Welcome to the end of summer 2026. I hope you’ve been able to enjoy it!

In compliance with the City of Hamilton's election rules, this will be my final Craig’s Current for this term of Council.

Over the past four years, I’ve published 60 newsletters to keep you informed of what’s going on at City Hall and around Ward 12. With the departure of Ancaster News, I increased my efforts to try and fill some of that gap. Communication is at the core of my leadership style, and I’m glad so many of you have reached out with your appreciation.

August has been a very busy month for Council business. In this issue of Craig’s Current, I have articles for you on an important Auditor General’s report, more news about urban boundary expansion applications, an exciting funding announcement about development charges that should instigate home building, and a recap of my trip to Ottawa for the AMO Conference. There are also many community stories I think you’ll find informative. 

The very first article in this month’s newsletter has important information from the City of Hamilton about the upcoming municipal election, so please keep the details handy for reference.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COUNCIL NEWS 
Municipal Election October 26
Auditor General’s HR Report
OLT Decision for Urban Boundary Expansion
$572M from the Development Charge Reduction Program (DCRP)
Advocating at AMO
Motion: Restrictions on Invasive Species Sales
Motion: Deposit Return Program for Beverage Containers

WARD 12 NEWS
Garner Road Update 
Lynden Drinking Water Distribution System Flushing Program
Community Meeting for 154 Wilson St. E Ancaster Development
Ancaster French Secondary School Update
Ancaster Rotary Centre Closure
Pickleball Update
Gnome Quest
Craig’s List Support Local

COMMUNITY SAFETY  
Traffic Calming Measures this Term of Council
Auto Thefts Declining in Hamilton

IN OTHER NEWS  
Hamilton Receives Federal Funding for Homelessness Initiatives
Free Sport Equipment Rental Stations in Hamilton 
My Hamilton Portal
Gritty History Podcast
Looking For a Family Doctor?

HAPPENING AROUND HAMILTON  
Various events around town

CLIMATE CORNER
Train Tracks and Solar Panels?

Voter turnout for municipal elections has historically been low, so this year the City will provide more convenient dates and voting locations throughout October than ever before. Plus, on election day you will now be able to vote at any polling station within your ward. 

Advance Polls:
October 3-4 
October 10-11 
October 17-18

Eligibility: Starting September 1, 2026, eligible voters who wish to be added to the Voters’ List or need to update their information can make an application to amend the Voters’ List. This can be done at any of the City’s Municipal Service Centres or at City Hall from September 1, 2026, to October 24, 2026. The Ancaster Municipal Service Centre is located at 300 Wilson Street East. 

Eligible voters can also have their name added to the Voters List at a poll location on any voting day.

More information about eligibility is here
Information about where, when, and how to vote is here
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The Auditor General’s report released earlier in August is an important step towards improving how our city is run and ensuring we have the best possible employees working to deliver the services you expect and deserve, but before addressing that report, some context is important. 

Trust and confidence in local government (in both elected officials and the bureaucrats that run city operations) is a sign of a well-functioning democracy; however, I believe that many Hamiltonians would not rank the City of Hamilton high on these dimensions. I had a sense of that in 2022, and it was part of my motivation to run for office. Over the past four years, I’ve had a front-row seat to witness the culture and processes at City Hall and the need for improvement.

Many capable, dedicated employees work extremely hard in the role of public servants. Much of the great work they do goes unnoticed. I usually hear about their work when someone is not satisfied. Some of that is justified, and some is truthfully a mismatch of expectations of what city employees can reasonably accomplish with the resources and rules that they must work with. 

It's City Staff that run the city and make operational decisions within the provincial and municipal rules and policies established for them. All employees report to a functional leader and ultimately to the City Manager, who is the equivalent of a Chief Operating Officer. Council’s role is primarily oversight. That includes budgets, policies, and setting an overall strategic direction for the City.

I believe that part of that oversight is about culture, morale, and most certainly ensuring senior leadership is held accountable. Over this term of Council, I have supported many decisions that have helped us move along the path to a more effective organization that can earn the trust and confidence of Hamiltonians.

That brings me back to the recent Auditor General’s report that made some significant findings about the Human Resources department. Instigated by a whistleblower complaint (a process that allows serious concerns to be reported anonymously), the findings identified very serious flaws in the HR investigation process when complaints were made against an employee. 

