Hamilton weekend vandalism incident highlights concerns over gentrification

A recent rampage by a group of masked vandals describing themselves as “the ungovernables’’ has turned up the volume on longsimmering conversations around gentrification in one southern Ontario city. Residents of Hamilton are openly theorizing that the weekend march by a group of roughly 30 people is the latest in a long list of attacks against the sorts of small businesses popping up with increasing regularity in the city previously decimated by the erosion of manufacturing jobs.

People who claim affiliation with or who openly support Saturday’s march point to gentrification and income inequality as a key reason behind the weekend activities.

Police did not respond to request for comment on Wednesday and have remained tightlipped about links between the march and gentrification, but acknowledge there have been a rash of attacks in rapidly developing neighbourhoods in recent months.

No arrests have yet been made in Saturday’s incident, which saw marchers hurl rocks through windows while carrying a large banner that read “we are the ungovernables.’’ The incident caused about $100,000 in damage primarily to independent shops and cafes on a trendy city street.

Local architect Bill Curran said the vandalism on Hamilton’s Locke St. is the most extreme in a series of recent attacks on small businesses.

In a letter sent to the city’s mayor and members of the police force, Curran blasts police for allegedly turning a blind eye to the activity, saying small business owners had been predicting events like Saturday’s vandalism “for months.’’

He characterizes the vandals as rebels fighting back against a tide of positive economic change.

“Hamilton is finally returning to prosperity after 30 years of poverty and low economic standards that followed the loss of the steel industry,’’ he said. “We’ve been all desperately craving this return to prosperity. But with that, some people are now taking the word ‘prosperity’ and twisting it around.’’

What Curran sees as a boon strikes others as a blight.

A local anarchist group called The Tower issued a Facebook post Wednesday saying that it had no association with Saturday’s march but supported the actions.

“Class war is happening every day in this city, with constant attacks on poor and working people,’’ the group said. “The ongoing effects of gentrification in this city are heartbreaking _ waves of displacement, growing violence, and intensifying poverty. You cannot expect for all of this to just be swept under the proverbial rug.’’ An anonymous blogger purporting to have taken part in Saturday’s events expressed a similar sentiment on the website Northshore Counter-Info, saying the burgeoning number of small businesses has serious consequences for less affluent people pushed aside by the new wave of development.

“When prices go up and rich people move in, it means a chance to sell luxury goods (while we work for minimum wage),’’ the post said. “When more police and surveillance come in, it secures (the business’s) investment (while we get harassed and pushed out). They are getting rich because our lives are getting worse.’’

“Class war is happening every day in this city, with constant attacks on poor and working people.”

Anarchist group called The Tower