Tory solidifies SmartTrack commitments from all three federal leaders

You’ve got to hand it Toronto Mayor John Tory – he’s smart enough to hedge his bets.

Instead of coming out in support of one party or another in the upcoming federal election, he’s praising all the federal leaders for their promised support of his SmartTrack transit initiative.

“We now have express commitments to fund SmartTrack from both Mr. Trudeau and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government,” Tory said in a statement Thursday morning. “NDP leader Thomas Mulcair has also committed to creating a transit fund that could fund the federal investment in SmartTrack.

Back in June, Harper pledged $2.6 billion in federal funding for SmartTrack. On Thursday, Trudeau said he was “fully committed to the federal share” of SmartTrack. And while Mulcair hasn’t committed to Tory’s transit plan on the record, he has pledged to provide the city with ample transit funding while allowing council to determine how to spend it.

“What is clear is we have real partners at both the provincial and federal level who will build transit in Toronto and understand the critical need for SmartTrack,” Tory said in his statement. “SmartTrack will be built. It will cut congestion on the Yonge subway line and our roadways, connect people to jobs and bring opportunity to all four corners of our city.”

And the good news for Toronto is that it won’t matter which federal party is in power after Oct. 19.

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