As residents, we have to deal with too many critical issues affecting the health and progress of our city. These issues are many. None of them are being addressed effectively by our elected officials. This page will be updated as additional information and issues emerge.
Increasing Their Own Pensions In a move that received little coverage at the time, City Council voted to modify the way they were paid. They approved a move that would see the one-third tax free component incorporated into their base salaries, thereby increasing their salaries from around $72,000 to over $90,000. This change added nearly…
Area Rating Avoidance When the City of Hamilton was amalgamated, it was decided by Council to find a way to even out tax rates across the evolving post-amalgamation city. Suburban wards started paying more taxes for some services, but Wards 1 through 8 were not given a corresponding tax cut. Instead, the extra taxpayer cash…
Affordable Housing Crisis Too many people in Hamilton find themselves in unaffordable housing situations. Rents are increasing, as are waiting lists for subsidized housing through City Housing Hamilton. As areas of the city continue to gentrify, the challenge becomes worse. New, affordable units are not being added nearly fast enough. It has become a crisis…
LRT Dithering LRT has been a topic in Hamilton for over a decade. Council has voted to support LRT dozens of times over the years, although some have done so half-heartedly, saying their support for LRT was based on their view that the City of Hamilton should not have to put up any money for…
Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre Controversy HARRC, the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre was imagined in 2015 as a three-year pilot project. It opened its doors in April of 2018 as a partnership between the City of Hamilton, McMaster University, and the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI). During a meeting of Council. It was proposed that…
Alleged White Supremacist Working In IT It was reported in 2019 that a suspected white supremacist had been working in the City of Hamilton’s IT department as an analyst. Some people reported that his name had been left off the department’s organization chart. Allegedly, some believed this was done intentionally so as not to draw…
StatsCan Hate Crimes Report Stats Canada released a report in 2019 stating that, according to national statistics, Hamilton had a higher number of reported hate crimes-per-capita than any other city in Canada. Hamilton has the highest rate of hate crimes in Canada: report Mayor Fred Eisenberger was not available for comment on the report Meagan…
Extremists Demonstrating At City Hall Forecourt Beginning in the summer of 2019, members of the hate group Yellow Vests Canada began appearing in the City Hall forecourt sharing hate-filled comments and posters. As a way of standing up to hate, many Hamiltonians chose to gather each Saturday in the forecourt in peaceful protest. Many people…
Pride Day Violence & Police & Council Reaction At the Pride Day Festival in 2019, white supremacists attended the event and proceeded to harass attendees. Violence broke out between the agitators and peaceful attendees of the celebration. Police were called, but were not prompt in their arrival. The violence and subsequent controversy over police reaction…
Cootes Paradise Sewage Cover Up – Sewergate Once the Chedoke Creek sewage leak was revealed, it was further revealed that Council had voted to not inform the public of the leak into Cootes Paradise, and claimed they were only following legal advice. Hamilton council’s continued desire for secrecy makes it look worse than if it…
Sewage Leak in Chedoke Creek – Sewergate The public became aware of a 24 billion litre sewage leak that spilled into the Chedoke Creek, which feeds into Cootes Paradise, over a 4 year period. The scale of the leak was withheld from the public until the Hamilton Spectator received information from a whistleblower and made…
Red Hill Valley Parkway Road Surfacing Cover Up In early 2019, the City of Hamilton received information regarding a 2013 friction report related to the Red Hill Valley Parkway. Concerns were raised about the type of paving used and the role the surfacing might have played in the high number of accidents, including several fatalities,…