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.

(The Canadian Press)