TORONTO, Ont. – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Toronto on Tuesday for help with the city’s guns and gangs problem after getting some assistance from the Ontario government.

Neither made a statement after the meeting.

Premier Dalton McGuinty emerged from a meeting with Ford on Monday to announce $12.5-million a year in permanent funding for anti-violence strategies, including $5-million for Toronto.

Ford had said he’d make a similar request for stable federal funding to Harper.

McGuinty had expected the federal government would attend Monday’s meeting at the Ontario legislature, and said it would have been nice if Ottawa had sent a representative.

Tuesday evening Mayor Ford released the following statement on his meeting with Harper:

“This afternoon, the Prime Minister and I met to discuss gang violence in the City of Toronto. We had a very productive conversation and agreed to continue working together to do everything we can to better protect our community.

“As you might know, I reached out to the Prime Minister following the Danzig Shooting and requested this meeting. We shared a number of ideas that will be followed up in the next weeks and months. This is the beginning of ongoing work to make sure we have the tools in place to better prevent gang violence and protect the public from criminals.”



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