Monday, June 16, 2008

Federal support for LRT in Ottawa

According to an article on Canada.com, federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon is poised to support the recently-approved plan for light-rail transit system overhaul in the City of Ottawa.

Not to undermine the importance of $200M that Cannon has re-pledged--becoming the third minister, after the amount was initially pledged by the Liberals and the re-pledged by John Baird before being withdrawn and, now, re-re-pledged--is the support that Cannon is, by virtue of this announcement, putting in the plan itself.

The $200M is a good start, but the city is going to need much more than that from federal sources if the light-rail plan, estimated to cost $4B or more, is ever going to be finished. With a $33B federal fund in the hands of Cannon and Transport Canada, Ottawa (the city) is naturally hoping the feds pull their weight.

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