Province is hobbling LRT progress

Say yes. Say no. But say something.

For reasons not immediately apparent, the provincial government appears to be dragging its feet on answering a crucial LRT question. Two months back, Hamilton council asked that the HSR be allowed to run the system — operate it, maintain it or some combination of the two. We opined at the time that the timing of that question was unfortunate, coming very late in the process and sending a signal of equivocation to the province, which is all too familiar with seeing that characteristic in Hamilton’s collective leadership.

Regardless, the request was made and can’t now be taken back. It’s not a complicated question. The province can say yes to operation and maintenance. Most agree that’s unlikely. It would put unappealing restrictions on the private-sector LRT operator, which has yet to be selected. And HSR staff have no current experience with maintaining light rail. Queen’s Park could say yes, but only to operation. It could say no, which would also be reasonable given that the understanding from the outset was that LRT will be a provincial asset operating in Hamilton.

It could open the door to HSR operational involvement, with the proviso that the local agency must demonstrate to LRT ownership that it’s as good an option as others the private operator might have in mind.

But as of this week, the province is saying nothing at all. That’s a problem. The answer has a dramatic impact on the request for proposals process, which is pending and cannot go forward without a clear answer on the HSR question. The outcome of the RFP process will go a long way to determining the working relationship between the city and operator, and as importantly the revenue-sharing agreement, which will shed light on ongoing operational costs to taxpayers. No RFP process means less certainty and more nagging questions. And time is passing, leading to the provincial election.

A natural question is: Why? Why is it taking this long? In the absence of concrete answers, we are left to speculate. Perhaps the government is leery of setting a precedent, although in other cities local transit staff operate LRT systems. Maybe it’s about not tying the hands of the private-sector owners.

Maybe whatever. It’s time the province gave a straightforward answer to a straightforward question.

One of the things provincial political leaders have often been critical of is that Hamilton has dithered and sent mixed signals on LRT. There’s no dithering on this end now. City council has united behind a yes. City and Metrolinx staff are ready and waiting to send out the RFPs. But their hands are tied until they know the province’s answer to the HSR question.

It’s time for Queen’s Park to speak up and get this process moving forward again.