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Premier is shortchanging Hamiltonians on LRT funding

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. 

On April 29 Hamilton City Council received a city staff and consultant report detailing the impact of the sewage spill on Cootes Paradise. The consultant's report concluded that the spill did not cause a long-term impact on water quality in Cootes Paradise.    

I voted against receiving the report due to its lack of consultation with our agency partners, especially the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG). Secondly, the City of Hamilton was given a very short period in which to respond to the Provincial Order. As a result, no new information about the spill itself could be collected, and the availability of data for essential ecosystem components was limited. The City could have announced that it was planning to do more to investigate and remediate the spill in future.