Monday's municipal elections were good news for those in Ontario who want to see rail transit projects get built.

Every city with a major light rail proposal under debate elected a mayor who either supports - or at the very least isn't opposed to - the proposal.

In an interview Tuesday with QP Briefing, Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca wouldn't tip his hand about where the biggest priorities would be in pushing projects forward. But he said Monday's results "bodes well" for the $29-billion in transportation funding the government has promised over the next decade.

"I think the clear message that everyone gave us provincially, and gave most if not all of our municipal partners, is that they want progress, they want results, and that's what we're going to have to work together to deliver," he said.

In Mississauga and Brampton, where a proposed $1.6-billion Hurontario LRT would connect the Port Credit and Brampton GO stations, Bonnie Crombie and and Linda Jeffrey are the new mayors respectively, and each are a strong proponent of the line. Both Crombie and outgoing mayor Hazel McCallion have said they expect the province to provide all of the project's funding.

Waterloo Region, which has already awarded a $1.9-billion contract to build and operate a light rail line, elected pro-LRT candidates in the cities and at the regional council level. (Ken Seiling is the new Waterloo Region chair, Dave Jaworsky was elected as Waterloo's mayor and Berry Vrbanovic was elected as Kitchener's mayor.) Queen's Park has committed $300 million to the LRT's capital cost of $818 million.

Ottawa, meanwhile, re-elected Jim Watson as mayor; he not only oversaw the start of construction for the first phase of a $2.1-billion LRT line, but has pushed for a large extension of the LRT into the Ottawa suburbs. The province kicked in $600-million on the first phase, but will be called on to provide more funding for the expansion.

The result in Hamilton was slightly more ambiguous, where new mayor Fred Eisenberger has said he supports an $860-million LRT proposal but wants council to "step back," give it some more study and build a better consensus around the project. Del Duca met with the Hamilton government in July and promised transit funding, although it isn't yet clear whether an LRT line would be fully funded by the provincial Liberals.

While Del Duca said these victories are good news, he also said it doesn't change his ministry's approach of supporting "business case research" on each project to decide about funding decisions.

"The work was ... already under way and will continue to be under way between the Ministry of Transportation and Metrolinx and many of these communities," he said. "I expect in the coming months that we'll have more to say about how we will roll out the investments."

In Toronto, meanwhile, new mayor John Tory's Smart Track proposal will now take centre stage as the city decides how to move forward on transit.

Smart Track proposes to use GO infrastructure for 90 per cent of its track, to be delivered and operated by Metrolinx, and to use the same fares as the TTC. It is planned to operate on the Stouffville and Kitchener GO lines, looping through Union Station and branching westward at Mt. Dennis.

Many commentators and journalists have pointed out that Smart Track lines up closely with the GO train electrification project the provincial government has already announced, though many questions have been raised about the engineering feasibility of some parts of Smart Track and the controversial tax increment funding mechanism (where the funding comes from fees on future development stimulated by the project.)

Tory has promised the line would cost $8 billion in total, with the city contributing one third, and would be operating by 2021.

Del Duca was vague but largely positive about what Smart Track means for the provincial government's electrification project.

"There are, from my reading of it, a number of opportunities for us to align ourselves with the prospective Smart Track proposal," he said. "It is, in fact, based largely on what we've committed to the people of Ontario. So I look forward to having the chance to sit down with Mr. Tory ... we'll work together on what I anticipate will be a very strong relationship."

The electorate speaks loudly – and the subtext spells LRT

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