Advertisement

Scott Thompson: Hamilton city councilors faced with confirming commitment to LRT, again

Hamilton's billion-dollar proposed LRT is expected to feature 17 stops across 14 km.
Hamilton's billion-dollar proposed LRT is expected to feature 17 stops across 14 km. City of Hamilton
We are about to find out who on Hamilton city council will stand up for LRT and who will not.
Leader of the Ontario P.C. Party Doug Ford announced on my show on Tuesday that he would let Hamilton decide whether it wants LRT, but that the city gets the money either way.

 

Story continues below advertisement
This is in contrast to the Liberals, who said the cash must be spent on LRT or Hamilton has to go to the back of the money line and start over.
Ford said it’s up to the voters to decide what it wants, and either way, the money is still Hamilton’s to spend.
What that means, no one knows for sure.
At least one city councillor, who says this is a game changer, wants the money spent on infrastructure and bus transportation instead of LRT.
But why spend provincial city building money on infrastructure maintenance that will get fixed anyway?
My fear is, just like the stadium, this will be an opportunity lost on a city council just looking to get re-elected.

If the deal is killed, what will we get in its place? A couple of new buses and some repaving Do you trust city council to manage that kind of money?

The Liberals said in a press release on Wednesday that Doug Ford would scrap the Hamilton LRT. Not true, he never said that.
But what Ford has done is throw the decision back to city council, and rightly so.
It will be interesting to see how some of the councillors will respond, when they have no one or no conditions to hide behind.
Story continues below advertisement
Scott Thompson hosts The Scott Thompson Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML

Sponsored content

AdChoices