Olivia Chow used a noon-hour debate hosted by the Empire Club of Canada to press John Tory for answers on how he would pay for his SmartTrack proposal while Tory accused Chow of giving up too easily when it comes to building new rapid transit.

Chow came out on the attack at the outset of the 60-minute debate, asking Tory how many kilometres of his 53 kilometre light rail transit plan would have to be buried, given that the planned route goes through a busy residential area near Eglinton and Kipling avenues.

Chow then suggested that Tory was “not being honest” about the projected $8 billion price tag, which does not include any tunneling costs.

In response, Tory quipped that Chow would have given up on the Yonge Street subway if she was in charge when it was being built.

“You try to find all kinds of reasons not to do something. You say this is impossible; there might be some solid rock. If it was you building the Yonge Street subway in the 1950s when they hit a huge patch of solid rock, as they did, you would have given up and said ‘It’s OK people can walk down Yonge Street,” he said. “They didn’t give up and I am not going to give up on SmartTrack either.”

Tory has vowed to pay for his SmartTrack proposal by borrowing money and then using additional tax revenue generated by higher property values and increased development along the route to pay back the loan.

On Friday Chow said that funding mechanism, known as Tax Increment Financing (TIF), is reckless and is “identical” to the one flouted by rival candidate Doug Ford.

“Let’s borrow billions of dollars for the downtown relief line, lets borrow billions of dollars for this track and somehow, somewhere that money will materialize,” Chow said. “You and I both know it won’t work.”

In response Tory, said that TIF “has worked in many places around North America” and will work in Toronto.

When asked by Chow if he has a plan B in the event it fails, Tory said he does but did not elaborate.

“How has he not done any risk assessment about his risky financial scheme?” Chow told reporters after the debate. “If it fails, when it fails, it will be a huge property tax increase.”

While Chow went after Tory on his SmartTrack plan, the former radio host criticized Chow on her proposal to boost the frequency of bus service by 10 per cent on key routes,

“Ask her how she reconciles what she says about her bus plan with the fact that the head of service for the TTC says there are no buses,” he said. “Do you believe a politician versus they guy who is in charge of the buses at the TTC? I don’t think so.”

Friday's debate was originally supposed to include Doug Ford, however the councillor dropped out about 90 minutes before it was scheduled to start.

Though the debate largely focussed on transit, Tory and Chow also fielded questions on policing, gridlock, school safety, youth unemployment and the arts.

Remember for instant breaking news follow @cp24 on Twitter.