The municipality must cover anything outside of the approved Metrolinx plan.

Jeffrey said she wants an alternate route that “has a better business case than the approved, and fully funded, route, and does not cost the Brampton municipal taxpayer any more money to study or implement.”

“Otherwise, I cannot in good conscience ask my residents to foot the bill on a motion that seems to have been thrown together in the hopes of salvaging transit in our downtown," Jeffrey told The Guardian.

Her supporters on council accused rivals of maneuvering to ensure the Main Street surface route option is killed for good.

“To bring a major motion like this as an add-on, without any indication that it would be added to the agenda for debate, was surprising,” said Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon.

Brampton council’s decision to kill the Main Street surface route option on Oct. 27 sent hundreds of millions back to provincial coffers (between $200 million and $300 million), which will now be used to pay for other transit improvements via the Ontario Moving Forward fund.

Jeffrey’s rivals on council are now banking on Brampton’s Liberal connections to Queen’s Park and Ottawa, as well as the city’s position as a major transit hub, to renegotiate terms on a transit alignment for Main Street at Steeles Avenue.

Several routes have already been touted, including connecting the LRT to downtown GO west by way of McLaughlin Road or east via Kennedy.

Some councillors, however, aren’t convinced that choosing an alternate is the right direction for the city.

“We had one of the most debated, most studied and most publicized issues in our city’s history,” Dhillon said. “Staff already made their recommendations and yet (councillors) want staff to come up with three alternative routes? This is all for show.

Dhillon said transit planners have made clear that it would take five to six years to complete any further studies, assuming the government is even willing to continue discussions.

“This is a big loss for Brampton,” said Dhillon.