Dalton McGuinty to Rob Ford: Full council approval needed on Toronto transit plan

Premier Dalton McGuinty is brushing aside Mayor Rob Ford’s charge that it would be “political suicide” not to run the Eglinton Ave. LRT fully underground.

And the premier made it clear that Ford should believe Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli when he said the provincial government will only consider transit plans approved by full city council — not the mayor alone.

“I think we’ve all been very clear in this regard,” McGuinty told reporters Monday, a day after Ford said on his first Sunday radio show on Newstalk 1010 that, “I don’t think (McGuinty) actually said it himself.”

“I gotta get a radio show, obviously,” the premier quipped.

“We have a responsibility to listen to decisions adopted by council as a whole,” he added after a breakfast speech to hundreds of municipal politicians in town for a convention.

The province has promised $8.4 billion towards public transit upgrades in Toronto, with Ford’s plan for more subways defeated in a recent city council vote.

TTC light rail plans are full speed ahead, regardless of politics

The Ford administration knows it can’t stop council-approved LRT plans and instead has turned its focus to long-term subway expansion for Toronto, say those close to the mayor.

In the wake of TTC chief Gary Webster’s dramatic public firing Tuesday, many have questioned whether Ford would once again try to unilaterally scrap the light rail strategy, as he did his first day in office.

But according to members of Ford’s inner circle, the administration realizes there isn’t provincial support to ignore council’s recent decision to resurrect Transit City. So while Metrolinx pursues the light-rail vision, Ford will continue calling for subways and setting the framework for his 2014 re-election campaign. And if he somehow does manage to finagle his subway vision back on the table now, well, that’s just gravy.

Councillor Frank Di Giorgio, one of the five TTC commissioners who voted to remove Webster, said the plan going forward is to adopt a strategy that incorporates consistent subway expansion.