Council officially approves 'historic' new deal with province

thestar.com
Dec. 14, 2023
Ben Spurr

Councillors have unanimously approved the "historic" deal with the province to help fix Toronto's battered finances, but say it's now up to the federal government to pony up its fair share.

At a council meeting Wednesday, members voted 24 to 0 to endorse the agreement Mayor Olivia Chow and Premier Doug Ford announced on Nov. 27, which would upload municipal highways to Ontario and provide the city with up to $9 billion in provincial funding relief.

In a speech to council, Chow framed the agreement as the result not just of intense negotiations in the two-and-a-half months following the joint announcement in September of a working group for the new deal, but of years council members' advocacy.

She revealed when the agreement came together, the first person she called was her predecessor John Tory, who stepped down as mayor in February.

"Because it was John Tory and the mayor before him, it was all city councillors, previous mayors, that came together and that paved the way to finally (be) able to have this uploading of the (Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway)," she said, calling the agreement a "transformative" pact that will let the city focus on shoring up its aging TTC network and building badly needed housing.

But Chow noted that much of the assistance the Ontario PC government has pledged is contingent on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals matching the funding.

"We are absolutely needing the federal government to step up," she said.

The city and province are asking Ottawa for $2.72 billion under the deal, including $853 million for refugee supports, $675 million for homeless shelters, and $758 million to help pay for 55 new trains for the Line 2 subway.

"Members of Parliament from the city of Toronto, wake up! Do your job!" Coun. Gord Perks said in an impassioned speech directed at Liberal MPs.

The office of Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who represents the Toronto riding of University-Rosedale, has said her government has provided the city with billions of dollars in assistance since being elected in 2015, and "will continue to be a strong partner for the people of Toronto."

A report added to council's agenda Wednesday shows that, subject to council meeting certain conditions, the federal government plans to provide Toronto with $471 million over three years from its Housing Accelerator Fund.

Despite overwhelming support for the city-provincial deal, some councillors raised concerns about its fine print. Coun. Dianne Saxe said she was worried a condition requiring the TTC to continue using the Presto fare card system past the current agreement's end in 2027 could lead to an increase in fees the transit agency remits to the province.

"We need to have our eyes open," she said.