Mayor John Tory urges Ottawa, Ontario to keep Port Lands cash flowing

Tory doesn't think Toronto needs an Expo bid or waterfront casino to get the southeastern waterfront community built.

TheStar.com
Sept. 14, 2016
By David Rider

Calling Toronto’s Port Lands one of the biggest economic opportunities on the continent, Mayor John Tory pointedly urged his provincial and federal counterparts to keep their wallets open for the waterfront project.

Tory made the remarks Wednesday to Amarjeet Sohi, the federal infrastructure minister, and Bob Chiarelli, Sohi’s provincial counterpart, as the politicians confirmed $83 million in Port Lands flood protection funding.

“Maybe we can take this flow that has begun today and turn it into a torrent so we can really get this going,” Tory told the politicians gathered in a gravel parking lot in an industrial site alongside the Keating Channel.

Waterfront Toronto’s Port Lands plan would “naturalize” the Don River mouth, clean polluted soil and install basic infrastructure to pave the way for massive private-sector investment in vibrant new neighbourhoods.

Spreading Toronto’s explosive waterfront growth to the grey, gritty southeast shore is expected to bring offices and tens of thousands of new jobs, along with housing, parks and a station at the former Unilever site that would service both SmartTrack inner-Toronto transit and the province’s promised regional electric rail service.

But the estimated cost to get there is almost $1 billion - a figure expected to rise when more detailed studies are released this fall. The city has its share put aside but Wednesday marked the first time Ottawa and Queen’s Park committed to Port Lands funding.

The federal government is kicking in $32.5 million, while the province and city are each providing $16.3 million to remake the area around the old Essroc quay. Another $18 million will be spent on other flood-protection measures.

Some have suggested Toronto needs to bid for Expo 2025, or welcome a waterfront casino, to trigger the massive cash infusion needed over years to develop the Port Lands.

Tory rejected that, saying that regardless of what happens with discussions about the viability of an Expo bid, there is enough private sector interest in the east waterfront to get the job done with committed government support.

“This is a great day but there has to be a few other days like this in the near future to get on with all of this,” he told reporters.

When a reporter told Chiarelli there has been talk at city hall that the cash-strapped province isn’t at the Port Lands table, he said: “We put our portion in today and we’ll be at the table from here on in.”

Sohi announced a total of $1.1 billion in stimulus funding related to water and waste-water projects across the province, with the federal government paying half and the province and municipalities sharing the remaining cost.

As it announces money for “shovel-ready” projects, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is finalizing details of the next step of its election pledge to spend $120 billion on infrastructure over 10 years.

Details of the rules for funding for new “transformational” projects will be announced in the coming months, Sohi said.

Councillor Paula Fletcher welcomed the investment as a promising start. “The other governments have dipped their toes in the water,” she said, “and hopefully their legs will follow.”