 By Staff
September 5th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Barrie Baycats are one win away from a fifth straight IBL title.
 Barrie Baycats batter. Barrie leads the best-of-seven championship series 3-2 after a 7-1 Game 5 win over the Kitchener Panthers Tuesday night at Coates Stadium.
The Burlington Herd was eliminated in the quarter finals when they were defeated three straight by thee league leading Baycats.
Game six of the series takes place Thursday, Sept. 6 at Kitchener, 7:30 p.m.
The InterCounty Baseball League is celebrating their 100th anniversary as a league.
 By Staff
September 4th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Shawna Stolte, a candidate for the ward 4 city council seat said today that she was “So disappointed in Jacks decision to not participate in the Ward 4 Municipal Debate.”
 Jack Dennison the day he announced thee sale of his health club. Dennison did not advise ECoB that he would participate within the very reasonable deadline they had given him (five days)
Stolte added in her prepared statement that: “Is it from a fear of being faced with questions he can’t answer? Or a fear of a strong challenger who may demonstrate the skills and experience to be a better option for voters in Ward 4?
 Ward 4 candidate Shawna Stolte at the Farmer’s Market. “If Jack believes he has done a good job for the voters over the last 24 years then he should have no trouble attending a public forum and defending himself. I believe he is well aware of the mounting frustration that Ward 4 residents feel about all of the time and money he has cost the city pursuing his own best interests while ignoring his constituents concerns…and he is now taking the easy route to avoid having to explain himself publicly.
“One would like to think that a career politician such as Jack would have more respect for his constituents and the democratic process, and understand that it is his obligation to allow voters to express their questions and receive the information they need to make an informed decision on Election Day.
 Jack Dennison wants to get re-elected – he just doesn’t want to debate and tell voters what he has done to deserve their vote. “Jack knows full well that the fewer people who are introduced to his strong challenger, the better it is for him…so once again he is choosing what is in his own best interest above what is best for the constituents of Ward 4.
“The question is…will the voters of Ward 4 allow him to get away with this for the seventh time?
 By Pepper Parr
September 4th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
They will stream into the school by the hundreds.
The changes to the outer appearance of M. M. Robinson will be noted and the students transferring in from Lester b. Pearson high school will settle into their new surroundings.
 M. M. Robinson high school being “spruced up”. The building was looking a little worn – it was time to spruce the place up a bit. Some of the work was done during the summer- the balance will get done before the end of the year.
Getting to this point has been a huge task that pulled on most of the resources that exist at the senior levels of the Halton District School Board.
 Superintendent Terri Blackwell talking to Pearson high school during the formal school closing. Several of the Superintendents were on call; Terri Blackwell was leading the drive to ensure that Pearson fit into MMR perfectly; that every possible and reasonable need was met.
Many of the teachers from Pearson came over with the students.
The closing of Pearson was contentious and might well result in at least two of the trustees losing their seats in the October municipal election.
School closing are not the concern of Claire Proteau, the principal at M.M. Robinson high school. Her job is to make the school work and ensure that each student gets the education they need and deserve.
She brings both an eclectic and colourful background to the task. She is not your cookie cutter idea of a principal. Very very hands on with an understanding that students today are different and that the world they are going into is equally different.
 Claire Proteau stands outside her high school while students take part in a program run by the Halton police. Claire graduated from high school and went to a community college because, as she put it, her marks were not good enough to get into university. She studied behavioural sciences at community college and went to teachers college as a mature student.
Claire treats her students as young adults and works with them at whatever level they are at. She has bounced around the Halton District School Board and worked in some challenging situations. She was at the Syl Apps Youth Centre, a 48-bed, Secure Residential Forensic Mental Health Facility for Ontario male and female youth. The Halton District School Board provides the educational component.
That job pulled on Claire’s experience in the federal correctional service – penitentiaries – where she found the inmates to be people she could work with. “It was the custodial staff – guards – that I couldn’t take. It wasn’t where I wanted my career to begin and end.”
Life in Kingston came to an end – Claire and the family moved to Burlington where she joined the Halton District School board.
She was on staff at Bateman when the Elgin/Brock students were integrated into the new school.
She worked at Central high school where she was a vice principal.
The opportunity to move to MM Robinson was too good for Claire to miss – she asked for the job and got it.
That’s when the challenges began – integrating several hundred students from Pearson which was a very small school. They are coming into a school that you can actually get lost in. It is the largest high school in the HDSB system.
It is a composite school – offers everything.
It has a student body that is defined by the part of the city they live in; north of the QEW east of Tyendaga. Middle class families in a quiet neighbourhood.
MMR has two vice principals, 50 teachers and 26 educational assistants.
There is a Community Pathway Program at MMR that is visible, the CPP students are fully integrated.
Students who have mobility challenges are helped by other students. While it is a big school with a large student population everyone seems to know everyone else.
 Claire Proteau in her office – where she is open and engaging with her students. There is a very healthy relationship between the student body and the Pathway program. It’s one big family.
The administration offices are on the second level of the school with an awkward set of stairs that gets you to that space. There is a small gallery, almost a balcony that let’s Claire look out over the gathering area inside the front doors where the students meet and lounge around.
The gallery area let’s Claire see what is going on – she has a very keen eye. Is there a principal that doesn’t have eyes in the back of their head?
