Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, Caroline Mulroney held a meeting today with Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger to inform him the government will not be proceeding with the LRT project.
BREAKING: Province cancels last minute to speak about LRT in #hamont . Mayor says he is outraged that Ford government is pulling out of the project… but still comitting a billion dollars.
— Kelly Botelho (@botelhok) December 16, 2019
The reversal comes after Premier Doug Ford’s government promised during the 2018 election to move ahead with the transit project.
In a statement, Mulroney said the project will actually cost five times more than the previous government led us to believe. She says the former Liberal government, including former Transportation minister Steven Del Duca were not upfront about the true cost of the project. The project costs were initially estimated to be $1 billion in 2014 but have increased to $5.5 billion.
In a statement, Steven Del Duca said, ” Doug Ford has been searching for a way to kill the Hamilton LRT. Now, he has achieved his mission at great cost. A real leader would have just been honest with the people of Hamilton from the get-go.”
Mulroney was scheduled to speak at a press conference at 2:30 p.m. today but cancelled last minute.
This is no longer happening here. People are calling for the minister. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/lwP5iIg5p1
— Lisa Hepfner (@LisaHepfnerCHCH) December 16, 2019
In a statement, Mayor Fred Eisenberger says, “I am extremely disappointed by the Minister’s approach to informing the City of this announcement and for cancelling their scheduled media availability and briefing. No other projects have been quashed. Although Mississauga and Toronto projects are more expensive than advertised, they are going ahead. This is a betrayal by the province to the City of Hamilton. This will not only hurt Hamilton’s economy but Ontario’s economy. The message to the world is that Ontario is an unreliable partner. Ontario is not a place where you can do business because of the Ford government. Ford’s message to the world is take your business elsewhere”
My statement on #HamOnt LRT: https://t.co/jCLXcvR5qd pic.twitter.com/YP7lRdDh5D
— Fred Eisenberger (@HamiltonsMayor) December 16, 2019
More to come…
