Red Hill Parkway lawsuit has cost all taxpayers more than $5M

The Red Hill Valley Parkway lawsuit between the city and Ottawa has cost the federal government about $2.4 million so far, which means taxpayers have spent more than $5 million on the battle.

As of Dec. 3, the government has spent $2,390,600.61 over the last decade defending itself in a lawsuit with the city. Chris Charlton, MP for Hamilton Mountain, got the dollar figure at the request of the Hamilton group Citizens at City Hall (CATCH).

That means overall, taxpayers have paid $5.3 million into the lawsuit over the highway. The city charges that government bureaucrats acted improperly in applying the Environmental Assessment Act to the highway project, thus delaying construction.

The highway opened in 2007.

The lawsuit is "currently at the oral discovery stage," says the document from the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General. The plaintiff — which is the city — has examined 11 defendants.

CATCH filed a provincial Freedom of Information Act request that prompted city council on Monday to release what it's spent. That total is $2,665,313 in legal fees to the outside law firm of lawyer David Estrin, a court-ordered cost award of $309,885 and $32,864 in GST.

Coun. Brian McHattie of Ward 1, a known opponent of the highway, cancelled his plan to move on Monday that the city drop the lawsuit.

McHattie dropped the motion, he said, because Estrin advised councillors that dropping the lawsuit would expose the city to paying the federal government's legal costs.

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Suspects caught on video as Hamilton pharmacies robbed of drugs, cash

Police are searching for suspects in two separate incidents

CBC News Posted: Jan 31, 2014 9:59 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 31, 2014 10:00 AM ET

Hamilton police are looking for two suspects after a Concession St. pharmacy was robbed of cash and prescription drugs.

Police have released footage of the robbery to the public.

Police say that on Jan. 27, a man and a woman entered the pharmacy at the corner of Concession St. and East 31st St. at around 9:00 a.m. and demanded that the store employee hand over cash and prescription drugs. Police allege that one of the suspects was wielding a hammer.

The female suspect filled a large green plastic bag with drugs before, police say, both suspects fled to a vehicle waiting outside.

Police are asking for the public's assistance to identify the two suspects.

Police are also searching for a suspect in a separate pharmacy robbery.

On Jan. 30, police allege a man entered a pharmacy on James St. North, and filled a large pillowcase with prescription drugs.

Police describe the suspect in the James St. North caper as a 5'7" white man with a thin build and blue eyes, wearing a dark jacket.

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Why kids should play outside, even in extreme cold: pediatrician

Frozen parks? Fear not. A pediatrician is calling for school boards and parents to send kids outdoors despite the frigid cold.

Dan Flanders, a pediatrician based in Toronto, calls some school boards' decisions to cancel outdoor recess "a terrible idea" for kids and also urges parents to find ways to get their kids outside on even the coldest days.

"I think it must be horrible for them. They must be going bonkers," Flanders said in an interview with CBC's Metro Morning host Matt Galloway on Wednesday.

The health benefits of staying physically active outweigh the risks of cold exposure, Flanders added.

"With very few exceptions, if you dress your kids properly, if you look at the weather and dress them according to the weather, there really isn't much risk," he said.

"If you look like the pros and cons, if you look at both sides of the argument, it's a no-brainer,"

School boards are only half of the equation. Parents need to play their parts in keeping kids active too, Flanders says.

A parent himself, Flanders said that he sometimes feels reluctant to send his kids into the frigid cold.

"But when we do manage to go outside with our kids ... it really feels great when you've done it," he said.

The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines suggest that children aged 5 to 11 should get at least 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activities daily.

Bike riding and playground activities, for example, are moderate in intensity, which will cause children to sweat a little and breathe harder. Activities like running and swimming are considered vigorous in intensity, which will cause children to sweat and be out of breath.

The same recommendation applies for youth aged 12 to 17.

According to the guide, staying active for at least 60 minutes a day can help children:

• Improve their health.
• Do better in school.
• Improve their fitness.
• Grow stronger.
• Have fun playing with friends.
• Feel happier.
• Maintain a healthy body weight.
• Improve their self-confidence.
• Learn new skills.

ParticipACTION, an organization that promotes physical activity and sport participation in Canada, has some tips for parents on how to get young children moving. Some of them apply in winter too:

• Too wet or cold to go out? Simply turn up the music and dance.
• Visit the local community centre and make use of its programs and facilities.
• The little ones love to dig, rake and shovel. Invite them to help out when shovelling snow.
• Limit screen time by removing TVs and computers from your child's bedroom. You can also squeeze in some pushups, jumping jacks or leg lifts during commercial breaks.
• Encourage your kids to join a sports team or club.
• Be a role model. Parents should live an active life and build physical activity into weekend plans. For example, parents can join an adult sports team and encourage kids to cheer them on at the games.

Should kids play outdoors in winter?

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Burlington Olympian pushes past Sochi dangers, focuses on games

Sochi security concerns 3:44

Sochi security concerns 3:44

Sochi has no gays: Mayor 2:24

Sochi has no gays: Mayor 2:24

Concerns over Sochi's balmy weather 2:50

Concerns over Sochi's balmy weather 2:50

Burlington Olympian Marianne Leeson is doing her best not to let the danger swirling around the Sochi winter games ruin her competitive spirit.

But between suicide bombings nearby and threats from militants swirling, it's something that's impossible to completely ignore.

"It does weigh down on us a bit but I do my best not to think about it," Leeson told CBC Hamilton from Germany, where she's training with the rest of Canada's snowboarding team before the Olympics. "I'm excited to go into Russia and I don't want that to change that."

"As Canadians we have an emergency plan, but I try not to think about it. I trust in the security system and the precautions that have been taken. I need to focus on what I'm there to do and know that security is there to protect us."

The area around Sochi is being tightly controlled and officials are very prepared when it comes to security, the deputy director of the Sochi command centre says.

"The threat is no bigger now than in any other city that ever hosted the Olympics," said Eduard Lutovinov, deputy director.

But recent events suggest otherwise. A series of suicide bombings in Volgograd have rattled Russians, and follow a vow by Chechen Islamist militant Doku Umarov to disrupt what he calls the "Satanic games."

Sochi is adjacent to the North Caucasus, which is embroiled by conflict caused by repression and insurgency.

So Sochi is sealed tight, and under the watch of 70,000 police and soldiers. An entire brigade of elite special forces is being deployed in the mountains nearby.

On top of that, Russia's Olympic arsenal will include anti-ballistic missiles, an underwater sonar system and even underwater machine guns.

Another part of the security arsenal are drones that will be monitoring the Games from above for the first time, as well as robotic bomb detectors that will prowl the Olympic grounds below.

Safety a main priority: COC

In a statement, the Canadian Olympic Committee told CBC Hamilton that the safety of the entire Canadian Olympic team including athletes, coaches, support staff and volunteers is its main priority.

"We have the utmost confidence that the International Olympic Committee and the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee will deliver outstanding Olympic Winter Games," the statement reads. "The Canadian Olympic Committee has and continues to work very closely with government and security forces in Canada as a cornerstone of our preparation for Sochi 2014. This preparation extends to a close collaboration with the Organizing Committee in Sochi and the host nation, Russia, who are responsible for all security matters relating to Sochi 2014.

"As with other Olympic Games, our safety and security measures are always adapted to each environment."

Security is no doubt an important issue leading up to the games, but Leeson says on the snowboarding team's slopes, it's all about training and performance.

"There is a lot of excitement," she said. "We are still a couple weeks out from going into Russia but we've started getting some of our Olympic clothing and we all can't wait to get there."

"We have a great environment between our group. Everyone gets along and we've always been very supportive of each other doing well. It can become a chain reaction when one person is successful – then others step up and are also successful. If anyone needs anything we are all there to help each other. We are friends first and competitors second."

'It's really nerve wracking'

Leeson will have no shortage of supporters during the games between her teammates and her parents, who are also making the trek to Russia for the first time.

"It's really, really exciting. It's been a long road," said Leeson's mother, Lin. She's been cheering on her daughter since she started snowboarding at 12 years old — albeit sometimes from a distance.

Leeson has captured gold at the world cup and been to the world championships. But her mother gets so nervous for her daughter that she ends up staying in a hotel while her husband goes to the events, and relays results back to her.

"It's really nerve wracking," she said. "I don't normally watch."

But that all changes next month during the Olympics. This time, Lin isn't missing seeing her daughter on the biggest stage of all.

"There is no way I'm going all the way to Sochi and staying in the hotel."

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Hamilton driver hits car, hydro pole then runs for it: police

New

Man failed drug test after getting arrested, police say

CBC News Posted: Jan 31, 2014 10:41 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 31, 2014 10:41 AM ET

A Hamilton driver is facing multiple charges after he drove away from a collision Thursday night, according to a police statement.

It all started after a man driving down Cochrane Road at a high speed collided with another car north of Dunkirk Avenue at about 9:30 p.m Thursday night. The man stopped for a moment at the scene before driving away onto Lawrence Road on the wrong side of the street, police say.

The driver hit snow banks along the way before eventually losing control of his car and slamming into a cement hydro pole, according to the police.

He then left his car and climbed over a fence and ran eastbound along Lawrence Road.

He was later found in the area and was arrested. He failed a drug test after.

A 33-year-old man is facing charges of impaired operation by drug, dangerous driving, fail to remain and two counts of breach of probation.

