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Former Mayor Larry Di Ianni and Mr. Ecklund's daughter Erika
ARCHIVED POSTS:
- David Miller Is a Friend To Hamilton (posted October 3, 2009)
- Aldershot: We Hardly Know You (September 23, 2009)
- The Affordable Connaught: Lessons Learned (September 21, 2009)
- Do Canadians Want A Federal Election? (September 17, 2009)
- Amalgamation Revisited (September 14, 2009)
- Whither or Should that be Wither the Connaught? (September 11, 2009)
- Hamilton- a City of Philanthropists (September 8, 2009)
- Who is Canada's Political Lion(August 31, 2009)
- Bloggers Beware: you are not as invisible as you think!(August 28, 2009)
- Redeemer College University: A Deserving Member of Hamilton’s Education City (August 24, 2009)
- What's New About the NDP? (August 19, 2009)
- Is Neighbourhood Planning the Art of the Possible?(August 12, 2009)
- Integrity Commissioner’s First Investigation: Much Ado About Nothing (August 10, 2009)
- Et Tu Hamilton? Did our city just throw Balsillie’s hopes under a bus?(August 5, 2009)
- A Fine Finesse or a Fine Mess? The Opening of the Financial Floodgates (July 31, 2009)
- The Politics of Floods (July 28, 2009)
- Sundry Summer Thoughts, 2009 (July 23, 2009)
- James Street Revitalization and Rev. Ron Burridge (July 21, 2009)
- A Review of My New Year’s Predictions (July 13, 2009)
- Transformers in Winona: Revenge of the Changelings (July 10, 2009)
- The Virtues of Tax Increases (Or Not!) (July 9, 2009)
- Council’s Plan for Future Development (July 2, 2009)
- Hamilton's Self-Esteem (June 26, 2009)
- Da Rally, Da Media and Di Manno (June 22, 2009)
- Balsillie Has Done the Heavy Lifting; It is Now Time for Hamilton to Act (June 15, 2009)
- Mady Development in Winona (June 5, 2009)
- NDP Impotence is Costing Hamilton Federal Support (June 2, 2009)
- Metrolinx Appoints New Board (May 29, 2009)
- Accountability and Transparency Committee Misses the Mark (May 27, 2009)
- Mourning Randy Steele (May 25, 2009)
- Success at Hess Village? (May 22, 2009)
- Boosterism or Realism: these should not be the options for the City of Hamilton! (May 20, 2009)
- Council's Role and
the NHL (May 14, 2009)
- Sundry Spring Thoughts (May 8, 2009)
- Is the City of Burlington Hamilton's Friend or Rival? (May 5, 2009)
- The Church of the Universe
and Hamilton Politics (April 29, 2009)
- Pandemic Response: Is Hamilton Ready? (April 27, 2009)
- Ambassador Robert Fowler’s Hamilton Connection (April 23, 2009)
- Healthcare and Hamilton Politics (April 21, 2009)
- Administrative Changes Continue in Hamilton (April 17, 2009)
- Devastating Earthquake in Central Italy (April 13, 2009)
- Waste Management and
the City Budget (April 7, 2009)
- GoTransit and Metrolinx Merger: Benefits and Implications (April 1, 2009)
- Ontario’s Budget: A Risky Proposition or a Sure Thing? (March 30, 2009)
- Environment Hamilton: Methinks the group doth protest too much? (March 26, 2009)
- Term Limits: Pros and Cons (March 23, 2009)
- Tim Hudak: Leader in Waiting? (March 18, 2009)
- The Winds of Change (March 9, 2009)
- Planning Matters: An Interesting Planning Committee Discussion (March 6, 2009)
- Mourning The Steel Company of Canada (March 4, 2009)
- Marketing Our City: Tourism Hamilton’s Excellent Adventure (March 3, 2009)
- Media Crisis Hits Hamilton Hard (February 27, 2009)
- King of NIMBY Fights City Hall (February 23, 2009)
- Impoverishing the Future (February 20, 2009)
- Of Roasts and Toasts And Politics And Such (February 17, 2009)
- Pan-Am Games: Should Hamilton Participate? (February 12, 2009)
- Governing in Tough Economic Times (February 9, 2009)
- Winter Blahs and Wow Factors (February 4, 2009)
- Municipal Service Centers: Unifying the City has a cost (February 2, 2009)
- The Federal Budget Deserves Support (January 28, 2009)
- NDP Hypocrisy Hurts
50,000 York U Students (January 26, 2009)
- Appearances Can Be Deceiving: the Case for the Elfrida Node (January 22, 2009)
- "Events, Dear Boy, Events" (January 19, 2009)
- The Burdens of Office
(January 13, 2009)
- Federal NDP Caucus Lets Hamilton Down (January 12, 2009)
- The South Pole and Anti-Business: A Relationship? (January 9, 2009)
- Hamilton's Future Fund: A Success Story (January 7, 2009)
- Forecasts for the Year 2009 (January 2, 2009)
- New Year's Resolutions for Local and World Leaders (December 30, 2008)
