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Hamilton Mountain MP Race Gets Interesting – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 3, 2021
There is a federal election looming. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to visit the Governor General in the coming weeks to ask the GG to dissolve Parliament and call an election.
Locally, Hamilton Mountain will be a riding to watch as the NDP’s incumbent MP Scott Duvall is retiring.
The Liberals have a strong potential candidate, the NDP candidate is new to Hamilton, and the Conservatives will be hard-pressed to find a candidate with the same potential appeal as they did in 2019.
Research shows a local candidate can move around 4% of the vote in addition to vote swings caused by larger factors such as demographics, incumbency, and the national campaign.
For Hamilton Mountain, that 4% can make all the difference.
The 2015 and 2019 federal election results are remarkably similar: the NDP holding steady at around 36%, the Liberals between 30 to 33%, and the Conservatives at 25%.
Local candidate effect matters more to the NDP than the other two parties.
Malcolm Allen is the NDP candidate this time. A former MP for Welland, he is new to Hamilton. Like Duvall, he is from the union wing of the NDP, and the party believes he will best appeal to their voters in the Hamilton Mountain riding.
The Hamilton Mountain Liberals have a promising potential candidate in Lisa Hepfner, a CHCH journalist of 20 years, writing for The Hamilton Spectator prior to joining CHCH. Hepfner recently completed her Master of Communications Management degree at McMaster University and is well-regarded in Hamilton and beydon.
Hepfner still needs to win the Liberal nomination and is likely to do so.
She will benefit from the media’s enjoyment of navel-gazing, especially in Hamilton. [I’m guilty of this right now.]  One only needs to look at the 2016 Ward 7 City Council by-election in which the media coverage people known to them and effectively ignored runner-up John-Paul Danko.
The Liberals candidate in 2015 was a mediocre candidate. In 2019, the Liberals ran a candidate widely known for successfully suing the City of Hamilton after suffering a severe injury tobogganing at a water reservoir. The City lost in arbitration and was ordered to pay more than $900,000 in damages. Following this, the City fenced off all possible tobogganing sites in Hamilton.
The Conservatives had a good candidate in 2019. Peter Dyakowski, a former player for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, brought name recognition and bonafide smarts to the Conservative ticket. Dyakowski was named Canada’s Smartest Person in the 2012 CBC show of the same name.
He ran a robust local campaign that did not move votes. The Conservative vote in the riding was effectively the same as in 2015. Key members of the Conservative riding association state they want a candidate who lives in the riding this time. Dyakowski lives in Lower Hamilton. I am hard-pressed to think of a better Conservative candidate.
Both the NDP and Liberals will deploy more financial and staff resources into the riding compared to 2019.
It will be a race to watch, and I’ll be covering it.
On Thursday, I will interview NDP candidate Malcolm Allen for The Public Record’s 155 Podcast. Watch for the interview next week.
Once the Liberals and Conservatives choose their candidates, I hope to interview them.
As the election progresses and the issues become more defined, I will do follow-up interviews as well.
Parachute candidate, another media personality, pick your pejorative, these labels do not matter.
The NDP or Liberals will win this riding based upon hard work, organization, and getting out their vote.
Hamilton Mountain matters, at this time, it appears to be one of the few ridings which will decide the outcome of the election – do the Liberals win a majority or not?

created: August 3, 2021


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Hamilton Needs Class A Offices, Metro Partners Wants To Build Them Behind City Hall – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 9, 2021
Hamilton needs Class A office space. City Hall hears this loudly, realtors say they have clients looking for it, and mid-rise commercial buildings are in the approvals process. What is missing are large office building applications.
Corporations are looking to have secondary headquarters in different economic regions.  Downtown Hamilton offers a great location within the regional economy of the Greater Toronto Area, and provides more amenities than comparable locations in Peel and York regions.
Entrepreneur Paven Bratch’s Metro Partners group was one of five parties to respond to a 2016 City of Hamilton request for interest in developing the rear portion of Hamilton City Hall.
In early February 2020, Metro Partners delegated to City Council asking for a process for the private sector – preferably their consortium – to bid to develop the city-owned parking lots behind City Hall at 71 Main Street West.
“We’ve been working on this since 2016,” says Bratch. “We have a lot of talent, but it is driving to Toronto.”
Bratch says Metro Partners will pay fair market value for the land, give the City of Hamilton first rights to lease office space, and provide community amenities such as green space, a grocery store, and wellness facilities in the new development.
Metro Partners wants to build three office buildings behind City Hall, a 12-storey, a 20-storey, and a 24-storey.
The group envisions the buildings being a “tech hub” attracting numerous information technology and systems companies by creating the critical synergies this sector seeks in locating offices.
Hamilton’s proximity to Toronto is a crucial advantage, Bratch says.
“Everyone from the world’s top real estate firms are frankly surprised at how much [development] KW [Kitchener-Waterloo] has, despite being so far from Toronto
Bratch says the proposal enjoys the support of leaders in the surrounding Durand neighbourhood.”
City staff are asking Council for approval to spend up to $100,000 to hire experts and consultants to prepare a strategy for the sale or long-term lease of the City Hall Precinct Lands.
In February 2020, Council discussed the Metro Partners proposal at length, and Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr passed a motion directing staff to study the feasibility of a tech hub on the City Hall lands and report back upon next steps. The work was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A staff report in front of Council today confirms the feasibility of a tech hub in Hamilton.
The February 2020 debate provides insight regarding the positions of individual council members.
Ward 6 Councillor Tom Jackson said he would only vote for a long-term lease of the land to “preserve this entire city hall block as a public place in perpetuity for generations to come,” adding the plan lacked public space. The latest proposal responds by adding connected greenspaces on top of the parking podium.
Ward 9 Councillor Brad Clark said he wants the deal to be a sale of the lands, “I have tremendous trepidation that it includes the option for lease, I think that’s a mistake. I think we should be upfront that we’re talking about the sale, the dollars that come in from that sale can go into reserves, and we could put those dollars towards the future tower behind City Hall.”
Mayor Fred Eisenberger noted past Council discussed what to do with the lands behind City Hall and voted to retain them as public assets.
Farr said he is open to a sale of the land or long-term leasing, saying his support is “conditional on ensuring complimentary compatibility with City Hall parking, green space accessibility, green building design and amenity requirements.”
Clark, a former provincial cabinet minister, said he hears the demand for Class A office space. “If you talk to, as I have, some large proponents out of the Toronto area, they’re very clear. I’m not bringing a head office to Hamilton because you don’t have class A buildings. They are very upfront on it. They’re not interested in coming in and renovating an old building, they want to come in turnkey.”
This is the demand Bratch says Metro Partners are responding to, “Despite COVID having some significant impact on commercial space and the world, time is of the essence, we have an opportunity to move forward quickly.”
Metro Partners is seeking “financing and tax incentives matching or greater than that offered to Amazon subject to tenants meeting standards of quality of Amazon though preferably Canadian,” reads their latest letter to City Council.
Staff plan to report in early 2022 regarding steps.
A competitive bidding process may be required by the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
In 2016, City Hall put out a “request for consultation” to see what interest exists in the possible redevelopment of the City Hall lands.
Now retired Director of Economic Development Glen Norton stated there were five responses.
During the February 2020 debate, many council members said they want a competitive bid process for the redevelopment.

source: news-thepublicrecord

created: August 9, 2021

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Home of Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson Egged – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 11, 2021
Hamilton City Councillor Maureen Wilson’s house was egged by a group of men in a black pickup truck overnight on August 10.
Wilson tweeted photos Tuesday evening showing the eggshells and splatterings against her home.
“To the guys in the black pickup who woke up my kids in the middle of last night & egged the entire front of my home – if you don’t like my vote on the Encampment issue then feel free to cast your ballot accordingly next fall. But leave my kids and family out of this.”


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HSR Union Filing Grievance Against City of Hamilton’s COVID Vaccination Policy – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 27, 2021
The union representing Hamilton’s transit workers is filing a grievance against the City’s new COVID vaccination policy.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 107 president Eric Tuck says the City failed to consult with the union and is being hypocritical about health and safety by not enforcing COVID safety measures such as the passenger mask mandate on board buses.
Tuck emphasizes that the union supports the COVID vaccine and encourages its members to “get the vaccinations and wear masks while taking all safety precautions.”
“We are concerned that this policy may be too far-reaching,” Tuck writes in a written statement issued just after 1 p.m. today.
“To cite health and safety concerns while failing to implement functional and sanitary washroom facilities as negotiated or enforcing mandatory masks on workers while not enforcing them on passengers only further fosters our skepticism,” the statement reads.
Tuck writes that “proactive policies such as on-site vaccination clinics, promotional and educational efforts to address misinformation and alleviate false fears would have gone a long way to foster trust and encourage higher voluntary vaccinations.”
The union is grieving for what it states is “the obvious violation of failing to inform and allow prior input.”
The City’s executive director of human resources, Lora Fortana, stated during Thursday’s Council meeting that she offered to consult with the unions regarding the COVID vaccine policy. “We issued a communication to our union leaders last week and invited them to discuss any questions or concerns that they may have.”
She stated that only CUPE 5167, the union representing the City’s indoor and outdoor workers, responded. “Their leaders requested a meeting. And we met with them earlier this week.”
The City’s COVID vaccination policy aims to contain the spread of the Delta variant during the ongoing fourth wave of the virus and to facilitate the reopening of more facilities and offices.
HSR workers who choose not to take the vaccination must complete an education program and take regular COVID tests.
City staff must disclosure their vaccination status by September 15, and those who choose to be vaccinated have until November 1 to complete receiving both doses.
The City is working on its testing policy. Fortana stated Thursday, “We haven’t really finalized those details or logistics on how we’re going to manage the testing process … whether or not it’s once a week or twice a week is yet to be resolved.”