A high school is a big operational challenge. Young people finding themselves, figuring out who they are and what they think they want to be is a big task in itself.
Every year new students arrive and go through that process of fitting in.
This year the Pearson students are added to the mix.
Given the discord that surrounded the decision to close Pearson and moving students from a small school to a really big school adds to the challenge.
How do you make that work?
The prep that was done to get to this point was huge. Pearson students visited the high school many times; parents met with MMR staff – every question asked had to get a satisfactory answer; the students and the parents had to know that Pearson students were going to a new home that would include their character and values.
Two of the Boards Superintendents were assigned to ensuring that everything went smoothly.
 MM Robinson high school is the only one in the city with formal art work at the entrance to the school. Claire decided that the Student Theatre should be renamed and called the Pearson Theatre. Some students objected – Claire asked them what the name of the Theatre was now – they weren’t able to tell her. The theatre is on the left hand side of the main lobby just inside the entrance doors to the school. Pearson students will know the moment they walk into the building that part of their heritage has been transferred to MMR.
The new home for the Pearson crowd is a lot different than the small school they left; it is bigger, offers far more in the way of program and has its own culture.
The MMR space is organized as hallways; there is the French hallway – the space where the French classes take place, a hallway for English, Math, science, phys ed, the arts.
Students move from hallway to hallway – they meet with their friends who are taking math in that part of the school and meet with their friends in the phys ed hallway.
It’s a little different – but it works.
Two students were assigned the task of taking a Gazette reporter on a tour. We asked that students handle the tour – it was their school and we wanted their take on the place.
 Students catching up on what’s going on in the school lobby. We went from classroom to classroom: the phys ed set up is great; the photography class still uses film, they recycle the silver that is part of the celluloid. The money earned from the sale of the silver is rolled back into a fund that is used to purchase new equipment.
The automotive shop had just as many females as males in it.
Claire has worked to ensure that the school was not a collection of silos – with one group having no idea what another group was doing.
Her approach was to run a school that was as open as she could make it; as much a school that was totally focused on students – a place teachers come to each day to serve and meet the needs of the students.
Not always easy – something every parent can attest to.
The Angela Coughlan Pool is attached to the school and used by the school but is more a city facility that the school makes extensive use of.
Noted was that the high school does not seem to have a stellar swimming team. Nor does it have a student council.
 Students taking part in a police class where they learn what the influence of substances does to their ability to drive a vehicle. Principal Proteau take part Discipline is always a problem in a high school setting – one could well expect Claire to be a very strong disciplinarian – she isn’t. She is a strong believer in second chances – and third chances if that is appropriate. She is there to listen to the students and understand where they are coming from and what they are dealing with.
Rules are necessary but Claire doesn’t treat them as the end all and be all.
She has a sense of humour and is there to be approached and engaged by her students – and her staff.
Some members of the staff chaff a little at Claire’s approach – but they too adapt or they look for a situation that better meets their approach to teaching high school students.
 Claire Proteau in the courtyard waving to students. A lot is riding on how well the Board of Education staff have prepared for the integration of the former Pearson high school students. Will it work? It will work, if only because of the commitment Claire and her staff have made to merging the two student bodies. MMR isn’t Pearson but part of the heart and soul of Pearson will be in the building and the students that graduate will be the
Closing a school is never easy for the Board administration, always difficult for parents and hard for some students to understand.
Claire Proteau is doing what has to be done to make it work. You can bet on this one.
 By Staff
September 4th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
George Ward reports that when he sent his complaint on election survey work that was being done to Market Research Intelligence Agency,(MRIA) the email was refused.
He got a “refused acceptance” from both knoel@mria-arim.ca and info@mria-arim.ca
Telephone calls went to voice mail.
Ward reports that “It appears to me that any submission or complaint I try to make is blocked.”
Now why would that be?
Ward is indefatigable if he is anything – a Registered letter is on the way.
A Gazette reader said: You make a lot of assumptions in this article and I prefer the facts. the media’s job it appears is to make a mountain out of a mole hill and cause this to be blown up more than necessary. The authorities will figure out the culprit. And now back to the election of which we have 4 candidates running for mayor.
Another Gazette reader responded: How do you know the “authorities will figure out the culprit”? Has the OPP or any other law enforcement group announced this? Without the exposure by the press, this sordid incident would simply slither away.
There is more to this than some people want the public to know.
Related articles
Follow the dots
George Ward files a complaint with Market Research Intelligence Agency.
By Pepper Parr
September 4th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
We don’t see this kind of baseball coming out of the games the Burlington Herd play but the Inter County Baseball League does produce some fine baseball.
The playoff series – best out of seven – has the Kitchener Panthers playing against the Barrie Baycats – a team that has taken more best of the season trophies than anyone else in the recent past.
The Kitchener Panthers aren’t slouches either – they are giving the Baycats as good – if not better – than they get.
 Just water at this point – the Kitchener Panthers are aiming for champagne in their best out of even playoff series against the Barrie Baycats. Zach Johnson’s bases-loaded single scored Yorbis Borroto in the bottom of the 10th to give the Kitchener Panthers a 3-2 win over the Barrie Baycats in Game 4 of the IBL final Sunday night at Jack Couch Park.
The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 Tuesday in Barrie.
