Ward 3: Roads, policing and safe-injection sites among top issues

CBC Hamilton asked all candidates running for Hamilton city council to share their priorities and speak to an issue that stands out to them as needing to be addressed in their ward. Their answers are left here in full, with light editing only for spelling/grammar. For the candidates who did not answer the CBC Hamilton questionnaire, information has been drawn from their websites, when possible. All of CBC Hamilton's election coverage can be found here.

Reverting Main Street to two-way traffic, implementing safe-injection sites and what to do with the police budget are among the issues candidates for Ward 3 councillor are struggling to agree on.

Incumbent Nrinder Nann, elected in 2018, worked to revert Main Street to two-way traffic and implement enhanced safety measures on major arterial roads.

She also doesn't support how police and the city have dismantled encampments and is in favour of shifting funding from the police budget toward social services and agencies — unlike some of her competitors. Candidates Laura Farr and Walter Furlan oppose that.

Ward 3, also known as Hamilton Centre, is a lower city ward bordered by the mountain to the south, Hamilton Harbour to the north, Ottawa Street to the east, and Wellington Street North to the west, connecting to Claremont Access.

Roughly a third of the ward consists of industrial and commercial land including U.S. Steel Canada and ArcelorMittal Dofasco.

It's also home to Hamilton General Hospital, St. Peter's Hospital, Tim Hortons Field and Gage Park. The planned light-rail transit (LRT) route is poised to run through much of the ward, as it will run alternately on King and Main streets.

There are 41,205 people in Ward 3. The population has, on average, lower incomes, and higher rates of unemployment and use of social assistance compared to the rest of the city. 

There are also more people new to Hamilton, but not necessarily new to Canada, in the ward and a much higher proportion of Indigenous residents.

The area has had its fair share of encampments, sparking conversations about policing and safe-injection sites.

There have also been discussions about street safety and improving the state of roads in the ward.

The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) named Barton Street East Ontario's worst road for its cracks and potholes. It was also voted the city's worst road for three years in a row in CAA's annual list.

Here's more on the four candidates running to be Ward 3 councillor (Michael Faletta is listed as a certified candidate on the city's website but said he won't be contributing to his campaign):