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Before Queen’s Park asks residents to dish out more money for transit expansion, it needs to “root out waste” at the provincial government, says Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak.

In a wide-ranging speech hosted by the Toronto Region Board of Trade Wednesday, Mr. Hudak did not reject the notion of tolls or taxes for transit, noting he is “open to options” and acknowledging that it will take a “clear, dedicated, predictable source of funding” to pay for the subways and highway expansion he has promised.

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However, he said “we should be wary of politicians who are anxious to use any story to grab new money or try to throw it at disjointed plans that perpetuate a badly fractured system.”

He stressed the province first has “an obligation” to make sure it squeezes all the dollars it can out of its existing budget, suggesting he has already identified “billions” in savings in the energy and education sectors.