At the age of 12, after the death of his mother and abandonment by his father, he found employment with the local office of a New York merchant. This statue features representations of the Federalist Papers, the constitution, and the inauguration of George Washington.Īccording to modern historians, Alexander Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis, in the West Indies, on Januor 1757. Sure we have some good, long term projects like our waterfront and LRT finally on the near horizon, but given that other cities already have all of that, unless we demand more from our leaders now, or elect new ones next year, we may never catch up - and that’s too high a cost to pay for our toxic politics.Alexander Hamilton is best known as an American Revolutionary-era author, delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and first Secretary of the U.S. Our continuous scandals, council’s inability to agree on a project like LRT for over a decade and the inability for our elected representatives to be able to conduct business with civility don’t just make us a laughing stock or hurt our brand, it’s heartbreaking and it’s making us fall far behind the rest of Canada. To leave the city is to see how far the rest of Canada is ahead of Hamilton. As we spent countless hours under that bridge couldn’t help notice a banner that read “Art in the Heart of Granville.”Įxperiencing all of this made me question what is in the heart of Hamilton? Does Hamilton even still have a heart when our councillors and mayor are slow to condemn (if at all) an attempt to intimidate their own colleague in her home with her kids awoken in fear? Do we still have our heart when our homeless citizens are being bullied in a pandemic? When Indigenous Hamiltonians are ignored and then shamed for wanting to rid the city of racist monuments? When the distrust of our elected officials from Sewergate and Red Hill Valley coverups continues to fester? Have our city’s politics become so toxic that we’ve become inured to the corrosive impact? Have we lost our heart? Granville Island works with local First Nations and is a tourist magnet that took most of our dollars. Under a bridge far less impressive than our Skyway they created an idyllic island of restaurants, art galleries, live music, fresh food markets, colourfully painted industrial spaces and water sports. Place Home of the Lions on its edge and lit it up with a kaleidoscope of colours that bounce beautifully off the water and concerts fill the night air with sounds of live music. Through all the cities and towns with the notable exception of Thunder Bay who’s downtown casino seemed to create a social sinkhole (a mistake Hamilton has narrowly avoided so far but only because of the sustained CasiNO campaign), there was evidence of civic pride and progress: Beautiful boardwalk in the Sault with an inspirational statue of its most famous daughter Roberta Bondar a majestic entrance the Queen’s City of Regina development of the Forks market in Winnipeg modern infrastructure and tourist attractions in towns across our vast country.īeyond the public transit and reams of cyclists downtown, perhaps nothing was more striking in its juxtaposition to Hamilton than the way Vancouver has developed its waterfront. As we chatted about the amazing public transit and cycling infrastructure in Vancouver we shared a collective groan. Talk of council debating dumping even more sewage in Cootes Paradise after the #sewergate scandal made Hamilton sound downright regressive.īut it wasn’t until a chance meeting with McMaster students on Vancouver’s impressive Sky Train (the very project Hamilton turned down decades ago) that the true cost of our toxic political culture became apparent. News of new transit investments were great brag points, but images of a statue being torn down because of council’s inaction and a middle-of-the-night attempt to intimidate a councillor at her home didn’t help mitigate our brand as the Hate Capital of Canada. This prompted a lot of comments and questions about Hamilton and more than a few comparisons. We visited big cities, small towns and all manner of campgrounds.Įverywhere we went the kids insisted on wearing Hamilton shirts to show their hometown pride. In the first two weeks, we drove through the monumental Canadian Shield, the drought-plagued Prairies, explored the dinosaur capital of the world in the badlands, got lost in the Alberta Rocky Mountains and white-knuckled it through the B.C. We called the trip #HoserTrek to share the adventure on social media. 1 our family rented an RV and headed across Canada. Sometimes you need to get some distance from a situation to see it clearly.
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