Photo courtesy of Animal Show
By: Lauren O'Donnell
Animal Show is playing as part of the Hamilton Fringe Festival, and is in the Staircase Theatre in the Bright Room. It runs until Sunday, July 28th.
Over the course of its 55 minutes showtime, Katie Hood’s one-woman play takes you through the daring rescues and harrowing tales of her time as an animal rescuer on the West coast. It is a roller coaster of emotions; by turns hilarious, gut-wrenching, and uplifting. I laughed so hard that I cried, and then I just plain old cried.
Hood breathes life into every character and every situation. We’re right there with her as she saves bald eagles, seagulls, and cats alike.* We are taken through several different rescues, interspersed with Hood’s stories and dialogues with others. Each character is memorable and interesting, with unique and funny personalities and quirks. It’s hard to say what is more compelling: the daring rescue of a bald eagle stranded at sea, or speed dating gone disastrously wrong.
This show is a masterclass in storytelling, chock full of memorable tails and delightfully funny jokes. Provided free of context, my favourite line from the show is: “Cat urine is like the British Empire; nothing is gonna stand in its way.”
You should see this show if you like laughing uproariously, hearing stories about animals, and questioning your existence.
10/10, would cackle maniacally again.
For more information, visit http://hamiltonfringe.ca/shows/animal-show/
*And, of course, she’s never held a cat before.
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Photo courtesy of HCA Teen Creative Collective
By: Lauren O'Donnell
“The voices of the youth should be heard.”
The Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts is a beautiful building chock full of art and history which is itself worth the price of admission. “HCA Teen Creation Collective: Connection” is playing there until Saturday, July 27th.
As we entered the space, we were told that the designer of the building was a very short man whose girlfriend left him for someone much taller, and as vengeance he created the space so that all tall people were forced to bang their heads. Regretfully, this turned out to be false. As we trekked up several flights of stairs we were regaled with further tales of how the building was initially meant to be a stair factory, but when it fell through they decided to shove as many stairs into the building as possible. This too turned out to be false, much to my disappointment.
As we got to the top of the stairs, we were treated to a series of sketches performed in alternating spaces. The scenes were funny, well written, and excellently performed. They were spaced out throughout the different time periods of the HCA, from music conservatory, to youth home, to derelict building, to the art conservatory that it is today. Through each scene you can truly tell how much the group cares about the building they are in. There are many jokes made about the number of stairs. Deprived of context, my favourite quote was, “cats are cool”.
Each of the time periods blends seamlessly together to form narratives of connection across different social groups, and even across different decades. Indeed, the strongest impression that I got from this play was an overwhelming sense of community. The show was created through devised theatre, which is a form of collaborative and organic creation. As a result, the show was and is shaped by the experiences of the performers, both as individuals and a group. It was truly a delight to see these young artists shaping and creating their own show for the Fringe Festival, and I look forward to seeing what they do next.
Rating: 5/5 Sta(i)rs.
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By: Anonymous
What’s the difference between an angry yellow vest and an angry queer or 2SLGBTQ+ person?
Everything.
There’s no question of that in my mind, or in the minds of most other like-minded people in the 2SLGBTQ+ community, especially when it comes to the recent yellow vest attacks at Hamilton Pride . The question we’re asking is: why are there still people that don’t think so?
People who insist “both sides” have done something wrong. People who insist that if the queer community stopped being so “unreasonable”, there could be a productive discussion in which everything would be resolved. People who sigh with a sort of martyred world-weariness as they ask: “why can’t we all just get along?”
Countless Twitter posts and opinion pieces have been made touting those views, particularly by heterosexual individuals who don’t have our community’s lived experience. People who don’t understand this struggle, who just want things to be “peaceful”.
Has anyone ever considered that we are the ones who would very much like “peaceful”?
I, for one, would love the peace to celebrate my bisexuality in the park, proudly wearing as much blue, pink and purple as I could possibly fit on my body. There is nothing I would have liked more than to go to Pride Hamilton without fearing attack by religious extremists. Or to go to the “Hamilton for who?” rally without feeling my stomach drop as I read the words “Yellow Vest meetup point” written in chalk on the pavement just outside the bounds of the event space.
I’d love to walk around downtown Hamilton now without worrying about the yellow vest demonstrations at City Hall. Without wondering if, somehow, this will be the day the wrong person will sense that I am a queer woman. Without tensing my entire body every time I see a flash of neon yellow out of the corner of my eye.
