Do you believe that poverty is the most critical issue facing Hamilton today? If so, please outline your solutions. If not, please explain your reasons. - Raise the Hammer Elections

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Response Summary
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2 Candidate Responses (top)

Ward 13
Candidate	Brief Response	Full Response
Scime, Danya	Yes	Lack of jobs is what is driving our poverty level. Lack of decent paying jobs is also seriously challenging our working poor. We need to encourage small businesses to grow and we need to entice large industrial/commercial to move to Hamilton. In the interim, I firmly believe we have to stop spending money on projects that will not have any long term benefits. I could scream every time I look at the new pedestrian bridge that was built from the East end over to Confederation Park. Apparently the funding was 'offered' by the Province...Why would Council not request we use the money to help fund small businesses, infrastructure, or help fill our food banks. Cut backs are needed and we need to work together to help anyone less fortunate. Dundas Citizens have always had huge hearts for food drives and we need to stay involved. I would also like to find a solution through an umbrella insurance clause which would allow donations of food be sent by restaurants etc at the end of the evening to go to the food banks. We need to stop poverty by starting businesses.
Tammer, Ron	Yes	Yes, as I stated on the Cable 14 Debate, first and foremost in my platform is poverty reduction. I find it very sad that we are living in the midst of some of the most fertile farmland anywhere in the world, yet we have people that are living on low-nutrition processed foods because they cannot afford to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. I find it even sadder that there is a variance in life expectancy of 19 years between Wards in Hamilton. In my work with the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign, I tried to raise my coworker's awareness of poverty in our own backyard. I invited people to come along on the bus tours that the United Way would conduct of the agencies that they support, because it is much harder to ignore the problem when you see the actual people that are affected. I would use similar methods with my fellow Councillors, because the City has to do more to help its own citizens. I know that budget constraints always hang over our heads, but there are always different ways of generating revenue if we look hard enough. The idea that I have been suggesting is a $0.10 surcharge on every car going through a drive-thru; besides the revenue that can be raised, it may also encourage people to park and go into the outlet, and avoid the idling of their engines with the resulting pollution. A portion of this revenue can be earmarked directly towards helping some of the programs that are presently depending solely on United Way donations. I would also initiate a program at area high schools, for students to earn their volunteer hours by planting and maintaining gardens, with the harvest either going directly to food banks and missions, or being preserved for year-round donations (family studies classes can add food preservation to their fall programs.)

Response Summary (top)

Brief Response	Count	% of Total
Yes	2	100.0%
No	0	0.0%
Maybe	0	0.0%

3 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)

Ward 13
Powers, Russ
Robinson, Glenn
Zuliniak, Marty