Dan MacIntyre, Candidate for Ward 7 in Hamilton Municipal Election 2018 - Raise the Hammer Elections

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Candidate Details (top)

Name	MacIntyre, Dan
Election	Hamilton Municipal Election 2018
Area	Ward 07
Party	N/A
Votes	0
Email	info@danmacintyre.com
Website	https://danmacintyre.com/
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Bio	I am Dan MacIntyre, and my team and I seek your support in our pursuit of the Ward 7 seat on Hamilton City Council. A lifelong Hamiltonian and proud McMaster graduate, my work experience with industry leaders like Ford Motor Company, my current employer, as well as SIR Corp and RBC Royal Bank previously, has allowed me to develop my skill set and given me an appreciation for the challenges faced by many Hamiltonians. I come from a long line of people who have fought and cared for those who cannot fight or care for themselves. My mother has served Hamilton for more than 30 years as a nurse following in the footsteps of her mother, a nurse, and father, a Korean War veteran and Hamilton police officer. Both my father and grandfather dedicated more than a combined 75 years of their lives to the Hamilton Fire Department. Duty isn’t an ideal we throw around loosely in my family. It’s in our DNA. My interest in becoming Ward 7 councillor is something I’ve come by honestly. I’ve been involved for over 10 years volunteering with local organizations including Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation, Hamilton HIVE, Habitat for Humanity, Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, Blessed Sacrament Basketball, and the Hamilton Police Service. It is my time to step fully into a life of service and continue building my legacy of serving Hamilton and its citizens. I believe the role of our councillor is one, very simply, of advocacy. My councillor should be prepared to serve in my hour of need. My councillor should be working tirelessly to improve the lives of their constituents every single day. My councillor should not be in it for themselves. My councillor should be my neighbourhood champion. The decision to run isn’t a matter of personal ambition, but rather a measure of my passion and love for Hamilton. I was born in Ward 3, raised in Ward 7, and educated in Ward 1. Ward 7 is my home and Hamilton is just as much a part of my life as I am a part of Hamilton.

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Responses to Questions (top)

