Doug Ford switches subway priorities

Doug Ford says building the Downtown Relief Line is his first subway priority, an interesting turn for a campaign heavily focused on the suburbs.

At a press conference in his Etobicoke campaign office on Thursday, Councillor Ford, now a mayoral candidate, advocated for the same subway plan his brother, Mayor Rob Ford, unveiled in August and he continued attempts at discrediting John Tory’s SmartTrack line.

The same line of attack came up during and after an evening debate at Oakwood Collegiate.

But the sparks actually flew between Mr. Ford and fringe candidate Ari Goldkind, who later claimed Mr. Ford swore at him after the debate. Mr. Ford’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Councillor Ford’s subway plan promises 32 new kilometres of underground transit, at $9-billion, a questionable figure since it relies on lower estimates for certain projects.

“The relief line, downtown, the Yonge relief line, I think is a priority, right beside the Sheppard line,” Councillor Ford told reporters when asked what project he would build first. “So we’ll be doing the Yonge relief line. I think we have consensus with the councillors. Then we connect Sheppard.”

The Downtown Relief Line, rebranded as a Yonge Street Relief Line, is intended to help people get to the core and relieve pressure on the packed Yonge line.

Councillor Ford’s subway line ranking is notable because it differs from Mayor Ford, who has cited the Sheppard and Finch lines ahead of the

The Yonge relief line, I think is a priority

Downtown Relief Line in priority. More recently, he added burying the rest of the Eglinton Crosstown to the mix.

Councillor Ford’s plan is relying on a raft of “revenue tools”: development charges; revenue generated by Build Toronto, the city’s real estate arm; the sale of air rights over subway stations; and the reallocation of provincial funding that is now headed to light rail.

But there are questions on this front, too, namely that most of the money the Fords cite from Build Toronto is allocated to the capital budget. Councillor Ford dismissed concerns, saying it’s all intended for infrastructure and he can dedicate it to subways.

The sparks at the debate began when Mr. Ford singled out Mr. Goldkind as a “big, rich defence lawyer.” Mr. Goldkind later responded that Mr. Ford knew more than anyone about the need for defence attorneys, prompting the councillor to demand a retraction. “I’ve never needed a defence attorney in my life,” he shot back.

The audience gave Mr. Goldkind mixed reviews for saying that FORD stands for “falsify, overstate, repeat and deny.”