Hamilton

Wednesday October 26, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 26, 2022

New Mayor, Strong Mayor?

Some said the race to become Hamilton’s next mayor was hers to lose from the outset.

October 1, 2022

And indeed Andrea Horwath took charge of her political destiny, winning a close race to become the first woman to wear the chain of office in the city.

Horwath pulled out the victory over main rival Keanin Loomis, who traded the lead as votes trickled in throughout the evening. Bob Bratina finished a distant third.

“Hamiltonians deserve to have a city that they know they can trust what’s happening at city hall,” she told a jubilant crowd of supporters downtown at The Spice Factory.

She thanked Loomis, Bratina and other candidates. “We do not agree on everything, but we all love this city.”

Horwath finished with 59,216 or 42 per cent of the vote, while Loomis was runner-up with 57,553 or 41 per cent. Bratina garnered 17,436 and 12 per cent.

The former Ontario NDP leader and Hamilton Centre MPP expressed gratitude to voters. “We all believe in the same thing: We believe in Hamilton.” (The Hamilton Spectator) 

August 17, 2022

Meanwhile, Ontario’s big city mayors elected to a new term in office may soon have enhanced powers at their disposal to tackle tough issues like housing.

But experts say the use of so-called “strong mayor” powers may not be clear-cut, and their use may be limited by budgetary constraints and other factors.

Housing was a major election theme in municipal campaigns across the province, particularly related to affordability.

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government recently passed a law giving mayors of Toronto and Ottawa veto power over bylaws that conflict with provincial priorities like housing, and Premier Doug Ford says the powers will be extended to other cities in a year.

Monday night’s municipal election results mean Ford could be extending those powers to former foes in provincial politics, with former leaders of the NDP and Liberals elected as the mayors of Hamilton and Vaughan, respectively.

McMaster University political scientist Peter Graefe says it will be interesting to see how different municipalities use the strong mayor powers depending on local pressures on councils and from voters. (CTV News) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

 

Wednesday October 19, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 19, 2022

Hamilton’s mayoral candidates

2014 Mayoral Race

There are a lot of differences among the nine people running for mayor of Hamilton. But many of them have things in common — an interest in changing housing, infrastructure, and the culture at city hall. And while some of these ideas may sound familiar to voters, others aren’t even within the mayor’s power to enact, falling under provincial or federal jurisdiction. (CBC)

 

Saturday October 15, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 15, 2022

New Hamilton council must grow political will to tackle complex and polarizing issues

Of the myriad issues and challenges facing Hamilton’s new city council, few are as complex and polarizing as homelessness and the drug epidemic that continues to take a horrific toll.

Glorious architecture gallery

Mental health, poverty, addictions, safe and secure housing — all are at play in one big tangled Gordian knot. But if the new council just begins with a sense of urgency and addresses some of the pieces, it will already have achieved what the current council has not.

To begin, we need a broad and official acknowledgment that what is happening now isn’t working. While no one wants to see tent encampments in the lower city or elsewhere, the solution cannot simply be to tear them down and displace the residents. All that does is move the problem from one place to another, making it more difficult to serve this challenged population.

We have empathy for residents who feel less safe and inconvenienced by the presence of encampments, but there is no sweeping this under the rug.

What we need is more stable and secure housing options. The current council hasn’t done nearly enough. A part of the solution could be the HATS initiative which would see homeless people accommodated in purpose-built small shelters, clustered together for optimal service delivery. Tiny shelter communities are working in many other places in Canada and the U.S., including as close as Kitchener.

Some Hamilton councillors have expressed support for HATS, but that support is typically accompanied by a list of locations where they don’t want the settlement to be. Everyone can agree the idea should help, but no one wants to see in their ward. That’s not real support. In other cases local government has actually become actively involved in the project, but here council has been hands off. The private group driving the pilot project is seeking a site, and if they find one on private property, HATS could come to life. But it will be in spite of city council, not because of it.

Similarly, consider the opioid epidemic. Three years ago, city hall recognized the need for more supervised consumption and treatment services sites (CTS) that are proven to save lives by having resources on hand to help overdose victims. The limited services running now are literally saving lives, but the supply of CTS sites is far from adequate.

