There is still fire in the eyes of Mayor John Tory following last week's disappointment over the provincial budget.
PC leader Patrick Brown and Tory met today behind closed doors to talk about the city's expectations and needs when it comes to transit, social housing and making things more affordable for families.
"Toronto deserves a premier that will stand up for the city and the mayor deserves a partner he can trust to fulfill commitments from the province to the city of Toronto," Brown said after the 45-minute long discussion.
Mayor Tory doesn't want anyone looking for some bigger meaning behind the meeting, he's just covering his bases. "This is one of a series of discussions I will have with all of the party leaders, including the premier, ultimately leading to the election next year around this time."
About 30 minutes before Tory and Brown were to take the podium, reporters received an advisory saying Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca and Etobicoke MPP Peter Milczyn would be at City Hall and "available to the media."
"Normally it takes a byelection loss for them to start to pay attention to the City of Toronto. I am glad that I could be of help in getting the Liberal cabinet to start paying attention to Toronto, again," quipped Brown. "Maybe if I have press conferences on a regular basis at City Hall they'll show up here more often."
When Tory learned of the Liberals hastily called news conference, he couldn't help but dream aloud. "I would hope he might be coming with some good news in terms of funding for future transit projects, which the federal government has stepped up to finance and/or with some money for Toronto Community Housing repairs which I have been talking about since I became mayor and my predecessor before that."
Neither of those were behind Del Duca's appearance outside the mayor's office. "I wanted to be here alongside Peter just to make sure that everybody understands very clearly that the City of Toronto has never had a stronger partner when it comes to transit funding than they do right now with Premier Kathleen Wynne and the Ontario Liberal government."
He then accused Mayor Tory of campaigning against Liberal MPPs over the weekend. "Yesterday he was in Etobicoke. He was in Peter Milcyn's backyard, he was in Shafiq Qaadri's backyard knocking on doors, effectively campaigning against sitting Liberal MPPs. There's a fine line between passion and advocacy for your community and moving in a different direction altogether. I would say his behaviour in the last couple of days is, while I do respect passion and advocacy, I think the behaviour is a little bit over the line."
"We are now standing up in a place where the mayor has said he wants to see funding commitments for projects...I am talking about transit, now...for projects that are not shovel ready and for projects for which the city, itself, hasn't provided a financial contribution."
Mayor Tory was quick to respond that he did come up with a financial plan for the city to fund transit projects...road tolls, which were rejected by the Wynne Liberals.
Promises the PC Party is making to Toronto which are described as 'concrete:'
- Say yes, where Wynne has said no, by putting vulnerable and law-abiding Toronto residents in community housing ahead of criminals who have been evicted from community housing. Brown has said he will approve the Mayor's request to allow the city to block violent criminals from re-applying to live in community housing. The Ontario PCs will introduce a private members’ bill to amend relevant legislation to allow the city to block these ex-convicts from going to the top of the waiting list and bumping families in need further down the list.
- Say yes, where Wynne has said no, and help save Toronto taxpayers $6.3 million annually by allowing Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) to purchase natural gas independently, as the mayor has requested. Currently, TCHC is forced to purchase natural gas through the provincial bulk purchasing entity called the Housing Services Corporation (HSC). HSC does a poor job negotiating the best prices possible for municipalities and the City of Toronto has calculated that it can save $6.3 million a year by purchasing natural gas on their own. The Ontario PCs have previously helped expose lavish expenses at the HSC, including paying a board member to go on a luxury trip to South Africa. Toronto taxpayers should not have to pay more for natural gas to cover lavish junkets by Liberal appointees.
- Support Mayor Tory in his efforts to reduce red tape and streamline development processes to increase supply and affordability in the housing market. Brown committed to act in concert with the Mayor where provincial approval may be necessary, a commitment left out of Wynne's recent housing announcement.
- Commit to getting shovels in the ground on the Scarborough subway project to reduce congestion plaguing the GTA. Mayor Tory and the Ontario PCs have been advocates of the subway, but Wynne and Liberal MPPs from Scarborough have been fair-weather friends, only vocally and publicly defending the Scarborough subway during the 2013 Scarborough-Guildwood by-election.
- Direct Metrolinx to make SmartTrack fares uniform with TTC fares. Wynne has been silent on SmartTrack fares. The Ontario PCs would also continue to fund SmartTrack and direct Metrolinx to treat it as a priority.
- Call on Premier Wynne to personally intervene and show leadership to ensure Bombardier vehicles for the Eglinton Crosstown project are delivered on time and on budget. Wynne recently bragged about her support for the Eglinton Crosstown, but continues passing the buck to Metrolinx rather than personally intervening to ensure Bombardier fulfills its agreement.
- Commit to regular meetings between Mayor Tory and PC Leader Brown to discuss shared priorities, as well as to formalize the regular meetings between Mayor Tory's staff and Brown's staff that have already been occurring.