Statement by Jason Leach

Ladies and Gents, it's disappointing to even be sending this email, but as a Hamilton taxpayer and citizen, I again would like to share my full support for our LRT and east end GO Station plans as outlined in the $1.3 billion provincial announcement last year.
It's odd to see all the hoopla that surrounds a handful of jobs at a new plant in Hamilton with millions in local subsidies handed out just to get various companies to locate here. Yet it appears as though some councillors may be willing to turn down the millions in salary and great paying jobs over many years without a dime of expense to the local taxpayer?

https://medium.com/@anthonymarco/hamilton-lrt-let-reason-triumph-41ca63f530b6#.z1idufqnh

Now is probably a good time to remind everyone of the phrase 'public servant'. Leaders do what is best for the entire city. I don't recall hearing this logic during construction of the Linc: "it only passes through a few wards and isn't accessible to a huge portion of the Hamilton population, so let's not build it".
It's called city-building. To pull out that kind of exceptionalism now smacks of elite classism towards the poorer neighbourhoods in Hamilton.
Surely our elected officials care equally about all residents in this city.

Many cities in Ontario and across Canada are building LRT systems and expanding ones that already exist. NO, a few councillors in Hamilton do not know something the rest of the world is unaware of.
LRT works, offers great economic uplift, great transit convenience and as we've seen in other cities, is always expanded with new lines in the years following construction of the initial line.
Of course some residents will complain about this. That's what people do.

Elected leaders make decisions with a 50 and 100 year lens. You are elected as city-builders, not mini Empire builders in your own wards.

Let's not turn down a massive investment in Hamilton over petty politics and mis-information.
In 50 and 100 years, none of us will be here. Will we hand over a growing, prospering, 21st Century city to our kids and grand-kids? Or will we squander yet another great chance to see Hamilton finally lose it's status as the donut hole in Southern Ontario.
K-W, London, Mississauga, Toronto, Ottawa, York Region are all cities building or planning LRT lines. There's a reason for that.
Let's not fall further behind our competition and continue to lag as a city.

Cheers

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