Mayoral candidate Keanin Loomis switches gears, won’t end area rating of transit in Hamilton
In a late campaign U-turn, mayoral candidate Keanin Loomis has announced he will no longer seek to change Hamilton's controversial transit taxation system.
Elected and would-be politicians have been spinning their wheels for years over controversial area-rated" transit tax rates introduced after amalgamation.
Hamilton is the only big Ontario city where urban residents pay different tax rates for bus service depending on where they live and level of service. For example, the average old-city homeowner paid about $389 a year in 2019 for transit compared to $184 for the urban parts of Ancaster or $201 for Glanbrook. Rural residents pay no taxes for transit.
Past councils have debated, but always put off decisions on whether to end area-rated transit taxes. Critics argue the system makes HSR expansion and improvements difficult.
Loomis told The Spec in September it was time to stop kicking this can down the road" and suggested a gradual phase-out of differing transit tax rates in tandem with improved busing to poorly served areas.
But in the week before the vote, the Loomis campaign told The Spec his position had evolved" based on concerns heard in talking to suburban and rural residents. In an emailed quote, Loomis now says if elected mayor, I will preserve and protect area rating in our suburban and rural communities."
Mayoral race competitor Andrea Horwath is still suggesting a gradual approach to any changes in transit taxation, while Bob Bratina has flatly rejected ending area rating as a tax grab."
Horwath on healthy women
The city can do a lot better" to help women in Hamilton stay healthy, Horwath says.
One improvement the former Ontario NDP leader proposes is expanding to more facilities and making permanent a menstrual products pilot project.
In 2020, council approved the initiative to offer free menstrual products to residents in recreation centres and through Hamilton Food Share's partner food banks.
I think it's worth looking at other public facilities, places like libraries and things like that," Horwath said at an Ottawa Street North fitness studio Wednesday.
The cost of living continues to make life harder and harder," she said, And when it comes to essential products like that, the city should be making sure that they're accessible."
If elected, Horwath said she'd work to establish a new program to help low-income mothers with essentials like clothing and mattresses.
We shouldn't have a situation where people are birthing children and they don't have the financial resources to give that baby a great start in life."
Horwath also proposes to forge city partnerships with charities and non-profits to address isolation in single older women.
Recreation upgrades
Both Loomis and Bob Bratina say they want to make recreation opportunities more accessible if elected mayor.
Bratina announced last week he would seek to build new child-care centres, while slashing rec program and registration fees for kids under 18.
I grew up playing baseball at Mahoney Park with Pat Quinn. I want to see my old park - and parks across this city - full of kids playing sports without an affordability problem," he said.
Loomis announced this week that, if elected mayor, he'll aim to find a location for a new rec centre in the city and in the long term shoot to land funding for others in Binbrook, Waterdown and Stoney Creek.
The former Hamilton Chamber of Commerce leader publicized those goals outside the Westmount Recreation Centre on the southwest Mountain on Wednesday.
Growing communities like this one are in desperate need of new recreation centres," he said in an announcement livestreamed on social media, further suggesting parents opt to pay for swimming lessons in neighbouring municipalities like Burlington and Grimsby as a result.
Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com
Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com