A police officer places a marker on Danzig Street in Toronto on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 . THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

TORONTO - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is looking to the federal government for help with the city's guns and gangs problem after getting some assistance from the Ontario government.

Premier Dalton McGuinty emerged from a meeting with Ford on Monday to announce $12.5 million a year in permanent funding for anti-violence strategies, including $5 million for Toronto.

Ford says he'll make a similar request for stable federal funding when he meets Prime Minister Stephen Harper today in Toronto.

But McGuinty says in fairness, the city of Toronto also has to find money to help fight its gun problem.

McGuinty had expected the federal government would attend Monday's meeting at the Ontario legislature, and says it would have been nice if Ottawa had sent a representative.

The province will also provide funding to help police forces in the Greater Toronto area and the Ontario Provincial Police co-ordinate their anti-gang strategies.

"I think it's a step in the right direction," said McGuinty following an hour-long, closed-door meeting with Ford and Police Chief Bill Blair.

The majority of the funding — $7.5 million — will go toward the Provincial Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy. The remaining $5 million will be allocated to the program in Toronto, which has led to nearly 22,000 arrests since its creation in 2006.

The two employ a total of 72 uniformed officers specially trained to prevent and quickly respond to high-risk police calls, including gang-related incidents.

The funding will ensure that the programs will continue into the future, said McGuinty.

In addition, the premier also announced that $1 million in funding, which had been set aside earlier, will go toward better integration between Toronto-area police forces and the provincial police. The funds will also be used to provide additional supports to local community groups.

"It's a very complicated problem and there's no one, magic solution," he said. "Any effective response will consist of a variety of different initiatives."

The summit was called following last week's mass shooting at a community barbecue in east Toronto that left two dead and 23 wounded.

Ford called the funding a "huge victory" for Toronto taxpayers and said he plans to ask for Harper for more "stable funding" for anti-crime initiatives when the two meet.

"We can't have any of this gun play continue," he said. "I'm going to do everything in my power to eliminate it."

According to the province, Toronto recorded its lowest murder rate in 25 years last year and violent crime rates have dropped 13 per cent since 2003.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2012