 By Staff
February 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 The entire hamlet of Lowville in north Burlington will be “wearing of the green” on St. Patrick’s Day this year.
The Lowville Festival will be joining forces with Lowville United Church to present WHEN IRISH EYES ARE SMILING, a rollicking and shamelessly sentimental tribute to St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, on the evening of Saturday March 17th. The concert, which is a fundraising event for both the Festival and the church, will be held in the sanctuary of Lowville United at 7:30 pm.
The event will feature songs and stories of the Emerald Isle as interpreted by a number of Burlington’s finest performers. These include Stuart Laughton, one of the founding members of the legendary Canadian Brass; Major 7th Band, a popular Celtic-inflected folk group; Festival Co-Artistic Directors Lorretta Bailey and Robert Missen; Michael Mulrooney, Music Director at Tansley United Church and one of the country’s finest keyboard artists; and Lowville storyteller George McNaught. All of the artists are donating their services for the night.
This is not the first time that the two organizations have collaborated. The Lowville Festival has appeared at Lowville United every year since its inauguration in 2015. Two years ago they presented a sold out fundraising tribute to Scotland called The Heather in the Hills. Last year’s Irish celebration was so successful that it was decided to present another one.
 Expect to see the church packed on the 17th – lots of clapping and foot stomping. You will hear all of your favourite Irish and Celtic tunes including Danny Boy, Come Back to Erin, Molly Malone and Irish Rover. As is always the custom, the audience will be encouraged to sing along on a number of songs.
Tickets for the concert are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and are available through both the Church Office (905-335-0911) and at Different Drummer Books. Order your tickets soon as we anticipate another sold out event.
 By Gary Scobie
February 28th,2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 City council didn’t want the development but failed to respond to the application within the required time frame so the developer took his application to the Ontario Municipal Board where it was approved. I live in Ward 3 and I am here to speak against the approval of the proposed Official Plan. Two weeks ago, I received the OMB Vice-Chair’s report that approved the appeal by Adi Corporation to build a 26 storey condo at 374 Martha Street at the corner of Lakeshore Road. If ever there was a proper time to use the phrase “this changes everything”, it was that day.
It was a stunning reminder of the Province’s power to force us to shape up and face up to the massive intensification of our downtown that comes with the territory of being designated as an Anchor Mobility Hub and Urban Growth Centre.
Our current Official Plan, passed in October 2006 by our Council of seven, with three of our current Councillors there at the time, was supposed to be in compliance with the Growth Plan of the province. But alas, we learned that it has not been kept compliant over the years since. It is so far out of compliance that it was disregarded in the appeal. Our City team of Council and planning and legal experts did not even submit as evidence our proposed Official Plan wordings for the site that might have resulted in some compromise in height. Instead, OMB Vice-Chair Schiller pointed out that the City had no legal right to stop the 26 storey condo.
 Gary Scobie, a frequent delegator at city hall. I have to ask, what was Council expecting in 2006 when it embraced, on behalf of all citizens, the Urban Growth Centre designation for our downtown? Did they imagine the coming massive re-build of lower Brant Street and its adjacent streets?
Did they imagine 20 plus storey buildings at most intersections and the eventual almost complete destruction of the two storey nature of our historic downtown? I simply can’t believe that they did.
Yet three Councillors from that long ago Council sit here today and I’d invite them to explain to citizens if this indeed was their plan for our downtown.
It is now quite obvious to me that the Town of Oakville was very prescient in 2005 in their assessment of the loss of control that would come if they accepted a Downtown Urban Growth Centre designation. Their Council rejected it and convinced the Province that the intensification demanded would come elsewhere in their town. If only our Council had done the same.
We the citizens are now being asked to trust this Council and the Planning Department, the ones that couldn’t keep our Official Plan compliant, to endorse a new Official Plan that has heights above what we want and that has already been pierced by an approved 23 storey condo across from City Hall and now an approved 26 storey condo right at the lake and in the most southern and eastern point of our Downtown Core Precinct. It was presented by the developer as a Gateway to the Downtown.
Yes indeed, it certainly will be that and much more. It will be a lasting reminder of our hubris. It will be the precedent at the lake, the building to surpass in height by many future buildings. It will represent the low height that Council and the planners promised us by the lake, rising ever higher up Brant Street to the other Mobility Hub that is the Burlington GO Station.
Citizens can only imagine and envision heights of 30 plus storeys going up Brant Street, culminating in not 30 but likely 40 plus storey heights near the GO Station.
