 By Marty Staz
October 25th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It seems like forever ago that I ventured into City Hall with my paperwork in hand, plunked down my hundred bucks and entered the Municipal Councillor’s race in our city. Having never done this before I will readily admit that I didn’t really have a grasp on what to do next. My nature has always been to “plan your work and then work your plan” but that wasn’t getting me anywhere since I couldn’t come up with a plan.
Fortunately we were still feeling the effects of very strange provincial election so it gave me time to gather my thoughts.
 Marty Staz reviewing a panel of development guidelines It wasn’t long before I was able to see where I was headed. The issues, the challenges and the talking points all came together and as I started knocking on doors and meeting with people I could feel some engagement building.
I can say with complete honesty that I was in this race with total conviction. Unfortunately, I really don’t feel I could say the same for some of my competitors. A total of eleven candidates submitted their nomination forms. A quick scan of the election results will provide proof of what I mean. I think that $100 isn’t enough to prevent less than committed individuals from wanting to see their name in the public eye. All of this only leads to thoughts of what might have been had we only had the die hard candidates in this race.
This also brings me to another questionable practice that happened for the first time in Burlington. Online voting. Do we really need a seventeen day window to give everyone an opportunity to vote online? We have two days of advance polls so why don’t we have two days of online voting? Over two weeks is a lot of time to lose for a candidate new to the elections race trying to get their message out there. Who knows, maybe it was simply done to favour any incumbent candidates.
Another gripe for me is the number of people that actually got out to vote. In an election with a multitude of issues and the new opportunity to vote online we only got a measly 3% increase in voters from 2014. When I realized this my first reaction was, “those people that didn’t vote must be living in a bubble.” But the more I thought about it I think I was one of the ones living in the bubble. Sixty one per cent of our city don’t seem to be too concerned about what is going on.
A lot of this may sound like sour grapes but truly it is probably more of the “woulda, shoulda, coulda”. I fought hard and have no regrets at all. The 39% of the public that voted simply felt that there was someone else better for the job. To all of the new members of our Council I say congratulations and work hard for us.
 By Staff
October 25th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 With the arrival of Rogers Hometown Hockey in Burlington this weekend, Brant Street will be closed between Ontario Street and Pine Street starting Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 at 6 a.m. until Monday, Oct. 29 at 5 p.m.
Emergency access will be maintained at all times.
 By Pepper Parr
October 25th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
In the next few weeks they will be meeting with people in accounting and giving them the data they need to get their names on the payroll so that half of their annual remuneration of $100,000, give or take a bit, flows into their bank accounts.
They will tell the printing department how they want their names to appear on their business cards.
The IT people will assign them email addresses and cell phones and iPads.
They will get used to parking their cars in the parking lot right outside city hall
Life as they’ve known it will take a whole new meaning. The anxious voters they were chasing just a few days ago with now address them as “Councillor”
Our Mayor Elect will begin to think how she can deploy these younger, eager people who are setting out to do the people’s will.
Few of the five newbies, Kevin Galbraith for ward 1, Lisa Kearns for ward 2, Rory Nisan for ward 3, Shawna Stolte for ward 4 and Angelo Bentivegna for ward 6.
Will Bentivegna show up with his traditional gift of a selection of his biscotti?
Paul Sharman is suddenly the Dean of Council, the only person other than the Mayor, who fully understands the budget these seven people are going to pass before the end of January.
In his first year as a city Councillor Sharman, in 2011, pushed through a 0% budget increase. He could redeem himself, indeed reinvent himself if he could pull that off again and nurture the new five on the intricacies of a municipal budget..
There probably isn’t one of the newbies who could stand up and rhyme off the names of all the Directors and give you twenty words on the approach they take to the departments they operate.
They will learn and the public will be forgiving for at least six months.
The focus, as it should be, will be on the Mayor Elect. She is going to have t determine who she will take on as staff for her eighth floor office. Will some of the people who worked with her day to day in the campaign be part of that team: Lyn Crosby is a possible.
Now that she is in office the public needs to understand that you can’t just trust her to do what she said she would do. Politics doesn’t work that way.
You couldn’t live with one-term Can Jackson – so you elected Rick Goldring. He looked good, he was a decent sort and so you elected him and trusted him to do right by you.
How did that work out?
Your job as voters is to hold them to account, demand transparency and expect a seat at the table – and then show up.
Hopefully a lesson has been learned.
They all mean well – help them deliver on what they meant when they asked for your vote. They need both your support and your willingness to ask them the hard questions as they set out to do a really hard job.
 Councillor Elect Lisa Kearns  Councillor Elect Rory Nisan  Councillor Elect Shawna Stolte  Councillor Elect Angelo Bentivegna They are all in the middle of an incredible euphoria. Let them enjoy it. Then be there for them. The past eight years should have taught us all something.
 Councillor Elect Kevin Galbraith
 By Staff
October 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Performing Arts Centre will be presenting the Tarragon Theatre production of Cottagers and Indians by Drew Hayden Taylor November 3 & 4 in their Community Studio Theatre.
Wild rice sparks a battle royale between a native farmer and a white cottager, whose increasingly bitter dispute becomes a microcosm for reconciliation. Told with warmth and humour, and encompassing issues of community, respect and ownership, Cottagers & Indians is a tale for our times – and a food fight for the ages.
 Scenes from the Tarragon Theatre production of Cottagers and Indians Award-winning playwright Drew Hayden Taylor exposes the absurdity that comes from these kinds of arguments, and touches on the severity of its historical implications. Cottagers and Indians gives audiences a sincere and pragmatic look at the current conflicts between First Nations’ traditional water usage and property owners in cottage country who are looking to enjoy an undisturbed summer getaway. There will be a post-show chat with the cast of Cottagers and Indians.
“I laughed out loud”, “If you like the jokes in Come From Away, then look into Cottagers and Indians.” – The Globe and Mail
Cottagers and Indians: Written by Drew Hayden Taylor. Original Direction by Patti Shaughnessy. Remount Directed by Melody Johnson. Starring Herbie Barnes & Brooke Johnson. Set Design by Robin Fisher. Costume Design by Sage Paul. Lighting Design by Nick Andison. Sound Design by Beau Dixon. Stage Management by Kate Redding.
The 2018/2019 BPAC season also includes: Canadian Rep Theatre’s Helens Necklace, Canadian Rep Theatre’s How Do I Love Thee: A Staged Play Reading, Evalyn Parry’s SPIN, Ahuri Theatre’s This is the Point.
