Latest news with #CameronKroetsch
CBC
3 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
No online voting in Hamilton's municipal election, says council, despite staff's recommendation
After lively discussion from Hamilton city councillors on Wednesday about the pros and cons of online voting, they decided it won't be used in upcoming elections. At a meeting Wednesday, council voted 9-5 against staff's recommendation to offer online voting as an option in the upcoming Ward 8 byelection Sept. 22, and the municipal election on Oct. 26, 2026. Nominations for the byelection close Aug. 8. A staff report said online voting could save the city some money, "by reducing the need for as many staff and polling locations on election day." In order to be able to vote online, people must register to vote, set up an account with their email address, verify the account and set up two-factor authentication, complete a registration process that includes providing two pieces of ID, and more, City clerk Matthew Trennum said. That's more checks and balances than for in-person voting, which, for example, not require a voter's card or an ID. "Are there risks to online voting? Yes. The risks to in-person voting are greater than the risks for online voting," said Coun. Cameron Kroetsch of Ward 2. '"I think our choice is pretty clear." But the majority of councillors didn't agree. 'Are we serious?' Ward 6 Coun. Tom Jackson said he was "strongly" against exploring online voting, citing safety following last year's cybersecurity incident. "Are we serious? We want to risk online voting at a time we've just been through spending [millions of] dollars of taxpayer money due to a cyber attack?" he said. Ward 9 Coun. Brad Clark said he's concerned about public trust and how that could impact voter turnout if online voting is approved. The city previously tested online voting during 2024's Ward 4 school board trustee byelection. While voter turnout was very low, with less than 500 ballots cast, the report said it wasn't due to online voting. Nearly half of those votes were done online. Other councillors, who opposed online voting, said the current system works and that they should instead discuss how to make in-person polls more accessible. But Ward 3 Coun. Nrinder Nann said online voting makes the election process more accessible. "It is unacceptable from the perspective of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility and the reality that we have an obligation as a corporation ... to ensure that our process for democracy at the City of Hamilton accommodates those with disabilities and if the website is something that enables that, then we need to stop fear-mongering," she said. How they voted: For: Kroetsch (Ward 2), Nann (Ward 3), Tammy Hwang (Ward 4), Mark Tadeson (Ward 11), and Alex Wilson (Ward 13).
Hamilton Spectator
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Hamilton police board defer Charter oversight motion, draft policy to governance committee
A Hamilton police board motion that called for greater oversight of officer-involved Charter rights violations has been pushed to a later date. The motion brought forward by civilian member Anjali Menezes was initially left undiscussed when no other board member seconded it at a meeting on May 29. On Thursday, it was back on the agenda after Coun. Cameron Kroetsch — who returned from a 15-month conduct suspension — pledged to second it. Coun. Cameron Kroetsch But also on the agenda was a draft policy, developed by the board, that aimed to clearly identify Hamilton police's responsibilities related to the reporting of Charter rights breaches. 'Rather than spending a long time here trying to go between these two documents and suggest amendments on the floor, it would be more appropriate for the governance committee to bring back one item,' Kroetsch said at the tail-end of an unusually long meeting that spanned over four hours. Members voted unanimously to defer both the motion and draft policy to the board's governance committee. Once reviewed, the committee will consolidate the two documents into one agenda item for the board to consider. A meeting date for the committee wasn't set. At the crux of Menezes's motion was heightened tracking and reporting of Charter rights violations . More specifically, it asked police to provide the board with a list of cases where charges were dropped or evidence excluded due to Charter breaches, an account of how police became aware of those violations and what discipline or training followed. There have been multiple court proceedings in recent years centred on Hamilton officers violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms while making arrests — including three since 2024. About a week after Menezes' motion went undiscussed, the board issued a news release touting its Charter oversight. In it, the board claimed Hamilton police 'already produce a comprehensive annual report' covering both substantiated and unsubstantiated Charter violations, communicate proactively about breaches and have increased overall training (including for Charter-related issues) more than 700 per cent since 2021. The release came up at Thursday's meeting as a consent item. Two people opposed it: Menezes and Kroetsch. Besides asking chair Don Robertson who wrote the release — he said it was board executive director Kirsten Stevenson — Menezes pointed to a 'disconnect' between the release and subsequent Charter draft policy recommendation. 'The release says the service already has a robust reporting policy and the recommendation report seems to (suggest) otherwise,' she said. Robertson clarified the release was intended to inform the public about how the service addresses and reports Charter violations. He said the ensuing draft policy wasn't a contradiction to that, but rather, 'we wanted to have a crystalized policy (over) something that is ongoing.' Among the key tenets in the draft policy was that the chief work with the Crown's office to identify Charter breaches that are 'believed to involve a police officer not acting in the good faith performance of their duties.' This point was contested in a delegation from Andrew Bell, a retired assistant Crown attorney with more than two decades experience in criminal litigation, including Charter violations. In his experience reviewing hundreds of Hamilton police investigations, he said he never found 'a single case of a Charter violation that I believed involved an officer not acting in the good faith of their duties.' Bell argued Charter breaches happen when police are trying to solve crimes or apprehend offenders. 'In other words, they happen when police act in the good faith performance of their duties,' he told the board, adding Charter violations arise not from an officer's good or bad faith, but 'because of negligence, mistakes, ignorance, stupidity, habit and police culture.' 'If you vote for this policy, you make the mistake of (assuming) that the only Charter violations that matter are violations made by officers not acting in the good faith performance of their duties,' Bell said. 'All Charter violations matter.' Mayor Andrea Horwath, who was present at board for the first time since injuring her wrist, asked Bell if removing that 'good faith' terminology would help improve the collection of Chater violation data. 'Yes,' he responded, 'because all Charter violations matter. Not those that to lead to discipline or not, and not those that are committed in good faith or not.' Horwath argued it's important the board is thoughtful of language in any potential Charter policy. She said if the goal of the policy is to gather Charter-related data to better inform training — and the removal of the 'good faith' terminology helps in that effort — 'then I would think that's something the board would be interested in.' That portion of the draft policy is one example of what the governance committee will look at. The board heard the committee will draft a document based on the draft recommendation and Menezes's motion before members vote on a single policy. No date has been set for that draft to return to the board for discussion. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
07-06-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Who makes decisions for public health is changing in Hamilton
Community members are now at Hamilton's public health decision-making table after long-awaited governance reform got the green light from the province. 'I think it's so vitally important to have those voices there,' Coun. Cameron Kroetsch said in an interview with The Spectator. 'I think, also, it just frankly gives the community more confidence that we have both councillors and health experts who can give a balanced perspective.' Public health policy will no longer be decided by the 16 members of Hamilton's city council after legislative changes passed third reading on June 3 and received royal assent on June 5 as part of Bill 11 , More Convenient Care Act. Instead, six appointed community members , with health expertise or lived experience, will work alongside six city councillors and one education representative to oversee public health. Coun. Cameron Kroetsch says it is 'vitally important' to have community voices on the board of health. The Progressive Conservative government made the required amendments to the City of Hamilton Act at council's request. 'The community pushed really hard for this,' Kroetsch said. 'It's been a long journey.' City council will provide one final approval at its meeting on June 18 but the vote is considered a formality. The new board is expected to meet for the first time on July 7 — over four years after calls for change started in March 2021 when COVID-19 brought inequities, related to social determinants of health, to the forefront as some groups fared better than others during the pandemic. Advocates — including doctors, social workers and academics — argued for a board of health that better reflects Hamilton's diversity, including racialized residents and those with disabilities. 'We didn't have that kind of community voice available to respond to issues of public health in our city and so I think this is going to be great,' Kroetsch said. 'Having these key people around the table, we learned during COVID, would have made things so much better … I just can't say enough about how important I think it is for community voices to be at the table.' The changes bring Hamilton more in line with about two-thirds of the province's public health units that are overseen by autonomous boards. Hamilton's board will be semi-autonomous as decisions related to the budget, the annual service plan and the appointment of medical officers of health will still be approved by city council. Toronto and Ottawa also have semi autonomous boards. However, policy decisions would no longer need any further approval so the board's vote would be binding. 