Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown says Premier Kathleen Wynne has taken Toronto for granted for far too long and vowed to work more closely with the mayor on the city’s urgent transit and housing needs if his party wins next year’s provincial election.
“Last week’s budget is yet another reminder that Premier Wynne has turned her back on Ontario taxpayers, Toronto taxpayers, the city and the mayor,” Brown told reporters following a meeting with Mayor John Tory at city hall on Monday.
“Toronto deserves a premier that will stand up for the city and the mayor deserves a partner he can trust to fulfill commitments from the province to the city of Toronto.”
Tory said he was disappointed and frustrated over the lack of new provincial funding for transit and social housing following the release of the Ontario budget last Thursday.
READ MORE: Ontario budget 2017: Toronto mayor accuses province of turning its back on transit, housing
“We’ve made it very clear over a number of months privately and publicly, if we’re going to fix traffic, if we’re going to provide people with the proper public transportation that they need in this city region, I’m talking about Toronto, then we have to move forward now, which the federal government has found a way to do,” Tory said.
Tory cited the federal government’s budget announcement in March of $20.1 billion for transit projects across the country over 11 years as a commitment he thought Ontario would match.
Toronto is seeking funding for the proposed Downtown Relief Line, the Eglinton East LRT and Waterfront transit.
The lack of funding for social housing also irked the mayor as the city faces a backlog of repairs to Toronto Community Housing buildings at a cost of $2.6 billion over the next decade.
READ MORE: Tory tells Ontario’s finance minister Toronto needs increased transit, housing funding
Tory said he is not picking sides in the provincial election and is simply looking at what the party leaders are offering, having also met with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath two months earlier.
“What I have is a very excellent beginning to a dialogue that I will be having with all of the party leaders, including the premier,” Tory said.
“While she’s the premier, she’s still the leader of the party that will contest the election, and I’m interested in seeing platforms which take into account the legitimate needs of the people of Toronto on things like housing and transit for the future.”
Some of Brown’s promises if elected include allowing the city to work with Toronto Community Housing Corporation to purchase natural gas at lower rates, which he said would save the city over $6 million annually.
VIDEO: Ontario government plays games with numbers is recent budget: Brown
The Ontario PCs would also allow the city to block violent criminals from reapplying to live in community housing units, something Tory has advocated for in the past.
Brown also said he would work to reduce red tape and streamline processes in the housing market where provincial approval may be necessary.
READ MORE: Patrick Brown slams Ontario budget as a ‘sham’
On the transit file, the PC leader said his party would also support the construction of the Scarborough subway and ensure shovels actually get into the ground, while also committing to see Tory’s SmartTrack plan come to fruition.
Following remarks by Brown and Tory, Ontario Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca and Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP Peter Milczyn visited city hall to rebuke the Toronto mayor’s claim that the province wasn’t looking after the city’s needs as well as it should be.
“When you look at the projects that we are currently building, projects we have recently completed and projects that will be underway soon like the Finch LRT — the province of Ontario is contributing more than 70 per cent of the costs that are required to deliver on these projects,” Del Duca said.
“We’re going to keep working hard. That’s why the recent provincial budget did include $30 billion for province-wide infrastructure. We’re going to keep working with the mayor to make sure we get it right.”
Del Duca also said Tory crossed the line when he appeared in Toronto’s west-end community of Etobicoke on Sunday handing out flyers demanding residents to speak up to their local MPPs on the lack of funding for social housing repairs.
“He was in Peter Milzyn’s backyard, Etobicoke North MPP Shafiq Qaadri’s backyard, effectively campaigning against sitting Liberal MPPs,” Del Duca said.
“There a fine line between passionate advocacy for your community and moving in a different direction altogether, I would say his behaviour in the last couple of days — while I do respect passionate advocacy — the behaviour is a little bit over the line.”