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Hamilton DayStarter: Everything you need to know Thursday

After Thursday's wild news day in Toronto, don't you feel a bit more inclined to forgive anybody from the Big Smoke who's teased for your Steeltown address? Maybe just a little?

After all, the Ontario capital's name is on the lips of gossip-watchers worldwide for many of the wrong reasons. Rob Ford is in hot water again after a lawsuit alleging the Toronto mayor ordered a jailhouse beating of his ex-brother-in-law was filed. Hours later, amidst of a crush of journalists and fans, embattled pop star Justin Bieber turned himself into Toronto police.

The news out of Toronto makes Hamilton look boring, orderly, even virtuous. "Hamilton the Good?" We'll take it. 

Hamilton police aren't reporting any collisions causing delays this morning. 

And if you're commuting into Toronto this morning, look out for:

• Hwy 403 westbound at Main St., Hamilton: three-vehicle collision blocking the ramp lane, no injuries — 9:15 a.m.
• Hwy 403 Toronto-bound ramp to Hwy 6 North, Hamilton: Disabled vehicle blocking lanes, tow truck on scene — 7:50 a.m.
• QEW Toronto-bound at Fifty Road, Stoney Creek: two-vehicle collision on the shoulder, no injuries — 7:15 a.m.

The extreme cold is ending — sort of. Environment Canada expects a high of –12 C for the day. But 30 km/h winds gusting up to 50 km/h, it could still feel as cold as –27 C. A 60 per cent chance of flurries is in the forecast.

The real warm-up, relatively speaking, starts on Friday and continues into the weekend. But there is a catch: more flurries. A high of –5 and periods of snow are store in store for Saturday. And Environment Canada is calling for a high of –1 C and periods of snow on Sunday. Polish off that shovel! 

Amalgamation. It's still a hot-button issue 13-years after the current City of Hamilton took shape. Mayor Bob Bratina raised the spectre of a possible review of amalgamation recently. Reporter Samantha Craggs has written about the oft-touchy subject and tensions that exist between residents in different parts of the city. 

Hamilton photographer, web designer and purveyor of solid Twitter snark Dan Jelly snapped this nautical-themed gem:

Much of Canada is reeling from — or revelling in — the news about Justin Bieber surrendering himself to police in Toronto on Wednesday night. He faces an assault charge in connection with a December attack on a Hogtown limo driver.

The ordeal makes one nostalgic for Bieber's squeaky, earnest, clean-cut former self. Here's a video that hearkens back to those more innocent times. Nearly four years ago, the Stratford-raised pop star made a surprise visit to a three-year-old girl Cody, who loved Bieber's music so much that she sometimes cried when she head it. The adorable encounter was arranged by and documented on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Watching the 15-year-old people pick up the little girl in such a big-brotherly manner and give the youngster a twirl, it's hard not ask yourself, "What the heck happened?" 

McMaster scientist Hendrik Poinar has been plumbing the depths of the ancient world for its secrets for years, and on Thursday afternoon, he'll be at CBC Hamilton for a live chat to take your questions.

Poinar is an evolutionary biologist — which means he studies the nature of how humans got here and where we're going. He happily admits his childhood dream was to travel the world and travel back in time.

On Monday, McMaster announced that scientists had an answer — that two devastating plagues that decimated much of Europe hundreds of years ago were actually caused by distinct strains of the same pathogen.

Poinar will be taking your questions about that research, as well as some fascinating research about reviving extinct species like the woolly mammoth.

Visit CBC Hamilton at 2:15 p.m. EST to chat live with Poinar and ask him your questions.

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When will this insanely cold winter actually end?

A brief respite from the cold is coming, but beware, Hamilton — this chilling, bitter winter Southern Ontario is suffering through isn't going anywhere anytime soon, Environment Canada says.

Temperatures in January have been about – 4 C colder than average, which is very frigid for a sustained period, says Dave Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada. The extended cold is really starting to get to people, he told CBC Hamilton.

"I think that's really what's driving that weather rage," he said. "It's really a throwback to winters of the past."

There have been 30 days of below – 10 C temperatures already this winter, compared to nine last year. Mild days have been few and far between, and without some interludes between intense cold, this winter seems even more unbearable, Phillips says.

And it's not going anywhere — Environment Canada's models for February and beyond are calling for more extended periods of below average temperatures in Hamilton. "It's not going to go away," Phillips said. "What you see is what you're going to get."

'It's not going to go away, and mother nature doesn't feel sorry for us.'- Meteorologist Dave Phillips on our frigid winter

Temperatures will improve on Thursday, but icy winds will also be quite gusty, says CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland. Blowing and drifting snow could be an issue for drivers, especially in Hamilton's rural areas.

"The system ushering in the milder air will also bring snow to the region on Thursday evening," he said. "Milder air sticks with us into the weekend but there is the potential for either wet snow or even a rain/snow mix for Saturday."

The forecasted high in Hamilton on Wednesday is - 12 C, signaling a relative warm up, Phillips says. "Now, when I say warm up, it's not muscle shirt and tank top weather," he laughed.

This month's cold has been so intense that the Great Lakes are sitting under the largest cover of ice in 20 years. The early winter polar vortex that brought in freezing temperatures throughout eastern North America has put an ice cover over about 52 per cent of the Great Lakes.

Ice formation on the Great Lakes typically peaks by mid-March. At this point last year, there was only about 12 per cent ice coverage on the lakes. The last time the lakes had this much ice cover this early in the year was during the 1993–1994 winter season.

Still, there's little Hamiltonians can do at this point but grin and bear it, Phillips says. "It's not going to go away, and mother nature doesn't feel sorry for us," he said.

"But it is wearing us out. It's relentless."

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Hamilton activist slams spy watchdog's oil industry ties

An Hamilton, Ont., activist is demanding that Canada's spy watchdog assign an adjudicator without ties to the oil and gas industry to review his complaint against the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency (CSIS). 

Former Conservative MP Chuck Strahl resigned as chair of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, the body that oversees the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

The resignation of former MP Chuck Strahl as chair of the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) has prompted a Ken Stone to raise concerns about whether he will get a fair hearing.

In October, SIRC — the government-appointed civilian body that oversees CSIS's dealing with Canadians — assigned Strahl to review a claim submitted by Ken Stone. A longtime labour and environmental advocate, Stone filed a complaint to SIRC last year after CSIS agents made a visit to his home. 

But on Friday, Strahl stepped down as the chair of SIRC after it was revealed that he works as a lobbyist for Enbridge, Inc. 

Critics had charged it was inappropriate for the former Conservative cabinet minister to sit as a SIRC board member while serving the Calgary-based energy giant, whose proposed Northern Gateway pipeline has raised the ire of environmentalists and First Nations groups.

Strahl's resignation has led Stone — who has demonstrated against proposed changes to Enbridge's Ontario-to-Quebec Line 9 pipeline — to demand that SIRC assign a board member who does not have ties to the oil and gas industry to his case. 

Hamilton activist Ken Stone said CSIS agents paid him a visit at his home on Jan. 25, two weeks after an op-ed he wrote criticizing the prime minister's approach on Iran was published in the Hamilton Spectator. (Courtesy of Ken Stone)

At least two SIRC appointees have connections to energy companies: Denis Losier, a board member with Enbridge's

New Brunswick subsidiary and Yves Fortier, a former director of TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. Even though the content of Stone's claim has little to do with his environmental activism, he says a SIRC member's connections to the energy industry would still compromise the integrity of hearings into his case. 

"I don't think that my complaint against CSIS will get a fair hearing at SIRC if the investigation is led by somebody who is tied to the fossil fuel industry," said Stone, a member of Hamilton 350, a climate change awareness group.

"Since they are very closely tied to the fossil fuel industry, they may have an axe to grind against me since I'm so involved to trying to stop [proposed changes to Enbridge's Line 9 pipeline]."

In July, Stone submitted a complaint to SIRC in response to a visit two CSIS agents made to his home in January 2013. The encounter came two weeks after the Hamilton Spectator published an op-ed he wrote titled "Harper is wrong in demonizing Iran."

During the Jan. 25, 2013 exchange, Stone said, CSIS agents probed him about his views on Iran and a trip he made to the Middle Eastern country in October 2011. The agents' visit was an attempt to "to intimidate me and members of my family from lawfully exercising our Charter rights to freedom of expression," he wrote in his complaint to SIRC.   

SIRC assistant research director Lindsay Jackson said she couldn't comment on particular cases, but added the committee will consider requests like Stone's.

Jackson said SIRC adjudicators are legally responsible to declare any conflicts of interest and are barred by federal law from making decisions on issues that could in some way enrich their own private interests or those of family and friends.

The committee's chair, a position currently held by former Canadian Alliance MP Deb Grey, decides on which members of the five-person board will take on a complaint.

Former Edmonton North MP Deborah Grey has been appointed to the Security Intelligence Review Committee. (John Ulan/Canadian Press)

However, Jackson said "it's ultimately up to the member to decide" whether to recuse his or herself from reviewing a case.

SIRC is a quasi-judicial body that reviews citizen complaints about CSIS's dealing with Canadians. Committee members' findings are reported to the government, but their recommendations are not binding.

With Strahl's seat vacant, only two of SIRC's four active members — Grey and former Ontario NDP MPP Frances Lankin — have no apparent direct ties to the oil and gas industry.

