Statement by James Arlen

Provincial Leaders,

It's been years. Literally 8 years.

The beknighted local leadership in Hamilton is yet again working from the fictional "Letters from Wingfield Farms" Persephone Township playbook and doing their level best to derail or completely ruin the idea of Hamilton being a world-class city and truly regain its rightful place as the engine of Canada's economy.

I wrote about the parochial behaviour of our council in an article for Raise The Hammer all about area-rating transit investment (https://www.raisethehammer.org/article/2473/how_area_rating_transit_taxation_affects_decisions_on_transit) and the latest request ($300 million on top of the $811 million already committed) shows an alarming lack of comprehension about how to build a business case for transit.

With the Rapid Ready plan, Hamilton and Metrolinx have determined the best plan for higher-order transit in the city. Council voted to accept and promote the Rapid Ready plan.

In holding the province to its commitment for funding, as a citizen I ask that the province hold Hamilton to task and require the council's obedience in building the thing they voted for. Hamilton has a long history of voting for one thing and doing another - remember the Stadium, it was a renovation, not a complete rebuild. You don't want to look into any of the details, it would cause unnecessary tears.

I really do believe that the time has come for the Province (through Metrolinx) to take over the HSR (Hamilton Street Railroad) and run it with a sense of professionalism and an attempt to actually get things done. Off and on for more than 20 years, I've been a GO Transit user and while it has had its share of frustrations, it is infinitely better than the way that council, city staff and HSR staff run transit in our city.

Please help solve this problem. Do not leave it up to the children who inhabit our council chamber, they haven't learned the most basic lessons of life - they bully and shove like it is a playground, they are regularly caught in half-truths, conflicts and other foolish behaviour. And they are regularly re-elected by the s time. Build the LRT. Take over HSR and run it properly. Do what you promised. Make them do what they promised.

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