Ontario to spend $29B over 10 years on transit, transportation: Wynne
Posted April 14, 2014 3:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ontario will invest $29 billion in transit and transportation over the next 10 years, Premier Kathleen Wynne promised in Toronto on Tuesday.
Wynne said that money would be split nearly evenly between the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTA) and the rest of the province.
Up to $15 billion would be available for the GTHA, and nearly $14 billion would be available for investment in the rest of the province.
“No one in London or Sudbury will be expected to pay for projects in Toronto,” she said, speaking at the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
About $130 million will come from the existing HST collected on gas taxes. It will be redirected to the project, Wynne said.
She says the provincial portion of the gas tax — about $1.2 billion — will be used to build new transit, roads and bridges across the province. She’s also asking for money from Ottawas, but didn’t say how much.
“We need a more serious federal partner,” Wynne said.
Other details will be revealed in the budget, Wynne said.
The plan is long-term but the Liberal minority government is facing the possibility of a spring election. Wynne said she would “partner” with the Conservatives or the NDP — or, if necessary, voters to push the transit plan through.
‘If the opposition won’t support us, then I am happy to take our plan to the people,” Wynne said.
The other part of the transportation funding plan is new taxes. Wynne said the details for that will also be in the budget.
