Three Ward 8 by-election candidates are falsely claiming to live in Ward 8 when they do not.
Waleed Ali, Sonia Brown, and Terry Whitehead are all claiming they live in Ward 8.
In fact, as proven by their certified election nomination filings, Brown and Whitehead live in Ward 14 and Ali did not provide proof of residency in Hamilton.
In an email survey conducted by The Hamilton Spectator, candidates were asked if they live in Ward 8.
Only 12 of the 26 candidates reside in Ward 8.
Nine of the 14 non-Ward 8 resident candidates answered the question honestly, three lied, and two did not respond.
Sonia Brown, Ward 14, Gurnett Neighbourhood
Sonia Brown lives in Ward 14’s Gurnett Neighbourhood.
She submitted proof of residency to confirm she is a qualified resident elector in the City of Hamilton.
Her qualifying address in Ward 14 is the same as she used in previous elections.
Terry Whitehead, Ward 14, Falkirk East
Terry Whitehead lives in Ward 14’s Falkirk East neighbourhood.
He submitted proof of residency and this is the same residence he lived at when he was the Ward 14 city councillor.
All three candidates are knowingly misleading Ward 8 residents about where they live.
Waleed Ali Declined to Say If He Lives in Hamilton
Waleed Ali registered his qualifying address as a commercial property on Barton Street East in Ward 3.
He submitted proof of ownership/tenancy to the City Clerk to prove he is a “non-resident elector” and therefore is qualified to be a candidate.
Ali operates an appliance business at the property.
Ali has declined to answer if he lives in Hamilton.
During the early stages of the election campaign, Ali’s website featured a ChatGPT generated “map” of “Ward 8” that was wildly inaccurate.
The map was very similar in appearance to Hamilton’s Ward 4, with a series of randomly generated streets, the names of which were similar to actual Hamilton Mountain streets.
All the street names shown are wrong – they include street names from other areas of the city, and some are completely fabricated.
Nomination Forms are Public Documents
Certified nomination forms are public documents as per Section 88 of the Municipal Elections Act.
Anyone can view the documents at City Hall during business hours.
The 26 candidates were certified on August 12.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: September 9, 2025
Last updated: September 9, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version
Note: Privacy Considerations
The public documents have been redacted to remove personal information, including home address, signature, initials, phone numbers, and email addresses not already listed on candidate websites. The banner image quality was lowered to frustrate web crawling bots.
Just for an FYI before they redid the boundaries for the wards Terry Whitehead’s address was in Ward 8 as he was our councillor. After redistribution he all of a sudden lived in Ward 14. When I think of what Terry Whitehead did for Gourley Park over the years he was Ward 8. But I do agree that he should have listed the new Ward Boundaries in his application.
Cheers
Randy Chapple
Gourley Park President
& Youth Baseball Convenor
Thank you for the comment.