The ones who don’t want things to be “peaceful” are the right wing extremists who attacked Hamilton Pride unprovoked. I don’t approve at all of the word “protest” in this context; that connects this group far too closely with legitimate community organizers trying to raise awareness for LGBTQ+, feminist, and environmental issues, among others. No, it was an attack, and so it should always be called.
More specifically it was an attack by a group that is anti-Semitic, anti-2SLGBTQ+, and Islamophobic, among other things. An angry queer or 2SLGBTQ+ person is angry because their right to celebrate their identity has been violated, and public institutions have been incredibly insufficient in protecting it. An angry yellow vest is angry because members of marginalized communities they hate dare to exist in public spaces.
Equating these two groups in their anger, especially in Hamilton right now, is harmful beyond belief. And no, the 2SLGBTQ+ community will not be “getting along” with people that consider it their “right” to attack them at their own celebration.
Furthermore, opening oneself to “reasonable” diplomacy is not the way to go. Hate groups do not act in good faith. They cannot be “reasoned” with. And if the community has to take a hard stance when the alternative is politely standing still to be hit with helmets, so be it.
Many of those who use these “both sides” arguments do not, or do not choose to, understand the social context behind these two different types of anger. It’s easy to not understand when it poses no direct threat to one’s daily life or existence. It’s easy to think of this as a homogenous “disturbance” when one doesn’t understand the demands these two sides are making.
The extremists want the 2SLGBTQ+ and queer communities to stop existing publicly and to live in fear.
The queer/2SLGBGTQ+ community would very much like to hold a Pride event in the park (which quite a few children and teens were at, by the way) without wondering if they’re going to make it home safely. Something that they currently cannot do.
I, for one, think the difference is as clear as crystal.
By: Andrew Mrozowski
In the heart of Barton village, a newly-opened bar brings the community a different experience. Named after a fruity type of hops used in some beers, Mosaic is giving Hamiltonians a new place to socialize and drink locally brewed craft beer.
Co-owned by 12 friends, it was their goal from the start to create a space that feels like a second living room.
“We wanted somewhere that is more comfortable and welcoming where people can come and socialize,” said Tyler Roach, co-owner of Mosaic.
Living in Hamilton for nine years, Roach developed an appreciation for the city’s local bars; however, he and his work colleagues found themselves getting bored.
“There is a severe lack of craft beer bars in the city because everyone keeps opening restaurants. We had an opportunity to do something that we wanted so we gave it a try,” said Roach.
The owners originally looked at other locations before deciding on Barton Street, seeing it as an opportunity to be part of an up and coming neighbourhood.
“The original plan wasn’t to be a part of the new Barton, but so much has happened with the transition from retirees to young families. The community response has been so positive and people are happy that there is a safe space they can go to and hangout with their friends,” said Roach.
Mosaic boasts fourteen tap lines with a heavy focus on local Ontario craft beers, many of them directly sourced from breweries across Hamilton and surrounding areas. Since Mosaic has opened, they have had a good relationship with local brewery Grain & Grit, who brewed the bar a special opening weekend beer using mosaic hops. They also feature beers from Fairweather Brewing Company, Great Lakes Beer Collective Arts as well as others.
“It’s a mix of trying to choose interesting beers and staple styles so there is an option for every beer drinker. There is an option for you that will be familiar enough, but we also have different and interesting beers that maybe aren’t coming to Hamilton yet,” said Roach.
The bar not only has a wide variety of craft beers, but also serves wine, cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages. To compliment, Mosaic offers up a snack menu featuring charcuterie boards, as well as vegan and gluten-free options. The 12 owners have ensured that there is an experience for every taste palate at Mosaic.
On the first Friday of each month, Barton businesses host Barton First Fridays in which each business has something unique happening. During this time, Mosaic showcases local Hamiltonian artists in the form of a mini gallery.
“Each of [the owners] has a different element that we each bring to the bar,” said Roach. “One of us really loves art and knows a lot of artists so we are bringing them in and showcasing their work. We are always trying to evolve and bring something new to Barton.”
To the 12 owners, Mosaic represents more than the name of their bar or the hops used in some of their favourite craft beer. The hops have a wide-ranging flavour profile comparable to the different ideas that each owner brings to the table, and even more so to the wide array of diversity that Hamilton has to offer.
From the warm inviting home-style décor to its twenty-foot long bar, Mosaic has tapped into a unique space on Barton Street East.
“Barton is a part of the city that is a fundamental place for people to come and experience,” said Roach.
