It is not likely you will find anyone more surprised than Ian Hamilton about how the 2016 civic election turned out.
Hamilton was all set to run for his third term as mayor when he sat down with his nomination paperwork in front of him, and had the now-famous 鈥渁ha鈥� moment that changed the course of the election race.
鈥淚鈥檓 as surprised as anybody about what transpired,鈥� said Hamilton. 鈥淚t was one of those moments. And I stopped one morning and thought 鈥榳ow.鈥� I never allowed myself to think I wasn鈥檛 going to run.鈥�
After 10 years 鈥� seven as mayor and the first three as a city councillor 鈥� Hamilton had become used to making decisions based on what was in the best interests of the city of North Battleford. But this time, he was making a decision based on what was best for him personally, and his family. 聽 聽
鈥淭his was one of my most selfish decisions, in a sense. And people say, 鈥榦h, it鈥檚 not selfish,鈥� but it is,鈥� said Hamilton.
鈥淚n this respect I wasn鈥檛 thinking about community, or anything like that. It was all about me. And that鈥檚 what I mean about being selfish. It seemed like the right decision for me at that point in time.鈥澛�
After a couple of days, and after speaking with his wife and daughters about it, Hamilton realized he could 鈥渄o different things. You could be something different in the community. And I will be. I鈥檓 not burying myself in the ground or anything like that. I just want to participate and contribute in different ways.鈥澛� 聽
While Hamilton is most closely connected to the city of North Battleford, his upbringing was interesting.
He grew up on the grounds of Saskatchewan Hospital where his father and grandfather were involved in various capacities.聽
鈥淲e had a Hamilton presence on the grounds from about 1930 to about the late 鈥�80s,鈥� said Hamilton.聽
The Sask. Hospital community was self-sustaining, said Hamilton. They had their own chickens and pigs and horses, grew their own vegetables, and there was an orchard there.聽
鈥淲e had tennis courts, we had ball diamonds, we had a golf course,鈥� said Hamilton. 鈥淎s a child you couldn鈥檛 ask for anything more.鈥澛�
His mother鈥檚 side of the family was closely connected to the town of Battleford going back to the early 1900s. Hamilton himself did his early schooling in Battleford, which was where the Sask. Hospital kids were taught.聽
Hamilton chose North Battleford because of professional opportunities there. After graduating commerce at the University of Saskatchewan, Hamilton found a job and earned his CA designation in 1980. His wife Charlotte is also from North Battleford, and the deep family connections to the whole Battlefords community are something Hamilton conveys to his children and grandchildren.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 part of my whole fabric,鈥� said Hamilton. 鈥淭he Battlefords is our home, it鈥檚 our community, it鈥檚 what we live and breathe.鈥�
His time as an accountant proved valuable in the various community initiatives he has taken part in. Hamilton volunteered for various boards and organizations including the Battlefords Sexual Assault Centre and Battlefords Residential Services, Inc.聽
鈥淎s an accountant, you鈥檙e kind of sought after,鈥� said Hamilton, because boards are 鈥渁lways looking for somebody to take care of the finances.鈥� 聽
He also was on the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce, and through that became involved in community initiatives. The one that particularly motivated him was the effort to build a new community recreational multiplex in the city.聽
Hamilton was part of the steering committee struck to spearhead efforts to build a curling rink, aquatic centre, field house and theatre. 聽
But Hamilton recalled a point in that process when progress was seemingly grinding to a halt.聽
鈥淲e were getting to the point where it was beginning to stall,鈥� Hamilton recalled. 鈥淚 was disappointed and frustrated by the lack of progress.鈥�
It was a random conversation on the street with someone who was also involved in the efforts that got him motivated to run for the first time. 聽 聽
Hamilton was 鈥渧enting鈥� about the issue, he recalled, and 鈥渟he looked me in the eyes and said 鈥極K, I鈥檒l vote for you.鈥欌��
鈥淲hat do you mean by that?鈥欌�� Hamilton had asked her. She explained there was a municipal election coming up.
She said, 鈥淚f you鈥檙e so passionate about this thing, put up or shut up, you know, go and put your name out there.鈥�
Hamilton said he went home and thought about it a lot, and talked it over with his wife and family.聽
鈥淥K, I鈥檒l run for council.鈥�
Hamilton won his seat on council in 2006 and served the next three years under Mayor Julian Sadlowski.
As he described it, Hamilton started off as a single-issue candidate 鈥� getting the CUplex built. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not necessarily the best way to enter politics,鈥� he said. 鈥淵et it was very beneficial to me to get myself involved.鈥澛�
Hamilton鈥檚 interests broadened significantly, he recalled. 鈥淚t was all about community. It was great.鈥�
In 2009, Hamilton threw his hat into the mayor鈥檚 race to succeed Sadlowski. There were four other candidates including former mayor Wayne Ray, educator Reid Stewart, former school board trustee Joyce Salie and longtime councillor Brad Pattinson.
Ultimately the race came down to Hamilton and Pattinson. Hamilton鈥檚 campaign was well-organized, and as the election approached he was confident he was 鈥渨ay ahead.鈥�
His wife, Charlotte, was not so confident. She urged her husband to do one last round of campaigning before election day.
Hamilton went out for one more round of door knocking and remembered one house specifically that night where he talked to two people who remarked he had been the only candidate to visit them during the campaign. They said they would vote for him.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 two votes that made a difference,鈥� said Hamilton, who learned a familiar lesson 鈥� every vote counts.聽
By a 15-vote margin, Ian Hamilton defeated Brad Pattinson and became the new mayor of North Battleford.聽
During that first term, Hamilton went to work to achieve his goal of getting the multiplex 鈥� that later became known as the Credit Union CUplex 鈥� up and running.聽
There were some tense meetings, including one special meeting in which council approved funding for all four components of the CUplex.
