Toronto Mayor Rob Ford fired back on his critics over the city's transit future on Wednesday, calling for the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown transit line to be built underground.
Ford gathered with several councillors at a busy intersection at the corner of Eglinton Avenue and Victoria Park in Scarborough to illustrate the need for below-ground transit service to the area.
"I campaigned on building subways and I stand behind that commitment 100 per cent because it is the right thing to do," Ford said. "Putting trains down the middle of congested, jammed-up streets like the one behind us is not the answer. It is wrong."
"It is right for Scarborough, it is right for Toronto, it is right for everybody that lives in this community."
Seven of 10 city councillors who represent Scarborough have signed a letter supporting Ford's plan to put the LRT underground. And on Tuesday, the TTC board voted to block the release of a report detailing the pitfalls of tunneling the Eglinton LRT.
That comes during a tense battle over the fate of Toronto's transit system.
A collection of councillors including TTC chair Karen Stintz has been pushing for more of the Eglinton line to run above ground – similar to the plan included in Transit City, established by Ford's predecessor David Miller.
Ford campaigned on a promise to kill Transit City and establish a transit plan based on subways. Shortly after Ford was elected in 2010 he abandoned the former transit plan and launched a new strategy to build a subway line in Scarborough.
But Ford's authority to abandon Transit City was called into question this week when Coun. Joe Mihevc released a legal report which found the mayor could not legally change the plan without a vote from council.
With files from CTV Toronto's Scott Lightfoot