Some students have a hard time being away from home. Tucked away in the heart of Barton village, the space provides a new experience but still feels familiar. Bringing Hamilton all the comforts of home, Mosaic is a great place to relax with a craft beer and enjoy the company of friends.
By: Adrianna Michell and Hannah Walters-Vida
A month after far right demonstrators attacked Hamilton Pride, members of the queer community are working to come together, heal and fight to rid the city of hate groups.
PRIDE ATTACKS
Past Hamilton Pride events have been attended by conservative preachers and others who attempted to intimidate festival goers who annually come to Gage park to celebrate. Hamilton Pride has typically been a family and community-oriented arts event, despite Pride’s history as a protest event beginning with the violent activism at Stonewall 50 years ago.
In Hamilton on June 15, community members and allies gathered in Gage park. Leading up to the Pride events there had been tensions between the queer community and Hamilton Police Services over police presence at Pride. “No police at pride” campaigns have sparked discussion about police and state presence at Pride celebrations across Canada.
No uniformed officers were allowed at Victoria Pride this year and in 2016 Black Lives Matter shut down the Toronto parade for 30 minutes to protest police attendance. Hamilton Pride did not permit the police to have a recruitment booth at Pride this year.
Last month’s Hamilton Pride marked an escalation of violence. Anti-Pride demonstrators gathered during the event shouting religious, homophobic and white-nationalist rhetoric. The anti-Pride group is speculated to be in part members of the fascist Yellow Vests who moved from city hall to Gage Park on the day of Pride. According to witnesses, one person was punched in the face, while another was hit in the head with a motorcycle helmet, amongst other acts of violence.
Since January, hate groups associated with the yellow vests have been holding weekly demonstrations outside of Hamilton city hall. The groups hold signs displaying far right anti Muslim, anti immigrant messages, and known white supremacists have been present at rallies.
Witnesses accused HPS officers in attendance of not stepping in early enough to prevent the attacks, leaving people to defend themselves. Pride defenders countered the anti-Pride protestors with a “black hole” tactic, wherein a large black banner was used to visually block the fascist signs and protestors, while defenders donned pink masks and used physical presence, counter protest tactics and noise makers to block the hate speech.
When asked why officers did not respond right away, Chief of police Eric Girt said at a town hall last month that responses would have been different if police were welcomed at the Pride events.
Councillors Maureen Wilson and Nrinder Nann are calling for an independent investigation into the police response at Pride.
However, not all members of the queer community agree that strengthening police presence will ensure their safety. A June 2019 study surveying 900 members of Hamilton’s queer community found that approximately one third of respondents believed that they had been treated unjustly by the police. Transgender respondents were even more likely to recount unjust treatment.
For some, what happened at Pride was an example of the queer community coming together to defend one another without the need for police involvement.
“2STLGBQI+ folks can protect each other and we do not need the police or the carceral justice system to ensure the safety of our communities,” says a statement from the McMaster Students Union Pride Community Centre, “there is no Pride in policing.”
Protestors at the "We Make us Safe" rally on June 28
ARRESTS
The arrests that have occurred since Pride have further exacerbated tensions between the queer community and police. In the past month, five people have been arrested in connection to Pride. According to the Tower, a Hamilton anarchist social centre connected in the queer community, four of the people arrested were associated with the pink masked pride defenders. HPS has only announced the arrest of one far right protestor.
The most high profile arrest was that of Cedar Hopperton, the first person to be arrested in connection to Pride. Hopperton was arrested on June 22 for allegedly violating parole conditions from their involvement in the 2018 Locke Street vandalism.
On June 18 Hopperton made a speech at city hall in which they called on members of the queer community to defend themselves against violence and to not rely on police support. On July 8, the parole board voted to continue to revoke Hopperton’s parole, in large part because they ruled that Hopperton was inciting violence in their anti-police speech.
Hopperton’s arrest and parole hearing sparked massive backlash, leading to the “free Cedar” campaign, which condemns city hall and HPS and calls for HPS to drop the charges against Hopperton and other pride defenders.
Many community organizations have publicly supported the campaign. Scholars from 100 universities across Ontario, as well as McMaster faculty members, have submitted open letters expressing solidarity with the pride defenders.
In a statement released on July 12, the PCC stated that the pride defenders were acting in self defence and should not have been punished.
“The Canadian state frequently criminalizes the self defence that is often necessary for the survival of marginalized people,” says the PCC’s statement. “This is completely unacceptable and is a tactic of repression of social control.”
In the month following Pride, community members have repeatedly taken to the streets to demand that all charges against pride defenders be dropped. There has been a heavy police presence at many of the demonstrations, with some officers showing up on horseback.
This past Monday, the Tower released a video of 11 officers arresting a young woman who had allegedly written an anti-police slogan with sidewalk chalk during a rally on June 28. A crowd of bystanders intervened and the woman was eventually released. In the comments on the video, people were critical of the police for allegedly arresting the woman over sidewalk chalk, and questioned why it was necessary to have such a large number of officers present for the arrest.
Protestors at the "We Make us Safe" rally on June 28
CITY HALL RESPONSE
Representatives of the queer community have been critical of city hall in the months prior to the Pride attacks, and council’s response to the attacks have exacerbated much of the tension.
Last May, Hamilton’s LGBTQ2 advisory committee voted unanimously against the annual Pride flag raising outside city hall. This was in large part in protest of the city’s employment of Marc Lemire, the former head of a white supremacist organization.
Following the Pride attacks, on July 5 Mayor Fred Eisenberger released a statement naming two special advisors for Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ community initiatives, Cole Gately and Deirdre Pike, to help address the queer community’s concerns.
However, other members of the queer community responded by stating that the discussions should happen publicly and should be accessible to everybody. Cameron Kroetsch, who was invited to take part in the discussions, stated in a public Facebook post that the private meetings did not feel safe or productive.
“I won't attend private meetings with no shared list of invitees and no detailed agenda. It doesn't feel safe, for so many reasons, and won't until Fred Eisenberger, our City Council, and the Hamilton Police Service can demonstrate that they're willing to build trust with our community,” wrote Kroetsch.
As an additional response to the Pride attacks, city council proposed a “hate incident prevention policy” that aims to assist in the identification of, and response to, hate motivated crimes. The proposed policy calls for increased surveillance on city-owned properties.
Initially, the policy placed strict limitations on acceptable activities during protests on city grounds, prohibiting the use of sound amplifying equipment, swearing and writing with sidewalk chalk. The policy has received criticism for limiting the rights of all protestors, not just hate groups.
“We said ban hate speech, not ban all speech,” said a sign from a city hall protest this weekend.
In the past month the community has come together to support one another and demand justice.
This past weekend, two different queer community groups converged at city hall. The Tower organized a weekend long occupation at city hall called “Camp Chaos Gays.” They held a series of workshops and community building events, at the same time protesting police harassment and the hate incident prevention policy.
At the same time, the July 13 “Hamilton for Who?” event cosponsored by Pride Hamilton and other organizations, was a non political, family friendly rally against hate groups.
Following the backlash against the hate prevention policy, council has since amended the list to remove many of the previously banned activities. However, the security provisions remain. The policy will now go out for public consultation.
Sign from "Hamilton for Who?" and "Camp Chaos Gays" event on July 13 Photo description: green sign reading, "we said ban hate speech not ban all speech"
WHAT NOW?
On July 16, the Tower announced that Hopperton was released from jail early. The announcement was met with a wave of relief from supporters. However, the fight is far from over.
The yellow vests have continued to demonstrate outside of city hall every week, drawing counter protests from the community. Furthermore, many members of the queer community feel that city council has not properly consulted them and addressed their concerns. Demonstrators have reported being harassed and intimidated by police officers at protests, and many queer people report feeling unsafe around police.
Members of the queer community are working to regroup, support one another and find a way forward.
Faced with uncertain futures as a result of a rapidly warming climate, young people in Hamilton are joining a worldwide movement to urge leaders to take immediate and far-reaching action on the climate emergency.
Since March, a student-led activist group has been coordinating regular demonstrations outside of Hamilton city hall as part of the Fridays for future movement.
The strikes bring together students, environmental organizations and citizens in Hamilton.
The environmental community of Hamilton students, an alliance of environmental groups across the Hamilton and Catholic Wentworth district school boards, helps organize the climate strikes. They are also supported by Fridays for future, who organize climate strikes around the world.
The Fridays for future campaign began in August 2018 when Greta Thunberg, then 15, protested for three weeks in front of the Swedish parliament instead of going to school, demanding that leaders address the climate crisis.
Inspired by her actions, students from around the world began holding regular strikes to demand that their leaders take immediate action to address the climate crisis. Many protestors referenced a recent report from the United Nations international panel on climate change to highlight the urgency of the climate crisis.
