The Committee

Fairness to Hamilton Committee

The Fairness to Hamilton Committee is the next step in an on-going campaign to press the province to immediately upload social services. The committee, formerly known as the Social Services Downloading Steering Committee, was established by Council in September 2005. The Committee provides recommendations to the provincial and the federal governments regarding the structure of social services funding and continues to build a broader coalition across Hamilton and the Province of Ontario.

The focus of the Fairness to Hamilton Committee is to highlight unfair funding practices in the areas most valued by the people of Hamilton. For our city, this includes:

• Immediate financial assistance to make up for the social services funding shortfall and to assist those most in need;
  
• To maintain and upgrade our roads, public transit and water/waste water systems with necessary funding from the federal and provincial governments;
  
• To attract and retain businesses in the City, which will create a sustainable future through economic development and the creation of employment opportunities

The Fairness to Hamilton Committee will be launching a public awareness campaign to keep Hamilton residents informed of action taken and progress made. The awareness strategy will be designed to engage citizens, community groups, and the business, education, health sciences, and labour sectors in an on-going campaign encouraging the provincial and federal governments to maintain a solid commitment to the City of Hamilton and its citizens that we will indeed receive fair and sufficient funding to provide key services and to build a stronger future together.

The Fairness to Hamilton Committee is comprised of:

• Mayor Fred Eisenberger (Ex Officio)
• Councillor Brad Clark
• Councillor Bob Bratina
• Councillor Margaret McCarthy
• Councillor Russ Powers (Vice Chair)
• McQueston Legal and Community Services - Tom Cooper (Chair)
• Social Planning and Research Council - Jeff Wingard
• Hamilton Chamber of Commerce - John Dolbec
• Hamilton Civic Coalition- Mark Chamberlain

For more information on the Fairness to Hamilton Committee, including detailed research on the impact of downloading on Hamilton, please see the following Committee Report.