Tarragon Theatre: Cottagers and Indians
Saturday, November 3 at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 4 at 2pm in the Community Studio Theatre
The Burlington Performing Arts Centre
Tickets can be purchased by telephone, online or in person:
905-681-6000, www.burlingtonpac.ca
www.burlingtonpac.ca/event-listings
440 Locust Street, Burlington, Ontario
 By Pepper Parr
October 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
This is not a good sign.
A ribbon cutting is to take place today to announce the opening of a new Bad Boy store on Fairview; a ribbon cutting will be part of the event.
Photo ops are old school.
Ideas, action, policy and a change in the way the two former Mayors communicated with the public are what the voters expected.
 Noooobody – Mel Lastman We got a notice that Bad Boy is opening up a location on Fairview and that MPP Jane McKenna, Mayor Elect Marianne Meed Ward and former Bad Boy Honourary Chair Mel Lastman himself will be on hand for the ribbon cutting.
You can bet that he will holler Noooobody at some point in the ribbon cutting.
It is nice to see the words Mayor Elect before Meed Ward’s name – hope she does more than get her picture taken.
The optics on this event are not very attractive.
 By Pepper Parr
October 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette met Alison Braithwaite a number of years ago when she was in the private sector. She had this capacity to pick a point in a conversation when she could shift the direction a conversation with a few words.
I wondered about how she had done that for some time after the coffee meeting we had.
 Alison Braithwaite – “Words powerfully manifest our lives
“Words are powerful. The words we choose to use influence what we manifest in our lives and how we feel in our bodies. This week, I was speaking to someone who is very special to me. She was talking about her life and some of the challenges that she is facing at the moment. What I heard her saying was: “I am in a fight with this. I am fighting that. I need to fight this other thing.” For her, in this moment, everything seems to be a battle.
“The words we choose affect our bodies
“What I observed in her body as she spoke was how she tensed up as she spoke. The more she spoke of her fights, the more her body tensed up. It was like her body was preparing for battle and getting ready to ward off the missiles being launched her way. I could see the energy she was using just thinking of the battle.
“Let go of the fight
“The metaphor of war is used a lot in our culture. It seems that we, for whatever reason, always need an enemy. We battle the bulge, we battle drugs, we battle cancer and mental health issues. This battling an enemy becomes a big problem when the enemy we are battling is a part of ourselves.
“Shift the metaphor
“We need to shift our metaphors. The metaphor I like to use is that of a kayaker, skillfully navigating white-water. We all have white-water in our lives at times, fighting the water is not going to get us through it.
Reading the water, feeling the water, dancing with the water and skillfully navigating through it works much better.
“Embrace the messiness
 “A kayaker does not run from the messiness of the whitewater, she sees it, recognizes it, accepts it and moves through it. There is no fight there. Her body becomes as fluid as the water as she chooses her path, navigates her way through and celebrates with euphoria when she is through the tough parts.
“Let’s embrace the messiness of our lives. Accept it without fighting and navigate our way through.”
Questions for self-reflection
1. Over the next week start to notice the words you use. You may want to get some help with this. It is always easier to notice what someone else is saying than hearing what we say ourselves.
2. Notice what metaphors you are using. Are you struggling, fighting, stuck, challenged or moving through things?
3. How is the language you choose limiting or expanding you?
4. What shifts could you make to use more empowering and expansive language?
Remember, you are amazing, you are capable, you are skillfully navigating through life and that is worth celebrating every step of the way.
 By Staff
October 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The transit people want to improve bus arrival times and transit rider connections, they are going to make changes to bus routes that will be introduced Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018.
The schedule updates will affect routes 3, 5, 6, 11, 12, 21, 25, 80, 81, and 83. Transit riders are encouraged to check updated schedules before they ride at www.tripplanner.burlington.ca
Summary of transit schedule changes beginning Nov. 4, 2018:
Routes Change
5 and 80 Routes 5 and 80 will operate as separate buses and riders will be required to transfer between Routes 5 and 80 at the Burlington GO station at 2101 Fairview St.
This change will help ensure any delays that may occur on one of these routes will not have an impact on the other route.
6 and 11 Routes 6 and 11 will operate as separate buses and riders will be required to transfer between Routes 6 and 11 at the GO 407 Carpool lot on Dundas Street, west of Walkers Line.
This change will help ensure any delays that may occur on one of these routes will not have an impact on the other route.
12 Route 12 will operate on a 30-minute schedule all day.
11, 21, 25, 81 and 83 The schedules for Routes 11, 21, 25, 81 and 83 will shift by five minutes to improve transit rider connections at GO stations.
Updates to Burlington Transit schedules will result in more frequent bus service along Brant Street as riders will be able to take Routes 3 or 5 between downtown and the Burlington GO station.
 Sue Connor, Director of Burlington Transit with Jim Young an advocate for free transit for seniors one day a week. Sue Connor, Director, Burlington Transit imported from Brampton is betting that the “schedule changes represent another opportunity to improve Burlington’s Transit service. The updated schedules will help to ensure buses are arriving on time so that riders can make their transit connections to travel through our city.”
Connor is continually reported to have done a great job in Brampton. Let’s hope that can be achieved here as well.
There is in Burlington, a citizens group that approached the transit people with an idea: How about aving a bus that runs up and down Brant – with no particular schedule. It would be a hop on – hope off. And free.
The transit people said they didn’t have a bus that could be dedicated to an experiment like that. One wonders how people would take to the idea of being able to stand at a bus stop – get on the bus and go anywhere you wanted on Brant Street.
Burlingtonians are married to their cars. The only way they are going to evolve to transit users is if they are given a chance to try the service and find that it is convenient.
By Pepper Parr
October 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
There was a time when a recount would take place when the results were very close.
That practice is part of the past.
 Angelo’s biscotti making days are coming to an end unless he gets in some quality time with his wife to whip up another batch on a Saturday morning. Monday night the vote count that was on the city web site had Angelo Bentivegna 39 votes ahead of Blair Lancaster which means on December 3rd he will be sworn in as the member of city council will be Angelo.
Angelo BENTIVEGNA, 2747 votes, 35.73%
Blair LANCASTER, 2708 votes, 35.22%
The Clerk’s office advised the Gazette that “the only automatic recount is in the case of a tie. Otherwise it requires a court order.
Lancaster does have the option of asking a Judge to order a recount of the votes. How does one recount votes that were done electronically ?
The official results from the city will be out before the end of the week.
By Stephen White
October 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
In the aftermath of the election a few reflections come to mind.
First, to all the candidates who were elected, sincere and heartfelt congratulations. It takes courage to run for office, as well as a huge amount of self-sacrifice, effort, determination, knocking on doors, sleepless nights, long days, and copious cups of coffee. The thoughts, prayers and good wishes of a community go with you as you embark on this difficult and challenging journey in our City’s history.
Second, to all those who ran and lost, and even those with whom many may have disagreed, please know that there is no shame or disgrace in running and losing. If it takes courage to run for office it also takes twice as much to move forward after a loss. I hope the sting of defeat minimizes with time, and I hope you find a way to remain active and engaged in the life of our City.
Third, we live in a truly wonderful City. As I campaigned during the election and went door-to-door I met an extraordinary number of unique and talented citizens. I was born and raised in Oakville, and have spent the better part of the last 43 years living in Burlington. Although I have lived in different places throughout my career I have always returned here. I believed then as I do even more so now, that we live in an amazing community that is a fascinating combination of different neighbourhoods, ethnicities and cultures. Whenever I speak to new residents and ask them how they like living in Burlington I invariably hear words like “fantastic” and “great”. It makes me proud, but it also makes me truly blessed to call Burlington “home”.
 Mayor elect Marianne Meed Ward celebrating at the Polish Hall No doubt this has been a divisive election for several reasons too numerous to mention and not worth re-hashing. Emotions are running high on all sides. There exists a lot of ill-will and bitter feelings. For those who were successful though this is not a time to gloat. Rather, it is an opportunity for everyone to pause, reflect and determine how best we move forward.
Both during my career in Human Resources, as well as through my political involvement over the course of many campaigns, I learned that every interaction in life is a unique compilation of both conflict and conciliation. Conflict in human interactions is inevitable. We don’t all agree on the same things all the time. That is what makes us distinct as individuals. If we all agreed all the time life would be boring. It would also be very unimaginative. In politics, conflict manifests itself as a healthy and respectful exchange of viewpoints and beliefs. Other times it goes much deeper. At some point though we all need to put aside our individual differences, personality conflicts, past grievances and hurts to find points of agreement that allow us to move forward.
Years ago when I was an undergraduate student at McMaster University I did a major paper for my Urban History class on the role of the business community in shaping Burlington’s development between the First and Second World Wars. As part of my research I poured over microfiche records at the Burlington Library of old newspapers. One of the names that I kept coming across through my research was that of Hugh Cleaver.
Hugh Cleaver, for those who may not know, was Burlington’s Mayor in the 1920’s and 1930’s, and Liberal MP from about 1935 – 1948. To my surprise he was alive and still practicing law. I wrote to him requesting an interview, and he very graciously granted my request.
 The Hugh Cleaver house on Caroline – was demolished and replace by a semi-detached house. On a freezing cold day in February 1977 I travelled to his office on Caroline Street where I met him. Mr. Cleaver was tall, erect and imposing, but in spite of this remained very approachable. Rather than sit in his office talking we climbed into his Volvo and he drove me around the city. He pointed with pride to many of the developments he had been involved in constructing that included an apartment building on Market Street and homes in the Roseland area, many of which I should add are still standing. His memory was encyclopedic, and despite being well into his eighties his passion and love for this City was nothing short of contagious.
 Mr. Cleaver is gone now, but his legacy remains. I think of him today, and wonder what he would think about our City. One thing that resonates about our conversation over 40 years ago was our discussion around how to energize and sustain a community under pressure. During the 1930’s that pressure was overcoming economic challenges brought about by the Depression. Today our challenges may not be economic but they are nevertheless formidable.
One thing Hugh Cleaver reinforced was the notion of respect. Mr. Cleaver knew how to reach across and connect with voters and residents regardless of their political affiliation or approach. He lived in the community, and took enormous pride in what he built and created. For him, it wasn’t just about turning a profit or building a magnificent edifice or monument. It was about creating a community that was vital, diverse, sustaining and balanced, but also, one which was inclusive.
I hope as we embark upon this new chapter in our community’s history that our Mayor, our Council and our community pause to reflect on the legacy we’ve all inherited, and the insights offered by past leaders like Hugh Cleaver.
By Pepper Parr
October 23rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
While the rest of the city adjusts to the new reality at city hall, Ron Foxcroft puts the changes in perspective and lets us know what it is that is really important
“So happy that silly time is over, and no more political campaigns until 2019.
“I enjoyed working with Mr. Goldring, who was a man of integrity, leadership and class.
 Ron Foxcroft on the right talking to Rick Goldring “Marianne ran an efficient and masterful campaign, with drive and innovation.
“She has shown to be a team builder, with enormous enthusiasm, and energy.
“We all know that there is much difference between campaigning and managing.
“We must get behind our new Mayor, to help create an environment where managing the company (City) can be successful.
“Managing companies in this new complicated world is very challenging.
“It takes new skills, far from the days, where a hand shake was gospel.”
“Oskee Wee Wee. Now we concentrate on getting the Tiger Cats to the Grey Cup.”
 By Staff
October 22, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 They get to you by email – your only protection is to be super vigilant. RE: BMO Account Report
This sounded pretty official:
On October 22, 2018 we received a letter from FCIB, MBA.
We included in this email copies of the quarterly statements issued for the period June 21, 2018 to September 2018. The document describes notes placed in a locked pension protected by the Canada Pension Standart Act 1985, for more information please check documents included in this email.
Sincerely, Tim Trenblay
Note: FCIA – is a designation -Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries; MBA usually stands for Master of Business Administration.
The spelling error was an early clue. The attached file was an Excel file, why would a bank send me one of those?
The address the email came from was the biggest clue: BMO Financial Group noreply@bmodoc.com
Follow the rule: If in doubt – don’t.
By Pepper Parr
October 23rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
During the municipal election we wrote a number of articles about different candidates. We had not gotten to the point where we were ready to interview Daniel Roukema, who was running for the ward 5 council seat.
We did get a strong note from him demanding that we remove personal information about him from the list of candidates that were running in ward 5. We explained that the information came from the city Clerk’s office and was therefore public and we could see no reason for removing it.
That was the extent of our early interaction with Roukema.
 Daniel Roukema We then learned that Roukema had at last one significant legal matter that had yet to go to trial and were able to obtain copies of the claim Roukema was making and the defence that has been submitted.
A few days later we were sent a copy of an email that had some intemperate language.
When we were publishing a round up the candidates in each ward the Gazette thought were likely to win the election we included links to the Statement of Claim, the Defence and a copy of the email that was sent to us.
Our role as media is to inform the public. Mr. Roukema certainly wasn’t going to release that information.
The article was published as an opinion piece.
Early on Monday, Election Day, we received a notice of libel from a Hamilton law firm.
Libel notices are an occupational hazard in the newspaper business.
The notice in part said (it was 37 pages long and included everything that ever appeared in the Gazette relating to Roukema.)
The relevant part said:
(i) A newspaper article published to www.burlingtongazette.ca on October 16, 2018 by Pepper Parr which contains, among other things, information and comments about Daniel Roukema pertaining to “financial baggage” and “legal claims”.
(ii) A newspaper article published to www.burlingtongazette.ca on October 21, 2018 by Pepper Parr which contains, among other things, information and comments about Daniel Roukema pertaining to his alleged “baggage” and “legal problems and approach to communicating with people”.
To fully appreciate what follows you need to understand what the definition of inter alia is. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as: among other things.
The Roukema lawyers said:
It is the position of Daniel Roukema that the abovementioned articles are defamatory in their entirety. Thus, should litigation be necessary, Daniel Roukema will be seeking damages based on the entirety of their contents. Nonetheless, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, Daniel Roukema complains in particular about the following statements and links to documents contained within the aforementioned newspaper articles:
a) [Daniel Roukema’s] financial baggage and legal claims will get in the way of his being able to be an effective member of Council.
b) [Daniel Roukema’s] working style lacks the collaboration he mentioned seven times in his closing remarks
c) Daniel Roukema brings far too much baggage to the campaign. His legal problems and approach to communicating with people are serious concerns.
Lawyers frequently use Latin terms. One of those terms is inter alia which means among other things.
The following came from Roukema’s lawyer. WE did not say this about the man.
These statements are false and malicious, as in their natural and ordinary meaning and by way of innuendo, the words meant and were understood to mean, inter alia, that Daniel Roukema
(i) was deranged, unbalanced, strange, and/or somehow mentally unhinged
(ii) was prone to bizarre and suspicious behaviour,
(iii) was prone to loitering and guilty of trespassing,
(iv) was dishonest
(v) was a liar
(vi) had somehow engaged in misconduct that was socially unacceptable and/or illegal
(vii) had conspired with others for nefarious ends (viii) had stalked others and invaded their right to privacy
(viii) had stalked others and invaded their right to privacy
(ix) had poor personal hygiene
(x) was covered in dirt and filth
(xi) was somehow pathetic
(xii) was a person deserving of pity
(xiii) was a person deserving of scorn
(xiv) was a person deserving of ridicule
(xv) was a person unfit to hold office
(xvi) had engaged in criminal misconduct
(xvii) holds authoritarian views
(xviii) has no respect for the rule of law
(xix) is somehow a threat to the personal liberty of citizens
(xx) is somehow a threat to the maintenance of a free and democratic society
(xxi) lacks integrity,
(xxii) lacks judgment.
Neither Pepper Parr or the Burlington Gazette made these statements. We would not have permitted our legal counsel to use this kind of language.
Regarding all of the recipients of this notice, it is hereby requested that you immediately publish an apology on www.burlingtongazette.ca retracting the contents of the abovementioned comments in their entirety. Moreover, as further publication would itself be actionable, our client also requests that www.burlingtongazette.ca and/or Pepper Parr immediately remove the impugned comments, and any mention of the aforementioned comments, from the www.burlingtongazette.ca website.
Should you fail to provide on or before November 5, 2018 an affirmative response to this notice, our office has been given instructions to commence proceedings seeking both injunctive relief and monetary damages. However, as our client would prefer an amicable resolution to this situation, I trust that a civil action will not be required.
Of the five candidates running for the ward 5 city council seat Daniel Roukema placed third.
The vote count was:
Wendy MORAGHAN, 2336 votes, 27.96%
Daniel ROUKEMA, 1319 votes, 15.79%
Paul SHARMAN, 2840 votes, 33.99%
Mary Alice ST. JAMES, 1471 votes, 17.61%
Xin Yi ZHANG, 389 votes, 4.66%
By Pepper Parr
October 23rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
While not official Official – the following are the results of the 2018 municipal election.
 Mayor-elect Marianne Meed Ward Marianne MEED WARD, 23360 votes 46.04%
Rick GOLDRING, 16781 votes, 33.08%
Mike WALLACE, 9609 votes, 18.94%
Greg WOODRUFF, 983 votes, 1.94%
Marianne Meed Ward will be the new Mayor to be sworn in on December 3rd at the Performing Arts Centre.
It looks as if two of the incumbents, Jack Dennison and Blair Lancaster have lost – the ward 6 vote is very very close – might need a recount.
What kind of a Council will Meed Ward have to work with?
It will be Kevin Galbraith in ward 1, Lisa Kearns in ward 2, Rory Nissan in ward 3, Shawna Stolte in ward 4, Paul Sharman in ward 5 and Angelo Bentivegna in ward 6.
In an exclusive interview with the Gazette Meed Ward stressed how critical it was for the next city council to collaborate and work as a team.
With the only hold-over from the old council being Paul Sharman, she should be able to put together a Council that will work well together. Sharman will not have anything in the way of support. We can expect to see some of those 6-1 votes with Sharman on the short end of the stick; a position he was quite willing to assign to Meed Ward.
It will take at least a year for the new members of council to find their footing. In that year they are going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting.
The numbers on a ward by ward basis are as follows:
 Kevin Galbraith Ward 1
Jason BOELHOUWER, 679 votes, 7.71%
Vince FIORITO, 574 votes, 6.52%
Kelvin GALBRAITH, 1880 votes. 21.36%
Arlene IANTOMASI, 1142 votes, 12.97%
Andrew Paul JORDAN, 199 votes, 2.26%
“Kevin LEE. 838 votes. 9.52%
Garry MILNE, 164 votes, 1.86%
Tayler MORIN, 86 votes, 0.98%
René PAPIN, 556 votes, 6.32%
Marty STAZ, 1242 votes, 14.11%
Judy WORSLEY, 1443 votes, 16.39%
The Craven machine just couldn’t pull it off. The Chair of the Aldershot BIA, Kevin Galbraith defeated the Executive Director Judy Worsley who had the Craven ability to win behind her.
