Statement by Annette Caprice

City Councillors,
We, the people of Hamilton, have been offered a gift; a gift to the tune of $3.4B that won’t only give our city a much needed facelift and modernized transit system, it will help pay the costs for the much needed updating of our crumbling infrastructure. Without the LRT, the costs to update all of that infrastructure are costs that I, for one, don’t want added to my taxes, and if you decide to refuse the money that has been offered to us, the additional taxes that we will have to shell out to pay for the infrastructure ourselves will be your fault. Our taxes are high enough as it is. People’s wallets were already stretched pre-Covid, and now because of the pandemic, things have become that much worse. The added pressure of having to pay that much more in taxes to cover the costs of our failing infrastructure will surely break some homeowners. And that will be on your hands.

In 2018, we held an election that was about more than just choosing a mayor. It was the LRT referendum that Hamilton needed. At the time, we were considered a city that seemed very much divided on the matter. The core reason for that divide? A slander machine that was powered by one of your own. Sources say she paid money from her own wallet in hopes of turning the tide. She made up lies and used false information to sway support to her side. In turn, she did everything in her power to turn the people of Hamilton against the LRT, but despite her best efforts, it did not work! Hamilton voted Mayor Fred back in, ultimately saying YES to the LRT. Since that election, support for the LRT has continued to grow. People who were on the fence have become full on supporters, and some anti-LRTers have had a complete change of heart. We all know that the LRT will only benefit this city, so why turn it down? If at this point, you are still planning to vote no, it’s self-serving and the voters know it.

What happens if you vote no? This money is being offered for the LRT and the LRT only. There isn’t an option to accept the money and build a silly BRT instead. It’s the LRT or nothing. This 3.4 BILLION dollars is a gift of opportunity for our city. If you were to visit Europe, you’ll find a lot of cities with incredible LRT transit systems that are both used and adored. Like Hamilton, these European cities weren’t originally built to accommodate modern rail systems, but they made them work, and so can we!

Turn down this money and Hamilton will become a literal laughingstock. Who turns down $3.4 billion dollars??

Please do the right thing for the future of our city and its residents and vote YES to the LRT!

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