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Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson weighed into the federal election debate Monday, saying the city is being shortchanged on LRT funding.

It’s the only city that signed up for the Harper Conservatives’ P3 program, making it the only major city to receive 25-per-cent federal funding for a major public transit project rather than the 33 per cent promised to Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary under a new funding program right before the election writ was dropped.

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“Edmontonians don’t like getting ripped off,” said Iveson, letting loose at executive committee in response to a report on Valley Line LRT funding.

“Here’s the great irony. We’re the only city that actually signed up and did what the feds wanted,” Iveson said. “If we had defied the federal government and said no … we would have gotten an extra $133.3 million.”

Photo by City of Edmonton

The provincial government hasn’t committed its third, either. But it offered Edmonton a $200-million interest free loan to make up the difference and said Edmonton can use any transit grants that become available in the future to decrease the amount the city has to borrow.