 We are asked to trust Council and the Planning Department that in approving an Official Plan for all of Burlington, without the three other Mobility Hubs, without a transportation plan and without a transit plan, that they will just get it right on all of these important missing pieces when the time comes to add them. And that the OP rules will be enforceable.
I’m afraid we just can’t trust you to do that. Now that the one entity that is really in charge of intensification throughout Burlington, the Province, has spoken and told us that they have control of our Growth Centres, not just in the downtown, but also at our GO Stations, we have no alternative but to try to at least save our downtown from becoming a forest of 20 to 30 storey highrises.
The only way that this can happen is for one of you to introduce a motion to Council to request that the Province consider the 69,000 people and jobs that are planned to be added at the GO Station Mobility Hubs as our ample contribution to the intensification of Burlington as a whole and free our downtown from this crippling intensification that will come from the Urban Growth Centre and Anchor Mobility Hub designations.
You have, in good conscience, no other choice than to take this route. Council got us into this. Now I request Council to get us out.
You simply agree to contact the Province to try to save our downtown by recovering the control of downtown re-development that was surrendered in 2006.
Do not move forward with the Official Plan approval until you add plans for the critical missing parts and have exhausted every possible avenue of request with the Province to remove the downtown from this planned over-development. I think that you can succeed, but at a minimum, you surely must try.
 Gary Scobie was a member of the Waterfront Advisory Committee. He is seen here, second from the left. If you fail us in this, downtown citizens must prepare to endure ten to twenty years of construction noise, congestion, dust and dirt as tall buildings rise from foundations deep underground seemingly from every corner on Brant and adjacent streets. And the end result of this over-build will not make us the envy of other cities, will not make our downtown more livable and will not preserve our title as the best mid-size city in Canada.
Remember, from out in the lake a skyline of tall buildings jutting into the air may look good on a postcard, but for the people who actually have to live there, who have to live without rapid transit to the GO Station, with traffic congestion of intensification, without any feel of historic two storey Brant Street and its unique, independent shops, without enough parking for residents, let alone visitors to the downtown, with tall buildings everywhere they look, with wind and shadows everywhere they walk, there will be little pleasure other than looking at the lake from their window if they paid enough money for that view and wondering, was it really worth the view after all and perhaps pondering, what were they thinking when they approved this metropolis of Burlington.
Gary Scobie is a long time Burlington resident who frequently comments on how city hall works.
Related comment and opinion:
Jim Young tells Council it has failed to failed to inform, consult, involve, collaborate or empower the citizens.
By Jim Young
February 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Jim Young, one of the most effective speakers in the city delegated before city council last night. You had to hear him to fully appreciate what he had to say. Not one member of city council had a follow up question.
The people of Burlington are entitled to hope and expect that their city’s official plan will be about them.
That it will reflect their hopes and their aspirations. That it will provide the basic framework of a city that will be planned and built for them; their families; their futures.
And the people of Burlington trusted Council to do that.
 Jim Young chairing a meeting. From the public outcry over the seemingly endless ability of Developers to circumvent Official Plans it is obvious that our City’s Planning has failed and will continue to to meet those hopes and aspirations.
They will not be met because you failed to engage with the very people you were elected or appointed to represent. You failed to understand exactly what your citizens wanted in a plan and worse than that you failed right up until the last two months to even ask them what they wanted you failed to engage your own citizens.
This failure began at the very outset of The New Official Plan which, according to City Staff, was undertaken some time in 2012.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs Guidelines on Official Plans calls for “Pre-consultation, public meetings and community input”, yet while you worked on this for the better part of six years your citizens were only involved in the closing months of that six year process.
Had it not been for a massive public outcry late last year, this city would have met its own December 2017/January 2018 deadline and the public input would have been negligible.
Nothing that has happened since November has improved that engagement
Given the number of Citizens Advisory Committees Burlington boasts I find it informative that in all of the supposed engagement in The Official Plan, these Committees were never formally consulted or engaged.
 Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate and Empower. Even by your own standard, outlined in your policy on “Public Participation and Engagement” in which you claim “The city has identified the critical importance of public involvement”. The policy then lays out Five Levels of Engagement on an IAP2 spectrum of public engagement that range from Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate and Empower.
In any final summation of your Open Houses, Grow Bold, Downtown Mobility Hub and Official Plan public meetings they may have been informative but as a city you failed to Involve, failed to Collaborate and most certainly failed to Empower your citizens in this process. Even the limited information sessions were restricted to the format of: “Here are our ideas how do you like them?” rather than: “What are your ideas?
