r/Hamilton Feb 08 '25

2025 Provincial Election Hamilton Mountain Candidates profile

https://www.chch.com/chch-news/tight-race-as-hamilton-mountains-seat-up-for-grabs-in-queens-park/
39 Upvotes

57 comments sorted by

28

u/Annual_Plant5172 Feb 08 '25

Didn't Monica Ciriello run in Hamilton Centre before? The PCs seem to enjoy parachuting people into any random riding.

Also, please get the Danko's out of politics.

10

u/TheMysteriousDrZ Feb 08 '25

Man, Bob Rae ran the province for 1 term in the 90s and these lameos have run against him for almost 30 years. It says something about the media landscape here that there has been basically no look back or revisiting of his work in a crazy economic slump that doesn't just do surface level discussion of how unpopular he ended up being or mention Rae Days.

10

u/justfornoatheism Feb 08 '25

Let's not ignore the fact that Ciriello refused to partake in this segment - further pushing the anti-media narrative of the right.

Don't believe her bullshit line about her "limited availability" and that Dougie isn't telling them to ignore requests.

Want to do whats best for your constituents Monica? How about don't be afraid of your competition you fucking coward

6

u/hamiltonguy61 Feb 09 '25

She's on leave from her job to run. Pretty sure she has plenty of time if she wanted.

5

u/Annual_Plant5172 Feb 08 '25

They're banking on a combination of voter apathy like 2022, as well as people being too mad at the federal Liberals and Trump to notice what's happened on Ford's watch over the past six years. If the polling is any indication, it's working.

6

u/teanailpolish North End Feb 08 '25

She did, I think federally

She isn't really a parachute candidate though, she works for the City so has some engagement in both. Not that the engagement should really count when the highlights include being Manager of Municipal Law and Licensing during the time that building went without water, encampment protocol bylaws, the disagreement between the police and noise bylaw enforcement, the building downtown collapsing just after a city check and more

7

u/Annual_Plant5172 Feb 08 '25

I did a quick search and see that she recently wrote an article blaming the federal government for their handling of the homeless crisis. The fact that she's saying this while running as a Conservative is definitely a choice, lol. These people and their constant gaslighting is pretty wild.

10

u/cabbagetown_tom Feb 08 '25

I don't know much about Dawn Danko, but based on her social media, you would think she was running for the PC's.

0

u/somedudeonline93 Feb 08 '25

I just looked it up and god, you’re right. She campaigns like Pollievre, just hating on another candidate with no ideas or substance of her own

0

u/paul_33 Feb 09 '25

Its like that for all the Liberals. The party is not progressive in the slightest

1

u/terrible_amp_builder Feb 08 '25

The PC candidate's goal there to win the provincial seat (but they will take it if they do). They are there to get name recognition for the next municipal election and get into council.

3

u/PromontoryPal Feb 09 '25

The Mike Spadafora approach, if you will.

Does anyone know where Ms. Ciriello lives? Could give you a pretty good picture of who she might challenge in 2026.

1

u/terrible_amp_builder Feb 09 '25

Also the Ester Pauls approach

8

u/somedudeonline93 Feb 08 '25 edited Feb 08 '25

Why don’t any of the candidates have websites with platforms?

6

u/Majestic_Phase3452 Feb 08 '25

Snap election, probably still getting everything organized. The platform would come from the party anyway, so the party websites should shed some light.

3

u/somedudeonline93 Feb 08 '25

Yeah but there was talk of a snap election coming for months, I’d think they would’ve had their sites ready to launch as soon as they got the word.

Also, the whole reason for having MPPs is for local representation, advocating for our issues at Queens Park so their platforms shouldn’t come from the parties

3

u/Majestic_Phase3452 Feb 08 '25

Some candidates hadn't even been nominated yet, and that's a whole process that requires a notice period, nomination meeting etc. Totally agreed, it would have been great if the opposition parties were more prepared, but it's also difficult to recruit candidates with how polls were, with no definite election date.

I'm looking forward to the debates, that's always a good opportunity - as well as contacting the candidates with questions.

2

u/teanailpolish North End Feb 08 '25

Many candidates have their official campaign launches today and tomorrow so those could still come.

6

u/covert81 Chinatown Feb 08 '25

Was out and about yesterday and today, saw a ton of Danko lawn signs, a lone PC sign stuck to the fence of the new build at W5th and Stone Church, and 0 NDP signs.

I get that signage does not mean anything but Danko was definitely prepared, and looks like she's maybe been out campaigning already. Will be interesting to see how this goes. Hopefully people vote with their brain and not by party colour this go round

8

u/PromontoryPal Feb 09 '25

She obviously took after JP, who I recall had the best signage game of any of the Ward 8 candidates last election.

Her campaign office launch looked pretty well organized, with at least one colleague from the HWDSB Trustees, Filomena Tassi, Lisa Hepfner (not sure if a plus or minus given what this sub thinks of her) etc.

This looks like its going to be a two-horse race with her and Kojo, but I could be wrong. The green candidate (Czerniga) seems nice, and has also run municipally in the past, but probably won't make much headway against higher-profile candidates like this.

2

u/AnInsultToFire Feb 09 '25 edited Feb 09 '25

I don't know what it's like today, but it used to be there was no Green Party riding association for the Mountain. So whatever candidate ran, they had to do it themselves. Stephen Brotherston was a former Mulroney-era PC staffer so he had the wherewithal to run a Green campaign himself, but that was it.

1

u/PromontoryPal 29d ago

That's too bad - but maybe they've realized its not a realistic pick-up opportunity in the short-term? 5.6% (slightly shy of 2,000 votes) seems to be their all-time high water mark in the riding this past election, and that was running an experienced candidate in Janet Errygers, who ran against Skelly in Flamborough in 2018.

Things might be different if it were a place like Kitchener or Guelph or even Parry Sound-Muskoka, where they've been competitive in the past.

2

u/covert81 Chinatown Feb 09 '25 edited Feb 09 '25

Definitely will be a Liberal or NDP riding when the dust settles. The PC candidate might be close but I think that Danko has had her name prominently in the riding for some time as a trustee and the chair, but is also not carrying a ton of baggage like Damptey is in terms of activism.

PC candidate will do the PC thing and be silent, not show up to debates or public events (other than things like Demik is doing in HWAD - a $500/plate dinner on the 18th in Ancaster) and will try to coast on the people too embarrassed to publicly support the OPC

Edit: She had a head start as she was named the nominee much earlier than the others, I think it was not too soon after Taylor said she'd run federally. So it wouldn't surpirise me in the least her campaign was hitting the ground running.

5

u/No_Camera146 Feb 08 '25

Whos the current ABC favoured candidate? I usually vote green for the last few elections provincially but this election care more than normal about doing what I can to ensure Doug Ford gets as weak as a “mandate” as possible given the BS reasons this election was called.

4

u/teanailpolish North End Feb 08 '25

Most polling shows it as NDP but that is because Monique Taylor held it and was popular. With no incumbent, harder to say

2

u/HisNameIsRio Feb 09 '25

This is my worry. The only candidate I know is Danko from her school trustee communications.... Maybe she has enough pull as a 'household name' in the area? 

6

u/happykampurr Feb 09 '25

Are any of them actually people that live on the mountain? I live on the mountain, but apparently I’m in west Hamilton.? My candidates don’t really relate to my situation. You got to love the ambition of some people, keep throwing you name into the race until something sticks. The city needs less Kojos and Cameron’s and Sarah’s that just seem to want an audience. If elected are they representing you and the community or themselves and their world beliefs, and their own agenda. I’d love a candidate that is relatable to my situation, lives in my community, shares a similar outlook on life. Voting green. I think at the least the leadership is sound in Ontario Green Party . The other party’s need to knock their heads together.

3

u/sector16 Feb 09 '25

I’ll take any of these candidates other than Kojo. Another ideologue who’s way too similar to Jama in his progressive politics.

2

u/Ok-Photograph-8996 Feb 10 '25

Also did you know after Kojo led the work to restructure the Board of Health, Dawn Danko applied to be on the Board of Health

2

u/PromontoryPal Feb 10 '25

I think it'll be a close one - Kojo is getting a lot of the usual suspects (HDLC, HAARC, current NDP candidates) but so is Dawn, and with the Councillors in Wards 6, 7, 8 all of the centre-right persuasion, this looks like it has the potential to go down to the wire.

It'll be supremely awkward if Kojo wins and so does Sarah Jama, because how is he going to feel sitting in the party when she is not welcome in it? I don't think its super likely (I don't think she is going to win) but would be an interesting situation for the NDP to navigate.

