Hamilton is currently in a state of change. Since property costs are relatively low compared to neighbouring cities, developers and entrepreneurs have been looking to Hamilton to open trendy cafes and restaurants or to build luxury condos. As positive as this kind of prosperity can be for the city, there is a grim reality behind the shiny facades.

The cost of buying a home in Hamilton has spiked over 88.3 per cent over the past ten years. With that, the city has seen the cost of rental units shoot up more than any other city within Ontario in this past year alone, making it difficult to find adequate housing for those in need.

One of the factors to the rental surge, besides the continued gentrification, is a drop in vacancy rates. From 2013 to 2015, vacancy rates fell to 1.8 per cent from 3.4 per cent, forcing rental costs to skyrocket and lowering the means for affordable housing projects that are in high demand across the city.

The spike of the cost of living in Hamilton and the lack of affordable housing projects, including emergency homeless shelters or women’s shelters, see more people and families being put onto waiting lists for subsidized housing, and more people in emergency shelters staying longer with nowhere to go. Today, approximately 5,700 households in Hamilton are on a waiting list for subsidized housing.

One community in particular has been facing the effects of this resurgence for years. The Beasley neighbourhood is located in central downtown and bound by four major streets that have arguably seen the most gentrification in the city, including James St N and Main St W. In a 2012 report published by the city’s Social Planning and Research council, it was noted that poverty rates in Beasley are three times higher than the average for the city, with nearly six in ten residents living below the poverty line.

“What does affordable housing mean to Hamilton? It means that we as a city are able to continue on with this value we have, which is that if you live here, you’re part of the community,” said Matt Thomson, a Beasley neighbourhood resident. “The city is not about creating wealth strictly through the speculation of housing, but rather everyone should have the chance to participate, and when you have to move far away from where you’re grounded, that’s not what we’re about.”

A 2012 report from the McMaster-Community Poverty Initiative found a 21-year gap in life expectancy between residents of the poorest neighbourhood and those of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in Hamilton. Sara Mayo, a social planner at the Social Planning and Research Council, noted that investing in affordable housing would mean massive improvement for people’s health.

“The sort of low-level chronic stress that comes from things like not knowing if your landlord is going to kick you out or not knowing how you’re going to make next month’s rent has shown to be very harmful to people’s health,” said Mayo. “One high-stress event is something you can bounce back from and something that your body can take, but that low-level chronic stress is something that has really big impacts on people’s brains and on their physical health.”

The provincial government currently has a long-term affordable housing strategy in place that was updated in March. The plan sees $178 million of investment in affordable housing projects, specifically for survivors of domestic abuse, supportive households and homelessness initiatives over the course of the next three years.

“[Fixing the issue is] a complex question that often has very simple answers. You invest in affordable housing,” noted Thomson. “What that looks like is going to depend on what you’re expecting your outcome to be, but it’s about building units, and it’s about fixing the units that we have, and it’s about enabling and equipping people with really cool tools to try out new ways of keeping housing affordable, so that people can then work towards the bigger and better things in their lives.”

After 12 hours of deliberation, the future of Light Rail Transit in Hamilton is still in question.

Council chambers were packed at the start of the meeting, with representatives from a variety of community groups. The McMaster Students Union was represented, with Blake Oliver, vice-president (Education) in attendance for part of the meeting.

The LRT debate has been raging for years and city council has voted numerous times to approve the project. The provincial government has committed $1 billion in capital funding to build LRT that would include a main route from McMaster University to the Queenston traffic circle.

This lengthy meeting stems from a motion that was brought forth in April to “reaffirm” city council’s interest in LRT. That motion was withdrawn at the Oct. 25 meeting after a legal opinion highlighted that they would need a two-thirds majority to change the LRT stance of city council. The lawyer, George Rust D-Eye, also pointed out the potential liabilities of the city if they were to oppose LRT after years of support.

City council will also ask the provincial government to look at expanding the A-Line of the proposed LRT system, which runs up to the Mountain. An official from Metrolinx, the government agency responsible for expanding public transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, said it is too early for the organization to make a statement on that request.