By Pepper Parr
September 4th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Setting up a new business in downtown Burlington is both a challenge and an exciting opportunity when the whole family is involved. For Marie Helene Mongrain and Steven Hewson and their daughters Ericka, the 17 year old who is getting great experience as a shift supervisor and Emma, 12 – and a little too young to be working retail but very much involved in thinking how the business relates to the city this is an all hands on deck operation.
 Newest retailer in the downtown core. Lineups at 10 pm. Serving ice cream in a shop that might be quiet in the mid-afternoon of a weekday but is as busy as a shop can be on the hot weekend days as far into the night at 10 pm when they close is a truly family business.
They opened three months ago on John Street, steps away from Lakeshore Road, which is as downtown as you are going to get and are recording cash flow numbers that are 40% higher than projected.
Smack in the middle of the condo alley and yards away from Spencer Smith Park the site is perfect said Steven. “We looked at a number of locations but there was nothing that we felt was what we needed. When we walked by this location we knew we were going to take it the moment we saw it.
 I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Crème de la Crème is more than an ice cream store. You start by standing in line, there is always a line – short and it moves quickly. While you are in that line you get handed a menu – yes a menu to help you decide what you want. The choice of toppings is something to behold.
Then you watch as your order is made up. You choose the cup or cone size you want and in a matter of minutes you begin to enjoy the taste of really good ice cream.
The ice cream and toppings are brought in from Mavros, a Toronto supplier.
The chocolate offerings which are just short of magnificent are from Leonidas, a chocolate manufacturer with the right to use the emblem of the Court of Belgium.
The chocolate that is dripped over the ice cram is also imported from Belgium.
Marie, a nurse by training who still has that hint of a French accent in her voice, is very much a full partner in this venture. She had wanted to be in something that was a family business for a long time – she just wasn’t sure what that business would be.
They two met in Banff at a time when Steven didn’t know quite what he wanted to do with his life. He tells his side of the romance this way: “I went to Banff to ski and came home with a wife.” Marie Helene just smiles while she spoons ice cream from a small cup.
Steven worked in marketing and was involved in setting up franchise operations in the automotive field with several partners and decided to leave the security of something that was certain and get into retail which is always far from certain.
The core part of the business is doing very well – Steven and Marie are already thinking their way through the next level of the business they are building. Additional locations? Hamilton and Stoney Creek are getting a close look.
 The fine chocolate choices will increase. The current Burlington customer base is solid and growing – now they want to take that base into additional products with chocolate being an obvious choice.
Steven appears to want to become the location for the finest chocolate in the city.
With the customer count reaching 600 a day on occasions the location is adding to the vibrancy that is sometimes seen on city streets.
It takes an hour to get the shop opened up and an hour to close it down. The equipment has to be cleaned and made ready for the next shift – this is a seven day a week operation.
Fresh fruit is purchased every day.
There are currently more than 25 types of chocolate on the shelves.
 Crème de la Crème is going the traditional marketing route of setting aside a portion of the earnings that they give back to the community.
Their youngest daughter Emma chooses an ice cream flavour for each month which gets promoted as Emma’s Choice. Included in the recent choices – there have been just the three so far, was a Pride ice cream.
Is ice cream a seasonal product? How do you sell it in January?
You don’t sell ice cream in January. The plan is for the whole family to take a month long vacation – somewhere south where the weather is warm and they can get there daily scoop of ice cream
By Staff
September 3, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Do not mess with George Ward.
Mr. Ward, a resident of that part of Burlington that lies north o the QEW where life is quiet and sedentary.
Mr. Ward then read about the telephone election survey being done by Campaign Research who said they were doing the survey for a “marketing” organization and couldn’t say who because of a confidentiality agreement.
The survey focused on Burlington residents.
Ward had filed a complaint about the survey to the Market Research Intelligence Agency,
Dear MRIA,
Here is the content of the complaint:
I applaud you as a leading professional organisation representing the Canadian market research industry and the MRIA requirement for your member organizations to hold themselves to the highest level of quality and ethical standards.
 Burlington resident George Ward However your member “Campaign Research” is not holding themselves to your rigorous Professional Standards which creates this complaint.
A lady by the name of “Devon”, who stated she represented “Campaign Research”, contacted my home phone last week to conduct a survey regarding the upcoming Burlington elections. I agreed to participate in the telephone survey. “Devon” then proceeded to ask me questions related to the candidates for the upcoming Burlington election for mayor with my responses to be listed as a 1 to 10 order with 10 being my highest recommendation.
Upon my identification of Ms. Marianne Meed-Ward as a 10 and the other candidates being lower the questions changed drastically to topics including racism related to clothing worn (i.e. hijab, etc.), domestic abuse and other non-appropriate questions which to me were an attempt to cast dispersion along with repugnant, disreputable and scandalous implications onto candidate Meed Ward.
MRIA member “Campaign Research” has seriously violated the MRIA Code of Conduct for Market and Social Research and I will attempt to identify the violated clauses below:
A. The goals of the Common Standard of Disclosure and the Member Declaration are:
I. To support sound and ethical practice in the conduct of survey and public opinion research.
B. We, members of the MRIA, pledge ourselves to … integrity … .
C. We further pledge ourselves to reject all tasks or assignments that would require activities inconsistent with the principles of the MRIA Code and this declaration.
D. Principles of Professional Responsibility in Our Dealings with People
I. We will avoid practices or methods that may … mislead participants … .
II. We will not misrepresent our research or conduct other activities ( … or political campaigning) under the guise of conducting research.
