Regional councillor Doug Craig isn't quite as optimistic as Kitchener mayor Berry Vrbanovic when it comes to the federal government's 10-year $30 billion commitment to public transit.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Toronto earlier this week where he and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the Canada Public Transit Fund, a program that will begin injecting money into transit projects across the country in three categories starting in 2026.
The funding will be allocated to existing infrastructure, metro-region agreements for Canada's biggest cities and funding for specific things like rural communities, Indigenous communities and active transportation.
The plan also includes incentives for municipalities to meet high-density housing targets near major transit stations with no mandatory minimum parking requirements.
The day before the announcement, the prime minister was in Waterloo region to visit with the regional chair and local mayors, including Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett.
Local transit needs were no doubt on the table during the Tuesday discussion because following the prime minister's announcement the next day, the Kitchener mayor told the Waterloo Region Record the transit fund will be "transformational" for the region's various projects and key to funding Stage 2 of the ION route to Cambridge.
Craig doesn't buy it, however, knowing the cost of bringing the LRT to Cambridge is estimated at $4.5 billion, equal to a year and a half of what's available through the Canada Public Transit Fund.
That's for the entire country and competing interests from larger cities too numerous to mention, he said.
The funding may be good for Canada overall, he added, but that doesn't automatically mean it will flow into regional coffers to extend light rail transit, or much else for that matter.
"So, although it becomes a pocket of money, it's going to have a lot of interest and it's going to have a lot of competitors trying to get that funding," he said.
He thinks bigger cities in Ontario alone will capture most of the funding before Waterloo region.
Hamilton has been trying to get light rail transit for a decade, he said. Then there's Ottawa's LRT system, Toronto, Vancouver, all competing for the same pot of money.
"It's a very difficult situation still and I would say overall the $30 billion is nowhere close to what we need across Canada in terms of transportation networks."
There's also the possibility it will be cancelled under a new government.
An initial business case for Stage 2 is expected to be completed this fall and ultimately aims to secure federal and provincial funding.
In addition to that, however, the region is working on a business case for a GO Transit passenger rail line between Cambridge and Guelph estimated to cost at least $500 million.
The region is also working on plans to build a $100 million transit hub in Kitchener that will serve the ION, GO Transit and VIA Rail from a central station.
"It will come down to not just the merits of the proposal in a particular riding. It will come down to the strength of the representative to advocate for that money to come here," Craig said. "That's not going to happen very easily."
Craig also believes both of Waterloo region's transit projects are too far in the future to be shovel ready in time.
"We are not going to get a report on the GO train until September and then it will simply be a report," he said.
Once it's approved, it will take time to convince Metrolinx the proposal has merit in terms of providing proper transportation for the residents of Cambridge.
"That's going to be difficult when you think of all the competing interests in Metrolinx."
Craig calls the federal funding a "shining good example of what ought to be done" but it still isn't enough with so many competing interests and doesn't in any way guarantee Cambridge will get the GO train or the LRT.
With files from the Canadian Press.
