiner.

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“This is exactly why the Prime Minister must step in and resolve this dispute so we can move people around the city of Toronto and not make taxpayers pay for even more delays in building public transit.”

A spokesperson for Sarkaria would only say that the government “expects the parties to work together to deliver this project for the thousands of residents who will rely on it every day.”

Harden also wants the Ford government to explore canceling contracts and possibly approaching new developers to get the projects over the finish line.

“There are two contracting parties here,” Harden said. “If at any time a duty to the people of Ontario who have signed this contract with their government is not fulfilled, then we have the right to re-examine this contract.”

Mosaik was awarded a contract in 2019 that called for 30 years of maintenance on the Finch West LRT, potentially complicating any proposal to end the deal early.

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