TORONTO – Municipal leaders welcomed the 2014 federal budget Tuesday for disaster relief funding and money for the extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway line.
TTC Chair Karen Stintz and deputy mayor publically approved of the budget while Mayor Rob Ford released a statement praising the budget for “funding efficiencies.”
The mayor was also pleased by the creation of a $200 million National Disaster Mitigation Program which will provide money to municipalities to weather-proof their infrastructure.
“The good news for Torontonians is that the federal government is recognizing that natural disasters are causing a hardship for municipalities,” Stintz said. “We need this kind of program so we can upgrade our infrastructure so that we don’t have to go back and ask after damages have occurred.”
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Both Stintz and Kelly were pleased by the $660 million in funding for the extension of the Bloor-Danforth line into Scarborough made available through the government’s $50 billion Building Canada fund.
“$660 million has been allocated to the extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway line but there will be other opportunities for us to apply to that fund so that we can upgrade and continue to build our transit system,” Stintz said. “We need to be aggressive in terms of accessing our fair share under the building Canada fund.”
Kelly said he would have liked to see “a bit more” for infrastructure across the country though thinks the federal government will remedy that supposed deficiency in future budgets.
All three municipal politicians were much more welcoming to the budget than Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa was who said it was “ripping off” Ontario.
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