In summary the MRIA has an excellent “Code of Conduct” but it is apparent your membership namely “Campaign Research” has failed to abide by the code and in particular the statements above.
I trust you will take the necessary corrective action to remedy the above non-compliance by “Campaign Research”. Thank you in advance for your attention and you are welcome to contact me for further details.
 The organization George Ward filed the complaint with appears to project the image of a very professional group of people. We will let you know how the MRIA responds to the complaint.
Related news story:
Follow the dots.
By Staff
September 3rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The citizens are going to tell their stories about the Brant Inn, a locale that at one time had Burlington on the map. People came from around the world to play music at the Brant Inn – it was a jumpin place in its day.
KooGle Theatre has received a grant from the City of Burlington Arts and Culture Fund to tell the story of the Inn
 The grant will allow KooGle to begin their research/creation phase for their production of a currently untitled musical based on the historic Brant Inn – the show will revolve around the true stories that local residents (and their families) have about their time at The Brant Inn.
Did you attend The Brant Inn in it’s heyday?
Did you have a relative who went there and told you their stories?
 Were you in a band who played there? We want to hear your story, your memories – to help us piece together our future musical production!
Please contact Leslie at info@koogletheatre.com to set up a meeting. Interview begin in September.
This is a really smart idea – kudos to the people at city hall who made this happen.
 By Staff
September 3rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Art Gallery of Burlington is hosting Fibre Content: a community event that features the best of contemporary Canadian Fibre Art.
 Showcasing works in fabric, paper, yarn, thread and mixed media materials, the goal is to raise the profile, awareness and acceptance of Fibre Art as an art form.
The event takes place from Saturday September 8 through to Saturday September 15
 Floating in Blue – Triptych, Gunnel Hag ARTIST TALKS AND HANDS-ON EVENTS
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2018
 Spring Thaw, Tracey Lawko One Stitch at a Time
Lecture by Tracey Lawko | 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Her Enduring Love of Surface Design
Lecture by Gunnel Hag | 2 to 4 PM
Playful Abstract Creations
Workshop with Albert Cote | 2 to 4 PM
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2018
How I Do What I Do – When I Don’t Know What I’m Doing
Lecture by Mita Giacomini | 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Her Unique Use of Wash-Away Water Soluble Film
Lecture by Pat Hertzberg | 2 to 4 PM
Eco Printing on Paper and Rust / Tannin
Workshop with Chandra Rice | 2 to 4 PM
 By Staff
September 3, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It was a horrific event that captured the minds of everyone in Toronto and every other community in the province.
The S. S. Noronic had caught fire at the early morning hours of September 17th, 1949xxx in the morning. By the time the fire was brought under control there were 139 people dead and a ship that was once the “Queen of the Lakes” was a charred hull.
Fred Addis, nautical historian will be giving the lecture that is free
The lecture takes place at the New Street Branch of the Public Library September 12th, 2018 – starts 7:00 pm
By Staff
September 2nd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Craig Gardner, chair of the Burlington Terry Fox Run tells the story of two girls in the Cavendish Drive and Longshire Drive area who set up a lemonade stand/bake sale on Saturday and raised $633.15 for the Terry Fox Foundation.
 Grace and Isabelle celebrate a successful lemon aid and bake sale – raising xxx for the Terry Fox Foundation. Proud mom Tanya Blizzard-Carden has nothing but praise for her daughters Grace and Isabelle.
The annual Terry Fox Run takes place Sunday September 16th.
 By Ray Rivers
September 1st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The one thing that all of our federal parties agree on is their support for Canada’s supply management system. Pierre Trudeau may have invented the program for dairy, poultry and turkeys back four decades ago, but Brian Mulroney expanded it in his time. And Parliament unanimously endorsed supply management in 2005. The alternative to supply management is what we saw back in the sixties and what see south of the border now.
 When markets were saturated milk got poured into fields. Supply management controls what is produced and farm incomes are kept stable. Periodically farmers in Wisconsin and other big dairy states will dump millions of gallons of milk out behind the barn and into their plowed fields. They have no other option since the markets are saturated and they couldn’t even give the product away. But it’s no big deal because they know there is a federal cheque on the way to tide them over – until the next time.
It’s about market signals. That invisible hand of Adam Smith which worked so perfectly in economic text books goes numb when put into practice in our imperfect world. However Canada’s quota supply management system gives farmers market certainty, so they can plan their expenditures accordingly. The result has been stability and wealth creation.
But not everyone agrees with supply management. Donald Trump for one, as he has threatened to end NAFTA unless Canada shuts it down. He’d prefer all that Wisconsin milk to be dumped in Canada instead of in the furrow behind the plow so he could get away with paying his farmers a smaller subsidy. But not all Americans agree with Trump.
The Wisconsin Farmers Union, the National Family Farm Coalition and Institute for Agricultural & Trade Policy, support Canada’s right to manage its internal food production system. In fact they have been lobbying for the US to adopt its own comparable supply management system. And they’ll probably have as much success as those Americans advocating the adoption of Canadian-style single-payer health care.
Opponents of supply management argue that the system is inherently less efficient than the unregulated market alternative. Were that true the price of milk should reflect such inefficiency. But that is not the case. The 2018 AC Nielson Fresh Milk Price Report studied what consumers have to pay in a number of countries, in Canadian dollars, over the twelve month period ending in October 2017.
