Not enough members of Hamilton City Council attended today’s (June 23) scheduled meetings, causing both the Hamilton Utilities Corporation Shareholder meeting and the Hamilton Enterprises Holding Corporation Shareholder meeting to begin without quorum.
Only four councillors were on-time at City Hall, with another four logged in via video conference.
“At this time we are waiting for quorum. At this time we will come back in fifteen minutes if we do not have quorum, we will adjourn today’s meeting,” Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch stated at 9:30 a.m. when the Hamilton Utilities Corporation Shareholder meeting was called to order.
In Council Chambers were Kroetsch, Tammy Hwang, Brad Clark, and Ted McMeekin. Online were Matt Francis, Esther Pauls, Jeff Beattie, and Craig Cassar.
After waiting 15 minutes, in the hope that one of the seven other council members would login by video, the meeting was adjourned due to lack of quorum.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have quorum so we are adjourning today’s meeting,” Kroetsch stated at 9:45 a.m.
Council then attempted to proceed with the second scheduled meeting.
Hamilton Enterprises Holding Corporation Shareholder meeting was called to order at 9:50 a.m.
Once again, quorum was not present.
“We are waiting for quorum for our meeting,” Kroetsch stated.
Efforts continued to find another council member to join the meeting.
Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson logged into the video conference. The meeting business began at 10:00 a.m.
However, quorum was not maintained during the meeting.
Due to the long-standing issued issues with council members not attending meetings, the City of Hamilton no longer requires the presence of a quorum except for voting.
At 10:42 a.m. the bare minimum nine council members needed to pass resolutions were present.
Following this, the meeting was adjourned.
Decreased Meetings in 2025: Yet Quorum Remains An Issue
Quorum issues and cancelled meetings are becoming more common in 2025. This despite a decrease in meetings this year.
Beginning in January this year, City Council decreased their meeting schedule by nearly 25 percent. Under the new calendar, there are no council meetings during 18 weeks this year.
This includes a 32-day vacation block that begins in August and continues until the second week of September.
Whereas nearly every workplace, organization, and schools return from summer the day after Labour Day, September 2nd this year, the City of Hamilton will remain on summer shutdown until September 7.
2025 Quorum Issues Thus Far
Even with the flexibility of opening a laptop to attend meetings, City Council has struggled with quorum issues throughout 2025.
City Council failed to make quorum to begin the January 20 public budget delegations meeting on time, and struggled with quorum for the entire meeting.
The January 21 CityHousing Hamilton Board meeting failed to make quorum and was cancelled.
Only one councillor attended the February 18 Waste Sub-Committee meeting. The meeting was cancelled.
On March 3, Council began late. They made minimum quorum to approve the 2023 CityHousing financial statements.
On May 20, the Public Health Sub-Committee failed to reach quorum. The meeting was cancelled. On May 21, only seven council members were on time for Council’s general issues committee meeting. Quorum was eventually reached.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: June 23, 2025
Last updated: June 23, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version
We need better accountability from our elected officials. We need real public service.
What is the protocol for firing some of these representatives? Do we really want these slackers representing us?
Everytime I tune into a meeting, there are certain councillors who are always joining online, including my own councillor. Yet they want city workers back in the office buildings, many of which are so outdated. Rather than having to spend a fortune upgrading these offices, they should instead invest in fewer spaces that can be shared by staff rotating through a few times a week. For example, have one team in on one day and a different team another day. I get that it can be nicer to have everyone in for a meeting, but most evidence shows that staff are more productive from home and the increased flexibility has resulted in a decrease in staff taking time off for appointments/etc. Those buildings could be put to better use.
Councilors not showing up for meetings is unacceptable. These councilors were elected by the people to represent us. Taxes keep going up and less and less work is getting done. It is no wonder nothing gets done if they can’t be bothered to show up for meetings. If they don’t show up for the required meetings then they shouldn’t get paid. We should be entitled to know which councilors are showing up and which ones aren’t. There needs to be accountability to citizens.
I think the reasons for not attending should be published, the people should know what their representative was busy doing at the time.
Shouldn’t the organizer of each meeting ensure that there will be a quorum in advance of the meeting? Also one might think that our elected representatives would also show up for all meetings .Agree that attendance records sadly need to be published , ranking out the council.
I wonder where my councillor for ward 14 was and does he ever make these meetings. When election time comes around the record of attendance at these meetings needs to be published. Thanks for this information.
Very disappointing. Higher taxes and reduction in services. Just the start.
Absolutely ridiculous that Councilors not attending scheduled meetings. Taxes are through the roof and nothing getting done. It’s time to clean out City Hall. Mayor makes $270,000.00?
Shocking! Councilors attendance records should made public during electio campaigns and attending a minimum number of meeting be required to hold office.
Looks like someone needs to make a website and start posting the names of those that didn’t show up at the next election. Maybe pass a law saying they don’t get paid unless they show up for meetings?
Any council member elected by the citizens of this city should be forced to resign if they don’t show up to do the work of the people.
A 100% attendance should be required in house to discuss and vote for anything that has to do with the people’s money.anything less is a failure