The 2018 IPCC report found that it is of critical importance to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre industrial levels. According to the report, any warming above that threshold will run the risk of long-lasting, irreversible changes resulting in major loss of life.
The report states that, in order to meet the warming target, it will be necessary to substantially reduce emissions worldwide. Meeting the 1.5°C limit would require reducing emissions to 45 per cent of 2010 emission levels by 2030, and net zero by 2050.
“Limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society,” stated the report.
Many of the young people who will bear the greatest effects of the climate emergency are not yet old enough to vote. The Fridays for future movement provides a means for young people to demand that policy makers make the necessary changes to preserve the planet for future generations.
“The older generation, they might be more concerned with short term economic gain, but that’s because they’re not going to be around to see when our planet is on fire,” said Stephanie Foucault, an organizer of the Hamilton climate strikes. “The youth need to step up and really take charge of their future.”
The Fridays for future campaign is calling for an end to fossil fuel, demanding support for workers and developing countries during the transition to a renewable economy.
In Hamilton, protestors spoke specifically about the need to hold city councilors accountable to their pledge to substantially reduce the city’s emissions.
“Hamilton declaring a climate emergency is a great step, but we want to make sure that it’s followed up with some tangible action,” said Emmalee Frketich, co-founder of ECHS.
According to Angela Dittrich, an intern at environment Hamilton who was present at a climate strike held on May 24, transportation is a key area in which Hamilton can make changes to meet the emission reduction targets. For example, Dittrich stated that eliminating Hamilton street railway area rating would increase funding, which could lead to service improvements and make HSR service more equitable.
The fridays for future group plans to continue holding regular strikes to bring climate issues to the attention of leaders and citizens in Hamilton. Young people’s futures are on the line, and many feel that they have no choice but to stand up and demand change.
“It’s very frustrating to see how people are killing our earth,” noted a grade three Lyons Gate Montessori student present at one of the strikes. “If someone’s going to speak up we thought it might as well be us to help the earth.”
I have a theory that there is a ghost in the house I grew up in. It’s not a scary ghost that lives to haunt, but a benevolent entity that loves to play tricks. My house ghost has a penchant for stealing, making you wonder how the object you had on your person mere seconds ago has somehow vanished. The items always turned up later, underneath couches or beds.
I just moved out of my childhood home in Mississauga and left my ghost behind. A few weeks ago, it stole one of my slippers and I couldn’t help but think that the ghost wanted to keep a piece of me. Because as much as that house built me, my family built that house.
I have been thinking a lot about the meaning of home. Not only because I left the one I grew up in, but also because I have lived more places in the last year than I have in the previous decade. I lived in Edwards Hall in my first year and have spent the school year in a student house. I have wrestled with the question of where to call my home base. Is it the place where I spend the majority of my nights? The place where the people I love the most are? The place that challenges me? The place that comforts me?
My adulthood up until this point has been the loss of constants. Schedules that change from week to week. Different places to lay my head. I feel nomadic sometimes, always living half in and out of a suitcase. I’m always leaving somewhere soon, whether by the end of the day, week, month or year.
I am picky about what I call “home.” I don’t like to say “let’s go home” on vacation because we’re returning to a generic hotel room, not a place where I have grown and changed. I called Edwards Hall “Eddy” instead of home. I call my student house “the house.” But I’ve been thinking lately that maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I don’t need to discriminate between homes and houses, because even if a place doesn’t change me, I changed it.
Shortly before I moved out of Edwards Hall, I discovered the names of past residents written on the wall above the bed. Before I left, I added my name. I forgot my over-the-door hook in the room and now someone else probably uses it.
And there are others that left a mark. The residents that wrote “Traphouse 5” under the room number. Whoever broke my closet hook. The people whose push pins left holes in the corkboard. Those responsible for the nicks in the desk.
We leave marks wherever we go. My housemates and I turned a trashed student house into a semblance of a cozy space. When I leave my room, I might leave the curtains behind, or at least the rod. I am the person who chose pink for the walls.
In my childhood home, we left marks too. I made the hole in the basement wall. We changed flooring and light switches, put in shelving and backsplash and bushes. We tore out all the grass on the property. My father built the deck. My mother picked the bright colours with which she painted the walls. Despite the repaint, you could still see the reds and yellows where the ceiling meets the wall.
