Hamilton City Council and recently delegated to Council on the matter. Photo Credit: City of Hamilton/X.
The addition of another voting member to Hamilton Council would have to be approved by the Province of Ontario since it requires changes to the Municipal Act.
A local advocacy group called Circle of Beads is asking for an Indigenous-specific seat on Hamilton City Council and recently delegated to Council on the matter.
The addition of another voting member to Hamilton Council would have to be approved by the Province of Ontario since it requires changes to the Municipal Act.
Thus, Circle of Beads has asked that, in the interim, the City establish a non-voting advisory seat on Council for a member of Hamilton’s urban Indigenous community.
Councillor Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton) was particularly receptive to the idea and has already drafted a motion that would direct City staff in the Indigenous Relations and Legal Services Divisions to report back to Council on their recommendations and various legal limitations they would face.
The motion will be voted on in the near future.
The delegation from Circle of Beads to Council was led by NaWalka Geeshy Meegwun, who is also known as Lyndon George, and Audrey Davis.
George is the Indigenous Justice Coordinator at the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic and Davis is the Executive Director of the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre.
Circle of Beads contends that creating the seat is in line with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the City’s own Urban Indigenous Strategy.
It should be noted that there is no Indigenous-specific Council seat anywhere in Canada, which means Hamilton could be the first city to adopt the idea if approved by the province.
The move would bring the total number of voting members on Hamilton Council from 16 to 17.
There are currently 15 City Councillors who represent wards plus the Mayor.
Hamilton’s Indigenous population is estimated at about 12,000 people, while Hamilton’s 15 wards range in population from 28,225 to over 48,565 according to 2021 data.
Thus, if an Indigenous-specific seat on Council was adopted, an Indigenous voter in Hamilton could have up to four times the voting power of non-Indigenous residents.
Indigenous peoples who are Hamilton residents already have the right to vote for their local Councillor and for Mayor.
But George also proposed that the seat on Council could be “an appointed Indigenous seat” rather than an “elected seat.”
It is unclear what process would be used to appoint an Indigenous voting member to Council.
George added, “I would like to remind people that no matter where you live, work, or play in this country that we call Canada you are on Indigenous territory and many of these territories, if not all, have been stolen territories.”
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