There are more obstacles to come for LRT, though this meeting could be interpreted as a win for the pro-LRT crowd. It is unlikely that city council could achieve a two-thirds majority to change course on LRT and there are significant legal questions to answer if they actually did decide to abandon the public transit project.

LRT will continue to be a point of contention for the Hamilton community and the issue will come back to city council when the environmental assessment is completed in early spring 2017.

By: Calissa Medeiros

Safe injection sites could be coming to Hamilton, pending a community survey and city council action.

The city of Hamilton has been holding an online survey to determine whether or not Hamilton will be opening its own safe injection site in a local area within the city of Hamilton.

Results from the survey would decide whether or not safe injection sites are something that people believe would benefit the community, and assist individuals who struggle with drug addiction and are not getting all the help that the city is able to provide for them.

Repeated studies prove that safe injection sites would not cause negative effects on its surroundings. Instead, it may have a positive impact from the results of having less syringes and fewer people publicly injecting.

“This isn’t the same as condoning or supporting drug use – this is about keeping people safe,” Dr. Jessica Hopkins, Associate Medical Officer Of Health, said in a meeting last September when the Board of Health approved the plan to begin considering building safe injection sites.

Not all members of the board are in agreement of the situation, such as Lloyd Ferguson, chairman of the City Police Board. Ferguson mentioned the “quandary” for police that safe injection sites may be, considering the fact that drugs like heroin and cocaine are illegal, and “here we are as a city, encouraging it.”

There are about 30 overdose-related deaths in Hamilton every month. On average, 60 to 100 people overdose at safe injection sites in the same time, but none have ever resulted in death because there is medical supervision.

Since 2003, safe injection sites have been helpful to communities that struggle with drug abuse in Vancouver, B.C.

Every day, 700 people wait in line to get a spot in the safe injection sites, where they will be given clean needles and crack pipes, and are able to inject pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of addiction counselors, addiction doctors, nurses, and volunteers.

Since the opening of the sites in 2003, overdose related deaths and evidence of public injection has decreased by a ‘significant amount’, according to a report written in 2009. Findings from the Evaluation of Vancouver’s Pilot Medically Supervised Safer Injection Facility — Insite.

The Hamilton survey came to an end on October 26th. The feedback will help the city take the next step in understanding the need that the city has to build these sites, and if it would be beneficial to the community and attend the needs of individual’s health.

On Sept. 26, the provincial government held an anti-racism panel in Hamilton, as a part of their anti-racism directorate to address systemic racism within Ontario.

The anti-racism directorate was created in Feb. 2016, and its main aims are to decrease systemic racism within provincial government institutions, increase awareness of systemic racism within the local communities and promote fair practices that lead to racial equity. Since July, the panel has held various meetings to discuss systemic racism in an open forum.

The anti-racism panel was held at Mohawk College, where the community gathered to discuss the specific race sensitive issues in Hamilton.

Approximately 150 people were in attendance, and audience members were encouraged to speak to the panel of municipal and provincial representatives about their concerns.

Some of the notable members of the audience included minister MPP and minister responsible for anti-racism Michael Coteau, Ward 3’s Matthew Green, and McMaster’s equity and inclusion office’s senior program manager Vilma Ross.

Community leaders were also in attendance, and many spoke about their experiences as well as their issues with the directorate itself. Ken Stone, chair of the community coalition against racism in Hamilton, noted the redundancy of the directorate in his speech.

“Many excellent pieces of research have already been done over the last three decades, proving conclusively that systemic racism infects every facet of our justice system, it exists in the school, and it colours who gets and doesn’t get the best jobs available in Ontario,” said Stone in his speech.

Members of the audience also spoke about the current government’s own relationship with racialized groups. Manohar Singh Bal of the Gursikh Sangat of Hamilton accused Coteau of dismissing his group’s concerns, to which Coteau responded was due to logistical issues.

McMaster students were also in attendance, and shared mixed feelings towards the panel.

“I think it depends a lot on how you feel about the efficacy of our current system of government in enacting change through policy and the like,” commented Michelle Xu, a second-year Arts and Science student. “There was so much valuable information, stories, and suggestions that were shared from the audience, and I have so much respect for everybody who came up to speak to their own experiences and for their communities.”

