Ottawa to require Ontario to pay one-third of Toronto’s new transit projects
Mayor Tory calls provisions in new federal fund a “victory” for city commuters, but Queen’s Park is making no commitments.

TheStar.com
July 6, 2017
Ben Spurr

Mayor John Tory is claiming to have scored a big victory in his effort to convince the province to kick in more funding for Toronto transit, after the federal government announced it will require Queen’s Park to contribute at least one-third of the cost of new rail projects.

Ottawa confirmed Thursday it will provide $8.3 billion to Ontario under the second phase of the federal Liberals’ public transit infrastructure fund.

More than half of that money, or $4.8 billion, is earmarked for Toronto, according to the mayor’s office.

The figure is in line with city estimates produced in March, when Prime Minster Justin Trudeau’s government unveiled its 2017 budget, and will go to support council’s priority transit projects, which include the relief line subway and Tory’s SmartTrack plan.

Crucially, federal Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi said in a letter to his Ontario counterpart that the government intends to mandate that provinces provide a minimum of 33.3 per cent of the cost of new transit projects paid for under the fund.

At a press conference Thursday, Tory called the funding “historic” and described the one-third provincial funding requirement as “a victory for Toronto commuters.

“It’s just fair and appropriate and the right thing to do,” Tory said.

For months, the mayor has been pushing Queen’s Park to commit to matching federal public transit funding, but Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals haven’t budged.

Ontario Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli again would make no commitments Thursday, saying in a written statement that Sohi’s letter merely “starts the conversation” on how the second phase of the federal transit fund will be allocated.

“This is the first step in negotiating a bilateral agreement, and we will be working very closely with both the federal government and Ontario’s municipal partners over the course of the next year to negotiate the best deal for Ontarians,” Chiarelli said.

Ottawa expects to conclude the negotiations by March 2018.

In the past, provincial officials have responded to Tory’s prodding by asserting that no provincial government in history has contributed more to Toronto transit projects than the Ontario Liberals. The $5.3-billion Eglinton Crosstown LRT is being fully funded by the Ontario government, and the province has also made contributions of $3.7 billion for GO regional express rail within the city, $1.48 billion for the Scarborough subway extension, and $870 million for the Spadina subway extension.

Tory said he was confident that the province will come around, however, and told reporters he would be “astounded” if Ontario decided to “(leave) billions of dollars on the table” by not agreeing to meet the one-third requirement, particularly because the Liberals are facing an election next year.

Tory said he would continue to press the province to agree to provide more than the one-third requirement outlined by Ottawa. He and other big city mayors have advocated for “40-40-20” agreements that would see federal and provincial governments each provide 40 per cent funding, with cities picking up the remaining 20 per cent.

City council has submitted four priority projects for the federal transit fund: the relief line ($6.8 billion), SmartTrack ($3.7 billion), the Eglinton East LRT ($1.7 billion), and Waterfront transit ($1.5 billion). Together, the projects are estimated to cost $13.7 billion.

While the mayor’s office said that the $4.8 billion in federal money would be put toward these four projects, Sohi’s office has previously stated that the city’s portion of the transit fund includes $660 million previously announced for the Scarborough subway extension. That would leave just $4.1 billion for the four priority lines.

A spokesperson for the mayor said the city’s position is funding for the Scarborough project should be considered separate. “That is the subject of ongoing discussions with the federal and provincial governments,” he said.

Asked how the city would come up with the billions of dollars for its share of the cost of new transit projects, Tory said: “Well, I can’t answer that question as yet.”

He criticized the province for quashing council’s efforts to raise money for infrastructure projects by imposing road tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway, and said “we have our work cut out for us” in devising another funding stream.