Hamilton community voices concerns ahead of Ford government’s Spring budget

A provincial pre-budget consultation meeting wrapped up in Hamilton on Wednesday.

There were presentations from the community about how provincial dollars should be spent in the next budget.

Not surprisingly, a lot of concerns about healthcare and traffic problems were heard.

The standing committee on finance and economic affairs is made up of a small working group of M.P.P’s tasked with hearing as many voices as they can as the province gears up for the 2024 budget.

These pre-budget consultations are critical for determining spending priorities.

“When we go back, after we have met with people right across the province, we can determine where to spend their hard earned tax dollars,” Flambourough–Glanbrook M.P.P. Donna Skelly said.

The committee heard from about 20 speakers, who wanted to voice their concerns on a variety of issues before the Ford government finalizes the Spring budget.

Several topics came up, including the environment, healthcare and highways.

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Phil Pothen says heavy traffic is a huge concern, and argues a proposed new highway 413 project is too costly. Instead, he would like to see funds used to improve the use of the 407.

“It would cost vastly less over 30 years simply to subsidize truck traffic on the 407 just a little bit in order to make it viable to use the 407 rather than building a whole new highway at a cost of over 10 billion dollars,” Pothen said.

Healthcare spending is also at the top of the list for many.

“We have been hearing from people in Hamilton, talking about a crisis in many of our social services. We’ve been hearing about a crisis in our healthcare sector,” Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas M.P.P. Sandy Shaw said.

Sarah Jama, M.P.P. for Hamilton Centre, now an independent, says she still believes she can represent her constituents’ concerns, and urges them to reach out with their budget suggestions.

“Come by our office, we are at 630 Main Street East, every single day, we are open at 9 a.m., we take walk-ins,” Jama said.

The next public meeting will be held Thursday in Welland.

There is also a budget consultations survey on the provincial government’s website, it will be available until January 31st.