Skelly, however, pointed out the premier said in May that "It's never been LRT or nothing," in response to a reporter's questions about political uncertainty in Hamilton.

"With an election coming up ... perhaps it would be in the government's best interest to keep an open mind (about the $1 billion)," Skelly said.

Coun. Chad Collins has also called for a 2018 election referendum on LRT, arguing residents have never had a real chance to weigh in on the plan.

"We asked for money for the Rapid Ready plan. They gave us money for the back end of the plan," he said Friday, pointing to the city's long-term transit blueprint that calls for expanding bus service and growing demand on the road to eventual light rail transit. The city is still searching for hundreds of millions of dollars to expand bus service.

McMeekin said he doesn't support the idea of an "eleventh hour" LRT referendum — especially after his government was accused of dragging its heels on the 100 per cent funding commitment requested by council. "They even passed a motion telling us to get on with it … and we did," he said.

Eisenberger said Friday he's hoping a clear message from the province will encourage opponents of LRT to "stop playing games" and endangering a massive investment in the city via "misinformation."

"I know the province is concerned, I know the premier is concerned," said the mayor, who spoke to government members at an event honouring McMeekin last week.

"I imagine they're wondering what the heck is going on in Hamilton."

Matthew Van Dongen

Matthew Van Dongen is the city hall reporter for the Hamilton Spectator. Email | Twitter

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