MW Site

THIS EDITION OF THE WARD 1 NEWSLETTER INCLUDES:

• My vote against ending the Encampment Response Protocol
• COVID-19 Cases, Scenario Comparisons for Hamilton
• Hamilton’s COVID-19 Testing Centres increase capacity to meet community needs
• Hamilton's Recreation Master Plan Engagement Strategy
• Local Notices
  
  • Locke Street Marker Public Art Project
  • Kirkendall Neighbourhood Food Drive
  • Westdale South - Dromore Cres Temporary Road Closure (Sterling to Paisley) September 10
  • Paisley Ave N and Oak Knoll Ave
  • Ainslie Wood Visual Identity Survey - Last Call
• Park Project Updates
  
  • HAAA
  • Victoria Park
  • Alexander Skate Park
  • Churchill Park
• City Enrichment Fund Now Taking Applications for 2022
• 2022 City Enrichment Fund | Applications Open
• Bay Area Restoration Council Community Water Leaders Program
• Royal Botanical Gardens Resumes Programming
• In Case You Missed It
  
  • Chedoke Creek Remediation Update: Ministry approves City’s remediation work plan for Cootes Paradise
  • Hamilton City Council approves Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Verification Policy for all City employees
  • Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre welcomes executive director, Lyndon George HARC website,
  • Increased risk for West Nile Virus in Hamilton
• Events
  
  • Cootes to Escarpment Fall Festival Weekends from September 14 - October 3, 2021
  • Saturdays Un-LOCKED - Eat, Shop and Play on Locke every Saturday from July 17 to September 11 | 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM
  • Westdale Village Casual Outdoor Market every Tuesday | 4:00-7:00 PM
  • Westdale Live
  • Supercrawl Bridgeworks Live Stream Series

Encampments are outside spaces where residents are living temporarily in tents or other makeshift arrangements. I have written about encampments in a previous letter to Ward 1 residents. 

The purpose of this Ward 1 letter is to account for my vote at the August 9, 2021, special meeting of Hamilton City Council, which concluded with the City's cancellation of the Encampment Response Protocol.  

There have been encampments across the lower City of Hamilton for years. 

Before COVID-19, most if not all the encampments in Ward 1 were hidden from public view – in ravines, under highway overpasses or adjacent to railway lands. 

The growth of encampments caused the City of Hamilton to adopt a protocol of response in 2018. Once identified, a team of public health and housing services workers from the City of Hamilton make contact with those living rough to begin the process of determining the health, housing, and social needs of encampment residents. When accommodation and supports were in place, the encampment was cleared and cleaned.