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Joey’s Planning File Notes I: Corktown Plaza and Gore Buildings at Final Permit Approvals – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 20, 2021
Corktown Plaza – 211-225 John St S & 70-78 Young Street (Hamilton)
City staff are reviewing the final Site Plan Submission for the Corktown Plaza redevelopment.
The mixed-use development is proceeding with two buildings – one at 14 storeys with 354 residential units and a second at 27 storeys with 415 residential units.
The 14 storey building will have ground-level commercial units.
The developer, Slate Holdings, gained full Council approval in February.
We should expect the City to issue planning permits this fall.
Slate has not yet released its construction timeline. They are a multi-billion dollar real estate asset company and have access to the capital needed to build the project.
Their initial conceptual plan in 2017 was for rentals. In February, when they gained City Council approval, their representatives stated they were determining the tenure of the residential units.
The Gore Buildings – 18-30 King Street East
City Staff is now reviewing Wilson-Blanchard final Site Plan Submission for the Gore Buildings redevelopment.
Wilson-Blanchard’s Hughson Business Space Corporation says they will build a six-storey commercial building with ground-level retail at 18 to 28 King Street East while retaining three of the four existing facades and recreating the facade of no. 24.
Hamilton’s Heritage Permit Review Subcommittee approved the heritage aspects of the plan.
City staff will meet with the developer’s team on August 25 to discuss the submission.
The developer’s architect, David Premi of DPAI says work will begin this fall. Construction on the new buildings will start in Spring.


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Photos: First All-Day GO Train Arrives West Harbour – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 7, 2021
All-day GO Train service finally arrived in Hamilton this morning. All-day service from the West Harbour on James Street North now operates seven days a week.
The first train arrived shortly after 8:00 am this morning with approximately six passengers disembarking at the station and departed at 8:13 am with approximately 18 passengers on board.
This is a promising start to all-day service at the station. Prior to COVID, four trains left during the morning rush hour each day, with 81 average passengers total on the four trains.
On weekdays, trains depart West Harbour at 13 minutes past the hour beginning just after 5:00 am and runs past 10:00 pm (05:13, 06:13 … 21:13, 22:13).
Weekday return trips from Toronto Union depart at 45 minutes past the hour with the first trip leaving at 06:45 am and the final train at 11:45 pm (06:45, 07:45 … 22:45, 23:45).
On weekends, the last trains operate an hour later with the final train out of West Harbour leaving for Toronto at 23:13, and the final train from Toronto Union leaving for West Harbour at 00:45.
Travel time is one hour and 17 minutes. The full schedule is here.

created: August 7, 2021


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PHOTOS: The Pulling Down of Hamilton’s Sir John A Macdonald Statue – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 20, 2021
Canada’s first statue of Sir John A Macdonald was pulled by a crowd of around 200 people on Saturday, August 14, 2021. The crowd marched to Gore Park from an Indigenous Unity Rally at Hamilton City Hall.
Here are some photos of what happened.


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Special Council Meeting Next Thursday to Vote on Vaccine Mandate for City of Hamilton Employees – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 20, 2021
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger wants to follow the City of Toronto and other Ontario municipalities in requiring all municipal employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The meeting will be on Thursday, August 26, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Mayor Eisenberger issued a statement this morning writing:
“As cases have risen in Hamilton, in Ontario, and across the country over the past days and weeks, we’ve been engaged in a conversation about how to best prepare ourselves for a fourth wave of COVID-19. For it’s part, the City of Hamilton is exploring a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination verification policy requiring all City of Hamilton employees to receive both doses of the vaccine.”
Eisenberger writes “as a major employer in the City we have an obligation to undertake all necessary precautions to protect our workforce, their families, and in turn the community as a whole.”
City Clerks are now polling members of Council to determine the best date and time for the special meeting.


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Talks Regarding Future of St. Giles Church Building at Impasse – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 12, 2021
The Friends of St. Giles, a group seeking to stop the demolition and redevelopment of the former St. Giles United Church building at 85 Holton Street South fronting on Main Street, says talks with the New Vision United Church congregation have failed.
“Our group was met with hostility and domineering behaviour from the United Church representatives who were present,” reads an unsigned letter from the group.
The Friends’ letter accuses the United Church of “harassing behaviour towards the Friends.”
New Vision United Church, which owns the building, says they are willing to resume facilitated conversations with the community. The Church says it is looking for a “win-win scenario.”
Members of the City of Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee state the Friends’ letter understates just how bad the relationship between heritage advocates and the Church presently is.
“It was just a real schlimazel,” says HMHC member Graham Carroll. “[The Friend’s] letter doesn’t actually represent very well how bad that meeting was. It was quite poorly set up and they didn’t answer any questions. They couldn’t even agree on what to call the place. It was unreal how bad it was.”
Carroll stated he attended the meeting in a personal capacity.
HMHC member Janice Brown attended the meeting as a member of the Hamilton chapter of the Architectural Conservancy Of Ontario.
Brown says the Church demanded people not publicly discuss the meeting. “I left the meeting because the folks of New Vision were basically advising us not to have any communication with anybody on the outside.”
“I think the whole meeting was really just a stalling tactic,” says HMHC member David Beland.
“There wasn’t really anything achieved at that meeting,” says Sarah Sheehan of the Friends of St. Giles.
“New Vision United Church continues to listen and engage with all community members in our shared desire to find a win-win scenario for the New Vision properties of 85 Holton Ave S and 24 Main Street,” wrote Rev. Ian Sloan in response to email questions from TPR after the HMHC meeting.
Sheehan asked the Heritage Committee to answer, “how staff can assist around the enforcement of property standards at St. Giles” and for assistance with “the possibility of outreach to the ward councillor to help us benefit from those municipal tools for protecting heritage assets.”
City Council will determine the future of the St. Giles Church in the coming months. In 2017, Council agreed to allow the site’s redevelopment in exchange for mixed-income housing and the revitalization of Centenary United Church on Main Street at MacNab Street.
The New Vision congregation says they are relying upon funds from the redevelopment of the St. Giles site to fund the future of the Centenary site.
Council approved the demolition of the church building, with then Ward 3 Councillor Matthew Green stating he supported the Church’s vision to redevelopment the site with mixed-income housing, including affordable units.
The Church did not redevelop within the time requirements of the 2018 demolition permit, causing it to lapse. In March 2021, the Church applied for a new permit and heritage advocates mobilized to save the building.
Current Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann is steadfast in supporting the Church’s project, repeatedly stating she supports ‘building affordable housing in the middle of a housing crisis.’
In April, Council voted against adding the building to the heritage registry. At the same time, Nann warned the Church that any attempt to demolish before community conversations are complete would result in immediate action to block demolition.
Both the Friends and Church say they are willing to meet again, they cannot agree on the conditions.
“We approached the June 25 meeting with Friends of St Giles with good intentions to enter into a solutions-based dialogue that is now needed. We were disappointed with the outcome. To that end, we agreed to a second meeting facilitated by Councillor Nann. However, Friends of St Giles chose not to attend. We respect their rights to advocate and share differing points of view and are ready and willing to continue a productive dialogue at any time,” wrote Rev. Sloan.
The future of the St. Giles Church building will return to City Council for debate this fall.