October 1, 2022

We know the city needs more. Community groups are actively working on plans for more, but they are facing opposition from residents, in particular in the lower city. Their argument goes something like: Inner city wards already house an above average number of services and shelters, so the needed CTS capacity should be in some other part of the city. The problem with that is that the population that needs the service isn’t someplace else, and it doesn’t make much sense to open a CTS site where drug users won’t use it.

It is worth noting here that city staff are not the issue. They are already working with others on the ground with community partners. What’s missing is political will. It is our fervent hope that a new council and mayor will change that. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial)

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

 

Saturday October 1, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 1, 2022

Hamilton mayoral candidates Horwath, Loomis trade barbs on debate stage

With less than a month before Hamilton chooses its next mayor, two main contenders have slugged it out on the debate stage while coronavirus sidelined a third.

September 17, 2022

Candidates Andrea Horwath and Keanin Loomis traded blows during a 90-minute televised debate, presented by Cable 14 and The Spectator, at the Westdale theatre Tuesday night ahead of the Oct. 24 election.

With rival Bob Bratina at home with COVID-19, the two hopefuls trumpeted their leadership qualities and challenged each other’s ability to lead the city.

Horwath aimed to burnish her image as a lifelong hometown fighter and a seasoned political veteran with knowledge of the inner workings of government.

“I really do have a handle on what this city’s all about and I really do believe that we have our best days ahead of us as a city,” the former Ontario NDP leader said in her opening pitch.

Loomis, meanwhile, drew on his business acumen, noting after 13 years in Hamilton, he’d stepped down from his post as local chamber of commerce leader in January to spark change.

Hamilton has progressed in recent years, but most of those strides have been “in spite of our leadership at city hall” and electing more “career politicians” isn’t the answer, he said.

June 22, 2022

“More of the same will only lead to more of the same and we cannot afford that. Their partisan baggage will only hold us back.”

Bratina, Horwath and Loomis are all running with platforms that promise change with Fred Eisenberger, a three-time mayor, exiting local politics at the end of this term.

Horwath, 59, and Loomis, 47, are relatively like-minded on a number of big-ticket items, including their enthusiasm for Hamilton’s future LRT line.

Both also agree with council’s decision to hold Hamilton’s urban boundary firm — in spite of pushback from Queen’s Park — to avoid sprawl into outlying farmland.

March 30, 2022

They thread the needle on police budgets, dismissing advocacy to cut budgets, but vouching for more resources of social and health services to aid on crisis calls.

On the same topic, Bratina, a 78-year-old former Liberal MP and mayor, hammered home his support for beefing up the police in a recorded Zoom call submitted to Cable 14.

“Our streets are unsafe due to violent crime and reckless driving and women are nervous about going out at night,” he said.

April 27, 2022

Horwath, who entered political life as a city councillor before becoming MPP and then Opposition leader, assured viewers her adversarial relationship with Premier Doug Ford wouldn’t hinder Hamilton’s chances of landing provincial funding.

“Absolutely not,” she said, adding Ford doesn’t bear a grudge over her party role in the Ontario legislature and, in fact, “sent a very positive, affirming note” after she announced her candidacy.

Loomis said the premier would take his calls, but not Horwath’s, arguing “there’s no expectation that they will be able to work together in the future.”

But Horwath, calling her rival’s take “really naive,” likened dust-ups in the legislature to pickup hockey games between “buddies” who later go for beers.

Loomis, focusing on his opponent’s erstwhile job as Hamilton Centre MPP, contended constituents who helped re-elect her in the June provincial vote were “upset” over her resignation to run municipally and had a “valid perspective.”

“My question is have you considered how this would cause people to lose trust with you?”

That’s a “gotcha type of politics” that resembles “U.S.-style” electioneering, responded Horwath, who asked whether Loomis, a lawyer who moved to Hamilton from the United States, planned to keep his American citizenship.

“OK, you seem pretty adept at U.S. politics yourself,” he fired back, before asking her to address “a lot of talk” of her “running for mayor as you were running for premier.” (The Hamilton Spectator)

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …