Promises $840 million to Toronto transit

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Looking ahead to a potential fall election, federal NDP leader Jack Layton pledged $840 million to Toronto's public transit system through gas tax and carbon cap-and-trade revenues on Aug. 8.

Layton dropped by Bathurst subway station with his spouse and fellow NDP MP Olivia Chow to outline his party's plan to dedicate one cent per litre of the federal gas tax to transit across Canada.

That, he said, would add up to a total of $452 million going to Toronto transit over four years, with another $388 million going to public transit in the city as part of the NDP's carbon pricing plan.

Layton was quick to separate his own platform from the Liberals' proposed Green Shift carbon tax, suggesting it would wind up costing the TTC $18 million more due to increased diesel costs.

"What we're doing is proposing practical solutions," he said. "We think it's great that there's talk about pricing carbon, but we think ours is the better way."

Layton's plan calls for one cent of the federal excise tax on gas to be earmarked for public transit across the country. Transit systems would receive a share of the federal money collected based on ridership.

"A city like Toronto, with a large ridership, would get a large share of the money," he said.

Chow said dedicating money permanently and specifically to transit is a move that is long overdue, particularly given the TTC's struggles to hit its economic targets.

"Let's take the gas tax we're already paying and make it work for Toronto," she said. "Don't let other people tell you it can't be done."

The NDP's proposed carbon cap-and-trade plan would add more money to transit, Layton said, as heavily polluting corporations would be forced to pay for carbon credits in exchange for their carbon footprint.

Layton claimed the Liberals "have taken Toronto for granted for years," saying the TTC was badly underfunded after years of neglect from upper levels of government.

"The thing about transit is that it's got to be there every day, every month," he said. "That's why we're saying the gas tax has to come back to Toronto."

TTC Chair Adam Giambrone (Ward 18, Davenport) said he welcomed the pledge, noting that sustainable funding of the transit system - like that promised by Layton - was far more valuable than one-off funding announcements.

"We certainly welcome it when federal representatives talk seriously about public transit," he said. "It shows that they recognize that the federal government has a role in transit."

Giambrone added the cost of diesel has nearly doubled in recent years, making the need for sustainable funding all the more important.

Layton's announcement at Bathurst subway station was one in a series of similar stops the NDP leader made at transit stations in major cities across Canada.