Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says the federal government must provide “stable, long-term funding” that will allow cities like Toronto to plan for and build new public transit infrastructure going forward.
Trudeau made the comment during a one-on-one interview with CP24 on Thursday morning.
“It is not about directing it and saying this is a riding we need help in or this is a project we really like it is about the federal government providing stable, long-term funding that will allow for the growth of public transit and other issues,” he said. “The predictability and the stability of the funding really matters. “
Municipal leaders, Mayor John Tory included, have long called for the creation of a national transit infrastructure fund, citing the need for predictable funding that will allow them to plan better for the decades ahead.
Last month the federal budget did include a promise to create such a fund beginning in 2017, though many public transit advocates said the $750 million earmarked for the first two years of the program and the $1 billion set aside for every year thereafter wouldn’t go very far.
Tory, however, did call the fund “a major step forward for the city” shortly after news of its creation surfaced.
Speaking with CP24 on Thursday, Trudeau did not offer any specifics on how much money a Liberal government would pour into transit infrastructure but said that he is committed to working with cities like Toronto to get transit built.
“We have to make sure that the federal government is a good partner and that means money and it means working with the provinces and the municipalities to solve the challenges that municipalities and the people on the ground know need to be solved,” he told CP24.
Trudeau didn’t have to “pitch very hard” to recruit Blair
In addition to transit infrastructure, Tory also took some time Thursday to discuss former police chief Bill Blair’s decision to seek the federal Liberal nomination in Scarborough Southwest.
“I didn’t really have to pitch very hard,” Trudeau said of recruiting the long-time public servant that was reportedly being courted by all federal parties. “I talked about the type of country that I wanted to build, I talked about the kind of people I was trying to get into politics, I told him that he was going to have to run in an open nomination and he pointed out that he is a neighbourhood guy who grew up in Scarborough. We just see eye to eye on a lot of the core value things.”
Blair, who served as Toronto’s top cop for 10 years, is just the latest former police chief to seek public office after former OPP boss Julian Fantino was elected as a Conservative MP for the riding of Vaughan in 2010.
Asked if Blair could be in line for a cabinet post, Trudeau was mum.
“Those are decisions that we will take in the future,” he said.
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