Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Ontario’s official opposition party, the Ontario New Democratic Party, will hold an official campaign kickoff for the Hamilton East-Stoney Creek byelection on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

The byelection to replace retiring Ontario Conservative MPP Neil Lumsden is expected to be called by Premier Doug Ford on August 5, with byelection voting day expected to be September 3.

In a posting on the NDP website, the Party states the launch will occur at 6:00 p.m. featuring NDP leader “Marit Stiles, our local ONDP team, and allies from across the region for our official campaign kickoff.”

The NDP have not yet announced who their candidate will be.

The NDP held the seat from its creation in 2007 until the 2022 provincial election. The riding was held for the NDP by Paul Miller until his expulsion from the party.

Miller ran as an independent in 2022, placing a very distant fourth. The NDP’s replacement candidate placed second behind Neil Lumsden.

Lumsden won re-election in February 2025.

The Ontario Land Tribunal has closed a third party appeal against a new Additional Dwelling Unit – Detached at 256 King Street West in Dundas.

Hamilton’s Committee of Adjustment approved minor variances on June 22, 2026, to permit the ADU’s construction. A third-party appeal was quickly filed. The case was marked as closed in the Ontario Land Tribunal’s case status database on July 28, 2026.

The original application notice is available here, and the City staff comments recommending approval are available here.

The OLT did publish any further information regarding the appeal.

The $107-million project to reconstruct and expand Rymal Road is now entering the detailed design phase following the completion of the environmental assessment phase.

In a memo, City of Hamilton Acting Director of Engineering Services Dipankar Sharma states the project has all necessary approvals to move forward.

The project will widen a five-kilometre stretch of the south Mountain roadway to two lanes each direction from the current single lane configuration. It will also add and improve active transportation infrastructure, and improve stormwater management.

Sharma’s memo states detailed design work and the preparation of construction tender documents are expected to take two years, with physical construction currently scheduled to begin in 2028 and conclude by 2031.

“it is expected that construction will be phased over approximately four years due to the size and complexity of the project, and the need to coordinate with other major projects such as the Stone Church Feeder Main (Watermain) project,” Sharma wrote.

Pascale Marchand will carry the Green Party of Ontario banner in the upcoming Hamilton East–Stoney Creek byelection. The GPO made the announcement in a public statement earlier today (July 28, 2026).

Marchand was the Green Party candidate during the 2025 provincial election.

The City of Hamilton is reopening portions of Mountain Drive Park by Aug. 1, 2026.

The park, located north of Concession Street at Upper Gage Avenue, on the escarpment’s edge, has been closed since April 2024 when soil contamination was discovered.

In a memo posted to the City of Hamilton website this morning (July 28, 2026), Director of Environmental Services Cynthia Graham states the eastern greenspace portion of the park will reopen by Aug. 1 following confirmation the soil in this portion meets environmental standards.

Three isolated pockets in the eastern portion will remain fenced off for interim remediation. The city intends to issue a Request for Quotation in late summer or fall 2026 to excavate the impacted soil in those three areas, replace it with clean fill, topsoil, and sod, and remove four trees.

The remainder of the park remains closed, including the play structure.

The public washroom will also reopen by Aug. 1.

Major site remediation will occur in 2027 as part of the park’s major redevelopment project. The 2027 redevelopment and cleanup will require removing approximately 45 trees, though city staff worked with a consulting arborist to preserve 61 trees outside the affected zones and will use alternative preservation techniques to protect a separate four significant trees within the construction footprint.

The 2027 redevelopment will feature a new spray pad, sun shelter, walkways, and replacement playground facilities.