Ottawa may lose electric light rail for good: mayor

Mayor Larry O'Brien says he is launching a six-monthreview of mass transit in Ottawa, and electriclight railmay notbe part ofthe city'sfuture at all.

O'Brien voted Thursday along with 12 city councillors to kill both possible proposals for a north-south light rail line runningfrom Barrhaven toward downtown Ottawa.

That meansthe city forgoes for now$400 million in federal and provincial funding originally committed to the project,and mustalso back out of a contract with the companies slated to design, build and maintain the rail line.

But in an interview with CBC after the vote, O'Brien said the decision was the right one for the city.

'Anyone can sue anyone in today's world.' -Mayor Larry O'Brien

He added that voters spoke out against the light rail project when they chose a mayor and council opposed to it.

"Forty-seven per cent of the people said that they wanted a different definition of mass transit and we gave that to them today," he said, "and we'll take six months now to identify what that really means."

O'Brien insisted the federal and provincial funding remains on the table for Ottawa's transportation projects, but as of Friday morning, that had not been verified by the higher governments themselves.

O'Brien unfazed by threat of legal action

Nor was O'Brien worried about legal action from Siemens-PCL/Dufferin, whose $778.2-million light rail contract with the city was approved by the previous city council in July. The group sent a letter Wednesday informing the city that it "will pursue any and all legal actions" if the city scrapped the deal. Company officials refused to comment after council's decision was announced.

But city staff earlier in the day estimated that the companies' claim would likely be $250 million to $300 million.

When asked about the threat, O'Brien responded, "Anyone can sue anyone in today's world."

He added that most lawsuits are settled out of court for a fraction of the amount in the original claim, and it's in the Siemens consortium's best interests to keep a good working relationship with the city "because we have a big need for mass transit."

City staff say it will take at least four years to hammer out another major transit plan.

Decision 'so colossally stupid': councillor

O'Brien's outlook wasin sharp contrast to that of city councillors Diane Deans (Ward 10, Gloucester-Southgate)and Clive Doucet (Ward 17, Capital), two of the 11 councillors who voted to go ahead with the line and ended up on the losing side of the decision.

Doucet said theoutcome was "devastating."

"It's nine years for me of work," he said. "Our new vision for Ottawa has just gone down the drain. And it's so colossally stupid it's hard to put into words."

Deans agreed.

'Our new vision for Ottawa has just gone down the drain. And it's so colossally stupid it's hard to put into words.' Coun. Clive Doucet

"It achieves nothing except great big, colossal legal bills for the taxpayers in Ottawa," she said, adding that Thursday was one of the city's "darkest days."

Barrhaven residents disappointed

Meanwhile, many residents of Barrhaven in Ottawa's south end were similarly disappointed with the news.

Kathleen Currie, who works for the Canadian Forces, said the rail line would have cut her commute time.

"I am very disappointed because I work downtown in Ottawa and I was looking forward to using the light rail," she said.

Michelle Hope, who works in Barrhaven, said right now it can take more than an hour to take the bus downtown from the expanding community.

"There's so many people in Barrhaven and it's growing every day so we need something like that [light rail] so people can get around."

But even some Barrhaven residents, such as Anne Deschamps, thought council's decision was the right one.

"To spend that amount of money on north-south seems like a lot to me," said Deschamps, who says she rarely leaves Barrhaven and wouldn't have used the line.

"I think east-west [transit] needs a lot more consideration than it's been given."