Others were more hopeful, citing the panels as a necessary step.

“[The panel] was necessary because if [Michael Coteau] hadn’t done it he would’ve been seen as illegitimate and because he did do it there was a lot of anxiety to the usefulness of it,” commented Chukky Ibe, a fifth-year Political Science student. “I think it was a show of leadership from their office and we’re just waiting on their results.”

The directorate will continue their stops in other cities, their upcoming stop being in London on Oct. 7 and in Sudbury on Oct. 15. Individuals are encouraged by the Liberal government to come out and have their concerns heard.

McMaster will be forced to relocate its Centre for Continuing Education from its 50 Main St. E. outpost after being told by the city that it must vacate the building by 2015.

The space is known for formerly housing the Wentworth County municipal courthouse and will be reclaimed by the City, which will cough up $32-million to renovate a building they had planned to sell for $5.6 million.

The expensive revamp and changing of the guard is necessary because of overcrowding in John Sopinka Courthouse, just down the street.

Lack of space in the courthouse has forced the City to find a new home for provincial offences offices and courtrooms by August 2017 when they have been asked by the province to pack their bags and leave.

After much debate, it was decided that the City would be best off reclaiming the building which McMaster has been leasing for approximately $180,000 per annum since 2000.

“We can stomp our feet about it all we like, but ultimately what I’m hearing is this is the cheapest option,” said Councillor Chad Collins (Ward 5) at a general issues committee meeting Wed. Jan. 22.

Such a move poses an “aggressive timeline” and will affect the 200 staff members and 4000 students who make use of CCE each year, said Gord Arbeau, Director of Public & Community Relations at McMaster.

“Relocating all those components to a new location is a complex move. What we’re trying to do right now is work with the city to gain an understanding as to their timelines and try to put together a process where we can move as quickly as possible,” he said.

Arbeau was quick to point out that university services will not be disrupted as McMaster is close to announcing a new location, pending final negotiations with the city. He could not specify the nature of the building, but was hopeful that the deal could be finalized in a timely fashion.

“As we finalize plans on this new downtown location, we are certain that the University and the city can make arrangements to ensure that the move is handled in an effective and efficient way,” he said.

With neither of the moves being particularly appealing to either party at this moment, Arbeau says that the university is disappointed they didn’t purchase the building when they had the chance.

“Thinking about the future of the building, our preference had been to purchase it. But that offer expired several months ago,” he said.

McMaster is also building an $84-million downtown health campus, which will play host to the City’s Public Health Services as well as the university’s departments of family medicine, and continuing health sciences education.

Westdale's Mexican take-out restaurant closes its doors

It had pulled pork, rice, beans, lettuce, lots of tomato, green peppers, cheese, salsa and guacamole. For Noah Ciglen, it wasn’t just a burrito. It was end of an era.

Ciglen, a fourth-year Arts & Science student, had the “sad honour” of purchasing the last burrito from Jimmy Gringo’s Burrito Factory, a favourite student haunt at King and Marion in Westdale, before it closed for good on Jan. 26.

“I had heard before winter break that Jimmy’s was closing, but I had no idea when,” he said. “Then I read on Twitter that it was closing that day and I thought … that I was going to regret it if I never had another burrito from them.”

Although students and local residents alike frequented the takeout restaurant, co-owner Ewan MacLachlan said that operating the business has not been an easy time.

“We’ve been open five years, and it’s been a fight since day one,” he said.

“I chose a location in Westdale because I wanted to cater to students and I liked the village atmosphere … but some of the locals didn’t like us.”

The restaurant operated as a takeout eatery only, but that wasn’t MacLachlan’s original plan for it. His initial vision was of a restaurant with seating, an outdoor patio in the summer and a liquor license so as to sell a small selection of drinks like sangria.

“They’ve got deep pockets and politicians on their side,” he said of the Westdale residents, who were resistant to the business’s presence in the neighbourhood.

The ill will was not new to Jimmy Gringo’s.

