Eisenberger says important issue is keeping him from Wynne meeting

Mayor Fred Eisenberger says he has a very goodreason why he can't make it to a Queen's Park meetingwith the premier about transit and economic issueson Tuesday he has to be in Hamilton for aHorizon Utilities meeting for an important closed-door issue.

But he isn't saying what that important issue is.

Ted McMeekin, a cabinet minister and local MPP, has organized a meeting with mayors of GTA municipalities at Queen's Parkat 4 p.m. The meeting will include Premier KathleenWynneand deal with transit improvements, economic growth and a vision for the city. But Eisenbergeris sendingCoun. Jason Farr, the current deputy mayor and a Ward 2 councillor, instead.

You can bet your goose that I would not be pushing away a meeting with the premier and otherGTAmayors if it wasn't important.- Mayor Fred Eisenberger

Eisenberger is the only city representative on the Horizon Utilities Corp. joint advisory committee, which meetsat 3 p.m. Tuesday.

The Horizon matter is in camera, Eisenbergersaid, so he won't elaborate on it, but "I can tell you it's important," he said.

"You can bet your goose that I would not be pushing away a meeting with the premier and other GTA mayors if it wasn't important," he said.

The meeting comes as Hamilton hopes to get a slice of $15 billion in transit funding for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area in the next 10 years. Earlier this year, Eisenberger met withWynne, who he said agreed that the province would pay the full capital cost of light rail transit (LRT) in Hamilton, which Metrolinx estimated to be $1 billion in 2014.

Wynne's public comments were more reserved, saying the province would pay for "rapid transit" without specifying LRT.

The city is also asking the province for $301 million for additional transit improvements over the next 10 years.

The deputy mayor role rotates amongthe councillors. This month, it's held by Farr, a vocal LRT advocate.

Farr will represent council's position, Eisenberger said, which is LRT with full provincial funding for its capital costs.

Eisenbergersaid he "seriously doubts" there will be game-changingLRTdiscussions on Tuesday. If there are,"(Farr is)well equipped to deal with any pivotal issues."

Farr told CBC Hamilton that he'll represent council's positions on issues such as transit and affordable housing, the same as Eisenberger does.

"We're there to talk about transportation. We're there to talk about housing. We're there to talk about economic development," he said."I'm feeling very confident that I can parlay council's wishes and messages."

Eisenberger said he's "hard pressed to give an assessment" on what Tuesday's meeting will entail, but "I think getting a better understanding of where the province is going is obviously the order of the day, and getting input from us."

Eisenbergerhas a meeting with McMeekinon Friday, and has been in regular contact with Minister of Transportation Steve Del Duca since the LRT meeting earlier this month.

He won't say what they talk about.

"I'm not going to go there," he said. "It's aconversation I'm not going to fill in the blanks on, but rest assured, we talk about transit."

Coun. Chad Collins, an LRT opponent, has no issues with Farr going on Tuesday.

"Jason knows our files as well as anyone around the table," he said. "It's up to the mayor to determine where his priorities are...I don't take issue with it."