Mayor left out of new committee lobbying Queen's Park on transit issues

Hamilton mayor Fred Eisenberger says he's not happy about an effort by some councillors — including some light rail transit (LRT) opponents — to talk local transit directly with the province, and calls the idea "redundant."

We seem to have these transit issues that come at us, and I think we need to deal with them.- Judi Partridge, Ward 15 councillor

Talking to the province on behalf of the city is a role traditionally filled by the mayor. But Eisenberger says he wasn't consulted about a new "Queen's Park transit liaison committee" — a group that would deal with the province on all-day GO train service, HSR improvements, light-rail transit (LRT), and other issues.

The mayor said he's been calling the councillor who introduced it — Judi Partridge of Ward 15 in Flamborough — since the motion passed at a subcommittee Tuesday to find out more.

"I'm not happy about it, to be honest."

The city already has a pair of city council committees that deal with LRT. It also has a government relations committee that lobbies the province on behalf of Hamilton.

Partridge said no one should be surprised. The idea came in the spring, she said, after some councillors felt left out of the loop when the mayor talked directly to Premier Kathleen Wynne about LRT.

That wasn't a "clean, smooth process," she said.

LRT has drifted in and out of council's list of priorities over the years, she said. But when Eisenberger was elected in 2014, it moved to the forefront. Some councillors, she said, felt left out of the process.

Eisenberger said council asked the province for full LRT funding numerous times, and he was just acting on that.

Partridge said this committee isn't about reopening LRT anyway. But of the suggested membership list of councillors — Chad Collins, Lloyd Ferguson, Sam Merulla, Terry Whitehead and Maria Pearson — three of them have been vocal LRT opponents or skeptics.

Pearson voted against LRT moving forward in August. Collins voted for it begrudgingly, and Whitehead after months of publicly questioning the project. Merulla and Ferguson are enthusiastic supporters.

'This is not about LRT'

Partridge, an LRT opponent, was initially on the membership list herself. She took her name off because she's running for the Liberals in the June provincial election.

"From my perspective, this is not about LRT."

The move comes as Hamilton city council grapples with missed routes, bus driver absences and a long, agonizing wait over who will run LRT.

Last month, HSR cancelled 589 buses on 28 routes because of driver absences, the city says. Absenteeism was at about 19 per cent, largely because of short- and long-term disabilities.

Council agreed to hire 58 new drivers in the coming months to try to beef up the system, but many gaps remain. The city, meanwhile, says it doesn't have enough money to improve transit in a meaningful way.

Five councillors working directly with Queen's Park

As for LRT, the city is in waiting mode. That's been the case since August, when a divided council asked the province to let HSR run LRT. The province still hasn't responded, and some fear it's holding up the project.

And despite years of promises, Metrolinx still doesn't have a plan for all-day GO train service to Hamilton.

Partridge's idea still has to cross a couple of hurdles. City council's audit, finance and administration committee needs to approve it next month, followed by city council.

"This liaison committee, how I see it, is to have a committee of five councillors who are working directly with Queen's Park on what transit will look like in our city," Partridge said.

"We seem to … I don't want to say stumble along, but we seem to have these transit issues that come at us, and I think we need to deal with them."