As city staffing costs are projected to exceed $1 billion, are taxpayers getting enough bang for their buck?
As noted in Scott Radley's most recent column, the city council increased the number of jobs by 746, bringing the total to more than 6,000 municipal employees. For the first time, the municipal payroll will exceed $1 billion. Conversations with folks who have relatives or friends working for the city or at city hall reveal a consistent theme: there's a waste, duplication, low morale, and inefficiencies throughout the system.
Both the council and we understand that there is excess in the ranks of municipal employees. We cannot continue with our current workforce or make improvements to our city. Why not add more personnel, suggest tax hikes, and bring in consultants to give us information on things we already know? No one wants to take on the hard and thankless job of streamlining the municipal workforce and making efficiencies for the taxpayers.
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Going forward, we need to make those cuts and widen our commercial and industrial tax base to lighten some of the load on tired municipal taxpayers. Hamilton has to make these hard choices for the sake of our future's sustainability and well-being. It's a duty we have to ourselves and our kids.
Chris Carroll, Hamilton.
Slash unnecessary expenses.
To all the municipal, provincial, and federal politicians: Nancy Reagan was right when she said, Just say no. Stop unnecessary elections. Halt immigration until we can house all the homeless people in our communities. Stop spending on things we cannot afford, like LRT.
Do you remember when you only bought what you could afford and saved for the rest? Canadians endure high taxation, but we still face many problems in health care and find it hard to buy or rent a home. Our roads are in bad shape too.
Just say no to spending.
Janice Hayes from Burlington.
Let logic prevail.
I appreciate the council's discussion on tough and complicated decisions. On Tuesday, I went for a walk outside and got very cold in less than five minutes. I can't imagine being outdoors and not having a home. A Hamilton solution is needed urgently and fully. I suggest that every time the council talks about homelessness, they should do it outside until they decide that nobody will be homeless.
Unacceptable is the failure to make progress.
In the face of Mayor Andrea Horwath and the city council, there has been a failure to take any positive steps toward our homeless population—years of inaction. For almost two weeks now, we have been freezing in temperatures while you sit in your cozy homes, enjoying delicious meals and warm beds. I am utterly appalled by the deeds of our so-called city leader. Just excuses, excuses, excuses. What has this mayor built for our city? What else but higher taxes and her mayoral salary? What has she done? Resign now, Andrea Horwath, before you do more damage.
The roads are in very bad shape.
My wife and I, not long ago, set out to do some shopping at different places in the city. We drove through downtown Westdale and Ancaster. Our car gave us repeated alerts about things like "caution, potholes" and "caution, bump." It's sad our vehicle can sense when roads need fixing, but city council seems oblivious.
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Robert Hayes from Hamilton. Don't be fooled by rebate schemes. I got my $200 tax rebate, or should I say bribe? Unfortunately, I can't cash it since it's issued in my maiden name. After all, I've only been married for 44 years. I'm not the only one in this situation.
It raises some questions. If data from the 1970s is being utilized will deceased individuals also receive them? Will I receive another one under my married name?
This was scheduled a long time ago to coincide with his electoral intentions. His appeal for a new mandate is redundant as he already possesses one. Don't be deceived by it.
Consider the many foolish or failed schemes: license plates; cheap beer sales; selling beer in corner stores; tunneling under the 401; negative ads; and health and education calamities. There is no way our universal healthcare system can survive another four years of Doug Ford.
Marg MacNaughton, Hamilton.
Having an election called early is just not on.
If a nation is attacked by another, its leader shall have to dedicate himself entirely to the task of defending the population and the territory, taking actions with no reservations whatsoever.
It is utterly ridiculous for Doug Ford to say that he needs to call an election to gain the consent of Ontarians to safeguard the province from Donald Trump's declaration of economic war on us. It is clear what Trump's plans are to ruin our economy and cripple us, as he has been unmistakable in his remarks on the matter.
