Dear Neighbours,

I hope you had a restful and fun Family Day weekend!

This week we welcome Alex McGillivray to the Ward 3 Office Team as our new Resident Liaison. Alex brings with her a wealth of experience in communications and community building and we are thrilled to have her in the office.

Alex is a graduate of McMaster University and has worked in the non-profit world for the past 16 years where she focused on providing support to individuals and families living with a hereditary health condition. Outside of work, Alex is the creator and leader of Every Body Crew with Steel Town Athletic Club, and enjoys hiking, cycling, and traveling. She is also an avid reader, runner, and has completed two triathlons.

Alex joins Alex Weinberger, my Executive Assistant, and Kerry Le Clair, the Climate Action Coordinator in providing exceptional service to all Ward 3 residents with a full office team complement.

As we transition Alex into the role, we want to thank you for your patience over these past few weeks that our response times have been longer due to being short-staffed. Our regular social media communications will also be ramping up this Spring along with a new schedule of community-based Ward 3 Office Pop-ups.

Many updates to share with you this newsletter. Please scroll down for details. As always, please follow my office on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to stay up on the day-to-day updates we post. If you need to connect with us directly, please email ward3@hamilton.ca or call 905-546-2107.

Yours in Community,

Nrinder Nann

Snowy photo of City Hall with “Hamilton” sign illuminated purple. Transparent white box in centre with navy text reads "Council & Committee Updates"

2023 Budget

On February 6, we heard from many delegates on their priorities and concerns for the 2023 Budget. Delegations covered a number of topics, from the need for increased safety measure on escarpment stairs, to the need for the City to become a Living Wage employer, to a Just Recovery, and what we saw the most delegations on was the proposed $12M increase to the Hamilton Police Services budget.

While we were not ultimately able to hear from each delegate, the ones who we did hear from all spoke clearly about their vision for an inclusive and just City. The remaining delegates who had been registered for this day, have been rescheduled to Monday, February 27 and I look forward to hearing from them as well.

In March we will wrap up City budget deliberations. The current rate of inflation is 6.8% and our overall tax levy impact is likely to come in around there.

Moving from an Encampment Enforcement to a Human-Rights, Health & Housing Focused Approach

Recently, GIC voted to approve stop gap funding to Spring 2023 of the current model used by the City to respond to encampments. During the meeting, staff were also directed to work with stakeholders in developing a new protocol for encampments that integrates a human-rights, health and housing approach. These meetings are already underway.

There was good discussion among Council about the need to explicitly ensure the funding was not for enforcement focused but instead a housing led-model. To ensure we are measuring our progress and documenting impacts of this work, I moved to direct staff to develop an evaluative framework and bring back a report when we need to formally reallocate the remainder of the full $1.3M for this work.

This is significant and timely progress, especially in light of the recent Ontario Superior Court ruling and OHRC recently provided a statement urging municipalities to do better. Municipal by-laws that prohibit people experiencing homelessness from erecting encampments could be unconstitutional if there are not appropriate shelter alternatives available.

The AIDS Network’s Proposed Consumption Treatment Services Site at 746 Barton St E

At Council, I amended the Board of Health’s (BoH) endorsement of The AIDS Network’s (TAN) application for a Consumption & Treatment Services (CTS) site at 746 Barton St. E as a direct response to concerns shared with me by residents about inadequate community engagement to date.

The amendment embeds the commitments TAN made during their delegation to the BoH for robust community engagement. The expressed a commitment to pursue a “CTS of excellence” with their partners: Hamilton Social Media Response Team, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, De dwa da - dehs nye Indigenous Health Centre, and Alternatives for Youth. They intend to collectively draw on best practices/lessons learned from neighbouring CTS sites.

CTS sites in other cities can show us tangible ways towards success and excellence here. For Kitchener’s CTS site, regular problem solving among neighbours who live in close proximity, other stakeholders, & partners has been key to proactively address issues raised. What was assumed by concerned residents to be doom & gloom actually resulted in the opposite as they adequately addressed safety and possible negative impacts with extensive community-based planning prior to opening the site. Active participation in both a Community Advisory Group and a Community Safety Table were the structures that enabled this collaborative work.

My amending motion at Council also directs Public Health to be an active partner moving forward so we can establish accountability for the area should the CTS application be approved by the Provincial and Federal governments.

