Tim Hudak shows support for Toronto by promising no money and mocking the city’s mayor

Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak spoke to the Toronto Board of Trade Friday, saying that while he wouldn’t endorse a specific candidate for mayor, he was entirely opposed to David Miller. While the assembled audience recovered from the shock of hearing a Conservative bash a former NDP member, Hudak followed up with something almost reality based:

Mr. Hudak said that as premier, “I would ensure the city gets some long-term certainty about the provincial supports that they can both expect and receive…Instead of recording apocalyptic subway ads, Toronto’s mayor could be today planning next year’s budget with confidence that the province is going to follow through.”

Hudak, a self-proclaimed conservative of the Mike Harris mould, didn’t indicate what specific amount of money he would commit to Toronto. He also insisted Toronto needed “reliable transit,” though, as the Star points out, he didn’t mention giving back the $4 billion in delayed Transit City funds. Combine the speech with comments from one of Hudak’s noisiest MPPs that Toronto should be kicked out of the province and it’s hard to know what to make of all this. The precedent isn’t very cheery: the last time the city had to rely on a Mike Harris–style conservative for money from Queen’s Park, it was from Mike Harris.

• Hudak vows secure funding for city if premier [Globe and Mail]