The premier must stay totally focused on the real danger we face. He has a big majority in the Ontario legislature, which makes it not needed and also wrong to ask for an election now.
Dundas, Penny Gill
Giving in is not a good answer.
Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, imagined that Adolf Hitler would not invade Poland and unleash a world war if he was appeased. His famous words "peace in our time" should serve as a warning to Canadian politicians. It does not work to submit to a bully and try to appease him. Bullies want nothing but surrender. Donald Trump is that kind of bully, and Alberta's Premier Smith and Saskatchewan's Premier Moe should realize their pathetic attempts at appeasing Trump are bound to fail.
Smith and Moe should join the prime minister and other premiers in responding to an assault on Canada and its citizens. If these politicians are really worried about Trump's potential reaction to Canada's handling of his tariffs, they might not be the leaders we need right now.
Together we succeed, while apart we struggle. Bill Sullivan from Hamilton.
Wellness assessment required for columnist.
Concerning Melania Trump's inauguration hat, we might all appreciate one to shield our eyes from the next four formidable years beginning January 21.
The importance of mental health in this country is vast. Since Donald J. Trump’s big win, I’ve been worried about Vinay Menon. Long before Trump dashed the political dreams of Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, Menon showed a bad case of TDS (Trump derangement syndrome). He had guaranteed wins for all of them.
With common sense seemingly to be making a comeback in U.S. politics and likely spreading to the rest of the globe, I don't know how he will cope. Could someone find out how he's doing? Perhaps a trip to West Palm Beach would help lift his spirits?
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Burlington, James Martin
The disadvantages of LRT are mounting.
Regarding the article on three ways to save on taxes, dated January 21. I recently saw the letter from Tom Winning published in your paper, and I completely agree with his views. The light rail transit project that Hamilton has been trying to build for ten years has left many homes empty for nearly that long with no signs of construction starting.
Check out the LRT in Toronto located along Eglinton Avenue. Construction has been happening for almost 15 years and there’s still no completion date in sight.
What is the city pouring millions of dollars into? It looks like something I, residing on the Mountain, will never use. All my needs are handled right here on the Mountain.
My daughter lives on Duke Street. It becomes so narrow in the summer that two cars cannot pass each other and in winter, snowplows cannot navigate due to parking on both sides. The stretch from Herkimer to St. Joe's has been reduced to a single lane because of the bike lanes. Ideally, bike lanes would be on side streets. I used to ride my bike from the Mountain to downtown when I was working.
Paul Elcome of Ancaster.
Why do you think Mark Carney and Chrystia Freeland recently said they no longer support carbon taxes? Could it be because of the recent U.S. declaration of an energy emergency that is "majority prioritating the enhancing of Alaska’s liquified natural gas potential?" When Germany wanted to invest in an LNG terminal in Canada, our prime minister said there was no economic case for it. Now, Germany has a multi-billion-dollar long-term contract with Qatar instead, which comes with seven LNG terminals to be built across Europe.
Is it because China left the 2023 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, after they registered more than 40 percent of global human-made CO2 emissions? Neither China nor the United States applies a carbon tax on their citizens. However, Canada, which contributes only .00045 of total annual carbon dioxide, continues to increase its carbon tax rates.
Could it be that they now understand why Canadians are fed up with the constant virtue signaling?
Reg McGuire, Mount Hope.
Deny access to the Arctic for the U.S.
One way Canada could answer Donald Trump's tariffs is by closing the Northwest Passage to the United States. This is different from Brian Mulroney's choice to let USCGC Polar Sea go through the Northwest Passage without asking the Canadian government first. The U.S. said the Northwest Passage was an open sea, so it needed to tell Canada, not ask for permission. This made many Canadians mad because they saw it as a wrong move against their country's control, making the government take steps to guard Canada's north land. Two years later, U.S. and Canada made a deal that said U.S. would ask for leave before going through those disputed waters.
Roger Lambert; Hagersville.