 Lisa Kearns Ward 2
Kimberly CALDERBANK, 1711 votes, 21.30%
Michael JONES, 781 votes, 9.72%
Lisa KEARNS, 3195 votes, 39.77%
Gerard SHKUDA, 73 votes, 0.91%
Roland TANNER, 2058 votes, 25.62%
Walter WIEBE, 216 votes, 2.69%
Lisa Kearns earned the win. She was up against a sterling candidate. Her performance as an ECoB delegator may well have won the seat for her.
 Rory Nisan Ward 3
Lisa COOPER, 764 votes, 11.91%
Darcy HUTZEL, 542 votes, 8.45%
Rory NISAN, 3467 votes, 54.05%
Peter RUSIN, 191 votes, 2.98%
Gareth WILLIAMS, 1451 votes, 22.62%
The surprise here was how soundly Rory Nisan
defeated Gareth Williams; the other surprise was
that Peter Rusin actually got the votes he did get.
 Shawna Stolte Ward 4
Jack DENNISON, 4624 votes, 44.24%
Shawna STOLTE, 5828 votes, 55.76%
The only ward with a straight one-on-one race, the Roseland community finally got what they have been longing for. It will be interesting to see how Shawna Stolte grows into the job.
 Paul Sharman Ward 5
Wendy MORAGHAN, 2336 votes, 27.96%
Daniel ROUKEMA, 1319 votes, 15.79%
Paul SHARMAN, 2840 votes, 33.99%
Mary Alice ST. JAMES, 1471 votes, 17.61%
Xin Yi ZHANG, 389 votes, 4.66%
The high number of candidates let Sharman hold
on to the seat – 33.9% of the vote went his way.
Were the city using ranked balloting,
harman would probably not have won.
Ward 6
Angelo BENTIVEGNA, 2747 votes, 35.73%
Blair LANCASTER, 2708 votes, 35.22%
 Angelo Bentivegna Kinsey SCHURM, 954 votes, 12.41%
Ken WHITE, 1279 votes, 16.64%
What do we know? With just 39 votes between Lancaster and Bentivegna there will probably be a re-count – so don’t count Lancaster out yet. Would ranked balloting have given the seat to Lancaster?
The voter turn out was much lower than many expect; the prediction was that the turnout would be above 50% – it was a disapointing 39.7? of the eligible voters.
By Staff
October 22nd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
There is good news ( a longish line at a polling station) and some disturbing concerns (poor service for seniors) from a resident who was voting today.
I have just voted at Nelson High School. There was a long line out the door when I arrived but it moved at a reasonable pace, taking about 30 min to get through the whole thing. However, I am sure that the dozen or so folks I saw who relied on a walker or cane felt otherwise.
 Seniors with mobility issues need to be considered whenever an event takes place. There was ZERO assistance available to them, no one greeted them or offered to make things easier or more comfortable, and there was no sign of another option for those with accessibility challenges. Given the fact that services for seniors have been one of the main topics of discussion throughout the election, AND that there is a high percentage of seniors in Ward 4, AND that they are the demographic with traditionally the highest turnout at elections, what kind of accommodations were made for those individuals who might have needed somewhere to sit while waiting for their turn? Better yet, why make them wait at all?
A gentleman in front of me who relied on a cane had to bounce from a stone out front of the school to a chair inside the main doors, to another chair positioned right outside the gym door. It was a horrible location for him to have to sit, but he should not have had to do that in the first place. It was only after I said something to someone who seemed like she worked there that she offered to move him to the front of the line. The fact that all these citizens of Burlington made the effort to come out and vote in spite of their physical limitations says more about their character and commitment to the election process than it does about our City Officials.
I am so upset, and completely embarrassed that the City was not more considerate about taking care of our most valued citizens, that I had to write immediately. Burlington, you can do SO much better than this!
Leslie Barbetta
 By Staff
October 22, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
A Gazette reader sent us a letter he received from that was published in the Meaford Independent last week, which he thought deserved repeating.
Burlington is not Meaford but as you read the piece you may find yourself thinking – that place is just like Burlington.
 Home for all of us. Congratulations and thank you to the citizens of our community who put their names forward to serve as municipal politicians. As tax-paying citizens, we expect our democratically elected officials to represent our interests and dig deep for the personal courage and commitment to move our community ahead to where we agree it needs to go. Building a genuine, efficiently managed community is a significant public responsibility and not an easy task with the ever-changing nature of societal and economic needs.
I am listening to the discussions and comments of candidates competing for positions as elected representatives of our community and I admit that I am concerned. No one would argue with the importance of ensuring our roads and bridges are safe, now and into the future, but there are other things that are important too. We want our elected representatives to talk to us, the citizens of this community, about the quality of life we seek to have for the future. I believe our government officials and staff need to work together with their citizens to clearly define what we want our town to look like, and once defined, determine how we get there.
It concerns me greatly when I hear comments like “give the developers and contractors whatever they want to encourage them to build new housing in our community.” Of course, we need to attract new families to live, work and go to school in Meaford, but we don’t want to meet this goal at the detriment of citizens enjoying what this community already offers. It is the challenge before us to agree upon and implement a balance in the use of resources to create the quality of community life that we seek.
What worries me are some of the comments I’m hearing about things like [community projects] being in jeopardy, or not being able to afford [services]. This is rubbish! People can afford what they want to afford and there are all kinds of levels of affordability. We would like our elected officials to implement plans to keep and build upon the services that our citizens value. It is also important that we have a clear vision of our priorities … now and for the future …. and that we communicate these clearly to those who represent us.
It is a huge expectation we have of our elected officials to come together and agree upon this community’s priorities and commit 100% to work together and with other governments to implement plans to make our priorities happen. There will never be enough money to do all the things that we want to do to enhance the quality of our community life, so we must be abundantly clear about our goals.
So, we have a lot of work to do. We are about to confirm our selection of municipal government leadership going forward for the next four years. In my personal view, perhaps now is a perfect time to re-state the service and planning priorities the citizens of this community value, and clearly define our future mission and goals.
As you go about casting your vote today – understand what the issues are – and make a choice based on what you know.
Tomorrow morning we will know who is going to lead the city through some of the difficult days ahead.
