Hamilton City Council continues to struggle with attendance as council members show up late to meetings, if they show up at all.
Today’s (August 11, 2025) Audit, Finance, and Administration Committee failed to start on time due to a lack of quorum.
Only four of the eight councillors on the committee were present for the 9:00 a.m. start time.
Present were: Ward 9 Councillor Brad Clark, Ward 10 Clr Jeff Beattie, Ward 13 Clr Alex Wilson, and Ward 14 Clr Mike Spadafora.
Not present on time were: Ward 1 Clr Maureen Wilson, Ward 2 Clr Cameron Kroetsch, Ward 4 Clr Tammy Hwang, and Ward 11 Clr Mark Tadeson.
When the meeting was unable to start on time, City staff were sent to search for council members. Ward 4 Clr Tammy Hwang was in her office, having mistakenly thought the meeting would begin at 9:30 a.m.
Hwang entered the meeting room at 9:03 a.m.
Ongoing Attendance Issues
The City of Hamilton’s procedural bylaw requires 50 per cent plus one members of Council or a committee to be present to begin a meeting.
This is the minimum threshold required by the Municipal Act.
The number of cancelled and delayed meetings has increased in 2025, despite City Council decreasing the number of weeks they meet by nearly 25 per cent.
The Audit, Finance, and Administration Committee lacked quorum for its July 23 meeting.
January 20: Council failed to have quorum to begin the public budget delegations on time. The meeting began late. Council struggled to maintain quorum during the entire meeting.
January 21: A CityHousing Hamilton Board meeting was cancelled due to lack of quorum.
February 18: The Waste Management Sub-Committee meeting was cancelled due to lack of quorum.
March 3: A City Council meeting failed to make quorum to begin on time. The meeting attendance only reached bare quorum.
May 20: The Public Health Sub-Committee failed to make quorum.
May 21: Council’s General Issues Committee failed to make quorum to begin on time. Quorum was eventually reached and the meeting began late.
June 23: A Council meeting to approve resolutions was cancelled due to lack of quorum.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: August 11, 2025
Last updated: August 11, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version
Maybe we should keep track of who shows up and who doesn’t to these meetings as this is part of their job and then vote accordingly in the next election!