WATERLOO REGION — Waterloo Region may soon have a local voice on the provincial Metrolinx board created to deal with transportation in the Toronto and Hamilton area.

Former Kitchener mayor Carl Zehr is expected to receive the post, according to a caucus memo obtained by The Record.

But Zehr has no plans to wade into local controversy over light-rail-transit funding.

"I do not want, nor will I get in the middle of the debate that is going on right now about the funding because that is a political issue and my involvement on the Metrolinx board is to implement policy, it's not to create policy," Zehr said.

Zehr said he desired a seat on the board and was also asked to apply. However, he has not received anything formal from the government to confirm the appointment.

According to the memo, the appointments received cabinet approval May 27.

Metrolinx is the Crown corporation created to deal with transportation in the Toronto and Hamilton area. It doesn't include this region.

Zehr said his appointment would be significant, "to the extent that I will potentially be the first person outside of the greater Toronto and Hamilton area who will be serving on that board," said Zehr, adding he thinks that recognizes that the influence of transit and Metrolinx goes beyond those areas.

Region of Waterloo officials want to be added to the Metrolinx planning area to help them better access provincial funding for transit projects.

The issue has been heightened after the government recently announced full capital funding for light-rail projects in cities near Toronto.

"Certainly I don't think that it harms our position to have somebody in the Metrolinx board," Regional chair Ken Seiling said. "(Zehr) can't deliver up things specifically for us, but he certainly can make sure that our voice and our concerns are heard at the Metrolinx board."

Last week, the province committed $1 billion to fully fund capital costs of Hamilton's light-rail-transit line and GO Transit expansion.

In April, the provincial government announced $1.6 billion to pay for the Hurontario Line between Mississauga and Brampton.

"It's fair to say that the whole question of Metrolinx has been raised to a whole new plateau by those decisions," Seiling said.

In an interview last week, MPP Daiene Vernile (Kitchener Centre) said Transport Minister Steven Del Duca may expand the Metrolinx planning area.

"He is considering expanding the Metrolinx territory to include all areas that GO transit goes to and that's including Kitchener-Waterloo," Vernile said Friday. "We are definitely on the radar."

Zehr said he would have no role in who gets transit money.

"That is a Queen's Park decision, not a Metrolinx decision," he said.

Last week, MPPs Michael Harris (Kitchener-Conestoga) and Catherine Fife (Kitchener-Waterloo) held a joint news conference saying the region is getting the short straw.

They are crafting a petition to be presented to the provincial government, calling for "transit fairness."

Harris said in an interview he would fully support bringing this region into the Metrolinx area.

"You become part of a whole new pot of funds that are potentially available," he said. The region would have to compete with Toronto for funding, but "on our own merits we can compete against these areas."

In 2008, the province pledged to pay up to two-thirds of the cost of the local rapid-transit system. Documents obtained by The Record several years later showed that pledge was based on estimated project costs of $260 million.

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The province altered its funding commitment in 2010, changing the pledge to $300 million. The federal government committed to pay up to $265 million for the project.

The region expects capital costs for the 19 kilometres of light-rail track here to be $818 million.

A 30-year, $1.9-billion contract to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the system that will run from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park mall in Kitchener has been awarded to construction consortium GrandLinq.