About Brian

Brian was born in Weston, Ontario and moved to Hamilton in 1987. Before being elected, he worked for Environment Canada on efforts to cleanup the Great Lakes and with Environment Hamilton as the regional coordinator for the Canadian Community Monitoring Network. Brian has also worked for the Hamilton Conservation Authority and the Bay Area Restoration Council (BARC). Brian was also employed as a sessional lecturer at McMaster University in the Arts and Science Programme.

After graduating from the University of Waterloo with a degree in environmental studies, Brian completed his MSc degree in planning and community development from the University of Guelph, where he studied the effects of globalisation on farmers in southern India. He is a Registered Professional Planner and a member of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and the Canadian Institute of Planning. Prior to his election in 2003, Brian was working on his PhD in planning, investigating the issue of limits to growth in North American municipalities.

Brian was first elected as the Ward 1 Councillor in 2004. During his first term he worked on the following:

• promoted locally owned, small businesses and supported neighbourhood BIA's
• initiated "Trees Across Hamilton", a program to plant thousands of city trees
• worked on the enhancement of city parks and playgrounds through master plans, including Victoria Park
• promoted alternative transportation, including more complete cycling routes and public transit
• worked to bring balance to neighbourhoods on the very difficult student housing issues
• represented the City on the Poverty Roundtable
• promoted "Arts and Culture" and "Energy" as economic development clusters
• supported open and transparent government and decision-making
• advocated to the province regarding high property tax assessments in Ward 1
• implemented traffic calming and pedestrian amenity programs

Brian is or has been a member of the following committees during his terms of Council:

Standing Committees:

• Planning & Economic Development (2003-2006) 
• Economic Development & Planning (2006-10)
• Social & Public Health Services (Chair, 2005)
• Emergency & Community Services (2006-10) 
• Strategic Planning & Budgets (2005)

Sub-Committees:

• HABIA - Hamilton Association of Business Improvement Areas (Chair) (2003-06)
• Municipal Heritage Committee (LACAC) (2003-06, 2006-10)
• Development Charges Stakeholders Sub-Committee (2003-06, 2006-10)
• Pesticide Sub-Committee (Chair) (2003-06, 2006-10)
• Hamilton Future Fund (2006-2010)
• Truck Route Sub-Committee (2003-06)
• Via Rail Task Force (2003-06, 2006-10)
• Tsunami Relief Task Force (2003-06)
• Licensing & Property Standards Operational Review Sub-Committee (2006-10) 
• Provincial Gas Tax Steering Committee (Chair) (2003-06, 2006-10)
• City of Hamilton/Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Liaison Committee (Chair) (2003-06, 2006-10)
• Hamilton Triple Bottom Line Business Criteria Task Force (Chair) (2003-06)
• Social Services Downloading Sub-Committee (Chair) (2003-06)
• Human Services Planning Table
• Community Food Security Stakeholder Advisory Committee (2008-10)
• Accountability and Transparency Committee (2008-10)

Outside Boards/Agencies/Advisory Committees:

• Conservation Halton (2004)
• Hamilton District Health Council (2004)
• Main Street West BIA (Business Improvement Area) (2003-06, 2006-09)
• Westdale Village BIA (2003-06, 2006-10)
• Locke Street BIA (2006-10)
• Arts Hamilton (2003-06, 2006-10)
• CityHousing Hamilton (President) (2003-06, 2006-10)
• Niagara Escarpment Commission (2003-06)
• Tourism Hamilton (2004-2005)
• Board of Directors, HUC (Hamilton Utilities Corporation) (2005)
• Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction (2006-10)
• Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI) 

My Vision:

Hamilton has the potential to be the most liveable city in North America. Nestled along the Niagara Escarpment at the head of Lake Ontario on a beautiful natural harbour, our city boasts many waterfalls, incredible vistas, and large park and natural areas. It is also positioned strategically halfway between two of Canada's largest tourism destinations, Toronto and Niagara Falls. We have enormous possibilities limited only by our vision.

We must move away from the sprawling, expensive growth of the last three decades, toward solutions that strengthen existing neighbourhoods in Hamilton. Past growth has been at the expense of established residential and commercial areas. There is a much better alternative: a small-scale, community economic-development approach that values what we already have and directly improves our quality of life. The emphasis is on community improvement. It's about small-scale, low-risk, affordable development within our neighbourhoods. It's about supporting self-reliance and nurturing community creativity, and it's about ensuring transparent, participatory and inclusive decision-making.