20 years later, Ontario doesn’t know Hamilton amalgamated
After two decades, the province doesn't seem to know the City of Hamilton amalgamated.
In 2001, Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Dundas, Ancaster, Glanbrook and Flamborough unified into a single megacity on the orders of then-premier Mike Harris. Local councils and mayors were dissolved into one municipal government, bylaws rewritten and streets renamed.
The forced amalgamation ended years of hot debate, though, as The Spectator reported in 2016, bitterness prevailed over the communities' loss of identity. Many suburbanites didn't want their city taxes funding aging infrastructure and other age-old problems of the old city of Hamilton."
It's ironic then that if you ask the province now, they seem to have no idea what you're talking about.
In recent requests to two ministries for data on Hamilton seniors' homes, the province included only information for the pre-amalgamated city. Stoney Creek, Ancaster, Dundas and Waterdown were not included.
The Spectator asked the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility for vaccination rates at Hamilton's licensed retirement homes and received data for 18 homes. Facilities outside Hamilton's pre-2001 borders didn't appear. When asked separately for Stoney Creek, Dundas, Ancaster and Waterdown, the ministry shared data for another 15 homes.
Asked why the latter were previously excluded, the ministry said the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA), which collects data on its behalf, compiles information based on mailing address.
Another query to the Ministry of Long-Term Care asked about the status of air conditioning at the city's facilities, for which the ministry initially provided data for 17 out of 27 LTCs in Hamilton.
We don't typically use the public health region (as) a geographic proxy when asked for information on homes in a particular area," a spokesperson said in an email.
But Hamilton" is the name of the city, not just the public health unit. If you try searching Toronto homes on Ontario's website for long-term-care inspection reports, different lists appear for Toronto, Etobicoke, Scarborough, York, North York and East York - though, like Hamilton, they are all part of the City of Toronto.
Neither ministry responded when asked if a request for information about Toronto would include all of Toronto.
But you can probably guess the answer.
Maria Iqbal covers aging issues for The Spectator. miqbal@thespec.com