Residents across Hamilton are placing lawn signs in front of their homes, calling upon Hamilton City Council to freeze the urban boundary and require intensification within Hamilton’s existing urban area.
The signs are seemingly everywhere, especially in Ancaster and Dundas, calling for residents to respond to the City’s urban boundary survey by selecting “Option 2 – No Urban Boundary Expansion”.
The political alignment is interesting.
Those who oppose any height limits in Downtown Hamilton and those who oppose three-storey retirement homes in their suburban neighbourhoods have a common cause.
Ward 12 (Ancaster) City Councillor Lloyd Ferguson stated at Council two weeks ago: “When I read it [the survey], oh my goodness, this thing is going to be overwhelmingly in favour of intensification, which will be very sensitive to my community.” Ferguson is a proponent of sprawl, and his remarks are accurate.
In Ancaster, there are online debates about what intensification means for the mainly low-density suburban community. What does “Missing Middle” development mean for Ancaster?
There will be three and four-storey developments along arterial roads – this is inevitable even with sprawl. This growth will see more retirement housing, townhomes, and even some stacked townhomes.
Intensification may result in the developments arriving sooner.
The two large commercial plazas on Wilson Street West will become multiple-storey mixed-use buildings, similar to what exists in Dundas.
Over time, large lots with single homes may become two lots with two single detached dwellings.
As one person wrote, “the intensification question that could be very detrimental to Ancaster!!”
A map highlighting potential development sites in Downtown Hamilton’s Central neighbourhood is circulating in the Ancaster discussion with the suggestion these “underutilized spaces, empty lots and surface parking in the lower city” is “where gentle intensification could occur with better planning.”
Used with Permission
A map highlighting surface parking and non-park open spaces in Downtown Hamilton’s Central neighbourhood
We need to plan for intensification everywhere.
Eight years ago, a three-storey extension of 120 suites to the Highland Retirement Home at 307 and 325 Fiddler’s Green Road sparked significant opposition.
“The proposed development is vastly out of character with the surrounding neighbourhood and represents an obvious over-intensification,” read a community petition.
“Overall, the neighbourhood feels that it is under attack by the proposed development … It is not extreme to suggest that if this development is approved, the flood gates will open.”
Developers will propose new homes beside heritage homes on existing large lots.
322 Mount Albion Road is an example of this in-fill intensification form. The site developers applied to sever the property and build four homes: one on Mount Albion Road and three at the rear of the property fronting along Glen Forest Drive.
HANDOUT / TCA | Thier + Curran Architects Inc.
Sun shadow overhead render of proposed intensification project at 322 Mount Albion Road in Hamilton.
City of Hamilton planning staff reviewed the application finding it confirms with provincial planning regulations and respects the existing heritage-listed house.
Ward 5 City Councillor Chad Collins, responding to opposition from neighbours, opposed the intensification and wrote to the Committee of Adjustment. The Committee of Adjustment denied the application, and the matter is now at the Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly known as the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal / Ontario Municipal Board).
It is expected the OLT will approve the proposal.
[The developers are opposing plans to designate the existing home under the Ontario Heritage Act, the Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee will debate the designation in the future.]
Returning to the different groups finding common cause opposing intensification.
Stop Sprawl HamOnt is a coalition that includes farmers, urbanists, downtown neighbourhood associations, naturalists, social justice activists, and environmental organizations.
They are distributing the “Save Farmland” lawn signs we now see in nearly every neighbourhood.
Can SSHO keep this coalition together for the difficult conversations needed to ensure intensification is well planned and Hamilton is prepared for the future?
The first test? Area-rating of transit – the third-rail of Hamilton politics for the past 20 years.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
