The Hamilton Anchor Institution Leadership (HAIL), a coalition of community leaders representing ArcelorMittal Dofasco, the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, the Hamilton Community Foundation, Hamilton Health Sciences, the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, McMaster University, Mohawk College and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, has been a consistent supporter of the Hamilton LRT project.

In response to this new funding commitment, they have written an open letter and taken out a full-page ad in the Hamilton Spectator to endorse the plan and urge City Council to accept it.

Following is the full text of the letter:

Anchor Institutions Welcome $3.4B Investment to Advance B-Line LRT

A Letter from Hamilton 's Anchor Institution Leadership (HAIL)

Dear Mayor Eisenberger and Members of Hamilton City Council,

We, the anchor institutions of Hamilton, thank the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario for their historic investment in rapid transit in Hamilton. A robust transit system is important for the health and prosperity of our city.

The B-Line LRT will improve mobility and quality of life in our community, reduce traffic congestion on our roads, improve our underground infrastructure, promote urban intensification and economic development, and unlock new investment in Hamilton that will generate revenue for other important city-building projects. The sooner construction of the B-line LRT begins, the sooner we will achieve these benefits for our citizens.

The commitments announced this week by Ministers McKenna and Mulroney emphasized the importance of shovel-ready projects to stimulate the post- pandemic economy. With this clarity and our full support for the completion of this project, we urge:

• the City of Hamilton and Metrolinx to re-start the LRT Joint Project Team to continue with the implementation of the B-Line LRT as part of the BLAST transit network;
• Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario to initiate the procurement process needed to get shovels in the ground as soon as possible, and;
• Hamilton City Council to make the prompt approval of the B-Line LRT operating agreement a top priority.

We gratefully acknowledge and value these critical funding contributions for a generational investment in rapid transit in Hamilton.

Faithfully,

Sean Donnelly

President & CEO

ArcelorMittal Dofasco

Keanin Loomis

President & CEO

Hamilton Chamber of Commerce

Terry Cooke

President & CEO

Hamilton Community Foundation

Rob MacIsaac

President & CEO

Hamilton Health Sciences

Howard Elliott

Chair

Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction

Manny Figueiredo

Director of Education

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board

David Farrar

President & Vice Chancellor

McMaster University

Ron J. McKerlie

President

Mohawk College

Melissa Ferrell

President

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton