No. H020/13
For release - February 22, 2013
OTTAWA — Mayor Jim Watson, accompanied by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Ottawa—Orléans MP Royal Galipeau and local Members of Provincial Parliament, officially welcomed Rideau Transit Group (RTG) to Ottawa today.
Today’s ceremonial signing event officially signalled the end of the planning and negotiation phase. Elected leaders from all three levels of government met to officially pass the shovel to RTG’s senior leadership to signify the beginning of the initial construction activities. On Tuesday, February 12, 2013, the City and RTG successfully concluded negotiations and achieved the Commercial and Financial close of the contract to design, build, finance and maintain Ottawa’s new Confederation Line light rail transit system.
Premier Kathleen Wynne, on her first official visit to Ottawa, was pleased to see the designs and details of the RTG plan. “Investing in public transit is fundamental to our future prosperity,” said Premier Wynne. “I am proud of the Ontario Government’s investment in Confederation Line, which is an excellent example of how transit infrastructure projects can help build our communities and our economy”.
Representing the Government of Canada, Ottawa—Orléans MP Royal Galipeau highlighted the city-wide benefits of the project. “The new east-west LRT corridor is an important job-creating project that will make public transit faster, safer and more convenient for workers in Ottawa. LRT will bring tremendous benefits to our City and the local economy, including thousands of new jobs, and we are pleased to see the project moving forward.”
Mayor Watson noted that RTG has already begun hiring local project staff. “The Confederation Line Project is going to give a big boost to Ottawa’s economy,” said Mayor Watson. “As we move into construction we can expect to see significant hiring, particularly in trades and skilled labour. The Confederation Line will provide many high quality full-time jobs during construction and will strengthen the City’s competitive advantage once completed.”
Gerry Grigoropoulos from the Rideau Transit Group noted that “Approximately 80% of all work will be completed locally. In addition, we will be developing educational opportunities and apprenticeships with local colleges and universities to improve local skill development. We are not only building a transit system we are building community partnerships that will last the next 35 years.”
Funding for the Confederation Line is being provided by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, and the City of Ottawa. The Government of Canada is contributing $600 million through the Building Canada Fund. The City will also allocate up to $192 million of its federal Gas Tax Fund transfers to this project. The Government of Ontario is contributing $600 million. In addition, the City will allocate $287 million of Provincial Gas Tax receipts to the capital infrastructure. The remaining project budget funds will come from development charge revenues and transit reserves.
– 30 –
For more information:
City of Ottawa
Media contact
613-580-2450
Public inquiries
ottawa.ca
3-1-1
Province of Ontario
James Berry
Minister’s Office
Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Toronto
416-327-2885
Bob Nichols
Communications
Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Toronto
416-327-1158
Government of Canada
Geneviève Sicard
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Denis Lebel
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Ottawa
613-991-0700
Media Relations
Transport Canada, Ottawa
613-993-0055
Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to e-news at www.tc.gc.ca/e-news or stay connected through RSS, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr to keep up to date on the latest from Transport Canada.
This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons living with visual disabilities.
