Mayor Fred’s lukewarm chamber breakfast

Eisenberger blandly phones in his political messages right before an election

His name is Doug Ford.

He’s the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.

And, if the Tories are elected June 7, he says he’ll give Hamilton the option of spending the $1 billion for LRT from the province on any infrastructure projects it likes.

But, inexplicably, would-be premier Ford became He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the annual Hamilton Chamber of Commerce mayor’s breakfast on Tuesday.

For some reason, despite this latest and arguably biggest threat to the LRT project, Mayor Fred Eisenberger couldn’t bring himself to mention Ford’s name when the hot topic was raised before an audience of some 500 business and community members at LIUNA Station.

Instead, Eisenberger made a vague, wimpy reference to “some others” saying the city can do whatever it wants with the $1 billion, noting that “up until a little while ago” all political parties had agreed to move forward with LRT.

Eisenberger’s “little while ago” was actually just last week when Ford rolled into town for a Tory rally and promised the money would stay in Hamilton if council rejected light rail, which predictably has LRT opponents and more than a few supporters dreaming of sand castles.

Why Eisenberger didn’t name names and tackle Ford head-on is both a mystery and a lost opportunity to drive some anchoring spikes into the ground.

To be fair, event moderator Elise Copps was equally coy when she got the ball rolling by asking Eisenberger how a “potentially new government” will affect LRT.

Again, his name is Ford. The party is the Progressive Conservatives. And an offer is on the table. Might as well meet it hand-to-hand. It’s not going away.

Yes, Eisenberger drizzled out some standard pro-LRT messages. He noted about $70 million from Metrolinx has already been spent on the project. He spoke in passing about it being a city-building opportunity for creating high density developments and sparking investment.

But he also said this: “We’re moving forward with LRT. You know, in the absence of some other alternative, you know, I think we need to continue on. It’s the right transit system for the city of Hamilton.”

That’s hardly a rallying cry, hardly Shakespeare’s “a little touch of Harry in the night.” Realistically or not, there is in fact an alternative in the hopper now. Ford has thrown down the gauntlet (or a lifeline, depending on your view) to city council and Hamilton voters.

Eisenberger is supposed to be the city’s LRT champion. He needs to work up some strong messages in response. But at the chamber breakfast, he was generally phoning it in while pushing lukewarm food around his plate.

The most cringeworthy moment came when Copps asked about NAFTA, tariffs and the potential impact on Hamilton’s steel industry.

Eisenberger said the city is continuing to work with partners to defend the steel industry, citing his work with the mayor of “ah … I forget, the town up north somewhere.”

Presumably he was referring to Mayor Christian Provenzano of Sault Ste. Marie, home to Algoma Steel.

OK, we all have our momentary lapses. I know I do.

But after Eisenberger touched upon the knowledge economy, the fight against poverty, and the role of agribusiness, surely it didn’t escape the crowd’s notice that his response to audience questions about marketing Hamilton’s waterfalls and his vision for the arts were canned at the same bland factory.

Waterfalls are a great asset, he said. We ought to capitalize on them. Efforts are being made to try to move forward and make them safe and accessible for tourism. Yes, he said, arts have great economic benefits, the sector is growing, we’re going to continue on that path.

Some vision.

There’s no question people personally like Eisenberger. You can tell that from the way they respond to his little sallies and asides.

But this is election season. And election season is more than just silly season, as some people call it. It’s also a season of options, comparisons and expectations. By those yardsticks, Mayor Fred needs to up his game.