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July
2001 Newsletter
Friends
Calls for City of Hamilton to Get its Budget Priorities
Straight
Our
local air is becoming more polluted but Hamilton City Council
has decided that it has no money for the expansion of the
Firestone Clinic and other health care initiatives at local
hospitals.
City
Says No To St. Joe's Request
St.
Joseph's asked the City to contribute a total of $48.5 million
towards its $188 million fundraising campaign, through $9.7
million in funding per year for the next five years. Our
local governments have contributed to hospital funding in
the past, but this time the City of Hamilton says it cannot
afford to help out because of "fiscal pressures and
financial situation".
Other
Cities Provide $$$ for Local Health Care
In
the meantime at least 24 other municipal governments in
Ontario have agreed to help their local hospitals. For instance,
Waterloo and York Regions are each giving $37 million, Windsor
is providing $25 million, and London is putting $15 million
towards local health care. These contributions are in direct
contrast to the decision made by the City of Hamilton, which
has also turned down funding requests from the Hamilton
Health Sciences Corporation and the Regional Cancer Centre.
There
is Money Available for an Expressway
The
city's decision to provide NO funding for hospitals was
initially made in March and will be finalized on July 10th
with the adoption of the City's 2001 Budget. Between March
and July, however, the City did manage to find more than
$100 million for a single project -- the construction of
an expressway through the Red Hill Valley. The March budget
had no money for the valley road but the version up for
approval next week includes $116 million for this project
alone. More than half of this money will have to be borrowed.
The
2001 budget makes the priorities of City Council crystal
clear; while the claim is that there is no money available
for community health care, the city seems able to find ample
dollars for building the Red Hill Creek expressway.
Building
an Expressway = More Air Pollution
Meanwhile,
an expressway through the Red Hill Valley will only create
more community health problems by contributing to already
problematic local air pollution levels. The City's own investigations
found that pollution from the Red Hill Creek Expressway
will violate provincial air quality standards at least seven
weeks of the year for 500 homes near the valley. In addition,
the City's health studies on the project concluded that
the elderly and the young "should be encouraged to
limit their exposures, and not frequent the Red Hill Valley
once the expressway has been completed." (Cantox 1998)
McMaster
University air pollution experts warn that the effects of
a valley expressway will actually be much worse. Dr. Brian
McCarry states: "it is my view that the projections
in the reports underestimate by a significant margin the
long term trends in both vehicular emissions and the accompanying
health effects impacts." Dr. David Pengelly adds that:
"The impact of fine particulate is very likely to be
substantial many kilometers downwind of the expressway."
These warnings were issued in October of 1998. Expressway
officials have yet to respond to these concerns.
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No
City Money For:
- expansion
of emergency services and services for kidney
and urinary problems
- upgrading
of the St. Joseph's Villa long term care facility
- expansion
of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health
- a
re-developed acute mental health unit.
- new
advanced diagnostics centre
- Regional
Cancer Centre
- City's
public hospital
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There
is no question that the City of Hamilton is in a financial
mess. But if there is no money to help our hospitals,
how can there possibly be twice as much money for another
polluting highway? About a dozen members of Friends of
Red Hill Valley hit the pavement on July 5th in order
to raise public awareness about the city's messed up budget
priorities. Informational flyers were distributed in front
of St. Joseph's Hospital and the Firestone Clinic. Our
message was very warmly received by the many passers-by
who stopped to talk with us. It seems that there are many
people in Hamilton who agree that our health should come
before expressways!
In
response to our effort, several local councilors provided
commentary in the Hamilton Spectator. Councilors Chad
Collins & Sam Merulla both expressed the view that
health care funding is a provincial jurisdiction and that
city tax dollars should be reserved for city projects.
Their comments are interesting in light of the fact that
it has been a past practice of local government to contribute
to various initiatives at local health care facilities.
And, as already mentioned, other municipalities are providing
generous support to their local hospitals. Particularly
now, with provincial cuts to hospital funding, local level
support for health care facilities becomes that much more
critical!
Councilor
Collins also expressed resentment at what he perceived
to be an effort to pit the health care community against
a major project in the city. He obviously missed or chose
to ignore the meaning of our message. Our message was
a clear one - City of Hamilton get your budget priorities
straight! It is a message that Friends of Red Hill
Valley and any other organization or individual in
this community has the right to express, and it is a critical
message in light of the pending budget approval.
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Please
consider calling Mayor Wade at 905-546-4200. Tell him
that you want city council to get its budget priorities
straight! Our health and well-being depends on it!
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You
can also call Friends of Red Hill Valley at 905-381-0240.
We will provide you with a special report on the health
effects of the proposed Red Hill Creek Expressway
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