Hamilton City Council claims to support “Vision Zero,” the campaign to end all road deaths and serious injuries.
Instead, the 16 members of our council consistently deliver zero vision. Name any issue of good governance, and you will find they are failing at it.
One of the most concerning failures is their willingness to permit and condone distracted driving by allowing delegates and even members of committees to participate in video conference meetings while they are operating motor vehicles.
Just this week, multiple members of Council’s Heritage Permit Review Sub-Committee stated they would not turn on their video cameras because they were “in transit.”
At least they may be learning not to be caught on video.
The fact remains that it is long past time for Hamilton City Council to adopt similar rules as other governing bodies. They need a clear policy: no video meeting attendance while in transit, and the requirement to be in a suitable environment.
Only a few weeks ago, Council’s Committee of Adjustment permitted a planning agent to delegate while driving a motor vehicle. The agent began speaking to the committee at 3:24 p.m. on that day, and continued to participate from his car until 4:14 p.m.
Fifty minutes and nobody expressed any concern for the safety of others using our roadways.
City council issued no sanction — consistent with its inaction in past incidents.
Zero Vision indeed.
The most egregious example of this lack of concern for road safety happened a few years ago. In that incident, a member of Hamilton’s Veterans Committee was driving on the Queen Elizabeth Way while they were staring into the video conference, eyes completely off the road. This reckless incident lasted for nearly the entire twenty-two-minute meeting.
Following a public outcry, Hamilton City Council made its local board member sign a half-hearted public relations apology.
The frustrating reality is that none of these incidents violate any official City of Hamilton policy.
And that is the whole point.
Other governing bodies and the courts already require cameras on at all times and prohibit participation while in transit. Council can simply adopt these same policies.
Council’s reluctance is easily explained by their lack of professionalism.
In a recent example from August 2024, while conducting a quasi-judicial hearing, Ward 14 Councillor Mike Spadafora participated while seated in a moving vehicle.
During the hours-long meeting, during which Spadafora was supposed to be providing undivided focus, he was conversing with other people, eating, entering and exiting the vehicle a few times, and at times disappearing out of the camera frame entirely.
Spadafora states he was a passenger, but that isn’t the point – the fact remains he shouldn’t have been in a moving vehicle.
Why do these incidents keep happening in Hamilton, and nowhere else?
They happen because our City Council lacks professionalism, and is reluctant to adopt standards they themselves will be held accountable to.
It may seem a slippery slope to begin imposing professionalism at City Hall.
Distracted driving is illegal in Ontario, and Hamilton City Council has no excuse for condoning it.
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v. 1.0.0
Published: October 25, 2025
Last updated: October 25, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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v. 1.0.0 original version