Despite seeing his subway plan defeated earlier this month, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford pushed ahead with his goal for underground transit Wednesday and claimed a number of private developers were also on his side.
Ford met with several members of his team as well as developers at a closed-door meeting to gauge support for his $4.5-billion Sheppard subway expansion.
"They said, ‘Let's do it.' Every single person at that table. I said, ‘If you're against it let us know,' and not one person, not one developer said, ‘We're against it,'" Ford told reporters. "As a united group they said, ‘We want subways in this city, you're on the right path, and we can afford it.'"
Ford's plan calls to build the Sheppard subway line using private funds and building the Eglinton light rail line underground.
However, this vision is not supported by the majority of the councillors who would like to stick with a plan similar to Transit City.
That plan, originally approved in 2009, would see light rail lines built along Eglinton Avenue, Finch Avenue West and Sheppard Avenue East, while replacing the Scarborough Rapid Transit Line.
While Ford contends that his plans are feasible, some councillors argue that he is short on details.
"The mayor will say he wants subways, but the one thing we are still asking him to do is to provide us with a realistic, fiscally responsible plan," Coun. Josh Matlow told CP24.
"If he can provide a plan that actually makes sense I will consider it, but to build full subways out in the suburbs when we don't have the money for it isn't fiscally responsible, nor is it dealing with the reality."
The province has also become frustrated by the lack of progress on the city's transit debate. Premier Dalton McGuinty's government pledged $8.4 billion to build new transit lines across the city under the previous administration's Transit City plan, but this has been stalled by council's indecision.