By Staff
October 22, 2013
BURLINGTON, ON
 The Halton Regional Police Three District Criminal Investigation Bureau have arrested and charged two Personal Support workers for committing various financial offences against an elderly 82 year old victim from Burlington.
Between April 4th and July 25th 2018, the two arrested persons used stolen cheques and credit cards belonging to the victim to amount of $6048.53.
Both persons arrested worked as Personal Support workers for the victim at separate times. There is no further risk to the public.
Melissa Watson (28 yrs) of Acton was released on a promise to appear in Milton Court on November 14th 2018 charged with the following offences:
• Fraud Under $5000,
• Uttering a forged document
• Possession of Property Obtained by crime
Sarah Taylor Mackenzie (25 yrs) of Burlington was released on a promise to appear in Milton Court on November 14th 2018 charged with the following offences:
• Fraud Over $5000
• Uttering a forged document
• Possession of property obtained by crime
• Unauthorized use of stolen credit card (two counts)
Halton Residents who have Personal Support Workers working in their homes should be aware of their Personal Support Worker’s identity, and have a detailed schedule from the agency providing care. Most Agencies and Personal Support Workers providing support in the home, unless specifically contracted to do so, are mandated to not complete any financial transactions, purchase items, or use the financial cards or cheques belonging to the patient or client receiving care.
Payments for services go directly to the company, who in turn pays the employee. If you have Personal Support Workers into your home, all valuables and financial items should be properly secured.
Persons who are Power of Attorney for their family members should complete regular audits of the family member’s finances and be aware of large, uncommon withdrawals from their accounts.
Halton Police contact: Detective Constable Derek Gray of the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau – Seniors Liaison Team at 905-825-4747 ext. 2344.
Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See something, Hear something, Say something” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca, or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
Anyone charged with a criminal offence is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
 By Staff
October 21st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Our colleagues at CATCH – Citizens at City Hall in Hamilton published a very appropriate piece earlier today.
Well worth reading – it tells people just who it is that butters our bread.
Across Ontario one out of six councillors will be acclaimed this year. That’s also true for 120 heads of councils and entire councils in 26 municipalities. The new Ontario premier believes voting is the only feature of democracy. He recently declared that “Democracy is you have an election – that’s what democracy is”.
In the provincial election he wasn’t supported by the majority of Toronto voters, but without warning he dramatically cut their municipal representatives to the same number as the city’s MPPs. His party obtained just 40 percent of the ballots cast last June and that was less than one-quarter of those eligible to vote.
Democratic activity measured by actual individual participation is far higher in municipal elections than at other levels of government. There are just 308 federal MPs and only 124 Ontario MPPs. That compares to over 25,000 municipal representatives, barring more changes like that imposed on Toronto this fall.
Hamilton municipal contests show that winners in wards without incumbents get elected with far less than half the ballots cast. And very low turnouts mean most incumbents are returned to office with the support of fewer than half the eligible voters.
Municipal governments make most of the decisions that directly affect people’s day-to-day lives. Provision of roads, water, sewers, waste disposal, and transit are all responsibilities of municipalities along with the determination of built form and development locations. Public health, fire protection, ambulance services and policing are also under city hall’s almost complete control.
Senior government levels have been actively downloading more responsibilities onto municipal governments including the provision of affordable housing, and paying for transit operating expenses. Municipalities also have implementation responsibility for many governance tasks that are funded and directed partly or wholly by the provincial government such as public health initiatives.
Even 70 percent of climate disrupting emissions occur in municipalities. Cities are already facing much of the burden of climate damages and some are playing increasingly important roles in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
 People queue to cast their votes at a polling station in the Katlehong township, east of Johannesburg, South Africa in , 2009. Voters lined up before sunrise Wednesday in an election that has generated an excitement not seen since South Africa’s first multiracial vote in 1994. Municipal politics is supposed to be “the closest to the people”, and local media, where it still exists, reports on the actions and views of individual councillors. Those representatives are far more likely to receive complaints, requests or other personal messages from their constituents than are MPs and MPPs.
People rarely hear what about what their MP or MPP has done because news coverage for federal and provincial legislatures focuses on the stance and behaviour of political parties and their individual leaders. And because of that or as a consequence, voting behaviour seems far more influenced by leaders and parties rather than individual candidates.
Municipal government is also by far the most transparent level. Here there are laws that prevent councillors from holding private meetings except under very specific circumstances such as labour negotiations or the sale or purchase of property. At other levels of government, most real decision-making takes place in secret cabinet meetings without even published minutes.
Individuals are far more able to make delegations to city councils and their committees than to the federal parliament or the provincial legislature. Any resident can get at least five minutes in front of their local council on virtually any matter of concern.
On most planning matters, councillors are actually legally required to hear constituent views without limits on length of presentation. Laws also require public notification through newspaper advertising of many municipal proposals and decisions as part of ensuring democracy and democratic rights. It may be worrisome that those laws are all made by the province.
 This week’s election and what follows in the new term of council offer opportunities to either strengthen or further weaken effective democratic rights whose future appears increasingly uncertain. Individual action and those of groups will play an important role in both the implementation and protection of democratic rights. This includes the number of representatives, and the actual engagement of residents, not just in voting but in utilization of those rights.
By Staff
October 21st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 Tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 22 is election day. The following are bus routes for each voting location. For bus schedules and maps, visit the Schedules and Maps page.
Ward 1
• Tyandaga Golf Course – 1265 Tyandaga Park Drive
Route 87 – Limited service before 9 am and between 3 pm and 6:40 pm
• Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School – 261 Plains Road East
Route 1 – 30-minute service
• LaSalle Park Pavilion – 50 North Shore Boulevard East
300 – Weekday service between 10:29 a.m. and 1:29 p.m.
