Councillors keen for Toronto to have a say in new taxes to fund regional transit expansion say they will once again sideline Mayor Rob Ford on the key transportation issue.

“We have more than enough votes” to bring the issue to full council for debate, Councillor Adam Vaughan said Wednesday, a day after Ford’s executive voted 6-4 to defer city manager Joe Pennachetti’s report on “revenue tools” until May 28.

That is one day too late for Toronto to submit its views to the provincial Metrolinx transportation agency. Premier Kathleen Wynne says levies are coming and she wants to know which ones municipalities favour.

Ford argued he can’t support the recommended levies while governments routinely waste money. “Guaranteed, hell will freeze over before I will support any of these new taxes,” he said.

Pushback started immediately from many of the councillors who last April seized the transit issue from Ford by voting 24-19 in favour of new light rail lines after the mayor failed to table a funding plan for subways.

On Wednesday, the TTC board voted to discuss Pennachetti’s report — which recommends a sales tax, gas tax, parking levy and development charges — at its May 24 meeting.

“I don’t think there’s any real channel to get it to council from that, but at least it gets in front of the commission,” said Councillor Josh Colle (Ward 15, Eglinton Lawrence). “I think the TTC should have some look at it.”

TTC chair Karen Stintz, who broke with the Ford administration over the LRT issue, said: “We’re working to bring it to council because it’s important to a majority of councillors.

“We’ve been talking to our colleagues and we all share the concern that it should be debated at council. We’re going to deal with it at the May 7 council meeting.”

Asked about Ford’s vision, Stintz said: “If he has a vision, he hasn’t articulated it. And saying ‘subways, subways, subways,’ without a plan to build subways, from my perspective is not a vision.

“By deferring the report, he is saying he doesn’t want the city to weigh in on how we’re going to build transit.”

Members from council’s left and centre debated Wednesday whether to seek the 23 signatures required to call a special meeting on the issue but instead decided to seek to have it added to the May 7-8 council agenda.

To do so will require two-thirds support of those present — 30 councillors if all 45 council members attend.

“I believe we do” have those votes, said Colle, an influential centrist.

“There are more than 30 of us that haven’t had the chance to debate this issue or change it or shape it. It’s unfortunate that six councillors denied us that opportunity,” he said in an interview.

“I have spent the better part of my elected political career talking about transit expansion and we’ve been dancing around it and hashing it out, and then it’s finally coming to the province and we’re going to duck on it.”

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Metrolinx is legislatively bound to deliver its investment strategy to Queen’s Park and the regional municipalities by June 1.

With files from Paul Moloney

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