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The 155 Podcast: Hamilton Mountain NDP Candidate Malcolm Allen – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 18, 2021
Malcolm Allen wants to address affordability, improve health care, serve the residents of Hamilton Mountain and continue the legacy of service of recent NDP MPs Scott Duvall and Chris Charlton. This is why he is running to be Hamilton Mountain’s next Member of Parliament.
Listen to the full podcast interview below:
Subscribe to The 155 Podcast on Google Play, iTunes, or by RSS in your favourite podcatcher.
Joey Coleman
Welcome to the 155 Podcast. I’m sitting today with Malcolm Allen who is running for the NDP, here on Hamilton mountain. We are on a patio here in beautiful Concession Street, the background noise, you can hear some passing traffic. And Malcolm, thank you for joining us today.
Malcolm Allen
My pleasure. You’re right about the background noise. And the interesting thing about that is, folks, you’re actually getting back out in the street, which is a good thing to see, especially for the businesses here on Concession Street.
Joey Coleman
It really has grown into a beautiful food district in the last couple of years. First time I’ve been up here in a while and I’m thinking wow, I got to come up here more often. The first question I have, and I think everybody does is
Joey Coleman
Who is Malcolm Allen?
Malcolm Allen
Malcolm Allen is a Scotsman by birth. I grew up in Glasgow in a working-class neighbourhood came here as a kid, I was 10. When I came here, my father came to build ships, initially in Collingwood and then in St. Catharines.
Malcolm Allen
I studied history and political science at university here locally in Ontario and the University of Alberta. I’m an industrial electrician by trade. I spent 30 some odd years at General Motors in St. Catharines. I was an elected union official for about 20 years, full time, representing trades workers. Eight years as the financial officer.
Malcolm Allen
I have a lot of experience advocating on behalf of workers when it comes to Employment Insurance and Workers’ Compensation and in a number of insurance issues. I was a municipal councillor for a period of time, almost five years, and I was the MP for what Welland and then became Niagara Center, which is basically Port Colbourne, Welland, Thorold, Wainfleet, at that time, and part of the south part of St. Catharines, for seven years.
Malcolm Allen
I was the agriculture critic in the Official Opposition, In the big win in 2011 under Jack Layton.
Malcolm Allen
Unfortunately, Jack, as many of us know, suddenly died just after that election.
Malcolm Allen
And of course, Tom Mulcair was the leader after that, and that election. And in 2015, in the Liberal sweep, was swept away.
Malcolm Allen
That’s kind of some of the stuff I’ve been doing and then some of the things that I’ve been involved in over the years.
Malcolm Allen
I’m presently still on the board of directors of a housing corporation called Gateway. Which is in the Niagara Peninsula. It has a number of places that we use for, basically, it is for hard to house, folks. And I’ve been on that for a number of years now, doing a great job and making sure that folks actually have a place to live.
Joey Coleman
And why are you running for MP here in the Hamilton Mountain riding?
Malcolm Allen
This riding is very similar to where I lived, and I don’t live in Welland anymore. I did have a place in Welland. I sold it a while ago.
Malcolm Allen
I decided I wanted to get back into politics and I made a decision that, you know, when I was looking that Hamilton Mountain was a favourable place in the sense of – it was like where I came from before. Very much sort of working-class neighbourhoods, folks who have worked hard, a lot of retirees, a lot of steelworkers. I have a lot of friends up here. It kind of seemed like a natural fit. And I got a place here now. And I intend to go forward to make this place that I live.
Malcolm Allen
I understand people asking that question, you know, the sense of, well, you don’t live here, well, I do live here now, I have a place here now. And eventually, I will be here all the time, in the sense of I will sell my other property. It was the family home, out in Fenwick and then come here full time. And as far as actually residing in Hamilton, or at least on the Mountain.
Joey Coleman
Well, you have taken the next question that I was going to ask, so I’ll rephrase it slightly, which is you’re being labelled a parachute candidate by some people. You come to my door, and I say to you, well, I’ve heard your parachute candidate. How do you respond to that?
Malcolm Allen
Well, that’s a political term, right. I mean, it’s bandied about usually by your opponents. But it really is about working on behalf of folks that you represent. I’ve done that for the best part of 30 years, whether it be at the political level, it be at the union level, I have lots of experience doing that. And it’s about working on behalf of those folks you represent.
Malcolm Allen
So when I come to your door, and you say, well, I hear you are a parachute candidate, all I can tell folks is I’m going to be working on behalf of you. I am not working on behalf of anyone else, we’re going on behalf of the folks in Hamilton Mountain. That’s what they deserve. And that’s what I intend to provide.
Joey Coleman
And let’s turn to some issues. I want to ask you, what would you say are two key issues locally that you’re running on?
Malcolm Allen
Well, surely affordability which takes on kind of two parts, if you will.
Malcolm Allen
One is affordability to find a place. I know that firsthand, as someone over the last little while, who in the last number of months during the summer, was looking for a place and I found one. So I know all about the issues of affordability firsthand.
Malcolm Allen
That’s critical, folks. And when you look at especially in the rental market, folks who’ve been priced right out of the market, folks who’ve been evicted for no reason other than folks actually want to boost the rents up or gentrify some areas, as they say, put some lipstick on perhaps something and charge more.
Malcolm Allen
It really is been very difficult for folks. Affordability in housing is really, really hard for a lot of folks, and affordability in general. People’s wages have not kept up, we’ve seen how they’ve fallen behind. Part of that is if you look across Hamilton, you look across Ontario, the demanufacturing that’s happened over a longer period of time, good-paying jobs went way, we need them to come back.
Malcolm Allen
We need to make this a place where folks can get a decent job, something with benefits, hopefully with a pension, hopefully unionized, and eventually can raise a family and stay in the place that perhaps they grew up in, perhaps they move to because they want, like I, want to come here, but want to have the choice and aren’t driven away because they can’t afford to live here.
Malcolm Allen
And so those are the two big pieces I see here. It’s across the country, to be honest. But here right on the Mountain itself, folks that I’ve spoken to so far, many of them have said, You know, I gotta think about maybe I can’t stay here anymore, because I can’t afford it. And that’s upsetting because in some cases, they’ve been here all their life, and they don’t want to go, they actually want to stay. And so we need to find a way to make sure that that that can happen.
Joey Coleman
So let’s dive a little deeper into those issues. You mentioned rentals, for example, and rental regulations are at a provincial level. So I’m curious, what role do you see for the federal government in addressing rental affordability,
Malcolm Allen
it’s about putting stock on the market and affordable units. I mean, the Feds got out of the rental housing market a long time ago, and have just sort of started to creep back in with their 10-year plan.
Malcolm Allen
We can’t wait for a 10-year plan. The crisis is here. And it’s now it’s been happening for a while.
Malcolm Allen
It’s recognizable to anyone who’s looking. Lots of agencies are talking about it right here in Hamilton, folks, or you know, the ACORN group we spoke to the other day, the other folks who are advocating on behalf of folks who are looking to rent and affordability, social agencies are decrying the fact if they’ve got folks who basically don’t have places to live.
Malcolm Allen
And so the feds need to step up now, the money needs to come faster. Units need to come on the market sooner, they need to be affordable units. That helps put pressure on landlords not driving the rents up when there’s other units available to folks to actually take it affordable level. So that’s where the feds can actually make a major impact in the rental market.
Joey Coleman
What would you say are two national issues that are key that you’re running on?
Malcolm Allen
Well, healthcare is our was the big one. And healthcare breaks into a number of components. And clearly, we’ve been pushing for pharmacare for all. Unfortunately, it gets passed, you know, the motion passes in the house. And then nothing happens.
Malcolm Allen
I mean, the Liberal government hired Dr. Hoskins who was the Minister of Health here in this province under the Liberal government provincially. The federal government, the federal Liberals hire him to do a study, he does a study recommending pharmacare, and they ignore it.
Malcolm Allen
It’s clear, many folks no longer have that protection that they maybe once had with their employer. Pharmacare usually comes with an employer benefit. Many employers are no longer offering it. Many employers that folks work for no longer employ them, because they’ve laid them off. And so that’s a huge issue for folks and a huge issue for us going forward. And that is a federal issue. Yes, we’ll need to negotiate it, the province will implement it. But the feds will fund it as many programs the federal government does. We don’t necessarily run them. But what we do is we fund them, but we can’t fund them temporarily. We can’t dangle a carrot and say, well, we’ll do it for a couple of years. It has to be that folks understand long term.
Malcolm Allen
The other funding issue clearly is the Canada Health Act. It started out as a 50/50 proposition, no longer 50/50 the feds under Paul Martin’s regime in the 90s gutted the federal transfers for health care. And that’s why we see the issues we see in this province, specifically here on the Mountain and where you can’t get the services you deserve because the funding was never there.
Malcolm Allen
I spoke to a young nurse the other night on the doorstep. She works down in the city, talking about understaffing. She said it’s not about the work, I love it. She said it’s about the fact that you know, we’re run out for feet because there’s not enough staff. The reason there’s not enough staff is because of underfunding the feds need to get back in the game. We’ve talked about it as a party that we will make sure the appropriate funding is there. And so we will forward and we will make sure that pharmacare is a national program across this country.
Joey Coleman
What would you say are three words that best describe you?
Malcolm Allen
So humility, honesty and integrity are three words that I think describe myself.
Malcolm Allen
Especially someone who’s been in public service for all the best part of 25 almost 30 years. In my Union as a full-time rep. Obviously, as a municipal representative and as a federal MP, and it really is about making sure that when you say things to folks that they believe what you’re going to say, and the only way that they’ll believe you is you, you have integrity, and you are honest. And humility comes from the fact you have to listen to folks. You don’t have all the best ideas. Often they have much better ideas, and you have to be prepared to listen. Listening is hard. Sometimes, you have to work hard at that to make sure you’re listening to the folks that are you out.
Joey Coleman
The last question is, you’re at my door, and I asked you why should I vote for you? What’s the answer?
Malcolm Allen
I think it’s twofold. One is New Democrats, you’re actually working on behalf of you kind of a bit of a slogan, right.
Malcolm Allen
We’re working for you. Well, that’s true. I’ve done it in the past, did it then I can do it now have the experience. So on day one, after the election, I’m hitting the ground running, knowing what I’m doing. There is a steep learning curve to it. I know that from 2008 from my first election when I was first elected, but I don’t have that learning curve. I’m the person who’s actually going to continue the legacy here in Hamilton Mountain, Chris Charlton and Scott Duvall and working hard to represent the good folks to the mountain because that’s what I’m really all about is advocacy and working hard on behalf of regular constituents right across the right across the Mountain.
Joey Coleman
Thank you for your time today. I very much enjoyed it, best of luck during the campaign. And hopefully, we’ll get back to you before election day for a follow-up.
Malcolm Allen
And I appreciate that. Thank you for your time and it was enjoyable being on the podcast.
Joey Coleman
Thank you


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The Pearl Company Building Proposed for Conversion to Housing – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 30, 2021
The owner of the Pearl Company building at King William Street and Steven Street wants to covert the three-storey structure into 16 residential units.
The Pearl (Not for Project Housing Corporation) is the corporation that owns both the former manufacturing building at 16 Steven Street and the duplex at 436 King William Street.
They plan to demolish the existing duplex on King William Street to build two one-bedroom Class A dwelling units. At Committee of Adjustment last week, they severed the rear of 436 and merged the land into 16 Steven Street to provide parking.
In their initial February 24, 2020 submission, The Pearl wrote they are exploring operating the residential conversion as a housing co-op.
Previous owners Barbara Milne and Gary Santucci turned the former manufacturing building into a thriving theatre that operated for 13 years from 2006 to 2019. They sold the building in 2019.