A long list of serious issues was uncovered, resulting in a lack of neutrality by HR investigators and serious concerns about procedural fairness. The report identified the root causes of the issues and made six recommendations which management has accepted and will implement. Management will report back to Council in January to share an implementation progress update. 

I agree with the AG’s statement that “It is critical that the city modernize its HR investigations process to ensure it conforms with accepted standards for workplace investigations in Ontario”.

Strong leadership from Council means acknowledging the seriousness of the findings, fully supporting the AG, and ultimately holding management accountable for the improvements they have committed to. I know from experience that organizational culture can suffer, leading to significant lapses if not nurtured through consistent role model behaviour by leadership (Council and senior management). Those lapses damage morale and erode trust and confidence – both inside and outside the organization.

Although the audit findings are disturbing, they are also an opportunity for a significant course correction and an opportunity to overhaul culture and process at the City of Hamilton. 

I’m grateful to the AG for the report and for the opportunity presented to achieve material improvement in how City Hall operates.

Read the City’s news release here.
Read the Audit Findings here.
Read The Spec article here.
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In August, there were two developments on the multi-year-long Urban Boundary Expansion file. 

First, on August 17^th, the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) ruled that Hamilton must add at least 1,600 hectares (3,954 acres) to accommodate population growth through 2051. Their decision is in direct opposition to City Council’s repeated resolutions since 2021 to freeze the urban boundary and accommodate growth within it. 

Since 2021, the Province has changed Planning Act rules so that private landowners can initiate urban boundary expansions at any time. Previously, such consequential matters were considered during a planned and methodical process called a ‘municipal comprehensive review’ initiated by the City. 

There are currently three urban boundary expansion applications in play. The City and the applicants agreed with each group to split the process into multiple phases:

Phase 1: An aggregate land needs assessment (how much, if any, land is required to accommodate population growth) that will form the basis for each application.

Phase 2: Specific urban boundary expansion applications. Applications have been made for areas known as ‘Twenty Road West’, ‘Elfrida’, and ‘Whitechurch’.

Phase 3: Secondary Plans that would provide high-level guidance on how land brought into the urban boundary would be developed (types of housing, transportation network, location of parks, schools, commercial areas, etc.). These are traditionally initiated and led by the City, but developers can initiate and seek municipal approval.

The decision on August 17 was about phase 1: land needs. Council’s position is that no additional land is required, consistent with its frozen urban boundary position. The OLT decided that at least 1,600 hectares (3,954 acres) is required. 

At the core of the matter has been the testimony of land economists. Put simply, their job is to make a case for how much land is required to accommodate the forecasted population. The underlying assumptions determine the widely varying conclusions reached by the various parties.

The successful argument accepted by the OLT is that housing will continue to be built in the forms and proportions that we already have: an overwhelming focus on low-density housing. The argument appears to be that ‘this is what the market wants: ground-related housing’.

Apparently not considered in their decision are the factors I have constantly heard from constituents: a lower cost of living (greatly influenced by property taxes), less vehicle traffic, and safer roads. Continuing to build low-density housing makes all of those things worse. 

More roads mean more infrastructure that we can’t afford to pay for in the long-run. It means more vehicle traffic because tens of kilometers of new roads severely hamper the ability of the City to build fast, reliable, and effective public transit that would provide alternatives to driving and make transportation more affordable, not to mention all the new cars that will need to drive into the existing city.

More infrastructure means we stack even more bills on top of those that we already cannot pay. 

My summary of the process is that old ways of thinking were used to make a decision that ignores the realities we are facing today and locks the future into more of the same and completely misses the opportunity to do better. 

When Council received a report on Urban Boundary Expansion (UBE) applications in June 2025, an independent financial analysis concluded that the Whitechurch and Elfrida expansions would result in an annual $78M shortfall in lifecycle funding, which equates to a ~6% increase in taxes.

The deceptive part of this process is what Hamilton and other cities have experienced over the past 80 years: there is an initial huge influx of tax revenue when development happens, and that lasts until infrastructure like roads, water pipes, parks, recreation centres, etc., need to be replaced. Then we’re in a huge negative cash position in the years after that, when all that infrastructure needs repair and replacement, and property taxpayers pay the price. Literally. This is how we have gotten into the existing $5.2B infrastructure spending deficit. Instead of paying more to renew our infrastructure, taxes were kept low, and we have been watching it crumble.

Said another way, focusing housing growth outside our existing boundary means we are not generating much-needed revenue to pay for our current infrastructure. If we are not generating sufficient revenue to pay for what we have already built through intensification, we’ll all just pay more taxes or suffer with failing assets.  

