When Toronto City Coun. When Alejandra Bravo heard the announcement of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's resignation, her first reaction was, “What does this mean for Toronto?”
Trudeau's resignation as Liberal leader, the leadership race it's triggering and the subsequent federal election mean turmoil and uncertainty not only in Ottawa, but also for municipalities that rely on federal money for key priorities.
“Municipalities will have to deal with the consequences. And we don't have the necessary tools, and we certainly don't have the funding to deal with the challenges that we face,” Bravo said.
Those challenges include transit and housing — both priorities to which the federal government has committed money — and elected officials and advocates like Bravo are watching closely amid Ottawa's uncertain political future.
Mayor Olivia Chow did not speak to the media after Trudeau's announcement Monday, but in a brief statement, she thanked him for his service and said she would “remain focused” on her priorities.
A city dependent on Ottawa for transit, housing
One of the federal government's most recent pledges to the city came in November, with the announcement of $1.2 billion for the TTC — most of which is going toward buying new subway cars for Line 2.
“We know we need those trains for our transit system, to take people to work, to school, around town, to fight congestion. They're an important part of the local economy. If we don't get those new subways. Trains it really puts the entire transit system in jeopardy. It will,” Bravo said.
The previous major announcement was in late 2023, when Ottawa announced that Toronto would receive $471 million over three years through the Housing Accelerator Fund, to help the city build about 12,000 more homes.
The program's future may now be in jeopardy depending on the outcome of the upcoming federal election. Conservative leader Pierre Poilivre has previously said he would scrap it.
“It's always a challenge when it comes to this affordable housing world, because it requires all levels of government to be stable and supportive of each other,” said Mark Richardson, volunteer technical lead for the advocacy group HousingNowTO.
Richardson said he was hopeful that significant progress would be made on several housing projects this year, but with the timing of Trudeau's announcement and the city's need to build relationships with new federal leaders, he now worries that won't happen. case
“Now the next six to nine months will be spent on grounding and building things like political involvement, education, advocacy, campaigning, dealing with candidates, dealing with all of that. ” said Richardson.
Change can bring opportunity
Despite the challenges, some housing advocates think the changes in Ottawa could have some positive implications for the city and its focus on housing.
“Times of uncertainty and change are always opportunities,” said Brian Cheung, board member of the advocacy group More Neighbors Toronto.
“It will be interesting to see, is there a new slant or a new emphasis that's coming out of this conversation with the liberal leadership race?” Cheung said the general election will also provide an opportunity for opposition parties to further build and promote their accommodation platforms.
University of Toronto geography and planning professor Matti Siemiatiki agrees and says another Liberal leader could be motivated to appeal to constituents in Toronto and other cities.
“They need to find safe harbors, and so they can be highly motivated to focus on urban areas and try to advance policies that address some of these big issues, particularly around housing affordability and infrastructure.”
