There was an OpEd in the Hamilton Spectator recently on BDS (the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel). There’s been a campaign attacking Sara Jama, an MPP (member of the Ontario legislature) who is black and wheelchair-bound. She’s a supporter of BDS (the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel), hence…
Tag: Hamilton
A divided city?
Harry Shannon
Just over 20 years ago, the Ontario government created a new City of Hamilton by amalgamating what had previously been the city with surrounding towns. At the time it was highly controversial. One town, Dundas, held a plebiscite (an unofficial vote) on the issue. About half the electorate voted - far more than typically turn out f…
Failure to sample can be dangerous to your health
Harry Shannon
Background: Municipalities in Ontario held elections last week. A couple of days before, the Hamilton Spectator published a letter complaining that an opinion poll reporting on the race for Mayor was useless. I responded and the letter was in the print edition a few days later. Below is the letter I sent; there were some minor edi…
Don’t elect this man
Harry Shannon
We got this flyer in our mailbox a couple of weeks ago:
My comment on this was the lead letter in the Hamilton Spectator today. Only 250 words allowed, so I couldn't make all the points I would have liked to.
It's a scary thought that someone like this man might get elected.
Here’s the text of my lett…
Secrecy at City Hall
My latest letter in the Hamilton Spectator
Background
There are two prominent local issues I refer to in the letter. The Red Hill Valley Parkway (controversial from its conception for its impact on the environment) was opened in 2007. A report submitted in 2014 to the City of Hamilton raised concerns about the asphalt surface, particularly i…
A better instrument for fighting antisemitism
Background:
This is my OpEd that the Hamilton Spectator published on April 20. I was responding to an article written by Mike Fegelman, described as Executive Director of HonestReporting Canada, a non-profit organization ensuring fair and accurate Canadian media coverage of Israel. Of course, if you have to describe yourself as honest, …
F…
Try living on the minimum wage – my letter in the Hamilton Spectator
Harry Shannon
Background: A story in the paper on March 3 reported that Hamilton (Ontario) city council turned down a proposal to pay various workers a living wage. The vote was 14-4 against.
My letter was just one of three in today's (March 7) paper criticizing the decision. There was a fourth letter on the topic. It began: 'A living wa…
The value of public transit
Harry Shannon
Some years ago, even before traffic was as bad as it is today, I had to get into Toronto from the Hamilton area. There was a problem on the GO (commuter) train line, so I drove. But so did many of the people who normally took the train.Stuck in traffic, I did some simple mental arithmetic. At the time, there were three …