Candidates seek to unseat Jason Farr in Ward 2

 It remains to be seen how voters in Hamilton’s Ward 2 feel about incumbent Jason Farr leaving Council for a number of weeks in 2022 in order to run provincially for the Ontario Liberal Party, only to return to the council table after losing to Progressive Conservative Neil Lumsden. Photo credit: Facebook/Jason Farr

 

The Ward 2 Cable 14 debate took place on September 13. A replay of the debate can be watched via YouTube. Sitting Councillor Jason Farr is running for re-election in what should be an interesting race. Farr won with less than 50 per cent of the vote in 2018. 

Ward 2 encompasses downtown Hamilton. Starting at Wellington Street, the ward runs west until Queen St. The northern boundary is Lake Ontario, with the southern boundary the Niagara Escarpment. The ward includes Bayfront Park, Pier 8, Copps Pier, Hamilton City Hall, Jackson Square, the FirstOntario Centre, and St. Joseph Hospital’s Charlton Campus.

Advanced polls are open at Bennetto Community Centre on the following dates:

Friday, October 7, 2022 – 10AM-8PM
Saturday, October 8, 2022 – 10AM-5PM
Friday, October 14, 2022 – 10AM-8PM
Saturday, October 15, 2022 – 10AM-5PM

Election day is Monday, October 24 and polls are open from 10AM-8PM at 10 locations across Ward 2. To find out your closest location click here.

2022 Candidates (Alphabetical by Last Name)

Shahan Aaron – Present at Debate
Jason Farr – Present at Debate
Cameron Kroetsch – Present at Debate
Robin McKee – Present at Debate
Raquel Rakovac – Present at Debate

2018 Election Results

Jason Farr – 3,162 – 46.86% (Elected)
Cameron Kroetsch – 2,024 – 29.99%
Diane Chiarelli – 430 – 6.37%
Mark Tennant – 362 – 5.36%
John Vail – 296 – 4.39%
Nicole Smith – 281 – 4.16%
Suresh Daljeet – 120 – 1.78%
James Unsworth – 73 – 1.08%

The debate consisted of a two-minute opening statement from each candidate, questions from local media, and then an open forum period for candidates to ask each other questions.

First, Shahan Aaron introduced himself to voters.

“I’m here because City Council needs some kind of representation from people of colour,” he said. 

Aaron continued that he wants to be approachable to residents as someone that can connect with others “on an emotional level.”

Jason Farr was next and said that he has “experience and proven results.” He spoke of accomplishments such as funding for housing, the upcoming revitalization of the entertainment precinct, two new community centres, and revising truck routes to keep transport trucks “off our downtown streets.”

Cameron Kroetsch, who came second place in the 2018 municipal election is a small business owner. He used his opening statement to say that Farr and the current city council have “squandered” Hamilton’s potential and “held us back for far too long.”

He added that Ward 2 needs someone who will take the “affordable housing crisis and climate emergency seriously.”

Local historian Robin McKee, who runs tours of the Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard, said that he has been on City Council committees and knows councillors and staff. He lives in the ward and used pandemic downtime to write three books.

Raquel Rakovac noted her roles as a mother, small business owner and coach to both athletes and musicians. She used her opening to speak of the need for housing, mental health and addiction support, increasing the tree canopy, and opening up “mass transit for everyone.”

Next, the candidates took questions from the local media panel. The panel consisted of Sebastian Bron from the Hamilton Spectator and Al Sweeney from CHCH News.

Waterfront Trust Centre

Bron asked candidates about their plans for the Hamilton Waterfront Trust Centre, formerly the Discovery Centre, located at Pier 8 in the ward’s north end. It’s a building that has sat largely unused after the closure of a restaurant at the location.

All candidates agreed that local uses such as a library/cultural centre are ideal for the site and that Indigenous partners should be a big part of the conversation. Kroetsch and Aaron noted that the process has been too much talk and not enough action since the building remains unused.

McKee added that if a portion of the building becomes a city museum that he will donate all of his artifacts for display.

It should also be noted that the surrounding area at Pier 8 is slated for a number of new residential towers.

Chedoke Creek Sewage Leak and Red Hill Parkway

The next media question, from Sweeney, was about the Red Hill Parkway Inquiry and Chedoke Creek Sewage Leak and whether Council has an issue with transparency.