Question	Brief Response	Full Response
Do you support the "Vision Zero" goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Hamilton? If so, what specific actions would you take to implement this policy? If not, why not?	Yes	Yes. Full stop. Many of our neighbourhoods need immediate traffic calming measures such as reductions to 30 km/h and speed bumps. It’s a demand from residents and it’s the morally correct thing to do. Many of our major arteries have become speedways and that can’t continue. Measures need to be taken to ensure these activities are eliminated. Protected bike lanes are coming to Hamilton Mountain, you can’t stop the future. But Mountain residents resoundingly are against painted lines and want protection for cyclists if they’re going to be sharing the road.
Hamilton has been experiencing a slow-motion crisis in housing affordability. Do you support an expanded role for the City to provide more affordable housing? If so, what should Hamilton do? If not, why not?	Yes	I think one of the biggest changes the next city council needs to make is changing what the idea of Affordable Housing it. It isn’t simply city sponsored housing for low income families. Affordable housing is anyone who is forced to pay more than a third of their after tax income on housing, that includes much of my generation who are educated and working in good jobs but still cannot afford to enter the housing market. Across the city we have many opportunities to begin working toward resolving our affordable housing crisis with creative efforts that have experienced success across North America. In particular, a focus on increasing our micro-housing and laneway housing stock is an evidence-based approach that has been gaining momentum in Vancouver and Toronto that could provide very quick returns and alleviate some of the demand. At a very basic level, affordable housing needs to be understood as the crisis it is rather than just another issue, and at our council table currently, it’s only seen as an issue.
Do you support phasing out area rating for transit? Why or why not?	Yes	It’s a system that has existed for many years. It will not be as easy to do as many believe, but it should be done for the benefit of the city as a whole. We must ensure residents are educated on any changes to area rating, and communication isn’t an area where the City of Hamilton has thrived. At the very least, we need greater accountability for how this money is spent.
Hamilton has a legacy of multi-lane, one-way arterial streets dating back to the 1950s. Do you support accelerating the conversion of these streets to two-way? Why or why not?	Yes	Yes. When we convert to two-way we create an atmosphere that is safer for pedestrians and drivers, more friendly to small business, and increases the desirability of the neighbourhoods in that area.
Council has voted dozens of times since 2008 to advance Hamilton's light rail transit (LRT) project, including voting to submit the plan with a full funding request to the Province in 2013, and voting to accept full funding and implementation from the Province in 2015. Do you support completing the LRT plan? Why or why not?	Yes	Yes. It replaces aging infrastructure. It alleviates congestion on our roads. It provides economic and social uplift to tens of thousands of Hamiltonians. It’s the right thing to do. We should be fighting for our next $1B not fighting the first.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act mandates that cities must be completely accessible by 2025. What changes would you make to ensure Hamilton complies with this mandate?	Yes	We need to be setting aside more funds to ensure compliance moving forward. The costs per intersection alone on Hamilton Mountain are astronomical. This is one of the many issues that has oft been ignored in favour of the wasted years of time our council has spent on LRT.
Since the 1950s, most new residential and commercial development in Hamilton has been single-use suburban sprawl. Do you believe Hamilton needs to concentrate new development within the already-built area? Why or why not?	Yes	For far too long we’ve built further and further out. The costs with building and servicing the infrastructure needed for these new areas far outweigh the positives of these new developments. The city has fostered traffic congestion nightmares along Rymal Road and Stone Church Road. The low density developments coupled with poor public transportation has created communities where having access to a vehicle to drive is a necessity. . This all goes without mentioning the fact that we continue to increase the distance between farmland and the consumer which hits us in the wallet at some point.
Bonus question: If LRT goes ahead, what will you do to ensure Hamilton receives the maximum benefit?	Yes	We need to focus on communicating with residents across all of Hamilton in order to educate them on the BLAST network. I want to see the project finished ahead of schedule and under budget, while that may be a challenge it’s still a great goal to have. Ensuring that the rest of the BLAST network implementation isn’t met with such resistance should be one of our goals as a city as we can’t afford further delay with this network. Continuing to attract investment and max out that transit corridor for development is the maximum benefit for Hamilton. I want to be able to hang my hat on having been a part of the effort to bring new employers and economic investment to this city and immediately demonstrate that the B-Line has paid for itself with economic activity.
Global warming is an existential challenge facing humanity. Do you think Hamilton should play a role in addressing climate change? If so, what should the city be doing? If not, why not?	Yes	I don’t pretend to be an expert on global warming. Aside from the obvious answers of: finding cost-effective ways to use cleaner energy, increasing ridership on our HSR system, and creating new green spaces. I do know that it served me very well to sit down with Lynda Lukasik, Executive Director of Environment Hamilton, back in May, and having that relationship grow will certainly aid me in making sure I’m doing the right thing. We absolutely, and on Hamilton Mountain in particular, need to eliminate a lot of the asphalt that exists. A great example is around the corner from my home at Upper Sherman and Mohawk. If you’re looking for a case study on how not to act as a responsible land owner or good corporate citizen come and walk the north-west parking lot with me. You’ll be amazed!
Do you support improved public transit in Hamilton? If so, what changes do you propose? If not, why not?	Yes	Yes. Express service running along Fennell Avenue, Mohawk Road and Stone Church Road are promises in my platform. I will also fight to secure a GO bus terminal at Limeridge Mall.
Should Hamilton be trying to attract more young people to live, work and start businesses here, including the 60,000 students studying at Mohawk College, McMaster University and Redeemer University? If so, what should we be doing? If not, why not?	Yes	One of the planks of my platform is youth engagement and in that plank we emphasize the need to anchor our young talent here in Hamilton. Speaking strictly from my perspective as an alumni of McMaster University, the city and the school have failed for decades to fully integrate students into our communities beyond the McMaster bubble in Westdale. In recent years, we can see evidence that McMaster has begun to recognize the value of introducing students to the rest of the city. As Hamilton continues to develop culturally the younger generation will find a home in the city but we need to ensure there are quality, high paying jobs in the city to keep new graduates here. Overall though, we fail to capitalize on the human capital that flows into Hamilton for three-five years during the post secondary experience that will serve as one of the most important chapters in these student’s lives. I’d like for that chapter to be the beginning of their life in Hamilton rather than their lone experience in our city.