Making the same mistake, yet again, by expanding our urban boundary will only exacerbate the situation for the next generation. 

ELFRIDA SECONDARY PLAN APPLICATION

The other recent development related to urban boundary expansion applications was the Elfrida submission for a secondary plan in their proposed expansion area. Planning Committee and Council unanimously denied the application.

This is the phase 3 step I mentioned above. And before you scan back up this article to find out where you missed the phase 2 step, I’ll reassure you that you didn’t miss anything. The Elfrida landowner group has brought forward a secondary plan (a plan that lays out where schools, parks, roads, etc, will be situated on the land) for lands that are not within the urban boundary. Provincial legislation allows that to happen, and City Staff are obligated to process the application. The Elfrida Secondary Plan was presented to Planning Committee on August 25^th. 

IMPACT ON FARMLAND AND STATEMENT FROM THE HWFA AND OFA

The application is premature because Council has previously rejected the Elfrida UBE application and it has been appealed to the OLT. The Elfrida lands remain high-quality, productive, prime farmland and part of rural Hamilton.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Hamilton-Wentworth Federation of Agriculture sent a joint letter to Council ahead of the recent Planning Committee meeting. An excerpt is below, and you can read the full letter here.

The approximately 2,987 acres identified in Elfrida are almost exclusively high-quality prime agricultural farmland, while the approximately 899 acres identified in White Church also include significant high-quality agricultural and rural lands. Based on their productive capacity, these lands have the potential each year to produce the equivalent of 5.3 million loaves of bread, 1.15 million litres of ethanol, 12.8 million litres of soy milk, and enough hay to feed 83,800 cows for a day.
Those numbers help put into perspective what is at stake. Farmland is infrastructure in its own right. It is the foundation of our food system, supports farm families and agri-food businesses, contributes to Ontario's economy, and provides environmental benefits including water management, carbon storage and wildlife habitat. Hamilton's agricultural sector is particularly significant: within the city limits there are more than 118,000 acres of farmland and nearly 3,000 agri-food businesses, supporting more than 26,000 jobs and contributing approximately $580 million to Ontario's GDP.
We fully recognize the real need for additional housing in Hamilton. Protecting farmland is not about opposing growth or housing. It is about ensuring that growth occurs in the right places and that an irreplaceable, finite resource is not sacrificed when other opportunities for accommodating growth remain available. There's still so much room to grow within Hamilton’s current urban boundary — through smarter use of low-density areas, redeveloping brownfields and greyfields, investing in more compact and complete communities and investing in urban transit solutions.

In addition to being premature, City Staff noted the application was lacking in many ways: it was incomplete and did not meet many of the standards that both the City and the Province expect. The notes I made in preparation for the meeting highlight deficiencies in virtually every part of the report. The Elfrida representatives told Committee that they had just submitted a revised plan (two business days earlier) that they felt addressed Staff’s concerns. That wasn’t helpful because Staff hadn’t had time to review it, and it was not before us for a decision. 

As part of the application, a financial impact analysis was provided. An independent review determined that it, too, was lacking in many ways. It attempted to present a positive financial picture, but as noted above, when a fulsome long-term analysis is done, new, primarily low-density developments are a financial drain on city finances and only serve to drive taxes up and service levels down. 

Regardless of your opinion on preserving farmland, housing typology, climate change, car dependency, air pollution, access to jobs, or natural ecosystems, we all care about affordability and good financial stewardship. Urban boundary expansion for Hamilton is a bad financial decision.

OLT hearings are scheduled for each of the appeals, and we expect that the Elfrida Secondary Plan will also be appealed to the OLT. 

You can read the Spectator article about the OLT Urban Boundary decision here

For the Elfrida Secondary Plan, you can read the Staff report in Appendix 1 here, and the Spectator article here

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On March 30, 2026, the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario announced the Development Charge Reduction Program (DCRP) initiative as an $8.8 billion cost-shared partnership that will be delivered over 10 years (2026–2035). The DCRP is administered by the Province, with federal funding delivered through the Build Communities Strong Fund’s Provincial and Territorial stream.

Before explaining the $572M that the City of Hamilton has been awarded from this program, let’s get grounded in what Development Charges (DCs) are and why they are a hot topic that has generated such a large pot of funding. 

When a city grows, new infrastructure is required: roads, water/wastewater/stormwater pipes, parks, recreation centres, fire stations, etc.  

