PC MPP or mayor of Toronto? Mammoliti ponders leap
Antonella Artuso
More from Antonella Artuso
Published:
March 15, 2018
Updated:
March 15, 2018 2:34 PM EDT
Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun
Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti isn’t ruling out a provincial run on the Doug Ford team, but says he’s leaning toward taking on Mayor John Tory in October’s municipal election.
“That is what my gut is telling me to do right now,” Mammoliti said Thursday. “And I think I’ve got enough ammunition on (Tory) already to convince the electorate that it’ll be very dangerous to cast your vote for him one more time.”
A vote for Tory is one for “future tax increases” — potentially highway tolls, property tax increases and fee hikes, Mammoliti said.
Toronto Mayor John Tory attendsThe Toronto Police Board meets today at Toronto Police Services Headquarters, on Feb. 22, 2018.
Meanwhile, suburban residents will be sending their taxes downtown for Tory’s pet projects “like his poodle park that’s going to cost us $3 billion at the end of the day,” he said.
“So someone needs to stop this stuff and go back to finding the savings in the bureaucracy before we start charging any more money for programs that we can’t afford any more,” he said.
The city says that the so-called “poodle park,” known as the Rail Deck Park, will cost about $1.7 billion, likely offset by development revenue and private donors.
Tory has also said recently that highway tolls will never get provincial support and the idea has been consigned to the scrap heap.
However, a recent report by the city’s financial officials warns of a pending revenue shortage, and the possible need for higher property taxes, because the city has become too reliant on the unreliable land transfer tax to make up funding shortfalls.
Ford, the newly-appointed PC leader, had planned to run against Tory. But with his decampment to Queen’s Park, no major candidates are currently challenging the mayor, who is seeking a second term.
Mammoliti said he has a good working relationship with Ford and might consider running as an MPP.
Don Peat, a spokesman for Tory, said the mayor’s record is clear — four city budgets in a row where tax increases were kept at or below the rate of inflation while still finding funds to invest in the TTC, Toronto Community Housing, recreation and child care.
“Just this week, we saw the federal and provincial governments commit almost $9 billion for Toronto’s priority transit projects,” Peat said in an e-mail. “This funding is only possible due to the cooperation and mutual respect between the city, the province and the federal government that has been fostered by Mayor Tory.”
aartuso@postmedia.com
PC MPP or mayor of Toronto? Mammoliti ponders leap | Toronto Sun
Antonella Artuso
More from Antonella Artuso
Published:
March 15, 2018
Updated:
March 15, 2018 2:34 PM EDT
Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun
Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti isn’t ruling out a provincial run on the Doug Ford team, but says he’s leaning toward taking on Mayor John Tory in October’s municipal election.
“That is what my gut is telling me to do right now,” Mammoliti said Thursday. “And I think I’ve got enough ammunition on (Tory) already to convince the electorate that it’ll be very dangerous to cast your vote for him one more time.”
A vote for Tory is one for “future tax increases” — potentially highway tolls, property tax increases and fee hikes, Mammoliti said.
Toronto Mayor John Tory attendsThe Toronto Police Board meets today at Toronto Police Services Headquarters, on Feb. 22, 2018.
Meanwhile, suburban residents will be sending their taxes downtown for Tory’s pet projects “like his poodle park that’s going to cost us $3 billion at the end of the day,” he said.
“So someone needs to stop this stuff and go back to finding the savings in the bureaucracy before we start charging any more money for programs that we can’t afford any more,” he said.
The city says that the so-called “poodle park,” known as the Rail Deck Park, will cost about $1.7 billion, likely offset by development revenue and private donors.
Tory has also said recently that highway tolls will never get provincial support and the idea has been consigned to the scrap heap.
However, a recent report by the city’s financial officials warns of a pending revenue shortage, and the possible need for higher property taxes, because the city has become too reliant on the unreliable land transfer tax to make up funding shortfalls.
Ford, the newly-appointed PC leader, had planned to run against Tory. But with his decampment to Queen’s Park, no major candidates are currently challenging the mayor, who is seeking a second term.
Mammoliti said he has a good working relationship with Ford and might consider running as an MPP.
Don Peat, a spokesman for Tory, said the mayor’s record is clear — four city budgets in a row where tax increases were kept at or below the rate of inflation while still finding funds to invest in the TTC, Toronto Community Housing, recreation and child care.
“Just this week, we saw the federal and provincial governments commit almost $9 billion for Toronto’s priority transit projects,” Peat said in an e-mail. “This funding is only possible due to the cooperation and mutual respect between the city, the province and the federal government that has been fostered by Mayor Tory.”
aartuso@postmedia.com
PC MPP or mayor of Toronto? Mammoliti ponders leap | Toronto Sun