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Why City Hall Held Monday’s COVID Press Conference – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

August 24, 2021
Why is the City holding a press conference encouraging vaccination that the unvaccinated are not watching?
A few of you asked me this question yesterday after City Hall’s COVID press conference. I agree those watching are likely all vaccinated.
The goal of a press conference is to establish narratives that the media then reports to the public. If well planned and delivered, the talking points of public officials are quoted by the media, repeated by people using social media, and establish a dominant narrative in society.
Monday’s press conference was a hasty response by City Hall after Hamilton posted 101 new COVID cases on Sunday. Large numbers capture public attention. Our seven-day average is around 60 new cases per day, but 101 is what we remember.
Hamilton City Hall decreased its public COVID briefings to a bi-weekly schedule in June. They were not planning any updates this week.
Hamilton is presently competing with Windsor for the worst COVID rate in Ontario. Hamilton’s vaccination rate is the lowest in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area.
With Hamilton’s media reporting these facts, City Hall needed to establish they are acting to contain COVID and increase vaccinations. Written statements will not do. The media expects to speak to the people in charge.
A press conference provides the opportunity to deliver desired messages, key quotes and to partially bypass the media filter going direct to people watching online.
It looks transparent, counters any media stories about City Hall officials hiding from the problem, counters cynicism among some people that City Hall is on vacation, and shows officials in control of the situation.
Clear messaging and strong presentation can shift critical coverage and reset the public narrative.
During press conferences, observers tweet key soundbites. Officials can use emphasis to ensure the messages they wish people to tweet.
These messages are repeated by others on social media, reaching some of those who are vaccinated.
Hamilton City Hall being Hamilton City Hall, there were no coherent messages. We heard the usual routine.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Hamilton Medical Officer of Health Dr. Elizabeth Richardson are concerned but not concerned enough to do anything different.
Asked what their plan is, they had no response. TheSpec’s news article is factually critical. Thousands of Hamiltonians will read the article in Tuesday’s print edition.
Journalists at other outlets will follow TheSpec’s lead in their coverage. The narrative is set for the next few weeks and into the fourth wave.


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City Hall Preparing for Possible Lame-Duck Council During 2022 Election – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 13, 2021
Hamilton’s senior land use and planning managers are preparing for the possibility of a “lame duck” during the 2022 municipal election period.
Today, at the Development Industry Liaison Committee, Hamilton’s Chief Planner Steve Robichaud said planning staff are working on getting as many planning applications in front of City Council during the first half of 2022 as possible, in case of a “lame duck” council during the municipal elections period.
The Ontario Municipal Act states that if less than 75% of incumbent members of council seek reelection, council is restricted from passing any bylaw that allocates spending more than $50,000 or creates a liability for the municipal corporation greater than $50,000. [Section 275]
In Hamilton, this means if fewer than 12 members of city council seek reelection, council becomes lame-duck on August 19, 2022.
Most council planning and development approvals create potential liabilities to the city as a corporation.
If a developer is negligent, the city may become liable to fix damaged public infrastructure. The city requires developers to show proof of insurance, and the city bills the insurer.
Nonetheless, using a strict interpretation of legislation, council approving a development creates liability.
Nominations for the 2022 municipal election will open on May 2, 2022.
The last scheduled Council meeting before the potential lame-duck period is August 12, 2022.

created: September 13, 2021


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COLEMAN: Landlord-Tenant Board Scorns Malleum For “Borderline Offensive” Eviction Attempt – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 27, 2021
Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board is scorning Hamilton’s Malleum Properties for one of their recent attempts to evict a long-term tenant after the tenant was late in paying their rent.
LTB Member Donald MacVicar [of Scarborough, not Hamilton] expressed the Board’s disapproval of Malleum’s actions in the case.
“Mr. Donmoyer [the paralegal representing Malleum] made his submissions respectfully and in accordance with the instruction from his client, as he was obliged to do. With that said, the instruction itself was not close to being reasonable. It is borderline offensive,” wrote MacVicar.
“In the 12 months preceding the hearing of this matter, and in a pandemic, all rent was paid, with 11 of 12 months paid on time. And yet the Landlord came to the hearing seeking not a pay-on-time order, but termination and an order that Mr. Mthombeni be put out of his home.”
The Board ruled against Malleum.
The Board rarely uses such language in a decision. It would be unusual for a member to write such a statement on the Board’s behalf without informally consulting with their colleagues.
Hamilton City Council was forced to wrestle with Malleum’s role in Hamilton’s shortage of reasonably priced rental accommodations in September when the firm’s City of Hamilton renovation incentive grant came in front of Council.
Council, led by Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr, eventually approved the grant but not before new Council members succeeded in passing a motion to change the incentive grant rules to prevent funding future projects which result in renovations that convert existing apartments into higher cost rentals.

created: September 27, 2021


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COLEMAN: Non-Vaccinated HSR Operators Have the Upper Hand – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 28, 2021
How serious is Hamilton City Council about enforcing its mandatory COVID vaccination policy for city employees?
Is Council willing to effectively shut down public transit to enforce the policy? During the Grey Cup no less?
TheSpec reports this morning that only 17% of HSR bus operators have disclosed their COVID vaccination status.
The operators are not going to budge. There are two contingents. One is anti-vaccination, the other is opposed to making the vaccination mandatory.
The union representing HSR operators is filing grievances against the mandatory vaccination policy which they believe violates their collective agreement.
Amalgamated Transit Union 107 president Eric Tuck repeatedly emphasizes that he supports vaccinations and is encouraging all ATU members to get vaccinated against COVID.
He says the ATU will oppose any disciplinary actions against operators who do not disclose their vaccination status.
Bus operators have significant leverage, if the bus operators refuse to work overtime, the HSR will have to cancel bus trips and reduce schedule service.
COVID prevented the HSR from training new operators.  As a result, the HSR is understaffed. City Hall no longer proactively discloses HSR staffing levels, therefore we do not know the extent of the operator shortage.
The HSR relies upon operators working overtime to maintain scheduled service. The @HSRnow Twitter account is already reporting daily trip cancellations.
Management has already taken steps to prepare for service cancellations. The 51-University bus route is no longer a regular piece of work for operators, all 51 operators are on the “spare board” allowing the service to be cancelled without triggering union collective agreement seniority rights.
I am connected to a few of the unvaccinated operators on Facebook. Some are vocally expressing opposition to mandatory vaccination for reasons that vary from an assortment of anti-vax conspiratorial misinformation to arguing they had to interact with the public as essential workers during COVID – so why do they need to now be vaccinated.
There were no COVID infections that could be definitively traced to operators contracting the virus while driving.
[In March, Brampton suspended a bus route serving an Amazon warehouse after nine operators on the route tested positive for COVID, one operator died.]
It’s been nearly 23 years since the last major HSR labour disruption. The ATU set up picket lines on November 2, 1998, for what was expected to be a traditional short winter strike. Instead, it turned into a protracted 81-day strike with the union getting few of its demands and a small pay increase.
A column in The Hamilton Spectator after the strike calculated it would take 28 years for HSR operators to recover wages lost during the strike from the modest pay increase they gained.
The memory of this strike is why there have been no significant labour disruptions for two decades. HSR employees have worked with contracts for over a year at times, and strike mandates were only deployed near the end of contract talks to help seal a deal.
HSR strikes were a reality of life in Hamilton during the decades prior to the 98/99 strike.
The 1996 strike lasted six days ending with a two-year deal. Bus service resumed on November 23, 1996. The Grey Cup was played the very next day at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
What will Council do now?

created: September 28, 2021


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COLEMAN: Perspectives on “Honourable Honest” Dan McKinnon – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 24, 2021
Dan McKinnon is one of the most honest and honourable civil servants is what many people are messaging me to say this afternoon.
They are not alone, a few weeks ago I had coffee with a trusted contact during a trip to Toronto. This is a contact I have immense respect for and hold in the highest regard.
In sum, they state McKinnon is honourable “one of the most honest people in Hamilton”, hardworking, and was caught in a series of circumstances that look terrible but are not directly caused by him.
This conversation stuck with me.
The Cootes fiasco was the result of many system failures. There is a strong argument the failings cannot be placed solely at the feet of the director of Hamilton Water. However, the reality remains that reports of sewage waste washing up in Cootes and the West Harbour were not taken seriously enough.
The second burying of the Red Hill Valley Parkway asphalt report could be the result of it being rediscovered in late September 2018 and there were no scheduled city council meetings.
McKinnon on his own was not authorized to call a meeting of council and it is improper for a municipal staff member to release a consultant’s report to council without it first going to a council meeting.
Ultimately, the decision-makers on the Red Hill report are then-Acting City Manager Mike Zegarac and Mayor Fred Eisenberger. [We will hopefully get to the truth when the RHVP Inquiry starts its public testimony phase]
This brings us to the events of today.
Unexpectedly, City Manager Janette Smith announces this morning that McKinnon “informed me that he was going to retire from the City effective immediately.”
General managers do not suddenly decide to retire immediately one day. They sometimes announce quick “retirements” with a few weeks’ notice. They do not “retire from the City effective immediately.”
A few hours later, suddenly and surprisingly, Smith sends a second email announcing “I wanted to let you know that effective today, Andrew Grice, the Director of Hamilton Water, is no longer with the City of Hamilton.”
Why did Grice’s employment with the City of Hamilton suddenly end? Who made the decision? When and how did they make it?
As I write this, I am receiving messages from current and former staff who worked with McKinnon. They are dismayed at the news and state they believe McKinnon is being pushed out for standing up to Council.
“He was probably one of the most honest guys there, getting threats every day from council members and higher ups for his work to clean up some of the departments,” reads one of the messages.
What really happened?
We may never know, but it sure is plausible McKinnon was ordered to fire Grice and resigned effective immediately.
What is clear is that a large number of people are speaking up for McKinnon and Grice – that needs to be noted.
I will not be surprised to see this situation result in civil lawsuits being filed by Grice and McKinnon.
Hamiltonians deserve answers.

