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In Toronto, the decision by the tax-averse mayor and five allies to defer debate has incensed a large number of city councillors who say the city will regret staying silent on the matter. Even executive committee member Gary Crawford, who sided with Mr. Ford at first, has since been publicly campaigning to bring the issue to the council meeting.

In a not-so-veiled return shot at the mayor, he tweeted on Monday, “I invite anyone to post [publicly] those who vote not to discuss such an important issue.”

But there are divisions even among those who want to debate the issue, with a group of Scarborough councillors issuing an ultimatum that demands the dilapidated RT line be turned into a subway.

TTC chair Karen Stintz is supporting that effort. She argued that “if the mayor actually wants to talk about a subway to Scarborough” he would be wise to join the forces trying to debate funding for transit.

John Parker, a fiscal conservative who frequently votes with the mayor, also thinks the debate should happen.

“It would be juvenile of the City of Toronto to sit here with the biggest need for transit funding, the most well developed plans for how we would like to expand our transit system and then to shy away from the serious question of how we pay for it,” he said.

• Email: nalcoba@nationalpost.com | Twitter: nataliealcoba