In simple terms, there are essentially three ways to pay for all of these things. 

In Ontario, municipalities have largely used #3 to fund growth, and that is the case in Hamilton. That means if you buy a newly built home, or establish a new building for business, you pay a development charge to the City. Those funds are accumulated in a reserve and will contribute to future growth projects. For example, this is the pot of money that would be used to build the roads in a new neighbourhood. 

The Province requires municipalities to complete a very detailed process tied to population growth projections to determine what infrastructure will be needed in the coming years. The total DC funding to support planned growth is calculated. Over time, that funding is collected in a very structured manner from each new development. 

The City can only use the funds collected for the projects planned to support growth; it’s not general revenue that can be used to fix existing infrastructure that services the existing population. 

In recent years, as the cost of construction has increased, home builders have struggled to make their pro formas work so that their projects can meet required profit margins set by the financial institutions lending them money. DCs have also increased because they are tied to future construction costs. Combined with HST (which increases proportionately with the price), these are some of the factors that have made homes materially more expensive.

The result has been an increased focus on DCs as a cost barrier to building more homes. It has even been referred to (I’ll paraphrase what I have heard) as a punitive tax by municipalities that kills growth. Hopefully, the previous paragraphs have helped you understand why that messaging is unhelpful and not representative of the reality municipalities face. 

So, what are the options? At a time of significant inflation of municipal costs, and an ever-increasing amount of costs moving from senior levels of government to municipalities, method #1 explained above is not reasonable because property taxpayers cannot absorb the burden.

That leaves #2: growth infrastructure funding from senior levels of government. So, it is excellent news that the DCRP initiative was launched, and that Hamilton will receive $572M.

The Province is administering the program and noted that Hamilton’s application was one of the “most thorough and well-researched” they received, so a big thank you to the City Staff that did all the hard work on the application.

Impact for Hamilton and Hamiltonians

The impact for Hamilton is that the City won’t require developers to pay an aggregate amount of $572M in DCs for upcoming housing projects. When the new funding is combined with other investments by the City, Hamilton expects to waive 100% of DCs on housing projects over the next three years. That could be up to a hundred-thousand-dollar cost reduction on each new housing unit built. 

That kind of cost savings should make a huge difference in a development pro forma and should make many housing projects financially feasible. We’ll get more housing that we desperately need. What remains to be seen is how much of the DC reduction will be passed on in price reductions for home buyers. This is difficult to predict, but Council has asked Staff to consider how it might be possible to track. 

It is also important to mention what the new funding does not mean. It is not general revenue for the City. The funding cannot be used to repair existing roads or other infrastructure that already exists to support the current population. Further, it will not reduce the tax levy since DCs are funded by new development; so, there will be no reduction in property taxes but with the right infill development pattern, Hamilton will be generating more tax revenue, which could mean a better financial outlook in the long run.

In conclusion, the DCRP is a big step forward to enabling the construction of more housing in Hamilton over the next three years. Although it doesn’t have a direct financial benefit to the City of Hamilton, the creation of much-needed housing is good for everyone in our ambitious city. 

Read the City of Hamilton news release here
Read The Spectator article here
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In mid-August, I was in Ottawa with Team Hamilton for the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) Conference. It was four busy days of meetings, delegations, and conversations with vendors, fellow representatives from Ontario’s 444 municipalities, and Ministers and Staff from the Provincial Government. 

Team Hamilton met with Provincial Ministers and officials to make Hamilton’s case on the issues that matter to our community — housing and homelessness, mental health and addictions, infrastructure, transportation, energy, our environment, economic growth, and others. 

Part of ongoing advocacy to the Province is that, more and more, issues that shouldn’t be funded by property taxes have been passed down to Hamilton, and that is not sustainable. One example is the $130M Hamilton property taxpayers fund annually for Housing and Homelessness out of our total $196M budget. These are Provincial responsibilities.

Another topic of advocacy is recycling collection for businesses and other non-residential properties. When the Province recently uploaded blue box collection from our City, they did not include small businesses, places of worship, etc., who previously participated in the program. They became ineligible properties under the new Provincial program. For the City to continue to provide service to these properties, our costs ballooned by more than 7 times, from ~$400K annually to more than $2.8M due to inefficient provincial rules that prevent eligible and ineligible recycling materials from being collected together. 

