Wynne rejects Toronto tolls, invests $31.5 billion to improve transit

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Premier Kathleen Wynne says the province will not support a plan to add road toll to the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway, but says Ontario municipalities will get a bigger share of gas tax money for transit.

During a press conference in Richmond Hill on Friday morning, Wynne announced “that the province has committed the $31.5 billion to towns and cities across Ontario to improve transportation infrastructure.”

Starting in 2019, the share of the gas tax that goes to municipalities will increase, but it will not increase the tax at gas stations.

Toronto Mayor John Tory expressed his disapproval of the decision, releasing a statement that said, “If the Ontario government has decided to deny a regulatory change requested by the overwhelming majority of City Council, the Mayor would expect the Provincial government to take serious and immediate action to address the city’s transit, transportation, childcare and housing needs.”

Tory had previously said that a $2 toll on the Gardiner and DVP would raise roughly $300 million per year to help with transit funding. The cost would be split between Toronto taxpayers and commuters from outside the city who use both arteries daily.