Delay means LRT is going off the rails

Barring a last-minute intervention, divine or otherwise, it looks like Hamilton’s LRT project is going off the rails.

Putting off the debate and vote for approving the environmental assessment until next Wednesday may be little more than a fig leaf.

What it boils down to is Mayor Fred Eisenberger was unable to round up the necessary two votes he needed to keep the $1 billion project rolling ahead.

Ostensibly, the delay is to allow councillors time to digest new community and staff information after another marathon City Hall meeting.

But the fear is, the real reason is councillors opposed to the project want time to come up with directions to staff for exploring either a Plan B or negotiations with Metrolinx and the province.

It may also be that the same councillors simply don’t have the courage to overtly kill the largest infrastructure project in Hamilton’s history without a decent interval.

If there is a forlorn hope of wooing fence-sitting or skeptical councillors over to the LRT camp, a dejected Sam Merulla, one of LRT’s most vocal supporters, certainly doesn’t see it.

“I’m not optimistic that it will be supported and it is truly a turning point for the City of Hamilton,” he said.

Going into the meeting, the procamp had six solid votes out of the 15 on deck.

There were high hopes that the two necessary to gain majority approval for the EA were to be had. And why not? The day before Terry Whitehead, Arlene VanderBeek, Donna Skelly, Maria Pearson and Doug Conley had all trekked over to KitchenerWaterloo to check out Waterloo Region’s ballyhooed LRT system, demonstrating at least a willingness to learn and possibly bend.

But seems a combination of concerns about unknown costs, the route, the technology, the process and a divided public remains insurmountable.

You could tell something was desperately wrong by late afternoon, when about halfway through the 50 or so delegations who had come to critique, support or condemn the project, Eisenberger had a brief, clearly frustrating, private exchange with Whitehead, who, backed by Judi Partridge, later proposed the new delay.

As the mayor walked away, it occurred to me that’s how Napoleon must have looked late in the day at Waterloo, as he felt his chances of winning trickling through his fingers.

As Eisenberger regained his seat, he began reflexively squeezing what looked like a malleable stress ball.

A few minutes later, after exchanging a quick word with Pearson, he seemed to almost have collapsed into himself as he returned to his chair.

Who knows exactly what was said in the adjoining room to the council chambers where councillors routinely eat their free lunch, remotely listen to the meeting through piped in audio and privately huddle to cut deals and line up votes.

But a scheme to delay the vote was obviously cooked up. That’s what happened in late March.

Back then, councillors said they needed more time to read the EA.

This time they just may want more time to compose LRT’s funeral oration.

As the mayor walked away, it occurred to me that’s how Napoleon must have looked