Statement by clara vuillier-devillers

Dear Premier Ford,

I have always found myself incredibly lucky to have spent most of my life living in Hamilton, a city that I love. As a child I loved growing up in the Durand neighborhood, and I loved moving up onto the escarpment as I grew older. I loved attending Westdale Secondary School and walking around Westdale Village during lunch. On weekends I loved hiking to nearby waterfalls, I loved spending Saturday mornings at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, and I love walking my dog at Bayfront Park. But most of all, I loved the community. I love everything about this city. However, when I went off into first year university at the University of Waterloo, I realized for the first time in my life that maybe the city that I grew up in and loved so dearly was not as terrific as I once thought.

Quite recently, the Region of Waterloo has installed an LRT system will rails connecting two downtowns, four university campuses, hospitals, intercity transit, and multiple shopping centers and neighborhoods. As a university student, I use the LRT daily to go to and from classes as a quicker and more practical alternative than the bus. The LRT system forms the spine of public transportation in the Waterloo Region and has simplified my life enormously, as well as the lives of many other citizens who rely on public transportation.

As climate change increases, all cities need to adopt more public transportation alternatives. Especially towns who house numerous universities and colleges like Hamilton with McMaster Univeristy, Mohawk College, and Redeemer. Within the densely populated schools, very few students are able to afford having their own vehicles for transportation, and these students as well as all Hamiltonians need affordable and practical solutions to navigating this wonderful city.

I will always love Hamilton. In fact, I hope to own day move back here, and settle down with a family of my own. I hope that my children will grow up loving wondering around Westdale Village, to love hiking to waterfalls, to love spending Saturday mornings at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, to love walking the family dog at Bayfront Park and to love their community. However, most of all I hope that they have an LRT system to facilitate the transportation between all the great things they love about Hamilton.

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