Comment 65115

By Fred Street (anonymous) | Posted June 23, 2011 at 14:43:24 in reply to Comment 65066

BTW, I said "LRT would immediately impact the lower city, Wards 1-5, so in theory you'd need to bring at least three other councillors around to advance the cause" because you might have fewer than 5 gimmes.

Example:

Councillor Sam Merulla says the provincial government won’t provide Hamilton with the funding it is expecting for rapid transit. “I’ve been informed that the money is not forthcoming from the province,” Merulla said Monday.... “We’re at the point where the entire community is engaged in a discussion that is more of a concept than a reality,” Merulla said. “I don’t want to go through a dog and pony show.”

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/482613--alderman-says-there-will-be-no-lrt-money-from-province


Councillor Chad Collins wonders if all this design work isn’t putting the cart before the horse, because the city doesn’t know what its ultimate financial contribution will be. There is nothing allocated in the capital budget, so Collins says the money will have to come from cutting back in other areas or from a tax increase. He says he doesn’t believe Hamilton taxpayers have an appetite for either option. “My concern is that this is starting to look a lot like the (Pan Am) stadium debate. We’re talking about buying property in some instances … and we don’t have a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities the city will have.” Collins says LRT is an important public debate, but until costs and senior government funding are known, the ongoing design work may be for nothing.

http://www.thespec.com/news/business/article/549656--lrt-planning-meetings-to-begin-tuesday

Permalink | Context

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds