Principled. Practical.

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In 1991, 32% of Canadians under 30 lived with their parents. Now 44% of young adults in Hamilton live with their parents. While there are certainly worse housing issues that can happen (and are happening in our community), it's a useful benchmark for just how hard it has become to start a family nowadays.

For many in Hamilton, accomodations are either categorically unsuitable or unattainable. And often, the alternatives aren't moving nearby, but moving across the country.

I will advocate for the City to get involved more forcefully in providing non-market housing and work with the private sector to make the margins on building work - especially in vacant and underused parts of Hamilton. 

I will always stand by protecting our Greenbelt and the character of our existing communities, especially as long as we are not making use of the land we already have available to us.

Municipal councillors have a narrow scope of powers, especially after the Province's move to strong-mayor powers in recent years. But the core of their job remains the same as it always has been - to be your elected "Board of Directors" for the City, to be creative and to be a strong advocate for solutions that work for ward (and city) residents.

Step one has to be making sure that we (both council and citizens) have the information we need to do our jobs. We can argue about tax hikes and the LRT but if we do not have the fundamental information we need to discuss pros and cons then all we are doing is yelling at each other.

Hamilton is one of only six municipalities in Canada to receive a failing grade (F) for financial accountability in 2025. We need to demand that the City meets its legal obligation to put out audited financial statements (we are still waiting on 2023's books) and meet public sector accounting standards. But it should also doing a better job of communicating facts candidly and understandably to Hamiltonians - doing the work to boil down complicated information so that we can all contribute, instead of hiding behind cherry-picked figures and kicking the can down the line.

When it comes to finances and public policy, if you put garbage data into your system then you get garbage out. And if our City and elected officials fail to do their most basic job - giving us the information to be able to understand what is working and what is not - then it's time to take out the trash.

According to the City, 90% of Ward 6 commuters drive to work. But as anyone can tell you, Hamilton's roads are in crisis. Transit and traffic calming measures are important, but in the near-term we need to buckle down on the basics of infrastructure - road maintenance. 

I will press the City to update its public road conditions index on at least an annual basis and will prioritize funding of major rehabilitation and reconstruction projects over any ancillary measures until 100% of arterial roads and at least 90% of other roads are rated at an OCI of 70 or more (i.e., needing maintenance and not rehabilitation).

I will support directing resources to do the fundamental work of addressing Hamilton's ballooning infrastructure deficit that has been allowed to build up over years, and not flashy projects. Every politician loves a ribbon-cutting, but if I only serve one term and we fix the potholes, I will be voted out a happy man.

Traffic calming includes making roads usable for drivers without them swearing after almost losing an axle. Dangerous driving conditions contribute to stress and distraction that makes road use more hazardous for pedestrians, cyclists AND drivers.

Ward 6 is home to many vitally important small businesses, including a key engine of private sector prosperity in Hamilton - the Red Hill Business Park. Hamilton needs to partner with senior levels of government, as well as industries looking to reshore, to develop this site to its full potential. 

I will work with Council to make sure the City does everything it can, not only to protect jobs across Hamilton, but also to protect Ward 6 businesses dealing with trade disruptions and make sure that they are not the ones left paying the price.

I will also champion Hamilton as a place to invest and grow. That includes maintaining competitiveness with other municipalities when it comes to providing effective services - like bringing back public recycling pickup for small businesses that don't qualify for the new provincial program. A few million is a drop in the bucket for the City compared to the costs that small businesses will have to pay for private collection and puts an unfair burden on the often-forgotten small businesses that drive our economy, at a time when many of them are already in crisis.