The provincial government is not welcoming a proposal from Toronto Mayor Rob Ford that would reopen the city's transit plans for the fifth time in five years.

"We're in the middle of the municipal election now. I think you're going to see positions taken by a number of different candidates on a variety of different ways. But let's just build these damn transit lines," cabinet minister Brad Duguid said to reporters Friday morning.

The Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure was reacting to a proposal by Ford to bury the eastern section of the Eglinton Crosstown. The light rail line currently under construction is buried beneath the most densely-built part of the corridor it serves, but comes above ground to save construction costs in the less densely-built Toronto suburbs.

In an op-ed published in Friday morning's Toronto Sun, Ford said he would spend $250 million currently committed to streetscape improvements along Eglinton Avenue on burying the surface parts of the Crosstown.

Ford is currently running for re-election in the Oct. 27 municipal elections, and has consistently polled below 30 per cent.

The provincial government is unlikely to welcome any changes to Toronto's transit plans except for the ones it already supports: namely, the extension of the Danforth subway line into Scarborough that the Liberals agreed to in the midst of the August, 2013, byelection in Scarborough.

"I'm proud to be part of a government that's funding public transit. We're building the Scarborough subway," Duguid said. "I expect to see the Scarborough subway under construction sometime soon."

In fact, Metrolinx has estimated that the Scarborough subway could not begin construction until 2018, and could not open until 2023.

The Liberals have already set a precedent of bending to Toronto municipal elections, when they agreed in 2011 to cancel the proposed LRT lines along Finch and Sheppard to pay for the burial of the Eglinton Crosstown. That proposal was reversed in a 2012 vote by Toronto City Council.

The cost to bury the eastern surface section of the Eglinton Crosstown is estimated at more than $1 billion, a sum Duguid said the city would be on the hook for if Ford got his way.

"I'm waiting to see Mayor Ford, what taxes he's going to raise to find an extra billion dollars or so. I didn't see that in his announcement but I'm sure that's coming later in the campaign."

Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca backed up his colleague, telling QP Briefing the Liberals are taking their lead from the June 12 election, not the Toronto election to come.

"The Province has committed $8.4 billion to build rapid transit projects in Toronto, including the: Eglinton Crosstown LRT; Finch West LRT; Sheppard East LRT; and an extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway line into Scarborough. We have received a clear mandate from the City of Toronto and we are moving forward with that plan."

Duguid to Ford: ‘Let’s just build these damn transit lines’

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