The Ontario government said Thursday it plans to kick in $1.4 billion to extend the Scarborough subway, falling short of the amount the city said it needed to fund the project.

“We will be paying for two thirds of the subway cost based on the budget given to us by the TTC,” Ontario Transportation Minister Glen Murray said at a news conference in Scarborough Thursday. “That’s $1.4 billion.”

Murray’s announcement throws into question whether the much-discussed project will ever get off the ground.

On Wednesday Toronto Council passed a motion to support the construction of a subway extension into Scarborough instead of a light rail line.

With an estimated cost $1.1 billion higher than the LRT, council voted in favour of a motion that would introduce a tax increase of 1.1 to 2.4 per cent over the next three years to help pay for the added cost of the project.

However council said it would be imperative for federal funding to be secured, as well as for the province to contribute the full $1.8 billion initially committed to the LRT project.

But Murray suggested Thursday that the remaining $400 million should come from the federal government rather than the province. He also shrugged off the idea that the province should meet a demand set by the city for the full $1.8 billion.

“It’s not my job... to take my marching orders (from the city),” Murray said in a heated exchange with a reporter at the news conference.

Moments after Murray’s announcement, TTC Chair Karen Stintz told CP24 the subway project cannot survive unless the province contributes the $1.8 billion figure asked for by the city and sited by Metrolinx as the cost estimate for the previously endorsed light rail project.

“We need the provincial government to honour its commitment because the SRT (replacement) always had a budget of $1.8 billion,” Stintz said. “The province has to decide whether they’re going to come with the $1.8 billion because if they don’t, we can’t build the subway.”

Responding to Stintz’s comments, Murray told CP24 the $1.8 billion figure shouldn’t be a deal breaker for the city and suggested the federal government should contribute the balance.

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