 Canada had the least expensive milk Canada, at $1.50 a litre, had the least expensive milk among the nations surveyed. Australia was next at $1.57, followed by the US at $1.61 for Canadian comparable rBST-free (hormone free) milk. Prices in France came in at $1.77 per litre and export oriented New Zealand surprisingly sold its domestic milk for $1.83 a litre, raising the question of how it manages to sell as much as it does in export markets at that price. Tiny New Zealand owns between 12 to 16% of the global export market, compared to Canada which has virtually none.
New Zealand and Australia have the huge advantage that dairy farmers there don’t require costly winter housing or much stored feed for their animals. New Zealand dairy farm costs may be as little as half those in Canada as a result. But that many dairy cows in the historic land of the flightless kiwi bird has taken it’s toll. It is estimated that 60% of the internal waterways there are contaminated with animal wastes to the point that it is unsafe to swim. And agriculture has become the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) for that country.
Methane is over twenty times more powerful a GHG pollutant than carbon dioxide and cows emit a lot of methane as they digest their food. Then there is all the inevitable manure and the extensive application of nitrogen fertilizers used to enhance pastures. As a result, New Zealand has grown it’s GHG emissions by almost 20% just since 1990.
Canadians spend a relatively small percentage of their household budget on food, roughly 10%, down considerably from only a couple decades ago. So perhaps that is why so few Canadians can be bothered learning how their market quota system works. An Angus Reid poll indicated that most Canadians admitted they knew “nothing at all” about Canada’s dairy system.
 The system also takes wide price swings out of an important part of a food source. It is a complicated process with federal and provincial milk boards and quotas for industrial and fluid milk, etc. And that makes it politically vulnerable, as we have seen with other complicated programs – like Ontario’s now cancelled cap and trade system. The general public likes things made simple, and which can be explained in a sound bite. So almost a quarter of ordinary Canadians would be OK were the system scrapped, and almost half would be willing to sacrifice it in NAFTA negotiations.
However there is also a chorus of well educated, vocal and persistent detractors who seriously want Canada to ditch its supply management system. And these advocates span the political divide. Liberal parliamentarian Martha Hall Findlay made scrapping it her major policy plank, which partly explains her loss to Justin Trudeau in the last Liberal leadership contest. And Maxime Bernier, the odds on favourite to win the recent Conservative leadership race narrowly fell on this issue to Andrew Scheer, and was defeated by dairy sector delegates from his home province.
 Maxine Bernier, who wants to abandon supply management, comes out of a province where there are more milk producers than any other province. Bernier, who has been described as a true libertarian, has now left the Tories and is threatening to create a new neo-conservative party of his own. Conservatives can recall how the last right wing splinter party, Reform, helped give the Chretien Liberals three consecutive majority governments, and led to the virtual destruction of the party of Sir John A.
So one can hardly blame them for being a little nervous about Bernier’s intentions and his appeal to the right wing of Canadian politics, joining the Libertarian party and the so-called Christian Heritage. And that should make Mr. Scheer want to reconsider his party’s discomfort with either a preferential ballot or proportional representation electoral system, particularly if Bernier resonates as well as he has in the past.
Friday, August 31 was the deadline Trump gave for Canada to cave into all of the US demands or there’d be no deal and the US would tariff us into oblivion. And if we licked his boots Canada could become a signatory to the deal Trump struck with Mexico. The US was not going to compromise on any of their conditions. Art of the deal or not, if one side won’t compromise it’s called capitulation, not negotiation. NAFTA is kaput unless this Congress, which has the annoying habit of asking ‘how high before Trump can say jump’, is willing to stop him.
The dairy producing sector is declining globally and milk producers everywhere are worried about their fate – except in Canada. Milk is healthy for children but indigestible for many of us once we reach adulthood. Even Trump doesn’t drink the stuff. But milk is entrenched in Canada’s Food Guide and milk protein has been integrated into so much of our food processing and specialty products that it will continue to be with us into the foreseeable future.
Recent polling shows that almost all Canadians are overwhelmingly content with the range and quality of dairy products available in Canada and two-thirds of Canadians are satisfied with the prices they pay.” If it’s not broken we should not be fixing it, no matter what Mr. Trump thinks he wants and how inappropriately he tries to bully us.
 Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. He earned a degree in economics. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Supply Management – Bernier – Conservative Policies –
New Zealand and Dairy – New Zealand Emissions –
 By Pepper Parr
August 31stt, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The rule is – you follow the money and you connect the dots.
And follow the facts:
In a statement sent to Meed Ward on behalf of Campaign Research lawyer Evan Presvelos said, “We vehemently contest your characterization of the subject statements as ‘defamatory.'”
“He also said the poll was conducted for “another market research firm, whose identity we cannot disclose due to confidentiality.”
 A rendering of the development Reserve Properties wants to build on the SE corner of Brant and James – across the street from city hall. Reserve Properties has options on a number of options on Brant Street land. The development Reserve took to the Planning department for a 24 storey condominium was turned down. Staff recommended 17 storeys.
Reserve has appealed that decision to the Land Planning Act Tribunal.
KG&A announced recently that Reserve Properties had become a new client. An entry on the KG&A web site states:
“KG&A is an award-winning communications strategy firm.
