Elections
Council has voted dozens of times since 2008 to advance Hamilton's light rail transit (LRT) project, including voting to submit the plan with a full funding request to the Province in 2013, and voting to accept full funding and implementation from the Province in 2015. Do you support completing the LRT plan? Why or why not?
Responses to the question: "Council has voted dozens of times since 2008 to advance Hamilton's light rail transit (LRT) project, including voting to submit the plan with a full funding request to the Province in 2013, and voting to accept full funding and implementation from the Province in 2015. Do you support completing the LRT plan? Why or why not?"
In This Page:
2 Candidate Responses (top)
| Ward 08 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Danko, John-Paul | Yes | Yes, I support completing the LRT plan. LRT has already proven to be a catalyst for jobs, new business and significant development. New tax revenue for the City along the LRT corridor helps to address one of Hamilton's most significant long term issues - an over reliance on residential taxpayers. New tax revenue downtown takes some of the tax pressure off of residents in Ward 8. LRT also speaks to our vision for the kind of City we want to be. With a population of 750,000 projected within the next 20 years, we have to make sure that Hamilton is competitive on the world stage. At some point, we can no longer be afraid of success. |
| Wicken, Colleen | No | I DO NOT support LRT! There are too many questions that have not been answered. We already have a two level City with the Mountain and the lower City I have spoken to some people who are concerned that this will create a divide between North and South in the lower city. This is not the "Field of Dream scenario where "If you build it they will come" This is a "We need a way to get there!" before we tear the heart out of the core.
The community at large was not given the opportunity to give their input into this project. Yes Metrolinx took their show on the road for the residents to see, however, the residents left frustrated as no one was available to answer their questions or concerns. This should have been a referendum on this ballot if we are concerned with future growth and the destruction of the core. We have not been given a firm annual maintenance cost but another $14,000,000.00 to $15,000,000.00 annually out of the taxpayers pocket is excessive. We have not be told what it will cost to ride the LRT, we have not been told how many buses will no longer be running through the lower city as they will become redundant once LRT is completed. We have not been told of the planned conversion of Main Street to TWO WAY TRAFFIC. This was made obvious by the placement of the HAMILTON sign in the forecourt of Hamilton City Hall. Kitchener has the tracks laid and the trains delivered but they still have no service! It has been indicated that the system will be tested before the end of the year. How long would the core of our city be impassable? While canvassing I had a long time resident suggest that if the LRT is a go, why not start it in the West end of the City Close McMaster and the Hospital send everyone home without pay until it is completed rather than expropriate and demolish the residences some of which are affordable housing which would add to our homeless percentage. There was and still is a way this could have been done without the destruction of the core, the loss of a number of thriving businesses and it would have eliminated heavy truck traffic and industrial loads on our downtown arterial roadways. We were not offered any option other than King Street. |
Response Summary (top)
| Brief Response | Count | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 1 | 50.0% |
| No | 1 | 50.0% |
| Maybe | 0 | 0.0% |
4 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)
| Ward 08 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Adams, Eve | ||
| Climie, Christopher | ||
| Ruddick, Steve | ||
| Simpson, Anthony | ||
