June 2, 2017 by admin

Tory repeats calls for province to commit to funding relief subway line

Mayor John Tory is again calling on the province to help fund the construction of the relief subway line.
Federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen held a press conference at Queen Station on Friday to reiterate his government’s commitment to provide more than $27 million in funding for planning work on the long-discussed relief line.
Following the press conference, Tory doubled down on his recent criticism of the provincial government and said that Queen’s Park should at a “minimum” agree to match expected federal contributions to the construction of the relief line.
City staff have previously said Toronto should be in line to receive about 5 billion from the federal government’s transit infrastructure fund.
“This investment will not have a real and lasting impact unless the provinces are involved too,” Tory said. “While the province has invested $150 million to plan both the north and south sections of the proposed relief line we need them to commit to partnership on the construction of this project along with us and the federal government. “
Tory said that he would like to see the provincial and federal government’s each contribute 40 per cent of the cost of the estimated $6.8 billion first phase of the relief line. The city would then cover the remaining 20 per cent.