A vote on the budget is scheduled for Jan. 28. Photo Credit: Hamilton Police Service.
With the 2025 Hamilton Police Services (HPS) budget set to be debated by Council at a General Issues Committee meeting on Jan. 28, the Downtown Hamilton business improvement areas (BIAs) and an extensive list of businesses wrote letters expressing their support for the budget.
Hamilton Police budget discussions are regularly targeted by “abolish the police” activists and six of Hamilton’s 16 municipal politicians voted against the police budget in 2024.
But the submissions to Council regarding the 2025 budget appear to show widespread support, particularly amongst the business community and several prominent local organizations.
HPS’ proposed 2025 net operating and capital budget is $227.1 million, representing a combined increase of $12.25 million or 5.7 per cent over their 2024 budget.
Details on the budget can be viewed here in a previous Hamilton Independent article.
One of the organizations expressing support for the HPS budget increase was St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton which operates Ontario’s second largest mental health and addictions program.
St. Joseph’s Healthcare President Michael Heenan wrote to the HPS Board that police “allow both a secure environment and a safe response so mental health workers may aid the wellbeing of those calling for help.”
Heenan called HPS programs such as the Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST) and the Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team (MCRRT) “critical”.
Manny Figueiredo, the President and CEO of YMCA Hamilton, Burlington, Brantford also praised HPS programs such as the Anti-Sex Trafficking Program, Social Navigator Program, Rapid Intervention Support Team (RIST), Youth Engagement Series, and SWAMPY wilderness mentoring initiative.
He added that they “firmly believe that a well-funded, proactive police service is essential for creating a safer, inclusive Hamilton.”
Carmens Group also expressed support for the police budget, with their Director of Sales and Business Development Ammar Balika writing that they have had “significantly more difficulty” in securing local, provincial, national, and international events at their venues due to safety concerns.
“We have actually lost many large events and pieces of business as clients simply do not feel safe in Hamilton, particularly in the downtown core.”
One of the venues Carmens Group operates is the Hamilton Convention Centre in downtown.
Construction union LiUNA also wrote in support of HPS through International Vice President Joseph Mancinelli, who said, “Well-funded, effective police departments are the only way to ensure safe communities.”
“To think that the City of Hamilton would be able to effectively deal with all the matters that Police Services addresses 24 hours a day without the Police Services is just incomprehensible,” he continued.
Others in the business community have spoken up in support of HPS, including both of the Downtown Hamilton BIAs.
Susie Braithwaite, Executive Director of Downtown Hamilton’s International Village BIA said she wants to see permanent funding for HPS’ Core Patrol Program and the number of officers increased from the current six.
She added, “We ask that HPS be sufficiently funded to enable stronger police presence at all times,” noting that “weekends and after hours cannot be omitted.”
The BIA has reportedly had to hire paid duty officers for events in the past to improve safety, but notes that the practice is not sustainable.
Others expressing their support for the 2025 HPS budget included Andrew Keesmaat (President of the Hamilton Law Association), Robin St. Jean (President of Michael St. Jean Realty), and Patrick Denninger (President and CEO of Denninger’s).
In regards to the police budget, it remains to be seen what Council will end up deciding on Jan. 28. Last year, the police budget passed at Council in a 10 to 6 vote.
The six opposed to the 2024 police budget were Maureen Wilson (Ward 1 – Chedoke-Cootes-Westdale), Councillors Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton), Nrinder Nann (Ward 3 – East Hamilton Centre), Tammy Hwang (Ward 4 – Hamilton East), Craig Cassar (Ward 12 – Ancaster-West Flamborough), and Alex Wilson (Ward 13 – Dundas-Central Flamborough).
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.