Kroetsch said that Councillor Farr voted 12 times to keep the scope of the Chedoke Sewage Leak a secret. 

“That culture [of cover-ups] is rotting city hall, its breaking public trust and we have to do better,” he continued.

Incumbent Councillor Farr responded that both issues “have been no picnic for this Council.” Farr said Council informed the public of the sewage leak but not the amount of sewage due to legal advice from a top environmental lawyer.

He added that when it came to the Red Hill Parkway, Council “did the most detailed investigation you could possibly do which is a public inquiry.”

Farr also said that accusations of widespread cover-up are evidence of “a little bit of Trump-era politics” coming into play.

Opioid Crisis

The next media question was on the topic of detox facilities and opioid overdoses. McKee said that it is important to back up and address “the core” of people’s hurt.

Kroetsch called the crisis a “completely preventable tragedy” indicating the need for safe supply, safe consumption sites, and supports.

Rakovac added that providing housing and mental health supports also come into play. 

“We need to create a safe space for people to have shelter and access to resources,” she stated.

Farr, who ran for the Ontario Liberals in June 2022, took a jab at the PC government by saying that the opioid crisis is a health issue which is in the provincial purview and solutions have “been grossly underfunded, particularly by the current Progressive Conservative government.”

He said that Hamilton has done a lot to help and that the city has three safe consumption and treatment sites in Ward 2 alone.

Tiny Shelters

Conversation then turned to housing, with Bron asking Kroetsch if he supports the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters (HATS) and their call to create a community of small shelters as a temporary solution to help those experiencing homelessness.

Kroetsch said that shelters are supposed to be transitional spaces, but are becoming places where people stay for far too long because there is a lack of affordable housing. He also added that, from an economic standpoint, “sending the homeless to emergency rooms and police officers to encampments is also extraordinarily expensive so we need to address the root causes.”

Police and Mental Health

The discussion then turned to the police. Kroetsch said he’s hearing that people are calling police regarding thefts and other crimes, but that no officers respond because they are dealing with other issues like mental health calls. He said that we should “redirect funds to mental health supports.”

Rakovac passionately stated that “breaking up encampments and video surveillance cameras are not the solution on how we can move forward on building a thriving community.”

“Mental health and addiction calls should not be going directly to police. We need proper people on the ground to address this.”

Farr said that although the police service is not perfect, police are trained to maintain public safety.

“They go to [emergencies] while all of us go the other way and we need to appreciate that.”

Transit

McKee then asked Farr if the city can make HSR transit service free. Farr said that he loves the concept and he would like to explore ways to promote transit use, but it would cost the city millions.

Kroetsch said that “we need to make free transit a priority” and act on those plans immediately “if we’re taking the climate emergency seriously.”

Aaron said that maybe transit can be “as close to free as possible” with some sort of fare rate based on household income.

Encampments

At that point in the debate Farr had the opportunity to direct a question to Kroetsch. Farr noted Kroetsch’s attendance at a protest that blocked police from removing encampments at Central Park in Ward 2 and his support of another protest that called for “an immediate 20 per cent reduction to the police budget.”

Kroetsch said that the solution is addressing homelessness which Farr has “neglected for some time.”

Kroetsch said that the city has sold off more affordable housing units than they have built, while Farr said that “there’s a whole lot to come.”

Rakovac then asked when Farr was last “on the ground learning about your constituents in encampments.”

Farr said he had done so that week. 

The somewhat heated back-and-forth continued between Farr and Rakovac with Farr mentioning his support for the city’s “Housing First” initiative which “has housed 1,100 homeless individuals.”

Farr also said that he grew up in poverty, to which Rakovac countered “then you should step up and do better.”

Note that the author of this article, Kevin Geenen, is running for Ward 5 City Council Hamilton (Gray Rd to Red Hill Parkway plus the Beach Strip). Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Kevin Geenen reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on social media. He is a regular contributor with The Hamilton Independent and has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. He is known for Hamilton Neighbourhood Watch crime updates and no-nonsense news graphics. 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 from Governor General David Johnston. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. He currently works as a journalistic writer and office administrator.