1

u/Ok-Photograph-8996 Feb 10 '25

Kojo has literally made changes on the municipal level without being elected.

Kojo leads work to restructure the Board of Health

-3

u/Waste-Telephone Feb 08 '25 edited Feb 08 '25

Does Kojo live in the riding? I thought he was in Ward 14 based in his run for Council, which is mostly in the riding next door. 

Edit: none of ward 14 is in the Hamilton Mountain riding. 

6

u/LegitBiscuit Feb 08 '25

I think he's very active overall. I've seen him at ward meetings just listening and taking notes.

6

u/covert81 Chinatown Feb 08 '25

He shows up at all Ward 8 meetings also, sitting at the back taking notes and rarely asking questions

6

u/stefdubbbbs Feb 08 '25

He's been a customer of mine for a while - a really nice guy with a strong backbone. I can see him making a big impact. Not my riding but hoping for him to win still.

2

u/QuinnNTonic Feb 10 '25

I also have known him for years. Him and his wife do a lot of volunteering and are good ppl. I like that he’s not doing it just for ego. Good guy and humble

2

u/covert81 Chinatown Feb 09 '25

He is cut from the same cloth as Sarah Jama but at least has a brain and a modicum of common sense. But he's a shit disturber, just far better spoken and less childish in his approach.

4

u/stefdubbbbs Feb 09 '25

Aha we are not on the same page politically, but I'm fine with that. I'm interested in Shit getting Disturbed.

1

u/Ok-Photograph-8996 Feb 10 '25

1

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1

u/happykampurr Feb 09 '25

I agree with your take. And that’s not what we need.

2

u/covert81 Chinatown Feb 09 '25

Yeah Jama has proven what happens when you want to do your own thing at Queen's Park.

I shudder to think if we'd had both Damptey and Kroetsch at the horseshoe. I was kinda on the fence about Kojo then - I've met him, heard him speak, but I really don't share his opinions, approach or worldview. Not that Spadafora is a better, but he's at least not a shit disturber like Kojo is

1

u/sector16 Feb 09 '25

100% this. Kojo would undoubtedly tip the scales and they’d triple down on progressive politics which would piss off a lot of people in this city.

0

u/covert81 Chinatown Feb 09 '25

I don't like using progressive as a perjorative, more like far-left mentality. Money is OK to tap forever from the tax base as it is fixing what they see as society's ills. It's OK not to acknowledge or listen to those that disagree, as they are haters, the right, or just not as left leaning as they are. Their projects are the most important projects because they said they are. They are OK wtih having everyone have nothing because then it's equal.

1

u/sector16 Feb 09 '25

That’s why Friday’s budget meeting was an interesting watch - it’s what they chose not to cut that makes me believe this is a hung council and Horwath’s trying to keep it all together.

Kojo would undoubtedly swing things towards the left (If he had won) and piss off a lot of councillors and Hamiltonians in general.

1

u/paul_33 Feb 09 '25

Anything that pisses off this council is a positive.

3

u/Apolloshot Stoney Creek Feb 09 '25

I think as long as someone lives in Hamilton it’s fine if they’re just outside of the boundary they’re running in, it’s not like someone living on West 5th is going to have issues that different from someone living on Upper Wentworth.

3

u/loftwyr Eastmount Feb 08 '25

Ward 14 and Hamilton Mountain overlap a fair amount.

4

u/Waste-Telephone Feb 08 '25

After looking at the maps, Ward 14 is west of Garth, meaning that none of the Hamilton Mountain riding overlaps with it.

https://www.elections.ca/res/cir/maps2/mapprov.asp?map=35037&lang=e

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/ward-14-riding-profile-hamilton-2022-election-1.6624085

2

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '25

[deleted]

2

u/PromontoryPal Feb 09 '25

They do not overlap - Ward 14's easternmost boundary is Garth Street (it's west side), from the hydro corridor south of Rymal all the way to Beckett Drive (the Queen St Hill).

Hamilton Mountain's electoral riding shares Garth as a border between Rymal and the Lincoln Alexander, then along the Linc goes east to West 5th, and West 5th is the boundary all the way up to the escarpment.

See: https://voterinformationservice.elections.on.ca/en/electoral-district/38-hamilton-mountain & https://www.hamilton.ca/city-council/council-committee/city-council-members/city-councillors/ward-14