created: September 24, 2021


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COLEMAN: Why an Independent Investigation is Needed into Allegations Against By-law Enforcement – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 19, 2021
Hamilton City Council needs to hire an outside lawyer to investigate allegations against City of Hamilton bylaw officials which were tweeted over the weekend.
It is alleged bylaw officers “stormed” into a small restaurant business during routine COVID compliance inspections and were “aggressively asking for the owner.”
Sabreina Dahab’s Twitter thread detailing the allegations has been read by thousands, and a video clip of the interaction viewed over 25,000 times thus far.
The video clip shows Hamilton Police responding to an assist request by Hamilton bylaw. The police officers are standing on the sidewalk and do not engage in any interactions. A Hamilton bylaw officer states they requested police due to ‘hostility’ – the hostility is not detailed.
In the Twitter thread, Dahab states the family business is a “small, Black immigrant family owned business,” and they believe themselves to be in full compliance with COVID regulations.
They were issued two COVID violation tickets of $880 each, Dahab tweeted.
Dahab names one of the bylaw officers and tweeted “It was the same four by-law officers who violently dismantled freedom camp and who dump peoples belongings over the last year. ”
The incident requires review by a neutral independent party.
If bylaw officials investigate themselves, there will be skepticism.
The Hamilton Police Service does not enjoy the needed public confidence following their mishandling of the violence at the Hamilton Pride Festival in 2019. HPS’s internal investigation cleared themselves of fault, while an independent investigation by lawyer Scott Bergman revealed gross incompetence by Hamilton Police command.
HPS is trying to regain public trust, especially among traditionally marginalized communities.
Beyond the public trust issue, Hamilton Police work closely with City of Hamilton bylaw officers.
Any implication that race may have been a factor in the response must be fully addressed.
This is why an independent review is needed.
UPDATE
The Office of Hamilton City Manager Janette Smith issued a tweet in response to the complaints asking Dahab to fill out the City’s online bylaw complaint form. The form does not have a professional standards complaint option, and submissions to the form are shared with bylaw officers.

created: September 19, 2021


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Coleman’s Notes: Another Developer Frustrated with City Hall Being Closed – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 19, 2021
Developers of all sizes are beginning to publicly complain about City Hall remaining closed due to COVID, stating there are shortcomings with the City’s planning division staff all working from home.
Last week, I reported on comments at the Development Industry Liaison Group meeting on Monday. Professional planners say the COVID change to staff-only development review team meetings is not working, and concerns about delays in planning approvals due to what the industry states are inefficiencies in the City’s work from home processes.
This brings me to the most recent Committee of Adjustment meeting during which a small developer made similar comments regarding work-from-home.
“Is there any particular reason that you know, everybody’s not back working at City Hall?,” Hamilton property owner Kevin Moniz asked Hamilton’s Committee of Adjustment two weeks ago. He added, “the majority of the public is back working”.
Moniz said “I’m not really a computer guy” explaining “It’s been quite challenging, especially for myself.”
COVID limits the people I speak to as a journalist. The random encounters with smaller developers are lost.
I continue to speak with regulated professionals in planning and mid-sized developers.
I can look at statistics that show the City of Hamilton is processing more planning applications than ever before, and minor variances are proceeding at a faster pace than pre-COVID.
Hamilton City Hall had to adopt digital practices. The result is increased efficiencies, digital files and digital approvals remove the days of lag which occurred as paper applications circulated between city staff, and then weeks of delay as paper comments went back to applicants who then had to resubmit new paper applications.
Digital requires software. Computer-assisted design software costs hundreds of dollars per year and is excessive for most minor variances.
Moniz is a landlord who used an N13 Notice to end the leases of tenants in the building he owns to do extensive renovations. The building had long-term tenants. ACORN protested the plans as a “renoviction”.
He can afford professional drawings, and he did hire a design firm.
It is routine for homeowners seeking permissions for minor projects, for example, building their own back deck or adding a backyard shed, to submit their own hand-drawn plans.
During COVID, planning staff are accepting scans of hand drawings.
What is being lost are the counter interactions and hallway negotiations prior to the Committee of Adjustment meetings.
Moniz was in front of the CoA in mid-August, and had to table to meet with staff.
They negotiated and his project was approved.
There have been a few CoA files recently which were tabled for negotiation that might have been avoided if hallway discussions were possible.
In an extreme example, the CoA passed a series of variances for 121 – 125 King Street East in Downtown Hamilton which planning staff sought conditions on the approval.
In the video meeting, the planner tried unsuccessfully to get the attention of the CoA. The CoA passed variances, staff had to appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal, and eventually, a settlement was reached – with the developer incurring legal costs.


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Council Pensions and the Potential of a Lame-Duck Session in 2022 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 13, 2021
Will five or more current Hamilton city council members voluntarily leave public office next year?
The scandals and cover-ups revealed this council term is creating an expectation that Hamilton voters may ‘throw out the bums’ much as London voters did to their scandal-plagued council in 2014 and Niagara voters did to their self-serving self-dealing council in 2018.
The ielecthamilton movement is only the most high profile of various good government movements forming across Hamilton.
While voters may be pushing councillors to voluntarily retire, there is a stronger pull factor – the pension increase council gave themselves is now fully in effect.
In 2015, city councillors voted to change their salaries to increase their pension plan by approximately 33%.
The increase took effect at the beginning of 2016.
Council pensions are based upon the best five consecutive years of salary, meaning the full pension increase became effective at the beginning of this calendar year.
At least four (likely more) members of council will qualify for the maximum pension amount at the end of this Council term.
Ward 4’s Sam Merulla already announced his planned retirement.
It is not hard to imagine four more retirements next year.
Meaning City Hall is wise to increase its preparations for a lame-duck council in August 2022.


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Council to Vote on Ending Financial Grants to “Renoviction” Properties – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 3, 2021
Following a public outcry, if approved, Hamilton City Council will no longer provide financial incentives for residential renovations which evict existing tenants.
However, City staff write that Council must provide grants to applications already in progress under the existing rules of the Hamilton Tax Increment Grant, including the controversial grant for Malleum properties at 540 King Street East.
The HTIG program encourages residential property owners to renovate existing housing stock to increase property values.
The City gains additional property tax revenue and waives nearly 50% of the tax increases during the five years following property tax reassessment
In July, Council delayed deciding upon the $169,801.83 for 540 King Street East.
Malleum’s business model is to purchase older buildings, conduct extensive renovations that require the removal of long-term tenants, and “reposition” buildings into higher rent units.
ACORN delegated against the grant, and called on Council to stop incentivizing renovictions.
Council directed staff to study how to prevent similar grant applications in the future, and if they could deny the $169,801.83 tax grant to Malleum.
In a report for next week’s Council GIC, city staff recommend Council approve the grant to Malleum, writing “the Application has met all applicable HTIG Program terms.” There is a separate confidential report to Council, not available to the public, explaining the recommendations.
Future grants will be contingent on tenant protections which staff recommend Council add to the HTIG terms.
Under the proposed new rules, vacant properties must be empty for two years prior to applying for a grant, or the property be receiving some form of government affordable housing funding, or the property be both owned by a non-profit and the applicant be non-profit as well.
City of Hamilton’s affordable housing funding is available for developments that charge 125% of the average market rent defined by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The 125% definition equals approximately $1,315 per month for a one-bedroom unit based upon most recent CMHC report.
The two-year vacancy requirement hopes to exclude companies which “flip” properties by quickly renovating and “repositioning” residential rental units.
The staff report states the City is not able to adjudicate complaints regarding renovictions and cannot directly regulate landlord-tenant dispute matters. Staff state best left to the Landlord Tenant Board.
“Staff’s assessment that these subjective matters require the exploration of claims
and facts, and ultimately determinations of right or wrong, that should occur under the
Province’s jurisdiction in a formal tribunal setting via the LTB,” the staff report reads.
Council will debate the reports on Wednesday during their General Issues Committee meeting. The meeting begins at 9:30 am.

created: September 3, 2021


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Developers Say Staff-Only Development Review Team Meetings are Not Working – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 13, 2021
When the COVID pandemic began in March 2020, Hamilton City Hall closed and staff began working from home.
The weekly Development Review Team staff meetings moved to WebEx video conferencing and became staff-only discussions with developers and their various consultants no longer invited to participate.
18 months later, representatives of the development industry say the change is not working.
Prior to COVID, the DRT met every Wednesday beginning at 9:00 a.m. on the first floor of City Hall.
The purpose of the meetings is to bring together key staff involved in development application reviews to discuss concerns they have with proposals and to find solutions to those concerns.
Developers would attend with their agents and experts often including their engineers. The usual meeting was scheduled for approximately one hour.
Registered Professional Planner Matt Johnson says the meetings were productive with everyone involved brainstorming solutions and developers being able to leave the meeting knowing what amendments they needed to make to their applications.
With the meetings now excluding developers, Johnson says developers are left waiting for written comments and often have to email multiple times to receive them.
RPP Terri Johns shared Johnson’s concerns in today’s Development Industry Liaison Group meeting.
Many others in the WebEx meeting were nodding their heads in agreement during the comments.
City staff acknowledged the comments and stated they are trying to balance high workloads. They cited workloads as a reason the meetings are now scheduled at different times and staff-only.
Near the end of the meeting, Johnson challenged General Manager of Planning and Economic Development Jason Thorne on the matter.
Johnson stated he felt the industry’s concerns were “falling on deaf ears.”
Thorne responded, “we’ve heard your concerns … I am not going to commit to any changes without first discussing with my staff.”
Thorne committed to returning with a response at the next DILG meeting which is scheduled for October 18.


