By Pepper Parr
May 20th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Council held a Special Council meeting last week. It was a CLOSED meeting and one of the shortest on record.
It was to receive a report on Burlington Enterprises Inc., which is part of the Burlington Hydro operation.
There was no detail on just what the organization does other than it is part of Burlington Hydro.
Burlington hydro has one shareholder – that is the City of Burlington.
The CLOSED meeting approved the following:
All by-laws, resolutions, contracts, proceedings, elections and appointments, enacted, passed, made or taken by the shareholders, directors or officers of the Corporation, at any time since the completion of the last fiscal year of the Corporation (hereinafter collectively called “the corporate proceedings”) as the same are set forth or referred to in the minutes of the shareholders and directors for the Corporation and in the other records of the corporate proceedings, and all acts and proceedings taken by the directors, officers, agents or employees of the Corporation under the authority of or pursuant to any of the corporate proceedings be and the same are hereby ratified and confirmed with the effect stated in such corporate proceedings; and insofar as any such corporate proceeding shall not have been validly enacted, passed, sanctioned, confirmed, authorized or made, the same is hereby for greater certainty enacted, passed, sanctioned, confirmed, authorized or made, with retroactive effect, and in all other respects with the effect stated in the minutes and records of the Corporation.
The firm of KPMG LLP be hereby appointed to serve as the Corporation’s auditors until a replacement is selected and appointed by the Shareholder at remuneration to be determined by the directors.
There are five directors including Mayor Meed Ward and City Manager Hassaan Basit
Burlington Hydro Operations Room. Burlington also managed the Milton Hydro operations.
The only thing we recall Burlington Hydro doing was paying the fees for Mayor Meed Ward to attend an Institute of Corporate Directors course at the McMaster University DeGroote School of Business where Meed Ward earned the ICD designation; which she includes on just about every media she sends out.
In order to maintain the designation a holder must be a current member in good standing of the Institute of Corporate Directors and to commit to a minimum of 14 hours of ongoing governance education annually.
When the Gazette first inquired as to who paid for the education we were told that it was a private matter – turns out Burlington Enterprises cover the coast which is understood to be in excess of $20,000.
These courses are designed by the Institute of Corporate Directors and delivered by several top ranked universities.
Burlington Hydro meetings are not open to the public.
There was something Council didn’t want the public to know.
We did learn that Burlington Enterprises decided to continue with the same auditor.
The meeting was chaired by Councillor Sharman; Mayor said she was taking a family member to a hospital appointment.
There is much more behind that statement than a “hospital appointment”.
Why did Burlington Enterprises (Burlington Hydro) pay for Mayor Meed Ward’s course to obtain her ICD Designation?? This seems very suspicious to me.
Lisa Kearns completed the same course which she paid for herself.
Ultimately, these Course Fees come out of Burlington residents pockets!!
These Course Fees should be paid back by Mayor Meed Ward personally. She should not reep the benefits of obtaining this designation any other way.
There have been so many Closed sessions happening with our Burlington City Council. Why?? And now Hydro? We as Burlington residents have a right to all of this information and need to have ongoing transparency as we are the ones who pay the property tax bills.
Burlington Hydro is loaded with over-rated bureaucrats who claim immunity from oversight and performance. Compensation plans for the leadership team and Board members should be made public and distributed to the press annually. Of course, Burlington Hydro’s inter-action with any member of the City government should be posted on their website and made public.
Interesting.I was a member of the Institute of Directors in London UK.Office was at 116 Pall Mall.As an over -seas member it cost me about $65/year..Great place to impress my foreign clients.
If the Mayor cannot pay her own fees for courses she wishes to take, why do Burlington Enterprises use their profits to pay the bill? There are families we know in this city who have had great difficulty paying their hydro biill. Didn’t the wave break come out of hydro reserves? Something wrong here especially given the Mayor is very well compensated for her time.