Since the Ion light rail transit system will stop short of Cambridge, should that city’s taxpayers have to contribute to it?
No, argues Mayor Doug Craig, who will introduce a motion to that effect at next week’s regional council meeting.
“The motion is simply about exempting the people of Cambridge from paying for the LRT,” he tells CTV News.
“We’re not getting the service, so I’m asking regional council that we only pay for the service we’re getting.”
Craig says he’s been hearing from residents who don’t see any “fairness” in Cambridge having to pay for the project – especially when Waterloo Region’s four townships, which also won’t see light rail service, have been exempted.
But Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr says it’s not unusual for the whole region to pay for a project that primarily benefits one of its municipalities.
“I think Cambridge has done very well by the region over the years, and will continue to do so,” he says.
“There are many things that … happen in one city or the other. We all pay for it as part of the region.”
Craig says he has no issue with Cambridge taxpayers paying for the rapid bus transit service that will begin in the city later this year.
