Few, if any councillors from the past term were as adamant as John-Paul Danko that city employees should lose their jobs for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He faces four challengers to keep his Ward 8 seat this election. Photo credit: Twitter/Jean-Paul Danko
The Ward 8 Cable 14 debate took place on September 16. A replay of the debate can be watched via YouTube. Incumbent Councillor John-Paul Danko is up against four challengers.
Over the past couple of months, Danko was noted for his support of firing unvaccinated city workers despite the policy potentially costing the city millions.
Danko has told the media multiple times that those who do not get vaccinated are “selfish”. He voted in favour of terminating unvaccinated employees every time the issue came up.
He was also one of the only councillors to vote against deadline extensions for unvaccinated employees, contending that the original policy should have remained in place and that unvaccinated employees should have been terminated on June 1, 2022.
Ward 8 is located within the West/Central Mountain area. The northern border is the Escarpment and the southern border is the hydro corridor just south of Rymal Road. The eastern border is Upper Wellington Street, while the western border is Garth Street.
Ward 8 is home Mohawk College’s main campus, Chedoke Hospital, and St. Joseph’s West 5th campus.
2022 Candidates (Alphabetical by Last Name)
BROWN, Sonia – Present at Debate
CZERNIGA, Joshua – Present at Debate
DANKO, John-Paul – Present at Debate
FRISINA, Anthony – Present at Debate
VELTRI, Daniel – Present at Debate
Election day is Monday, October 24 and polls are open from 10AM-8PM at 9 locations across Ward 8. To find out your closest location click here.
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.
Sonia Brown introduced herself to voters, saying that she is a mother and grandmother who started a residential care home for those with special needs. She has volunteered and led a spiritual care group at St. Joseph’s Healthcare and is a board member at City Kidz.
“I want to see real change in the area of affordable city housing and student rentals. I will fight against tax increases and I will bring real change, address resident concerns and be accessible and responsive with integrity and respect to my constituents,” she said.
Joshua Czerniga said that he is a former teacher and assistant principal with the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic School Board.
Anthony Frisina, named to the Order of Hamilton in 2020, spoke of addressing accessibility issues and helping those with disabilities.
And candidate Daniel Veltri spoke of road safety, housing, and transit.
Speaking of housing developments, Danko noted that the city needs to make sure “growth that is approved is actually accenting and approving our communities.”
Frisina added to the conversation on housing affordability saying that even “one homeless person is one homeless person too many for our city.”
Regarding trail safety, particularly at night, all candidates agreed that lighting fixtures should be strategically placed. Brown also said that she would support adding security cameras in particular locations such as at Escarpment stairs.
When Czerniga was asked about tearing down of the Sir John A statue and the decision by an Ontario school board to advise teachers not to speak of Queen Elizabeth’s recent death, he responded that “it’s important that we recognize the triggers in our society today and in our children.”
On the other hand, Brown said that the Queen’s death a “teachable moment for all students.”
“We all go through grief at some point or another,” she said, noting that the unfortunate situation is instead an “opportunity” for teachers to teach and for children to grow.
Veltri then confronted Danko about his support of the city worker vaccine mandate, asking if we regretted his stance which would have seen the unvaccinated permanently terminated by the city.
Danko said that he does not regret any decision he made during the pandemic.
“This is the most severe public health crisis of the past century. We were making emergency decisions,” he contended.
Danko also said that ultimately workers were not fired since the policy was rescinded, ignoring the fact that he had actually voted against the majority of Council in favour of permanently terminating unvaccinated workers way back in June 2022.
2018 Election Results
John-Paul Danko – 3,752 – 41.67% (Elected)
Eve Adams – 2,097 – 23.29%
Steve Ruddick – 1,905 – 21.16%
Colleen Wicken – 911 – 10.12%
Anthony Simpson – 288 – 3.20%
Christopher Climie – 50 – 0.56%
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.
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.