- NDP Convention May be a Barn-burner! (December 26, 2008)
- Peak Oil and Airport Lands Development in the City of Hamilton (December 23, 2008)
- A Christmas Story (December 19, 2008)
- Hamilton Economic Summit and Hamiltonians For Progressive Development: A Tale of Two Approaches To Hamilton's Economic Future (December 17, 2008)
- Hamilton Mourns Chester Waxman (December 15, 2008)
- The Politics of Division At City Hall (December 12, 2008)
- Sundry Thoughts: On Local, Provincial and Federal Issues (December 10, 2008)
- The Recurring City Hall Debate: And It's Not Even Ground Hog Day Yet! (December 8, 2008)
- On The Precipice (December 5, 2008)
- How to Slay the Budget Dragon in the City of Hamilton (December 2, 2008)
- Ottawa's Constitutional Crisis May Be Good News For Hamilton (December 1, 2008)
- It is Time to Consider Changes to How Council Meetings are Chaired (November 27, 2008)
- It's The Economy, Stupid (November 24, 2008)
- From Business to Drive-Thrus: Everything is Connected (November 17, 2008)
- Hamilton and the N.H.L: An Impossible Dream? (November 13, 2008)
- The Role of Media in the City of Hamilton (November 10, 2008) UPDATED NOVEMBER 18 2008
- Leadership Politics at the Municipal, Provincial and Federal Levels (November 5, 2008)
- The City Hall Dilemma (November 4, 2008)
- Ward Boundaries Revisited (October 30, 2008)
- Should the Province Bail Out Hamilton? Again? (October 23, 2008)
- Post Election Analysis (October 22, 2008)
- A $48M Dollar Bonanza For Hamilton (August 29, 2008)
- Branding the City of Hamilton (August 21, 2008)
- The Area Rating Debate (part 2) (August 14, 2008)
- Harmony or Fairness: The 'Area Rating' debate (Part One) (August 8, 2008)
- The Royal Connaught: Crucial to Downtown Redevelopment (August 1, 2008)
- Hamilton Politics and the Dark Side of the Internet (July 22, 2008)
- Oily Politics in the City of Hamilton (July 7, 2008)
- The Lister Re-Born? (July 2, 2008)
- Council Moves Hamilton Towards the Future (June 25, 2008)
- Soccer Fever As a Canadian Metaphor (June 23, 2008)
- Tolling roads in Ontario (June 18, 2008)
- Who Will Lead Downtown Renewal? (June 11, 2008)
- The Scourge of Cancer Among Us (June 4, 2008)
- Hamilton's Downtown Renewal (May 30, 2008)
- A Rapid Transit System for Hamilton (May 20, 2008)
- Hamilton's Economic Summit 2 (May 13, 2008)
- Hamilton's Economic Summit (May 5, 2008)
- The Flamborough Slot Revenue Debate (April 24, 2008)
- The Caledonia Dispute Reaches Hamilton (April 21, 2008)
- The Sad Saga of Lost Opportunities: How We Lost the Maple Leaf Pork Processing Plant (April 17, 2008)
- Hovercraft Services For Hamilton? (April 9, 2008)
- VIA Rail Part 2: We've Been Fooled Again! (April 3, 2008)
- VIA Rail: Easy Come, Easy GO!!! (March 31, 2008)
- Who Should Be Hamilton's Next City Manager (March 25, 2008)
- How Elusive is Council Consensus? (March 17, 2008)
- Glen Peace: A Man of Integrity (March 5, 2008)
- Sundry Winter Reflections (February 28, 2008)
- A Day and An Eternity: On Leaving the City for a Week (February 6, 2008)
- An Integrity Commissioner and Integrity: Both Are Needed (February 6, 2008)
- The Amalgamation Demon Raises Its Uncomfortable Head (February 1, 2008)
- The Groundhog Day Debate: What to do about City Hall (January 25, 2008)
- Hamilton Mourns Conrad Furey (January 24, 2008)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls: Should the Red Hill Valley Parkway be Tolled? (January 17, 2008)
- The Lister Saga Continues (January 8, 2008)
- Out with the Old, in with the New (December 31, 2007)
- Sprawl: Myth and Reality (December 18, 2007)
- Towards Sustainable Transportation (December 13, 2007)
- Assessment Growth and Job Creation (December 7, 2007)
- On Transit, Bag Limits and the Running of City Meetings (December 1 , 2007)
- The Importance of Public Transit (November 28, 2007)
- Some Pre-Christmas Thoughts (November 26, 2007)
- Airport Employment Growth District (November 15 , 2007)
- The Red Hill Parkway (November 5 , 2007)
- The Value of Mission Statements: the Impossible Dream or Doable Objectives? (November 2 , 2007)
- The Toronto Act, More Taxes and the City of Hamilton (October 30, 2007)
- Council Looking to Increase the Size of Council (October 23, 2007)
- Ontario's Election: An analysis of the Local Reaction (October 16, 2007)
- A New Stadium for the City of Hamilton? (October 7, 2007)
