Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government assured Mayor John Tory that Toronto would get toll-enabling regulations plus a doubling of the gas tax, according to people involved in talks before Wynne yanked tolls off the table. The road to their split started in September when Tory went to Queen’s Park for a regular meeting with Wynne. For years council had been afraid to use new taxation powers in the 2006 City of Toronto Act, but Tory was persuaded it was time. On Jan. 17, a day before Wynne’s cabinet meeting, city manager Peter Wallace informally talked through how toll regulations could work with Steve Orsini, Wynne’s top civil servant. It had to be both tolls and gas tax.” Over the long term, tolls would earn the city more than $170 million per year.

Source: thestar January 29, 2017 11:02 UTC