There is a difference between inciting fear and being afraid. When we stigmatize CTS users, we ignore the realities of who is accessing these services in our community. When we work together to address valid concerns, we can focus on saving lives.

The growing demographic of users are male workers in construction trades and emergency services. In fact, local Hamilton unions like IBEW Local 105 have been steadily training members on how to use Naloxone for their membership’s health and safety. And, Hamilton Police Services endorsed the proposed CTS site on Barton St E back in November 2022.

With an opioid death rate 45% higher than the provincial average, this Council must act and support the spectrum of harm reduction services needed in our city and advance progress on the Hamilton Drug Strategy.

As this file moves through the different levels of approvals, my office will continue to provide updates on the status.

1083 Main St E

Our neighbours at 1083 Main St E have gone more than 8 weeks without running water to their units. They called Municipal Law Enforcement on Dec 28, and a Property Standards Order was issued on January 5, 2023 with a compliance date of January 24, 2023. Unfortunately, the landlord did not restore water in that timeframe and made an appeal to the Property Standards Committee, as is their right under the Ontario Building Code.

The meeting of the Property Standards Committee occurred this week on Feb 21. The City’s prosecutor and the landlord’s paralegal entered a joint submission to the committee. They confirmed the order and the need for water to be restored, but agreed that the timeline could not be confirmed until after the Landlord Tenant Board hearing on March 8. They further agreed that the landlord would take over from the City in providing water to the tenants.

I have been working closely with tenants, staff and my colleagues to identify any and all municipal leavers that would allow for water to be restored as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, without an active anti-renovictions by-law regime already in place, there is no straightforward path. (Which is why it is so critical to get input to the Engage Hamilton renovictions survey and advance this work)

In a motion to Council on Wednesday, I directed staff to:

take all available actions under the City’s by-laws, including the Vital Services by-law, to expediently restore water;

proactively monitor and ensure sufficient supply of safe potable water be provided to tenants until such time the service is restored;

provide regular communications and updates to tenants with respect to the ongoing property standards matter; and to report back to Planning Committee on this matter.

change current bylaws that would be needed to ensure that enforcement mechanisms are available to address issues like this.

I also asked Housing Services to support the tenants directly in case they are required to vacate the building for repair work to take place.

No resident of our City should be denied vital services, including heat, water, and electricity, to their home for any extended period of time.

Unfortunately, as the provincial government continues to refuse to adequately deal with landlord tenant issues, the municipality must find new ways to step in and protect residents from bad faith landlords.

Left: Picture of a child with their arms up on the edge of a pool. The Child is looking up and to the right and smiling. They have teal goggles pulled up on their forehead. Right: Picture showing pylons blocking a lane of traffic along King St E for road work. Transparent white box in centre with navy text reads "City Service Update"

Spring Recreation Programs

It’s almost time for spring recreation program registration! Registration for recreational programming in most rec centres in Ward 3 and the lower City opens on March 1 at 8am. For more information on programming and registration, please click here.

Road Work and Blocked Lanes along King St E

East Ave - The closure at East Ave where the building facade fell off is still required due to safety issues. I have followed up with staff to get a clearer timeline on when we can expect that lane of traffic to be open again and how we can compel the necessary work to happen more expediently. I will share that update when I have it.

Wentworth Ave - More recently, we have also seen lane closures around Wentworth Ave. Before the end of the last term, I reported a potential sinkhole to staff. They identified that it was a hydro box under the street. Staff diligently reported that to Hydro and continued to follow up on it. Unfortunately, Hydro did not take action until the issue became urgent and required more work and lane closures.

Left: Graphic of a line of apartment buildings. Right: Graphic of people in front of ‘Hamilton’ sign at the City Hall forecourt. Six people stand and look at each other, one person is in a wheelchair. Transparent white box in centre with navy text reads "Opportunities for Engagement"

Recruitment for citizen members to serve on City of Hamilton Agency, Board and Sub-Committee

Help shape our city and join one of the various resident roles on our agencies, boards, and committees. Serving in this role enables residents to support decision making at the City. We strongly encourage applications from all equity-deserving groups, including persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2IA+, Black, Indigenous, and racialized people, and women. An Open House will be held on Wednesday, March 8, 2023 from 6 to 8 pm at City Hall, 2nd floor foyer. You can find more information here.

