Ontario’s Liberal government will make a “grave mistake” if it fails to properly fund social housing and transit in this spring’s budget, warned Mayor John Tory.

With Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa standing beside him, Tory insisted the provincial and federal governments will share the blame if the city must close social housing units because it can’t afford to repair them.

“Let me be very clear, any closure of such units would be a direct result of the inaction of the other governments to partner with in carrying out those repairs,” he said.

Tory met with Sousa Monday to discuss Toronto’s demands for cash to finance a number of priorities.

Relations between the city and provincial government have been strained ever since Premier Kathleen Wynne put the brakes on Tory’s plan to toll the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway to generate cash for transit.

Wynne had initially supported the toll plan.

Tory said Monday that he’s not happy about Wynne’s decision and it’s still not yet “business as usual” between the two governments.

Tory has used a number of speaking engagements and press conferences since Wynne’s announcement to aggressively call on the province for more funding.

“Today ... I stressed (Sousa’s) upcoming budget has to help Toronto,” Tory said. “That it is Ontario’s largest city, it’s Ontario’s economic powerhouse, and it’s Canada’s global champion and it needs a better deal with the province when it comes to transit, when it comes to housing, when it comes to the regional highways that we fund entirely.”

Tory also appeared to push back against a transit project important to the Liberal government — extending the Yonge St. subway line north into York Region. In January, the province gave $55 million to Metrolinx to begin planning the expansion.

But Tory said there can be no northward subway push if the city does not have a commitment first for a downtown relief line.

“I have previously indicated that I will not support such a northward extension of our Yonge St. subway without a funded relief project in hand,” he said. “It would be irresponsible to do otherwise.”

Sousa said Tory was clear with him about the city’s “concerns and demands”.

“I appreciate there is more to be done as we move forward,” he said. sjeffords@postmedia.com

Bromance over?



Is the John Tory-Charles Sousa bromance on the rocks?

Toronto’s mayor once said he and provincial Finance Minister Sousa were “long-standing friends.”

However, they held an awkward joint press conference after meeting Monday for the first time since Premier Kathleen Wynne in January rejected the mayor’s plan to toll the Gardiner and Don Valley Expressway.

Asked if he was sent to City Hall to play the good cop to Wynne’s toll-spiking bad cop, Sousa said that’s not what the meeting was about.

“This is about me, and the province and the premier putting forward a budget ... and it’s incumbent upon me to foster and include the priorities of the players involved,” he said. “Mayor Tory is a big player in this initiative.”

By his own admission, Tory hasn’t felt like much of a player at the provincial level lately, decrying he was treated like a boy in “short pants” during his regular trips to Queen’s Park.

Sousa and Tory have history, and both men alluded to it Monday. Sousa was Tory’s campaign when he ran unsuccessfully to be mayor of Toronto in 2003.

Tory told the Toronto Sun in 2015 he considered Sousa a “long-standing friend” and did try smooth things over with the Liberal minister Monday.

“I did explain to him that the comments I made are substantive in nature ... and not in any way indicative of what has been a good relationship we have had ... over the many years,” he said.

This isn’t the first time Tory and Sousa have differed publicly over provincial spending. In 2015, shortly after Tory took office, the province pulled $85 million in funding for social housing. At the time, the pair had a public spat over whether or not the province had agreed to re-instate the funding.

They appeared to sort out their differences then.

“We text and e-mail back and forth to each other and we have a perfectly cordial, productive relationship,” Tory said at the time.

sjeffords@postmedia.com