Mayor's office trying to get province in on Don River project

TorontoSun.com
Sept. 6, 2016
By Shawn Jeffords

Mayor John Tory’s office has been quietly working behind the scenes to bring the province aboard a major multibillion-dollar project for the mouth of the Don River.

In documents obtained by the Toronto Sun through a Freedom of Information request, Tory’s staff confer with city staff on the first phase of the large-scale project, which is “critical for development of the Port Lands and Unilever site” and has been contemplated for years. They planned to raise the issue with Premier Kathleen Wynne at the meeting Tory had scheduled with her in June.

In emails, Tory’s chief of staff, Chris Eby, asks Fiona Murray, the city’s director of corporate intergovernmental and agency relations, what Toronto needs from the province to finally get the project moving.

“The ask is essentially that the feds and the province enter into an agreement on the Mouth of the Don project, preferably this fall with a cost share of a third for each government,” she said.

The overall project is estimated to cost $2 billion, with Ontario’s share coming in at $570 million. The federal government could contribute up to 50% of the project cost through a special fund. The project would provide flood protection in the Port Lands and allow for development of the key piece of property east of the downtown core.

Katrina Kim, a spokesman for Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli, said last week that the province continues to have discussions with both the city and the federal government on the project.

“Waterfront Toronto is currently overseeing important due diligence work for the Port Lands Flood Protection project, funded in part by the Ontario government,” she said.

“This work will ensure that all three levels of government have the best information available to make decisions about the next phase of revitalization, and we are confident that an agreement will be reached in the near term.”

Keerthana Kamalavasan, a spokesman for Tory, said the city has funding ready for the project but could not provide additionial details.

“We hope to have more news to share in the near future,” she said.