Hamilton, Ontario, municipal election, 1997

Hamilton Municipal Election, 1997

November 10, 1997

Candidate Bob Morrow Dave Snowdon Kristina Heaton Party Independent Independent Independent Popular vote 58,414 4,996 4,642 Percentage 75.1% 6.4% 5.9%   Candidate Brian McHattie Paul Decker Waylon MacDonald Party Independent Independent Independent Popular vote 4,254 3,462 1,404 Percentage 5.4% 4.5% 1.8%   Candidate Wendel Fields Party Independent Popular vote 610 Percentage 0.9%

Mayor before election Bob Morrow Elected Mayor Bob Morrow

The 1997 Hamilton municipal election was held on November 10, 1997, to select one Mayor, one regional chairperson, seventeen members of the Hamilton, Ontario City Council, elected on a two-tier basis, as well as members of both the English and French Public and Catholic School Boards.^[1] The suburban communities of Ancaster, Flambrough, Glanbrook, Dundas and Stoney Creek, each elected town councils for the last time before amalgamation.^[2]

Voter turnout remained steady in 1997, amidst events such as Premier Mike Harris' Common Sense Revolution service cuts, the Plastimet Fire, and plebiscites on smoking by-laws and a proposed casino.^[2]

New measures

For the 1997 election, the City of Hamilton switched from paper ballots to a new automated voting system. This system saw voters mark their choices on a paper ballot, enclose it in a 'privacy sleeve' and feed it into a computer that automatically tabulated the results.^[3]

Mayoral Election

Official Candidates

• 

  Incumbent Mayor Bob Morrow

• 

  Civil Servant Dave Snowdon

• 

  Fitness Instructor Kristina Heaton

• 

  Environmentalist Brian McHattie

• 

  Automotive Manager Paul Decker

• 

  Student Waylon MacDonald

• 

  Anti-Poverty Activist Wendel Fields

• Incumbent Mayor Bob Morrow sought, and won, a sixth term in 1997. His campaign was centered around the establishment of a one-tier 'megacity', and the lowering of downtown taxes.^[4]

• Civil Servant Dave Snowdon was an employee of Human Resources Development Canada and called the east Mountain home. The 31-year-old father of two focused on making the city a more inclusive community, especially in respects to youth, increased investment in the downtown core and promoted environmentally responsible issues.^[5]

• Fitness Instructor Kristina Heaton was the first female contender for the position since 1978, and campaigned on uniting environmental groups across the city, establishing a monitoring system to investigate cases of animal abuse and increasing police foot-patrols in the downtown core.^[6]

• Future city councillor Brian McHattie ran on an environmentally conscious platform that promoted practical spending, and supported an inquiry into the Plastimet disaster, improving municipal air quality and upgrading the city's sewer system.^[7]

• Paul Decker was the automotive manager of a Canadian Tire store in Dundas, and ran in the 1994 Election, finishing second to Mayor Morrow. Though known in his community for his volunteer work and commitment to municipal affairs, he was arrested a year after the 1997 Election on charges of defrauding his employer for under $1,500.^[8]

• College student Waylon MacDonald, who was training to be a machinist at the time of the election, advocated a reversal of the downtown conversion to one-way streets and focused on reducing the debt.^[6]

• An unemployed moulder in 1997, Wendel Fields, who was also a former candidate for the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada in the riding of Hamilton West in 1997, promoted the idea of establishing 'people's councils' to ensure Hamiltonians had a say in the direction of their tax-dollars, as well as lowering taxes for small businesses, while raising them for large corporations.^[6]

Results

City Council election

• Mary Kiss successfully ran for a sixth term in 1997, promoting her personal record of constituency work and environmental advocacy, as well as highlighting the very small tax increases that have occurred during her tenure on council.^[9]

• Incumbent Marvin Caplan made a successful bid for a second term as Ward One's junior councillor in 1997, promoting his advocacy on downtown issues and promoting social justice.^[10]

• Second-time candidate Cam Nolan was the executive director of the Hamilton Construction Association at the time and ran on a fiscal responsibility and anti-incumbency platform.^[10]

• Newcomer Sarah Whatmough, owner of multiple gas stations across the city, campaigned against bureaucratic red-tape and promoted direct-democracy in dealing with municipal issues.^[10] As Sarah Thomson, she would later run for Mayor of Toronto in 2010 and as a Liberal candidate in the 2011 Ontario election.

• Andrea Horwath, 35 years old at the time, was a community organizer, and campaigned on a platform of bringing change to City Council after nearly 3 decades of the same representation for Ward Two.^[11]

• Rob Corsini was the owner of Corsini Supermarkets and a member of the Ontario Liberal Party, who campaigned on restoring the economic health of the downtown core following the Plastimet fire, an industrial disaster that affected the northern portion of the ward, assisted heavily by Hamilton West MP Stan Keyes.^[12][13]

• Vince Agro, a councillor of 25 years, campaigned on the importance of dealing with the coming provincial downloading on a case-by-case basis, as well as highlighting his experience.^[12]

• A councillor for 31 years, Bill McCulloch, ran solely on his experience, maintaining that proven leadership was the most effective way to run a city. He caused some controversy by writing off Horwath and Corsini's candidacies, saying, "Let me suggest we need one person with experience. If all of a sudden we were to get rid of everyone with experience, the new people wouldn't know where the washroom is!"^[12]

• 26-year-old financial planner Jason Capobianco ran against amalgamation and provincial downloading, saying he would refuse to accept any provincial proposal to change the status quo.^[12]

• John Kenyon was manager of the Payne Music House on King Street East and campaigned on bringing change and new ideas to the table, as well as lowering business taxes in the core^[14][15]

• Jim Savage, who was associated with the Corktown Community Association, ran on a reformist platform, calling for a new perspective in city politics and a reduction in business taxes.^[16]

Suburban Town Council Elections

Ancaster

• Despite being acclaimed, Wade fought provincial downloading and grappled with Ancaster's new commercial development, the Meadowlands Power Centre.^[17]

Notes

Municipal Elections in Hamilton, Ontario One-year Terms 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 Two-year terms 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 Special election upon creation of the Region of Hamilton-Wentworth 1973 Reversion to two-year terms 1976 1978 1980 Three-year terms 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 Four-year terms 2006 2010 2014 2018