You failed not only in the execution of citizen engagement but your “Inform only model of engagement” came so late in the process that it forced any citizen engagement to become oppositional rather than collaborative or empowering. Citizens denied the opportunity to be proactive in the early stages of the process were forced into criticism off the Official Plan and bitterness that the majority of citizens feel by their exclusion from that process.
The evidence of that exclusion is presented in an analysis of your own document
The document lists 48 oppositional comments from named citizen and concerned group delegations and refers in three areas of opposition to unspecified numbers of “Other Members of The Public”. The absence of detail n these oppositional presentations is extremely disturbing and might be construed by the public as misleading to minimise the extent of public opposition to the Plan and complaint about the methods and level of Public Engagement.
The document further lists fifteen objections, clarifications or other issues from businesses and consultants involved in the Urban Planning and Development Fields. This suggests that public opposition is not just NIMBYISM but is indicative of a bad plan, badly executed and very poorly communicated to those, citizens, businesses and property Developers who had every right to expect better from our city and from our council.
Because this is not council’s Official Plan, it is our Official Plan. It belongs to the citizens of our city.
Given the opportunity and more than six years to do something wonderful for our city, the opportunity to engage your citizens in the re-planning that will affect their lives for decades to come, you chose instead to engage yourselves and in doing so failed the very citizens you are supposed to represent.
 Jim Young at the lectern. Even given the opportunity to defer a decision for further consultation, real involvement and participatory engagement; Our city chose not to allow the electorate to opine on this but once again rushed the decision process to further ignore their wishes and alienate them further. It was reported in the Hamilton Spectator that one Burlington Political Commentator has not seen such a clamour by the public in 45 years of reporting yet still only peripheral tinkering in response to this outcry.
Once again, along with the majority who have spoken, written and delegated I urge city council to postpone this decision on a plan that appears to serve no-one. I ask for not only more time but to utilize that time to Involve, Collaborate and Empower our citizens to create An Official Plan that will satisfy all stakeholders, then to put that plan before them in the upcoming election so all of their voices may be properly heard.
In our democracy the ultimate engagement comes with the election. I urge you to seize this opportunity to engage your citizens fully. Otherwise an engaged citizenship will engage the electorate where you, our council, failed to engage your citizens.
Jim Young is the Chair of ECoB – Engaged Citizens of Ontario and probably the most effective speaker to appear before city council. He has the capacity to get to the core of an issue and drives home the point in a way that not a single member of council can counter.
 By Staff
February 27, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Early in the month branches of Scotia bank were being robbed; one in Burlington, another in Milton.
Police believed the robberies were linked and began doing what police do: investigate
Police have identified four suspects and laid multiple charges following several bank robberies across the Greater Toronto Region (GTA).
On February 1, 2018, at approximately 7:50 p.m., the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) was called to a Scotiabank located at 4519 Dundas Street, Burlington, following a report of an armed robbery. Three male suspects, one of whom was armed, obtained a quantity of cash and exited the bank, travelling southbound on foot. Two bank employees were assaulted and sustained minor injuries during the robbery.
On February 9, 2018, at approximately 8:00 p.m., HRPS was called to a Scotiabank located at 880 Main Street East, Milton, following a report of an armed robbery. Two masked male suspects, one of whom was armed, entered the bank shortly before closing and obtained a quantity of cash. A bank employee, who attempted to intervene, was assaulted by one of the suspects and sustained minor injuries.
On February 14, 2018 HRPS investigators began surveillance of persons of interest, who were suspected of being involved in the Milton and Burlington robberies. During this time, investigators observed a group of individuals in the area of a Scotiabank at the intersection of Rathburn Road and Renforth Drive, Toronto.
Police continued to monitor these individuals, who were observed to be engaging in activity consistent with a potential robbery of the financial institution. In the interest of public safety, police contacted the bank and ensured bank staff and clients were moved to a safe location and the doors of the bank were secured.
As two of the persons prepared to commit the bank robbery, plainclothes HRPS investigators were able to arrest them prior to entering the bank.
Based on the events that took place in the City of Toronto on February 14, 2018 the following individuals were charged by the Toronto Police Service:
Gareth BAUGH (19) of the City of Toronto
• Robbery
• Disguise with Intent to commit an indictable offence
Jazmyn ELIAS-WEIBL (18) of the City of Mississauga
• Robbery
• Disguise with Intent to commit an indictable offence
Young Offender (identity protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act)
Robbery
Disguise with Intent to commit and indictable offence
 Deputy Chief Nishan Duraiappah Deputy Chief Nishan Duraiappah: “Robberies such as these have a deep impact on the involved bank employees, innocent bystanders and even their families. The blatant disregard for victims that these arrested persons demonstrated represent some of the greatest risk to community safety. Our investigators have worked tirelessly with partnering police agencies to identify and arrest them. We’re pleased to have put an end to these violent robberies.”
