Hamilton LRT Cancellation — $5.5 Billion Scare Number, Then Revival
In December 2019, the Ford government abruptly cancelled the fully-funded Hamilton LRT, claiming costs had "ballooned" from $1 billion to $5.5 billion. Critics and the city revealed the province had included 30 years of operating costs to inflate the figure. Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney required a police escort out of Hamilton after the announcement. The project was eventually revived with federal support.
🚇 A reversed Transit policy from December 2019 · Well sourced
Updated · Created
"Responsible Fiscal Management"
Cancelling a project whose costs had "ballooned" from $1 billion to $5.5 billion to protect taxpayers from a runaway transit project.
"The costs had ballooned to $5.5 billion."
— Caroline Mulroney, Transportation Minister, December 2019
"Inflated Costs by Bundling 30 Years of Operations into the Headline"
The actual capital cost was approximately $3.4 billion. The $5.5 billion figure included 30 years of operating and maintenance costs — something never done for comparable provincial projects like the Ontario Line or Scarborough Subway Extension. Critics argue the creative accounting overstated the fiscal burden.
- The $5.5B figure included almost $2B in operating and maintenance costs over the project lifespansource
- No other Ontario transit project had operating costs bundled into the headline figuresource
- Minister Mulroney needed a police escort out of Hamilton after the chaotic announcementsource
- Project eventually revived with federal intervention, proving the cancellation had no fiscal justificationsource
This section represents editorial interpretation of documented evidence.
Figures are approximate, using publicly available Ontario cost data.
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