Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory extended an olive branch to Ontario's largest city Friday by pledging "hundreds of millions" in public transit spending, and vowing to revitalize the economy by helping skilled immigrants and those with mental health problems land jobs.
Tory, who ran for Toronto mayor in 2003, focused on issues affecting the city in a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade on Friday afternoon.
His speech included a pledge to commit millions of dollars to transit funding.
"This policy will relieve significant financial pressure from the municipal tax base. It will give us essential transportation infrastructure. It will fight gridlock, so people can be more productive and spend more time with their families. It will help to clean up the environment.
"But it also meets one of the other tests that I've always set out in discussing how we must resolve the imbalance that exists between the province and the municipalities, including Toronto," Tory said. "The money, in this case that I'm talking about for transit and for roads, is part of a program that is permanent, it is predictable and it is transparent."
The Conservative leader promised to invest $800 million in Ontario transit programs, including $150 million in the first year, with much of that directed towards Toronto's transit problems.
Earlier in a morning interview with CBC Radio, Tory also said he will "personally lead the effort" to revitalize disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Ontario, particularly in Toronto.
Liberals slam Tory transit plan
The city's social fabric has been "strained" and needs strengthening, he said later at a campaign stop at a Salvation Army warehouse in the city's northeast end.
A Progressive Conservative government would help skilled immigrants and those with mental health problems land jobs to help revitalize some of the province's neighbourhoods, Tory said.
Helping people get good jobs can lift them out of "despair," he added.
Tory toured the warehouse and shook hands with workers as they assembled covers for central vacuuming systems. He also helped fill bins with cans of pasta and vegetables.
The Liberals criticized Tory's transit plan for not going far enough, claiming it means a $100-million cut with no accounting for a $17.5-billion program to invest in new rapid transit lines in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton.
"Conservatives cut all funding for public transit, and now John Tory's numbers — despite his rhetoric — mean another cut," Liberal Brad Duguid, parliamentary assistant to the Ontario minister of municipal affairs and housing, said in a release.
"He just hasn't thought this through."
Ontario Votes 2007 »
- McGuinty wins massive majority, Tory loses seat
- Dalton McGuinty won a second majority government for the Liberals in Ontario on Wednesday night, a triumph for a party that earlier expressed fears of a drop to minority status.
- Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum
- Ontario voters have rejected a proposed electoral reform that would have seen some provincial legislators chosen based on a party's share of the popular vote, results showed Thursday.
- Ontario voter turnout a record low
- The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in Wednesday's Ontario election hit an all-time low despite changes introduced in an effort to boost turnout.
- Ont. Green party scores 8 per cent of vote
- No Green party candidates made it to the Ontario legislature in Wednesday's election, but that defeat was sweetened by a swell in their share of the popular vote, which more than doubled.
- McGuinty only leader not facing leadership questions
- Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty won re-election in Ottawa South and NDP Leader Howard Hampton again won his northern Ontario riding of Kenora-Rainy River. PC Leader John Tory was defeated.
District Profiles
More Ontario Votes Headlines »
- McGuinty wins massive majority, Tory loses seat
- Dalton McGuinty won a second majority government for the Liberals in Ontario on Wednesday night, a triumph for a party that earlier expressed fears of a drop to minority status.
- Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum
- Ontario voters have rejected a proposed electoral reform that would have seen some provincial legislators chosen based on a party's share of the popular vote, results showed Thursday.
- Ontario voter turnout a record low
- The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in Wednesday's Ontario election hit an all-time low despite changes introduced in an effort to boost turnout.
- Ont. Green party scores 8 per cent of vote
- No Green party candidates made it to the Ontario legislature in Wednesday's election, but that defeat was sweetened by a swell in their share of the popular vote, which more than doubled.
- McGuinty only leader not facing leadership questions
- Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty won re-election in Ottawa South and NDP Leader Howard Hampton again won his northern Ontario riding of Kenora-Rainy River. PC Leader John Tory was defeated.
