Locked out workers block ship from leaving US STEEL

Locked-out U.S. Steel workers mounted a second effort to prevent a ship leaving Hamilton with valuable steelmaking coal.
By about 8:30 on Wednesday night, an estimated 70 workers and some community supporters occupied the Burlington Canal Lift Bridge to stop a vessel leaving Hamilton Harbour. In March, U.S. Steel began moving coke from its Hamilton plant to other plants.
“Basically, we're saying there's a demand for steel in Canada and we feel they should be starting up Hamilton and making steel in Canada for Canada,” USW Local 1005 vice-president Gary Howe said in an interview from the bridge.
He couldn't say how long the blockade would last, but the previous one in March lasted 17 hours.
Earlier in the day, the steelworkers again rejected efforts to force a vote on the company's final offer. In a show-of-hands vote at its regular membership meeting Wednesday, about 200 members of Local 1005 turned a resounding “thumbs down” on the proposal.
Union leader Jake Lombardo estimated the vote was 90 per cent against the call.
“It wasn't even close again,” he said. “There were 200 people at the meeting and if there were 20 hands raised in favour of this, it would be a miracle.”
Workers at the former Stelco plant have been locked out since Nov. 7 in a dispute over pensions. An anonymous flyer circulated among members last week urged them to force union leaders to hold a vote on the company's final offer.
U.S. Steel chairperson John Surma has said the company is willing to reopen negotiations, but only once workers accept key radical changes to the pension plans. It also wants to end indexing payments for 9,000 current retirees.
When the idea of a union vote was put to the members in November, it was rejected 150 to 16. That ballot was seen as a vote of confidence in 1005's leaders.
The company has accused union leaders of conducting an “ideological crusade.”
Steve Arnold THE SPEC 

Walmart takes legal action against Hamilton Councillor

Owners of a proposed $85-million commercial development at Fifty Road and South Service Road in Winona launched a $7-million lawsuit against the city and councillor Brenda Johnson, arguing a motion approved earlier this year will cost the company money and delay the planned development.
Harold Kersey, vice-president of planning and development for Mady Development, which purchased the 44-acre parcel of land confirmed Penady, the developer partnership that stickhandled the Walmart development through the city’s planning department, issued a statement of claim against the city and Johnson within the last month.
Kersey pointed to a motion Johnson introduced at a Jan. 13 government issues committee meeting, which was approved by council as the main reason for the legal action. He said the motion would delay the commercial development, including the proposed Walmart Superstore and add to the owner’s cost.
The allegations have to be proven in court.

The motion, introduced by Johnson, and seconded by Stoney Creek councillor Maria Pearson, asked that city staff “communicate with GO Transit to advise that the transportation hub is to be located inside the commercial development on the southwest corner of Fifty Road and the South Service Road in Winona.” The change in location for the transportation hub, which would be designed for the city’s HSR buses and GO Transit, is significant because it was originally planned to be adjacent to the commercial development.
“The decision poses a significant delay on the project,” said Kersey. “For every day we hold it, it will cost us.” GO Transit is scheduled to release its environmental assessment on five potential preferred stations, two potential stations and three potential layover GO stations May 19 after studying the issue for nearly two years.
Kersey said the 443,000-square-foot commercial development, was involved in a site plan process with the city. That process has now been halted, he said, because of the legal action.
The project has also been delayed because of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing and subsequent settlement. Part of the requirement under the OMB decision was the creation of a CLC, involving Mady Development and Winona residents, to discuss how the project could be developed within the surrounding area.

Council had originally approved the development in a 10-6 vote in July 2009.
The development, say city officials, will mean $2 million per year in taxes and $8.2 million in development charges. Development officials say about 600 jobs will be created.
Kersey said Johnson, a Winona resident, has been opposed to the Walmart development prior to becoming a councillor. Johnson, he said, participated in the OMB settlement negotiations and she attended the CLC meetings.

“She has been personally opposed (to the development) before she was a councillor, and after (she became a councillor),” he said. “Then she makes this motion that is counter productive to our interests.” Johnson and the city’s solicitor, Peter Barkwell, did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Kersey said it’s “premature” to talk about any possible settlement with the city regarding the legal issue.
At the moment, he said, the company’s lawyer is currently reviewing the next legal step.
By KEVIN WERNER, NEWS STAFF

Hamilton Economic Summit Photos

The Hamilton Economic Summit (HES) is a premier leadership initiative facilitated by the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.
The annual summit event, and follow on activities throughout the year, are designed to align people and organizations in support of a shared, long-term goal: To make Hamilton Canada’s top midsize city measured by the attraction of talent and investment.
HES is anchored on the principles of collaborative leadership and community engagement. It is guided by a subcommittee of the Hamilton Chamber and supported by more than 20 public and private sector sponsors, including the City of Hamilton.

