2025 In Review – A Year of Accountability, Scrutiny, and Civic Engagement

In 2025, The Hamiltonian continued to focus on  its role as an independent civic watchdog, Hamilton's Taste-maker and public-interest publisher, focused squarely on transparency, accountability, and the lived experience of Hamiltonians. Over the course of the year, coverage consistently returned to one central question: how effectively are those in power serving the public trust?

This review highlights the major themes, investigations, and editorial moments that defined The Hamiltonian’s work in 2025.

Councillor Kroetsch and his Suspension from the Police Services Board

The Hamiltonian reached out to appropriate authorties arguing that Clr. Kroetsch's suspension was taking too long, effectively restraining his voice on the board. While we cannot claim with certainty that our efforts resulted in the suspension being resolved, there is a strong likelihood that it did just that.

Municipal Accountability and Transparency

Throughout 2025, The Hamiltonian maintained sustained scrutiny of City Hall, particularly around transparency and  decision-making, 

Coverage examined:

• The continued fallout from past transparency failures, including Red Hill Valley Parkway and sewage spill disclosures, and how those precedents shaped current governance culture.

• The use of confidentiality provisions under the Municipal Act, especially in labour relations and post-strike reporting.

• The tension between Freedom of Information requests and the City’s interpretation of exemptions under MFIPPA.

Several articles questioned whether the threshold for secrecy had become too low, arguing that accountability suffers when financial, operational, or performance information remains shielded from public view long after decisions are made.

The Water and Wastewater Labour Disruption

One of the most significant stories of the year was the in-depth coverage of the Hamilton Ontario Water Employees Association (HOWEA) labour disruption and its aftermath. This story appeared to be largely uncovered in other media outlets. 

The Hamiltonian:

• Tracked the financial implications of the strike, including overtime, contracted services, and long-term cost impacts.

• Challenged the lack of detailed public accounting once the strike concluded.

• Compared Hamilton’s post-strike disclosure practices with those of other Ontario municipalities, highlighting notable differences in transparency norms.

This reporting resonated strongly with readers concerned about fiscal stewardship and set the tone for broader discussions on labour relations, governance, and public accountability.

Election Readiness and Democratic Engagement

While 2025 was not a municipal election year, The Hamiltonian deliberately began laying the groundwork for future election coverage.

Key initiatives included:

• Early signalling to elected officials that past statements, voting records, and published materials would form the basis of future election analysis.

• Reinforcing a consistent editorial standard: tough questions, applied fairly and evenly, regardless of political alignment.

• Encouraging councillors and the mayor to engage substantively with policy-based inquiries rather than deflecting or avoiding scrutiny.

This approach underscored the publication’s long-term view of civic journalism as a continuous process, not one confined to campaign periods.

Housing, Development, and the City Centre Debate

Development and housing policy remained persistent themes in 2025.

Coverage addressed:

• The future of the Hamilton City Centre and competing visions for downtown revitalization. This led to a new look for the City Centre, as per its owner's response to The Hamiltonian's queries. 

• The balance between intensification, affordability, and neighbourhood impact.

• Questions surrounding public-private partnerships, risk allocation, and long-term value for taxpayers.

Rather than advocating for specific outcomes, The Hamiltonian focused on process integrity, clarity of financial assumptions, and the adequacy of public consultation.

Editorial Voice and Public Discourse

In 2025, The Hamiltonian continued to sharpen its editorial voice. Opinion pieces were direct, often challenging, but grounded in documentation, public records, and firsthand correspondence.

Notable characteristics of the year’s editorial output included:

• A refusal to personalize criticism, instead centring arguments on systems, policies, and decisions.

• Willingness to publish uncomfortable questions even when access to officials became strained.

• A clear articulation of the outlet’s guiding principle: sometimes tough, always fair.

This consistency reinforced credibility with readers, even as it occasionally heightened friction with those in positions of authority.

Community Focus and Independent Media

Beyond City Hall, The Hamiltonian also highlighted broader civic concerns:

• The role of independent local media in an environment of shrinking newsroom resources.

• The importance of citizen engagement, informed debate, and respectful disagreement.

• The need for institutional memory in municipal governance, particularly when leadership turnover is high.

The publication increasingly positioned itself not just as a news site, but as a civic record – a place where issues are documented, revisited, and not allowed to quietly disappear.

Senior Administration at City Hall

The Hamiltonian queried as to why the City Manager does not have a formal written performance contract in place. It also queried to what extent staff throughout the city have up to date performance contracts or agreements in place. Despite the city failing to provide clear answers, The Hamiltonian satisfied its duty to Hamiltonians- shining a light in that darkness. 

The Cyber Attack Fallout

The Hamiltonian underlined the drastic cost and fallout of the Cyber Attack and the city's failure to adequately safeguard mission critical systems and infrastructure. While in tandem bemoaning the need for it, The Hamiltonian suggested that those responsible for this costly faux pas be held accountable, up to and including terminations. 

The Arts

The Hamiltonian featured an interview with iconic record Producer, Bob Ezrin (Producer of Pink Floyd's The Wall, Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, KISS and the list goes on)  

Looking Ahead

The work of 2025 set the foundation for an even more consequential period ahead. With municipal elections approaching and several unresolved policy and accountability questions still in play, The Hamiltonian enters the next year with clarity.

If 2025 demonstrated anything, it is that sustained, methodical scrutiny matters. Accountability is not achieved through single headlines, but through persistence, context, and a willingness to ask the same question until it is properly answered.

In that respect, 2025 was not just a year in review. It was a statement of intent.

We continue to take our motto very seriously: Sometimes Tough; Always Fair and we will continue to serve as a litmus test of sorts, gauging the ability and willingness of local politicians to confront fair but tough questions on behalf of Hamiltonians.