The provincial Liberal government will contribute $1.4 billion to the extension of the Bloor-Danforth line through Scarborough, announced Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Glen Murray on Thursday.

Ontario Transportation Minister Glen Murray reaffirmed Thursday the province will contribute $1.4 billion toward replacement of the Scarborough Rapid Transit line with a three-stop Bloor-Danforth subway extension.

That set off fireworks at city hall, where council had, a day earlier, voted 28-16 in favour of a subway, abandoning plans for a cheaper seven-stop surface line fully funded by the province.

TTC chair Karen Stintz noted the vote was contingent on the province kicking in $1.8 billion — the full amount it had earmarked for LRT construction costs, with no deductions.

The extra cost of building a subway — about $1.1 billion — would be split between the city, through dedicated property tax hikes and other sources, and Ottawa through city applications for national infrastructure funds.

“At $1.4 billion (from the province), we cannot build a subway,” Stintz told reporters, clearly annoyed at Murray’s quickly drawn line in the sand. “If that’s their position, then the people of Toronto need to know that we’re not going to get a subway and it will be an LRT.”

Mayor Rob Ford, who has made subways a cornerstone of his mayoralty and nascent re-election campaign, was more diplomatic in a statement that welcomed a provincial commitment to underground transit in Scarborough.

“They are at the table and discussions are ongoing — we are moving in the right direction” to fund the gap between subway and LRT costs, Ford said.

But it appears there is no table, at least not one where the province is prepared to negotiate with the city.

Murray told the Star’s Tess Kalinowski after his news conference that $1.4 billion is the province’s final offer and will not change.

“I think we are very close to a subway,” he said. “We’re very happy with the decision of council. They gave us the clarity we asked for.”

He wants Ford, Stintz and other Toronto councillors to join him in demanding that the Stephen Harper government dig into its pocket to bridge any funding gap.

Councillors who expect the province to pitch in more are being “unreasonable,” he said, insisting the original $1.8 billion Scarborough LRT budget will be spent in Scarborough.

Some $320 million of it remains earmarked for Kennedy station upgrades to accommodate the Eglinton Crosstown line, while a further $85 million would be spent to renegotiate a light rail vehicle order and other LRT costs.

Stintz argued that council’s vote requires it to get the $1.8 billion commitment by Aug. 2, and then Toronto can apply for roughly $500 million from federal infrastructure funds, matching Toronto’s commitment.

If Toronto asks Ottawa for more, city taxpayers would have to match the higher amount, Stintz said. “Any way we look at it, the only way we can afford this subway is if we have $1.8 billion from the province,” she said.

Less than one day after Toronto council’s “historic” vote for a Scarborough subway, the multi-billion-dollar project appeared wobbly and in danger of being derailed by a funding feud.

Heightening the pressure and rhetoric around the issue is the Aug. 1 provincial byelection in Scarborough-Guildwood.

Murray announced the funding in the riding, flanked by politicians including the Liberal candidate, Mitzie Hunter.

“People in Scarborough will no longer be treated as second-class citizens when it comes to transit,” Murray told reporters.

Ontario Progressive Conservative transportation critic Frank Klees accused the Liberal government of opposing subways from the outset.

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“One day after the byelection was called, all of a sudden their support for subways was front and centre,” he said.

Back at city hall, Scarborough Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, who campaigned tirelessly to get approval for a subway, was delighted the province has committed funding and positive funding will be found.

“Our accountants will need to talk to their accountants and come up with the final number — a number we can all live with,” he said.

“The worst, worst, worst case scenario, if nobody ever budges anywhere, is this whole thing collapses and there’s no subway and no Liberal is ever elected again anywhere in Scarborough.”

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