• Aldershot Arena – 494 Townsend Avenue
Routes 1 and 5 – 30-minute service on both routes
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Ward 2
• The Salvation Army Community Church – 2090 Prospect Street
Routes 3 and 5 – 30-minute service on both routes
• St. John Catholic Elementary School – 653 Brant Street
Routes 3 and 5 – 30-minute service on both routes
• Art Gallery of Burlington – 1333 Lakeshore Road
Route 5 – 30-minute service. Route 10 – 20-minute service
• Burlington Seniors’ Centre – 2285 New Street
Route 10 – 20-minute service. Route 4 – 40-minute service, service ends before polls close, Route 300 – 60 minute service between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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Ward 3
• Conservation Halton – 2596 Britannia Road
No transit at this location
• Brant Hills Community Centre – 2255 Brant Street
Route 2 – 30-minute service
• Mountainside Community Centre – 2205 Mt Forest Drive
Route 12 – 30-minute service
• M.M. Robinson High School – 2425 Upper Middle Road
Routes 3 and 12 – 30-minute service on both routes
________________________________________
Ward 4
• Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church – 1401 Guelph Line
Route 3 – 30-minute service
Route 302 – 60 minutes service between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Mainway Recreation Centre – 4015 Mainway
Route 25 – 30-minute service
• Gary Allan High School – 3250 New Street
Route 10 – 20-minute service
• Nelson High School – 4181 New Street
Route 10 – 20-minute service
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Ward 5
• John William Boich Public School – 2474 Sutton Drive
Route 11 – 30-minute service
• Corpus Christi Catholic Secondary School – 5150 Upper Middle Road
Route 11 – 30-minute service
• Robert Bateman Secondary School – 5151 New Street
Route 20 – 20-minute service. Route 4 – 40-minute service, service ends before polls close
• St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School – 200 Kenwood Avenue
No transit at this location
________________________________________
Ward 6
• Haber Community Centre – 3040 Tim Dobbie Drive
Route 11 – 30-minute service
• St. Timothy Catholic Elementary School – 2141 Deer Run Avenue
Route 6 – 30-minute service
• St. Paul the Apostle Parish – 2265 Headon Road
No transit at this location
• Tansley United Church – 2111 Walkers Line
Route 25 – 30-minute service
By Pepper Parr
October 21st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
‘The Gazette was able to interview mayoralty candidates Marianne Meed Ward and Mike Wallace. We taped the interview.
We did not interview Greg Woodruff but did talk to him at some length on the telephone and did a piece on the role he has played in this election.
 Mayor Goldring explaining intensification to the public. We asked Mayor Goldring for an interview during the election campaign and did not hear back from his campaign manager.
During his first term of office we reported on the Mayor at length. Search the web site, the Mayor was covered at length and at the time he said we were doing a fine job. He made a 60 second statement on the role we had played during his first term Click to hear what he had to say.
We did interview the Mayor prior to his election to a second term as Mayor. The interview took place in the office of Rick Burgess a Goldring advisor, confidante and a former candidate for Mayor himself.
At the time we expected the Mayor to talk about what he had achieved in his first term and what he wanted to get done in his second term. We came away from that interview empty handed.
 Mayor Rick Goldring addressing a group of realtors. We were disappointed – at the time the Mayor didn’t have anyone running against him – it looked like he was going to be acclaimed.
It was evident to any observer that city council was not working as a cohesive body – not much sense of a council that had a clear vision and direction the residents could point to. Goldring however was popular. People liked him – he was seen as a decent man doing a decent job.
The hope for a private tree bylaw was just that – a hope. Goldring did manage to get a pilot tree bylaw approved for the Roseland community; that will not begin until the Spring of next year.
The New Street Road diet was a mistake that the Mayor should have seen coming. He didn’t.
The Mayor inherited the Pier problem. The project was stalled and looked like it would be in court for a decade. Before it got to the Court Room there was an opportunity to resolve the problem and save something in the order of $2 million.
 We actually built the pier twice. First time it was built a crane toppled over and revealed problems with the steel that was being used – it was all taken out; new steel was purchased and a new contractor built it again. City Council, in a Closed session, turned down a revised proposal from the contractor and looked for a new contractor that tore out much of what had been constructed and completed the project at double the original cost.
The sale of lake shore land between Market and St. Paul streets was close to criminal. The city got less than a quarter of a million dollars for land that is now out of the public domain and will never be available to the public. There was never a solid reason for selling the land. A staff report said selling was an option; the report also said leasing the land was an option and doing nothing was also an option.
 It is land that is now in private hands. During the fund raising initiatives after the August 2014 flood I was covering a photo op with the Mayor. At the time he said that he had “finally figured it out – photo ops were the way to communicate with the public”. I shuddered – why in heavens name would a politician every say something like that.
In his first election as Mayor Rick Goldring published several solid policy papers. One was for something in the way of an incubator that would foster, nurture and grow small entrepreneurial start-ups.
The initiative was handed off to the Economic Development Corporation that created what is now Tech Place – a solid success.
As the Mayor moved from year to year he headed up a city council that couldn’t produce a budget that was much below a 4% increase every year. Numbers like that are what any housewife could tell you are not sustainable.
When the provincial government told the city it would have to come up with $60 million from the taxpayers to pay for a portion of the cost of building the transformed Joseph Brant Hospital the city created a special tax levy to raise those funds.
 The tax payers were willing – happy to pay for part of the transformation of their hospital. When all the the money was raised that had a right to expect the special tax levy to end. It didn’t. The citizens of the city gladly paid the tax – their hospital was important to them. When the $60 million was raised the public had a right to believe that the special tax levy would come to an end. The city just kept on collecting the tax and used the money for infrastructure work.
Intensification then became an issue. While the city had known from at least 2006 that significant growth would have to take place; the Mayor fumbled that ball. It wasn’t until development applications began to pour into city hall and a 23 story building was approved that the public became alarmed.
 Lisa Kearns delegating at city council on the Official Plan – she was one of 30 delegations. There were more than 30 delegations made to city hall to stop the approval of a new Official city plan until the public had an opportunity to approve the plan. The plan did have to be approved by the Region but they weren’t going to do anything with it until after the election.
Many wanted the Official Plan to be made an election issues. The city listened but did not hear what the citizens had to say. Grow Bold was now very real; the city’s Planning department produced a document show where some 30 17 floor developments could be located.
The Mayor said those buildings would not be built for years – that build out was some time off. The residents were saying that those 30 buildings were going to change to character of the city that they cared about.
When the election for a new city council began to Mayor stunned many people with his personal attacks against Councillor Marianne Meed Ward who was running against Goldring to be the next Mayor.
The decency that Rick Goldring was known for began to disappear.
 The Mayor wasn’t able to let the environmentalist he used to be be public and support the Tayandaga residents who wanted something different done with the proposed quarry expansion. People living on West Haven Road in the Tayandaga community learned that a shale quarry site was going to be developed 50 metres from their homes and that thousands of trees were going to be cut down. The quarry operators had a license issued to them in 1972, which in the mind of the Mayor gave them the right to do what they wanted to do.