“Over the last decade we’ve earned a reputation as one of the only in Canada specializing in the urban landscape.
“Our approach is unique. We’re research obsessed media junkies with backgrounds in journalism, digital media, brand strategy and event programming.
“And we believe that strategy should be invisible – that’s why we’re the award-winning firm you’ve never heard of.”
 Sheldon Fenton, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Reserve Properties Sheldon Fenton, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Reserve Properties. A lawyer by profession, Sheldon launched his career at a top tier Toronto law firm specializing in corporate and real estate law.
A role at CIBC followed with a deep focus on strategic financing and institutional problem-solving. It is this entrepreneurial approach to problem-solving combined with an unwavering passion for real estate development that has helped Reserve’s portfolio grow exponentially. Since it’s inception the company’s real estate activities have included more than 8,000 residences, office and retail developments, hotels and retirement communities across North America.
 By Staff
August 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton District School Board will be welcoming approximately 64,000 Kindergarten to Grade 12 students on the first day of school on Tuesday.
The Board’s 6,507 teachers, 3,117 non-teaching and support staff, and 222 principals and vice-principals are outfitting classrooms, tending to sports fields, polishing floors, cleaning buildings and organizing schedules to prepare schools for another productive and memorable school year.
New cladding on the sides of the high school and repairs to the roof are part of the work done at MMR during the summer. The controversial transferring of Lester B Pearson students to M.M. Robinson High School starts on Tuesday as well. During the summer, MMR underwent some renovations to improve the educational experience for all students as the two schools merge into one community. The school’s Community Pathways Program (CPP) space has been re-constructed, new locker bays installed throughout the building, the theatre’s facade re-designed and renamed the Lester B. Pearson Community Theatre and new cladding added to part of the outdoor front facade, in addition to other improvements.
Students, staff and parents/guardians will also walk into many other Halton schools that underwent various renovations and upgrades this summer. Approximately $25 million worth of construction projects were completed at dozens of elementary and secondary schools. Work included roofing improvements, ventilation, new entranceways, windows, doors, flooring and washrooms, and more.
Over the summer, the HDSB transitioned to a new Student Absence Reporting system called SchoolMessenger. Families can register for SchoolMessenger through the website (go.schoolmessenger.ca) or the HDSB Mobile App. Resources and training videos to support parents/guardians with the transition to SchoolMessenger are available on the HDSB website (hdsb.ca) by searching “SchoolMessenger”.
This new system enables parents/guardians to receive app notifications, text messages, emails and phone calls from schools and the HDSB. Families will now be able to report absences for their child using the HDSB Mobile App, the SchoolMessenger website or a toll-free phone number.
The HDSB Mobile App, rolled out earlier this year, consolidates important information for parents/guardians and students into one easy-to-access location. Report absences, receive school and Board news, social media and calendars all in one place. The HDSB Mobile App is available for download on the App Store and Google Play by searching “HDSB”.
 By Staff
August 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Police are seeking witnesses who observed a vicious assault that started at the side of the Island Bar located at 4170 South Service Road in Burlington.
On August 11th 2018, shortly after 2:30 AM, a 19-year old victim was at the side of the premise and began speaking to unknown person(s) in a dark colour pickup truck that had parked in a neighbouring parking lot to the east.
 As the victim was standing near this pick-up truck, four white males and two white females approached from the direction of the Island Bar. One of the males pushed the victim to the ground and the other males joined in on the assault.
The victim retreated to the neighbouring parking lot where the assailants continued to assault the victim by pushing him around and repeatedly punching him in the head. The assault lasted for approximately 5 minutes before the assailants left the area in the dark pickup truck.
The victim was taken to the hospital where he was treated for a broken jaw that required surgery.
Police are asking anyone who witnessed this assault or provided assistance to the victim to contact Detective Constable Erin Toth of the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2313.
Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See something? Hear something? Know something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
 By Staff
August 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Conservation Halton is looking for 50 community volunteers to help plant native trees and shrubs on Sunday, September 9.
The Trees for Watershed Health planting is taking place at the Hopkins Tract, 201 Old Guelph Road in Hamilton.
Registration and check-in will begin at 9 a.m. with planting scheduled to start shortly after 9:30 a.m. Volunteers are reminded to dress according to the weather, wear waterproof boots and bring a shovel. The event will happen rain or shine, unless conditions are deemed to be unsafe for participants and staff.
The welcome to participate goes out to all individuals, families, and small groups. No prior planting experience is required. Space is limited and pre-registration is mandatory, visit the web site for more details and to find registration information.
 Hopkins Tract is in orange Established in 2015, the Hopkins Tract of the Pleasant View Natural Area, is located on the southeast corner of Old Guelph Road and York Road in Dundas. The 24 hectare (59 acre) property contains deep ravines associated with the Pleasant View Tributary lined with mature deciduous oak forests and contains several uncommon and rare Carolinian and savannah indicator species.
This newly formed public natural area has been incorporated into the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System.
The significant parcel was secured to further establish and widen a natural corridor link between Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment within the City of Hamilton. The property offers significant opportunities for the restoration of creeks, wetlands and Carolinian forest as well as protection of head-water stream ravines.
 This is some of the terrain that work will be done on. The restoration strategy for the property provides a direction to protect and restore natural ecosystems to ensure the health and diversity of native species, habitats, landscapes and ecological processes.
