Elections

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?

Responses to the question: "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?"

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5 Candidate Responses (top)

Ward 07
CandidateBrief ResponseFull Response
Benson, Steve Maybe At first glance, the answer should be yes. But in Hamilton there are much larger issues to be dealt with that are limiting the growth of the city. Small business is the backbone of every city, but we seem to manage to stifle its growth.
Currently the Small Business Economic Development Office answered close to 100,000 inquiries last year of eager entrepreneurs.
However, even though the Development Office offers incredible support and resources, less than 1% of these enquiries ever result in success. WHY?
It seems that the system is designed for entrepreneurs to fail from the get go. For most entrepreneurs, the prohibitive fees for permits and rezoning are far too steep and their dreams of opening a small business are squashed. Or in some cases zoning has been approved by one zoning officer only to be denied by another.
At present, there are more than 40 different zone distinctions, each with their own set of rules:
The process is too lengthy, extremely expensive, and the fundamental reason why it is so difficult for individuals to do business in Hamilton. The result is a frustrating experience that many just give up on.

So yes, offering opportunities to 60,000+ former students certainly seems like a good idea to help grow the economy.
However, unless something drastically changes at City Hall, it’s easy to see that it’s difficult to do business in Hamilton.
Kazubek, Joseph Yes We should always be focused on expanding and trying to attract more people and businesses in general, with new residents and businesses coming to the city, we will bring in more tax revenue aswell as small businesses will have more opportunities for prosperity, but with this being said, I believe that we should equally look at increasing residents and not focused on one set age group.
MacIntyre, Dan 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.
McMullen, Geraldine Yes Hamilton has a plan to attract and retain our young people here in the city. In many of our large employer areas, this effort is already in motion. We certainly have the skill to retain our own citizens and train them well; however, we need to enhance our efforts to attract young people effectively.

The international student populations at post-secondary institutions in Hamilton is also thriving. There are plans in place to increase this student population for years to come. These institutions are thriving as a result, and the global experience is transferred back and forth from international to domestic students, and back again.

In order for Hamilton to compete for this next generation and also keep our own people, we must do more to keep our stock of affordable housing. Hamilton is a great city, and we are attracting more and more people because of our vigorous arts and culture scene, it is this type of thing that makes Hamilton so attractive to young people and makes them want to stay.
Pauls, Esther Yes Absolutely, Hamilton should be focusing efforts on attracting new cutting edge technology through research. Working with educational and health organizations in our community will help us achieve this.

Response Summary (top)

Brief ResponseCount% of Total
Yes480.0%
No00.0%
Maybe120.0%

6 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)

Ward 07
Clarke, Steve
Clowater, Kristopher
Dirani, Adam
Grice-Uggenti, Karen
McColl, Jim
Schneider, Roland