On February 15, 2018 HRPS investigators and K-9 services continued their investigation by executing a Criminal Code Search Warrant at the residence of Gareth BAUGH. Investigators seized a quantity of cash, a replica firearm and several pieces of clothing linked to the armed robberies throughout the GTA.
On February 22, 2018 HRPS investigators and Tactical Rescue Unit prepared to execute a Criminal Code Search Warrant at the Milton residence of the accused from a previous bank robbery in Milton. When arriving, police observed the suspect departing his home with several associates. A traffic stop was conducted and the male suspect was taken into custody without incident. A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of several thousand dollars in Canadian currency.
On February 23, 2018, in the early morning, HRPS investigators and Tactical Rescue Unit executed a Criminal Code Search Warrant at the residence of the accused. During this search, a quantity of illegal drugs was seized along with various items of clothing believed to be linked to the robbery in Milton and other robberies throughout the GTA. A loaded .22 caliber handgun was also seized by police.
Based on the results of the search warrant from February 23, 2018 the following individual was charged by the Halton Regional Police Service:
Tyriq BROOKS (19) of the Town of Milton
• Robbery with a Firearm
• Point Firearm
• Wear Disguise with Intent
• Possession of a restricted firearm
• Possession of a weapon for the dangerous purpose
• Careless use of a firearm
• Possession of a controlled substance
• Fail to comply with recognizance (3 counts)
There are also outstanding arrest warrants for the accused from several police services in the province for Human Trafficking related charges.
The HRPS Criminal Investigations Bureau is in the process of linking the above individual(s) to the robberies in Milton and Burlington. It is anticipated that several criminal charges are pending.
Anonymous tips can be forwarded to Crime Stoppers; “See Something, Hear Something, Know Something — Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), through the web at www.crimestoppers.ca or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
 By Staff
February 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 Fernand Coderre and Heather Lareau half a football field away from where Meridian wants to mine shale. Heather Lareau is ticked – and Heather is not a woman one wants trifle with. She is a West Haven Drive resident whose home is one of those “too close for comfort” residences that is half a football field away from where Meridian Brick wants to begin mining for the shale that goes into the manufacturing of brick.
Meridian recently sent out a Newsletter that had her personal email as part of the content. Ouch!
We will let Ms Lareau vent on this one.
“It is unfortunate that my personal email has been shared with the community at large. However, since you have made this a public forum, as a “private” citizen and resident of Tyandaga, I would like to make some brief personal comments regarding your Newsletter where you make everything appear just peachy, for a lack of a better term. (Not to make matters worse, I have blind copied all the recipients from your email in order to protect their privacy)
“I would like to start with you statement regarding our health concerns.
 Imagine this thing digging away half a football field from your house – early in the morning? “The airborne emissions assessed from the facility were crystalline silica and particulate matter; specifically respirable, inhalable and total particulate matter and covered three time periods, a one year scenario, with the Centre Quarry only, a six–to-15-year scenario involving the Centre and East Quarries, and a 16–to-25 -year scenario affecting the East Quarry only. They are predicted to be less than accepted health-based benchmarks, even under worst-case conditions.
“A predication is a forecast of what should happen, not what could happen. Each Phase of the quarry brings the dust and noise closer to the residential area. Should there be an easterly wind, then WE predict there will be more dust and more noise and more health concerns.
 There are three quarries – the one on the left and the one in the center are close to being depleted. The quarry on the right is the one that concerns the West Haven residents. “Considering that you will eventually be excavating within a 1/2 of football field (50 m) from Westhaven Drive, combined with easterly winds which you don’t account for, your company is certainly underplaying the impact from the dust that we will continuously inhale and have to deal with on a daily basis. There are many families with young children in this area as well already compromised seniors who will be exposed to this dust on a daily basis. This said it affects ALL whether we work, live, go to school or play in the area
“You also say you will be monitoring the dust with a monitoring system which will produce reports for various government agencies and residents. Unless you place a monitor within 50 metres (1/2 a football field) of the operating quarry how will you know what level of dust we are dealing with? From what we have discovered, the closest fixed air monitoring system is 4 km away from the quarry. How accurate can this be?