An April 2010 article in the Hamilton Spectator, reporting on the success of Hamilton’s business districts, quoted Joe Catanzano, co-owner of the restaurant. “We almost have to close our doors,” he told the Spectator. “Everybody says the city should be supporting you but, nobody here wants another Hess Village.”

Because of the residents’ issues with the restaurant’s late-night business and often rowdy customers, MacLachlan said he was often faced with a series of city inspectors and fines.

In September 2009, less than a year after its opening, Jimmy Gringo’s was brought to a City of Hamilton licensing tribunal for having a small collection of tables and chairs in its storefront, which violated code.

MacLachlan was consequently forced to pay a $1,500 fine for operating illegally, as the restaurant’s license designated it takeout-only. He alleged that this fine was imposed despite a city official assuring him he would not be violating code because the restaurant had already put in an application for seating.

As a result of the tribunal, the restaurant’s license was suspended for a day, and as well as being told to immediately remove the seating, it was ordered to put up a sign indicating that the establishment was take-out only.

So, after a tough five years, MacLachlan finally took an opportunity to close up shop.

“The timing was right, and the lease was up,” he said. “I’d had enough.”

Although students won’t have a reliable source for burritos in Westdale, some may find consolation in the opening of the American chain restaurant Taco Del Mar at Main and Emerson. But Ciglen, who considers himself among Jimmy Gringo’s cult following, won’t be among them.

“I tried [Taco Del Mar] to see if I could change it up, but it was too clean, too calculated and precise, and just not good,” he said.

There’s still some hope that Jimmy Gringo’s won’t be gone forever. MacLachlan, who said he has loved serving students, noted that he had the intention of moving elsewhere to “do what [he] had originally hoped.”

But with no location yet in mind, those loyal to Jimmy’s will be going hungry for a good burrito.

New funds available for crown wards

An additional $24-million investment by the Ontario government has been made to educating current and former crown wards. A Jan. 24 announcement said that funds will be allocated for the foster children to finish secondary school and attend post-secondary institutions. As a result of the investment, approximately 1,600 former crown wards will be eligible for funds. McMaster founded a Crown Ward Education Championship Team in the Hamilton/Brant/Haldimand-Norfolk region in 2008-09.

When Gavin Schulz created Bus Ticker, he was doing it for himself as much as anyone else.

“I found it useful,” said the fourth-year economics and computer science student at McMaster. “I figured other people would find it useful as well.”

The Bus Ticker app, which can run on iOS, Android and BlackBerry, provides a listing of HSR bus arrival times for a given stop. A user can enter a stop number, or allow the app to locate the nearest stops itself, and see when the next five buses are coming for each bus route.

“The other options, like the phone-in service from the HSR or Google Maps, just took a long time and were more complicated than they needed to be. I decided to build something that would make it really easy to find out when the next bus is coming,” said Schulz.

Not only does the call-in service take a longer time to give you less information, he said, but it also requires that you know your four-digit stop code. Google Maps provides similar data, but presents it in the form of a complete trip. Bus Ticker, he explained, has a much higher information density than the other options.

HSR makes bus information available online for a couple of months at a time, said Schulz. He updates Bus Ticker by downloading the information and re-purposing it for the app.

After starting work on the app in early October, Schulz presented and launched it at Software Hamilton’s DemoCamp on Nov. 20. Bus Ticker – originally called the “Next Bus” app before a trademark conflict surfaced – was one of six demos at the event, which is run annually by Kevin Browne, a PhD candidate in McMaster’s computing and software department.

The app is currently free for download from bustickerapp.com.

“The way I look at it, I could charge for it and make a little bit of money – realistically, maybe a couple hundred dollars, and I’d have a couple hundred people using it – or I could make it free … and I could have a lot of people using it and getting value from it,” said Schulz.

Earlier this month, Schulz emailed an open letter to Hamilton’s city council, pushing them to mandate real-time updates from the HSR. He has been working with Open Hamilton, a citizens' group that believes City data and information should be freely available, on that pursuit.

Whether or not Bus Ticker offers updates in the event that a bus is delayed or re-routed was something that came up a number of times as DemoCamp, he said, but that information is not currently available from the HSR.