Here are some photos from yesterday’s Hamilton Economic Summit at the Hamilton Convention Centre

Sensitive turtle lands unaffordable.

The ecologically sensitive turtle pond lands on Stoney Creek’s lakefront are up for sale, but it’s unclear who will foot the bill. The Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) recommends that the city purchase the school board owned properties, but city staff say park acquisition is unaffordable and suggest the HCA should be asked acquire them.

The two four-acre parcels – one owned by the Catholic school board, and the other by the Public board – lie between Francis Avenue and Church Street in the residential neighbourhood just east of Confederation Park. They were the focus of city-supported townhouse development proposals in 2007 that were ultimately abandoned in the face of fierce community resistance and additional evidence of their environmental sensitivity.

At that point, both boards had declared their lands surplus and had accepted options to purchase from local developers, but now the properties are being offered to the city. Two nearly identical staff reports going to councillors on Monday recommend refusing the offers unless the price is $1 for each parcel because of their environmental restrictions.

“The subject property has been identified as a Core Area (Environmentally Significant Area) in the Urban Hamilton Official Plan; [a] portion of the land has been identified as a locally significant wetland by the Ministry of Natural Resources and based on a previous Environmental Impact Statement, the property was identified as a significant Wildlife Habitat under the Provincial Policy Statement as a migratory bird stop over area,” say staff. “Any form of development or site alteration, proposed within or adjacent to the area, would not be permitted unless it can be demonstrated through an Environmental Impact Statement that there would be no negative impacts on the ecological features and functions of the Core Area.”

In February, the HCA approved a resolution calling on the city to purchase the lands and notified councillors of this decision. However, the motion also directed conservation authority staff to investigate an HCA purchase if the city fails to do so. That appears likely to be the next step if councillors accept their staff’s position on the affordability of the two parcels.

“The Parkland Dedication Reserve cannot fund any of the existing deficiencies of parkland in older neighbourhoods,” says the staff reports. “Any future significant purchases of parkland in deficient areas would have to be funded from other sources such as area rating, legacy reserves, etc.”

The reserve comes from park dedication fees that are imposed on new development and are usually equivalent to five percent of the value of the land being developed. However, these monies often fail to cover the establishment of even sufficient parks in new areas, much less already built-up neighbourhoods.

Unlike other cities, property taxes are not used by Hamilton to fund park purchases. There was some hope that the Future Fund might provide monies to correct the shortage of parkland, but that $137 million windfall has been largely exhausted – most recently be council’s decision to commit $60 million to a Pan Am stadium and velodrome.

Neighbourhood flooding last month increased community demands for preservation of the turtle pond area which include extensive wetlands. Residents have endured repeated inundations of basements, backyards and streets and think it is past time for the city to correct the problems.

A February letter to council from Sherry Revesz, chair of the Community Beach Turtle Ponds Association, asked the city to carefully evaluate potential flooding impacts from development of the remaining natural lands in the area.

“The properties in our neighborhood have had extensive flooding over the years and almost yearly over the past 5 years,” stated Revesz. “There are people in our neighborhood who can not get insurance any longer and/or can not claim because they have claimed one too many times.”

Residents were hit with more flooding beginning on April 20.

“I, along with many others, can’t keep affording every year to rebuild our backyards or restore our basements; I’m frustrated,” Sherry Revesz told the Stoney Creek News this week. “I have to call the city all the time when this happens. I can’t help but wonder what it’s costing the taxpayers when city crews have to come here every year, close down the road and pump out the water.”

