In 2018, the last Council’s inauguration under former mayor Fred Eisenberger cost only $11K. New mayor Andrea Horwath (pictured) said the price hike was necessary to celebrate the “historic moment”. Photo credit: The Canadian Press/Cole Burston
Hamilton’s newly elected City Council is being questioned over the necessity of spending $38,116 on their inauguration ceremony. The 2018 inauguration cost taxpayers $11,418, meaning the 2022 costs represent a 234 per cent increase.
The cost breakdown was shared via Twitter by newly elected Ward 2 City Councillor Cameron Kroetsch. Kroetsch has begun his term by making a point of publicly posting a number of documents and councillor orientation activities on social media that citizens normally do not get to see.
Despite the increase in costs, Hamilton’s new mayor Andrea Horwath said that the price hike was appropriate in order to celebrate.
The plan was originally to hold a swearing-in ceremony in the morning at Hamilton City Hall before Horwath changed the event last minute to a larger, and more public, evening inauguration at the Hamilton Convention Centre.
Horwath told The Hamilton Spectator that the inauguration was a “historic moment” and since she wanted to “engage the public”, having a larger event was justified.
Her comments about the significance of the inauguration appear to be a reference to the fact that she is the first female mayor in Hamilton’s history.
The event included members of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Six Nations elected Chief Mark Hill, Spirit Bear Drummers, and the Hamilton Children’s Choir.
Multiple line items on the 2022 cost breakdown appear significantly inflated, including $11,545 spent on an Hors d’oeuvres and soft drinks tab. The food and drinks alone cost more than the entire 2018 event.
An additional $2,620 was spent on “photography”.
Other costs include $5,763 for audio and video equipment, $5,762 for the convention centre rental, $3,390 for closed captioning and a YouTube broadcast by Cable 14, $2,892 for paid-duty police officers, $2,000 on plants, $1,500 for “welcoming and closing ceremonies”, $1,000 for a jazz band, $542 for boutonnieres, $377 for invitations/programs, $300 for the national anthem, $225 for a teleprompter and $200 for a piper.
City staff also spent hours organizing the event last minute after Horwath announced the change from a morning ceremony to public evening event.
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.
