Very few issues in Brampton have been debated as long and hard as a potential LRT route connecting Mississauga to downtown Brampton.

The issue hit new levels of division after council voted 6-5 in 2015 to reject a fully provincially funded LRT line up Hurontario/Main Street. Instead, council voted to explore alternative routes along McLaughlin Road and/or Kennedy Road.

However, once council rejected the Hurontario/Main Street line, the promised provincial funding for the project disappeared with it.

The city has since spent $4.4 million on environmental studies for alternative routes that have no funding, and residents remain divided on which route any such future line may take. To date, there is no indication the province or federal government will provide funding for an LRT line moving forward.

So, where do the top four contenders for the mayor’s office in the Oct. 22 election stand on the issue?

Incumbent Linda Jeffrey has made her position on the matter clear. She voted in favour of the Hurontario/Main line back in 2015 and has been vocal in her opposition to alternative routes since.

“My decision-making is derived using data and evidence, and the fact is that the alternate routes were not approved by the staff both within the city and externally,” said Jeffrey. “Main Street was the approved route for connecting to the Brampton GO station,” she told The Brampton Guardian at the end of July.

Her position has not changed on the campaign trail.

“If I was re-elected on Oct. 22, one of the first things I would do would be to cancel the $4.4 million that we are spending on not just a sub-optimal route, a route that engineers and planners did not recommend — not once, but twice,” said Jeffrey during a candidate debate on Sept. 17 hosted by the Brampton Board of Trade (BBOT).

“Unless and until the provincial government agrees to fund higher-order transit in Brampton, this money is being spent wastefully and not on the right route. At this point, it makes no sense,” she added.