TORONTO -- Ontario’s Auditor General will investigate the recently-cancelled Hamilton Light Rail Transit (LRT) project to determine whether projected cost would have been reasonable – a decision that comes in the wake of the controversial decision to scrap the project.
Bonnie Lysyk informed NDP Leader Andrea Horwath that the auditor’s office had already been conducting a value-for-money audit on the “reasonableness of cost estimates” for rapid transit projects in the province, and said the Hamilton transit line was one of the projects being examined.
The Progressive Conservative government cancelled the 17-stop light rail Monday after claiming the costs had ballooned to $5.5-billion dollars over the initial estimate of $1-billion announced by the former Liberal government.
Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney later admitted the government combined the projected $3-billion capital and $2-billion operating costs over a 30 year period to reach the $5.5-billion figure.
Horwath, whose Hamiton Centre riding would have been home to the LRT, wrote to the Auditor General on Dec. 18 to request a formal audit.
“The [transportation] minister is refusing to disclose the third-party consultant’s report that the Premier cites as validation for his figures, so the public has no way of independently assessing them,” Horwath wrote in her letter.
“The public deserves to receive honest and reasonable cost estimates when assessing the value of public transit projects that cost billions of dollars.”
Horwath also points to other light-rail projects, such as the Hurontario LRT and the Finch West LRT, which are similar in length to the Hamilton LRT and were projected to cost the same.
Lysyk said “Metrolinx governance and operations” will be reviewed as part of her audit as well.
