The mayor of a northwestern Ontario city with a stake in Toronto’s transportation has come forward in favour of the plan Rob Ford has declared “over.”

Keith Hobbs is hoping to convince Ford not to kill Transit City and the light-rail streetcars now being made at the 475,000 square-foot Bombardier plant in Hobbs’ city, Thunder Bay.

On his first day in office, Ford met with TTC General Manager Gary Webster and asked him to come up with a new transit plan consistent with his vision of scrapping streetcars and digging subway tunnels.

“[The new transit commission’s] first task will be to formally stop spending on a project we do not need anymore," Ford said on Dec. 1.

"Transit City is over, ladies and gentlemen."

Ford has stated he would not put the matter up for vote in council.

The existing provincial and municipal projects include nearly 400 streetcars and more than 200 subway cars – contracts worth $770 million. Bombardier says cancelling could cost Toronto taxpayers millions in fees.

Paul Pugh, the head of the Canadian Auto Workers Local 1075 which represents some Bombardier workers, figures meeting with Ford would be a waste of time

“Traffic is getting worse and worse in Toronto,’’ Pugh said in an interview with the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal. “Ford seems to think more automobiles are better but not everyone shares his views.

“Even the CAW doesn’t think it’s a good idea and we make automobiles.”