Suddenly, Doug Ford admits Toronto's finances aren't sustainable

While the news that Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow are creating a working group to tackle the city's financial problems may not sound all that startling, it actually marks a seismic shift for the man in charge at Queen's Park. 

For the last 14 years, since Ford ran for Toronto city council and his brother Rob became mayor, he has persistently hammered away at one message about Toronto's finances: city hall wastes taxpayer money.

After becoming premier in 2018, Ford kept at the same theme whenever Toronto's budget woes came up, repeatedly insisting that there were efficiencies to be had at Toronto City Hall.

But on Monday, during a 40-minute news conference that was totally focused on Toronto's finances, the words "efficiencies" and "waste" never crossed his lips. 

Instead, Ford talked about Toronto's need for "sustainable funding" and announced a plan to work with the city to fix its $1.5 billion budget hole. 

"Toronto is facing deep financial challenges that are no longer sustainable," he said. "We need governments to work together to deliver solutions that protect services, avoid new taxes, and put the city on a path towards long term financial stability."

Ford's marked change in tone opens the door to negotiations about the province taking on a greater share of the city's costs, what the government's news release calls "A New Deal For Toronto." 

Those negotiations will happen within the working group, made up of officials from provincial ministries and city departments, with the feds invited to join. Its deadline for delivering a deal is the end of November, in time for the city's next budget cycle. 

What's not up for discussion: the city's request for a new sales tax. "Any agreement established by the new-deal working group must … avoid new taxes and fees on hard-working residents of the city," said the news release. 

What also appears to be dead in the water: the city getting a share of the province's take from the HST. 

Ford seemed to contradict himself on this during the news conference. Asked by the Toronto Star if he would be open to giving the city a slice of the existing HST, he replied, "Not right now." 

When CBC News followed up to ask Chow for her reaction to that, Ford jumped in and said, "I didn't say existing tax."

WATCH | Ford and Chow had their first official meeting. Here's what they said about adding taxes:

Asked to clarify Ford's stance, a senior official in the premier's office threw cold water on the idea of giving Toronto a share of HST, saying it would prompt every municipality in the province to demand the same.