Toronto’s mayor is maintaining a positive tone toward the federal government, despite accusations by Liberal MP Yvan Baker who says Olivia Chow is lying to Torontonians.

In the first of three telephone town halls about the City of Toronto budget, Mayor Chow said Tuesday night she remains optimistic the funding sought by the city will come through.

Staff in Chow’s office also declined to respond to comments by Baker who is a backbencher and represents the federal Toronto riding of Etobicoke-Centre.

He told various media outlets on Tuesday, Mayor Chow should remember all that the federal government has done for the city.

“This federal government has provided more funding for the City of Toronto than any federal government in Canadian history,” Baker claimed, “This federal government provides billions of dollars a year to fund everything from COVID to support asylum seekers, for housing, for transit, both operating funding and infrastructure funding and a lot more. And most of these expenditures and investments we’re making in the City of Toronto are actually provincial-municipal responsibilities.”

For her part, Mayor Chow has not endorsed a proposed property tax hike of 10.5-percent on top of a city staff proposed 6-percent increase, which apparently would be implemented unless Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government covers the $250-million the municipality of Toronto expects to spend this year to take care of refugee claimants.

For more information on the budget consultations, click here.