Toronto Mayor Tory ‘over the line’ by ‘campaigning,’ Del Duca says

Theglobeandmail.com
May 1, 2017
By Jeff Gray

Toronto Mayor John Tory went “over the line” when he handed out leaflets urging residents in an Etobicoke public-housing complex to call their Liberal MPP and demand money to fix their aging buildings, Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca said on Monday.

Mr. Del Duca turned up at City Hall just as reporters emerged from Mr. Tory’s office, where the mayor was hosting a joint press conference with Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown, who is leading Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne in the polls as next year’s election looms.

The Transportation Minister, with former city councillor and current Etobicoke-Lakeshore Liberal MPP Peter Milczyn at his side, accused the mayor of “effectively campaigning” against Mr. Milczyn and Etobicoke North Liberal MPP Shafiq Qaadri on the weekend.

“I would say his behaviour in the last couple of days is, while I do respect passionate advocacy, I think the behaviour is a little bit over the line,” Mr. Del Duca told reporters, later adding that it was “not the kind of advocacy that we would normally expect to see from the mayor of a municipality.”

Mr. Del Duca repeatedly pointed to Toronto transit projects the Liberals are already funding, such as the Eglinton Crosstown line, before criticizing the mayor’s weekend activities.

“I get the passion, I get the critical needs that the city of Toronto has,” Mr. Del Duca said. “But you know, on a Sunday, you are out there, knocking on doors, talking to people, and on a Monday you are talking about wanting to work constructively? I think it sets a little bit of a bizarre tone.”

The Premier’s press office also sent out a campaign-style e-mail accusing Mr. Tory and Mr. Brown of making “a bunch of false claims” about last week’s provincial budget. The co-ordinated blasts from Queen’s Park suggest Mr. Tory’s recent criticism is getting under the Wynne government’s skin.

The mayor accused the Liberals last week of turning their backs on Toronto by failing to pledge substantial new funding for transit or for repairs to Toronto Community Housing in the provincial budget. Mr. Tory’s relationship with Ms. Wynne was already rocky after she blocked his plan to raise infrastructure funds with tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway earlier this year.

On Sunday, Mr. Tory upped the ante on the housing issue, holding a news conference after distributing leaflets at a cluster of Toronto Community Housing Corp. townhouses in Etobicoke. The leaflets urged residents to call Mr. Qaadri, the local Liberal MPP, asked if he was “Ready to help?” and stated: “Notice: The Ontario government is not helping to get your housing fixed.”

Mr. Tory’s office defended his actions in an e-mail: “Mayor Tory is standing up for Toronto. For months now, he has called on the province to provide its fair share of funding for social housing repairs and future transit projects. ... Is the minister suggesting that local MPPs shouldn’t be encouraged to fight for the needs in their ridings?”

The mayor and city officials say funds for up to $130-million in energy efficiency retrofits for social housing mentioned in the provincial budget falls well short of the city’s needs. TCHC has long said it needs a multiyear commitment totalling $864-million from Queen’s Park as part of a 10-year, $2.6-billion rehabilitation plan. The city has already spent almost $1-billion on its own, but without more money TCHC officials warn they will be forced to continue closing hundreds of units.

Mr. Tory said Monday it was “only moral, practical and fair” for the province to help, since Queen’s Park downloaded public housing onto the city after amalgamation. Mr. Brown was noncommittal, saying he needed to look at the province’s books but that Ontario “has to do our part.” Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has said an NDP government would fund its one-third share of the repairs.

Asked about Mr. Tory’s reaction to her budget on Monday, Ms. Wynne said at an event in Mississauga that the province was investing in transit and affordable housing in Toronto.

“I don’t understand why he’s so angry,” she said while speaking in French of Mr. Tory. “We will continue to work together because that’s what we’ve done. We understand that we need to continue investing in infrastructure, housing and public transit. There is a lot of money for those investments in Toronto.”