Elections, LRT, housing and more: The events and issues that will shape Hamilton in 2022

While it's hard to predict even a month or two ahead these days, 2022 will bring possibilities, including the Red Hill Valley Parkway inquiry, the long-awaited start of light rail transit construction, and two elections — one guaranteed to bring new members of council. 

There may also be a Supercrawl, the Music Cities Forum and an Iron Maiden concert – but we know by now that such luxuries are at the whim of COVID-19, which could just as likely continue to dominate the agenda.

Pandemic aside, here are seven issues and events we expect to shape this city this year:

LRT construction and investment in transit

Construction for the 14-kilometre light-rail line between McMaster University and Eastgate Square is set to start "sometime in 2022," beginning with the relocation of utility lines, says Metrolinx spokesperson Matt Llewellyn. 

The request for qualifications from bidders for the main contract will start in the spring. Metrolinx is coordinating the project alongside the City of Hamilton. 

Metrolinx has said it also plans to continue buying properties to clear the way for the LRT this year. Llewellyn said in December that demolitions along the corridor will continue over the winter.

With the project finally imminent, Coun. Nrinder Nann (Ward 3) says 2022 will also be a time of finalizing the community benefits Hamilton would like to see in relation to the construction project. She'd like to see changes to zoning along the LRT route to require a certain percentage of new units in a building to be designated affordable housing. She says council has the ability to define what "affordable" will mean in this case. 

"It has the ability to make a profound impact instead of gentrification taking over the LRT line," she said. "It would be a tremendous shame to have billions of dollars of investment into transit and then essentially say only folks who can afford to live there can access it."

This year will also surely see the Hamilton Street Railway work to entice riders back onto the bus, after it lost $24 million in expected revenue from reduced ridership in 2020 alone. 

Housing, or lack thereof

Numerous people who spoke with CBC Hamilton for this article said housing affordability will continue to dominate the agenda this year.

"One of the most pressing issues that will continue to face our city is the need for safe, affordable, reliable housing for all Hamiltonians," says YWCA Hamilton CEO Denise Christopherson.

"[In 2021], Hamilton was named as the third least affordable housing market in North America, and the wait list for affordable housing currently sits at over 6,000 families."

The YWCA says it plans to move more families into its new Putman Family YWCA, on Ottawa Street North, in the new year. As of mid-December, 23 of the 50 units were occupied in the affordable housing building specifically dedicated to women and women-led families. The organization will also begin fundraising in the spring to finish the building's shared spaces and final touches.

I don't want to spend any time in 2022 enforcing encampments. I want to talk about solving homelessness.- Councillor Nrinder Nann

There is also the issue of how to respond to encampments that continue to exist around the city. Nann plans to introduce a motion to the emergency and community services committee in January aimed at coming up with a quick but permanent solution to house the approximately 80 to 140 people that were living in encampments in December.

"We're at a critical moment of intervention," she said. "I don't want to spend any time in 2022 enforcing encampments. I want to talk about solving homelessness."

Provincial election and the urban boundary

Ontario's provincial election will be June 2, and is likely to be a referendum on the province's COVID-19 response. But in Hamilton, where thousands of people participated in the debate over whether to go against provincial advice and hold firm the urban boundary, that issue will also be on some voters' minds.

The province has said municipalities must expand to allow for construction on urban outskirts, and it will enforce such a measure if municipalities don't do it themselves by July, 2022.

NDP MPP Sandy Shaw, who represents Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, told CBC Hamilton earlier this year that there should be enough time for a change of provincial policy by July if Ontario voters choose a new government in early June.

Municipal elections and the mayoral race

The municipal election on Oct. 24 should bring some changes to council, and possibly a new mayor. It's unclear if Fred Eisenberger is certain to run again, nor who his hopeful successors might be.

Eisenberger's office wouldn't say in mid December if he plans another run, though in a "fireside chat" video posted by the city Dec. 26, when asked if would run in 2022, he said he is "definitely up for it" but it is "still an open question."

What is clear is that some engaged voters are trying to get new faces on council. The group iElect Hamilton has been campaigning in recent months for change, and the group Ward 14 for Progress seems eager to unseat Coun. Terry Whitehead.

There's also likely to be a new councillor in Ward 5, which is currently held by former councillor Russ Powers in an interim role, following the election of longtime representative Chad Collins to as a federal MP. Ward 4's Sam Merulla has announced his intention to retire from council as well.

It's going to get hotter

The United Nations' intergovernmental climate change panel has said the earth is on track to warm between 1.5 and 2 C during this century, which likely means new heat records in 2022. It also means a higher likelihood of extreme weather events, such as heavier downpours and more serious storms.

In Hamilton, that's notable because the city does doesn't have accurate stormwater modelling or know where the water will go if the area faces a deluge.

A report to council's public works committee on Dec. 6 included a presentation that stated "the city has insufficient visibility on… where flooding risks may exist" and can not accurately predict overland flow in extreme storms. "There is also a risk that major stormwater paths do not exist in some parts of the city leaving streets and neighbourhoods vulnerable to flooding."

City staff are expected to choose a modelling tool and begin to implement it in 2022. 

Local environmental campaigner Grant Linney says he hopes the city moves from words – such as declaring a climate emergency in 2019 – to acting to sharply curb greenhouse gas emissions. 

Adeola Egbeyemi — a coordinator at MacDivest, a group pushing McMaster University to divest from fossil fuels – will be looking to a "fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty" that Nann is expected to bring to council next year. 

"If city council were to pass this motion, they would be the third city in Canada and 16th in the world to do so, transforming the way Hamilton produces energy, invests in and undertakes infrastructure and development projects, and supports fossil-fuel dependent workers," said Egbeyemi. "In 2022, Hamilton has a chance to enter the global stage and take climate action."

New tool to report racism

There was plenty of tension between communities of racialized people and city institutions in 2021, setting up 2022 to be a year to watch for possible solutions, resolutions or exacerbated tensions, depending on actions going forward. 

Last year, police arrested members of the Black community in November following the clearing of an encampment at J.C. Beemer Park; and protesters gathered outside the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board after trustee Becky Buck was named vice-chair after being named in a racism probe last year.

Earlier in the year, protesters pulled down the Gore Park statue of John A. Macdonald, as a reaction to his role in the residential school system. This year, Hamiltonians could find out if it will it be resurrected or sent to pasture somewhere less prominent.

Another expectation for 2022? The launch of a new tool to report racist incidents in Hamilton, with development led by the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion.

"In 2019, Hamilton had the highest number of hate crimes per capita in Canada," states HCCI's website. 

"Further numbers showed that the Black community, the 2SLGBTQ+ community and religious communities were impacted the most. Many of these communities also have a mistrust in the police system; thus many hate crimes go unreported. As such, is it important to create an independent user-friendly community online hate reporting platform that allows residents of Hamilton to create a safe community and give an informed and enhanced picture of the climate of hate in Hamilton."

Red Hill Valley Parkway inquiry

At long last, the inquiry into the buried report about low friction in parts of the Red Hill Valley Parkway is set to happen in 2022, after a series of pandemic-related delays. The city said in 2018 that the report was only found in a locked computer folder after the city hired a new engineering director.

The city said in December that the inquiry has already racked up $11 million in costs, which are expected to balloon when it moves into the hearing stage this year. The probe will look at questions including who saw the report, why council wasn't told and if drivers were put at risk.

Between 2005 and 2015, there were 201 collisions on the highway. The 2015 deaths of Jordyn Hastings and Olivia Smosarki were the first of several on the highway.