Two events happened last week that are causing me to pay closer attention to the unused Sir John A Macdonald secondary school site in Downtown Hamilton.
On Wednesday, Hamilton City Council unanimously approved a confidential closed-session agreement with either the Province of Ontario or the Government of Canada to fund Hamilton’s ongoing opioid response.
On Friday, the Ontario Conservative government announced the construction of a new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub (HART) in Oshawa. The HART will include supportive housing.
On its own, Wednesday’s Council confidential funding agreement vote revealed nothing.
However, Councillor John-Paul Danko declared a “non-disqualifying interest” before the vote.
Due to confidentiality requirements, Danko could not state the nature of his non-disqualifying interest.
It is not hard to guess.
Danko’s past non-disqualifying interest declarations have all been variations of this: “To prevent the perception of a conflict, I declare a non-disqualifying interest as my spouse is the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Ward 7 Trustee.”
With Oshawa receiving a second purpose-built HART hub, we in Hamilton should expect the same.
We have three times the population and significantly more need.
(The Province previously announced the supervised consumption service at the Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre will be converted into a HART hub.)
This brings us to the long-vacant Sir John A Macdonald (SJAM) secondary school property in Downtown Hamilton.
It is an obvious site for a comprehensive HART Hub, which includes transitional and supportive housing.
The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board owns the land, which means the Province de facto already owns it. It is in a central location, which is key for a health care hub.
The HWDSB Board of Trustees recently voted on a closed-session property matter in February. There is no indication these votes are related to the SJAM site.
The Board’s property interests are expansive, and this “property matter” could involve a property acquisition in the suburbs [a fairly routine event for the Board].
If it is not an acquisition, the Board has four ‘holding properties’, and only one has been declared partially surplus: SJAM.
And there’s Ontario Regulation 374/23 to consider. More on this at the end.
Sir John A Macdonald Community Hub Partnership – A Decade-Old Plan the Province Hasn’t Yet Supported
SJAM closed its doors in June 2019. The HWDSB has sought to see the land retained by a public or non-profit organization.
Since 2017, when the Board decided to close the school when construction of Bernie Custis Secondary School was complete, the HWDSB has pitched the province on numerous community partnerships.
The 2017 proposal envisioned “a bold downtown community hub,” with the City of Hamilton, Hamilton Community Foundation, Hamilton East Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes Inc., Hamilton Health Sciences, and the YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford all signing memorandums of understanding with the HWDSB to build housing, health care services, a recreation facility, and other community services on the 3.2-hectare site. The HWDSB planned to build a new elementary school building.
The Ontario Conservative government did not approve funding for the proposal.
None of the community hub partners has walked away from the deal. They’ve continued planning and lobbying provincial politicians to make it happen.
A few things have changed in recent years.
There is more government funding for housing.
The YMCA’s need to replace its Downtown James Street South facility has increased. Last year’s fire in the YMCA’s men’s residence made publicly known how many of the single-room residents actually need supportive wraparound housing.
The Hamilton Community Foundation provided $4.7-million to finance Indwell’s 2021 bid to purchase the Delta Secondary School site. The bid was foiled by Ontario Regulation 444/98, which at the time required school boards to sell surplus properties to the highest bidder without consideration for community needs or desires.
The HCF remains committed to using its funds to assist affordable housing providers in purchasing surplus school properties.
The Rules Have Changed: Ontario Regulation 374/23
In October 2023, the Province revoked 444/98 and replaced it with 374/23.
374/23 allows the transaction of surplus school lands to “Persons or bodies who require the property in order to achieve such provincial priorities as have been identified for the purpose.”
Housing is a provincial priority. So is the creation of more HART hubs.
Now We Wait And See
I’ve shared what I know: Danko’s conflict of interest declaration points to a HWDSB involvement in whatever plan was presented to Council.
I shared some informed speculation.
Now we wait to see what happens.
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Published: March 31, 2025
Last updated: March 31, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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