Caroline Mulroney spoke with the Oakville business community on Tuesday morning, December 10, 2019. The newly minted Minister of Transportation was invited by the Oakville Chamber of Commerce to come and share plans and projects that the Ministry of Transportation is undertaking.
She spoke for about 20 minutes and then Tim Caddigan, the Oakville Chamber of Commerce Chair, lead a fireside chat where she took pre-planned questions for the audience at the Holiday Inn on Argus.
She began by talking about her father, former Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney. At 80 years old, he still attends her speeches when he can, and she still gets nervous when he does.
She said it did not take her long to appreciate the scale and complexity of her new portfolio. Roads and public transit play a big part in everyone's life. The government has already added more trains to the Lakeshore West GO line which has increased the capacity by 400,000 seats per week. They are working with federal government to make the subway/light rail system as comprehensive as you would find in any world class city.
The MTO is working on other new initiatives as well. The province is providing support for the Wyecroft road extension here in Oakville. They are also working on a five year pilot program for electric scooters. Maybe we will see commuters flying home on electric scooters instead of waiting in line to exit the parking lots at the GO train station. Each municipality will decide whether to participate in the program or not.
Minister Caroline Mulroney said that she got into politics because she wanted to make sure that the GTA remains a great place to live and work. She spent the early part of her career in New York City and when she had a family, decided that Toronto was a way better place to be. She said she keeps that in mind every day.