With the possibility of a snap election looming, the governing Liberals are launching a new $100-million fund to build roads and bridges in small, rural and northern municipalities.

The initiative will be formally introduced in next Thursday’s provincial budget.

“Across the province, Ontario’s infrastructure challenges require tailored solutions,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said Friday at a highway rest stop under construction in Barrie.

“This fund would help small, rural and northern communities build the infrastructure they need while creating jobs and building our economic prosperity,” said Wynne.

Eligible municipalities could tap into the fund as of Oct. 1 “if it all goes well the next few days,” she said, mindful that her minority government could soon be toppled.

The Liberals under then-premier Dalton McGuinty were virtually wiped out in rural Ontario in the October 2011 election that saw them reduced to a minority after two terms of majority government.

Since succeeding McGuinty in February, Wynne, who also serves as agriculture minister, has been trying to woo voters in regions now dominated by the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s budget will be a critical test for her fledgling administration.

If the spending plan is defeated in the legislature, Ontarians could face a $92-million election as early as June 6.

“We do not believe that an election is necessary. I don’t think anyone in the province wants an unnecessary election,” said Wynne.

“I am in this job to govern, to work in the minority parliament and to make it work.”

Local Tory MPP Rod Jackson mocked Wynne’s “curious” announcement, noting Barrie “may not even qualify for extra funding.”

“Today demonstrated that the Liberal party of Toronto doesn’t have a solid grasp of rural or northern Ontario,” said Jackson.

Tory Leader Tim Hudak has said his party will vote against the budget, but NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has served Wynne with a list of demands.

The Liberals plan to appease Horwath by agreeing to her conditions — including improvements to home-care services, lowering auto insurance rates, closing corporate tax loopholes, and boosting youth employment.

Still, the New Democratic leader has said she wants to read the fine print in the budget before determining what her party will do.

NDP MPP Gilles Bisson (Timmins—James Bay) said Wynne’s infrastructure announcement was “good news . . . in the sense that this is at least a step in the right direction.”

“But time will tell.”

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The Association of Municipalities of Ontario welcomed the extra funding.

“Permanent and predictable funding for roads and bridges has been a top municipal priority,” AMO president Russ Powers said in a news release.

With files From Richard J. Brennan

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