LARRY'S CORNER- Hamilton's Former Mayor Speaks

Council Moves Hamilton Towards the Future

By Larry Di Ianni
(posted June 25, 2008)

Council had another marathon session yesterday holding a twelve hour meeting. I don’t miss that part of my old job. However, even though the meeting was long and somewhat confusing with the Lister deal/non-deal, it was productive in moving Hamilton towards economic sustainability by approving the Airport Employment Lands project.

I remember writing on November 15, 2007 about the importance of this project to the city. My notes indicated that our city had been left behind by companies looking to locate their plants in our community; similarly, other companies from our community had given us a pass when they needed to expand, for the sole reason that we lacked shovel ready employment lands these entities could locate in. Brantford was cited as the community which benefited, by default, from our lack of available serviced amenities.

Under my watch, we launched a study about the possibility of servicing lands around the airport for industrial, job-related growth. The province intervened on mostly procedural issues. The Premier himself, in a radio call in show, touted these lands as a ‘wonderful opportunity’ for Hamilton. A community group was established to provide opinions on this development. This group was laced with antagonists, but to be fair, it also comprised supporters of the project. Yesterday’s Committee of the Whole meeting dealt with the staff recommendations to move the city forward. The vote won handily 12 to 3 despite the Mayor’s attempt to slow the process down. Councillors Pasuta and McHattie also voted against the recommendation. I imagine Robert Pasuta was daunted by the agricultural implications in the recommendations and Brian McHattie, I suspect, because he is closely allied with the opponents of the project.

On the positive side of the vote, I understand that Terry Whitehead showed some real leadership in understanding the importance of the process to Hamilton, as did Councillors Brad Clark, David Mitchell, and Lloyd Ferguson. I was pleased to see the support of the others, especially Councillor Bob Bratina who had been an early opponent of the project. Even though he had some misgivings, he was quoted in the newspaper as also wanting to ensure that Hamilton got its share of jobs for our citizens. Good for him. The vote does present a tough choice, but in supporting the plan, Councillor Bratina and the others did the right thing.

The opponents of the project are, of course, disappointed. Will they go away? Hardly! Already Don McLean, who at the Environment Hamilton annual gathering apparently vowed continued opposition in the vein of the anti-Red Hill opposition some say, mused that the process would probably go to the Ontario Municipal Board for adjudication. This is a long and expensive fight which could be avoided if reasonable people looked at the substance of the opposition rather than the politics of it. However, if the fight cannot be avoided, it is worth having for the sake of job sustainability in our community.

The other question which was answered by Council dealt with our Brownfield redevelopment. This is also extremely important to the city, of course. Opponents tried to paint the scenario as an either or situation. You either develop contaminated lands, or you do the Airport project is the way they would position it. Of course the project is not either/or; and Council’s vote indicated that no one was swayed by the logic. Brownfield redevelopment is being given impetus by Council and budget dollars. That is good! Airport Employment lands, on the other hand, will do what Brownfields cannot, and that is provide large tracts of land to companies who can’t or won’t go to our Industrial area. Can’t because their business plans don’t allow it, or because enough contiguous lands are unavailable, or won’t because they need to be near the airport and the road system in that vicinity. The opposition has also mused that the cost of developing and servicing these lands may be in the $100M category. This hasn’t been determined yet, but the cost is sure to be high. However, what the opponents do not state is that the majority, perhaps 95% of the cost, according to some knowledgeable sources, will be picked up by the developers wishing to do business in this area.

The other point of opposition voiced by the detractors is that because of higher fuel prices, and the instability being faced by airlines, we should not be pinning our hopes on Airport related development. The Mayor effectively burst this argument as a ‘red herring’, correctly noting that airport lands development and airport-related development are two different things. Some of the development will be airport related and much will not, just as near our Port, some businesses are water related and some are not. Proximity to the location doesn’t bind your business plan in any significant way.

All in all, Council should be commended for yesterday’s work. They earned their keep. Although, they may have missed the mark on Lister, they certainly had a near-perfect take-off with the Airport Employment Lands development.

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