‘Hamilton Summit’ draws election hopefuls
Aspiring MPPs hear from ‘expert panels’ on local issues during city hall forum
Hamilton gave a crash course on its cash crunch to would-be MPPs Friday.
Normally, the city has to take its funding complaints to Queen’s Park.
But the city turned the tables Friday by luring a bevy of current and would-be MPPs to city hall for a daylong master class in the infrastructure, health and housing problems faced by the cash-strapped municipality.
Billed as Hamilton Summit 2018, the event invited all aspiring provincial election candidates from Hamilton-area ridings to listen in on a series of “expert panels” on local issues, including the city’s $3.5-billion infrastructure backlog, ambulance off-load delay crisis and shortage of affordable housing.
Coun. Sam Merulla originally pitched the idea of a pre-election summit with a particular focus on the common theme of service costs “downloaded” onto the city by past provincial governments.
Merulla said his goal of the summit was to “advance an understanding that nearly 50 per cent of our operating budget is not under (city) control,” but rather dictated by provincial departments or provincially mandated agencies like the police board.
The Ward 4 councillor said he hoped the event makes the “democratic deficit” an election issue. He added he was pleased by the candidate turnout.
At least 15 candidates from all of the major parties showed up — as well as would-be MPPs from lesser known parties like the Trillium Party of Ontario and the None of the Above Direct Democracy Party.
All of them had a brief chance to make a pitch for voter support with a majority of city councillors, dozens of city staffers and an ebbing-and-flowing number of other citizens looking on.
Another 15 non-politician residents were scheduled to speak about their priorities for the election near the end of the day.
The expert panels included a mix of local city managers, business people, advocates and academics.
Veteran municipal finance academics like professor Harry Kitchen, for example, weighed in on alternatives to property taxes, while anti-poverty advocate Tom Cooper talked about the “crisis” in affordable housing and the potential of guaranteeing a basic income.
Cooper expressed optimism Friday after talking one-on-one with several candidates.
“There’s seems to be a real desire to understand the challenges,” he said.