Doug Ford, left, and Olivia Chow shake hands following a mayoral debate when the two were opponents in October, 2014.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is pledging to work with Toronto mayor-elect Olivia Chow on common issues such as building more affordable housing, but urged her to get the city’s finances under control and vowed to forge ahead with his government’s plans to redevelop waterfront site Ontario Place over her objections.
Mr. Ford congratulated Ms. Chow for winning Monday’s mayoral by-election, despite previously warning that her election would be an “unmitigated disaster” for the city and endorsing rival candidate Mark Saunders, who finished a distant third.
The Premier said he’s shown a willingness to work with anyone, regardless of political stripe, and he and Ms. Chow share similar goals such as building infrastructure, expanding transit and creating good-paying jobs.
“During the election, you throw some mud back and forth, but I’ll tell you one thing: people expect us to work together and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Mr. Ford said at an unrelated skills-training announcement on Tuesday near Cambridge, Ont.
“We’re going to find common ground when we sit down, because she’s actually quite a nice person.”
Mr. Ford said last week that he was voting for former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders, and the Saunders campaign released a robocall on Friday featuring Mr. Ford’s endorsement.
The Premier said Tuesday that Mr. Saunders, who ran unsuccessfully for the Progressive Conservatives in the 2022 provincial election and served as a special adviser on the Ontario Place redevelopment, has been his friend for a long time.
“That’s what friends do,” he said. “I didn’t get involved in the election, until right at the very end, I did a quick robocall.”
Mr. Ford said he and Ms. Chow will find common ground on her pledge to build more housing in Toronto.
One of Ms. Chow’s signature proposals during the race was to build 25,000 rent-controlled homes on city-owned land. Mr. Ford said he supports building “affordable, attainable and purpose-built rentals and regular homes as well.”
Meanwhile, the city of Toronto is expecting a $1-billion shortfall in its operating budget this year, owing largely to a drop in transit revenues. Mr. Ford on Tuesday appeared to resist calls for more funding for Toronto, saying the province already spends billions of dollars a year on initiatives for social housing, childcare, public health and social assistance, and has committed to a $30-billion transit expansion plan. He said while the province will always support municipalities, there is a lot of waste still at Toronto city hall.
“We’re doing our fair share,” the Premier said. “One word of advice … get your fiscal house in order. You can’t come to the feds and the province all the time.”
Ms. Chow has also vowed to keep Ontario Place public, pushing back on Mr. Ford’s plans to redevelop the Toronto waterfront site with a luxury spa and waterpark, as well as moving the Ontario Science Centre from the city’s northeast to the waterfront.
Mr. Ford said the majority of the space will be open to the public but his government’s plans are “moving down the tracks pretty quickly.” He said the old site “sat there like a city dump for 15 years” and his government promises to turn it into a world-class destination.
“This is a provincial site. We’re going to do what’s right for the province,” Mr. Ford said. “We’re going to continue working hand in hand with the city … we’re going to get it done.”
Laura Stone