Our AMO meetings, led by Mayor Horwath, were productive.  We were candid about Hamilton’s request, and Ministers were receptive to the solutions and partnerships we brought to the table. I’ve been to the AMO conference in the past, and we don’t ever walk away with decisions, but I’m confident that we represented Hamiltonians and our issues well and have continued to lay the groundwork for the Provincial support we need, and I look forward to good news on several of the requests we made.

I’d like to offer a big thank you to our City of Hamilton staff who spent weeks preparing briefing materials, coordinating meetings, pulling together data, and making sure we were ready to advocate for Hamilton. We heard directly from Ministers this week that our advocacy materials were among the best they had seen — and that is a testament to the incredible team we have working for our city.

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As a member and volunteer with the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club and Royal Botanical Gardens, I’ve spent dozens of hours volunteering to remove invasive species from natural areas in Hamilton. From garlic mustard to periwinkle to common buckthorn, invasives can quickly overtake and outcompete native species, reducing habitat, food, and nesting resources for all manner of insects, birds, and other creatures. Many invasive plants are nevertheless available for purchase at retail outlets in Ontario and can subsequently – and unintentionally - be introduced to natural areas where they have a significant negative impact on the ecosystem.  

Reducing the availability of invasive species for purchase is an important step in the fight to rehabilitate our natural areas. That’s why, at the August 5 Council meeting, I asked my Council colleagues to endorse a motion from Halton Hills: Modernizing Ontario’s Invasive Plants Rules to Protect Taxpayers, Municipal Lands, Agriculture, Natural Heritage and Local Gardens.

Among the resolutions in the motion were:

Many native plants are suitable alternatives for the invasives that would be removed. The next step is up to the Provincial Government.

If you’d like to take part in a second invasive plant removal (buckthorn) at Golf Links Park in Ancaster, an event is being planned for the latter part of September. Please look for details in social media posts by Green Venture and me. 

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At the August 31 Public Works Committee meeting, I put forward a motion that urges the province of Ontario to immediately implement a deposit-return program to manage non-alcoholic beverage containers. I worked with the Canadian Beverage Association (CBA) to create this motion, which is modeled on motions passed in other municipalities. Thank you to Shane Buckingham from the CBA for his very informative delegation explaining the wasted opportunity of disposing of valuable materials in the landfill.

Ontario operates a successful deposit-return system for alcoholic beverage containers, seeing an average of 75 percent of all empties returned to Beer Stores each year, and deposit-return provides a consumer incentive to consciously recycle; however, Ontario also has the lowest beverage container recovery rate in Canada—at roughly 50% of containers being recycled and is one of only two provinces in Canada without a deposit-return program for non-alcoholic beverages. Other provinces have a recovery rate of 78% to 83%. 

According to the CBA, the Province’s decision to transition recycling responsibility to Circular Materials has not resulted in an increase in materials being recycled, and a deposit-return system promotes higher recycling rates, reduces litter and environmental impact, and helps ensure valuable beverage containers are collected, recycled, and reintegrated into a circular economy.

Not only do deposit-return systems have high return rates for consumers at home, but they also retrieve beverage containers from industrial, commercial, and institutional sectors that are incentivized to redeem the deposit value. Without a deposit-return system, the increased costs to producers could be passed on to consumers. So, in a time when affordability is top-of-mind, a deposit return system is an opportunity to reduce hidden costs for consumers. Read the motion at item 10.2 here.

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Great news! Garner Road is on track to reopen for two-way traffic on September 4! The major sewer excavation and repair work has been completed, and the road has been backfilled. There is some remaining underground work that may result in some temporary lane restrictions, but the difficult steps are done, and traffic will be flowing again in the next few days.

The bus stop pad in the area has been completed, and road restoration is underway, with paving and pavement markings to be done in the next couple of days. The final steps of ditch cleaning, culvert and driveway restoration, and sod replacement are also scheduled for this week. 

Thank you to everyone in the community for your incredible patience during the extended construction period. I want to remind you that the contract signed with the contractor ensures we will not bear any extra costs due to the delay. However, the frustration felt by local businesses, residents, and the inconvenience we have all endured over these last almost two years is the real cost, and everyone has paid it.  

On June 15, I moved a motion at the Public Works Committee directing Staff to prepare a full analysis and accounting of what went wrong so that the lessons learned are applied for future projects, and delays as we have experienced are never repeated. Read more about that here.

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The 2026 Lynden Flushing Program is scheduled to take place from September 14 to September 17, 2026. Affected residents in the Lynden area will receive advance notification with full details about the operation.

