Reports say that the federal, provincial and municipal governments are on the verge of signing an agreement to establish a super-agency to redevelop Toronto’s waterfront. An announcement is expected next week, just before the International Olympic Committee’s inspection team tours the city March 8-11.
Although the agency was supposed to be in place by the start of this year, it was delayed by bureacratic and political infighting.
Toronto’s bid for the 2008 Olympic Games is tied to plans for the waterfront redevelopment and last fall Canada’s prime minister, Ontario’s premier and Toronto’s mayor jointly pledged $1.5 billion for the redevelopment of the waterfront and the established of the super-agency.
The three governments are also expected to announce a go-ahead on several key projects also designed to strengthen Toronto’s 2008 bid. Included is an environmental assessment of the portland, the key site for the proposed Games, prior to a major clean up; the reconfiguration of the Don River, an environmental initiative that would transform a key waterway and enhance the Olympic bid; and a new platform for the Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) at Union Station, which would ease overcrowding at a key transit hub for the Olympics.
