As he attempted to reframe the debate over the city’s top priorities, Rob Ford tried to shift transit out of the spotlight Tuesday by saying those who don’t have jobs don’t need it anyway.

“Every day people come to me and say, ‘Rob, what’s the No. 1 issue?’ And I say, ‘It’s the economy. It’s jobs. It’s property taxes. It’s transit.’ But folks, it’s the economy and jobs. Because if you haven’t got a job, you won’t need transit,” Ford said during a news conference at his Etobicoke campaign headquarters. “If you cannot leave your house to go to or look for a job, what’s the sense of having transit?”

The news conference, announced less than two hours before it was held, appeared to be a platform for Ford to try to change the focus of the debate in the mayor’s race away from transit, which has largely dominated the campaign so far.

John Tory, who continues to tout his SmartTrack above-ground rail plan as his platform’s showpiece, has been leading in the polls recently. And the other top candidates have sparred over items like building LRTs versus subways and when and how to build a downtown relief line.

“When people ask this question, my opponents have very little to say,” said Ford Tuesday. “They have very little to say when it comes to the economy and how they’re going to find efficiencies and keep your taxes low. They want to talk about transit.”

The thousands of nonemployed people — among them seniors, students and the disabled — who use transit every day to get around went unmentioned in Ford’s remarks.

“In an age-friendly city, everybody needs transit,” said Adina Lebo, the chapter chair for the senior advocacy group CARP, afterwards. “You don’t use transit just to go to work. You use transit to stay involved in life and to take part in activities that the city has to offer.”

Rajean Hoilett, president of the Ryerson Students’ Union said transit is a priority issue at his school where they represent 30,000 students, many who are commuters.

“I think it is surprising because on a campus like Ryerson . . . when we’re talking to students often one of the biggest concerns (after the high costs of tuition) is transit,” Hoilett said. “Students need transit to continue being able to access education.”

One of the mayor’s rivals, Karen Stintz, tweeted: “Today @TOMayorFord suggested transit is not a top priority for Torontonians. Is he serious?!”

Tory’s campaign tweeted Ford was “off the rails” on transit. “Rob Ford doesn’t understand the basic fact that if you provide transit citywide, people will have the opportunity to get to the jobs they need,” said Tory spokesperson Amanda Galbraith in an email.

The version of Ford’s speech posted online does not include his comments about unemployed people not needing transit.

Ford insists jobs are “the No. 1 issue” in the campaign but has yet to provide any details on how to combat Toronto’s unemployment rate, which has climbed during his time as mayor.

Toronto’s monthly seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.8 per cent in July, up from 9.4 per cent when Ford took office.

Ford has also not released any specific economic policies during the campaign. His four top opponents have all released proposals.

Partway through Tuesday’s speech, Ford did turn his attention to transit, focusing on subways — which he has championed since first coming to city hall.

He said he would like to see additional subway lines on Sheppard and Finch but provided no explanation of how the city would finance them — though he said the federal and provincial governments would need to pitch in.

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Ford also called the much-talked-about downtown relief line a “done deal.”

There are no plans or agreements made regarding a downtown relief line, which is currently being studied by the Toronto Transit Commission. What form or route it could take has been a topic of debate by mayoral candidates since the election began.