Opinion polls no substitute for leadership
So a public-opinion poll commissioned by a number of city councillors shows a majority of respondents don’t support light rail transit. It’s not a massive majority, in fact it’s smaller than many predicted. Nonetheless, it is a majority.
So, should city council use the opportunity to once and for all change its official position and say no to LRT and the billion dollars attached? The opportunity exists tomorrow at a meeting to consider the project’s status and new environmental assessment. In a way, it would be the most honest thing for the growing number of councillors who oppose LRT to do. Stop sitting on the fence. Stop allowing the spending of millions upon millions of dollars for a project you have no intention of supporting.
That could happen. But there’s a better chance that enough fence-sitting councillors will vote yes tomorrow and keep the limping project alive. In our view, that would be a better outcome, but it also would mean the pro-LRT side has its work cut out for it to try and convince more people — councillors and citizens at large — that LRT is worthwhile.
It is, and always has been. In Kitchener-Waterloo, where the project is nearing completion, city officials report a significant increase in development applications and interest all along the route. LRT critics here have always maintained that promised benefit is mythical. Now that we can see it is not, they have changed their tune and say it’s not the right kind of development. (It’s a bit of a Donald Trump tactic — it’s not true, but even if it is it doesn’t matter because …)
It’s worthwhile because the $1 billion in provincial funding is the biggest ever provincial investment in Hamilton. If council changes its mind now, that money disappears back into the Metrolinx pot for other communities to eagerly go after. Hamilton loses it, and will have to pay for needed infrastructure upgrades that would have been covered by the billion. And if we can’t figure out now how to productively take advantage of this project, what does that say to the provincial government? What will it mean next time Hamilton wants funding? Why would any government trust a municipality that does this sort of reversal?
It is, because LRT-related development will add needed growth to the tax base. Ask Ancaster Councillor Lloyd Ferguson. The conservative-leaning businessman is not a traditional urbanist by any means, but he understands the value of LRT to his constituents as well as to the city overall, and says: “… if you don’t like the taxes you’re paying or the way they’ve gone up over 30 years, then you should like this project … It’s the reason the suburbs should support LRT.” And yet, for the most part his suburban and Mountain colleagues don’t agree. If Ferguson, with a proven business track record, can see it, why can’t they?