A vocal critic of the Conservative government, Stone is also wary of Grey — a 2012 appointee with strong ties with the Tories — taking on his complaint.

"I think it's another indication that SIRC is a very poor excuse for civilian oversight of CSIS."

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The real unresolved issue of Hamilton's amalgamation

A voter in rural Flamborough has three times more clout in municipal government than a voter living on the central Mountain.

With a population of just 17,600, Ward 14 voters get three times the value from their vote than a voter in the central Mountain's Ward 7, where there are more than 60,000 people.

That inequity is the major unresolved issue of the Hamilton's 2001 amalgamation, and the one that few politicians want to debate.

Amalgamation gave the suburban municipalities much more voting clout than their population warranted and there was an understanding—it was part of the report on amalgamation to the Ontario government— it would be addressed within 10 years of the merger. Now, 13 years in, it hasn't happened.

Three times, councillors have discussed the issue and deferred that debate to the next council, understanding how tricky rearranging the city's electoral map will be for all concerned. It wasn't until July 2012, after a citizen petition, that council voted to review the boundaries in 2015-after the upcoming election. Will that review happen as scheduled?

'It's the kind of thing that is best tackled at the beginning of a term of council.'- Brian McHattie, Ward 1 Councillor and mayoral candidate

Amalgamation came up earlier this month when Mayor Bob Bratina said he would ask the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to review the issue. And now he has issued a warning about the potential damage of revisiting ward boundaries Earlier this week Jan. 28, Bratina broached ward boundary reviews in a blog post called "The Balance of Power."

The planned 2015 review "will once again create problems in the relationship between the old city and the amalgamated suburban areas," Bratina wrote. If a new ward is created on the Mountain, he said, it would disrupt the voting balance between "old and new" — the seven suburban wards versus the eight former city wards, with a mayor in a position to maintain or tip the  balance.

But  Mountain councillor Terry Whitehead said at a council meeting Wednesday that no one was talking about creating a new ward. Bratina's blog post is just early campaigning for October's election, the Ward 8 councillor said.

"It's disingenuous, and it's really campaigning on division," he said. "I won't tolerate that, and I'll hold him accountable every time he misleads people on these issues."

Pre-2001, six Hamilton municipalities — Flamborough, Dundas, Stoney Creek, Glanbrook, Ancaster and urban Hamilton — each had individual councils. When the province amalgamated them to form the new City of Hamilton, most of the old city and ward boundaries remained intact.

A ward boundary review hasn't happened yet because councillors have been busy, said Coun. Brian McHattie, a Ward 1 representative and mayoral candidate. And it's admittedly a contentious issue politically, which means timing is important.

"It's the kind of thing that is best tackled at the beginning of a term of council," he said.

A ward boundary review, when it happens, will not be as simple as carving up the city by numbers, said  Larry Di Ianni, a former mayor of amalgamated Hamilton and one-time Stoney Creek councillor. Communities have distinct identities.

"You have to look at the history and the tradition of an area, and giving voice as well to the parts that don't feel like they get the respect they deserve, whether it's perception or reality," he said.

Not just a numbers game

"In Canada, we've got a province with a population the size of Burlington, and nobody begrudges the fact that it has provincial status with a provincial legislature.

"More than 10 years after amalgamation, there's still some of that resonance here, and you need to pay attention to that."

Ward boundaries weren't revisited during DiIanni's mayorship, he said, because council was too busy with other issues.

"Councillors have probably been focused not so much on the governance side, but on making the city work."

That's the recollection of former mayor Fred Eisenberger too, who intends to run for mayor again this year. But he also acknowledges the politics, and says it's unlikely anyone will want to talk about it during an election year.

"These are complex issues where you win some votes in some areas and lose votes in other areas," he said. "I would expect during an election year that it's not going to happen."

Glanbrook, east Mountain growing fast

Here's a breakdown of the population of wards in Hamilton, according to the 2011 census:

Ward 1: 29,868

Ward 2: 37:569

Ward 3: 39,090

Ward 4: 36,333

Ward 5: 37,386

Ward 6: 39,249

Ward 7: 62,179

Ward 8: 48,807

Ward 9: 26,979

Ward 10: 23,524

Ward 11: 37,055

Ward 12: 35,120

Ward 13: 24,907

Ward 14: 17,634

Ward 15: 24,249

What would a review mean? Would it mean a new ward on the Mountain? That would not only change the urban suburban balance, but also the ratio between upper and lower city. What about taking one away from the lower city? What about redesigning them completely and breaking down the old community or ward boundaries?

Hamilton's population fluctuates, said DiIanni. Waterdown, Winona and Binbrook, for example, have grown rapidly over the last few years. That makes it prudent to do a boundary review. Maybe over time, the inequities are wil straighten themselves out?

Coun. Judi Partridge of Ward 15 in Flamborough voted against a ward boundary review in 2012. She's not opposed to a review, she said, but it's "really an issue that needs to be dealt with by the next term of council."

"It's not a yes or no answer."

Any review should take into account communities of interest, she said. It makes sense for rural Flamborough, for example, to have one councillor. It's rural and agricultural and has little in common with an urban ward.

"We're talking about an area with agri-business, which represents $1.5 billion to the city of Hamilton," she said. "That is a significant portfolio."

Is Mayor Bratina right to raise amalgamation as an issue?

Citizen group tried to make it happen

In 2012, an ad hoc citizen-led group submitted a 77-page petition with 618 signatures that asked for a boundary review. That petition prompted the motion to review boundaries.

"People are afraid to visit the issue for fear of picking the scab off like mayor did," said Chris Cutler, who was part of the group that sparked the petition.

"A lot of people afraid of tackling it because of the simmering resentment of amalgamation even 12 years later."

It's not as simple as putting drawing boundaries according to population numbers, he said. The distinct characteristics of communities must be maintained.

But under the current system, he said, councillors vote only according to their individual ward interests. 

Review would cost $260,000

The review will cost no more than $260,000. The money will come from the city's tax reserve fund. Cutler isn't even optimistic that it will happen.

"I'm afraid I'm somewhat cynical about the likelihood of a new council," he said. 

"Hamilton city council's never met a decision they didn't want to postpone or put off." 

MPP Ted McMeekin, who represents Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, said any review of amalgamation issues has to stem from the decision of the entire council.

"You'd want to take a long, hard, serious, thoughtful, citizen-based, council-based look at what you want to do."

Hamilton's changing wards

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Cause of Hamilton church fire remains a mystery

Local investigators will likely never know what caused a fire that displaced an evangelical church with a soup kitchen and food bank on Barton Street East.

The Jan. 21 fire started in the boiler room of Christ's Voice of Restoration Church at the corner of Barton and Sanford. But as for what caused it to ignite, it's likely no one will ever know, said Claudio Mostacci, spokesperson for the Hamilton Fire Department. 

There's little evidence left of what caused the $400,000 fire. In cases such as this one, Mostacci said, "it goes down as undetermined."

The fire began on a bitterly cold afternoon. Pastor Tom Tirivangani, the founder of the church, fled the church with five volunteers. It will be about four months before the congregation can get back into the church, Tirivangani said.

Crews are still cleaning up the church, which held a soup kitchen and food bank. In the meantime, the church is operating its food bank and soup kitchen from its Seeds of Faith thrift store building at 423 Barton St. E.

"The congregation is coming together as a family," Tirivangani said. "I see more prayer, more determination coming from the family."

The church itself was insured, and that money will cover most of the structural damage, Tirivangani said. But it lost much of the contents. That includes office furniture, computer equipment and donations of food and toys.

Tirivangani would be grateful for any donations of office supplies or equipment, cash, or in-kind help in fixing or reestablishing the church.

The Seeds of Faith building is too small, he said, but "it's allowing us to continue the services in the short term."

The church is using space at the Mission Services Opportunities Centre down the street for its services, which serves a congregation of about 100.

"They had over 100 people on Sunday and got to do their Sunday church," said Tom Heeney, Mission Services director of operations.

"We've got space that isn't used much on the weekend, so we offered it to them. It was sort of like neighbour helping neighbour."

The church was built in 1906. Tirivangani, who founded the church in 2008, moved his congregation in there a little over a year ago.

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Wind chill warning for Hamilton, cold alert continues

Extreme Weather

The wind chill low today is a staggering – 38 C

CBC News Posted: Jan 28, 2014 7:28 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 28, 2014 8:11 AM ET

Environment Canada has issued a wind chill warning for Hamilton Tuesday morning. The city's extreme cold alert remains in effect.

It's -22 C as of 7 a.m. with the wind chill making it feel like -33 C. Bundle up. The wind chill low today is expected to be a staggering –38 C.

Environment Canada says Hamiltonians should expect a cloudy day wit blowing snow. The wind is coming in from the southwest at 30 km/h gusting to 50 km/h. The high for Tuesday is expected to be -17 C with a wind chill of -31 C. The low tonight will be -21 with a wind chill of -34 C.

A cold alert is issued when current or anticipated weather conditions are at or below -15 C or -20 C with the wind chill.

Environment Canada's forecast for the city calls for a low of –24 C Tuesday. The previous extreme cold temperature for Jan. 28 at Hamilton International Airport's weather station, which began collecting climate data in 1959, is –24.2 C, registered on that day in 2005.

