Justin Trudeau, a “good partner” for Toronto, according to municipal councilors

Nearly 10 years after his election, what is Justin Trudeau’s legacy in Toronto? Its main contributions concern housing and public transportation, many point out.

Joe Mihevc remembers Justin Trudeau coming to power in 2015.

He had come to city hall and when he arrived, the rotunda, on the ground floor, was full of people, both from outside and members of municipal staff and the municipal council, who welcomed him warmly hoping that good relations can be established between the City and the federal government says the former municipal councilor.

I think the arrival of Justin Trudeau was felt like a breath of fresh air. The more restrictive policies of Stephen Harper, the previous prime minister, were not well received in the city, we needed money for a whole range of things and we needed support from the federal government.

Ten years later, Mr. Mihevc says Justin Trudeau’s government has made some of the changes he hoped for and that some of its decisions have had positive impacts for Toronto, starting in the area of ​​housing.

Housing

Indeed, the Queen City received hundreds of millions of dollars from Justin Trudeau’s government to accelerate the creation of housing, in particular through programs like the Initiative for Rapid Housing Creation (ICRL), launched in 2020, or again the Fund to Accelerate Housing Construction, of which Toronto received the largest share in 2023.

According to John Tory, who served as mayor of Toronto from 2014 to 2023, these contributions truly met a dire need.

The government [Trudeau] was the first to release a very considerable amount of money, billions, which was very important for people who are among our most vulnerable citizenshe said.

Josh Matlow, Councilor Municipal De Toronto-St. Paul’sadds that the Trudeau government has also directly injected money into the city to help the homeless.

He also highlights the generous funding from the Trudeau government for the city’s public transportation.

In November 2024, Ottawa notably announced funding finally allowing Toronto to purchase new cars for line 2 of its metro.

What the Trudeau government has done is substantial and significant to improve the lives of Torontonians.

The metro cars of the line Bloor-Danforth are at the end of their life and replacing them is expensive. As a City, we cannot afford to change them alone and last year’s announcement that the federal government would help pay a third of the cost was very well receivedadds Professor Mihevc.

Funding this public transportation will constitute a very important economic, social and environmental legacy for Toronto and the regionadds John Tory.

In all these issues, housing, public transportation and the pandemic, the Trudeau government has been a good partner for the City of Toronto. Someone we could count on, who was there to support the City and some of its projects in a very important way.

The National School Food Program is another legacy of the Trudeau government, adds Joe Mihevc.

Hunger is a problem in Toronto and across Canada. The mayor [Olivia Chow] made this issue a personal matter, to ensure that, under her leadership, children who go to school have the support of the City, and she also managed to obtain the support of the federal governmenthe emphasizes.

A good partner

According to Joe Mihevc, Justin Trudeau had a good and fruitful relationship with Toronto.

The relationship doesn’t matter […] only if it produces good results and I think that housing, public transportation, food for students, help for refugees and the homeless are issues that are close to our hearts in Toronto and, for some of us between them a good amount of money was invested, which makes the differenceconcludes the professor.

Without a doubt, Justin Trudeau’s government has been a good partneradds Josh Matlow.

It even happened that the provincial government of Doug Ford did not want to be the same type of partner as the federal government, which bypassed it and worked directly with ussays the advisor.

It was a government that understood the importance of cities in Canada, the importance of Toronto, not just politically, but as the largest city in the country, and that benefited not only Toronto, but all cities, including in the Greater Toronto Area and across Canadaadds John Tory.

Mr Matlow hopes the next Prime Minister will also want to enter into partnerships and establish respectful relationships with the Queen City.

I hope to continue to have a partner in Ottawa who will see Toronto for what it is, Canada’s largest city, an important vector of our national economyhe said.

Deficit and taxes

For Jay Goldberg, Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Justin Trudeau’s legacy for Torontonians is rather negative.

He particularly highlights the budget deficit that the country is currently showing as well as the taxes put in place by the Trudeau government, such as the carbon tax.

There is not much positive in his legacy from a taxpayer perspective.

According to him, Torontonians are particularly affected by high taxes due to the already very high cost of living in the metropolis.

Although the Trudeau government has contributed financially to Toronto projects, such as housing or public transportation, this remains unnecessary given the significant budget deficit, he adds.

In the event of a deficit, all the money spent on the project is borrowed moneysouligne M. Goldberg.