These strategies will help to improve the natural functions of the landscape and hydrology of the two subwatersheds.
Trees for Watershed Health is a Conservation Halton community outreach program which gets watershed residents and community groups involved in tree planting. The program is designed to bring communities and nature together to increase forest cover in the watershed through volunteers planting trees at selected sites.
By Pepper Parr
August 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
James Burchill released the fourth and final Smart Car Coffee Confidential this morning – and it is a lot different than the first three.
This morning we get to see and hear what Aldershot resident Greg Woodruff has to say as he runs a campaign to become the next Mayor of Burlington.
 Greg Woodruff on the left with James Burchill as they do a Coffee Confidential interview while driving around in a Smart Car He is up against the incumbent Rick Goldring; former city Councillor and former Member of Parliament for Burlington, Mike Wallace and ward 2 city Councillor Marianne Meed Ward.
In another article we are going to publish all four interviews that were done in the car that Burchill drives around the city.
Greg Woodruff is different – but he is certainly worth a listen. Worth more than one listen.
CLICK HERE for what Woodruff has to say.
If he is right …. Well listen to what he has to say.
 By Pepper Parr
August 30th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It’s a story that isn’t going to go away and the telephone election polling being done doesn’t appear to be stopping.
Campaign Research appears to have revised the questions they are asking the people they call in Burlington which suggests that the client is still intent on attempting to collect some information and at the same time using historical information out of context to hammer the reputation Mayoralty candidate Marianne Meed Ward’s reputation,
Meed Ward worked for a number of years as a columnist for the Toronto Sun. Anyone who wants to put a specific spin on what another person who writes for the public won’t find it difficult to do a really good smear job on them. Columnists have opinions – that’s why they are hired. Some are provocative, others entertaining. We all have our favourites.
I usually can’t wait to read what Maureen Dowd has to say in the New York Times and there is certainly a colourful background story on her.
 There is a lot of money riding on this development. They want what the guy across the street has in terms of height. This rendering is on Brant from the Queen’s Head looking north. What Burlington is seeing is this – significant financial interests don’t like the impact Meed Ward is having on the rate and kind of development the city is experiencing.
Meed Ward, often described as a populist (I’ve never understood what’s wrong with being a populist) can be very blunt and direct. She has an agenda – as a politician she is supposed to have an agenda.
For some politicians their agenda is for the ward they represent. Meed Ward has always seen the city and the Region as her agenda and a city that meets the needs of the people who live here as she understands them.
She is described as well as “divisive” – that she isn’t a team player. She has chosen not to work with the current political team at city hall because she thinks they are dead wrong and she has a level of support that suggests she just might be right.
That she has the support of a large sector of the city impacts what the developers are going to get away with. Development is now all about money.
There was a time when developers cared about the communities they were building – that day has come and gone. It is now about how much you can make and keep.
The number of new developers who are new to Burlington is significant. They see a market in which they can get just about anything they want – and they are either buying up properties or getting options to buy.
Residents see opportunities to make a bundle on selling their homes – everyone wins.
Meed Ward sees it differently.
 Quiet streets with good homes – the Burlington many people want to defend and they believe Meed Ward is the person who will deliver for them. She believes that the city is where people live and the quality of life they have experienced can continue as long as there is some level of control over the growth that is taking place.
There are numbers being put out saying that the city has to grow by a certain number of homes and jobs – it doesn’t look as if anyone knows what the 30+ development applications that are said to be working their way through the Planning department will amount to.
Which brings us back to the telephone survey that has been taking place and is still underway.
Someone wants to know just where the political support is in this city. There are three serious candidates (the fourth needs to get another hobby). Each offers very clear choices.
 Meed Ward has always been a different campaign. She ruffles the feathers of her colleagues on city council; asks more questions than all the others combined and truly believes that the people she represent deserve a better form of local government. The Meed Ward choice threatens the interests of people with a lot of money who don’t want to lose the opportunities they see in Burlington.
So they do some research and in the process do whatever they can to besmirch the reputation of one of the candidates by bringing up stuff she wrote more than a decade ago and then putting it in a different context.
It’s sort of like asking a man if he is still beating his wife. The answer to the question isn’t the issue – it is the question that is all wrong.
That’s what applies to what it taking place now and people in Burlington need to see the situation for what it is.
This business about being divisive is just another way of saying Meed Ward asks questions that make me uncomfortable – and that she does. That’s what her job is and she appears to be doing it quite well – too well for some people.
 Mayor Rick Goldring being interviewed by CBC The CBC radio office in Hamilton has done a good job of digging out a large part of the story. (We would love to have the resources they have.) They got a statement from the Mayor – he appears to have chosen not to release a statement to all media. Goldring, who is running for re-election against Meed Ward, said he had nothing to do with the poll. “It was definitely not me. It’s certainly not my style.”
In the CBC report Councillor Marianne Meed Ward says she first received word from residents on Sunday afternoon she was being mentioned in a telephone survey conducted by Toronto-based consulting firm Campaign Research — which counts controversial conservative political strategist Nick Kouvalis as one of its heads.
Meed Ward called the statements made about her “untrue, inflammatory and defamatory.” Campaign Research denies that. “This is heinous and it needs to stop,” Meed Ward said.
 Jim Young at a transit meeting. Burlington resident Jim Young told said he received a call Monday afternoon. “It started off like a fairly regular political poll, he said, “consisting of rating candidates on a scale of one to 10, and indicating how certain he was that he would support a particular candidate.”