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Hamilton Police Board Held Secret Emergency Meeting on September 2nd – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 19, 2021
Hamilton’s Police Services Board held a secret emergency meeting on September 2 without public notification and never released the meeting agenda.
The meeting was revealed in a memo to the staff and officers of the Hamilton Police Service announcing the National Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30 will be a statutory holiday for HPS members.
The Public Record asked Hamilton Police Services Board Chair, Mayor Fred Eisenberger, for the reasons why the emergency meeting was called, for a copy of both the agenda and minutes of the meeting and an explanation of why the Board went into closed session to discuss the National Truth and Reconciliation Day.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger’s office stated he will be unable to respond on Friday.
Hamilton Police Board administrator Kirsten Stevenson issued the following statement on behalf of the Police Board:
“Emergency meetings may be called by the Chair of the Board, with the consent of the majority of the Members of the Board, to deal with emergency or extraordinary situations. As the Board did not have a regular meeting scheduled in August, the Board met to discuss an item that falls under the category of ‘extraordinary situations’ as the matter needed to be dealt with in a timely manner. The matter involved legal issues, and as such, was dealt with in-camera. The Board’s decision was reported back at its next public meeting, which was held on September 16, 2021. The Board’s September 2, 2021 meeting was held in compliance with the Police Services Act.”
The police board declined to provide the agenda, minutes, open session video, or why the meeting was conducted in secret.
Section 35 of the Police Services Act states all police board meetings must be open to the public and notice of meetings provided.
Boards may go into closed session for one of two reasons:
“(a) matters involving public security may be disclosed and, having regard to the circumstances, the desirability of avoiding their disclosure in the public interest outweighs the desirability of adhering to the principle that proceedings be open to the public; or
(b) intimate financial or personal matters or other matters may be disclosed of such a nature, having regard to the circumstances, that the desirability of avoiding their disclosure in the interest of any person affected or in the public interest outweighs the desirability of adhering to the principle that proceedings be open to the public.”
The Police Board declined to explain how discussing a holiday fits into any of these exceptions or was a legal matter.
The Police Board is not releasing the agenda, minutes, nor video of the meeting.
This meeting was the second time in less than a month that Mayor Eisenberger called an emergency meeting.
On August 9, Mayor Eisenberger declared an emergency Council meeting regarding homeless encampments.


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Hamilton Survey Responses Overwhelmingly Oppose Urban Boundary Expansion – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 17, 2021
Hamiltonians who responded to the City’s urban boundary survey overwhelmingly oppose expanding the boundary.
82 percent of mail survey responses oppose urban boundary expansion, 97 percent of email survey responses oppose urban boundary expansion.
In March, Ward 9 councillor Brad Clark moved a successful motion directing city staff to engage in a public survey of Hamiltonians, asking them to choose between the staff recommended urban boundary expansion of 3,300 acres or no urban boundary expansion.
The City of Hamilton mailed 215,822 surveys to households across Hamilton. 8,233 of the postage-paid surveys were filled out and mailed back to City Hall.
Of the mail responses, 11.3% supported the ‘Ambitious Density’ staff recommended urban boundary expansion, 81.9% opposed boundary expansion, and 6.7% selected “Option 3: Other Suggestions”.
The City offered a complimentary email survey that anyone could fill out. There were 10,154 online responses.
The vast majority of online responses were generated from the Stop Sprawl HamOnt (SSHO) website. Staff state these automated emails represent 81.7% (8,299) of all email responses.
Only 1.5% of the online responses favoured urban boundary expansion, 97.4% opposed expansion, and 1.0% offered other suggestions.
Combined, 90.4% of respondents choose no boundary expansion.
City staff state respondents in favour of boundary expansions shared common themes regarding housing options, supply, affordability, and farmland values, among many. They cited demand for ground-oriented housing over apartments, increased housing costs related to supply, that land is more valuable within the urban boundary, and farmers should be able to sell their land in the proposed expansion areas.
Those opposing expansion cited themes regarding underutilization of land within the existing urban area, climate change, infrastructure costs and deficits, and farmland protection for food security.
Those selecting Option 3 provided other suggestions, including a “desire for a growth option that has higher intensification rates than the Ambitious Density scenario and therefore results in a lesser amount of land required for expansion”, development of vacant lands and buildings within the existing urban area, and the addition of secondary units.
Approximately 16,000 respondents provided their postal code information with their submissions. Survey engagement per capita was highest in Ward 13 (Dundas and rural Flamborough), Ward 1 (West Hamilton), and Ward 11 (Binbrook/Glanbrook).
City staff say there were 1,166 responses received after the July 23 deadline to return surveys. These were 44.1% in favour of urban boundary expansion, with 5.3% selecting other suggestions.
Hamilton’s development industry launched a campaign late in the summer to promote urban boundary expansion. The campaign is mobilizing people to submit comments and plan to delegate in favour of boundary expansion.
In 2020, the Ontario Progressive Conservative government passed regulations regarding municipalities to play for urban boundary expansion up to 2051 and to include new ground-oriented housing in their official plans.
Municipalities have until July 2022 to expand their urban boundaries or face the risk of the Ontario government imposing an expansion upon them.
Hamilton is expected to need 110,320 new housing units by 2051 to meet population growth.
Hamilton City Council can vote to keep a boundary freeze and leave it to the Progressive Conservatives to decide if they wish to impose an expansion themselves.
The cost of the survey was approximately $60,000 for printing, distribution, and return postage.
Council will debate urban boundary expansion during a special meeting on October 25, beginning at 9:30 am.
The full staff report on the survey is available on the City of Hamilton website.
UPDATE: On Saturday, September 18, the development industry issued a statement responding to the survey. The statement notes this is not a scientific survey and cited concerns with the methodology. The development industry states they continue to support the City’s professional planning staff recommendation to expand the urban boundary.

created: September 17, 2021


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City of Hamilton to mark Truth and Reconciliation Day – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 10, 2021
The City of Hamilton will commemorate Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30.
The City “will be doing activities for that day,” says the City of Hamilton’s senior project manager for urban Indigenous strategy Shelly Hill. Hill states the activities will be online, “we’re working with the Hamilton Public Library.”
The new federal holiday responds to the call by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission to “to establish, as a statutory holiday, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.”
September 30 will be a paid holiday for federally regulated employees. It is not a provincial holiday.
Hill says the HAMILTON sign in front of City Hall will be lit orange, there will be staff lunch and learn documentaries, and promotion of the holiday “shared by the Mayor and Council as well as through [the City’s] Twitter and various social media sites.”

created: September 10, 2021


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Hamilton’s Development Industry Spending Thousands on Facebook Ads – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 20, 2021
If you live in Hamilton and use Facebook, you’ve seen the ads from Hamilton Needs Housing.
You know the ones which started with attempts at memes such as “We finally bought a house. Bad news is it’s an hour away … we just can’t afford Hamilton” and are now a series of graphic ads.
Hamilton’s development industry is behind the HNH campaign, coming together to hire StrategyCorp Inc to operate their advertising and lobbying campaign.
HNH’s argues for the City of Hamilton planning staff recommendation to expand Hamilton’s urban boundary by 1,340 hectares to accommodate expected growth until 2051.
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Related: Hamilton Survey Responses Overwhelmingly Oppose Urban Boundary Expansion
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The HNH campaign is currently running five different ads on Facebook, spending around $300 per day on them.
As of Sunday evening, Facebook reports they’ve spent over $7,200 on ads, of which nearly $2,000 was in the past week alone. The amount of spending is increasing each week.
For the $7,200, the HNH ads have been seen by tens of thousands of Hamiltonians and sparked discussion. Facebook ads are effective. (To say nothing of “earned media” resulting from the ads such as this post.)
A few of the current ads argue the proposed urban boundary expansion is “just 1% of Hamilton’s land area” and “Hamilton’s expert plan protects 100% of Greenbelt and fruit lands, and 98% of all farmland.”
Another cites the City of Hamilton planning department’s position that projected population growth cannot fit within the existing urban boundary.
The ads are part of a strategy to identify potential supporters before the October 25 city council meeting which will decide the urban boundary issue.
While the majority of the responses and comments on Facebook are negative, the campaign benefits from identifying opponents to avoid spending further money advertising to them.
What effect the campaign will have remains to be seen.
You can view the ads and spending information on Facebook here.

