Freeland rejects Toronto mayor Chow’s query for monetary support from federal executive

Shawn Jeffords · CBC Data

· Posted: Jul 24, 2023 3:07 PM EDT | Closing Up up to now: 1 hour in the past

Deputy High Minister Chrystia Freeland has rejected a seek recordsdata from from Toronto’s new mayor for hundreds of millions of bucks in monetary toughen for Canada’s glorious metropolis.

In a letter despatched to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow on Monday, Freeland says the federal executive has contributed over $6 billion to the metropolis because it used to be elected in 2015. And if extra support is main, Toronto ought to both pull money from its reserve accounts or manner Premier Doug Ford’s provincial executive.

“The flexibility of the federal executive to utilize is now not countless — and the emergency toughen we supplied in the midst of the pandemic led on to the amazing fiscal space that the province of Ontario in the in the intervening time enjoys,” Freeland writes in the letter to Chow.

The metropolis of Toronto faces a approach billion greenback fee range shortfall this year and Chow is appropriate basically the most smartly-liked member of metropolis council to query for federal and provincial assistance. Each faded mayor John Tory and deputy mayor Jennifer McKelvie waged public campaigns to get funding from each ranges of executive to duvet the shortfall which is largely associated to continued charges from the pandemic.

In most smartly-liked years, each the federal and provincial governments had supplied billions in funding to support the metropolis duvet those charges. But 2022 marked the first time the federal executive failed to present that funding even as the province gave Toronto quite loads of hundred millions to support handle the outlet.

Within the end, Toronto postponed millions in infrastructure work, pulling money from its capital fee range to steadiness its books, something that is required by legislation.

Freeland says that those funds might maybe per chance per chance duvet off the $933 million shortfall anticipated by the metropolis this year.

“As of September 30, 2022, Toronto’s whole reserves and reserve funds held a steadiness of $11.2 billion—up $2.2 billion, or 25 per cent, from 2021,” Freeland writes. “We estimate that within these reserves, at the very least $1.6 billion is readily accessible in uncommitted “stabilization” funds.”

Since taking place of job, Chow has spoken with each High Minister Justin Trudeau and Ford. The province has signalled a willingness to accomplice with the metropolis, she talked about.

“I remain hopeful that the federal executive will be part of us as smartly, despite this day’s finger-pointing,” Chow talked about.

“No longer too long in the past, after we labored together sheltering refugees, we noticed some instantaneous transient successes. That’s the roughly continued partnership we have to raise reasonable housing, mercurial and reliable transit, and excellent public companies for the folks of Toronto for years to approach motivate,” she added.

A spokesperson for Premier Doug Ford talked about the Ontario executive has supplied billions in funding to support the metropolis handle its COVID-19 shortfall.

“We hope the federal executive and Toronto can work together to gain a resolution,” Caitlin Clark talked about in a press originate.