H
amilton, Ontario, nicknamed Steel City for its
150-year history as a steel-making town, is one of
the country’s most highly industrialized areas— 60
per cent of Canada’s steel is produced in Hamilton.
Steel has done a lot of good for the region, but it hasn’t
been without its negative consequences. Because of years
of industrial work and environmental regulations of the time,
Hamilton Harbour became one of the most polluted harbours
in the country, with significant water quality impairment from
the intensive industrial and urban development around its
shores for decades.
REMEDIATION PROJECT
As early back at the 1970s, and increasingly in the 1990s,
efforts to improve the conditions have been made to improve
the water quality and control pollution have reversed some of
the environmental damage. Readers may remember a highly
publicized harbour swim in the 90s by then Local MP and
Cabinet Minister Sheila Copps, something that would have
been unthinkable without the improvements.
NOVEMBER 2018 | BUSINESS ELITE CANADA 3
