Toronto council asks governments for $114 million to cover storm damage

Toronto city council has voted unanimously to ask the provincial and federal governments for a $114 million financial bailout following a year of extreme weather that wreaked havoc on Canada's largest city.

But the likelihood of them getting that much money seems unlikely considering it accounts for the cleanup cost from a flood that happened six months ago, which the province previously refused to cover.

In a special meeting held on Monday, council passed a motion to request $114 million from the two levels of government to cover two-thirds of an estimated $171 million in storm-related costs incurred by the city in 2013.

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Most of that cost comes from a late-December ice storm that ravaged the city to the tune of $106 million and left 300,000 people without power – some for as long as a week. But another $65 million was spent by the city in June, cleaning up flood damage following a powerful storm.

Toronto council further voted to ask Ontario's minister of municipal affairs and housing to declare the city a "disaster area" - a title that would allow it to access funds from the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program.

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Here's the rub: The province has already declined to cover the cost of the summer flood damage under that program. So if the city is to be reimbursed for that storm, it will have to come from other programs; perhaps even a newly-created one.

With a municipal election coming later this year, and many thinking a provincial election could quickly follow, one supposes there is no harm in asking again.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has further said he will join mayors of other Toronto-area municipalities in pushing the province for financial support. Mississauga says storm cleanup in that city will cost $25 million, while Brampton has pegged their damage at $51 million.