Mayor Andrea Horwath- Silent on Questions Related to Transparency

"You say it best, when you say nothing at all.." These are song lyrics from a popular hit song of the past, and perhaps the soundtrack for this next piece. 

Based on the City of Hamilton’s refusal to provide answers to several fair and pertinent questions The Hamiltonian posed to both City Manager Marnie Cluckie and Greg Hoath of the Water Workers’ Union, we subsequently sent a new set of related questions to Mayor Andrea Horwath and provided the Mayor with a healthy and reasonable deadline by which to reply.

Ironically, the subject of our inquiry was the City’s growing lack of openness — a pattern that stands in stark contrast to the stated objectives of the Mayor’s own Task Force on Transparency and the assurances she has repeatedly offered to the public. Surprisingly, Mayor Andrea Horwath chose to ignore our questions entirely.

The grand irony is this: by saying nothing, she made everything clear. The gap between the Mayor’s stated intentions on transparency and the lived reality in Hamilton has become difficult to dismiss.

Below are the questions we posed — questions the Mayor refused to answer:

Madam Mayor:

You established the Mayor’s Task Force on Transparency early in your term, and its stated goals are widely supported. However, several recent matters — including the delay in releasing the costs associated with the water workers’ strike — have raised concerns that the City is continuing to withhold information from the public. In addition, when The Hamiltonian recently submitted questions directly to the City Manager, the response was rerouted through media relations and attributed only to “the City of Hamilton.” More troubling is that the reply received did not address the questions asked. Media relations providing generalized responses in place of a direct answer from the City Manager, to whom the questions were explicitly directed, gives the appearance of diversion. (See: [http://www.thehamiltonian.net/2025/11/a-contrast-in-transparency.html](http://www.thehamiltonian.net/2025/11/a-contrast-in-transparency.html))

As the municipal election approaches, and as Hamiltonians continue to view transparency and accountability as essential components of responsible government, how do you explain the apparent disconnect between the public assurances offered regarding transparency — including the work of your task force — and the experience of residents and media when reasonable questions appear to be redirected or left unanswered? Will changes be made to ensure that the City provides clear, direct, and substantive responses to legitimate inquiries from media outlets such as The Hamiltonian and others?