Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion is flabbergasted at news that Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell has proposed a last-minute alternative to the planned $1.5-billion LRT project to link the cities.

“Absolutely no way,” a visibly frustrated McCallion said Wednesday.

Fennell’s plan, which would send a Brampton Zum bus line down Hurontario St. to the Mississauga waterfront, mimics the planned LRT along the same route.

“We would have to agree to that. You can’t at the last minute bring up things when you had the opportunity to be involved from the beginning,” said McCallion, a strong advocate of the LRT.

The proposal also was a mystery to some Brampton councillors.

After Fennell made public statements criticizing the provincial Big Move transit initiative and its proposed funding, the Star asked her about alternatives. The mayor’s spokesperson sent an email Tuesday about the bus route proposal.

Brampton councillors John Sprovieri, John Sanderson, Grant Gibson and Elaine Moore said they had never heard of Fennell’s proposal and that the mayor has not addressed any LRT funding issues or led any council debate on the Metrolinx plan.

They said they were surprised that, without any council debate, Fennell publicly called Metrolinx’s 11 proposed revenue tools to pay for the Big Move’s annual $2-billion bill, “job killers.”

“We have heard nothing from our leader on this,” said Sanderson.

Considering the experts at Metrolinx have spent years planning the Big Move and coming up with the best possible funding options, it’s irresponsible to simply dismiss all their work, especially without any debate, he said.

“We should have been talking about it long before now. We need to be debating the proposed funding tools just like other municipalities are doing. We need to be at the table at Queen’s Park for Brampton, constantly. Just like Mayor McCallion.”

Sprovieri said council has made no decision about sending a Brampton bus service into Mississauga. “One city can’t announce a plan to send its bus service into another city before getting approval from that city.”

McCallion is also upset that Fennell last week said she supported Transportation Minister Glen Murray’s statement about revisiting the Big Move.

“I’m very pleased Glen Murray has made the observation that the plan was flawed and not supportable without the funds,” Fennell told the Globe and Mail.

After facing sharp criticism, Murray has since backed away from his remarks.

Fennell did not attend a Brampton council workshop Tuesday where staff outlined the proposed Big Move projects in Brampton, including the LRT.

Councillors were told that an Environics survey of Brampton residents revealed transit and gridlock is the number one issue on their mind, ahead of crime and safety.

During an LRT update Wednesday for Mississauga councillors, McCallion said she doesn’t know if it will be built in Brampton. “It will be built in Mississauga.”

McCallion has been pushing the Big Move since Premier Kathleen Wynne took office and has met with the premier privately.

On Monday, the Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO), which McCallion chairs, announced it had passed a resolution to support nine of the 11 funding tools proposed by Metrolinx. Only property taxes and transit fare increases were kept off the table.

“I don’t know what they’re doing in Brampton, if they’ve had any debate. I don’t know if it will be built north of Steeles, that’s their business,” McCallion said. “But the LRT will be built in Mississauga. Our council has discussed it and agrees that it’s necessary. We’re in a crisis. Others can do nothing and explain to their citizens why gridlock is getting worse.”

Oakville Mayor Rob Burton had harsh words for Fennell.

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“The economy of the whole province depends on the economy of the GTA, that’s what the LUMCO mayors said,” Burton noted, adding Fennell is pretty much alone in her views.

“She doesn’t come to many LUMCO meetings and doesn’t work with the rest of us. I hear her position for the first time in the newspaper. I wish she would be a better neighbour on this.”

Fennell was asked about LUMCO and its resolution supporting nine of the proposed revenue tools. She did not respond.

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