Coun. Howard Moscoe has issued a pointed response to the provincial Liberal government's decision to delay $4 billion in Transit City funding.
The response comes in the form of a bumper sticker that shows a man bent over with three knives in his back. The text reads "Stabbed in the back by Dalton McGuinty" with the phrase “Transit City” underneath.
He had about 1,000 of the stickers printed.
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Transit City is the plan to develop a 120-kilometre network of light-rail transit for Toronto.
In its March 25 provincial budget, Premier Dalton McGuinty's government said it would be delaying about $4 billion worth of work on the megaproject, out of a total capital budget of about $9.5 billion.
Top city politicians such as Mayor David Miller and TTC chair Adam Giambrone have been working to keep up pressure on the province, which is wrestling with a $22-billion deficit, to restore full funding to build the lines.
The province did issue a letter last week saying it will construct all the lines, but it will take a total of 10 years instead of the original eight-year time frame.
On Monday, Moscoe (Ward 15, Eglinton-Lawrence) had this observation: "You know, on Eglinton, we dug a subway from the Allen Road back to Bathurst Street as the tail track for the subway. It cost $100 million to fill it back in when (then Progressive Conservative premier) Mike Harris made us fill it in (in the mid-1990s).
"It's waiting to be built, the Eglinton subway, and we want to build it. So McGuinty, if you break your promises, suffer the consequences," he said.
The proposed Eglinton LRT line runs through Moscoe's ward.
Even if the project goes ahead with the extended timeline, Moscoe said jobs will be lost.
The mayor's office told CTV News that Moscoe is entitled to his opinion.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Alicia Markson