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Soupfest: Good food for a good cause

There's one surefire way to warm up Tuesday, on what is forecast to be a record-setting cold day in Hamilton: Soupfest. Proceeds from the 12th annual culinary event support Living Rock, an organization in downtown Hamilton that helps at-risk youth.

Like every year, there will be plenty of gourmet soups to warm your belly as dozens of local chefs compete for the titles of Best Soup, Most Creative Soup, Best Display and Best Grow Local — that's a soup with its top thee ingredients sourced from within 100 km — based on votes from the public. This year, they'll also be vying for a new honour: the Chef's Choice award.

"We've got three local celebrity chefs that are going to judge the category," said Living Rock program director, Karen Craig.

Chef Mark Farrugia of La Piazza Allegra, Twisted Lemon's Dan Megna and Pam Foster from Abbey Cooks Entertain will judge the category.

The taste test will be completely blind, with the chef-judges tasting from numbered samples and pooling their picks to award a first, second and third place prize in the category. It's an idea that competitors suggested, Craig said.

"But it doesn't minimize the public vote. It's very, very important as well. The restaurants love getting the public vote."

There will also be live music and dance performances to entertain patrons while they sip and slurp, as well as a few local celebrities and politicians ladling up the goods. 

The fun kicks off at 11:30 a.m. at the Hamilton Convention Centre Tuesday and runs until 9 p.m. A ticket gets you four 4-oz bowls of soup along with bread and butter. Additional bowls can be purchased for $3 a piece. 

Online advance tickets have sold out, but you can still snag some advance tickets for $12 for adults and $10 for children and seniors at First Ontario Credit Union branches in Hamilton and Stoney Creek and at Living Rock at 30 Wilson Street. You can also get tickets at the door Tuesday for $14 for adults and $12 for children and seniors.

Also for sale Tuesday is the Soupfest Collection recipe book, $35, filled with delicious recipes and coupons for over $300 in savings at local restaurants.

Last year, the event drew 6,000 Hamiltonians to help raise $90,000 for Living Rock, which serves more than 900 meals a week to teens and young adults struggling with mental health issues, poverty and addiction.

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City has spent $3M on Red Hill Valley Parkway lawsuit

The city has spent about $3 million on the Red Hill Valley Parkway lawsuit with the federal government and is going to keep spending more.

City hall has spent $2.6 million in legal fees, $36,000 in HST and $309,000 on an individual court order in its 10-year-old battle with Ottawa. And after hearing from lawyers that dropping the suit now would put the city in danger of having to pay the federal government's legal costs too, it has decided to keep pursuing the case.

The figures came out during a public motion during a general issues committee meeting on Monday. The city was prompted to release the numbers through an Ontario Freedom of Information Act request.

Not all councillors were happy the numbers were made public. Coun. Brad Clark of Stoney Creek says it shouldn't be released until the lawsuit is finished.

"It really does handicap the municipality significantly," said Clark. Through his motion, the city will file a Freedom of Information Act request to get the federal government to reveal how much it has spent on the lawsuit.

In 2003, the city launched the current $75-million lawsuit against Ottawa, charging that 46 government employees acted in bad faith by applying the Environmental Assessment Act to the highway project, thus delaying construction. The highway opened four years later.

Coun. Brian McHattie planned to introduce a motion Monday to drop the lawsuit. But he decided against it when he learned legal advice that if it did, the city could be on the hook for the federal government's legal costs. Councillors heard that from the city's lawyers as well as David Estrin, the external lawyer representing the city in the lawsuit.

If the lawsuit was dropped, the city could be on the hook for legal costs because it has put the federal government in the position of defending itself, said city solicitor Janice Atwood-Petkovski. But if the city ultimately loses the lawsuit, it could be ordered to pay the federal government's legal costs anyway.

The city could try to make a deal with Ottawa, McHattie said. But he's not optimistic that it would be well received.

"Who knows how the federal government would respond after having been sued by us back in 2004," he said. After hearing from Estrin, McHattie said, councillors felt like they were "tremendously exposed" to the danger of having to pay for legal costs.

McHattie still has concerns about the lawsuit. He worries that with the lawsuit, Hamilton is jeopardizing its chances for future federal government grants. He's also not confident the city will win.

"I didn't hear anything today that suggests to me that it's a slam dunk."

Coun. Brad Clark of Stoney Creek is feeling better about it.

"Nothing has changed," he said. "I am confident the city will prevail."

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Copps Coliseum set to be renamed FirstOntario Centre

Copps Coliseum will be renamed FirstOntario Centre under a new agreement approved by the city.

And the Copps family—consulted early on in the process—is largely OK with the change.

The arena is due to be renamed this year after the local credit union, which is paying $3.5 million over 10 years for the naming rights. The rink inside the arena will be known as the Victor K. Copps Rink to remember the former mayor and namesake of the coliseum. The sign will also include the words "In honour of Victor K. Copps."

The city's general issues committee voted Monday to accept the renaming, which was arranged between FirstOntario and coliseum manager Global Spectrum. Council will finalize its approval with a ratifying vote on Wednesday.

The agreement would amount to about $350,000 a year for 10 years, less the cost of changing the signs.

"At the end of the day, this is really a good news story for the city," said Coun. Brad Clark of Stoney Creek. "It's a significant challenge to get naming rights, especially in today's economy."

Global Spectrum is entitled to grant naming rights under a 2013 management agreement with the city. But the city must approve of the renaming.

Copps Coliseum is named after Victor Copps, a long-time mayor and patriarch of a family well known in Hamilton politics. His daughter, Sheila, was an MPP for Hamilton Centre who went on to become an MP and one-time deputy prime minister.  His widow Geraldine, also served as a long-time city councillor.

All but one member of the Copps family is in favour of the renaming, Coun. Jason Farr said. Sheila Copps told CBC Hamilton in an email that her family was consulted early in the process and is "trying to be constructive."

"The proponents are determined to honour my father's legacy," she said.

Should the city allow Copps Coliseum to be renamed?

The renaming money will go to Global Spectrum, which through an agreement will share some of it with the Hamilton Bulldogs hockey team. But if Global Spectrum builds up its bottom line, the city benefits. Once Global Spectrum breaks even on management costs, it shares any further profits with the city, which could happen as soon as 2015. The ratio is 70:30 in favour of the city.

In 2013, the city subsidized Copps Coliseum, Hamilton Place and the Hamilton Convention Centre to the tune of $2.85 million. In 2014, the subsidy will be $1.79 million, said finance head Mike Zegarac.

Four companies were interested in the naming rights, said Scott Warren, spokesperson for Global Spectrum.

Some arenas command millions per year for naming rights. But $3.5 million over 10 years is a decent price for Hamilton, Clark said.

"If we had a basketball team in there, if we had an NHL team in there, then yeah, your naming rights would go up significantly," he said. "Naming rights are very challenging for public buildings like that."

FirstOntario Credit Union began in Stoney Creek in 1939 as the Stelco Credit Union. Today, it serves more than 100,000 members, president Kelly McGiffin told councillors. The company already sponsors the Bulldogs.

"Our goal is to make sure the Copps name and the Victor Copps name is well respected," McGiffin said.

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Black Death mysteries unlocked by McMaster scientists

Two devastating plagues that decimated much of Europe hundreds of years ago were actually caused by distinct strains of the same pathogen, new research suggests — and scientists say it's not impossible for a new strain of the plague to emerge in humans in the future.

These findings mark the apex of McMaster University scientist Hendrik Poinar's quest to do something no other scientist has ever done — crack the code of an ancient killer and change the way we fight disease in the 21st century.

'The pathogen only represents one half of the equation. We're the other half.'- Hendrik Poinar, director of the McMaster University Ancient DNA Centre

The Hamilton university scientist is part of an international team studying the Plague of Justinian and the Black Death — a fourteenth century killer disease that wiped out more than 50 million people. The results are currently published in the online edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 

"The research is both fascinating and perplexing. It generates new questions which need to be explored," said Poinar, an associate professor and director of the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre and an investigator with the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research.

"Why did this pandemic, which killed somewhere between 50 and 100 million people, die out?" he asked.  

Poinar is an evolutionary biologist, which means he studies the nature of how humans got here and where we're going. Until now, little was known about the origins or cause of the Justinian plague — which helped bring an end to the Roman Empire — and its relationship to the Black Death, which came about some 800 years later.

Secrets pulled from ancient teeth

Researchers from McMaster, Northern Arizona University and the University of Sydney have isolated minuscule DNA fragments from the 1,500-year-old teeth of two victims of the Justinian plague that were buried in Bavaria, Germany. These are the oldest pathogen genomes scientists have obtained.

It's from these short fragments that scientists have reconstructed the genome of the oldest Yersinia pestis, which is the bacterium responsible for the plague, and compared it to a database of hundreds of contemporary disease strains.

Scientists studied remains taken from two victims of the Justinian plague. They believe the victims died in the latter stages of the epidemic when it had reached southern Bavaria, likely sometime between 541 and 543. (Courtesy McMaster University)

Pulling DNA from century-old skeletal remains was akin to finding a "needle in the proverbial haystack," Poinar said.

"These are tiny little DNA fragments. We managed again using these novel technologies to pull all these little tiny pieces out and stitch them together to be able to access and understand these genomes of the past.

"That's quite a challenge from a technological standpoint, but it allows us really to go deeper and deeper and deeper into the past."

