A Hamilton Mountain city councillor has unilaterally asked to meet with the Ontario premier over light rail transit (LRT) in Hamilton — a move the mayor is calling "disrespectful."

I guess he wants publicly to understand why he's supported the project for the last 10 years. - Sam Merulla , Ward 4 councillor

Terry Whitehead of Ward 8 wrote to Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca this week with LRT questions. In the letter, he references a May request to meet with Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Some councillors don't have an issue with that. But Mayor Fred Eisenberger said Whitehead should have consulted council.

Whitehead's LRT opposition tactics, the mayor said, are "unusual" and "attention getting."

"It's disrespectful to council to not have informed council this was potentially happening, or running it through the appropriate process," Eisenberger said.

"I have no doubt the minister and the premier probably get a few messages from rogue council members across the province. I'm sure they'll know exactly how to deal with it."

Any citizen has a right to ask to meet with the premier. - Aidan Johnson, Ward 1 councillor

In the letter, Whitehead said he appreciates the province pledging $1 billion to build the Metrolinx system here. But "there are a number of questions that I wish to gain clarity on."

Whitehead asked if council could modify the LRT route and still get the money. He also asked if the city would have to "go back to the end of the line" for transit funding if it doesn't accept this LRT project.

"Is the province willing to not fund the transit needs of one of the largest cities in the province because it chooses a different route/mode that it feels will serve its citizens better?" he wrote.

He also asked what happens if the project costs more than $1 billion.

'Everyone has the right to ask to meet with the premier, I guess'

Coun. Sam Merulla of Ward 4, who is pro-LRT, said he's fine with Whitehead's letter.

"Everyone has the right to ask to meet with the premier, I guess," he said, "as long as he's not meeting on behalf of council."

"I guess he wants publicly to understand why he's supported the project for the last 10 years."

Aidan Johnson, Ward 1 councillor, said he's fine with it as long as Whitehead doesn't misrepresent council's position. "Any citizen has a right to ask to meet with the premier."

Whitehead is a vocal skeptic of LRT. In July, he released a 58-page report based on his own research into the subject.

Councillor questions will be included in the Oct. 25 meeting

Jason Farr, Ward 2 councillor, called Whitehead's letter "just yet another effort, among so many others in the last four to six months, from a councillor who sits on the (LRT) committee and who has a lot of the answers already."

And if Whitehead needs more answers, Farr said, he can get them. Paul Johnson, the city's head of LRT, is meeting with councillors ahead of a special LRT meeting Oct. 25, Farr said. Johnson will incorporate the answers into that day's presentation.

Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson wasn't happy with the letter, calling it "not right." Coun. Brenda Johnson of Ward 11, meanwhile, hasn't read it yet.

But nearly every councillor has talked to a provincial minister one on one at some point, she said, "even if it's just at a get together."

Whitehead isn't the first councillor in recent memory to write to the premier on his own.

In 2014, then-Ward 1 councillor Brian McHattie wrote to the premier in favour of LRT, raising the ire of Mayor Bob Bratina. Some councillors didn't mind because McHattie was reaffirming city council's pro-LRT position. Others said he should have sent the letter as a mayoral candidate.