Ha ha. You're quite interested in the opinions of some internet rando. And that's still quite the lengthy set of questions.
The Scarborough is a debacle primarily as a result of the process rather than the specific outcomes. The debate is occurring largely independent from any type of an overall transportation concept for Scarborough and has resulted in an ideological split far too influenced by who can shout the loudest. IMO, anyone who really wants to resolve the issue should be pushing for a step back and reassessment of the situation. I understand the "no more studies, just build something!" viewpoint, but with Scarborough the debate clearly isn't over (for one, there's still another billion dollars or so they need to find) so taking a break to reassess the true root issues of transportation issues in Scarborough would be worthwhile. Also, I'm frustrated with both the "LRT" and "subway" camps. Subway to STC is actually a pretty OK idea, but spending $4 billion to tunnel in front of bungalows on McCowan is complete insanity. But LRT advocates also need to recognize that ridership projections are higher for the subway concept for a reason... travel time matters.
In general, for "LRT versus subway", it's the wrong debate to begin with. I always feel like everyone is arguing about whether a new road should carry minivans or sedans when the real debate should be about whether that new road should be a two-lane local road or sixteen-lane limited access freeway (or something in between).
There has never been any project to "upgrade the existing streetcar lines to LRT", so it could not have been scrapped. Let me know what you were referring to and I'll let you know.
There is no real funding framework. The province isn't willing to provide complete funding and, as a result, things happen on a case-by-case basis. There is no political reason for this issue to be resolved. It would be good for the province to step up, but on the flip side, the economic case for many of these projects has been questionable to begin with. It's easier to postpone then say "your project is crappy and we're not going to fund it ever", which would result in the mayor and regional chairs for the affected municipality crying foul.
All the plans are too politically driven, based upon either supporting high-profile local development plans or "getting our fair share". We hear nothing about projects and plans being based around maximizing the transportation benefits (i.e. maximizing accessibility) to the region. Metrolinx and other transit planning departments try, but politics always takes over. Strengths? That's tougher. The people working behind the scenes at all municipalities and the province are pretty damn good. For an individual element, GO RER will completely transform the region like no other planned project.
For your final question, you're making me slightly paranoid. I strongly believe that even though it doesn't seem to be a common opinion among my colleagues. Selling of the plans was a massive fail. Some of the recent Metrolinx ads were decent and a good idea to try and build support for regional planning. But when it comes to individual plans, we're still failing completely. Remember the Transit City billboards? They don't even say what Transit City is! Those must have convinced exactly zero people! Look at something like Paris's RER E extension website for comparison: http://www.rer-eole.fr/#eole-comme-emploi But let's not forget that no matter how much we would have put into communications, a Transit City LRT running in median lanes of a street with little "stops" on the far side of intersections will always still look like a Spadina/St. Clair streetcar because that's essentially what it is.