Engage Hamilton - Renovictions Survey

The City of Hamilton is currently engaging resident feedback on developing a new renoviction bylaw. Following a motion I moved last term, the Housing Services Division has engaged a consultant to evaluate the feasibility of implementing a rental licensing bylaw in Hamilton, similar to New Westminster, BC, to help deal with this issue. Residents are invited to participate in the survey here. It is open until March 5, 2023.

Engage Hamilton - City Services and Assets Review Survey

The City of Hamilton is currently engaging resident feedback on city services in three categories - Hamilton Police Services, Parking Services, and Waste Management Services. Providing feedback will assist the City to measure how effectively these services are being delivered and to ensure future planning of services aligns with customer needs. You can participate in the Police Services survey here, the Parking Services survey here, and Waste Management Services here. All three surveys close on March 20, 2023.

Left: Coalition of Hamilton Indigenous Leadership (CHIL) logo. Middle: Picture of 83/85 Emerald St S . Right: Indigenous Hamilton Archive Logo. Transparent white box in centre with navy text reads "Community Updates"

Coalition of Hamilton Indigenous Leadership - Indigenous Histories of Hamilton

The Indigenous Histories of Hamilton project documents and celebrates the Indigenous histories of Hamilton by creating an Indigenous Hamilton archive. The archive is created through conversations with Indigenous leaders and community, and by gathering resources. The Coalition of Hamilton Indigenous Leadership (CHIL) will be sharing these remembrances from local Indigenous leaders, news articles and engaging in dialogue about what these moments of their community have meant to other residents and families. You can follow along in the learning and discussions on their Instagram here.

83 Emerald St S Redevelopment - Community Consultation - Feb 27th, 2023

Realty Holdings Group, the owners of the former Emerald Lodge, is hosting a second community meeting next week to discuss their redevelopment plans for 83 Emerald St S.

They plan to redevelop this building into affordable rental housing units and intend to retain the existing building and add an addition to the rear. They are hosting meetings to gain insight from the community and to answer questions. Next week’s meeting will be held at Central Memorial Recreation Centre at 93 West Ave S on Feb 27 from 5-7pm.

If you are not able to attend the meeting and have any questions or concerns, please contact rentals@realtyholdingsgroup.com.

Graphic Images of community events. Left to right and top to bottom the graphics are: Hamilton Community Legal Clinic International Women’s Day Event on March 8; Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council Logo; Three lifeguards and a mascot pose in front of the wave pool at Wild Waterworks: Three women bus drivers pose in front of an HSR bus. Transparent white box in centre with navy text reads "Community Events"

Meeting with Hamilton Water - Eva Rothwell Centre - Day, Feb 28th, 6:30pm

Hamilton Water is hosting a meeting with the Ward 3 Office to discuss the recently discovered sewage spills and to answer questions residents may have about what occurred. Hamilton Water will be sharing information on the sewer system, historical odour issues, and will be able to answer questions about the cross connections. All residents are welcome to join.

The meeting is happening on Feb 28 from 6:30-8pm at the Eva Rothwell Centre at 460 Wentworth St. N.

Hamilton Community Legal Clinic - International Women’s Day Event

The Hamilton Community Legal Clinic is hosting an International Women’s Day Event on March 8 from 11am-2pm at Bridgeworks at 200 Caroline St N. There will be speakers, entertainment, and a light lunch. For more information, please go here.

HSR - Women Taking the Wheel Information Session

In an effort to recruit more women drivers, the HSR is hosting a Women Taking the Wheel Information Session to hear from a panel of women as they share their experiences about driving a bus and working for HSR. The event is taking place on March 8 from 6-8pm at Mohawk College. For more information and to register, please go here.

Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council - Immigration Exhibition Launch

The Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council is launching their Immigration Exhibition on March 9 from 11am-1pm at the David Braley Centre on Main St E. Join us and network with community members, enjoy entertainment and celebrate local immigration achievements over the past year. To RSVP, go here.

Free Lifeguard Certification at Wild Waterworks over March Break

Wild Waterworks is hosting a free Lifeguard certification course March 13-17 at McMaster Ivor Wynne pool. Folks who successfully complete the course will also receive guaranteed employment.

To qualify, candidates must meet these criteria:

16 years old
Bronze Cross Certification
Standard First Aid & CPR-C Certification
Proof of Covid-19 Vaccination

For more information, please go here.

2023 Budget, Encampments, CTS, 1083 Main St E, Spring Rec Programs, Agencies, Boards and Committee recruitment, Engage Hamilton Surveys, and Ward 3 Events