Background:

In 2011, the Town of Lynden was placed under a Drinking Water Advisory following the detection of lead within the small groundwater distribution system. Lead was intermittently identified in raw water, treated water, and throughout portions of the distribution network.

Subsequent investigations determined that the source of lead within the system was legacy accumulation within the distribution infrastructure. This buildup had developed over several decades, largely because the original system was not designed to accommodate effective cleaning or the higher flow velocities required for routine maintenance.

To address these issues, extensive upgrades were completed across the water distribution system. These improvements, combined with the construction of a new treatment facility incorporating advanced treatment processes and modern design standards, were key steps in restoring safe drinking water. The upgraded well and treatment facility became operational in July 2020.

As part of a long-term commitment to maintaining water quality, Hamilton Water implemented an annual unidirectional flushing program. The system was first flushed in 2019 in preparation for commissioning the new facility and transitioning to the new water source. Since then, annual flushing has played a critical role in improving and sustaining water quality in Lynden.

As a result of these combined efforts, the Drinking Water Advisory was officially lifted on August 5, 2021.

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Urban Solutions Planning and Land Development invites the community to a meeting about a proposal to develop 154 Wilson Street E, Ancaster into a three-storey, 11,722-square-foot office serving as Valery Homes Corporate Headquarters. 

Please note, this meeting is being hosted by the Developer at my request to keep the community informed, and is not a city-hosted meeting. The City-hosted meeting will take place at a later date. Please attend to share your thoughts and provide feedback to the proponents.

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In February, the City and Hamilton’s two French school boards (Conseil Scolaire Catholique and Conseil Scolaire Viamond) exchanged land to bring new momentum to a years-long saga to establish a new joint secondary school.  The plan will see the new school built at 700 Garner Road in Ancaster.

A significant milestone was reached in August. The project has received conditional site plan approval. A site plan is an important step in the planning process to ensure that a development project will be built and maintained according to the necessary standards. It includes such things as building placement, access and parking, drainage and grading, landscaping, and service connections for utilities, etc.

Conditional approval is a normal outcome, and it just means that there are certain requirements the project will have to satisfy prior to the building permit being issued, which is the next major milestone.

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The Ancaster Rotary Centre will be closed starting Monday, September 14, 2026, and reopening on Saturday, October 3, 2026. This closure is to provide time for the replacement of the flooring in two of the program rooms as well as the main hallway, and the resealing of the gymnasium floor, in addition to other minor maintenance items needing attention throughout the facility.

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On June 29, I held a Cassar Where You Are community meeting at James Smith Park about the recent removal of pickleball lines at the courts. It was a productive conversation, and I have been following up with City Staff to ensure community voices are heard and I have asked for updates on the tasks they committed to. For those who attended the meeting, I have also asked Staff to clarify the history of pickleball at James Smith Park and the decision-making process that led to the removal of pickleball as a permitted use. I can offer the following status update. 

BACKGROUND
Staff added pickleball lines to these courts, aware that they did not meet their required setbacks for court amenities and understood that pickleball is a noisier sport than others based on research by staff and experiences heard from other park professionals.  Specifically, this site did not meet the recommended 100m setback from residences that City Staff had established for pickleball courts. However, understanding the growing demand for pickleball courts, lines were added to the tennis courts on a trial basis with a plan to evaluate, over time, whether pickleball would be successful in this location. It would appear that the trial approach was not shared with the community, nor with the Ward 12 office, which meant that we were not all on the same page, contributing to the frustrating position we are in.

DECISION PROCESS
Since the lines were put in, the City has received complaints about the noise, impact to use of private properties, and nuisance caused by the play at the courts. Understanding the popularity of pickleball, Staff worked to preserve the use by trialing a "quiet equipment only" rule as a solution.  Unfortunately, that rule was not adhered to, and nuisance for nearby homeowners continued to result in complaints.

Staff had led me to believe that sound readings exceeding a bylaw threshold were part of their decision. That was not the case. They clarified for me that the noise bylaw does not explicitly include noise limits for non-amplified noise, which would include regular recreational play at parks; however, the Parks and Noise bylaws contain language that allows a bylaw officer to act against complaints about "nuisance activities", or after-hours use of parkland (after 11 p.m.). In conclusion, given the summarized list of factors below, Staff decided to remove the pickleball lines:

I, too, am frustrated by these circumstances, and this is why I will continue to hold Staff accountable for their actions. They have committed to a resolution as quickly as possible (see the following sections). 