The Plague of Justinian struck in the sixth century and is estimated to have killed between 30 and 50 million people, virtually half the world's population, as it spread across Asia, North Africa, Arabia and Europe.

The Black Death erupted about 800 years later with similar force, killing 50 million Europeans between 1347 and 1351.

'A massive pandemic'

These new findings suggest the strain of the pathogen responsible for the Justinian outbreak was an evolutionary "dead-end" that was distinct from strains involved later in the Black Death and other pandemics.

"We know the bacterium Y. pestis has jumped from rodents into humans throughout history and rodent reservoirs of plague still exist today in many parts of the world," said Dave Wagner, an associate professor in the Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics at Northern Arizona University.

Researchers used this tooth to extract DNA information about plagues that ravaged Europe centuries ago. (Courtesy McMaster University)

"If the Justinian plague could erupt in the human population, cause a massive pandemic, and then die out, it suggests it could happen again," he said. "Fortunately we now have antibiotics that could be used to effectively treat plague, which lessens the chances of another large scale human pandemic."

Scientists say they hope this research will lead to a better understanding of the dynamics of modern infectious disease, including a form of the plague that still kills thousands every year.

The disease remains a threat today in parts of Africa and Asia. Just last month, the bubonic plague killed 20 people in Madagascar. A squirrel was also found carrying a strain of the plague that is a descendent of the Black Death in a Los Angeles park last year.

All it takes for the disease to spread are fleas that feed on rodents infected with the plague to then feed on humans, Poinar said — though thanks to much cleaner cities than fourteenth-century Europe and modern antibiotics, a widespread plague like the one that swept across Europe is unlikely, Poinar said.

In studying the human genome before and after these epidemics struck, scientists can really start to understand what is inherent in the human genetic makeup that made some so susceptible to the plague and others resistant.

"The pathogen only represents one half of the equation," Poinar said. "We're the other half."

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Hamilton heading for cold weather record Tuesday

Another Hamilton temperature record is under threat as the city's bout of extreme cold temperatures continues, with lows of below –20 C in store for the beginning of the week. 

Hamilton remains under a cold weather alert:

• City officials ask anyone who sees a person in need of shelter to call the Salvation Army at 905-527-1444 ext 0. 

Environment Canada's forecast for the city calls for a low of –24 C on Tuesday. The previous extreme cold temperature for Jan. 28 at Hamilton International Airport's weather station, which began collecting climate data in 1959, is –24.2 C, registered on that day in 2005.

If Tuesday beats the nine-year-old benchmark, it will represent at least the third cold temperature record to have been broken in January.

So far this month, Hamilton had the coldest Jan. 3 and Jan. 7 on record.

On the morning of Friday, Jan. 3, temperatures dipped to –21.8 C, edging out the previous record by 0.2 C.

Four days later, the temperature fell even further, to –24 C. It smashed the previous extreme low for Jan. 7, recorded in 1968, by a full 4 C.

Tuesday may also treat Hamilton to its coldest temperature in almost five years. The last time the mercury dropped below –24 C was on Feb. 5, 2009.

But even if readings ebb pass the –25 C mark, they're extremely unlikely to surpass city's all-time record low. On Jan. 16, 2004, temperatures bottomed out at –30 C, the coldest reading in Hamilton since at least 1960.

And though chillier than the average January, this month has been far from the coldest. As of Jan. 25, the mean temperature for the month stood at –8.2 C. The city experienced its two frostiest Januarys on record in 1977 and 1994, months that saw average temperatures of –11.8 C and –11.7 C, respectively.  

Hamilton has been under a cold weather alert since Jan. 20. In general, the city's medical officer of health issues the alert whenever temperatures reach, or are expected to drop below, –15 C or –20 C with the wind chill.

The deep cold this month led to water main breaks, disrupted garbage collection and has prompted the city to issue residents a list of tips on how to prevent household pipes from freezing.

Extreme low temperatures in early January busted water mains, disrupted garbage collection and, of course, frosted windows across the city. (John Rieti/CBC)

Officials also ask anyone who sees a person in need of shelter to call the Salvation Army at 905-527-1444 ext 0.

Hamilton, like much of southern Ontario, has battled more than one bout of unseasonably cold temperatures this month.

"In the winters, there's always a big area of low pressure sitting over Hudson Bay," explained Environment Canada meteorologist Ria Alsen. "What has happened is that, when the winds are right, all of the cold air gets pushed over southern Ontario."

January has brought the region a string of "little low pressure systems that don't do a lot to bring warm weather back," Alsen said.  

However, Hamilton residents can expect some relief from the extreme cold later in the week. Lows of –10 C are in the forecast for both Thursday and Friday. 

City of Hamilton's tips on how to prevents household pipes from freezing:

• Disconnect and drain all outdoor hoses.
• Shut off and drain all outdoor faucets.
• Insulate all exposed outside water pipes with specially designed foam pipe covers available at building supply or home improvement stores.
• Seal air leaks throughout your home and garage.
• Let a cold water faucet run a minimal amount of water on nights when the temperature is below freezing to prevent service line freeze-up.
• Open kitchen, bathroom and laundry cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing.
• Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage.

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Hamilton woman in hospital with life threatening injuries after collision

A woman is in hospital in life threatening condition after a head on collision in rural Hamilton Monday morning.

Two vehicles slammed into each other just before 7 a.m. on Highway 6, between Concession 4 West and Concession 5 East, OPP Const. Graham Williamson told CBC Hamilton.

A smaller Nissan collided head on with a large, flatbed truck with equipment in the back, Williamson said. The collision happened in the northbound lanes of Highway 6 with the truck facing south, he said, but police haven't yet determined which car crossed over into which lane.

It took crews half an hour to pry the driver of the Nissan out of her car before rushing her to hospital with life threatening injuries. Williamson would only say she is 22, and a "resident of this area."

A third vehicle was also involved in a "peripheral collision," he said. No other injuries were reported and no one else was taken to hospital.

It is still "way too early" in the investigation to determine the official cause, Williamson said.

"The road is snow covered, but how much of a factor that has yet to be determined," he said.

Highway 6 North is closed between Concession 4 West and Concession 5 East. Police expect a full closure in the area for at least three hours.

Drivers can get around the closure by taking Centre Road on the east side, and Brock Road to the west.

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Hamilton house fire causes $800K in damage

Firefighters work to extinguish spot fires at a house in Hamilton's Durand neighbourhood on Sunday morning. (Cory Ruf/CBC)

A Saturday night fire caused $800,000 in damage to a stately three-storey home in Hamilton's Durand neighbourhood.

Emergency crews received a call around 10:20 p.m. about a fire at a house on Undercliffe Avenue, near the intersection of Aberdeen Avenue and Bay Street South.

"There were two occupants [in the house]. They saw smoke and they went to investigate and saw heavy smoke up on the third floor," said Hamilton Fire Department spokesman Claudio Mostacci. 

The occupants escaped the house without injuries, he said.

Firefighters spent the night battling the blaze, and were still working to extinguish spot fires at around 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning, spraying water in through a collapsed portion of the roof.

At that time, Platoon Chief Ross Bridges said he expected the effort to take "a couple more hours."

With temperatures dropping as low as –19 C Sunday morning, runoff water from the fire hoses froze to create a thick layer of ice on Undercliffe and Aberdeen avenues. The ice trapped several cars parked along Aberdeen in their place and made for slick conditions for firefighters still working to finish to the job.

"We're being very diligent not to fall on the ice, but the city, they've been helping us bring sand down here," Bridges said. "We're working at it."

Mostacci said the Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate the fire because of the "dollar value of the damage." 

The cause of the fire has not been determined. 

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Hamilton public schools closed, Catholic schools open

An unexpected snow day has closed some Hamilton schools: all Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board schools are closed on Monday.

Catholic school kids, you're not so lucky. Catholic schools are open, but buses aren't running. Exams are also cancelled for the day.

All scheduled exams for today in Hamilton public schools have been moved to Tuesday, Jan 28. Exam return is still on Thursday and Semester 2 starts on Friday as scheduled.

Public school board spokesperson Jackie Penman told CBC Hamilton that the decision to close schools was made at 6:30 a.m. Monday.

"The decision is made first thing in the morning," she said. "Our advice from transportation is that the roads were unsafe."

The decision to close was made based on "the safety of students," she said, adding that once the decision to close is made, it would be "very hard to open schools in the middle of the day."

The decision drew the ire of some on Twitter today, and even teachers were piping up about it:

The weather is also causing problems at McMaster University. Power has been restored in most west campus buildings and the university is open after an earlier outage. Power is back on in Mary Keyes, Matthews, Moulton Hall, Wallingford and Bates residences and in the Refectory, and Alumni House. The power is still out at the McMaster Children's Centre, where there is also flooding. The Children's Centre will remain closed until at least noon today.

The power is still out at the Central Services Building, Applied Dynamics building and T-26. Generators are expected on site shortly.

Classes are on and the campus is open at Mohawk College in Hamilton, but classes at the Brantford campus have been cancelled.

There are no cancellations or closures for any City of Hamilton recreation programs or facilities this morning.

Catholic school board students took to Twitter to express how they felt about having to go to school while public board students celebrated a snow day:

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Councillors deciding whether to rename Copps Coliseum

Live

By Samantha Craggs, CBC News Posted: Jan 27, 2014 10:02 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 27, 2014 10:02 AM ET

Global Spectrum will make a pitch to Hamilton city councillors Monday to rename Copps Coliseum.

