Statement by Nicholas Matteliano

The numerous benefits of building an LRT in Hamilton are not limited to our municipality – the benefits extend to the provincial, national, and international levels. Hence why both the federal and provincial governments have promised a combined $3.4 billion in financial support for the project.

At the local level, large expanses of neglected real estate have already been purchased so that dilapidated eyesores can be transformed into welcoming modern cityscapes. Thousands of jobs would also be created in the process.

This is especially important as the World Bank forecasts “the deepest recession since the Second World War, with the largest fraction of economies experiencing declines in per capita output since 1870” as we near the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. There isn’t anything else coming our way that could provide the economic stimulus promised by the LRT project.

Our market offers us the choice between a Ford or a Honda, for example, but not between a car and an LRT. That's just not one of the choices available in our market, and this is not a small point. Choices that involve common effort and solidarity and mutual support and concern for others need to be fostered by the government.

Only the government can realistically be expected to sufficiently invest in projects like the LRT that prioritize the common good over short-term costs. We need this project to create jobs and we need support for environmentally friendly mass transportation in order to survive the growing threat of environmental disaster.

Arguing that mass transportation is necessary to ensure our survival might sound like a stretch to some, but the successful implementation of rapid and extensive public transit systems like the LRT is critical to developing the momentum necessary at an international level to further serious support for fossil fuel replacements. We need to show that we appreciate such projects as worthwhile investments. The alternative is to knowingly continue on the path from climate change to climate disaster.

Some have expressed support for a BRT in favour of an LRT because of the cheaper up-front costs, but a BRT would be a fruitless compromise. LRTs have proven to be more reliable and cost-efficient in the long term according to numerous municipalities. LRTs also have a lower environmental cost.

BRTs are glorified busses – an inferior technology powered by diesel, furthering our dependency on fossil fuels. Only the LRT would provide a superior alternative to driving a car. Europe has invested in mass public transit, especially trains, to such an extent that it left North America behind decades ago.

We certainly have the cause and the means to rise to their standard.
Back in 2016, 154 distinguished scientists signed off on an open letter warning that “global warming, amplified by feedbacks from polar ice melt, methane release from permafrost, and extensive fires, may become irreversible,” with catastrophic consequences for life on Earth, humans included — and not in the distant future. Sea level rise and destruction of water resources as glaciers melt alone may have horrendous human consequences.

Furthermore, the global Doomsday Clock, which has been timing the likelihood of a global man-made catastrophe since 1947, has moved to 100 seconds before midnight as of last January – the closest it has ever been to literal doomsday. Bulletin's Science and Security Board, which maintains the clock, cites climate change as a severe part of the problem.

Even JP Morgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States and one of the biggest financiers of fossil fuels in the world, released an official memo last year on the extensive “climate damage” caused by the “producers and consumers of CO2 emissions.”

The need to stop climate change shouldn’t even have to be argued at this point and investing in eco-friendly mass transportation projects like the LRT is an important step towards achieving a solution. The fact that the LRT project will attract positive press by enhancing Hamilton’s aesthetic is merely an additional benefit.

Supporting the LRT means supporting what could be the most significant development in Hamilton’s history. Rejecting it means obstructing Canada’s national need to reduce our carbon footprint and deliver a powerful economic stimulus during a pandemic that has severely threatened the financial security of millions.

Do the right thing.

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