created: September 20, 2021


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Hamilton’s Downtown Tall Building Escarpment Height Limit is No More – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 1, 2021
Hamilton’s Committee of Adjustment is once again approving tall buildings as minor variances, overturning a key provision of the three-year-old Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan (DTSP).
The Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan set a height limit equal to the Niagara Escarpment for all new tall buildings in the downtown.
The height limit’s intent included streamlining development by providing as-of-right approvals across the downtown and dampening land speculation by providing clear policy for zoning in Hamilton’s downtown.
Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr says Hamilton’s downtown needs buildings taller than 30-storeys to have 20% of Hamilton’s urban growth located downtown. Farr argued the Committee of Adjustment should return to approving tall buildings as minor variances.
Hamilton’s professional planning staff argued that the official plan amendment is more appropriate for approving height limit exceptions. The DTSP allows buildings to exceed 30-storeys if they demonstrate design excellence and gain the support of Hamilton’s Design Review Panel.
Farr argued exceeding the height limit at 75 James Street South is in keeping with sound design principles and does not undermine the intent of the Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan.
Fengate and LiUNA are proposing a 111.0-metre 34-storey building on the northeast corner of James South and Jackson Street East. The height limit is 94.2 metres.
“Certainly, the intent of the height cap is to preserve vistas, to preserve the views,” Farr stated. “It’s a beautiful view, and that it is very much intact.”
Farr cited the view from Joseph Mancinelli’s living room to make his argument.
“Joe’s with us, Mr. Mancinelli, and he’ll tell you, it’s still spectacular when you look at the panorama from his living room window,” Farr said.
Mancinelli is LiUNA’s International Vice President and Regional Manager for Central and Eastern Canada. Mancinelli lives in a house that borders the escarpment.
City staff told the Committee of Adjustment the height exemption is not an appropriate minor variance.
“The Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan establishes that no buildings in downtown Hamilton shall exceed the height of the Niagara Escarpment,” stated Shannon McKie, the senior project manager who oversees urban planning applications.
“Staff are of the opinion that this variance should be properly assessed through an official plan amendment application and zoning bylaw amendment application to review the impacts of the proposed height and the principle of the Niagara Escarpment height threshold.”
Citing a proposal for a 45-storey building on Hamilton’s Pier 8 waterfront, Farr says the City’s General Manager of Planning and Economic Development Jason Thorne supports exceptions to height limits.
“I asked the architect of our policy that escarpment height policy, the very highly respected, one of my favourite guys, Jason Thorne. I asked him, I said, You think this is okay? Are you okay? With this And he said, yes, if it’s exceptional design, and if it’s a beacon or a prominent location,” Farr said of his discussion with Thorne about Pier 8.
Thorne was not present at the hearing.
“I would also argue that in the very heart of our city, essentially, Main and James, that is also a prominent location that is also a beacon. And this is not 45 stories. It’s for extra storeys,” Farr said.
Some members of the Committee of Adjustment expressed concerns about changing a secondary plan.
“I think that Council and staff were very deliberate when they put a cap on the, on the height of buildings in the downtown core. And I feel that if we were to start making changes to that through minor variance, I don’t think it’s our place to do that”, said committee member Margaret Smith.
Others expressed their confidence in LiUNA to build a quality project.
“I have such respect for LiUNA, and the projects they put together,” said member Nancie Mleczko.
Farr’s final pitch to the committee was to say past tall building minor variances have received no complaints.
“Speaking directly to our Committee of Adjustment members, you know, you’ve made decisions on major high-rise projects over my 11 some odd years on Council,” Farr said. “I want you to know from the standpoint of the ward councillor’s office, of all the decisions you’ve made for minor variances to happen and these major city building projects that have added unbelievable vibrancy to our core, notwithstanding a little pandemic lull right now. Not one complaint has come to my office. So to date, you’ve made the right call. There’s my little bit of pandering to the committee at this point. I’ll leave it at that. Hope you can make the right call here.”
The minor variance was approved with some members of the Committee of Adjustment opposed. Hamilton City Hall did not release which members voted.

created: September 1, 2021


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Hamilton’s General Manager of Public Works Suddenly Retires, Water Director ‘No Longer With the City’ – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 24, 2021
Hamilton’s General Manager of Public Works Dan McKinnon and Director of Water Andrew Grice are no longer employed by the City of Hamilton.
City Manager Janette Smith wrote in an email this morning that McKinnon “informed me that he was going to retire from the City effective immediately.”
In the early afternoon, Smith sent a separate email stating “I wanted to let you know that effective today, Andrew Grice, the Director of Hamilton Water, is no longer with the City of Hamilton.”
“I appreciate this is a very difficult day for the PW team,” Smith wrote at the end of the second email.
The infamous Chedoke Creek combined wastewater leak began in 2014 under McKinnon’s oversight as head of Hamilton Water. City Council promoted McKinnon to General Manager in 2016. Grice replaced McKinnon.
The combined wastewater leak was finally found in 2018, after years of City Hall ignoring public cries regarding solid sewage waste washing up in Cootes Paradise and Hamilton’s West Harbour.
Over 24-billion litres of wastewater flowed into Cootes Paradise from the leak. Grice was leading the clean-up of the environment damaged.
Senior City managers and City Council decided to try to cover up the Cootes leak. A whistleblower brown enveloped copies of city hall reports regarding the environmental damage to The Hamilton Spectator. TheSpec reported on the documents making the scandal public.
McKinnon is expected to be called to testify at the Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry to explain his actions when the ‘buried’ report was rediscovered in 2018.
Community groups working on the Cootes cleanup speak positively of Grice. The firing comes as a “complete shock” one of them told me upon learning the news. [They did not wish to speak on-the-record as their organization needs to meet to discuss the news.]
City Manager Smith writes she is assuming the duties of Public Works General Manager until a replacement is hired. The Director of Hamilton Water position will rotate monthly with a new permanent director to be hired by the next general manager.
City Hall has yet to issue any public statements on the staffing changes.


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Hamilton’s project manager for Indigenous Strategy Leaves for New Job – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 5, 2021
The City’s project manager’s project manager for the urban Indigenous strategy Nicole Jones has left the City for a new job “working to help with day school survivors.”
The City’s senior project manager for urban Indigenous strategy Shelly Hill announced the news to members of Hamilton’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee on Thursday.
The City will hire a replacement for Jones, and there is staff supporting the strategy during the hiring person, Hill said.
Members of the AAC praised Jones for her work and commitment.
She “will be a hard act to follow,” said one member.
“She will be missed,” said another.
The livestream only showed attendee names without any highlighting for the speaker. It is not clear from the audio who was speaking.

created: September 5, 2021


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Joey’s Notepad for September 17, 2021 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 17, 2021
1) City Hall released the results of the urban boundary expansion mail survey Friday.
No surprise, the survey results are overwhelmingly against expansion. (My first story here).
Yes, it is an unscientific survey and I expect those who disagree with the result to note this repeatedly. Our politics are unscientific.
The survey is representative of public opinion.
Over 80% of the email survey submissions came from the Stop Sprawl HamOnt website, an impressive feat.
Implementing an urban boundary freeze will be hard. I wrote on July 4 on this issue, “The political alignment is interesting. Those who oppose any height limits in Downtown Hamilton and those who oppose three-storey retirement homes in their suburban neighbourhoods have a common cause.”
Council will debate the urban boundary on October 25.
2) Mayor Eisenberger on CHML. Mayor Eisenberger joined the Bill Kelly Show Friday morning to discuss a range of issues including encampments, vaccinations, and LRT.
On encampments, Eisenberger started with a decent explanation they reflect the housing affordability crisis, and there is much work to be done.
Eisenberger launched into his usual criticisms of street outreach medical doctors, accusing them of “encouraging people to go into tents and well, that’s certainly kind of divergent from where we all want to be, which is to get folks into housing.”
He discussed his concerns about encampment conditions, one of which is “using some of that park space as part of their toiletry needs.” Hamilton City Hall is keeping public washrooms closed.
The issue is not easy. The mayor be wise to keep his future comments on how to respond to homelessness, the need for more resources to create the services needed to transition people to housing, and what the city is doing. As the mayor himself said “it’s not like these encampments haven’t been around for decades but they haven’t been as visible as they are today” and “It’s a perplexing, complex problem that isn’t going to go away anytime soon.”
3) The City Manager’s Office posted incorrect information when they tweeted at 8:32 am that city council’s licensing committee would meet at 10:00 am at Stoney Creek municipal centre. I scrambled to get there, riding the HSR and arriving around 10:15 am.
There was no meeting, the CMO never bothered to explain why they posted misleading information.


