

Chris Herhalt, CP24.com





Toronto Mayor John Tory issued a statement welcoming Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s pledge to double the amount of money the federal government spends on public infrastructure over the next 10 years.

“This long term, stable funding, like what we've seen with the gas tax, is critical as we focus on building transit, cutting congestion and making badly needed repairs to affordable housing,” Tory said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon.

At a campaign event in Oakville Thursday morning, Trudeau promised billions more for public transit, housing and other infrastructure over the next three years, saying he wouldn’t balance the federal budget until 2019 and run deficits of up to $10 billion per year until then to fund new projects across the country.

“While we have not yet heard about specific projects like SmartTrack, Mr. Trudeau has made it clear to me cities will be able to decide which projects get funded through his federal infrastructure plan,” Tory said. “Mr. Trudeau also confirmed that affordable housing repairs would be eligible for infrastructure funding in the early years of this program, an encouraging development to address one of Toronto's crucial needs.”

Conservative leader Stephen Harper has promised $2.6 billion in funds for Tory’s SmartTrack light rail project, and NDP leader Thomas Mulcair has told Tory he would set up a transit fund to assist cities across Canada with major transportation projects.

Toronto Community Housing has said it needs $2.6 billion in funding over the next 10 years just to keep its buildings in “fair” condition.

Tory’s light rail line, SmartTrack, is expected to cost $8 billion to build.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities also issued a statement Thursday afternoon, supporting Trudeau's infrastructure spending promise.