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“If you don’t start with these things, then you never get the jobs. So, I’d be saying from day one I’d be starting to get these issues resolved. Resolve the issue of the Gardiner, hopefully get people to agree that the diversion makes sense and then get on with approving the plans,” he said. “So, we’re not talking about jobs that would exist from day one, but if you don’t have the objective to create the jobs and put the conditions in place, streamlining at city hall and championing this kind of thing, then it will never happen.”

He continued to tout his business credentials, arguing it takes “knowing how to work with the private sector” to help land big deals for the city. “Rob Ford, he creates an enemies list. He can’t get anything done at city hall and businesses simply can’t trust the kind of relationship they would have with Olivia Chow,” he said.

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Ms. Chow’s campaign responded by calling his an “empty” announcement.

“There is almost nothing new,” a press release stated. “The vast majority of his so-called proposals are either in the purview of other governments, reliant upon a country club network, or already happening without him.”

The statement accused Mr. Tory of harbouring a “stereotype that a progressive woman can’t work with business” and touted Ms. Chow’s participation on trade missions to China and Japan. Ms. Chow had her own announcement this week, promising to create 5,000 jobs for young people by demanding that companies awarded big infrastructure contracts by the city employ people under the age of 24.

Karen Stintz issued a press release that wryly welcomed Mr. Tory’s support for a Gardiner plan she had endorsed months ago.

“For those seeking the next John Tory policy announcement I direct you to my web site karen2014.ca to learn about where I stand on a range of issues of concern to Torontonians,” she wrote.

National Post

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