The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Canada's Minister of Finance, and Michael Chan, Member of Provincial Parliament for Markham-Unionville, announced today that the governments of Canada and Ontario have officially opened the expanded Unionville GO commuter parking lot, providing motorists with better access to greener transportation in and around the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

"Less than 10 months ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled an important plan to improve GO Transit services in the GTA, which included expanding Unionville's GO commuter lot," said Minister Flaherty. "Not only has this project put people to work, but now it provides commuters in the Unionville area with more convenient access to their local GO transit."

"This is great news for the people of Markham. The new parking spaces at this station will make it more convenient for residents to take the GO train to get to work, school or appointments," said Mr. Chan. "Expanding public transit is part of the McGuinty government's plan to combat traffic congestion and climate change."

Located in the Kennedy Road and Highway 7/407 area, this parking expansion includes an additional 300 parking spaces. These new spaces are in addition to the recently constructed 300 parking spaces funded by the Ontario government that opened in March of this year.

This project is one of several GO Transit service improvements across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area announced this February by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, as part of the $500 million in joint federal and provincial funding for the GO Transit Improvement Program.

To learn more about Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.

For more information about GO Transit, visit www.gotransit.com.

To learn how the Government of Canada is investing in Ontario infrastructure, visit www.buildingcanada-chantierscanada.gc.ca/regions/on/on-eng.html.

To learn about The Big Move: Transforming Transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, visit www.metrolinx.ca/en/default.aspx.

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