Provincial Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney is expected to talk to members of the Hamilton Transit Task Force before publicly releasing its recommendations on how to use the $1 billion in capital money that had been earmarked to build the now-cancelled light rail transit project.

The task force provided the minister with its recommendations on the March 16 deadline, but did not release them to the public or to Hamilton officials, said Courtney Anderson, seniors issues adviser from the ministry. The original deadline for the task force to complete its review was the end of February.

“We intend to make the key outputs of the task force public in due course, so please stay tuned,” said Anderson.

She said the minister will engage with the task force to undertake further due diligence such as making sure there is no commercially sensitive information prior to releasing the recommendations to the public. It is expected the meeting with the task force could take place in April.

Mulroney announced the creation of the five-member task force on Dec. 16, during a hastily called news conference at the Hamilton Sheraton Hotel. But the event was cancelled after word leaked out that the province was cancelling the LRT project because its budget had ballooned to over $5.5 billion.

The task force members had considered a number of alternative transit options, including expanding local highways, implementing bus rapid transit and improving the city’s overall transit system.

Mountain Coun. Terry Whitehead said he believed the recommendations could include referring any transit project, including LRT, back to council for a decision. He said any transit project that isn’t fully funded, including LRT, would be hard-pressed to get approved by council.

At the Feb. 5 general issues committee, councillors approved a motion urging the province to refrain from using a portion of the $1 billion for construction projects on Ontario highways or other provincial transportation facilities, such as GO Transit.

Whitehead said the task force members did not recommend expanding any highways using the $1-billion funding, an option that a majority of transit advocates opposed.

The task force rebuffed an in-person presentation by Mayor Fred Eisenberger, a strong supporter of LRT, who wanted to discuss how council decided to back LRT. Whitehead submitted a package outlining various studies about LRT.