Candidates discuss property taxes, waste, and policing in chaotic 12-candidate mayoral debate

Hamilton’s three leading mayoral candidates – Rob Cooper, Andrea Horwath, and Keanin Loomis – spent much of Cable 14’s two-and-a-half-hour debate attacking one another’s records.

Twelve of the 13 registered candidates for mayor took part in the debate ahead of the October 26 municipal election: Sasha Austin, Ejaz Butt, David Mark Cherkewski, Rob Cooper, Paul Fromm, Scarlett Gillespie, Andrea Horwath, Erin Janus, Keanin Loomis, Pamela Mitchell, Kevin Walker, and Nathalie Xian Yi Yan.

Incumbent Mayor Andrea Horwath defended a term she said brought more than $7 billion in provincial and federal money to the city.

Former Hamilton Chamber of Commerce CEO Keanin Loomis and City Councillor Rob Cooper each cast themselves as the change candidate.

The debate was frequently chaotic, with moderator Harmony McKenzie repeatedly asking candidates to stop talking over one another.

Horwath opened by saying she found Hamilton “stuck” when she took office, with failing roads and water systems and stalled housing.

She then turned on her two main challengers without naming them.

She called Cooper “the hatchet man” and Loomis “the nowhere man,” who she said was absent for four years and shifts direction “depending on who he spoke to last.”

Cooper cited his senior executive roles at Stelco, TD Bank, Manulife, McMaster University and the Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB).

His central promise is to cap property tax increases at the rate of inflation for four years.

Loomis pitched his “SMART plan”: safer neighbourhoods, getting Hamilton moving, accountability at City Hall, responsive government and making every tax dollar count.

He accused Horwath of being slow on tariffs, saying he advocated for steelworkers for two years.

Loomis’ sharpest attack came in the open forum, aimed at Cooper.

He said that Cooper spent more than $46,000 on self-promotion and office furniture during his first five months on Council.

“You claim to be fiscally responsible, but your actions don’t match your words,” Loomis said.

Cooper said he arrived at his office with a broken desk and chair and had to replace those.

He explained that he also bought a table and chairs so residents could meet with him.

He said he chose billboards as the most cost-effective way to reach people when nearly 80 per cent of residents did not vote in the last election.

Cooper then pressed Loomis repeatedly to name a tax rate, arguing voters deserve a number before they vote.

Loomis said he would move to zero-based budgeting and review every dollar, but declined to commit to a number.

“Folks, if Keanin can’t give you a tax rate, that’s because you need to buckle your seat belts. Hang on for what you’re about to get,” Cooper said.

“He won’t commit to the rate right now because he knows he’ll lose your vote,” he added.

Cooper pointed to his own Council record on spending.

He said he and Councillor Brad Clark moved to end free lunches for staff and councillors at City Hall, and that his advocacy helped secure a provincial regulation exempting farmers from the stormwater “rain tax.”

Asked what he would cut, Cooper went after waste in how the city builds.

He pointed to a procurement system that takes the lowest bid and then pays for change orders, citing Garner Road.

He also pointed to Aberdeen Avenue, which was repaved one year and dug up for pipes the next.

Cooper said that the Red Hill Valley and Lincoln Alexander parkways should be uploaded to the province and that another lane should be added to each one.

The candidates also discussed the stormwater fee rain tax.

Cooper said his work persuaded the province to pass a regulation stopping the city from applying it to farmers.

He accused Loomis of supporting the fee and said Council is looking for ways around the regulation.

On policing, Loomis ruled out defunding and pledged to serve his full term on the Police Services Board, criticizing Horwath for stepping down from it.

Gillespie proposed cuts, including the mounted horse unit.

Cooper listed tackling violent crime, which he said now reaches every part of Hamilton, among his top priorities.

At one point, Gillespie questioned Loomis’ dual Canadian-American citizenship in the context of AI data centres and data security.

Loomis said that he is “so proud to be Canadian” and showed his Canadian passport, which he specifically brought to the debate.

During the open forum, Horwath asked Cooper about his answers to a survey which indicate that he is against abortion.

Cooper responded, “As a Christian, this is a choice that I make because of my faith. Mayor Horvath talks about how the city is open to people, but she has this underlying current of discrimination against certain faith groups.”

“It’s not part of municipal politics. It’s being woven into here because you know what? There is this whole angle where they want to highlight the fact that I am a Christian and how they feel about Christians in our community. It’s unfortunate because we see this right across our community. Faith hate shows up in a lot of different faiths.”

Gillespie then got involved.

Identifying herself as the only transgender candidate for mayor, she said, “There have been enough old white men who are Christian, who are cisgender, running and leading.”

She said that Hamilton needs “different, diverse representation.”

Hamilton votes on Monday, October 26. The full debate is available on demand on YouTube here.