Keeping
Our Eyes on the Prize – the Elections!
There
is only one sure way to stop the Red Hill Creek
Expressway — elect a majority of pro-valley
councillors. This fall we have an excellent
chance to do just that. The valley has four
votes on the current council — Andrea Horwath,
Dave Braden, Margaret McCarthy and Russ Powers.
All of them appear poised for re-election. We
need at least four more and there are already
strong candidates in at least four wards who
oppose the expressway. There's also David Christopherson
who appears to have the inside track for mayor.
It
is already certain there will be new councillors
in both Ward 8 (west mountain) and Ward 10 (lower
Stoney Creek) where the incumbents are not running,
making change inevitable. And nearly all the
pro-expressway incumbents are facing a rising
tide of voter anger at a council that has stumbled
from crisis to crisis and seems incapable of
stopping the slide of the City into bankruptcy.
There
is also good evidence that the tide is turning
against the expressway. One example is the letters
in the newspaper which are overwhelmingly opposed.
Another is the decision of former regional chairperson
Anne Jones to come over to the pro-valley side.
A third is the increasingly shrill warnings
from senior City bureaucrats about the severity
of the financial crisis. The outside media attention
has been very helpful, as more Hamiltonians
have come to understand that the rest of the
province and country think our City is crazy
to even think about destroying its largest park
and natural area.
In
addition, Hamilton is now seeing large numbers
of determined citizens standing on picket lines,
packing courtrooms, and attending meetings night
after night to block the City's attempts to
begin real destruction in the valley. The level
of activism today is far greater than at any
point in the 12 year history of Friends of Red
Hill Valley.
The
next two months are crucial. Every friend of
the valley needs to help ensure a pro-valley
council is elected on November 10. One way is
to vote (something less than a third of eligible
voters bother to do in municipal elections).
A second is to make sure others vote —
your children, your relatives, your friends.
Pick up the seniors down the street and take
them to the polls. This way you will get several
votes instead of just one.
Even
more effective is to get directly involved in
the campaign of a pro-valley candidate. They
need your financial contribution since they
are unwilling to accept money from the developers
and other power brokers who have controlled
City Council for far too long. Some like Brian
McHattie only accept money from individuals,
rejecting corporate and union contributions.
More
than money, pro-valley candidates need your
volunteer energy — canvassing, making phone
calls, stuffing envelopes, erecting signs, holding
'kitchen meetings' to introduce the candidate
to your neighbours, being scrutineers on election
day and most of all, getting out the vote on
November 10.
This
time we can do it! Not just for the valley,
but for a far brighter future for all of Hamilton.
It's up to you and me.