“Will the public receive daily reports of the level of dust? Or will we have to fight for this information on a continuous basis?
“If the levels exceed the regulatory benchmark, does that mean you will immediately stop excavation. What would your next step be? Less excavation? Cover the quarry with a tarp? Increase your set-back?
“If the dust exceeds the acceptable level you say you will mitigate. What is your mitigation plan and what does that mean?
“Your comments regarding Salamanders. You state the area you are about to commence clear-cutting is not conducive to salamander habitat. Considering in the spring and fall, salamanders make their way across the neighbourhood into people’s swimming pools, (from an area not conducive to salamander habitat), this to us indicates the possibility of the endangered type salamanders
 The Jefferson salamander: He isn’t exactly pretty but nevertheless plays an important role in the local environment. Comes in different colours as well. existing in all areas of the future east quarry. One photograph taken by a resident in their pool, the salamander clearly appeared to be the dusky salamander; which is also on the endangered species list. Tail clippings from another drowned salamander was confirmed to be the asexual female type Jefferson Salamander
“Progressive Rehabilitation. You say you are taking earth from where you clear-cut and fill in where you have already excavated. How is this progressive? It will take decades, well beyond our life-time to rehabilitate this land to its current state. Bottom line, the Carolinian Forest is gone. If the West and central quarry is any indication of what your rehabilitation looks like, the chance of ever seeing a forest during our life-time is impossible and probably won’t exist for generations to come. Is this what we are bequeathing to our future generations? I promise to tell my great grandchildren how at one time Burlington was called Burlington Green and that the environment of this city was at one time lush and healthy.
“Noise is a great concern to this neighbourhood. Half of a football field, which again is only 50 feet (same as your original described setback). Having an operating quarry within 50 feet of home and schools will have a PREDICTABLE negative impact on the health of every resident on WHD and beyond. Please read the article from The Hamilton Spectator last week that stated constant noise can cause cardiac and mental health issues.
“Last point I would like to make is that all your studies and reports that you are referring to are produced by and paid for by YOU, Meridian. If you stand behind your results, please allow a peer review of all of your studies.
“I challenge the Mayor and Councillors to step up and do something to support and protect the tax paying citizens of Burlington. I have heard many times this is a Provincial Matter. Then represent us at the provincial level. You will have more influence than the many residents of Burlington who are spending their hard earned money and all their spare time trying to preserve the environment in YOUR city. Walk the talk.
 The Tyandaga Environmental Coalition (TEC) is not just a bunch of cranky seniors – it is a broadly based group of people who turn out for meetings and support the cost of the legal challenges. “I also challenge you, Meridian/Aldershot quarry to truly be a good neighbour and stay as far away as possible from the residential area. Half a football field away now or 30 years from now is inconceivable to this community. The destruction of 35 acres of forest and 9,000 trees certainly does not support an environmentally conscious sustainable program. I concur with all the environmentally concerned people of this city that the loss of the greenspace and the wildlife who habitat within, is heartbreaking. However, the protection of the health of the residents in this development MUST BE a priority as well.
“I encourage Meridian to consider other options for the complete Aldershot quarry while retaining the existing greenspace.”
 By Staff
February 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
When MetroLinx announced that internet access would be available throughout their network the Gazette didn’t see that as a big deal. They were just catching up to what many other transportation operations were doing.
We didn’t expect the other shoe to fall so quickly.
Loblaws, part of the George Weston operation, battling a price fixing matter, announced today that with internet access available to the tens of thousands of GO train commuters they would soon be able to use their cell phones to log into the Loblaws app and place food orders that they will be able to pick up at the GO station when they get off the train
Busy consumers will soon have one more way to avoid going to the grocery store as Canadian retailers ramp up their e-commerce offerings in an apparent effort to beat tech titan Amazon, which recently entered the country’s grocery market.
 Loblaws and Fortinos locations will be the pick up point for GO train commuters who decide to use the new service, Loblaw Companies Ltd. announced Monday it will launch a new service in the spring that allows commuters to order groceries online and pick them up at one of five Go Transit stations in the Greater Toronto Area the next day. None of the Burlington GO stations are part of the pilot operation.
Jeremy Pee, the company’s senior vice-president of e-commerce said “This is a logical extension of our increasingly popular e-commerce services, and the growing customer appeal for ordering groceries online and picking them up when it’s most convenient.”
The company partnered with Metrolinx, an Ontario government agency that co-ordinates and integrates transportation modes in the GTA and Hamilton area.
