Tory satisfied with federal NDP SmartTrack pledge
Toronto's mayors made the remarks after meeting with members of the federal NDP caucus.

thestar.com
July 23, 2015
By David Rider

Toronto Mayor John Tory is satisfied a federal NDP government would help fund his signature SmartTrack transit expansion plan.

Tory made the remarks Thursday morning after meeting with Davenport NDP MP Andrew Cash and other New Democrats.

The MPs did not specifically commit to funding one-third of SmartTrack’s estimated $8 billion price-tag - as Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper did last month, Tory said.

But they assured him the NDP election transit pledge would see enough infrastructure money flow to Toronto, with “flexibility” for the city on how to spend it, that SmartTrack and more could be built.

Tory said that leaves only the federal Liberals who have not, to his satisfaction, committed to funding SmartTrack. “As of yet, I don’t believe I have that commitment...” Tory said. “I’ll be seeking it.”

Liberal MP Adam Vaughan, a former city councillor, has publicly said his party will not dictate terms to Toronto but would fund transit significantly better than the ruling Conservatives and, if city council wants SmartTrack, it’s SmartTrack they will get.

Tory still has to convince city council to make SmartTrack its main transit priority. Some councillors say the heavy-rail plan, using existing GO Transit tracks, is important but not more so than other initiatives including a downtown relief subway line.

Cash, chair of the NDP’s Toronto caucus, was asked about a B.C. colleague’s remarks that the NDP would look to form a coalition government with the federal Liberals if it means ousting Harper.

Cash said that, while the NDP is hoping to form a majority government that would make a coalition unnecessary, his party is open to that option.

“We have said and Tom Mulcair has been publicly clear on this issue that our job is to replace Stephen Harper,” he said. “The people of Canada will decide...what that configuration looks like and we would be very open to a coalition if that’s the way in which the seats in the House of Commons shook down after Oct. 19.”

Tory, a former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader, stressed that he is not taking a partisan role in the upcoming federal election.

He praised NDP Leader Tom Mulcair for saying on a previous visit that Toronto is the most important city in Canada, and praised the NDP MPs for repeating that view during their private meeting.

“The health of Toronto is a national issue,” Tory said. He knows some people in other parts of Canada will “scoff” at that, but said the NDP “recognizes the fundamental importance of this city.”

Cash, a Torontonian and noted musician, said Canada’s biggest city “is the engine of the economy, it is the heart and soul of Canadian culture.”

He praised Tory, saying they had an “excellent conversation” that also included affordable housing and poverty reduction efforts.

Asked about a possible political comeback by Olivia Chow, who quit as NDP MP last year to unsuccessfully run for Toronto mayor, Cash said he doesn’t know the state of the party’s talks with the “significant and important and dedicated city builder.

“If this happens,” Cash said of Chow running against Vaughan in the new Spadina-Fort York riding, “we’re very excited about it.”

Asked about working as mayor with an MP he ran against during the long, bitter mayoral race, Tory laughed and joked he might recommend she get a “sanity test” for considering re-entering politics, but that he would be happy to work with her to improve Toronto.