Scott Warren of Global Spectrum will make a presentation, possibly with the potential naming partners, at a general issues committee meeting.

The company tried to keep the request under wraps. In Warren's submission to councillors, he asked that it be in camera and not made public.

The city signed an agreement with Global Spectrum last year to manage Copps Coliseum, Hamilton Place and the Molson Canadian Studio. That agreement allows Global Spectrum to pursue a naming rights partner, Warren said. But the city has to approve it.

Copps Coliseum is named after Victor Copps, a long-time mayor of Hamilton. He was the patriarch of a family well known in Hamilton politics. His daughter, Sheila, went on to become an MP and one-time deputy prime minister. 

Also at this meeting, Coun. Brian McHattie will introduce a motion to drop a lawsuit with the federal government regarding the Red Hill Valley Parkway.

Reporter Samantha Craggs is tweeting live from the meeting. Follow her on Twitter at @SamCraggsCBC or in the box below.

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Stream Hockey Night in Canada games on Saturday

After the success of open-air games in colder climes like Chicago and Ann Arbor, Mich., the NHL is looking to pull off an even bigger al fresco feat.

The league's ice-making aces have been busy tending to a temporary ice rink at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium. The venue will host a contest between the hometown Kings and southern California rivals the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.

(In case you're wondering, the weather forecast calls for clear skies and temperatures around 17 C in L.A.)

Are you dying to see whether the ice surface withstands the California warmth? Watch the game online via CBC's Hockey Night in Canada stream to find out. 

You can also catch a bunch of Canadian teams in action earlier in the evening. Here's a list of NHL games available to stream on Saturday night. 

Toronto Maple Leafs at Winnipeg Jets — 7 p.m. ET

They both had winning streaks snuffed out Thursday night on the road and they both want to get back on track Saturday as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets meet for the first time this season.

"We have to have a reset button here," Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said after practice Friday at the MTS Centre.

The game starts at 7 p.m. ET, but the stream kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Click here to watch it.

Washington Capitals at Montreal Canadiens — 7 p.m. ET

The Washington Capitals haven't experienced this steep of a slide in more than three years.

The Montreal Canadiens haven't been much better, but their poor defensive-zone play could get a reprieve against the offensively challenged Capitals.

The two slumping clubs will meet Saturday night in Montreal with each hoping to avoid a winless weekend after extending their losing streaks Friday.

The pre-game show commences at 6:30 p.m., while the on-ice action revs up just after 7 p.m. Click here to stream the game.

Anaheim Ducks at Los Angeles — 9:30 p.m. ET

Teemu Selanne skated off the ice and walked to the visitors' dugout at Dodger Stadium, rubbing the eye black on his cheekbones in disbelief beneath the southern California sky.

''If somebody would tell me 10 years ago that we were going to do this, I would have said they're crazy,'' Selanne said. ''But we have the technology to do it now, and it's pretty great.''

Dodger Stadium isn't a field of dreams for many hockey players, but the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks are thrilled by the chance to play the NHL's most unlikely outdoor game on Saturday. 

The show starts at 9:30 p.m. ET. Click here to watch the game. 

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McMaster students mixed on engineering group's suspension

McMaster students react to the RedSuits songbook controversy 2:08

McMaster students react to the RedSuits songbook controversy 2:08

McMaster University's decision to suspend the activities of the Redsuits group after discovering a songbook of vulgar chants is receiving a mixed reaction on campus, with some students accusing the administration of being too heavy-handed.

The songbook contains about 25 cheers and includes mentions of rape, murder, incest and bestiality as well as numerous misogynistic, homophobic and anti-Semitic references.

The university's administration announced Thursday it was banning the group, which leads Welcome Week events and organizes programming for engineering students throughout the year, from all on-campus activities pending a probe by an external investigator.

The decision also bars the McMaster Engineering Society from leading Welcome Week events next fall.

Several student organizations applauded the move, including the McMaster Students Union (MSU), which released a statement on the suspension on Thursday afternoon.

The student union "supports the University's decision to uphold the environment of inclusivity, diversity and respect that student of the institution expect," MSU President David Campbell said in the statement.

"Given the available information, the move to immediately suspend any and all Redsuit [activities]… is both prudent and necessary."

Ruling called acceptable, 'unfair'

Did McMaster University respond appropriately to the RedSuits songbook?

The decision has provoked diverging reactions among McMaster students, including those within the faculty of engineering. 

Engineering major Aseeb Syed said he was shocked by the "explicit and quite sexual" content contained in the chants.

"I accept the fact that the president has banned them from Welcome Week," he said. "I'm thinking of it from the perspective of immigrant students coming in. What will they think of students in Canada if they saw actions like this the first week they're coming in?"

However, other students said that, though they found the songbook highly offensive, they don't believe the entire group should be suspended because of the chants.

"I don't exactly think that all the Redsuits knew about it," said Shaun Chiasson, a fourth-year engineering student. "I don't think that they all endorse it or sing the chants. I'm pretty sure that it's not something they all do."

"I've heard that a lot of engineering students who are at Mac right now don't even know about the book," said Veronique Giguere, a medical radiation sciences student. "I feel it's been a little unfair that they'd get cut from Welcome Week for something they didn't have a part in."

The songbook became a topic of discussion during Thursday night's debate between candidates vying to become the next MSU president, an event that was live-streamed on TheSil.ca. 

"I don't think all engineers were condemned in this, but rather the act itself," said candidate and MSU diversity services director Israa Ali.

"I'm very much satisfied with the stand that the university has taken," she told the audience.

"Given the current information, I stand by the university's suspension decision," said Jacob Brodka, another MSU leadership candidate. 

"I'm curious to see the types of conversations that will take place moving forward to ensure that engineering students who are paying service fees for programming do receive that programming moving forward. "

It's unclear how old the chants are or when they were last sung at Redsuit events. However, the songbook, obtained by CBC Hamilton, suggests the cheers were compiled in 2010 — by students who appear to have graduated last year — but dated from many years earlier. 

Gord Arbeau, McMaster's director of public and university relations, said university officials aren't certain whether the chants were used during Welcome Week 2013.

"We don't have any direct evidence that it was used in the past year," he told CBC Hamilton on Friday.

The songbook came to the university's attention "in the past few days," Arbeau said, but he declined to give any information what led to the discovery. 

He said he doesn't know how long the investigation will take, nor the consequences that may result from the probe. 

"We don't want to presuppose anything in advance."

Past controversies 

This isn't the first time an organization of McMaster engineering students has come under fire for allegedly publishing sexist, homophobic and violent content in print.

During the 2005-2006 academic year, a student group called the Coalition for Equitable Social Change (CESC) called for The Plumbline, a humour newsletter funded by the McMaster Engineering Society, to fold because of its "degrading and discriminatory practices."

In a letter to the editor published in a November 2005 edition of McMaster student newspaper The Silhouette, CESC campaigner Jesse Sturgeon condemned a satirical treatment of rape that had been published in a recent Plumbline issue.

"The Plumbline doesn't cause discriminatory and degrading behaviour, but it does support it, perhaps at times unintentionally," wrote Sturgeon. "We oppose The Plumbline because it is symptomatic of the systemic violence that has been deemed tradition in the engineering faculty, a type of tradition that was jettisoned by other engineering schools in Ontario."

'The material in this book is repugnant goes well beyond any other kinds of material, songs or chants that we've ever come across.'—Gord Arbeau, McMaster University

However, Arbeau said the songbook scandal is unprecedented at Mac.

"The material in this book is repugnant goes well beyond any other kinds of material, songs or chants that we've ever come across," he said. 

In a Thursday statement, the McMaster Engineering Society slammed the content of the songbook and said the organization's leadership has worked hard in recent years to foster a more inclusive culture. 

"The McMaster Engineering Society and its leadership has spent the past several years improving its image on campus and within the faculty, and providing more services to a wider student base," the statement said.

"The MES would like to extend its deepest apologies to any individuals or groups that may have been offended by the document's content, and strongly affirms that these attitudes will not be tolerated within the MES.​"

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Where did downtown Hamilton’s bus lane go?

Wild weather over the past two months has destroyed trees, downed power lines and shattered Hamiltonians' hopes for a mild winter.

And now the harsh conditions have claimed another set of victims: markings on the months-old King Street bus lane that identify it as a transit-only thoroughfare.

Brandon Aubie, a research assistant at McMaster University, drives on King Street regularly. He said the paint inside the bus lane has been fading for at least two months — to the point that some of the markings have become almost invisible.

The sight prompted him to post a thread on Friday to the online social forum Reddit asking about the fate of the project.

Winter weather has caused the paint inside the King Street bus lanes to fade. (Cory Ruf/CBC)

"The paint has faded, it's full of non-bus vehicles, and I've never seen police pull someone over for driving in it," he wrote. "Clearly it's an experiment that just fizzled out."

Ward 1 Councillor Brian McHattie insists the bus lane — which was installed in October as a one-year trial at a cost of $300,000 — is still active. 

"It's a bit frustrating right now," said McHattie, who pushed council to implement the project.

The problem, he said, stems from provincial rules on what types of traffic paint municipalities can use on city roads.