 Somewhere in this GO station people will be able to pick up groceries they ordered on line. Lot of logistics to get worked out – will people be able to drive their car right up to the pick up point? The partnership will initially start with stations in Bronte, Oakville, Rouge Hill, Whitby and Clarkson, with plans to expand to additional sites in the region.
Groceries will come from nearby Fortinos or Loblaws stores, and will be waiting in a special delivery truck, in lockers or in an enclosed kiosk.
The service is an extension of the company’s click-and-collect offering as it allows customers who travel on Go Transit a pick-up option that doesn’t require them to adjust their daily commute,
Loblaw launched click-and-collect in 2014 and now offers the online order, in-store pick up service at 300 of its stores. The company is rolling out that service at a rapid clip, with about one new store offering click-and-collect every day.
Amazing what competition will do. Why Burlington isn’t included in the first phase of the new service wasn’t explained. Apparently we are not as demographically svelte as Oakville. That hurts!
 By Pepper Parr
February 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
City budget are not like corporate budgets. Cities are not permitted to run a loss – they get around that by tucking millions of dollars into reserve funds that can be drawn upon when needed,
The city doesn’t use the words profit or loss, they use the phrase retained savings which is money they budgeted to spend, based the tax rate on and then found that they didn’t spend the money.
For the 2017 fiscal tear the city had $2,889,106 in retained savings. No – they don’t give it back – they put it into various reserve funds. The city has more than 25 reserve funds – several that the provinces requires them to have in place for that rainy day.
The retained savings report shows routine year-end transfers made prior to the calculation of the year-end retained savings for net zero activities.
  Note the 2017 transfer from the LaSalle Park Pavilion reserve fund is a result of the mid-year transition of the banquet and conference services provider.
Development Application Reserve Fund
In 2005, the Engineering Fee Stabilization Reserve Fund, the Building Permit Stabilization Reserve Fund and the Planning Fee Stabilization Reserve Fund were created to ease budget pressures should development revenues slow down due to economic and/or market conditions.
That certainly hasn’t happened. The Planning department is being flooded with development applications that will pump millions into the city coffers.
As of December 31, 2017, the following year-end transfers were made prior to the calculation of the year-end retained savings.
Engineering Fee Stabilization Reserve Fund
The increase in Subdivision Administration Fees has resulted in a provision to the reserve fund of $598,692. One large subdivision administration fee was received in February; however, long term reliance on this revenue source is unsustainable as Burlington shifts from Greenfield Subdivision development to infill and intensification sites. The 2018 budget for subdivision administration fees has been increased to
$200,000.
Building Permit Stabilization Reserve Fund
The Building Permit revenues for 2017 were $4,232,117. The revenues are offset by expenditures (both direct and indirect as per the Bill 124 model), with the resulting provision to the reserve fund of $346,088. The 2018 budget for building permit revenues has been increased to $4,237,863.
Planning Fee Stabilization
Planning fee revenues experienced a positive variance of $1,463,066 due to increase in site plan applications fees, subdivision fees, official plan amendments and rezoning fees. A significant portion of this favourable variance was realized in December when a number of Planning applications were brought forward in advance of pending changes to legislation regarding OMB reform. This resulted in a provision to the reserve fund of
$1.46 million. The 2018 budget for planning revenues has been increased to $1.8 million.
During 2017, departments and service owners (a service owner is a group of people with a specific responsibility) closely monitored expenses and found ways to reduce operating costs.
Human Resources
Total City human resources costs (excluding Winter Control) have a favourable variance of $1,386,569. The city experienced a number of vacancies throughout the year. Some of those vacancies were people the city let go – there was a salary and benefit savings until a replacement was found. The favourable variance was primarily attributed to the period of time from when the position became vacant to being filled after the competition was complete.
The report does not make mention of additions to the staffing compliment.
Earnings on Investments
Investment income exceeded budget by $1,062,950. This positive variance is attributed to $2,253,608 of realized capital gains, of which $1,190,658 was used to meet the budget of $5.3 million. The city has relied heavily on capital gains to meet budget from 2013-2017.
Winter Maintenance
As a result of mild winter conditions at the beginning of 2017, Winter maintenance had a favourable variance of $936,421. The favourable price of salt had a minor role in the positive variance, however the main driver was the large reduction of salt consumption (4,000 tonnes) and improved salt management practices.
2017 Recommended Retained Savings Dispositions
Note: Where reserve fund balances are provided, they reflect the balance prior to recommended disposition.
