EDMONTON — Federal funding for the Valley Line LRT was a hot topic at a municipal issues forum for federal candidates at Edmonton City Hall Tuesday night.
Liberal Karen Leibovici, Conservative Mike Lake, New Democrat Linda Duncan and Green Heather Workman took part in the forum, which gave Edmontonians a chance to see where each party stands on several major issues facing the city.
The mayor and council previously stated they felt Edmonton was getting the short end of the stick when it comes to transit funding, in comparison to other large cities like Calgary and Toronto.
Earlier this summer, the Conservative government announced Calgary and Toronto would receive upwards of one-third of the funding the cities need for transit projects. That’s compared to the 22 per cent funding promised to Edmonton.
Mayor Don Iveson said he was pleased with Tuesday’s discussion on LRT funding. He felt each party made it clear they were committed to working on the “transit funding discrepancy.”
“It sounds like all the parties want to work with us to equalize Edmonton’s share of transit funding around the Valley Line, so that was encouraging,” said Iveson.
“I think they’ve heard the message loud and clear and I think Edmontonians understand what equal treatment looks like,” he continued. “Any time it starts to look like we might not get equal treatment with Calgary or Toronto or Ottawa, Edmontonians start scratching their heads.”
Health Minister Rona Ambrose, the highest ranking cabinet minister from Edmonton, issued a statement Tuesday night saying the Conservatives are committed to keeping the conversation going.
“We are proud to support projects like Edmonton’s LRT as we work with our partners on promoting growth and building strong, prosperous communities. Recognizing the importance of this project to Edmontonians, a re-elected Conservative government would happily review a proposal put forward by the city to provide additional support to the LRT enhancement that is currently underway,” said Ambrose.
Iveson said Ambrose’s comments are encouraging.
“What she said today was a lot more straightforward and encouraging than our phone conversation a couple of months ago, which was pretty conditional,” he said.
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