Posted March 24, 2017
This coming Tuesday, March 28, Councillors are making what ought to be a merely procedural vote to approve the Environmental Project Report amendment they directed staff to prepare on the LRT plan Council had already approved. (You can read the report under the agenda for the General Issues Committee meeting.)
Council has voted for LRT at least 52 times since 2008, including voting to accept full provincial funding, to establish an LRT office to work with Metrolinx, and to sign a Memorandum of Agreement that commits council to "proceed expeditiously, diligently and in good faith and in a co-operative and collaborative manner" to "facilitate and expedite the construction and completion of the Project."
Council is already fully committed to building LRT, so this report should be a mere formality. Instead, the meeting threatens to turn into a farce of anti-LRT grandstanding and brinkmanship that threatens the future of the project.
We need to send an impossible-to-ignore message to Council that we expect them to do their jobs, honour their commitments, remember their strategic vision for the city, and allow the LRT plan to move forward.
What you can do:
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Attend the March 28 meeting. It will be at City Hall, 71 Main Street West, in the Council Chamber starting at 9:30 AM. You can get the details of the meeting here.
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Make a delegation. Consider preparing a short statement - up to five minutes in duration - explaining your support for LRT to present to Councillors at the meeting. Be sure to fill in the delegation request form so the Clerks know to put you on the agenda.
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Send a message to Council. You can do this via the Hamilton Light Rail support statement form, or you can send an email directly to council and the City Clerk.
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Sign the LRT Support Petition. If you have not already done so, you can sign the petition here.
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Share this message. Please forward this to your family, friends and networks and ask them to add their voices of support. If we all work together, we can keep this transformational project on track!
Council needs to hear loud and clear that we expect them to keep their commitment to this once-in-a-generation project. We can't let cynicism and fear of change derail this project now that it is so close to completion!