• $1,000,000 Provision to Allowance to Prior Year Tax Write Offs
In 2017 there were a significant number of prior year appeals and write offs processed which drew down the City’s balance sheet account to zero. The allowance for prior year’s tax write offs requires a balance to cover tax write offs for the next year. To do so, staff propose $1 million of the 2017 retained savings be provided to fund next year’s obligations.
• $500,000 Provision to Strategic Plan Reserve Fund
The City of Burlington approved its 25 year Strategic Plan in 2016. The Financial Plan for the Strategic Plan established a long-term approach to funding strategic objectives including the establishment of a Strategic Plan Reserve Fund. The report recommended that a minimum of $500,000 be provided to this reserve fund in years when the city’s retained savings was in excess of $1 million. The balance in the reserve fund is $236,562.
• $450,000 Severe Weather Reserve Fund
As mentioned above, the winter maintenance budget had a favourable variance of $936,421. This report recommends transferring $450,000 to the Severe Weather reserve fund in order to assist with future weather events that are unpredictable in nature. The uncommitted balance in the Severe Weather Reserve Fund is currently at $3,360,543 which is below the targeted balance equivalent to one year’s budget for Winter Control.
• $939,106 Provision to Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve Fund
It is recommended that $939,106 be set aside to finance one-time expenditures. Over the last few years numerous spending commitments have been placed on the Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve Fund (those that are budgeted as well as those that have been approved in-year). The provision will assist in increasing the balance in this reserve fund while continuing to allow unique one-time needs to be addressed without affecting the tax rate and without being built into future budget years. The uncommitted balance in this reserve fund is $3,203,674.
That’s a lot of cash that will get spent – close attention will have to be paid as to just how they do that. The bureaucrats are pretty good at slipping something through.
By Staff
February 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Not sure how getting free personal credit reports and assuring the public they will have improved access to elevators are related – they were both in a recent provincial government media release.
If passed, the legislation would give consumers easier access to their credit profile.
 Consumers would have online access to their current consumer score at least two times per year, free of charge
That access would include consumer report information about any consumer scores given to third parties in the past 12 months
Implement a credit freeze, at the request of a consumer to help reduce identity theft.
By Staff
February 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
We won’t know until the end of October who is going to be sitting in the seven seats around the horseshoe in the Council chamber but we do know that the space they will occupy will look different and have much more in the way of technology that will make it easier for council members to vote and to take part in council meetings should they have to be away from the city and unable to get to a meeting.
 16 of the 17 council members Burlington used to have. Nit a computer screen in sight. There was considerable debate Monday afternoon on whether a Council member should be allowed to vote if they are not in the room and if they can be counted as part of a quorum if they are not in the room.
 Halton District School Board has a voting system that is effective and efficient. The city of Burlington inb’t there yet. The Halton District School Board has state of the art software that records the votes and a system that lets a school board trustee take part in a meeting should they be unable to get to the board offices to attend.
Burlington city council has software to record their votes that looks like something put together by a couple of high school students. It doesn’t always work and several of the members of council still have difficulty know which buttons to press.
 The quality of the web cast is embarrassing – makes the city look like a small town bunch of boobs All that will change. City staff held a kick off meeting recently to start the process of working towards that day when, as Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward put it , “we can enter the 20th century technically”.
 Oakville uses cameras that capture and braodcast a clear image and a clock that lets delegations know how much time they have left to speak. Most of the other Regional municipalities have upgraded their facilities – Oakville is by far the best – and provide a visual link that is superb.
Now if the voters in Burlington can select from some of the excellent young men and women who have expressed a strong interest in running for public office the city just might take on a more modern approach to how it interacts with the its citizens.
Related news content:
How the other Regional municipalities reach their public.
By Staff
February 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
There are two sides to the decision to permit tall buildings in the Downtown core.
Pam Casey, Jim Robinson, Kassia Kocharakkal, Lauren Jenkins, Madison Falco, Brad and Maureen Owen delegated at city council and said Tall buildings appropriate to provide the opportunity for additional forms of housing and retail and commercial space in the downtown, while helping make downtown an active and prosperous place. In an urban environment such as Downtown Burlington, well-designed tall buildings provide the opportunities to add density in a much slender and architecturally pleasing form.
The comments are taken from the notes the Clerk’s office provided.
