Bratina calls for parliamentary budget office to review Hamilton's $3.4B LRT offer

Liberal MP Bob Bratina says he has formally asked the parliamentary budget office to review the multi-billion dollar joint commitment from the federal and provincial governments to build light-rail transit (LRT) in Hamilton. 

Each government has offered $1.7 billion toward capital costs, amounting to a total $3.4-billion deal. 

The Hamilton East–Stoney Creek MP said in a media release Monday that he believes his own "government's insistence that the funding be tied to LRT infringes on city council's responsibility to effectively prioritize solutions for the city."

"I'm asking the PBO to determine if the Hamilton LRT project fully complies with the Investing in Canada infrastructure program criteria, and whether the announced project cost and funding is adequate to achieve the objectives of the project," he said. 

Bratina has previously said he wouldn't run in the next federal election because of his government's support for the project. 

The office of the PBO confirmed receipt of this request, which would analyse the federal government's contribution.

"The PBO is considering the request and the decision to proceed or not," it said. "The timing of analysis will depend on the level of interest from other parliamentarians as well as non-discretionary projects we are legally obliged to undertake pursuant to the Parliament of Canada Act."

Catherine McKenna, federal minister of infrastructure and communities, and Caroline Mulroney, Ontario minister of transportation, announced the joint commitment in May. 

Both ministers have made it clear that the money is only for LRT. A bus rapid transit (BRT) system, which has been raised by some councillors as more preferable, isn't an option. 

The release said Bratina was "extremely concerned" that major funding decisions could happen on the "whim of a minister who has consulted only like-minded individuals." He called the LRT a "pet project."

A joint statement from McKenna and Labour Minister Filomena Tassi said that Metrolinx had presented the financial information and it was up to council to make a decision. 

"MP Bob Bratina's position on this project is well known, dating back more than a decade. Of course he has been involved in numerous discussions and engagements about the project and the federal government's role in it," they said in a statement.

"Success on large, complex projects requires all orders of government to work together, and we remain committed to working with provincial and municipal leaders to get them built and create jobs."

Councillors have mixed support

The ask comes nearly two weeks after Metrolinx and the Ministry of Transportation spent around six hours briefing Hamilton city council's general issues committee on the deal. 

City councillors said they still needed more time to decide on whether to take another step toward LRT. 

City staff were asked to look into net operating costs as well as supportive development that is ongoing, planned, or approved along the 14-kilometre line from McMaster University to Eastgate.

That information comes back to the committee on Wednesday. If the project does move forward, it would be the second time the city has hammered out a memorandum of understanding with Metrolinx for LRT.

'Out of the blue' deal

City councillors are divided in their support, with those in favour saying that LRT would bring economic uplift that would benefit outlying areas and reduce long-term congestion, among other benefits.

But those opposed fear operating costs — which the city must pay — would put undue hardship on taxpayers. 

James Nowlan, assistant deputy minister of agency oversight and programs with the Ministry of Transportation, provided the city councillors with an estimate: $600 million gross over 30 years, or $20 million a year.

"LRT is not a transit solution for Hamilton," Bratina said. "This deal came out of the blue a year after the project was cancelled by the province due to its prohibitive cost."

The project first originated in 2007, when the city used a Metrolinx grant for an environmental assessment. While several routes have been proposed over the years, this one — which runs alternately down King and Main streets — is a return to the original.

The previous Ontario Liberal government committed $1 billion to the project in 2015. Mulroney's PC government cancelled it in December 2019, saying costs had ballooned and Hamilton wouldn't be able to burden them. 

In February, the province said it would pitch in $1 billion as long as the federal government helped out too.