'There's not really a way for council to override the board of health,' Kroetsch said. 'We've given over that autonomy.' The governance reform initially had the unanimous support of council in January 2024. While awaiting the legislative changes, a public health subcommittee was created that will now become the board of health. Up until now, its decisions needed to be approved by city councillors. But opposition to the changes flared up in May after a disagreement over how restrictive the city should be about drinking on municipal property revealed a divide between councillors and the subcommittee. The proposed changes to the municipal alcohol policy were passed with almost no discussion by the subcommittee. In stark contrast, councillors voted 13-1 against it after a charged debate and an in-camera session to get legal advice. It raised questions about what would happen in the future when the semi-autonomous board of health no longer needed councillors' approval for such policy decisions. The subsequent vote went from unanimous to passing 9-5 on the makeup of the future board of health. But Kroetsch, who has been chairing the subcommittee, expects the transition will now be smooth. 'It's just going to be a new day for Hamilton in terms of having that expert advice from the community on the board of health to be able to weigh in on matters that are important,' Kroetsch said. 'We're talking about something that has literally a life and death impact for people. Public health is one of those areas of municipal governance that can impact people's day to day lives.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CBC
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Students will soon be allowed to play on former Hamilton high school's sprawling lawn, unused for 7 years
For the first time since 2019, kids will be allowed to play and run around on the sprawling lawn at the former Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School in the middle of downtown Hamilton. In an agreement with the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB), Coun. Cameron Kroetsch told city council's public works committee he will use Ward 2 reserves to pay $60,000 for a new fence around the field. It will then be safe in September for elementary students attending Hess Street school across the street to use. There's no green space in the K-8 school yard besides a small turf field. "My question routinely [to HWDSB] is, 'can't we do something with this land?'" said Kroestch. "The answer is, 'yes we can.'" His motion was approved unanimously by the committee on May 20, with council getting final say this upcoming Wednesday. The school board will extend crossing guard hours at the busy Hess Street North and Cannon Street West intersection to help groups of students safely cross as they make their way to and from the field, Kroestch said. Coun. Jeff Beattie, a former HWDSB trustee, said he's "keenly aware" of the limitations at Hess Street school. "This is a really, really creative idea, kind of like, 'duh, why didn't we do this before' moment," he said at public works. "I can't say enough good things about this and I happily, happily support it." A downtown sore spot The three-hectare property has sat unused since HWDSB closed the high school seven years ago. The board told CBC Hamilton in 2023 that it spends about $135,000 a year to maintain the Sir John A. Macdonald property. Kroestch said he's asked about it often by residents who are confused as to why such a large piece of land can sit vacant amid an affordable housing and homelessness crisis. His usual response is that the province, through the school board, has the ultimate say about what happens with the land, not the city, and there's not much he or staff can do to spur development, he said at the public works meeting. "The province refuses to move on it," Kroetsch said. Closing the high school was part of HWDSB's plan to replace it with a new elementary school and community hub, including a child care centre. But the Ministry of Education has denied the $30-million funding request four times between 2017 to 2022. The ministry did not respond to a request for comment. In a letter to HWDSB in May 2022, obtained by CBC Hamilton through a freedom of information request, Ministry of Education assistant deputy minister Didem Proulx said demand for capital funding was "significant" with 290 requests from 58 school boards that year. "After careful review of your board's submissions, the ministry does not approve funding," she wrote. No other reason was given in the letter. Kroestch said last week HWDSB is currently working on a fifth application to redevelop the site.
CBC
09-05-2025
- CBC
Part of James Street N., closed Friday for 1st Art Crawl of the year
Social Sharing Art Crawl is back on and so too are scheduled road closures on James Street N. The City of Hamilton says the downtown road will be closed to vehicles from York Boulevard to Murray Street E., between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Friday as artists and vendors line the road to show and sell their wares. Art Crawl is scheduled on the second Friday of every month from May to October, Tourism Hamilton says on its website. Pedestrian-only Art Crawls started in 2023. At the time, Coun. Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2) said the experience would be safer for attendees.