ACTIONS SINCE JUNE 29 COMMUNITY MEETING
Following through on actions I shared at the meeting, Staff from Parks and Bylaw were onsite at James Smith Park in mid-July to gather data by testing out the sound generated from various points of the park as an input to possible solutions. 

They observed a noticeable difference between various types of pickleball equipment, with the professional-level paddles and balls generating the loudest noises; however, at the property line of the homes backing onto the park, the readings showed noise levels that were consistent with regular park noise levels.  This validates many of the opinions that were shared with me at our June 29 meeting.

NEXT STEPS
Despite my ongoing dialogue and advocacy with Staff to find a short-term solution, they are ultimately responsible for this process and are the decision-makers. So, we are unfortunately left with the status quo for the 2026 season. 

But you can be assured that I've made them aware of the feedback and possible solutions that were shared with me on June 29, such as an alternate location in the park and sound barriers. They are actively working on the feasibility of those options to find a solution as quickly as possible.

Staff from Parks, Bylaw, and Landscape Architectural Services are also working on creating clear design standards and a pickleball policy. They are using resident expectations, data, best practices, and bylaw language to develop solutions for pickleball that will inform park design standards city-wide (including at James Smith Park) with the intent to bring forward a report for information to Council in the new year.  This will establish the consistent, clear guidelines that have been lacking as Staff attempted to trial pickleball at the existing James Smith Park courts. 

I will keep you informed of progress and expect the next meaningful update will be when the Staff report is available in the new year. While I will push for that report to come back early in the new year so that there may be a resolution in time for next summer, I cannot direct the timeline. When the report is published, there will be opportunities for you to review it and write letters with feedback or to delegate directly to Councillors in person, online, or via a recorded message. I will update the public again at that time.  

I hope you find this update informative, and although the process may seem painfully slow, I'm taking all the steps I can in my role as Councillor to work with Staff for a positive outcome. 

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Have you started your Gnome Quest? This free, family-friendly scavenger hunt invites participants to find eight garden gnomes hidden throughout the Ancaster BIA, record their names and symbols, and solve the secret word for an entry into the prize draw. Explorers can also join the Golden Gnome Hunt. The Golden Gnome moves to a different BIA business window each week, and getting all the correct locations earns an additional prize-draw entry. Follow Ancaster BIA’s social media pages for weekly clues. 
 
Passports and Golden Gnome Trackers are available at:

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Supporting local businesses is always important, but it’s absolutely critical in the current context of tariffs, threats to Canadian sovereignty, and general economic uncertainty. In this series, I profile local businesses on my list so that you can add them to yours. Click the links below to watch the most recent Craig’s List - Support Local videos with:

Caniche French Bakery Rastin’s Pharmacy DeMazenod Door and Farm

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As I committed in 2022, I’ve been relentlessly pursuing safer streets for Ward 12. There is much work yet to do, but you can visit my website to review the 60+ ways our neighbourhoods have been made safer.  https://www.craigcassar.ca/safety

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Good news reported in the Hamilton Spectator August 21: “Auto thefts in Hamilton are on track to hit a six-year low, mirroring a downward trend seen across the country.

As of Aug. 17, Hamilton has recorded 723 reported auto thefts in 2026, a 21 per cent decline compared to the 918 reported over the same period in 2025, according to police statistics. Nearly 60 per cent of the stolen vehicles have been recovered. If the current rate holds, the city is pacing toward roughly 1,150 thefts by the end of December — matching levels not seen since 2020.”

A reminder from the Hamilton Police Service that the single most effective deterrent to auto theft is to lock your vehicle, roll up your windows at night, and lock your garage. The most common locations for auto theft are:

Learn more about protecting your property at the Hamilton Police Auto Theft webpage

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The Government of Canada has extended the Unsheltered Homelessness and Encampments Initiative (UHEI) for an additional year, with approximately $2.7 million in funding allocated to Hamilton for the 2026-27 fiscal year. UHEI funding supports community responses to unsheltered homelessness and encampments through locally developed Community Encampment Response Plans. In Hamilton, previous UHEI funding has supported the City’s broader shelter and encampment response.

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I am happy to share that 31 free sport equipment rental stations will be placed in various City parks to reduce barriers to access and encourage physical activity. Residents can access sports equipment (including soccer balls, basketballs, volleyballs, footballs, and frisbees) through the free Equip Sport app and use them to play at courts, fields, and open space in City parks in each Ward! Equip Sport began by providing stations across Europe and has now come to Canada with this unique opportunity, with the financial support of Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities.