The community raised funds and lobbied hard and finally got some traction – public opinion began to shift in their favour. The Mayor, a committed environmentalist lost the opportunity to lead.
During his second term the Gazette sent a note to the Mayor asking for a comment – we didn’t get a response. At the end of a council meeting I asked the Mayor when he would be able to get back to me. He said he wasn’t going to be getting back to me because I was “biased and unfair”.
There isn’t a politician on the face of this earth who hasn’t at some point said media was biased an unfair. It is a comment we expect.
 During the election that returned Goldring as Mayor he found himself not able to speak on a public matter on city property. As Mayor he had a right to speak to citizens in Civic Square – he had difficulty defining just what his role as Mayor was. What a wise politician does is look for a way to meet with the reporters or editors and talk through the differences. Media doesn’t wake up one morning and say: How can whack the Mayor today. We observe and report on what we see.
Do we get it right all the time? We don’t. But when we get it wrong we apologize publicly in print. When city council makes mistakes the Mayor calls them “learning opportunities”.
We read the Mayor’s platform and we listened to hundreds of people and report as well as we can.
For reasons that we don’t fully understand Rick Goldring lost his way during his second term.
He found himself trying to lead a council that had members who were not going to be led. Two in particular were as about as disruptive and rude as a member of council could be.
The Mayor described one of them as “one of the best strategists he had ever worked with”.
The other member of council announced his retirement and then wrote a piece in which he tried to scorch Meed Ward.
It was all just so uncivil, so unnecessary. It is all a matter of public record.
On Monday the voters get to decide who should be leading the city. It should not be Rick Goldring.
Salt with Pepper are the opinions, reflections, observations and musings of the Gazette publisher.
 By Ray Rivers
October 21st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
“Here’s the smell of blood still. Not all the sweet perfumes of Arabia will sweeten this hand,” (Macbeth)
 David Frum – his Mother, Barbara Frum was a leading CBC broadcaster was a former speech writer for President George Bush and is now the editor of the Atlantic Monthly. If only our own David Frum was still writing speeches for the US president, the new axis of evil might include Vlad, Kim and MBS (Mohamed bin Salman). But then Trump would have to be their apprentice, a role for which he has been rehearsing all his life.
If it was a fist fight that took the life of Jamal Khashoggi then why did MBS’s 15 men hit squad bring a bone saw as they flew in that morning to the party with him in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Islamic sharia law usually requires the courts to decide before amputating body parts and decapitation, and that is usually reserved for serious crimes like stealing food when you’re hungry or apostasy (renunciation of the faith). I guess MBS wasn’t aware that the best way to quiet a journalist is to damn him/her with faint praise.
Trump’s response says scads about him and his tribe at the outer right end of American politics. Former Baptist tele-evangelist and presidential hopeful Pat Robertson summed it up… “You don’t blow up an international alliance over one person, I’m sorry”. It is nice to see the great religions of the world finally aligning their stars.”
 Jamal Khashoggi – slain inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey But religion wasn’t why MBS assassinated Mr Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and American resident. He did it to send a message to anyone else thinking of criticizing him. And there is precedence – there is nothing new about dictators deposing and disposing of those who dare to criticize. Vlad gets away with it, as does Kim, and the Iranians and now MBS. Trump would really like to be able to exercise that divine right of tyrants as well, but that might be a bridge too far, even for the GOP (Republican) lap dogs who control his US congress.
So he does the next best thing. He belittles those in the mainstream media who have the temerity to believe it is their job to point out his inconsistencies and lies. Trump labels them all as fake news. He even goes further on occasion, recently praising a Montana political candidate for body-slamming a reporter who had the audacity to question GOP policy on health care. So why would Trump give a rat’s ass about some Muslim immigrant columnist working for the news outlet (Washington Post) he most despises?
What happened to Jamal Khashoggi is part of a dangerous global trend towards stifling the movement for democracy. Democracy does not function in a vacuum. News is the substance that helps us select our electoral picks. And we expect our news to be factual and true. But the truth doesn’t always seem fair. Nevertheless, the 1949 Fairness Doctrine in the US was intended to ensure that media remained balanced and objective in their reporting, at least until president Reagan scratched it off the law books.
 We are to a large degree what we read. We become what we read. If our standard read is the Toronto Sun we will ultimately hold views on key issues in conflict with someone who reads the Star.
And who can afford the time to read both papers. So the more divergent various media choose to make their stories, the more polarization we see in our society and in our voting trends. That is particularly important if you live in a one-paper town.
Facebook and Twitter are even more problematic since they are unedited. Anyone can write just about anything and make it sound like it’s the gospel. We once thought that social media had been intended primarily for family pics and that sort of thing. But thanks to the universality of the internet, social media has been effective at melding attitudes and changing voting patterns. For example social media was believed to have played a big role in the elections of Obama and Trudeau.
Last year there were 81 reporters killed across the globe and 250 were imprisoned for doing what they were supposed to do, keeping us informed. And that was the lowest number of deaths in a decade, down from 93 the previous year. Mr. Khashoggi wasn’t a reporter in a war zone and his death wasn’t collateral. But to brush off his death as Trump is doing is unconscionable, even for him.
 President Donald Trump defending his position on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Trump is not the first politician to be challenged by a critical media and to shun and avoid them. Stephen Harper disdained the Ottawa media and sought to get his story out while largely ignoring them. At the provincial level Mr. Ford has taken his cue from Harper and set up his own news network.
In fact there are times when we do see media harassment. For example, the ultra-right Rebel media kept referring to Canada’s environment minister, Catherine McKenna, by the moniker ‘climate Barbie’ until she cleared the air with them. This was clearly a blatant attempt to humiliate the minister and to denigrate whatever she did as some kind of child’s play.
Recently the Burlington Gazette was banned from Council meetings and city property on some unsubstantiated charges of harassment. Fortunately the on-going cable video link allows the formal proceedings to be observed, though the real news happens, too often, behind closed doors.
What are we to think about democracy in this city? Is it possible that the Gazette’s publisher was being punished for once referring to Burlington’s mayor as ‘climate Ken’ or ‘development Rick’? But at least Mr. Parr isn’t being chased by 15 Saudi hit-men armed with a bone saw.
 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. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Trump supports Assault – Reporter Deaths – Khashoggi’s Last Post – Khashoggi’s 9/11 –
Pat Robertson – Climate Barbie –
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