The already-cool relationship between the Mayor and the Chair of the TTC is getting a little frostier.

The issue is a sole-source contract that the TTC approved for news stands in subway stations. The Mayor has publicly condemned the deal, and Councillor Karen Stintz said he should have spoken to her before going public with his criticism.

Ford tells says he did try to call Stintz, but couldn’t reach her. He offered his cell phone records as proof that he tried to reach her.

Stintz crashed a news conference the Mayor was holding yesterday. When someone from Ford’s office asked what she was doing there, she said she wanted to hear from the mayor. Afterwards, she played down the latest friction between them. Stintz says the mayor called his near-removal from office last Friday as a “humbling experience”, and that he was looking forward to working with council. She called the issue a reminder to her that she needs to make a better effort to communicate with the mayor.

The TTC is going to re-open the news stand contract and examine a second bid. But Stintz is convinced the Commission has made the right call on the $50-million deal.