John Tory has steered his SmartTrack “surface subway” straight into the mayor’s office, pulling the Scarborough subway along with it.

To voters, it’s a signal that Toronto’s endless transit talk could finally be giving way to action. In reality, there are likely many more transit debates ahead for the new council.

Talk about SmartTrack now moves from campaign mode to “more granular conversations” with senior governments, Tory said on Tuesday.

“Because before much else can happen, I have to bring them on board and get them to be supportive of this,” he told the Star.

The province appears ready. Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca sent a letter Tuesday suggesting Tory’s team meet with senior Metrolinx officials to discuss “the complementary elements between (the province’s) regional (GO) express rail and Mr. Tory’s SmartTrack plan.”

Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park) said it’s likely that city staff have already prepared briefing notes for the incoming mayor.

“They will have their own analysis of the (SmartTrack) financial and technical challenges and that will be somewhat different from what Mr. Tory has put in front of the public,” said Perks.

“I imagine that analysis will modify what Mr. Tory is going to put in front of council at some point,” he added.

Tory has also said he’s eager to move ahead on the Scarborough subway and put an end to the debates about the kind of transit to build there. But that debate may finally be running out of steam anyway.

Returning centrist councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22, St. Paul’s) argued passionately in favour of LRT in his first term. But Matlow said he’s struggling with the issue now.

On the one hand, he still thinks the three-stop subway versus a seven-stop LRT was a poor decision. However, he understands that the province and city have been clear they want a subway.

“What I will have to decide very soon is whether or not it is the right thing to do for Scarborough and Toronto to take yet another look at that question or if I have to recognize the reality before me and if there’s a realistic ability to change that reality,” he said.

Perks says the Scarborough subway is just one transit issue that will inevitably come back to council.

“There will have to be a number of votes. There will have to a modified environmental assessment (for the Scarborough subway). There will have to be a vote to approve a new master agreement with Metrolinx. There will have to be some financing votes and funding votes. There may be some votes around property acquisition. There’s a whole host of questions council hasn’t turned their mind to yet,” he said.

The master agreement between the city and the province still reflects council’s former preference for a Scarborough LRT rather than its latest call for a subway. But the election wasn’t the only reason that agreement hasn’t moved ahead, according to one provincial source.

The city and Metrolinx are still negotiating the costs of about $85 million that Toronto was left holding when council cancelled the LRT.

If Metrolinx uses its procurement arm to reassign the light rail vehicles it contracted for Scarborough to another municipality, it’s possible some additional sunk costs could be avoided, said the source.

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It is also unclear whether the Scarborough subway even belongs in that agreement. Although it would use about $1.4 billion in provincial funding, the Scarborough subway would be a city-owned, city-built project, unlike the Eglinton, Sheppard East and Finch West LRTs.

With files from Jennifer Pagliaro

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