Dear Neighbour,

Our office continues to prioritize communication with you through social media, community update mail outs and now directly to your email inbox.

These regular emails will include updates from Council, projects in the Ward and matters raised by residents.

Yours in community,

Black Lives Matter.

The whole world has witnessed the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police violence in Minneapolis, MN. The ongoing accounts of excessive force by police continue as people have taken to the streets peacefully with their grief and demands for justice.

Regionally, thousands are also demanding truth and accountability for the death of young Black adults facing mental health crises. Regis Korchinski-Paquet, 29 years old, died after falling from her family balcony after Toronto police told her family to leave the apartment and she was alone with police officers. D’Andre Campbell, 26 years old, was shot to death in Peel when he called the police for help during a mental health crisis. The Special Investigative Unit is currently investigating both cases.

Over a 17-year window in Canada, the number of people dying during encounters with police has steadily increased. Black and Indigenous people are disproportionately more likely to face deadly encounters with police compared to their population size. In some cities, Black residents are twenty times more likely to be killed by police than those racialized as white. All while thousands of cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls go unresolved.

Here in Hamilton, many residents have called for the defunding of police. This past week, I have received up to 50 emails per day from residents supporting this call.

We are all being asked to contemplate: what is the future of policing?

Important questions stemming from the Independent Review Into The Events Surrounding Hamilton Pride (report released on June 8th, 2020) also suggests policy level and service level changes are required for policing to be more effective in combating hate based activity and incidents.

Data shows that crime rates go down when neighbourhoods have better schools, adequate parks and green space to freely congregate and play, access to well paying jobs along every commercial corridor, adequate multi-modal transit options, robust social support services and adequate housing in place. Communities are safer and healthier when we invest in them.

Real population outcomes are possible when we have teams of responsive crisis intervention workers rooted in centring the needs of those experiencing a crisis. It is that much more effective when these services are steeped in best practices of community building and when the workers have trust-worthy relationships in a neighbourhood. These community crisis intervention approaches resource teams to be available to residents in times of personal crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how much more we need to invest cross-sectorally in our city. Especially so when it comes to mental health, addiction and housing.

Should police be the providers of wellness checks?

Would it not be better to right size essential police services to focus on investigating homicides, the proliferation of guns and illegal drugs, property theft, vehicular traffic violations and other core policing business instead?

These are not easy questions to respond to. I am certainly learning a lot quickly also. And I encourage you to consider these important questions also, with an open mind and not hardened old stances.

And from the countless conversations I have had with residents over these weeks, Hamiltonians expect zero incidents of police brutality, zero incidents of anti-black and anti-indigenous racism. Residents also expect accountability when bias has impaired the judgement of officers to the point of causing death. And all residents deserve services that deliver protection and safety.

In this historical moment, and while contending with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear there is no going back to “normal” and we must build a better way forward.

If you would like to learn more on this topic check out these resources:
White Fragility Robin DiAngelo (Link to HPL)
Policing Black Lives - Robyn Maynard
The End of Policing - Alex S. Vitale
Divest from Police, Invest in Communities - Anthony Morgan
Are we ready to talk about defunding the police? - Alok Mukherjee
Defund Police? Dismantle Them? What Then? - Crawford Kilian
Defunding Will Save Black And Indigenous Lives In Canada - Sandy Hudson

Long Live Hamilton Bike Share!

On June 3rd, World Cycling Day, Hamilton City Council voted unanimously to keep our beloved blue bikes rolling as an essential mode of transportation for our residents. The World Health Organization recommends cycling as the best way to maintain physical distancing while travelling for essential services. And in Hamilton, many workers use SoBi to commute to and from work in every field of work including our health care sector.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, over 600 Hamiltonians became new subscribers, joining the over 27,000 others.

Though my initial motion to allocate discretionary reserve funds from Ward 1, 2 and 3 to provide a stop gap solution to buy some time for staff to put together a long term operations plan and to have Hamilton Bike Share Inc operate it for the interim was lost on a tie vote, Council reconsidered it on Wed June 3rd accepting $400K in donations from residents, businesses, organizations and the McNally Foundation instead.

It is important to remember, no one wanted to be in this position. And the only reason we were is because Uber unilaterally decided to cancel their contract obligations with the City to operate it.

Jay Keddy Trail

Last Wednesday, Council also approved funding of the Jay Keddy Access Trail which will serve as the City’s first dedicated cycle track up and down the Escarpment. This mixed pedestrian and cycling trail will help foster active living, physical connectivity and shared experiences among the lower city and escarpment neighbourhoods. Looking forward to seeing the final design and implementation.The trail is named in honour of Prince of Wales Elementary kindergarten teacher Jay Keddy who was tragically killed cycling on the Claremount Access in 2015

Wheelchair Swing

Gage Park is home to the city’s first wheelchair swing!

Thank you to Rebecca Shae for her advocacy in helping make this swing a reality for our neighbours who rely on wheelchairs. I look forward to seeing this swing in use once the emergency orders closing all play structures are lifted.

Yardshare in Ward 3

An exciting and much needed resident-led initiative supported by my office. The goal of the program is to increase food security and decrease the length of the food chain.

If you are a Ward 3 resident interested in learning more or getting involved, please see the facebook page or email: yardshareinward3@gmail.com

Black Lives Matter, Hamilton Bike Share & More