But I think there are other, invisible ways that we change the spaces we occupy. There is a legacy that we leave with the way we moved, the way we loved, the way we hated. Maybe the friendship that my roommate and I formed in Edwards Hall blessed this year’s occupants. Maybe the laughter of my housemates and I will echo there when we’re gone. Maybe my family’s undying love for one another will make my childhood home a happy one for the young family that moved in.
I would be naïve to exclude the bad. Maybe unkind words whispered behind backs, fights, disagreements, lack of communication — maybe that strains a home, makes it weary and old. Maybe the tears shed when hearts are heavy makes the roof sag. Maybe the lives mourned makes the floors creak.
However, it is more than just houses. It is streets and cities. The wear on the sidewalks from all the times my sister and I walked to 7-11 for Slurpees. The words swirling in the air as I wrote bad poetry at my elementary school bus stop. My fingerprints on the Mississauga city buses I don’t ride anymore. The pennies I’ve thrown in mall fountains. Our memories change spaces.
I have spent the last seven months writing about the artists, entrepreneurs and activists in Hamilton. Before I got to do this work, I would have never even suggested that Hamilton was home. But now I know its art and its culture. Now that I have left a record that won’t be erased, I would be remiss to say it isn’t a home.
Even when I graduate and don’t have to be in Hamilton, I’ll come back. To grab a patty from Jamaican Patty Shack, for a tarot reading at Witch’s Fix, or to attend a Denoire Collective event.
When the year begins, we talk a lot about how McMaster and Hamilton will become home for us over time. For some people, that is true and for others, it is not. But if you want to claim this campus or this city as your own, know that it’s yours. You changed it because you were here.
As the school year comes to a close, many of us will be leaving places; our residences, our student houses, our campus, this city. Our childhood homes for smaller homes, our permanent houses for hotel rooms. In transit, it is easy to feel like you have no base, no where that you belong to. But the ghosts that keep parts of you will remember you were there.
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Hamilton city council recently declared a climate emergency and pledged to substantially reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. While the declaration carries symbolic weight, the ambitious emission reduction targets can only be met if city council commits significant resources towards climate change measures. Climate activists and city councilors weigh in on what this will mean for the city.
On March 27, Hamilton city council finalized the decision to declare a climate emergency in the city of Hamilton.
The decision comes as a result of a report from the United Nations intergovernmental panel on climate change released in October 2018. The report found that, unless humanity limits global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, there will be a risk of long lasting and irreversible changes that will result in major loss of life.
The report found that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would mean reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 45 per cent of 2010 levels by 2030, and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
“Limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society,” stated the report.
Hamilton city council has joined a number other Canadian cities, including Kingston, Vancouver and Halifax, who have pledged to reduce emissions to meet these targets.
The declaration instructs the city manager to put together a multi departmental task force and present an emission reduction plan within 120 days.
According to the 2018 vital signs report released by the Hamilton community foundation, Hamilton has double the per capita GHG emissions compared to other greater Toronto and Hamilton area cities.
The 2015 community action plan set the goals of reducing GHG emissions by 20 per cent of 2006 levels by 2020, 50 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2050. The new goals, however, are more ambitious.
By declaring a climate emergency, the city aims to communicate the degree of risk to the public and demonstrate that the city is taking the issues seriously. During the board of health meeting, environment Hamilton climate campaign coordinator Ian Borsuk noted that it is important to show the public that the city understands the severity of the issue.
Additionally, a major goal of the declaration is to coordinate municipal action to develop a centralized strategy for dealing with climate change. This will take the form of a multi departmental task force across city departments.
“This isn’t something that can be left as a side project, this isn’t something that can be left as another file, this is something that needs to be part of what the city does every single day,” stated Borsuk during the presentation.
At the March 18 board of health meeting, presenters from environment Hamilton made suggestions to the city about ways to reduce emission levels by the target dates, noting that the city has already taken significant measures to reduce GHG emissions, but can do more.
One suggestion was to expand and improve public transit. Currently, Hamilton street rail ridership falls short of projections by about 10 per cent. The city is currently working towards a 10 year plan to improve HSR service, which includes improving service and adding capacity.
After industry, transportation is the largest emitter of greenhouse gas in Hamilton. According to Hamilton 350 coordinator Don McLean, transportation is one of the areas that the city can make the biggest difference. By extending bus service and making transit more affordable, McLean sees potential for large increases in ridership.
McLean also notes that Hamilton charges some of the lowest parking fees in Canada. The city owns some parking facilities, and has the ability to tax parking lots separately in order to drive pricing. In order to incentivize people to take public transit, McLean says, the parking rate has to be considerably higher than bus fare.
