Tory tells federal leaders what city needs
Toronto mayor pitches key priorities he wants to see in party platforms
Toronto’s election wish list for federal party leaders includes money to mend the pandemicravaged finances of Canada’s biggest city, funding for new affordable housing and the creation of a “more robust mental health care system.”
Mayor John Tory made the request in identical letters emailed Thursday to Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, Green party Leader Annamie Paul, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. Toronto is at the centre of the vote-rich Greater Toronto Area considered key to any party winning a majority government on Sept. 20.
Tory tells the leaders that Toronto’s success in providing vital services to almost three million people, while working to limit the spread of COVID-19, was possible “due to the strong partnerships with the provincial and federal governments.”
That partnership must continue to help keep give Toronto “speedy recovery” from the pandemic and help it continue being the “driving engine of Canada’s economy,” he wrote.
After tallying the pandemic’s costly impacts on Toronto’s transit and homeless shelter systems, Tory said that, with sustainable recovery help, “Toronto’s success will be Canada’s success.”
Only the federal-provincial Safe Restart Agreement and similar programs have kept Toronto afloat, he said, listing five key priorities he wants to see in federal platforms.
Continuing COVID-19 operating budget relief funding: A further $75 million for 2021 and between $702 million and $1.534 billion in 2022 to cover, among other things, TTC ridership losses and “extraordinary pressures on our shelter system, and which would ideally involve a renewed federal-provincial partnership.”
Supporting the city’s 24month COVID-19 Housing and Homelessness Recovery Plan and “the shift from emergency shelters towards permanent supportive housing solutions for people experiencing homelessness.”
Continuing to invest in Toronto’s public transit system by “committing to a funding partnership with the city and the province on Toronto’s subway vehicle needs and future Eglinton East LRT and Waterfront East LRT transit lines, which will help facilitate economic growth, and a greener city.”
Contributing to the creation of a “more robust mental health care system, which has become even more necessary in light of the pandemic, including the needed supports to address homelessness and substance use, including the tragic rise in opioid-related deaths.”
Following through with the federal commitment to fund community violence prevention programs, and providing $26.2 million over five years for programming to support local communities and prevent crime in Toronto.
Tory noted he will not endorse any particular leader or party in the federal election. But, he added, reporters will ask him to comment on particular party policies. He invites the leaders to respond to his letter and discuss his requests over the course of the campaign.
Tory has said publicly that Toronto has fared well under Trudeau’s Liberals that were first elected in 2015, with ongoing funding for housing and transit infrastructure compared to past sporadic news conferences with pledges of time-limited funding.
The mayor concluded his letter by asking for the party leaders’ thoughts on making funding arrangements for big cities more sustainable. The current system, he wrote, “makes it very difficult for the country’s largest municipalities like Toronto to continue to effectively address these major challenges as we have proven we can do during the pandemic.”