Hamilton's Recreation Master Plan identifies the need for cost-effective and equitable access to recreation opportunities. These sport equipment lockers are being installed, maintained, and operated at NO COST to the City or its residents. Each ward will have at least one Equip Sport station with three pieces of equipment selected based on existing infrastructure, field and diamond rental patterns, and geographic distribution.

The Equip Sport Station location in Ward 12 is Meadowlands Community Park.

More information and access to the app is here.

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Did you know the City is expanding how residents can connect with services with the my.hamilton.ca Portal? The portal supports a growing range of City services, providing residents with convenient self-service options available anytime and from any device. As of July 2026: 

• 26 online forms and services are currently available through my.hamilton.ca, including recently added Freedom of Information Request and Utility Certificate Request forms. 

• 24 curated links to external services allow users to easily access commonly used services and tools, such as Ontario Works, Report a Truck Route Violation, Building Permits, Planning and Development Applications, Hamilton Utility Billing and more.

Explainer video here. 

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This new podcast from the City of Hamilton and Hamilton Civic Museums takes you beyond the physical museums and dives into fascinating stories from the City's past and present. This audio series explores the people and places that make Hamilton so special. 

Listen here.

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If you or someone you know in Hamilton does not have a family doctor, help is at hand!

The Greater Hamilton Health Network and Hamilton Family Health Team are working to connect eligible Hamilton residents with a primary care provider. Individuals can contact the Hamilton Family Health Team directly, or community service providers can submit a referral. Learn more about finding a family doctor here 

If you know or work with people who may be looking for a family doctor, please consider sharing this information with them. Here is a flyer you can share.

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Sep 7, Labour Day Parade, Bay Street and Stuart Street, 9:30am + picnic at Bayfront Park

Sep 11-13, Supercrawl, James Street North

Sep 12, Family Friendly Acrylic Painting Workshop, Fieldcote Museum 

Sep 12, Touch-A-Truck, Pier 8, 9am-1pm

Sep 13, Autumn Stroll, 385 Jerseyville Road West

Sep 18, 19, 20, On Golden Pond, Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre

Sep 19, Thrift Crawl, Ottawa Street BIA

Sep 26, ABBA Revisited, Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre, 2pm, 7:30pm

What do train tracks and solar panels have in common? Not much…until recently.

I suspect that most of you have had the experience where you wrestled with a problem for a time and only found a path forward when you thought about it from a different perspective. You might use the cliché ‘thinking outside the box’ to describe this phenomenon. 

New perspectives and creative thinking are what often lead to technological breakthroughs, and I would imagine they are responsible for most of the technologies we take for granted in 2026.

Conventional thinking would install ground-based solar panels on any available land. But land is a precious resource with many possible uses: productive farmland, housing, and valuable green spaces, to name a few. Rooftop solar was identified as an alternative and has become a standard practice. That makes sense because rooftop space rarely has another useful purpose. I recently read about a breakthrough solution that looked at other ‘unused’ space and asked, ‘what if?’

A Swiss start-up company is using the space between railway tracks to install solar panels with considerable success. This space is not otherwise providing a productive purpose and is exposed to the sun almost all of the time.

In her recent newsletter, Canadian Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe wrote:

In 2025, the company Sun-Ways laid 48 solar panels across a 100-meter stretch of active track in the village of Buttes, in the canton of Neuchâtel. In one year, the panels on the world’s first "solar railway" generated 16,000 kWh of electricity.

The trial was originally planned for three years, but the results were so positive after one that the company decided to make the installation permanent. Scale that up, and the numbers get interesting: if solar panels were placed on all of Switzerland’s 5,317 kilometres of track, they could generate 2 percent of Swiss yearly energy use. 
 
Thinking globally, there are more than 1 million kilometres of railroad track, and Sun-Ways estimates that half of that track could be suitable for railway solar. The company now plans to expand this effort with projects in Italy and South Korea, and is in negotiations with Dutch, Chinese, Indian, and Singaporean partners to try the same approach in those countries.

Any new technology or innovative application has challenges that need to be solved – and that is the case with this idea – but I’m curious to see where this leads!  You can watch a video explaining the Swiss pilot project here.

Thanks as always to everyone who reaches out to engage with our office. I hope you enjoyed reading this month’s newsletter. Please share it with Ward 12 neighbours and friends. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] and subscribe to the Ward 12 newsletter at CraigCassar.ca. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.