A couple of critical questions from councillors derailed the planned adoption of a revised economic development strategy for Hamilton last week. The 111-page document, along with a recommendation to approve it, was dropped on the desks of city councillors last Wednesday at the start of a special planning and economic development committee meeting.

Committee chair Bill Kelly and economic development director Neil Everson were clearly looking for final authorization of the strategy. Kelly provided an extensive introduction and enthusiastic endorsement for the report. Then Everson recounted how a draft had been circulating among business groups since May, noted that "the final revisions took five or six weeks to put in place" and concluded by asking the committee for "approval of the revised economic development strategy".

But he quickly retreated when the question period started. Chad Collins asked why the report called for attracting "liquid storage of fuel, petrochemicals and industrial chemicals" to Hamilton harbour. "You won't find another community between here and Toronto - Burlington , Oakville and Mississauga - who are taking up the torch with these industries," declared Collins. "In fact they're going in the opposite direction."

Everson admitted this section of the report "was prepared in concert with the Hamilton Port Authority" and announced that "the reason we're here today is just for approval of the draft." He promised to meet with the Port Authority to modify the strategy and vowed that "the final draft, the final report isn't going to be prepared until we have the comments."

Rookie councillor Bob Bratina got much the same response when he asked why VIA rail and all-day GO Transit service were not included in the plans for transportation in downtown Hamilton. Everson acknowledged that was "a good point" and promised to "make reference to incorporate that into this document".

Other criticism of the strategy came from Ancaster councillor Murray Ferguson who suggested that it was unrealistic to expect employment growth in the agricultural sector - one of eight to ten 'clusters' identified as the 'priority' for economic development.

Hamilton's cluster strategy is based on a theory that growth occurs more rapidly where cities develop a "geographic concentration of competing and cooperating companies, suppliers, service providers and associated institutions".

When it was first approved in 2002, city officials had identified six such clusters on which to focus their efforts to improve Hamilton's economy. They were the airport, manufacturing, agriculture, biotechnology, film production, and an information, communications and technology cluster.

The last one was dropped after the dot.com crash of 200, but this week's revised strategy added three new clusters - the port, tourism and the arts, and the downtown - as well as an education and a "quality of life" component. The latter includes health care, housing and the environment.

Flamborough councillor Dave Braden suggested that was far too many. " We can't afford to be having fifteen priorities with the amount of money we've got. We need one or two that we can get and win."

The committee eventually did adopt the staff recommendation, so it is unclear when or if the additional revisions to the draft strategy will be brought back to council. A transcript of the full debate on the proposal can be viewed on the CATCH site. The staff report is available at
http://www.city.hamilton.on.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-reports/
Planning-Economic-Development/2004/Oct20/
ECO04008%20Revised%20Economic%20Development
%20Strategy%202004.pdf.