Elections

Do you support Vrancor's attempt to remove heritage protection from 150 Main Street West (the old Revenue Canada building)? Why or why not?

Responses to the question: "Do you support Vrancor's attempt to remove heritage protection from 150 Main Street West (the old Revenue Canada building)? Why or why not?"

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16 Candidate Responses (top)

Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale
CandidateBrief ResponseFull Response
Anthony Giles Maybe To be honest, I'm not knowledgeable in this area. I try not to comment on things that I have not personally researched.
Dave Braden Maybe I don't know the details required to answer that.
Jamile Ghaddar No We support a process which allows Hamiltonians to collectively decide on this issue.
Nancy MacBain No No. I am not familiar with the issues surrounding this particular property since it is outside of ADFW. Any decision about the removal of the heritage designation will have to be made in consultation with the various interested parties and stakeholders in the community.
Peter Ormond No No, I do not support the removal of heritage protection from 150 Main Street West. Canada is a young country and has not done a good job preserving its heritage. The Greens support strong communities. This includes respecting our cultural heritage. Right now, municipalities receive only 8% of the Federal tax that Canadians pay. The Greens will create opportunities for Municipal investment funds that support local investment projects within that community only. One difference is that projects and additional funding must meet a triple-bottom-line criteria to ensure that the investment helps Hamiltonians now and into the future.
Hamilton Centre
CandidateBrief ResponseFull Response
Lisa Nussey No We support a process which allows Hamiltonians to collectively decide on this issue.
Michael James Baldasaro No No. This is one of the few remaining heritage buildings we have left in Hamilton. If it is structurally sound it should be used for housing, health and/or other uses.
Hamilton East-Stoney Creek
CandidateBrief ResponseFull Response
Bob Green Innes Yes Generally, I favour heritage protection, but Hamilton voters have not seen fit to elect politicians able to focus on wealth generation, instead of on ways to divert our wealth into the pockets of their friends. Warm and fuzzy concepts are easily affordable when things are going well. They aren't, and we are about to make things a whole lot worse by burning through our $500 million in reserves (= almost a year's revenue) for grandiose schemes (stadium, etc.), instead of returning as much money as possible to citizens by lowering taxes. Impatiently I say: Hamilton get on with it.
David Hart Dyke No Absolutely not! (By the way, this is one of those issues where I don't actually know where the Green Party would stand). I believe Hamilton has been horribly remiss in the way it has allowed developers to buy up pieces of city history and then practice "demolition by neglect" until the building in question has to be torn down for safety reasons. Hamilton is one of the oldest cities in Canada, and what little is left of its beautiful old architecture deserves to be treasured, not abandoned to become a breeding ground for rats.
Gord Hill Maybe We must preserve our Heritage. Old is not enough - those items that are significant and are actually of Historical value must be preserved and integrated with what is new or the Old restored. The City of Augsburg, Germany was completely destroyed during WW II yet it celebrated the 2000 year anniversary of being the Northern Capital of the Roman Empire looking much the same as it did prior to the War its cobblestone streets still intact. We must have a connection between the owner and public that brings about what is best for both now and into the future, so that who we are and were is not lost.
Greg Pattinson Yes Any person who owns property has the right to use that property as they see fit as long as it does not infringe the rights of others. Not only should heritage protection be removed from law, property rights should have greater protection in Canada. Government has no right to dictate how an individual uses their property and should have no right to expropriate real property or chattels.
Wayne Marston No While this may be a better question for my colleague from the riding of Hamilton Centre, as the old Revenue Canada building is located there, I do believe that any final decision must be the result of a dialogue between all the relevant stakeholder groups involved. This is a decision that is too important to be left to the developers alone. Lengthy consultations between members of the community, the developers and the Hamilton Municipal Heritage committee are a must.
Wendell Fields No We support a process which allows Hamiltonians to collectively decide on this issue.
Hamilton Mountain
CandidateBrief ResponseFull Response
Marie Bountrogianni No I am a firm supporter of protection for our heritage buildings. As a former President and Executive Director of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) Board of Governors, I recognize that preserving Canada's great historic public architecture and art-works is a necessity.
Stephen E. Brotherston Yes Hamilton needs that building either reclaimed or torn down and replaced – Hamilton needs to clear its abandoned buildings. They are a blight on our city.
Niagara West-Glanbrook
CandidateBrief ResponseFull Response
Stephen Bieda Maybe Although this is not a NWG riding issue, it does speak to a candidate's commitment to culture, heritage and the arts in a broader context. I am a strong supporter of preserving cultural heritage and in such a young country like Canada, we don't have an abundance of architecturally significant buildings left. With that said, I would need to consult stakeholders, community interest groups and constituents to see where they stand. A possible compromise would be to preserve a portion of the artistic features of the building in a new more structurally sound and eco-friendly design.

Response Summary (top)

Brief ResponseCount% of Total
Yes318.8%
No956.2%
Maybe425.0%

15 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)

Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale
David Sweet
Hamilton Centre
Annie Tennier
David Christopherson
James W. Byron
Hamilton East-Stoney Creek
Bob Mann
Brad Clark
Michelle Stockwell
Hamilton Mountain
Chris Charlton
Henryk Adamiec
Jim Enos
Terry Anderson
Niagara West-Glanbrook
Bryan Jongbloed
David Heatley
Dean Allison
Sid Frere