Flamborough & Waterdown could leave Hamilton
- Robert
- 21 Sep 2018
This past week hasn’t been an easy one for Hamilton. On two separate occasions, different political leaders have requested that sections of Hamilton should join different towns entirely.
At the beginning of this week, Burlington’s Mayor Rick Goldring asked the province to make Waterdown part of Burlington. The very next day, a Cambridge councilor extended “an open invitation” to Flamborough to leave Hamilton and join Cambridge.
While each political figurehead had their reasons to make such requests, one common theme overlapped: each community allegedly has “more in common” with the offering city than with Hamilton.
According to Nicholas Ermeta, a Cambridge councilor seeking re-election, Flamborough and Cambridge have more in common culturally. He worries that by remaining as part of Hamilton, Flamborough will lose their rural voice.
If Flamborough joins Cambridge, Cambridge will inherit Flamboro Downs, the Rockton World’s Fair and the African Lion Safari. Currently Hamilton receives about $1.8 million dollars yearly from the slots at Flamboro Downs.
In the case of Flamborough joining Cambridge, it is important to note that Ermeta has yet to reach out to Hamilton. It is alleged he raised his idea to acquire Flamborough with the previous Ontario government, but ultimately never got a response.
In Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring’s pitch to acquire Waterdown, he claimed that Waterdown is not only isolated from Hamilton, but has much more in common with Burlington and the Halton Region. Major Goldring did not include any commonalities in his pitch.
Hamilton’s Mayor Fred Eisenberger isn’t a fan of Burlington’s proposed acquisition. Not only was Hamilton not given a heads up about Mayor Goldring’s pitch to the Ontario government, but Mayor Eisenberger believes the proposal was “hardly a neighbourly thing to do”.
We’re sure this story will continue to develop over the next few weeks.
What do you think about Hamilton breaking off and joining other cities? Are you for or against these ideas? Let us know in the comments.
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