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Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford arrives with Ross Romano to speak at a campaign event in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on June 1, 2018.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government wants to speed up newly minted talks with Ottawa on a deal to fund a new francophone university, a plan the province itself put on hold last year in a move that angered some Franco-Ontarians and broke an election promise.

According to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail, in just the past few days, the two sides have exchanged drafts of a preliminary deal to split the $126-million cost 50-50. But no agreement has been signed as officials haggle over details, even as a federal election looms that could put the process in limbo.

Ross Romano, Ontario’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, and Caroline Mulroney, the province’s Minister of Francophone Affairs, issued a statement on Thursday saying they were in talks with Ottawa on “costing and planning” for the project. But they said the federal government needs to make a “concrete commitment” to fund the new university, to be based in Toronto.

In a letter sent Thursday to federal Official Languages Minister Mélanie Joly, Mr. Romano urges her to forego the preliminary deal under discussion and move directly to a full-funding commitment. A spokesman for Ms. Joly, Jeremy Ghio, said her office was still studying Ontario’s proposals.

A federal source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Ontario had not provided sufficiently detailed proposals and that officials from both governments still have to scrutinize the funding plans. Ontario’s renewed offer to fund half the project had just come in a phone call last month, the source said.

Originally promised in 2017 by the previous Liberals, Mr. Ford put the university on ice last November, citing the province’s deficit. The move, along with the shuttering of the province’s standalone French-language watchdog office, prompted an outcry and cost Mr. Ford francophone MPP Amanda Simard, who now sits as an independent. Quebec Premier François Legault, visiting Queen’s Park last November, told Mr. Ford he was disappointed. Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said at the time he expressed his concerns to Mr. Ford. Some feared Mr. Ford’s move could cost Mr. Scheer key votes among Quebeckers and Franco-Ontarians in the fall federal election.

Last January, Ms. Joly said Ottawa wanted to revive the project and could fund its half of the bill, but Ontario declined. Now, some critics claim Ontario’s recent reversal is mere politics, as Mr. Ford seeks to alleviate a headache his government created for Mr. Scheer before the federal election.

Guy Bourgouin, MPP for Mushkegowuk-James Bay and the Ontario NDP critic for francophone affairs, said ironclad funding commitments needed to be signed before the fall election, so that promises cannot be broken again. Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said a decision coming "on the eve of the federal election campaign suggests it’s more about helping Andrew Scheer than serving Franco-Ontarians.”

Doug Brewer, Mr. Romano’s chief of staff, denied the decision had anything to do with the federal election. He said the proposal would see Ottawa’s $63-million share fund the institution’s first four years, allowing Ontario to defer its own contribution until the last half of the eight-year startup plan, when the province’s finances are closer to balance.

Francophone advocates welcomed the news of a possible deal. Dyane Adam, chairwoman of the board of l’Université de l’Ontario français, said political speculation around the funding didn’t matter to her.

“You know what? I don’t really care,” she said in an interview, urging everyone involved to work quickly. “Whatever their motivations, both governments, they are at the table."

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