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QUEBEC – Premier François Legault says he hopes to form a common front with Ontario to convince Ottawa to cut the red tape in the arduous process of getting the federal government to dole out funding for public transit projects.

Legault said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should stop trying to deal directly with cities when it comes to funding and instead turn over the money to provinces with no strings attached.

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“What we want to do is work as a common front when we talk with Mr. Trudeau,” Legault said Friday as he arrived for question period, a few hours before he was to sit down with Ontario Premier Doug Ford for a casual dinner in Montreal.

“There are many public transit projects in Ontario, including the métro; there are many public transit projects in Quebec, but getting the federal share (of funding) is so very complicated.”

Legault cited last June’s saga in obtaining federal funding for the Quebec City tramway. Quebec had to negotiate with Mayor Valérie Plante to share some of Montreal’s federal funding with the provincial capital in return for a promise for future money for Plante’s proposed métro Pink Line.