OTTAWA -- Ontario’s Transportation Minister says the Ford government remains committed to funding Stage 2 of Ottawa’s LRT project, despite pulling the plug on LRT in Hamilton .
“We are certainly committed to Phase Two of the LRT in Ottawa,” Caroline Mulroney told reporters Monday. “We will commit our funding to Phase Two of the Ottawa LRT. Our officials are working closely with the City as they’re working on their issues, but we expect to partner with them in Phase Two.”
The Ontario government has pledged $1.2 billion toward Stage 2 of LRT.
The question was raised after Premier Doug Ford cancelled plans to fund a 17-stop LRT line in Hamilton, claiming costs have increased dramatically since 2014.
The previous Liberal government had pledged to cover the entire cost of the line, estimated at the time to be $1 billion, and Ford had promised during the 2018 provincial election to uphold that commitment.
But Ford said costs had increased to more than $5 billion since then.
“I don’t believe the previous government was honest with the people of Hamilton,” Ford said. “I believe that they knew that just the build alone was three billion, not to mention the operating, so it was five billion versus one billion.”
Stage 2 of Ottawa’s LRT extends the Confederation Line west to Moodie and Baseline and east to Trim. It also extends the Trillium Line south to Riverside South and the Ottawa Airport. The Trillium Line extension is expected to be complete by 2022, the eastern extension of the Confederation Line is expected to be complete by 2024, and the western link should be finished by 2025.
The $4.66 billion dollar cost of Stage 2 is split between the City, the Province, and the Federal government.
-With files from CTV’s Colin D’Mello and The Canadian Press.
