Tory urges councillors to lobby MPPs for funds for Toronto

Mayor John Tory is asking city councillors to help him pressure the province into funding a number of major infrastructure projects in the coming years.

In a letter sent to all 44 members of city council on Sunday, Tory said that the city “simply can’t afford” to have the province on the sidelines when it comes to funding major infrastructure in the city, especially in light of the federal government’s commitment to provide municipalities with $20.1 billion in funding for public transit over the next 11 years.

City staff have previously estimated that Toronto is likely to receive about $5 billion of that funding, though the $660 million in previously announced federal funds for the Scarborough subway would be included in that number.

“Now that we have a federal government that is willing to put money on the table, I feel that it is our duty as a city council to stand up for Toronto and make sure this opportunity is not lost,” Tory said in his letter to councillors. “That's why I need your help. I'm asking you today to write to your local MP and MPP, to write to any federal or provincial politician you know, to urge them to make their voice heard on Toronto's needs if we are to build a stronger, fairer city.”

In his letter Tory concedes that the province has been an active partner in funding infrastructure projects in Toronto in recent years but he said that the issue at hand is “about the future” and not the past.

He said that civic leaders need to let the province know that “now is not the time” to “take a pause on funding transit expansion” or to “shrug off the need to repair housing units.”

“We need MPPs to urge the Ontario government to join the federal government and the municipal government in building up transit and building up housing now and into the future,” he said.

Draft letter lists priority projects

Tory’s letter to councillors comes just a few weeks after he chided his colleagues for failing to adequately lobby for transit funding during a debate over the Scarborough subway.

Speaking with CP24 on Monday afternoon, Tory said that he is “absolutely determined” to continue expanding the city’s transit infrastructure but needs the province to commit to provide funding for several priority projects first.

“These are cheques that won’t actually be written for a number of years but is it responsible for us to spend the money on the design if you don’t know for sure that you can build the project?” he asked. “I am simply saying to the councillors please write to your MPP and say I need your support as a Toronto MPP to make sure your government invests in these future projects.”

Sousa criticizes Tory for brushing aside billions

Tory’s letter acknowledges recent investments made by the province but also calls suggestions that the Liberal government is already helping to build transit mere “talking points.”

Finance Minister Charles Sousa, however, took issue with that in a statement issued on Monday afternoon.

“The mayor cannot simply brush aside billions of dollars of investments in transit, housing, roads, hospitals and schools, as ‘talking points.’ The province committed funding for Scarborough Transit in 2010, and has since been waiting on the city to get shovels in the ground. Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown – where we provided 100% of capital funding – is well underway, and residents will soon benefit from the first subway extension in 15 years to Vaughan,” the statement says.

In addition to Tory’s personal plea to councillors, the letter also includes a draft memo that could be sent to MPP’s.

That letter includes a list of a dozen priority projects “that would benefit from provincial funds matching federal contributions.”

Included on that list is $6.8 billion for a relief subway line, $3.72 billion for SmartTrack and the construction of an Eglinton West LRT, $3.6 billion for the rehabilitation of the Gardiner Expressway and $1.5 billion for a waterfront light rail transit line.

It should be noted that the province has contributed $150 million to planning work required for the relief subway line, however Tory said they also need to commit to funding the project itself, along with the city and the federal government.

The city currently has about $33 billion in approved but unfunded infrastructure projects.