While the concept went through, some changes were made before its final composition, Hamilton had taken a strong stance throughout in favour of building all four components. 聽
鈥淚 was always a stalwart in the sense of saying there are no compromises here,鈥� said Hamilton.聽
鈥淔or me it was a slam dunk, I wanted all four of them. I didn鈥檛 want to compromise on any of them, because I felt we as a community, we had to go forward,鈥� said Hamilton.
鈥淚f we were going to demonstrate anything to the larger community of Saskatchewan and Canada, and demonstrate to those looking to North Battleford to invest, if we鈥檙e not willing to invest in ourselves first, why would we expect someone else to invest in North Battleford. So I think it was a game changer.鈥� 聽 聽
He points to a 鈥渃hange in attitudes" as to what North Battleford saw itself as among the residents 鈥� from a laid-back attitude to 鈥渨e can be more, and we are going to be more.鈥�
In the Hamilton years in office, there was growth and interest seen in the southeast quadrant. Some proposals that came before City Hall 鈥� such as one for a proposed First Nations Heritage Park 鈥� didn鈥檛 come to pass, but recent years have seen a new strip mall, the Walmart expansion, expansion of Home Hardware, a new Dsicovery Co-op gas bar and other developments.
An impressive development coming to that area is the 105-room new Comfort Inns and Suites hotel.聽
He credited the CUplex as a catalyst for the development seen. 鈥淎gain, foresight in terms of what can happen over there,鈥� said Hamilton.
Another area of focus has been reviving the downtown. Hamilton鈥檚 second term efforts ramped up to include establishment of the downtown business improvement district. He pointed to the deal for a new movie theatre downtown as vitally important to reviving that area. Construction is expected to start in early spring of next year. 聽
鈥淎 movie theatre is really, really important,鈥� said Hamilton. 鈥淎n entertainment centre in the downtown is huge.鈥�
Hamilton could cite as a major accomplishment passage by council of the zoning bylaw and official community plan, which included packed meetings in council chambers at City Hall. The mayor saw the document as vital towards making sure banks and professional offices stayed located in the downtown core.聽
鈥淲e thought we needed to ensure there was vitality downtown with the banks, professional offices, accounting, medical, those sorts of things,鈥� said Hamilton.聽 聽
A major effort has been the community safety initiatives. The establishment of the HUB, the hiring of community safety officers, the hiring of Herb Sutton as community safety coordinator and various initiatives such as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design marked his second term.聽
The initiatives came about in the wake of annual Crime Severity Index numbers in which North Battleford ranked as first in the nation in crime severity for communities over 10,000.聽
Hamilton still bristles about North Battleford being referred to as a crime capital. 鈥淭hose of us that live here know that鈥檚 not what we are,鈥� said Hamilton.聽
Still, said Hamilton, the focus was on developing partnerships with local organizations and with the province and federal government to address the root causes of the issues with respect to crime in North Battleford聽 鈥� poverty, homelessness and addiction and mental health issues.聽
鈥淚 think we鈥檝e done a great job. We have,鈥� said Hamilton. 鈥淲e are working very diligently and very productively to address some of those issues, which are not some things that municipal governments are necessarily responsible for, but we鈥檙e trying to build the partnerships 鈥� to address these things.鈥� 聽 聽 聽 聽
Through it all, Hamilton could count on working with skilled professionals in the City鈥檚 administrative ranks, first with former City Manager Jim Toye, who later moved on to Prince Albert, and then in recent years with City Manager Jim Puffalt.
Hamilton credits an atmosphere in which council adopted a governance model 鈥渢hat empowers our administration to do their jobs.鈥澛�
He noted adoption of the city鈥檚 strategic plan as another highlight 鈥� a document broad enough in scope to allow administration to 鈥渟tart planning to think about how they鈥檙e going to make certain things happen in the city without being proscriptive. And I鈥檓 really pleased about that.鈥澛� 聽
In the past few months, Hamilton and the rest of administration dealt with the biggest crisis to hit the North Battleford water supply since 2001鈥� the Husky oil spill into the North Saskatchewan River.聽
Hamilton credited administration officials for being prepared to handle that situation by establishing the Emergency Operations Centre and getting it up and running, and finding alternative sources of water for the city. A supply line from Battleford and four new wells were quickly constructed, and a pre-filtration system is to be installed so river water can be accessed again.聽
Now Hamilton is focused on wrapping up his time in the mayor鈥檚 office at City Hall before the swearing-in takes place of the new mayor and council Nov. 7.聽
He says the transition to new Mayor Ryan Bater has gone smoothly, so far.聽
鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing this the last couple of weeks,鈥� said Hamilton.聽
鈥淩yan and I have chatted a number of times. He鈥檚 not new to the arena. We鈥檙e trying to make this as seamless as possible. We get along very, very well. Just a passing of the torch very willingly, which is kind of neat in some respects.聽
鈥淭here was no adversarial change of governance. So it鈥檚 pretty nice to be able to speak to Ryan on a transitional basis that is empowering going forward 鈥� very much forward thinking."
As for the future, Hamilton plans to resume his accounting practice and contribute to the community as a volunteer. And he will be able to spend more time with his wife and three daughters, who he is proud to say have all chosen to move back to the Battlefords area to pursue their careers and raise their families.聽
After 10 years of public life, Mayor Hamilton is ready to resume being a private citizen once again.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 really going to miss this, there鈥檚 no doubt in my mind.鈥�
