Scrapping the city’s program to help 13 priority neighbourhoods would be a “tragedy,” warns outgoing Mayor David Miller, as the man likely to take his place suggests he may do just that.

“The mayoral candidates should be competing to say how much more money they’ll put in. That’s how important it is,” said Miller. “It’s my baby.”

But at a mayoral debate Thursday night, front-runner Rob Ford suggested it was a waste of money. He said that as he has not yet seen any proof the initiative is working, he has trouble committing millions of city dollars to the program.

“As you know, I coach football in a priority neighbourhood and I haven’t seen the benefits. I wouldn’t commit to anything . . . if we aren’t seeing results,” he said. “I need to review it.”

His comments have advocacy groups worried. Cutty Duncan, project co-coordinator with the Weston-Mount Dennis Action for Neighbourhood Change office, said he wants to know Ford’s plan B.

“When politicians start talking about removing programs, I’m concerned about what solutions they have to these problems,” he said. “(If the initiative goes) it’s not going to change the fact that these neighbourhoods need support.”

Miller’s priority neighbourhoods program launched after the last election, although the city has actively identified at-risk communities for nearly a decade. To date, city council has invested $13 million in these areas and collected a further $25 million in partnership dollars.

Other support groups have launched their own programs within the neighbourhoods; the United Way alone has invested more than $43 million in such projects.

The problem is that the program’s success is hard to gauge statistically. People on the ground point to impressive reductions in crime, eight planned community hubs (one is open; two more will be by the end of next year) and a growing sense of pride among residents as proof the project is working.

But trying to quantify success, for example by figuring out how many previously unemployed people found work, is challenging.

United Way Toronto CEO Susan McIsaac says the return on the investment is “human life.”

“My reaction (to Ford’s comment) is that I would love to have a day to take him out and show him some really tangible evidence of what is happening in the 13 priority neighbourhoods,” she said.

Only deputy mayor Joe Pantalone and Rocco Rossi have vowed to keep the program alive. George Smitherman suggested he would continue supporting the program’s goals but has concerns about limiting the support to specific areas of the city.