Amid ‘power struggle’ in Ottawa, Chow calls on feds to speed funding for subways and housing

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow speaks ahead of a city council meeting Tuesday December 17, 2024.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is expressing concern that some of the political turmoil in Ottawa could impact important city projects and she’s calling on newly minted Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc to firm up some of the government’s commitments.

“While the power struggle continues in Ottawa, everyday residents’ needs must come first,” Chow said when asked by a reporter Tuesday whether she’s worried the sudden resignation of Chrystia Freeland as finance minister could impact funding the city was expecting from the federal government.

Just weeks ago, Freeland held a news conference with Chow to announce that the federal government would be committing $758 million through the Canada Public Transit Fund in order to purchase 55 subway trains to replace the aging trains in service on the TTC’s Line 2.

Freeland, who represents the Toronto riding of University—Rosedale, resigned as finance minister and from the federal cabinet Monday in a scathing open letter taking aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The same day Trudeau named Dominic LeBlanc as the country’s new finance minister.

“I’m calling on the new finance minister to before February 2025 sign the deal on ordering the 55 subway cars, continue or even expand its share of the funding to build affordable housing and feeding our kids,” Chow said Tuesday, referring to the subway deal and federal commitments on housing and school nutrition.

Toronto desperately needs the new subway trains to replace the current Line 2 fleet, which is nearing the end of its lifespan. The city and the province have together pledged $1.52 billion to buy the new trains.

While Ottawa has committed the money to help, the deal has not yet been signed.

Freeland’s resignation raises questions about whether Trudeau and his Liberals can weather the political storm and further delay an early election that many observers believe is unavoidable.

It’s not clear whether a Conservative government would honour the commitment Ottawa has made on subways, housing and school nutrition.

“The House won’t come back until the last week of January anyway. So let’s get all those things signed so that we can continue to move Toronto, get it moving, get public transit, build housing and feed kids,” Chow said.

Chow made the comments ahead of the last city council meeting of the year. Other items on the agenda include housing, an ombudsman’s report criticizing the city for shutting the base shelter system to asylum seekers, and the shrinking of the SmartTrack project from five stations to three because of growing costs.

With files from Phil Tsekouras