Toronto Mayor John Tory says he is willing to put his job on the line to push for road tolls on the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway.
When pressed on the issue by Global’s Minna Rhee on The Morning Show Friday, Tory was asked if the road tolls issue is worth possibly losing the next election.
“Yes it is. Because doing the right thing for the city, which is to build the transit and to be honest about how to pay for it, for the first time being straight with people and say, ‘We have to pay for it. It’s not free.’ I think getting that transit built and getting the traffic better is one of the main reasons I was sent to do this job,” Tory said.
“So if people decide they want to defeat me because the way I’m going about it is not to their liking and they find someone who has a better plan… Those who are going to take me on on this had better be prepared to answer the question, ‘Well, how are you going to pay for transit or are you just not going to build it?'”
Tory told audiences at the Toronto Board of Trade on Thursday that the city is strapped for cash when it comes to maintaining its roads and building public transit and the most favorable option is to put tolls on the city’s two highways, even if some members of the public disagree.
READ MORE: John Tory previously campaigned against tolling the DVP, Gardiner Expressway
“Sooner or later the city will strangle itself on its traffic and so I think they are accepting on the fact you have to do something,” Tory explained.
“When they think about the options, the alternatives, massive property tax increase, selling assets or doing this, they will conclude, not necessarily happily, that this is the most sensible, fair way to do this.
VIDEO: Mayor John Tory suggests road tolls are needed for the Gardiner Expressway and DVP
The road toll proposal is expected to raise $200 million annually with a $2 one-way flat rate fee for motorists.
Tory’s road tolls endorsement comes as the city released a staff report Thursday morning recommending tolling and new taxes on hotel stays as the city grapples with an infrastructure deficit estimated to be at least $33 billion.
READ MORE: Councillor Mammoliti wants to ‘punch out’ Mayor Tory’s plan for road tolls
The city would need the province’s approval in order to implement the tolls as well as the tax on hotel rooms.
About 228,000 vehicles travel on the Gardiner east of Highway 427 on a daily basis while about 100,000 drive on the DVP north of the Bayview-Bloor exit.
VIDEO: Road Tolls Unpopular If No Payoff
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