Former MP Tony Valeri will chair the Hamilton transportation task force

A union rep, a retired journalist anda former Liberal MP are among the members of a new Hamilton transportation task force that will decide how to spend $1 billion.

Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney announced the five-member task force Thursday. She struck the task force after the province cancelled Hamilton's plannedlight-rail transit (LRT) system, which Ontario pledged $1 billion to build.

Instead, Mulroney said, the task force will recommend how to spend the $1 billion in Hamilton. Options include widening highways, bus rapid transit or even a revived LRT project.

The task force will decide by the end of February. Here's a list of its members:

Tony Valeri (chair):Valeriis vice president of corporate affairsat ArcelorMittal Dofasco. He is also a former Liberal MP who was a federal minister of transport inPaul Martin's government.

Richard Brennan:Brennan is a retired journalist turned communications consultant who covered Queen's Park and Parliament Hill for the Toronto Star.

Anthony Primerano: He is director of government relations withthe Labourers International Union of North America (LiUNA).

Saiedeh Razavi:She is director of the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics and an associate professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, as well as chair in heavy construction at McMaster.

Janette Smith: Smith is Hamilton's city manager.

The task force "will play a vital rolein helping our government deliver $1 billion in transportation infrastructure investments in the City of Hamilton," Mulroney said in a media release.

In that same release, Valeri said he's"getting down to work on the possibilities for mass transit and transportation infrastructure more generally in our great city."

"I am committed to stewarding a process that will objectively identify the best and most realistic options for Hamilton."

Mulroney said she cancelled LRT after the province hired a third party consultant to do cost estimates, and that consultant found the system would cost more than anticipated. Mayor Fred Eisenberger, a staunch LRT supporter, has said he thinks those numbers are inflated.

Eisenbergersaid this week that he's still not happy about the task force. He won an election againsta competitor who made LRTa main campaign issue, he said. So residents have spoken.

In a statement Thursday, Eisenberger said the province "is known for appointing task forces and advisory panels to study and provide advice on complex matters. In this instance, they have sought unelected individuals to advise the province on what the best investment would be for transit, transportation and future development of our city."

Eisenberger said the city will support the task force's work, but he doesn't like how this unfolded.

"I will continue to object to the premier's inequitable treatment of Hamilton," he said.