"As a result, the paint that we're using doesn't stay as long. You'll see the same thing with bike lanes."

City crews will have to repaint the lanes in the spring, said McHattie, a candidate in next October's mayoral election. But he said he didn't know how much the effort would cost.

"I don't expect it to be an extraordinary number," he said. 

HSR officials could not be reached on Saturday. However, Hamilton police Staff Sergeant George Narozniak said that drivers generally respect the bus lane, even if the lane markings aren't clearly visible. 

"Although it is newer, there is a quite a bit of compliance, from what I understand." 

The street-side signs are still in place, Narozniak said, signalling to motorists to stay out of the lane unless they need to cross it momentarily to make a right-hand turn.

Drivers can still expect a $65 fine if police officers catch them violating the bylaw, he noted.

"If you're on it, it's still enforced as the law."

Council voted in May to implement the bus lane — which runs from Mary Street in the east to Dundurn Street in the west — as a one-year trial.

City staff are studying the project to "test the waters on moving forward with a full rapid-transit system," Christine Lee-Morrison, a manager in the city's public works department, said in October.

But the trial is "pointless" if the non-transit vehicles encroach into the bus lane, Aubie told CBC Hamilton. 

"The point is to see what happens when you reduce the lanes downtown," he said.

"I'm not exactly sure how the experiment is going to work if cars are driving in the lane."

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Tom's Way: Hamilton voice coach is also a 'life guru'

Documentary: Tom's Way 22:02

Documentary: Tom's Way 22:02

When a man with an impressive resume and indubitable talent makes Hamilton his home, it is a reminder of the type of warmth and community this city has to offer.

Tom Schilling, a highly respected voice coach, has helped numerous Hamiltonians find confidence and peace in their lives through singing. He moved from New York to Hamilton in 2005 after a 50-year career as a sought-after voice coach and organist in New York's Broadway scene.

A former U.S. Steel worker, a self-proclaimed "pothead" as well as professional singers flock to Schilling to receive voice lessons. In other words, all are welcome.

Schilling, 75, says many times people get intimidated when they come in for a lesson. Ultimately, he wants his students to enjoy singing.

"Singing should be fun. You have to work hard, but you have to have fun with it," Schilling said. "I try to make people understand they don't have to sing opera."

For many of Schilling's students, he is much more than a voice coach. One describes him as a "life guru".

'Singing is a way of life. It teaches you about life.'- Tom Schilling, voice coach

"Music has always been something that pulled me out of the gutter. Some of the biggest changes I've made in my life have come through music. I call it 'tuning my life guitar,' " says Jason Lambert, a roofer and contractor.

A decade ago, Lambert was facing a prison sentence and while out on bail he got electrocuted. He was clinically dead for five minutes before he was revived.

He came to Schilling so he could sing better.

"Having someone like Tom who has committed pretty much his whole life to music, I think that has a really big part in helping me work through those other things."

Schilling is the subject of a new documentary called Tom's Way. It first aired on CBC Radio's Sunday Edition earlier in January.

Retired CBC journalist and Hamilton resident, Jean Dalrymple, heard Schilling's story and wanted to share it with a new audience. 

"I met a young doctor who uprooted his whole life from Yellowknife to learn with Tom and I thought to myself this must really be a special man," Dalrymple said. "It was really interesting to hear him talk about singing and the voice. For him, it's not just about mechanics. It's about what's behind the singing. It's behind the soul."

And there lies the secret behind Schilling's success: his ability to help his students find themselves in the music.

"My goal is to get people out of their own way. People get so scared to let it go," Schilling told CBC Hamilton. "You take people where they are. You don't really teach the voice anything. It's already in there. You just have to teach the singer how to use it. It's a return to your real self."

As for why Schilling made Hamilton his new home, he says: "It's quiet. You have to create in silence."

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Hamilton house fire causes $800K in damage

Firefighters work to extinguish spot fires at a house in Hamilton's Durand neighbourhood on Sunday morning. (Cory Ruf/CBC)

A Saturday night fire caused $800,000 in damage to a stately three-storey home in Hamilton's Durand neighbourhood.

Emergency crews received a call around 10:20 p.m. about a fire at a house on Undercliffe Avenue, near the intersection of Aberdeen Avenue and Bay Street South.

"There were two occupants [in the house]. They saw smoke and they went to investigate and saw heavy smoke up on the third floor," said Hamilton Fire Department spokesman Claudio Mostacci. 

The occupants escaped the house without injuries, he said.

Firefighters spent the night battling the blaze, and were still working to extinguish spot fires at around 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning, spraying water in through a collapsed portion of the roof.

At that time, Platoon Chief Ross Bridges said he expected the effort to take "a couple more hours."

With temperatures dropping as low as –19 C Sunday morning, runoff water from the fire hoses froze to create a thick layer of ice on Undercliffe and Aberdeen avenues. The ice trapped several cars parked along Aberdeen in their place and made for slick conditions for firefighters still working to finish to the job.

"We're being very diligent not to fall on the ice, but the city, they've been helping us bring sand down here," Bridges said. "We're working at it."

Mostacci said the Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate the fire because of the "dollar value of the damage." 

The cause of the fire has not been determined. 

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Things to do in Hamilton this weekend

The Pearl Company Winter Theatre Festival

The Pearl Company's winter theatre festival is back for a second weekend. From Thursday to Saturday, the Hamilton Music Award-winning theatre offers audiences edgy takes on sex, religion and politics in three plays. Hamilton's underground sketch comedy group Ugly Stiks will also make an appearance on Friday night. 

All shows start at 7:00 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 per show. Parking is free.

You can pre-purchase your ticket on the theatre's website or through TicketScene. Remaining tickets will be sold at the door (cash only).

For more information, go to The Pearl Company's website. 

Hamilton Bulldogs vs. Chicago Wolves

The Bulldogs will be hosting the Chicago Wolves on Sunday. The games starts at 3 p.m. at the Copps Coliseum. Tickets range from $24 to $34.80, available online at Ticketmaster.ca.

For more information, visit the Bulldogs' website.  

Hamilton Wood Show

Billed as a "paradise" for craftsmen and handywomen, the Hamilton Wood Show comes to Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (9280 Airport Rd., Mount Hope) this weekend. The event features woodworking demonstrations, vendors selling tools and supplies and the opportunity for master whittlers to submit their creations into the Canadian Woodcarving Championships.

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $12 for adults, $11 for seniors and youth under the age of 18.

For more information, go to woodshows.com. 

[becoming] The Logic of Memory

[becoming]

The Logic of Memory explores the concept of memory and encourage visitors to consider notions of memory, nostalgia, time and loss. The exhibit features works from artists Corinne Duchesne, Peter Horvath and Anna Torma.

The exhibit opened on Thursday and will run through March 1. Visit Hamilton Artists Inc. at 155 James St. N.

Read more about the exhibition and the artists on the Hamilton Artists Inc. website. 

The 39 Steps

Are you a mystery fan? Dundas Little Theatre is putting on a rendition of the classic over-the-top whodunit The 39 Steps this weekend. In the romp, an unassuming man encounters a mysterious woman who claims to be a spy. When she's abruptly murdered, the protagonist becomes the object of an international manhunt.

Performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Garstin Centre for the Arts (37 Market St. S, Dundas). Tickets cost $18 per person and can be reserved by phone at 905-627-5266.

For more information, go to Dundaslittletheatre.com.

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Ontario woman arrested in trafficking of teen sex worker

A 22-year-old Ontario woman who is accused of exploiting a 15-year-old and forcing her to work as a sex worker in Burlington, Ont., has been arrested, Halton Regional Police announced Friday.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Halton police officers identified and met with more than 20 sex trade workers operating in local hotels as part of a national initiative to identify victims of human trafficking and provide support to people working in the sex trade.

During one of those meetings, officers identified a 15-year-old girl being exploited as a sex worker at a hotel in Burlington.

The accused was "exercising control over the victim and facilitating her exploitation," Halton police said in a Friday news release. The woman and the teen are not related, Det.-Const. Martin Dick told CBC News in Hamilton.

Dick would not elaborate on any details of the case as it "might identify the victim," he said.

"We recognize there is a problem with human trafficking — not just in Halton," he said. "We are aggressively targeting those responsible for exploitation."

Martin did not elaborate on the details of the national initiative, citing the current investigation. He said it was a police-driven, two-day blitz initiated by multiple agencies and groups. 

A 22-year-old Angus, Ont., woman was arrested and charged with trafficking a person under the age of 18; procuring a person to become a prostitute; controlling a person to engage in prostitution; and living off the avails of a person under the age of 18.

The girl has been taken to a safe place, police say.

Halton police want people working in the sex trade industry to know police "really are there to help," Dick said.

"This is victim-centric support. We're here for the help and support they require."

Workers in the sex trade looking for support can contact the Walk with Me and Chrysalis organizations, police say. 

Sex trafficking involving teens and young adults is becoming increasingly common, said Timea Nagy, founder of Walk with Me, a support group created by human trafficking survivors for human trafficking victims.

"It's unfortunately a new trend," she told CBC Hamilton, citing the recent sentencing of three teenage girls accused of running a teen prostitution ring in Ottawa involving girls between 13 and 17 years of age.

"It's the new way of making money. Traffickers recognize that so many youth are wandering the street, it's so much easier to lure them in than getting people from other countries."