"We [at Open Hamilton] have been trying to get the HSR to release real-time data available to developers," said Schulz. "I think [Bus Ticker] is really effective in terms of showing the City that people are here waiting to build on that data once they’re ready to give it to us.”

Schulz would like to see the project evolve with an SMS service for commuters without smartphones, as well as a browser extension so that Bus Ticker is available from a personal computer.

“I like building things. I like creating things; it’s fun,” he said. “There’s a satisfaction in seeing people use it.”

Debate over potential licensing by-law continues

On of Nov. 27, the City of Hamilton will be releasing its recommendations for a new housing by-law. While the housing rental by-law is not specifically aimed at targeting students, potential changes include the introduction of a $150 licensing fee, a property standards checklist and a six-person occupancy limit.

These recommendations come after months of consultation between City officials, landlords and the McMaster Students Union. Councilor Brian McHattie spoke to The Silhouette in September and reiterated that the introduction of a licensing fee would guarantee higher property standards and hold landlords accountable to providing safe housing.

“The focus is safe housing. We have unsafe and unpalatable housing across the city,” said McHattie.

However, landlord associations, such as the Hamilton and District Apartment Association (HDAA), have spoken out against the rental licensing costs.

Arun Pathak, President of HDAA, told The Hamilton Spectator on Nov. 7 that the City is not using all of its current tools to crack down on substandard rental units.

In particular, Pathak highlighted Project Compliance, which has seen municipal by-law enforcement officers cracking down on illegal rental units since 2010.

Project Compliance is a pilot project that targeted specific wards, including Ward 1, which includes Westdale.

The MSU issued a press release to alert students to these changes on Nov. 20. Additionally, they have created an online survey for students to list their preferences when it comes to cost of rent, quality of rental property and number of occupants in the rental property.

One third-year Social Sciences student has already been impacted by the controversy surrounding the proposed changes.

This student had been in communication with their landlord and was made aware that a licensing fee was potentially being introduced. The landlord told the student that she would be taking locks off the doors in the rental property and trying to put all the tenants on one lease for the next year, so that the rental property could be classified as a “family dwelling unit” and therefore not be subject to the licensing fee by-law.

In response to this, the student told the Silhouette that he strongly favoured the City licensing and more careful regulation of landlords and rental properties. He has also been in contact with Councillor McHattie’s Office.

While property standards are one part of the controversy, students could also incur additional costs. Currently, the City appears to be setting the fee at $150 per year. The concern is that this cost could be downloaded to students.

Huzaifa Saeed, MSU VP Education, spoke to the Sil in September, stating, “From one angle…this is a good deal for students. This would avoid horror stories with absentee lanlords. From an economic standpoint…what would this do for affordability of rental housing?”

While Hamilton appears to be pursuing the $150 fee, other cities, such as North Bay and Oshawa, have set prohibitively high fees of $300 and $500 respectively.

Both North Bay and Oshawa have also come under fire from the Ontario Human Rights Commission for targeting students in their by-laws and therefore discriminating specifically against student rentals.

Councillor McHattie told The Spectator that he is committed to keeping licensing fees low. The MSU has also continued to be involved in consultations with the City in order to advocate for student interests.

With millions invested in preliminary research on a light-rail transit system in Hamilton, the City is under pressure to move the project forward.

Over the past five years, Hamiltonians, councillors and McMaster representatives have been making the case to the province for LRT in Hamilton.

LRT would provide train access every two or three minutes to downtown Hamilton. The system is expected to benefit local commuters and frequent users of the B-line bus route. As part of a downtown renewal plan, LRT also has the potential to draw more students to the core of the city.

Recently, Mayor Bob Bratina has come under heavy scrutiny by community members for not pursuing the initiative more aggressively.

Complicating matters further, Dalton McGuinty’s resignation last week as leader of Ontario’s Liberal Party means LRT supporters likely have to wait even longer for action.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty right now. I wish I could say this could happen very soon, but with the economy and Ontario’s political situation, I don’t think we’re going to hear back definitively from the province until 2014,” said Brian McHattie, Hamilton city councillor for McMaster’s ward.

