Toronto rejects provincial loan to offset $86M budget shortfall

The city is saying no to a line of credit from the province to help make up for an $86-million budget shortfall.

Mayor John Tory said the loan broadly met the city’s objectives.

“However, after detailed examination of their proposal — which would require, among other things, the security of city-owned land, future provincial gas-tax transfers put up as security — we have concluded that the city can do better on its own,” Tory said at a news conference on Thursday afternoon.

“We thanked the province for its offer, but in the end we will take care of our own house.”

The city will now look at ways to save money to help make up for the shortfall on its own, and the mayor said it could stunt some growth.

“I want to be clear that this approach may carry other costs. It may well mean that we will have to press pause on come capital projects that can wait,” Tory said.

It is likely that the city will pull money from some projects to bridge the gap in the budget. However, Tory said the city won’t raise taxes or cut services.

Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong expressed frustration at the recent development.

“We were led to believe that the Liberal government would help us out, and thanks for nothing,” Minnan-Wong said to reporters after the announcement.

“They gave us no help at all. We’re going to have to find the money from somewhere else.”

With files from Cynthia Mulligan and Momin Qureshi

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