“Why switch to a bus if I can park downtown all day for $4?" he asked.
Another suggestion that environment Hamilton made to the board of health was to develop a “green standard” for new public and private buildings. By mandating energy use limits, the city can make a substantial difference in emissions.
Environment Hamilton executive director Lynda Lukasik also noted during the presentation that enhancing green infrastructure would help the city meet its emission targets. This includes measures such as bio soils, better managed storm water, and planting an urban forest.
Urban canopy currently sits at about 18 per cent, which is 12 per cent below the official target. Expanding the urban forest would help draw down emissions, reduce stormwater flows, and mediate heat effects.
In order to meet these goals, multiple environmental organizations across Hamilton have suggested that the city commits to applying a climate lens to all of its decisions. Similarly to the equity, diversity and inclusion lens equity, diversity and inclusion lens announced in March, the climate lens would evaluate all city actions in terms of their climate impact.
One of the main challenges for meeting the emission reduction targets is resource availability. During the board of health meeting, ward 3 councilor Nrinder Nann pointed out that achieving the commitments would likely involve retrofitting almost every building across Hamilton and switching to electric or hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles. Implementing these measures would require substantial investments of time and money.
Currently, the community climate change action plan receives provincial funding from the proceeds of the cap and trade program. However, the province scrapped the cap and trade program in October 2018 and has pulled funding from other environmental initiatives. Therefore funding for the emissions reduction plan would likely have to come from other sources.
Ward 4 councilor Sam Merulla noted that the challenge will become clear once staff reports the budget to city council within 120 days. If people hear that their taxes will increase, they may be resistant to implementing the plan.
However, Nann pointed out that even though dealing with climate change requires immediate spending, it will generate revenue in the long term. Additionally, inaction will incur high remedial costs.
Another challenge for meeting the emission reduction targets is industry. Industry accounts for 83 per cent of Hamilton's emissions, a large percentage of which comes from steel mills. However, steel mills are under provincial and federal jurisdiction, meaning that the city does not have direct control over their emissions.
Despite this, notes McLean, the city can work towards offsetting emissions through agricultural practices and reforestation.
Even if the city manages to reach the emission reduction targets in time, McLean worries that it will be too little, too late.
Climate change is a cumulative problem, meaning that all GHGs currently in the atmosphere will continue to contribute to warming, even if emissions stop.
“The kinds of things that are being talked about now are the kinds of things that should have been very actively implemented 30 years ago,” he stated. “ If you've got a cumulative problem then setting any date in the future as to when we should stop is too late.”
In order to make the climate change emergency more than a symbolic gesture, the city will have to dedicate significant resources and implement regular checkpoints to reduce emissions. The true weight of this declaration will become clear once the task force presents the emission reduction plan to city council. To achieve net zero emissions by 2050, the city has to implement unprecedented changes across all aspects of decision-making.
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By: Donna Nadeem
The Disability Justice Network of Ontario is a Hamilton-based organization launched in September by McMaster alumni Sarah Jama and Eminet Dagnachew and McMaster student Shanthiya Baheerathan.
The co-founders initially got together because of their aligning interests. For instance, Jama was working with the McMaster Students Union Diversity Services as an access coordinator, trying to push the university to create a service for people with disabilities.
“I always think that there is more that could be done, that the institution doesn’t do a good job of supporting people with disabilities in terms of responding to professors who don’t want to accommodate. There is still a lot from what I’m seeing as a person who has graduated,” said Jama.
Last year, the co-founders received an Ontario Trillium grant over 36 months to create and run the organization. The basis of DJNO is to pose questions to the community of people with disabilities to see what it is they want to work on and how DJNO can use their resources to support the community it serves.
One of DJNO’s larger goals is to politically activate and mobilize people with disabilities who consistently get left out of conversations that affect their lives.
“Our goal is to politically activate and mobilize people with disabilities across the city and the province over time and to be able to hold the institutions and places and people accountable for the spaces that they create,” said Jama.
The research committee for DJNO has recently been working on data collection for a study on issues for racialized people with disabilities.
According to Jama, there is a lack of data collection on this subject.
The DJNO also has a youth advisory council that teaches people with disabilities how to politically organize.
In just a few months of being in operation, the DJNO has hosted several events, such as a community conversation event about the Hamilton light rail transit project, a film screening and panel discussion about Justice For Soli, a movement seeking justice for the death of Soleiman Faqiri, who was killed in prison after being beaten by guards.
