The Ford government’s forced silencing of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) will have major impacts in Hamilton as well as across the province.

In the midst of a widely recognized rental housing crisis, the city is poised to approve conversion of more than 250 apartments to condominiums.

Three days after taking office, city councillors will be asked to approve the water-sewer budget to the tune of half a billion dollars.

It may not be on the formal agenda as the new council takes office, but it’s likely to become an increasingly significant issue over the four year term and well beyond. The blunt and frightening report issued in October by climate scientists confronts every level of government on the planet.

Another prominent voice is calling for stormwater fees to reduce the flooding that has plagued Hamilton and other cities.

The fate of a decommissioned oil pipeline across rural Hamilton remains in limbo as Enbridge struggles to convince the National Energy Board to allow its sale to an American refinery.

There is growing opposition to the city’s attempt to urbanize over 1200 hectares of farmland and creek headwaters in the Elfrida area of upper Stoney Creek.

The majority of council incumbents suffered significant vote losses in last week’s election in comparison to previous performances, and a couple might not have won at all if ranked balloting had been in place.

Many Hamiltonians will wake up Tuesday morning with a councillor that the majority didn’t vote for.

The extreme flooding accompanying recent hurricanes in the southern US carries a stark warning for Hamilton and other Canadian communities of increasingly severe rain storms.

Transit issues frequently challenged and divided the outgoing council and will likely roil the next one even beyond the continuing saga of the LRT.

This is a regular CATCH summary of votes at committee and council meetings. This report covers the month of August 2018.

The worsening plight of Hamilton and other municipalities in the face of increasingly damaging weather was cited in last week’s report of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario.

This is a regular CATCH summary of votes at committee and council meetings. This report covers the month of July 2018.

An electoral reform opportunity rejected by the outgoing council will affect the outcome of next month’s city elections.

The 14-year experience of CATCH has found municipal councillors to be mainly decent over-worked individuals making hundreds of important decisions about people’s lives.

Despite citizen demands for improvement, the HSR is not expected to provide any relief for the growing road congestion afflicting the Hamilton area for at least the next five years.

It’s a multi-billion dollar challenge still looking for some city council action. The infrastructure crisis facing Hamilton is the most often mentioned election issue among the dozen incumbents running for office.

In a letter filed last week with the National Energy Board, Enbridge dismisses challenges to the sale of the company’s oil pipeline from the city, Knollwood golf course, and others.

This is a regular CATCH summary of votes at committee and council meetings. This report covers the month of June 2018.