Denzil Minnan-Wong knew he was the skunk at the garden party even before he was asked directly if that’s how he felt on Wednesday, representing the only mayor openly disdainful of new taxes to pay for a massive Toronto region transit expansion.

The Toronto councillor stood in for Rob Ford on a CivicAction mayors’ panel discussing how the region will move ahead with taxes that can be dedicated to building more transit, and more quickly.

Minnan-Wong was seated among Oakville Mayor Rob Burton, Oshawa’s John Henry, Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring and Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. Each vowed their support for new taxes to pay for transit.

But only 24 hours earlier, Ford had issued the most recent in a series of rejections of such taxes or tolls. The Toronto mayor dismissed a city staff report endorsing a sales tax, gas tax, parking levies and higher development charges to contribute to Metrolinx’s $2 billion annual transit plan.

Meantime, Scarpitti drew agreement from his counterparts when he said, “A healthy Toronto means a healthy region.”

“It’s all about getting new revenue tools. If we don’t get that money, the Big Move (regional transportation plan)is going to be the ‘big slow move,’” Scarpitti told about 300 business, community, student and labour leaders at the day-long event organized by CivicAction.

Minnan-Wong said he agreed, too — that there is general agreement that something needs to be done to improve Toronto region transit. But he said he couldn’t support transit taxes without more discussion of who will pay to operate that bigger system, given that all transit depends to some degree on government subsidies.

He also suggested the public doesn’t necessarily trust government with its money.

“When we’re asking families across the city to pay on average $900 per year for the next 14 years, they’ll say, ‘OK, who are you going to give it to? So you’re going to give some of it to the TTC.’ And they read that a project went from $14 million to $105 million. They say, ‘Well, we’d like to give you that money, but we’re not so sure you’re going to manage it well.’

“When they read in the paper that Metrolinx spent $700 million for one of the most expensive fare cards on the planet, they say, ‘Well we’d like to solve transit, we’re prepared to think about revenue tools, but we’re not sure you’re accountable enough to spend it wisely,’” said Minnan-Wong.

CivicAction CEO Mitzie Hunter echoed past comments by Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig, who has said that it will be Toronto city council, rather than Ford, who determines Toronto’s official position on transit taxes.

“It was wonderful to have Toronto at the table,” she said of Minnan-Wong’s participation. Hunter also praised Toronto’s leadership in consulting residents about the issue.

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