A webpage describing the event on Eventbrite notes that attendees should be between 14 and 29 years of age and live in Hamilton. Pictured: Councillor Maureen Wilson. Photo Credit: Maureen Wilson/X.
Six of Hamilton’s 16 municipally elected officials will be hosting a youth town hall event on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at City Hall.
However, the event appears to only be led by what are generally agreed to be the city’s most ideologically left-wing councillors as it is hosted by Maureen Wilson (Ward 1 – Chedoke-Cootes-Westdale), 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).
For example, five of those six councillors (Cassar, Kroetsch, Hwang, Nann, and A. Wilson) previously signed a letter in October 2022 stating that they would refuse to speak to The Hamilton Spectator, accusing the newspaper of contributing to “anti-Black racism.”
The letter was prompted by an Oct. 20, 2022, article entitled, “Hamilton community organizer alleged to have helped kidnappers escape in fatal Glanbrook home invasion.”
It is unclear how the youth town hall event is being funded, although it will be held on the second floor of City Hall, includes light refreshments, and is being advertised as having no cost for attendees.
A webpage describing the event on Eventbrite notes that attendees should be between 14 and 29 years of age and live in Hamilton.
It notes that the event begins at 1pm with “Kickoff and Introductions” from Model City Hall organizers.
Model City Hall Hamilton has previously held events with the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, an anti-racism organization that has held multiple rallies in which speakers call for abolishing and dismantling the police.
They have also previously partnered with Councillors Nann and M. Wilson and controversial Hamilton Centre Member of Parliament Matthew Green.
Those organizers will reportedly kick off the event and introduce “elected officials, facilitators, and others supporting the event.”
It is unclear what other individuals or groups are involved in supporting the town hall.
There will also reportedly be elected officials “from different levels of government” involved.
A “City Councillors Panel” will be held next, followed by “Group Discussions” focussed on six predetermined themes: Mental Health and Addiction Supports, Employment and Training, Safe and Affordable Housing, Safety and Sense of Inclusion, Youth Engagement and Leadership, and Climate Change and Impacts.
After a break with “light refreshments and mingling,” the event ends with a “feedback session” where “Councillors will provide advice and suggestions on policy ideas and speak to next steps.”
The event is scheduled to last for three hours.
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.
