Mayor John Tory headed to the nation’s capital today as he continues to solicit support for SmartTrack.
Tory left for Ottawa this afternoon and will remain in the city until Wednesday, meeting with NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Minister of Transportation Lisa Raitt along the way.
The meetings come two months after Tory met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper for what he called an “in-depth discussion” about his estimated $8 billion SmartTrack proposal
“I think it is unrealistic to sort of assume that I will walk into my first formal meeting with Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Mulcair and have them suddenly promise me no end of cash for things ranging from SmartTrack through to other sorts of infrastructure but I think I can certainly introduce them to the SmartTrack project and really just emphasize to them that the federal government has to be in partnership with us on a consistent, predictable basis going forward if we are going to make the kind of investments in our city that we have to make,” Tory told reporters at city hall Tuesday morning. “I think if I can get that far that will be a reasonable accomplishment for a meeting that I think is very important.”
Tory campaigned on building SmartTrack within seven years, however in order to do so he will need both the federal and provincial governments to assume one-third of the cost of the projects.
Speaking with reporters, Tory said he believes it is “very worthwhile” for him to meet with politicians of all stripes about the project in advance of a federal election in October.
Ward 2 Coun. Rob Ford, however, criticized Tory of “badgering” federal leaders and embarking on an unnecessary trip to Parliament on the taxpayers' dime.
“How many meetings do you have to have?” he asked. “When people know what you want they are either going to give it to you or they are not. The MPs, the finance minister, the prime minister they know what he wants.”
In addition to SmartTrack, Tory said he plans to use his Ottawa trip to “get the interest up” for investing in other infrastructure projects in the city, including housing and the replacement of underground pipes and sewage equipment.
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