I dropped by the Session right at 6 and was surprised by the number of opponents who attended, many of whom were offering nonsensical advice to professional engineers and planners.
I noticed too, but also noticed lots of pro-LRT attendance. And some prominent majors such as Ryan McGreal and Graham Crawford was there too!
As for security guards, I'd rather be civil and diplomatic to people who have concerns about LRT.
But I can anticipate as attendance declines towards the final (duplicate) consultations, and the consultations reach the outer areas -- reception may be unexpectedly more hostile. That said, I trust the staff to do what's civil and respectful. They will not be barred form premises, as they have every right to be there, but they should not treat these as their own "NOLRT meeting grounds". I saw them doing more visible recruiting during consultation #1, but they were more discreet in consultation #2.
Many of them are just concerned citizens who has been pulled to the equivalent of the "Dark Side" by the more extreme NOLRT members, and simply told to parrot the questions off their "Questions to Ask" sheets. So I remain open and diplomatic where I can be.
After all, some of these are the homeowners that pay $1000 electricity bills and are understandably angry taxpayers, even if I already know LRT is already coming thanks to huge LRT support by the population... The NOLRT members have the herd effect since many of their neighbours are truly against LRT, and falsely think there's zero pro-LRT support.
That said, I agree their "Questions To Ask" sheet read as being fairly unknowledgeable about modern LRTs. I think it's a time-hogging tactic. They consumed a lot of time from city employees that could have better been spent tending to curious Average Joe citizens who don't have a passionate YES/NO stake.
The NOLRT group have been putting up hundreds of posters on telephone poles, that are quickly ripped down by ordinary residents unbeknownst to us (there's wide support for LRT locally). We have avoided putting up YES LRT posters on telephone poles because it is illegal.
As the CBC art survey shows, there is extremely strong LRT support locally (at least along Wards1-4), and all major pro-LRT social media feeds of all separate/independent pro-LRT groups (>1000, >1000, >700, and >600 Likes or Followers, at time of this writing) are all massively bigger than the biggest anti-LRT social media feeds (<140 <75, and <40, at time of this writing). Small but super-vocal, a few people trying to out-talk lots of proLRT members -- in front of confused followers that do not have a stake in either.
Needless to say, the more extreme members of NOLRT appears to not be being taken seriously by the general populace:
(...and other tweets like this...)
This is the MAIN anti-LRT group locally.
Most other NOLRT are just ordinary citizens that are concerned taxpayers -- that see through that kind of ridiculousness -- as LRTs are not going to be carrying oil.
I don't judge the average NOLRT resident by the standard of the more extreme NOLRT leaders -- many are just concerned taxpayers that are just overwhelmed by the drama between the Trump-like extremes.
So yes, Hamilton has some Ford-like shenanigans occurring behind the scenes, but generally the support is (on average) surprisingly high proportions even in City Council & population when you see through the ridiculous claims.
However, I am happy to engage with open-minded NOLRT members -- in many cases they have simply been misinformed and I have re-turned-around more than a hundred already in calm discourse. Correct and accurate information is what matters.
I could say more of local shenanigans, but NOLRT people are reading these posts and I'm not wanting to give them any further advantage/heads up.
I agree the LRT plan is not perfect. I don't like the CP rail underpass, myself. But as a car driver, neither is the Red Hill Valley Parkway perfect either -- it was controversial when it was built, there are pros/cons. Even with the cons, many people just wanted it built, and is glad it is there despite the cons. (Thanks to Red Hill and LINC, Hamilton-Burlington now has a ring road system that has finally made the LRT possible, but many change-resistant suburban residents do want to give up some lanes of an old crosstown artery to LRT. From a Torontoian perspective, it feels like demolishing the Gardiner to many of them).
Just because there are several cons doesn't mean I don't want the project built anyway.
The whole is far bigger benefits for Average Joe User in the city. The electorate is asked to attend PICs to help make tweaks to the plan (like the addition of select stations, and other urban realm improvements).
And yes, we also have to help businesses survive construction.
It's also iconic. 
