Saturday, October 13, 2012

Picking a Cat Fight?

Clr. Ferguson's recent comments with respect to the decision not to locate the stadium on the West Harbour, certainly would have been understandable during the period in which the issues were being vigorously debated. But the recent resurgence of the topic by the Clr. and his comments, bordering on scathing  with respect to Ti-Cat President Scott Mitchell's alleged role, have some wondering about the timing of these comments. (see Spec story here or buy today's print version).  Rather than speculating on the "why now" question, we decided to ask Scott Mitchell, President of the Ti-Cats and Clr. Ferguson for their views as to why the topic is being resurfaced. In absence of a reasonable explanation, some may beleive that the Clr.  is unduly picking a "cat fight".

 Mr. Mitchell's Q/A is below. If we receive a reply from Clr. Ferguson, we will also post it verbatim.
We note that you responded to some extent to Clr. Ferguson's remarks in The Hamilton Spectator, alleging that you are seemingly solely to blame for the stadium location not being at the West Harbour. We are not asking you to defend yourself against those remarks however, we are interested in your views as to why these remarks may be playing out at this moment in time. Some might see the timing of those remarks as odd, given the turmoil that was sustained and the decisions that finally ensued. Any thoughts as to why the Clr. would be so openly critical of your involvement now, when we are on the cusps of moving forward with the decided design?

Unfortunately I do not. 

I do think he's greatly exaggerating my abilities and influence with all these levels of government, as well as Infrastructure Ontario and Toronto 2015.

I'm sure Councillor Ferguson has his reasons and motivations, however its unfortunate that we are discussing a very positive decision that was made by numerous levels of government, including the city of Hamilton, nearly two years ago.

Its time to look ahead to a brilliant new stadium that will hold thousands of hours of community programming, great cultural and entertainment events and world class professional and amateur sport. Its an exciting time and we are thrilled and proud to have played a small part of bringing this great new facility to our city.

Cheers


 Thanks Scott for engaging with Hamiltonians on The Hamiltonian

11 comments:

  1. If Ferguson is making these remarks to position himself for a mayoral run, he should think twice. He or any other councillor on this council don't have a hope. Good on Scott Mitchell for staying positive.

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  2. Way to go The Hamiltonian and Scott Mitchell for sending a possitive message. The delayed reaction from Councillor Ferguson is a bit bizzare if you ask me. If this is political move, for whatever reason, it's a very bad one. It makes him look like he was asleep during the debates 2 years ago. Did he not get the memo?

    Tina

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  3. I can tell you for a fact that it's near impossible for a single person to have influence over one level of government, let alone three levels and a few agencies. I think Ferguson should be careful in his allegations as they sound of the wildcat type.

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  4. I don't know what Ferguson is trying to accomplish with this crud. Everyone screamed till they were blue in the face when this whole fiasco went down and we still got it wrong. What makes him think after all that, that everyone will stop and do a 180 at this point? These comments are just silly and it just makes this council look as bad as the last one.

    Mr. Sarc

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  5. The decision to put a stadium where the stadium was is wrong on so many levels. Brattina sold out the city by agreeing to this and the voters won't forget. However, it is done. So be done.

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    Replies

    1. uhhhh...I think Bratina wanted to place it at Confederation didn't he?

      Delete

    2. Bratina wanted it at Confederation Park at one point, then he supported the West Harbour, then he turned his back on WH and council, and cooked up the IW deal with the ticats behind everybody's backs.

      Delete

  6. Bratina wanted it at Confederation Park at one point, then he supported the West Harbour, then he turned his back on WH and council, and cooked up the IW deal with the ticats behind everybody's backs and succeeded in saving us further embarrassment.

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    Replies

    1. Nothing could be more embarrassing than the cheap stadium in a bad location that we are getting now, thanks to the Bobs and their shenanigans.

      Delete
  7. Gordon HarropOctober 14, 2012

    The only place you'll see more flip flops is in my wifes closet! LOL

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  8. Clr. Ferguson did not respond huh? Doesn't surprise me. Wasn't he one of the September 6th 2012 GIC group now infamously known as assailing an honest and conscientious taxpayer at a GIC delegation?
    Sorce

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