Young said that he planned to vote for Meed Ward and then the tone of the questions the person was asking changed.
“At that point, the questions became very strange,” Young said. The woman conducting the poll said she was going to give several statements about Meed Ward, and instructed Young to indicate on a scale of one to 10 how likely he was to change his vote because of them.
The questions asked, which don’t deserve repeating, were in Jim Young’s words “seemed like character assassination.”
Young wanted to complain about the questions being asked and was told that the survey was being done by Campaign Research and was offered a telephone number in case he wanted to complain.
Young said he called the number, and got an automated recording for Campaign Research.
Campaign Research denies survey was defamatory
In an email, Campaign Research Principal Richard Ciano said the company will not “disclose, discuss, confirm, or deny the existence of any matter relating to who its clients are, or may be, or any work Campaign Research Inc. may perform on behalf of its clients unless specifically required to do so by law, or unless specifically directed to do so by our clients.”
 Nick Kouvalis, a campaign strategist with a reputation os his own that he uses to drum up business from people who want deep background on public office candidates. Legal counsel for Campaign Research said, “We vehemently contest your characterization of the subject statements as ‘defamatory’.”
He also said the poll was conducted for “another market research firm, whose identity we cannot disclose due to confidentiality.”
A bunch of guys just taking care of business – see them for what they are.
Salt with Pepper are the opinions, reflections, observations and musings of the Gazette publisher
 By Greg Woodruff
August 30th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
In 2014 I was going around saying Burlington’s transit strategy is no more complicated than “Walk, Bike or stay home.” I figured that would make others explain what the transit strategy actually was. No luck on that count 4 years later we have – absolutely nothing. The upside is the website didn’t need any adjusting for the 2018 campaign. The downside being I live here.
The transit strategy when it finally arrives I suspect it will be full of city math. Where 2+2 doesn’t equal 4, because 2 of those people will stay home for no explicable reason.
I once said to a City staff member at a meeting that; “There is no realistic way you can get 100,000 more people into Burlington.” I fear they took the comment as a dare because. The “Grow Bold” plan puts at least 100,000 people in Burlington.
Realty time. All these high-rise buildings sit atop massive parking lots – all these people are bringing cars. Maybe they are not bringing two cars like traditional suburbs, but they still bring cars. How if
100,000 plus people are coming are we not going to cross the James Ridge
50,000 car doomsday line? The math just doesn’t add up.
Never fear though this problem will be solved by the “New Burlingtonian” who for some reason buys a car but never uses it. Yes, they made sure to get a parking space and bought the car, but it never goes anywhere. Existing residents will find hours of new time for walking, biking and bussing.
As you can imagine, running for office, you end up talking to a lot of people. I’ve never run into one person who is planning to modify there life to fit this new paradigm; Not one.
So the manifestation of everyone going about their busy lives; getting groceries, getting the kids to soccer, visiting friends or going to work – is that the road system will keep becoming an ever greater waste of time.
Don’t worry say transit experts; at some point, driving will waste so much time – people will give up on it. They drive less – fewer cars on road – problem solved. The math is solved not by making the numbers add up, but by changing the definition of two. Changing how much and how people are expected to travel.
This as far as I can see has not worked anywhere on the planet. What you discover is that those people who bought parking spaces and cars – use them. Though the road system gets ever more painful – it’s not more painful than trying to walk home with a case of canned tomatoes.
I might have to modify my line for the 2018 campaign to: “Walk, Bike, stay home or waste incredible amounts of time and gas”.
Related new article:
Transportation study: A draft is sitting on a desk somewhere in city hall.
 Greg Woodruff is a candidate for Mayor in Burlington. He ran as a candidate for Chair of the Halton Regional Council. Woodruff lives in Aldershot.
By Staff
August 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has been made aware of a fraudulent telephone call being made to a resident which appear to be coming from the Service’s non-emergency telephone number (905-825-4777).
This is known as spoofing, a caller on Canadian telephone systems can easily make a call appear from any number. Fraudsters will do this in order to hide the true origin of the call.
At this time, we are aware of only one incident in the last week of the Service’s non-emergency telephone number being used for fraudulent representation. The caller purported to be “police” to the person receiving the call and advised that a relative had been arrested. The caller stated that funds were required to be paid so that the relative could be released from custody. The person receiving the call was then requested to deposit funds into a Bitcoin ATM.
Please note that there are NO circumstances in which you will be legitimately contacted by the Halton Regional Police Service with an originating number displaying on your caller i.d. as 905-825-4777.
Outgoing calls from HRPS landline telephones will never be displayed as 905-825-4777.
This spoofing activity does not represent a data breach, nor does it represent a records information breach. Any and all personal information on file with our Service is secure, and the protection of this information remains our highest priority.
No police service in Canada will ever request an individual to deposit funds using Bitcoin or any money transfer service to secure the release of anyone.
If You Receive a Call Identifying as 905-825-4777:
Do not provide information to anyone contacting you from caller i.d. 905-825-4777.
Take steps to verify anything you have been told by the caller, including finding relevant phone numbers yourself to make call backs on.
Be aware that there are a number of popular scams that are currently utilizing caller id scamming.
Please do your part in sharing this message with your friends and family and help us to create more awareness of this type of fraud.
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