- The Mid Peninsula Corridor and the City of Hamilton (September 27, 2007)
- The Carpenter's Union And the City of Hamilton (September 21, 2007)
- Provincial Election: The Local Scene (September 17, 2007)
- Provincial Election: Some Early Observations (September 12, 2007)
- Philanthropy is Changing the Face of Capitalism (September 10, 2007)
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LARRY'S CORNER- Hamilton's Former Mayor Speaks

Doug Barber Asked the Right Question
By Larry Di Ianni
(posted October 23, 2009)
It must have been an awkward moment when at the end of the breakfast to discuss Hamilton’s state of the city Prof. Doug Barber stood up and made this point: “I came here to find out if Hamilton is winning or losing. I heard a lot of cheerleading and that people are playing well together as a team but I’m disappointed that I don’t know how we’re doing.”
How is Hamilton doing? Are we headed down the right path, or are we as the Professor said, ‘just treading water’ as a community?
The panellists provided some responses to the pointed question. The responses ranged from ‘we are losing’ to ‘we are moving forward’ to ‘we have a strong foundation, but are plagued by a restricted vision’ to being hampered by ‘a prism of negativity and a sense of loss. A sense of not being as good as we once were’.
Even though the moment must have been awkward and the feel-good intentions of the morning were probably marred, the Professor stimulated responses to the right question. All organizations must confront their bottom line, as it were. Knowing how you are doing is as important as planning your next step. In fact, one might say that without knowing how one is doing is imperative to planning your next step.
I wasn’t at the session and am only gleaning the tenor of the discussion based on the news article on the subject, but what surprises me is that the panel discussion didn’t include a ‘report card’ on how the city is doing. That should have framed the panel’s presentation in the first instance. An assessment of the successes and challenges we have had as a community would have made the question asked unnecessary. Listing some of the gains, and I know there have been some, would have deflected some of the sting in the ‘I feel we are losing comment’. Providing a basis for optimism would have made the future gains with light rail and Pan Am games seem like the logical next steps rather than hopeful prayers. This argument would have blunted the notion that we navel gaze or only look in the rear view mirror as a city. Admitting to the challenges we face and providing a road map for dealing with them would have shown how as a community we can ‘aim high’ to blunt the criticism that we look for the lowest common denominator.
How are we doing as a city? This is an important question that will be oft-repeated in the next 12 months, running up to the next municipal election, as we look for initiatives, leadership and honesty in providing the answer to this most important of civic queries.
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BLOGS

Read Chris Ecklund's Blog, Chris' Corner, right here! Chris makes frequent posts about issues of importance to Hamiltonians.
Larry's Corner- commentary and insights by former
Hamilton mayor Larry Di Ianni. Exclusive to this site!
Read Larry's blog
BOOKS
Chris
Ecklund has written two books about Hamilton waterfalls and their
remarkable history, and commissioned the creation of supporting
merchandise such as postcards and calendars. Read
more and place an order here.
COMPANIES
Chris Ecklund is President and CEO of two prestigious litigation
support companies and a search engine marketing firm. Read
more
CURRENT PROJECTS
Chris Ecklund has commissioned and sponsored websites for the community
causes and events that he supports. These include the City of
Waterfalls site, Bring the NHL to Hamilton, and Maddie's
Wish Project. Read
more
PAST PROJECTS
Learn about causes and projects that Chris Ecklund has supported
in the past, such as Ice Storm relief, Kosovo refugee sponsorship,
and Operation Clean Sweep. Read
more
PHOTO GALLERY
View photos of public events that Chris has sponsored or made an
appearance at. Read more
LINKS OF INTEREST
View links to sites for government offices, businesses, and individuals.
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