The film screening and panel discussion was organized alongside McMaster Muslims For Peace and Justice and the McMaster Womanists.
On March 26, the DJNO will be hosting an event called “Race and Disability: Beyond a One Dimensional Framework” in Celebration Hall at McMaster.
This discussion, being organized in collaboration with the MSU Maccess and the MSU Women and Gender Equity Network, will tackle “the intersections of race/racialization, disability, and gender for all McMaster Community Members.”
Next week, the DJNO will also be organizing a rally with Justice for Soli in order to speak out against violence against people with disabilities.
“The Justice for Soli team has been tirelessly advocating for justice, accountability, sounding the alarm of deeply systemic issues in the prison system, namely the violence that it inflicts on racialized peoples, and people with disabilities,” reads part of the event page.
For McMaster students interested in getting involved with the organization, DJNO has some open committees and is looking for individuals to help identify major community issues.
The campaign committee meets at the Hamilton Public Library monthly. Students can email [email protected] for more information.
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The Women’s Adventure Film Tour first premiered to a sold-out crowd in Sydney, Australia in May 2017. Since then, the film tour has left its home country and toured across Asia, Europe and North America. This spring, it is coming to Eastern Canada with a stop at Hamilton’s historic Playhouse Cinema on March 21.
The tour celebrates the extraordinary adventures of women by putting on a selection of short films. It is the result of a partnership between Australian company Adventure Film Tours and women-centred outdoors community She Went Wild. The Hamilton screening is open to all and will be two hours long with a short intermission. There will be also be raffle and door prizes offered.
Eastern Canada tour organizer, Benoit Brunet-Poirier got involved with the tour when he met Adventure Film Tours owner Toby Ryston-Pratt on a trip to Australia last year. At the time, Ryston-Pratt had been thinking about expanding to Canada. Brunet-Poirier discussed the opportunity with his partner Jamie Stewart and the two decided to take on the challenge of bringing the film tour home.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9HXWDFs4WM[/embedyt]
Adventure is important for the couple, who met while rock-climbing. The tour also combines their respective industries as Brunet-Poirier works in the entertainment industry and Stewart works for an outdoors retailer.
By showing women-centred films, the tour is helping break down barriers in the outdoors industry. Brunet-Poirier noted that women are historically thought of as individuals to be protected and this series of short films challenges that notion.
“So I really like the idea of having a woman-focused film tour just because… although women are starting to be represented more in adventure stores and in the media and in film, I do think that there still is a misrepresentation or underrepresentation of women. And so this film tour is just putting… the spotlight on women,” Stewart said.
The couple did their first screening for the film tour in Ottawa last fall. They are taking the feedback from that event on the road by increasing the number of films in order to show a few shorter ones and playing well-received flicks.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DE3F336tVQ[/embedyt]
One such film, titled Finding the Line, follows professional skiers and sisters Anna and Nat Segal across Canada, France and the United States. While the film’s humour and thrilling 80 degree slopes make it an exciting watch, it is one of Stewart’s personal favourites because of its narratives of overcoming fear and sisterly bonding. It is these narratives that Stewart and Brunet-Poirier feel will resonate with audiences.
“We let go of some films that were focused on physical achievement to give room to films that are focused on the psychological or social achievement of other women. So there are films about BASE jumping and extreme sports, but there are also films that are more accessible,” said Brunet-Poirier.
In this way, the films should provide something that appeals to everyone, regardless of activity level or interest in extreme sports. The couple hopes that the pictures inspire audiences of all ages to attempt new things or take on a challenge that frightens them.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcWXn_Ydxuc[/embedyt]
Stewart and Brunet-Poirier also focused on ensuring that the films showcases diversity. From a film about an older, blind woman learning to swim for the first time to another about the challenges a lesbian couple faces in a mountain biking community when they open a pizza shop, the films capture a range of identities.
The films were selected from Adventure Films Tours’ global database. While the couple chose some films based in North America in order to be more local, their priority on diversity led them to select films from around the world.
“I am a Chinese woman here in Canada and… we really wanted to showcase diversity and acceptance of everyone… [T]hat's the root of our cause. [We] really try to reach as many people as we can and showing representation in adventure sports of all types of people,” said Stewart.
By centring the diversity of women, Women’s Adventure Film Tour pushes back against the perception of the outdoors community as male-dominated or predominantly white. The films aim to be a comprehensive show of the physical and mental strength of women.
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