THUNDER BAY – Brian Hamilton has never been afraid to march into the trenches.
He’s volunteered at Evergreen: A United Neighbourhood serving as a mentor to neighbourhood youth and he’s given his time to help the growing number of homeless people living in McKellar Ward, which he’s represented for the past four years on city council.
There’s still plenty of work to do, said Hamilton, explaining why he decided to put his name forward for a second term.
“There’s the downtown revitalization projects in both cores. There are a lot of infrastructure projects that I personally want to see across the finish line, starting with Cameron Street. We just completed Wylie Street. We’ve rebuilt basically the entirety of the Dease Park neighbourhood,” Hamilton said.
“So I want to make sure that these infrastructure investments continue and I want to make sure that council stays focused on building the infrastructure of tomorrow.
“That means infrastructure that’s more resilient to climate change and ultimately is going to service the needs of the future.”
The issue on the minds of many of the voters Hamilton has been talking to is affordability, which also encompasses the city’s addiction crisis, homelessness and lot of the social issues.
“They have a humongous impact on affordability and on taxes. That’s something I know inside out, I took it very, very seriously. Since 2018 I’ve been out on the streets working with the people to understand the issues, working with organizations to make sure, first of all, that they feel supported, but that I understand the issue inside and out,” Hamilton said.
“I’m the boots-on-the-ground candidate.”
Hamilton said too often city councils of the past have looked at infrastructure needs in a non-holistic way. This needs to change, he said.
“We’re not looking at what are we building today that we won’t be able to build tomorrow. For example, we know Victoriaville is coming down. A lot of that work is un-costed for. A lot of that work we need to pay for and budget for. The waterfront district is getting rebuilt next year. Those enhancements we want to do to the streetscape are going to be over and above our costs,” Hamilton said.
“For my mind, even though the turf facility is a hot-button issue for a lot of people, and I want to make some moves there, I think we really have to be mindful of our entire infrastructure needs portfolio. Part of that is the downtowns.”
Hamilton also believes city council can have a major impact solving the crime and safety issues voters are concerned about.
Restructuring the bylaw division during the current term was a start, allowing for more bylaw officers to address complaints and free up police time.
“It was a critical step moving forward, but I really want to reiterate to the public that community safety is absolutely in the domain of the community,” Hamilton said.
“Everybody has a role to play, whether it’s from yard maintenance or what you can do to make your yard more beautiful. Engage in neighbourhood events. All those things that make a neighbourhood cohesive are ultimately in the domain of the public, and I think the public has to take a real look and if they want to define public safety, they’re going to need to be a part of it.”
