The Eglinton West subway was a proposed east-west subway line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada along Eglinton Avenue West. It was to start from the existing Eglinton West Station on the Toronto Transit Commission's Yonge-University-Spadina line and terminate at Black Creek Drive in its initial phase. City of York Mayor Fergy Brown, Metro Toronto Chairman Alan Tonks, Ontario Premier Bob Rae, Ontario Minister of Transportation Gilles Pouliot, and TTC Chair Mike Colle broke ground on the project in a ceremony on 25 August 1994 at Eglinton Avenue and Black Creek Drive;[1] however, work was halted in 1995 when the newly-elected Government of Ontario under Mike Harris cancelled the project. The excavation under Eglinton West intended to be Allen Station was subsequently filled in.
Hudak ran in the provincial election of 1995 in the riding of Niagara South. He defeated Liberal Aubrey Foley by 1,081 votes.[5] At the age of 27 Hudak was the second-youngest Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) elected in 1995, the youngest being John Baird.[6] The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government under Mike Harris, and Hudak was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to Minister of Health Jim Wilson. He later served as Parliamentary Assistant to Wilson's successor, Elizabeth Witmer.[7] During this term the government closed 28 hospitals and fired more than 6,000 nurses, However Hudak was also able to negotiate an agreement to exempt rural and northern hospitals from closure, including four in the Niagara region.[6][8]