Statement by Jason Leach

As a resident of Hamilton it has been exciting to see our city develop plans for the first of several LRT lines that have the potential to transform the way we travel in this city, and to change the economic climate.
For too long Hamilton's old urban neighbourhoods have been ignored and have seen little economic investment for many decades. These same residents, along with provincial and federal funding partners have spent hundreds of millions in building suburban infrastructure in every corner of this city to support outlying growth, wider roads, new highways, big box plazas, residential communities and business parks.
For the first time in my 37 years in this city, we actually have the opportunity to invest in a transformational infrastructure project, beginning in the old, depressed urban parts of the city.
It's not 1970 anymore. It's 2014 and every single politician locally and provincially understands the huge shift in trends taking place in cities around Canada and the World. Our direct competitors: K-W, Mississauga, Brampton, Toronto, Ottawa and Burlington all understand the way of the future and are building, or planning LRT lines.
Hamilton deserves the opportunity to compete on a level playing field with these cities as we move into the future.

I'm not aware of a single Canadian city that built an LRT line, and didn't see huge economic growth along the route, and I'm not aware of a single city that hasn't repeatedly expanded the system once experiencing this tremendous growth.

Please commit to your promise of 100% capital funding for Hamilton's B-Line LRT and show the same level of faith and desire for growth here as you have in Toronto.

Thanks

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