CATCH Articles: Citizens at City Hall

Hamilton top's list of best places to invest in Ontario

Hamilton has scored the top spot on a new list of the best places to invest in Ontario.
The annual ranking by Toronto-based Real Estate Investment Network also names Hamilton the third-best place in Canada for investment, after Edmonton and Calgary. The honour is the second time in two months the city has been given a gold star as a target for investment.
REIN president Don Campbell said the ranking is a testament to Hamilton’s potential to attract jobs and business over the next five years.
“We’re looking for the cities with the most future potential, not what’s happening now,” he said. “We see a real window of opportunity for Hamilton in the next five years.”
Neil Everson, director of economic development for the city, said the recent cascade of glowing reports on Hamilton’s potential will help the ongoing effort to sell the city as a location for businesses and jobs.
“It’s really nice to see some good things coming out about the municipality,” he said. “Things like this are a great way to promote the city.”
In April, British-based FDI Magazine, owned by the prestigious Financial Times Group, ranked Hamilton as one of the top 10 large cities in North America ripe for foreign investment. Specifically, the publication ranked Hamilton ninth on its list of best large cities for investment, and seventh on a sub list of large cities ranked by infrastructure.
In a report to be issued this morning, REIN said years of efforts to diversify the city’s economy away from its traditional manufacturing base are paying off and opening a path to a shiny new future.
“Known formerly as a hard-working steel town, the city has quickly shed this image in the eyes of potential investors,” the report states. “Helmed by a forward-thinking government and Economic Development team, Hamilton’s population and economic growth have skyrocketed, finally propelling the city to the top of our list of Ontario Investment Towns.”
Several factors have made that change possible, including the city’s proximity to airports here, in Toronto and Buffalo, good highway access to the American border at both Niagara and Detroit, the busiest port on the Great Lakes and ready access to international rail lines.
Topping the list of monuments to Hamilton’s new economy is the McMaster Innovation Park — a former refrigerator plant turned into an idea factory, a move REIN said is “sparking an entrepreneurial spirit in the city.”
MIP, the report says, “will be the only one of its kind in the region and will build on the university’s existing reputation and prominence as a research centre of excellence. MIP will serve as a critical component in the training of graduate students, college students, engineers and highly skilled labour for the automotive and manufacturing industries.”
Campbell warned, however, that training those young professionals is only the first step. To really build Hamilton’s economy, more of them will have to be convinced to stay here to start new businesses, or to live here while commuting to jobs in Toronto over new rapid transit systems.
That will require city council initiatives such as easing zoning restrictions on home based businesses, ensuring higher density housing such as condo towers is available within easy walking distance of transit systems and pushing the revival of the downtown core.
Beyond specific efforts, however, Campbell said Hamilton needs a major attitude adjustment to really unlock its potential.
“Changing perceptions isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it’s the most important thing,” he said. “Everyone in the city is going to have to get behind this attitude shift and become a proud Hamiltonian.”
REIN’s ranking was based on questions such as how income and population growth here compared to provincial and national averages; is the area creating jobs faster than average; what is its rental vacancy rate; is infrastructure in the area being built to handle the new growth and how helpful is the local economic development department?
Hamilton, Campbell said, scored highly on all of those measures, especially the helpfulness of the economic development staff.
“Hamilton’s economic development department is one of the top five for getting its message out,” he said. “Hamilton needs to get behind the development office in all of its marketing efforts.”
Campbell warned that while Hamilton has momentum, that force can be lost if the city makes another “mess” like it did with the Pan Am Games stadium decision — he favours the west harbour location over the refurbished Ivor Wynne Stadium compromise.
“Hamilton made a mess of the Pan Am debate,” he said. “The opportunity presented by the west harbour site was absolutely huge. The long-term positive impact on Hamilton would have been a home run compared to the compromise.”
sarnold@thespec.com

Conservative Majority, NDP holds on to Hamilton

Hamilton Mountain voters have returned the NDP’s Chris Charlton to Ottawa for a third time since 2006.
“More than anything, I'm thrilled for our party overall,” she said. “Jack (Layton) has had an amazing run right across the country.”
She said she will return to Parliament to work to keep Hamilton front and centre.
“We are going to fight for jobs, pension protection and protect and enhance our health care system.”

The orange wave swept across Hamilton East-Stoney Creek Monday night aswell, NDP MP Wayne Marston won re-election over Conservative Brad Clark, Liberal Michelle Stockwell and the Green’s Dave Hart Dyke, winning more than 50 per cent of the vote.
“I want to thank my office staff in Hamilton, in Ottawa,” he said to about 120 supporters who gathered at the Steelworkers Hall on Barton Street East. “All the good work that they’ve done over the last five years is one of the reasons I’m standing here re-elected tonight.”
Though the Conservatives finally got a majority government, the real story was the NDP’s surge to become – for the first time ever – the official Opposition with more than 100 seats.

Osama Bin Laden DEAD??

WASHINGTON Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks against the United States, is dead, and the U.S. is in possession of his body, a person familiar with the situation said late Sunday.
President Barack Obama was expected to address the nation on the developments Sunday night.
It was unclear where bin Laden was killed and how the U.S. obtained his body. Officials have long believed bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was hiding a mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak ahead of the president.
The Associated Press