Local decisions belong at the local level, and that principle does not change depending on which decision is being made or who happens to agree with the outcome. Toronto residents elect a council and a TTC Board to make these calls, and the people who ride these routes every day are better placed to judge them than a ministry that does not.
On funding, the TTC carries a disproportionate share of its operating costs at the farebox compared to peer systems in Canada and abroad. That is not a Toronto failure, it is a funding structure that has not been revisited in decades. I will advocate for stable, predictable operating and capital contributions from both senior levels of government, because the alternative is what we have now: service pressure, deferred maintenance, and riders asked to absorb the difference.