Submission to Committee of the Whole
by Audrey Skingley
February 12 , 2004

My name is Audrey Skingley. I was born in Hamilton 84 years ago. I am the person who took out the petition against the $45 increase to the Annual Senior Buss Pass. The reason I took on the petition is because I'm on the poverty line and $45 is too much.

The response to this petition is so overwhelming. Two thousand Hamiltonians signed and more keep coming from Dundas to Grimsby and all over Hamilton. I would like to thank everyone for supporting me and a lot of these supporters are sitting here today, February 12, 2004. Thank you! Thank you!

I would like to know why only 10 councillors were here to vote, and 7 of them, here today, voted for the $45 increase in October. Why were the councillors so silent about the increase? No one in Hamilton knew about it until I told them when they signed my petition. Then it took off like fire. The HSR and their drivers were not even aware. The seven councillors who voted for the increase were Kelly, Ferguson, Braden, Mitchell, Wade, Bain and Caplan.

The bus is so necessary for many Seniors to see their physicians, to get their groceries, to go to the YWCA, and other health and community centres. Getting out and keeping active keeps us healthy and independent. Why do the seniors, the poor, and the working taxpayers have to take the blame for the horrendous debt for which City Hall is responsible?

We to know, today, how much of an increase will be applied to the Annual Seniors' Bus Pass in April 2004. We want to know now!