Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report December 17, 2019

Quotation of the day

“This is a betrayal.”

Hamilton Mayor reacts as pulls out of the Hamilton LRT project. ​ ​

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The house is in winter recess until February 18, 2020.

‘It’s not gonna happen:’ Ford government pulls out of Hamilton LRT The PC government is cancelling the Hamilton LRT project, citing a five-fold cost increase over three decades.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger confirmed the news Monday afternoon after Transportation Minister ​ ​ ’s office abruptly cancelled a scheduled announcement at the Sheraton ​ Hamilton Hotel because of safety concerns. Police were reportedly called to the scene.

Moments later Mulroney issued a statement blaming the previous Liberal government — and naming ex-transportation minister (and current frontrunner in the OLP leadership contest) Steven Del Duca — for not being “upfront about the true cost” of the project. ​

According to Mulroney, the sticker price for the LRT ballooned to an “astonishing” $5.5 billion, ​ including capital costs, over 30 years.

That’s far above the $1 billion pledged by the former and current provincial governments.

While the Grits earmarked $1 billion to cover the total cost of the 14-kilometre, 17-stop light rail project, Mulroney says that, behind closed doors, the former government’s estimates forecast about $3 billion.

Mulroney enlisted an “expert third-party” to scrutinize the numbers, arriving at the $5.5 billion.

Eisenberger says that doesn’t add up.

“The true cost of the project would have been finalized when the request for proposals were delivered in March 2020. Estimates are estimates. Talking about numbers ahead of the RFP is malpractice,” the mayor said in a statement.

Eisenberger said he was “shocked” and “extremely disappointed,” pointing out other cities haven’t had their transit projects quashed.

“Although and projects are more expensive than advertised, they are going ahead. This is a betrayal by the province to the City of Hamilton.”

The PCs fulfilled a Liberal-era deal to fund ’s Confederation Line, which opened in September. It is slightly shorter and has five fewer stops than Hamilton’s planned LRT, but its $2.5 billion price tag included the cost of digging a 2.5-kilometre tunnel through Ottawa’s downtown. The second phase of Ottawa’s rail system is also moving ahead with provincial support.

“We’ve seen this time and time again over the last 18 months: makes stuff up to justify deep cuts. It’s a betrayal — especially after Mr. Ford and [local] MPP Donna Skelly ​ repeatedly told Hamiltonians that they’d build this LRT,” NDP Leader and Hamilton MPP said in a statement. ​

The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce also delivered a sharp rebuke. “It’s hard to hear the province’s ‘Open for Business’ mantra without laughing. This directly harms businesses and private investment in our city,” said chamber president Keanin Loomis. ​ ​

Loomis called the move “irresponsible and reckless management of hard earned tax dollars.”

Premier Doug Ford addressed the controversial announcement in an impromptu call to AM640. ​ ​

“It’s not gonna happen,” Ford told radio host John Oakley. It’s “not our fault,” he added, placing ​ ​ the onus on the Liberals, who “lied” to the city.

Ford was cagey when Oakley tried to pin him down on the figures. He noted the $5.5-billion forecast could include capital and operating costs over a number of years.

While his own government won’t “deliver something that puts a burden” on local businesses, Ford said he’d like to see Ottawa “step up” to bankroll it.

Del Duca fired back, calling the PCs “rudderless” and claiming they “have no plan,” noting there have been three transportation ministers in the 18-month-old Ford regime “and yet it seems that they’ve all been asleep at the switch.”

“From the first day he was elected, 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,” the former minister said in a release.

The project was expected to be complete by 2024, according to planning documents. As recently as May of this year, Metrolinx was purchasing large plots of land along the route. ​ ​

Mulroney says a $1-billion package is still on the table for “meaningful” transit in Hamilton and announced the creation of a task force that will draft a shortlist of alternative projects “that can be delivered quickly and in a fiscally responsible manner” by February.

Today’s events

December 17 at 9:36 a.m. – Mississauga ​ Heritage Minister Lisa MacLeod and Mississauga Mayor will make an ​ ​ ​ ​ announcement at BraeBen Golf Course.

December 17 at 9:45 a.m. – Toronto ​ Ontario’s public-sector unions will announce their anticipated legal challenge to the PC’s legislated one-per-cent wage cap, a.k.a. Bill 124, in the Queen’s Park media studio. ​ ​

December 17 at 11 a.m. – Parry Sound ​ Donna Skelly, parliamentary assistant to the economic development minister, and local MPP ​ will make an announcement at the Museum on Tower Hill. ​

December 17 at 12 p.m. – Toronto ​ Social Services Minister will make an announcement in the Queen’s Park media ​ ​ studio.

December 17 at 1 p.m. – Lucknow ​ Associate Energy Minister Bill Walker and Consumer Services Minister Lisa Thompson will ​ ​ ​ ​ make an announcement about natural gas expansion at Snobelen Farms.

December 17 at 2 p.m. – Mississauga ​ Long-Term Care Minister will make an announcement at Cooksville Care ​ ​ Centre.

December 17 at 3:30 p.m. – Ottawa ​ Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau and the provincial finance ministers wrap up their ​ ​ two-day tete-a-tete with a press conference.

December 17 at 3:45 p.m. – Ottawa ​ Federal Agriculture and Agri-food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau will hold a news conference ​ ​ following a meeting with her provincial and territorial counterparts.

Topics of conversation

● Talks between the province and union representing high school teachers scheduled for today have been called off by the mediator ahead of another one-day strike planned in some boards tomorrow. Queen’s Park Today confirmed the Ontario Secondary School ​ ​ Teachers’ Federation sent a memo informing members the mediator cancelled planned negotiations today because both sides are too far apart for further talks to be “beneficial.”

● Electric vehicle sales were down 55 per cent in the first six months of 2019 after the PC government cancelled a Liberal-era buyback program. According to data from Electric Mobility Canada the Canadian Press reported on, Ontario was the only province to see a ​ ​ slump in EV sales year-over-year, with 2,933 EVs sold in the second quarter of this year versus 7,110 sold during the same period last year. ○ In her annual report earlier this month, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk said the ​ ​ PC’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions wasn’t supported by “sound evidence” and in part relied on an expected 3,000-per cent jump in EVs on the road, but did not offer replacement measures to incentivize sales.

● GM’s plant will officially shutter its production plant as manufacturing of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra winds down this week. The facility will continue to produce auto parts, such as doors, hoods and fenders, and an advanced vehicle testing track is planned for the site.

News briefs — governmental

PCs to glean feedback on poverty reduction strategy ● The provincial government is seeking public input on ways it can help reduce poverty and will launch an online survey next month. The consultations, which happen every five years, will inform government actions, including setting a “specific and realistic target” for mitigating poverty.

Queen's Park Today is written by Sabrina Nanji, reporting from the Queen's Park press gallery.

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