Complete Sreet in Grimsby

Can a city be driven to change?

This spring, Hamilton city council is expected to debate and pass a complete streets design manual to make roads friendlier and safer, especially for more vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists. Under the program, walking, cycling, and public transit will have a higher priority. The 2021 city transportation master plan (unanimously adopted by city council) states that …

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Renoviction and the invisible eviction crisis

Ontario has a big problem with evictions. How big? No one knows for sure. While the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is ramping up the assembly-line to pump out evictions, there is no means to measure the depth of the crisis. No government or agency is keeping count. An eviction crisis is occurring behind a …

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Update: 319 Sherman Demolition

On the afternoon of September 30th 2019, the demolition of a decades-old structure from former steelmaker Hamilton Specialty Bar caused a massive black cloud of industrial-grade dust and debris to engulf surrounding homes and businesses and spread across several neighbourhoods, its plumes seen from many kilometres away.  The dust cloud, which some described as post-apocalyptic, …

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Gate to Gage Park Community Garden

Community gardens provide food security

Premier Doug Ford’s March 30th extension of the Declaration of Emergency included shutting down all “recreational amenities” including community gardens. The immediate response from some community activists, food security advocates, and gardeners was to lobby to keep community gardens open. These efforts are now meeting with backlash. It’s about land, class, and privilege. As an …

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Canadian Dime

Ten cents a day

Ten cents a day is all it would take to clear every sidewalk in Hamilton of snow and ice after a storm. Ten cents a day. With every heavy snowfall or after an ice storm, people become trapped in their homes or at risk on the streets. Life doesn’t stop. Missing appointments can cost money …

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How to increase transit riders

HSR has struggled for years with virtually no growth, but could look down the highway to the transit innovations of another older Ontario city that is making giant strides. By utilizing multiple methods Kingston has jumped its bus ridership by 80 percent in just five years.

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Deanna Alain Photo

Ask the Ontario Ombudsman to Investigate Committee Meeting in Niagara – Raise the Hammer

If you are unhappy that Hamilton City Council members banned public observers from the “public” meeting they held at a resort in Niagara-on-the-Lake, I would like to ask you to file a complaint to the Ontario Ombudsman. It’s the legal avenue for a complaint under the “Sunshine Law”. Source: Ask the Ontario Ombudsman to Investigate …

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