The nomination deadline has passed for the upcoming Hamilton municipal election and four candidates are registered to run for Ward 1 City Councillor in Chedoke–Cootes–Westdale: Raymond Paquette, Mark Powell, Nathan Savelli, and incumbent Maureen Wilson.
MAUREEN WILSON (INCUMBENT)
Campaign Email: maureenowilson@gmail.com
Campaign Website: Not Available at Publish Date
Maureen Wilson has served as a City Councillor since 2018, is a former staffer for Hamilton Mayor Bob Wade and partner to former Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Chair Terry Cooke.
When she was first elected in 2018 she earned 41.51 per cent of the vote (3,664 total votes). Former Metrolinx staffer Jason Allen came in second with 17 per cent of the vote (1,501 votes).
Incumbent Ward 1 Councillor Aidan Johnson was going to run for re-election in 2018 but later withdrew and became the executive director of the Niagara Community Legal Clinic.
In 2022, Wilson earned 74.96 per cent of the vote (6,610 total votes), Ian MacPherson came in second with 15.72 per cent (1,386 total votes), and John Vail came third with 9.32 per cent (822 total votes).
During the last term of Council, Wilson voted in favour of the city’s new hire COVID vaccination mandate, increasing Hamilton’s property taxes by 5.85 per cent in 2023, implementing the rain tax stormwater fee program, collecting the Vacant Unit Tax, increasing property taxes by 5.79 per cent in 2024, and keeping the city poet program in 2025 amid a 5.6 per cent property tax increase.
She voted against increasing the Hamilton Police Service budget in 2023 and 2024 and against a motion to pause AI data centre applications for one year.
A detailed vote breakdown can be viewed online at a new website called www.hamiltoncouncilwatch.ca.
MARK POWELL
Campaign Email: ward1powell@gmail.com
Campaign Website: Not Available at Publish Date
The Hamilton Independent was unable to find further information about the candidate.
NATHAN SAVELLI
Campaign Email: savelliforward1@gmail.com
Campaign Website: www.savelliforward1.ca
Nathan Savelli’s website states that he is running “because he believes that public service should focus on taking care of people and the planet.”
He has an Honours Bachelor and Master of Arts in Sociology from McMaster University. He has worked at Compass Community Health Centre as a mentor for youth and a project coordinator in the Pathways to Education program since 2012.
He is also a part-time professor at Mohawk College, teaching Sociology and Environmental Sustainability.
RAYMOND PAQUETTE
Campaign Email: raysplacehamilton@outlook.com
Campaign Website: Not Available at Publish Date
Raymond Paquette is the former owner of Ray’s Place (or Ray’s Boathouse) on Dundurn Street. The restaurant closed at the beginning of the pandemic.
Paquette ran for City Councillor in Ward 1 back in 2010, placing third out of three candidates with 8.68 per cent of the vote (719 total votes). In that election, Brian McHattie came in first with 64.9 per cent of the vote (5,373 votes).
ELECTORAL HISTORY
2010 Election: Brian McHattie elected with 64.90 per cent of the vote (5,373 total votes) in a three-candidate race.
2014 Election: Aidan Johnson elected with 34.69 per cent of the vote (3,030 total votes) in a six-candidate race.
2018 Election: Maureen Wilson elected with 41.51 per cent of the vote (3,664 total votes) in a 13-candidate race.
2022 Election: Maureen Wilson elected with 74.96 per cent of the vote (6,610 total votes) in a three-candidate race.
WARD DESCRIPTION
As of the 2021 census, the ward had 31,775 residents.
Ward 1 is in the west end of Hamilton and includes the neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Kirkendall, Strathcona, and Westdale.
It is bordered by the Niagara Escarpment to the south, Queen Street to the east, Hamilton Harbour and Cootes Paradise to the north and a green corridor running from Cootes Drive along the border of what was formerly the City of Hamilton and the Town of Dundas.
The ward is home to Dundurn Castle National Historic Site, McMaster University, and Chedoke Civic Golf Course.
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.
