[thistleclub]

Secure money for LRT before 2018 election
(Hamilton Spectator, Andrew Dreschel, May 9 2016)

Coun. Sam Merulla is trying to lock-in the $1 billion for Hamilton's LRT to protect it from the unpredictable results of the 2018 provincial election.

Merulla says he's consulting with LRT co-ordinator Paul Johnson and Metrolinx staff to develop a way to legally secure the money before the province goes to the polls.

He intends to put it into a motion soon after Wednesday's vote to reaffirm council's support for building the 11-kilometre rail line through the centre of the lower city.

"Once we have confirmation from council that we do want LRT… then the second phase is to nail down a point-of-no-return with the province."

Nobody expects the governing Liberals — who announced the $1 billion funding last May — to pull the rug from under the project.

But with Premier Kathleen Wynne's popularity fading with voters, concerns about the impact of a possible change of government have been raised repeatedly at City Hall.

City manager Chris Murray included the awarding of the LRT contract to a private sector builder before the June, 2018, election as one of his short-term performance goals.

And Coun. Lloyd Ferguson has often urged LRT planners to get the contract signed and construction begun as early as possible in order to make a funding reversal more difficult.

The city expects the contract to be awarded in mid-2018, with major construction starting in 2019.

Coun. Chad Collins, who intends to vote against the LRT reaffirmation motion, notes that former Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak didn't support the Hamilton project and that new leader Patrick Brown has yet to make a statement. The party is currently developing its 2018 election platform.

"Can you imagine all the blood, sweat and tears of two years to only change government and they pull the plug on it," said Merulla.


Read it in full here.


Infrastructure Ontario FAQ:

Q1. What is Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP)?

AFP is an innovative way of financing and procuring large, complex public infrastructure projects. It makes the best use of private-sector resources and expertise to provide on time, on budget project delivery.

Under AFP, provincial ministries and / or project owners establish the scope and purpose of a project while design and construction work is financed and carried out by the private sector. Only after a project is completed will the private sector company be repaid by the province. In some cases, the private sector will also be responsible for the maintenance of a physical building or operation and rehabilitation of a roadway.

AFP allows large, complex infrastructure projects to be delivered more efficiently and cost effectively than traditional procurement. AFP also protects taxpayers from cost overruns by transferring project risks to the party who has the expertise, experience and ability to handle that risk best.