Once elected as Ontario’s next Premier Doug Ford vowed he will make “Ontario once again the engine of Canada”.
“This LRT is a prime example of private sector investment. We have a consortium who is financing building and maintaining it and we have a tremendous development community who is really put all their investments in the downtown core, hedging their bets on this bet. We’re $100-million in and I can’t see a way out of this for Doug Ford and the PC government.” Matthew Green, councillor.
However the newly elected MPP for Hamilton Glanbrook-Flamborough, Donna Skelly, admitted to sharing her concerns over the LRT to Premier Ford during his campaign. At the time Hamilton’s Mayor Fred Eisenberger wasn’t pleased and tweeted
“She is a rookie Councillor who does not speak on behalf of the city. Council decided to move forward and she should stop undermining its decision. Doesn’t much care about Hamilton, just wants to be MPP”.
Now that she is a MPP, the former ward 7 Councillor says that it’s up to city council to determine how to spend the $1-billion in provincial funds.
“If they want to spend it on LRT the funding is there, if they want to spend it on much needed infrastructure or expanded transit the funding is there but that’s their decision.”
Leader of the opposition Andrea Horwath told reporters that she hopes council sticks to their plan. In the meantime, the mayor’s tune has changed in regards to Skelly tweeting,
“We will work collectively & respectfully together in the interest of improving & building our city of Hamilton as we have with all of our federal & provincial partners”.
As for the now empty Ward 7 council seat, it’ll be up for grabs in this fall’s municipal election.