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LRT MoU says Hamilton Pays for Operations, Not Construction Overruns – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 1, 2021
Council will vote next Wednesday (September 8) on the new Memorandum of Understanding for the LRT project. The new MoU is similar to the March 2016 MoU for the B-Line LRT signed with the Ontario Liberal Party government, which the Ontario Conservative Party government cancelled in December 2019.
The City of Hamilton will be responsible for all operating and maintenance costs associated with running the planned B-Line LRT line.
Metrolinx, the Province’s GTHA transit authority, will oversee the project.
The City is not responsible for any cost overruns.
“Metrolinx confirms that the City is not responsible for costs incurred by Metrolinx, the Province or third parties, including third-party utilities, in connection with the Project even if such costs exceed the costs of any approved budget for the Project save and except only if the City has agreed to pay such costs,” reads the MoU.
The Province will own the LRT infrastructure and pay for “life-cycle refurbishment costs after completion of construction.”
The new MoU states the City of Hamilton will receive all LRT farebox revenue and non-fare revenues, such as a portion of advertising sales.
LRT ridership will be included in Hamilton’s gas tax calculations for provincial funding of local transit regardless of who ultimately operates the light rail trains.
“Metrolinx will draft and negotiate a Train Operator Services Agreement with the operator of the LRT system when the operator is chosen,” the MoU states.
The City and Metrolinx will determine if the HSR or a private operator runs the LRT during upcoming negotiations before the project goes to tender.
The MoU does not include cost estimates for the operating and maintenance of the LRT system. The MoU states Metrolinxs will draft and negotiate a Municipal Funding Agreement for these costs.
Passenger fares for the LRT are not included in the MoU. Notably, the MoU does not discuss fare integration for riders in a section devoted to ensuring the LRT operator  “endeavours” to coordinate with the HSR on scheduling, customer service including “handling of customer inquiries and complaints”, and on “a coherent or complementary branding and wayfinding of the Project with the broader HSR transit system.”
The accompanying City of Hamilton staff report signed by City Manager Janette Smith does not mention fare integration.
Community benefits are listed as a topic for further discussion.
“The critical importance of affordable housing and community benefits is acknowledged in the preamble of the MOU,” reads Smith’s report. The report states there is “a commitment by the Province to work with the City and community stakeholders to endeavour to determine how best to support these goals.”
Metrolinx is not paying for City of Hamilton staff who are required to support municipal approvals and projects related to the LRT.
Council is expected to approve the MoU after voting 9-6 in mid-June to negotiate the MoU.
Ward 9 councillor Brad Clark voted no at the time. Clark stated he would not oppose the LRT project after that approval. Ward 5 councillor Chad Collins, who voted against the LRT, is not attending Council meetings as he campaigns for federal office.
Wednesday’s meeting will begin at 9:30 am.


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Neighbours Withdraw Appeals Against 415 Main Street West Development – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 10, 2021
The two nearby homeowners who said eight stories is too tall for Main Street West have reached agreements with the developer of a proposed eight-storey development at 415 Main Street West.
Matthew Bury and Robin Jeanveau filed separate appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal opposing the development after Hamilton’s Committee of Adjustment approved the development.
Both withdrew their appeals last week.
“I wish to inform you at this time that I am formally revoking the appeal listed above,” Bury wrote to the Tribunal on September 3. “The Owner of the property listed above and this present party have reached an amicable settlement.”
On September 7, Jeanveau emailed the Tribunal stating, “I am withdrawing my appeal related to OLT case number PL210267. I have reached an agreement with the developer that I feel addresses my concerns.”
The Registrar of the Ontario Land Tribunal closed the appeals on September 7 and notified the City of Hamilton the appeal file is closed.
The settlements are private agreements and not binding decisions of the Ontario Land Tribunal. The zoning at 415 Main West now allows for the original development proposal to proceed.
It is not known what the parties have agreed to.


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No Set Date for City of Hamilton Staff to Return to Offices – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 13, 2021
Hamilton’s Emergency Operations Director Jason Thorne says there are no tentative dates for City of Hamilton staff to return to offices. Thorne told representatives of Hamilton’s development industry this morning there will be at least four weeks’ notice to staff before any return to offices.
Thorne says he will present the return to office plan to City Council next week.
The plan will see staff return to offices in phases. “It will not be like flipping a switch,” Thorne said.
Staff who provide direct services to the public will be the first to return to offices, especially at City Hall. Examples given included business facilitation, planning, and building division staff.
The city is monitoring COVID variants and numbers, and any return to office dates will be set in consultation with Hamilton Medical Officer of Health Dr. Elizabeth Richardson.
Thorne was in the Development Industry Liaison Group meeting in his capacity as General Manager of Planning and Economic Development. He stated he was “wearing his emergency operations director hat” prior to sharing the update on COVID planning.
During the meeting, numerous planning and land use industries representatives asked when city staff will return to offices. The representatives state their clients are experiencing delays in processing planning applications due to what they say are inefficiencies due to city staff working from home.
Thorne states city planning staff are working harder than ever, and many of the challenges result from vacancies at the same time as the city is receiving more planning applications than in the past.
The city is actively recruiting new staff and restructuring its planning division to improve workflows and efficiency.
Thorne revealed the city is now leasing office space in the Stelco Tower.
The city’s return to office plan may be released this Wednesday when next week’s council meeting agendas are scheduled to be made public.


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STATS: Hamilton Wastewater Slide on 2020 Performance Stats – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 12, 2021
The Public Works department shared a slide deck with the Development Industry Liaison Group in July 2021 that includes the following statistics about the City of Hamilton’s Wastewater system in 2020:
113,975,000 cubic litres of wastewater treated in 2020
71 storm mode activations
1,387,000 cubic litres of untreated wastewater were released during 12 events
95 other combined sewer outflow events
74 to 82% Average capacity utilization at the Woodwater WWTP
2020 Overflow Performance Summary
Woodward WWTP
 Secondary Bypass Events – 12
 CSO Volume (ML) – 1,386.94
 CSO Duration (hrs) – 146.36
Cootes Paradise
 CSO Outfall Sites – 8
 CSO Volume (m3) – 35,852
 CSO Duration (hrs) – 42.2
Hamilton Harbour
 CSO Outfall Sites – 17
 CSO Volume (m3) – 911,242
 CSO Duration (hrs) – 1,738.3
Red Hill Creek
 CSO Outfall Sites – 6
 CSO Volume (m3) – 22,711
 CSO Duration (hrs) – 98.7

created: September 12, 2021


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Thousands of Mail-In Ballots Cast in Hamilton – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 18, 2021
Hamiltonians may have to wait until the end of the week to know who federal election winners are in the ridings of Flamborough-Glanbrook, Hamilton Mountain, and Hamilton East-Stoney Creek.
Elections Canada says it will begin counting mail-in ballots on Tuesday, the day after Monday’s election day, and it could take until the end of the week to finish counting all the ballots.
Already, the number of special mail-in ballots exceeds the 2019 margin of victory in one Hamilton riding.
The Conservative Party of Canada narrowly won Flamborough-Glanbrook by 1652 votes last federal election.
Elections Canada says they’ve received 1947 returned mail-in ballots for Flamborough-Glanbrook as of Friday with the potential for over 1000 more ballots to be delivered by Canada Post over the weekend.
Elections Canada issued 3333 mail-in ballot kits to Flamborough-Glanbrook voters.
2100 mail-in ballots of 3318 issued for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek and 2064 of 3027 issued for Hamilton Mountain were reported as received in the Friday update.
Mail-in ballots represent approximately 3.5% of eligible voters in each of the three ridings.
Depending on the number of ballots Elections Canada receives over the weekend and how many people cast in-person ballots, I estimate mail-in ballots could account for anywhere between 4 to 8% of votes cast in each of the ridings.
In short, if the margin between first and second place is less than 3% in any of the three non-incumbent ridings, the candidates should consider pausing victory speeches to give time for all ballots to be counted.
Voters can return their mail-in ballots in person to their local Elections Canada office if they have not already mailed it.

created: September 18, 2021


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Ward 5 Seat to Be Declared Vacant at Tomorrow’s Hamilton City Council Meeting – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 28, 2021
Ward 5 Hamilton City Councillor Chad Collins submitted a letter of resignation to Hamilton City Clerk Andrea Holland following his election as the Member of Parliament for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek in last Monday’s federal election.
The letter means council will need to decide tomorrow if they call a by-election or make their own appointment to fill the seat until next October’s scheduled municipal election.
Holland states in a report that her office will need to prepare for a by-election and the earliest voting day they can be ready to conduct a vote is March 7, 2022. Holland estimates it will cost approximately $190,000.
The regular municipal election voting day is October 24, 2022.
Other Ontario municipal councils are deciding on how to fill vacancies following members being elected to parliament or unexpected resignations.
The council of the City of Richmond Hill is also meeting tomorrow to debate how to fill a vacancy on their council. Longtime Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow unexpectedly announced his retirement two weeks ago for health reasons.
The city clerk for Richmond Hill, Stephen M.A. Huycke, says he can run a city-wide by-election with a voting day as early as December 27, 2021.
Huycke states in his reports the cost of a city-wide election will be between $575,000 and $625,000. His report also recommends consideration of allowing internet voting as Richmond Hill did in a 2020 school board by-election. Richmond Hill has a population of 208,000 people.
A London city council committee deferred deciding upon a vacancy during a meeting on Monday.
Ottawa’s council has yet to decide how to fill a vacancy there. Their estimated cost for a by-election is $350,000.
During the past decade, there have been three mid-term vacancies on Hamilton council.
Longtime Ward 3 councillor Bernie Morelli died in January 2014, the vacancy was filled by appointment with former old City of Hamilton mayor Bob Morrow chosen by council. The regular scheduled election was held in October 2014.
In 2015, less than a year after the municipal election, Ward 7 councillor Scott Duvall was elected to Parliament. Council choose to hold a by-election. Donna Skelly won the by-election.
In June 2018, Skelly was successful in being elected Member of Provincial Parliament for Flamborough-Glanbrook. Council asked the Minister of Municipal Affairs to allow leave the Ward 7 seat vacant pending the regular election in October 2018. The Municipal Act does not give the minister such powers, council was instructed to comply with the Act and appointed Terry Anderson who was an Old City of Hamilton councillor for Ward 7.
In each of the election year vacancies, councillors decided appointment was more responsible than the cost of a by-election.
Council meets Wednesday morning at 9:30 am. It will be livestreamed on YouTube.


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BLOG: A brief note on the LTB and Hamilton rents – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 10, 2021
Reading the Landlord and Tenant Board rulings for Hamilton released this week, I find myself struck by the cases involving long-term rental tenants.
A few examples:
Each of these cases – based upon the determinations of the Board – involves many months of unpaid rent with the tenants not responding to documents attempting to arrange a payment plan.

created: October 10, 2021