Given the amount of time and money already spent on the initiative, many are seeking clarity on whether LRT is on track to happen.

So far, evidence suggests there are significant social and economic benefits to justify having light-rail transit in Hamilton.

According to a 2010 operational review by the HSR, bus ridership in the east-west direction that LRT would encompass was roughly 13,000 per day.

“The B-line is by far the busiest line we have in the city,” said McHattie. “Sometimes you’ll see buses pass by their stops because they’re too full. LRT would be able to carry many more passengers, and it would be faster.”

To date, $9 million has been invested in preliminary research to make the case for LRT. The province has designated $3 million for a required Environmental Assessment.

Estimates for the cost to build the LRT B-line are much higher, ranging from $900 million to $1 billion.

“Initially, and until they say otherwise, the province has earmarked $2 billion a year for 25 years for the MoveOntario plan,” said councillor Jason Farr. “That’s all we know at this point.”

In September 2011, City Council requested full provincial funding on two LRT lines in Hamilton.

Other cities in the GTA are also pursuing provincial funding on LRT systems. Toronto recently secured full capital funding from Metrolinx for its $6 billion Eglinton-Scarborough cross-town LRT, prompting many to insist Hamilton deserves the same treatment.

“In October 2011, Metrolinx said we were ahead of the pack,” said Farr. “Since then, we have heard they may be looking at alternative funding sources, and that could be anything – it could mean creating a new tax specific to the MoveOntario initiative or to Hamilton’s LRT plan.”

“It doesn’t mean LRT is dead, though – it does not mean that,” he said.

In August of this year, Ontario’s minister of infrastructure and transportation Bob Chiarelli finally confirmed that the City would have to raise a portion of the funds on its own.

It is uncertain how much Hamiltonian taxpayers will have to pitch in.

This uncertainty prompted Mayor Bob Bratina to express hesitation in a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Stoney Creek earlier this month.

Bratina said he was reluctant to move ahead with LRT plans before funding details are released.

Councillor McHattie said the City intends to join the Chamber of Commerce’s LRT taskforce committee, on which McMaster University has representation. He added that the Council would also be interested in working with the McMaster Students Union.

Last year, the MSU launched a “We need LRT” campaign. Former VP (Education) Alicia Ali and SRA representative Chris Erl brought forth a motion to amend one of the MSU’s transit policies. A two-line edit to the policy reads that the MSU supports the LRT initiative in Hamilton.

Students were asked to give feedback by tweeting with the hashtag #WeNeedLRT whenever they missed a bus or were unsatisfied with HSR service, and about 100 tweets were tracked up until September.

Since then, several additions have been made to HSR bus service to McMaster.

“We haven’t heard as many complaints on social media about missed buses in the morning,” said Huzaifa Saeed, current VP (Education) of the MSU, who worked with the City’s transit department in the summer to increase HSR service to the Ancaster Meadowlands.

Saeed says he hasn’t abandoned the LRT initiative, but needs student backing from the SRA and interest from the student body before he could push for LRT on behalf of McMaster students.

“I think the momentum [in the LRT campaign] has died down at the city level, and the province isn’t saying anything yet.”

If LRT were to be implemented down the road, Don Hull, director of transit at the City, said the system “would likely replace some of the bus network we have near McMaster, most notably the B-line. It would call for the restructuring of [HSR] service.”

But that is a long way off – ten to fifteen years ahead, said Hull.

“We’re currently working on a fall report for Council that would provide details of how LRT could be implemented,” said Hull.

Over the past few months, work has also been done to determine a preferred site for a transit terminal on campus, and a recommendation has been made to locate it near the parking lot at Cootes Drive and Main Street.

“That work is continuing,” said Gord Arbeau, director of public and community relations at McMaster. “McMaster is a supporter of the LRT initiative and will continue to work with the City to make a case for this investment.”

Aside from the MSU’s endorsement of LRT and a short-lived student campaign last year, there has been little student feedback on a major transit initiative that would connect McMaster to the rest of Hamilton.