TORONTO – John Tory’s SmartTrack line was once again the focus of the mayoral debate Tuesday as Olivia Chow and Doug Ford spent the majority of the time attacking the leading candidate with just six days left before election.
Ford accused Tory of flip-flopping on whether or not he supported a dedicated tax to fund transit expansion in the city.
The mayor’s brother referenced a tele-town hall Tory participated in prior to joining the mayor’s race where he said Tory “raved about” dedicated revenue tools.
“We aren’t getting the straight story from Mr. Tory,” Ford said. “He gloated about the tolls. It was this year, back in January, it wasn’t longer than 10 months ago, he was saying he was in favour.”
Live coverage: Tory, Chow, Ford face off in Scarborough debate Tuesday
Tory agreed he was in favour of dedicated tools and said tax-increment financing, the financing plan he wants to use for SmartTrack, is just that tool.
But Tory wasn’t able to answer what he would do if TIF didn’t pan out.
“He couldn’t say if his financial scheme failed, what’s going to happen?” Chow told reporters following the debate. “He couldn’t answer the questions at all. I just heard that he wants the city of Toronto taxpayers to fund the scheme that belongs to Metrolinx.”
Tory though did release a few more details about his plan, saying its fares would mirror TTC fares and would be built by Metrolinx, making the provincial body responsible for cost overruns.
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