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Over $200K in funding to get women working announced

The Hamilton YWCA says women are underrepresented in traditionally male-dominated careers like construction and manufacturing — but now it has a hefty government cheque to try and change that.

On Friday, parliamentary secretary for Status of Women Canada Susan Truppe announced the YWCA will receive just over $240,000 for a three-year project that will advance recruitment and retention of women in those industries.

This type of project is even more significant because of the imminent skill shortages facing Canada, says Truppe.

Susan Truppe, parliamentary secretary for Status of Women Canada, announces funding support for Hamilton YWCA project to advance the recruitment and retention of women in construction and manufacturing industries. (Sola DaSilva)

"There is going to be a skill shortage and we think that women have a great opportunity to able to fill those roles and they are certainly talented and skilled enough," Truppe said. "This is important because of Hamilton being a bit of an industrial city … so Hamilton is an ideal place to do this project. These jobs are out there and are very well-paying and that's why we want to see more women — so there are better opportunities for women to prosper."

The funding will go towards outreach, planning and strategies to help women in Hamilton join the trades, says Denise Doyle, the chief executive officer of Hamilton YWCA.

"We already know that we have to look to women, Aboriginals and new immigrants when we think about where our workers are going to come from in the next ten to 15 years. Employers today are investing in strategies in order to be more effective in those recruiting processes," Doyle said. "We hope that our work over the next three years is going to not only engage with women who want to enter those trades but also engage with the employers and help them bring women into their organizations."

According to a report released by the Conference Board of Canada in Oct. 2013, many Hamilton employers report skill shortages. A survey of 1,538 Ontario employers (about 4 per cent of which were from Hamilton) showed the highest shortages were in the engineering and infrastructure fields, followed by the energy and utilities industries and the manufacturing and automotive industries.

Recruiting women to these occupations, many of which are high paying, will provide an opportunity for women to leave low paying or minimum wage jobs for unionized employment.

"The one thing that I can assure you of is that this program is going to be run by strong women leaders and the men involved will encourage the young women who are coming up to negotiate more than a living wage and an equal wage," Doyle said.

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McMaster students mixed on engineering group's suspension

McMaster students react to the RedSuits songbook controversy 2:08

McMaster students react to the RedSuits songbook controversy 2:08

McMaster University's decision to suspend the activities of the Redsuits group after discovering a songbook of vulgar chants is receiving a mixed reaction on campus, with some students accusing the administration of being too heavy-handed.

The songbook contains about 25 cheers and includes mentions of rape, murder, incest and bestiality as well as numerous misogynistic, homophobic and anti-Semitic references.

The university's administration announced Thursday it was banning the group, which leads Welcome Week events and organizes programming for engineering students throughout the year, from all on-campus activities pending a probe by an external investigator.

The decision also bars the McMaster Engineering Society from leading Welcome Week events next fall.

Several student organizations applauded the move, including the McMaster Students Union (MSU), which released a statement on the suspension on Thursday afternoon.

The student union "supports the University's decision to uphold the environment of inclusivity, diversity and respect that student of the institution expect," MSU President David Campbell said in the statement.

"Given the available information, the move to immediately suspend any and all Redsuit [activities]… is both prudent and necessary."

Ruling called acceptable, 'unfair'

The decision has provoked diverging reactions among McMaster students, including those within the faculty of engineering. 

Engineering major Aseeb Syed said he was shocked by the "explicit and quite sexual" content contained in the chants.

"I accept the fact that the president has banned them from Welcome Week," he said. "I'm thinking of it from the perspective of immigrant students coming in. What will they think of students in Canada if they saw actions like this the first week they're coming in?"

However, other students said that, though they found the songbook highly offensive, they don't believe the entire group should be suspended because of the chants.

"I don't exactly think that all the Redsuits knew about it," said Shaun Chiasson, a fourth-year engineering student. "I don't think that they all endorse it or sing the chants. I'm pretty sure that it's not something they all do."

"I've heard that a lot of engineering students who are at Mac right now don't even know about the book," said Veronique Giguere, a medical radiation sciences student. "I feel it's been a little unfair that they'd get cut from Welcome Week for something they didn't have a part in."

The songbook became a topic of discussion during Thursday night's debate between candidates vying to become the next MSU president, an event that was live-streamed on TheSil.ca. 

"I don't think all engineers were condemned in this, but rather the act itself," said candidate and MSU diversity services director Israa Ali.

"I'm very much satisfied with the stand that the university has taken," she told the audience.

"Given the current information, I stand by the university's suspension decision," said Jacob Brodka, another MSU leadership candidate. 

"I'm curious to see the types of conversations that will take place moving forward to ensure that engineering students who are paying service fees for programming do receive that programming moving forward. "

It's unclear how old the chants are or when they were last sung at Redsuit events. However, the songbook, obtained by CBC Hamilton, suggests the cheers were compiled in 2010 — by students who appear to have graduated last year — but dated from many years earlier. 

Gord Arbeau, McMaster's director of public and university relations, said university officials aren't certain whether the chants were used during Welcome Week 2013.

"We don't have any direct evidence that it was used in the past year," he told CBC Hamilton on Friday.

The songbook came to the university's attention "in the past few days," Arbeau said, but he declined to give any information what led to the discovery. 

He said he doesn't know how long the investigation will take, nor the consequences that may result from the probe. 

"We don't want to presuppose anything in advance."

Past controversies 

This isn't the first time an organization of McMaster engineering students has come under fire for allegedly publishing sexist, homophobic and violent content in print.

During the 2005-2006 academic year, a student group called the Coalition for Equitable Social Change (CESC) called for The Plumbline, a humour newsletter funded by the McMaster Engineering Society, to fold because of its "degrading and discriminatory practices."

In a letter to the editor published in a November 2005 edition of McMaster student newspaper The Silhouette, CESC campaigner Jesse Sturgeon condemned a satirical treatment of rape that had been published in a recent Plumbline issue.

"The Plumbline doesn't cause discriminatory and degrading behaviour, but it does support it, perhaps at times unintentionally," wrote Sturgeon. "We oppose The Plumbline because it is symptomatic of the systemic violence that has been deemed tradition in the engineering faculty, a type of tradition that was jettisoned by other engineering schools in Ontario."

'The material in this book is repugnant goes well beyond any other kinds of material, songs or chants that we've ever come across.'—Gord Arbeau, McMaster University

However, Arbeau said the songbook scandal is unprecedented at Mac.

"The material in this book is repugnant goes well beyond any other kinds of material, songs or chants that we've ever come across," he said. 

In a Thursday statement, the McMaster Engineering Society slammed the content of the songbook and said the organization's leadership has worked hard in recent years to foster a more inclusive culture. 

"The McMaster Engineering Society and its leadership has spent the past several years improving its image on campus and within the faculty, and providing more services to a wider student base," the statement said.

"The MES would like to extend its deepest apologies to any individuals or groups that may have been offended by the document's content, and strongly affirms that these attitudes will not be tolerated within the MES.​"

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Tom's Way: Hamilton voice coach is also a 'life guru'

Documentary: Tom's Way 22:02

Documentary: Tom's Way 22:02

When a man with an impressive resume and indubitable talent makes Hamilton his home, it is a reminder of the type of warmth and community this city has to offer.

Tom Schilling, a highly respected voice coach, has helped numerous Hamiltonians find confidence and peace in their lives through singing. He moved from New York to Hamilton in 2005 after a 50-year career as a sought-after voice coach and organist in New York's Broadway scene.

A former U.S. Steel worker, a self-proclaimed "pothead" as well as professional singers flock to Schilling to receive voice lessons. In other words, all are welcome.

Schilling, 75, says many times people get intimidated when they come in for a lesson. Ultimately, he wants his students to enjoy singing.

"Singing should be fun. You have to work hard, but you have to have fun with it," Schilling said. "I try to make people understand they don't have to sing opera."

For many of Schilling's students, he is much more than a voice coach. One describes him as a "life guru".

'Singing is a way of life. It teaches you about life.'- Tom Schilling, voice coach

"Music has always been something that pulled me out of the gutter. Some of the biggest changes I've made in my life have come through music. I call it 'tuning my life guitar,' " says Jason Lambert, a roofer and contractor.

A decade ago, Lambert was facing a prison sentence and while out on bail he got electrocuted. He was clinically dead for five minutes before he was revived.

He came to Schilling so he could sing better.

"Having someone like Tom who has committed pretty much his whole life to music, I think that has a really big part in helping me work through those other things."

Schilling is the subject of a new documentary called Tom's Way. It first aired on CBC Radio's Sunday Edition earlier in January.

Retired CBC journalist and Hamilton resident, Jean Dalrymple, heard Schilling's story and wanted to share it with a new audience. 

"I met a young doctor who uprooted his whole life from Yellowknife to learn with Tom and I thought to myself this must really be a special man," Dalrymple said. "It was really interesting to hear him talk about singing and the voice. For him, it's not just about mechanics. It's about what's behind the singing. It's behind the soul."

And there lies the secret behind Schilling's success: his ability to help his students find themselves in the music.

"My goal is to get people out of their own way. People get so scared to let it go," Schilling told CBC Hamilton. "You take people where they are. You don't really teach the voice anything. It's already in there. You just have to teach the singer how to use it. It's a return to your real self."

As for why Schilling made Hamilton his new home, he says: "It's quiet. You have to create in silence."

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