The Planning department said the development of tall buildings in strategic locations within the Downtown will support and enhance the downtown as a lively, vibrant and people-oriented place and support the Downtown’s role as a major transit station area and mobility hub within the City and Region. New development in the Downtown will be of high quality design to maintain and enhance the Downtown’s image as an enjoyable, safe, bikeable, walkable and transit-supportive place and built to be compatible with buildings and neighbourhoods and complement the pedestrian activity and historical attributes of the area.
Exceptions to the Plan
Steve Keech, Jim MaLaughlin, and Jack O’Brien said in their delegations that they wanted to see hard height limits established in the plan to avoid exceptions being made.
The comments are taken from the detailed minutes provided by the Clerk’s Office
 Bates precinct The Planners said the proposed policies for the Downtown set out height, density and / or intensity permissions stated within all Downtown Urban Centre precincts, except for the Bates Precinct and St. Luke’s and Emerald Precinct, shall be inclusive of the provision of any and all community benefits which may be required as part of the approval of a development.
 St. Luke’s and Emerald Precinct As such, the limits included in the proposed precinct plan are intended to be maximum height limits, which would provide the public, City Council, City staff and the development industry with predictability and transparency with respect to maximum building heights within the Downtown. However, it should be noted that Planning Act legislation permits property owners to submit applications to amend Official Plan policies (including heights).
The Planning Act requires Planning departments to accept every application for an exception to the Official Plan.
Right now the city has an Official Plan that is close to impossible to defend – the result is more than ten application in the last 100 days.
By Staff
February 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The province is sending a no more roads message; is the public hearing?
If it happens in Hamilton – it impacts Burlington. The Councillors on the other side of the Bay got a letter from the Ministry of Transportation, Steven Del Duca indicating that the era of more roads is coming to an end.
The correspondence from the Minister was quietly received at the most recent Hamilton city council meeting. It said that future widening of the QEW and 403 requested by Hamilton are “dependent on further review and prioritization of expansion needs across the province”. Without those expansions, city staff say there’s no sense in trying to widen municipal expressways like the Red Hill Parkway.
 No more of this says the Ministry of Transportation. Double decking parts of the 403 leading into Hamilton isn’t in the cards this decade. “Until the MTO improves the interchanges at the QEW and the number of lanes there and at the 403, it would be somewhat pointless to widen our facilities because the bottlenecks would still be in place,” the city’s manager of traffic operations told councillors in mid-January. “I think we have to sort of plan our facility to match the timing for their widening.”
Given the number of people who work in Burlington and live in Hamilton the traffic on the QEW, the 403 and the LINC are daily issues. Hamilton Mayor Eisenberger pleaded that the province give “high priority” to “the expansion of Highway 403 from two to three lanes between the Lincoln Alexander Parkway and Main Street both down bound and up bound.”
Del Duca noted that such widening had been recommended a few years ago by the larger study that rejected a new mid-peninsula highway (also still demanded by the city) but that the “recommendations are subject to environmental assessments and approvals before implementation timing to initiate this next phase will be dependent on further review and prioritization of expansion needs across the province.”
 A full interchange at Clappison’s Corners with a 2006 price tag of $75 million has been a Hamilton priority for years. It is the only thing that is going to prevent a mid-peninsula highway cutting through Kilbride. Eisenberger’s pushed “the Ministry to re-prioritize upgrades to the Highway 5 and 6 interchange within the next five years.” A full interchange at Clappison’s Corners with a 2006 price tag of $75 million has been a city priority for well over a decade but it’s still not under construction.
Del Duca’s letter says it is “planned for 2022 and beyond” and that “timing to initiate construction will be dependent on the future review and prioritization of important infrastructure needs across the province.”
The provincial focus is clearly on expanding transit like LRT but some Hamilton councillors either haven’t gotten that message or don’t like it. Early in February, Queen’s Park abandoned the proposed Highway 413 from Milton to Vaughan that would have passed through Caledon well north of the 407 and that also dates back more than a decade.
The advocacy group Environmental Defence enthused that the cancellation “shows that there is growing provincial recognition that building complete communities rather than highway-led planning is better for our health, our shared climate and our wallet.”
The provincial decision came less than a month after Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner advised the province that more road building is counter-productive.
If it impacts Hamilton – Burlington feels the pinch.
What isn’t getting a lot of attention is the record vehicle sales – they have risen every year for the past five years. Those vehicles are going to need roads to move on. There is a crunch in there somewhere.
By Pepper Parr
February 21, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The political scientist Harold Laswell once defined politics to be: “Who gets what, when and how.”
That instructive statement, when applied to the ongoing debate around the writing of a new Official Plan for the city of Burlington, is very telling.
 In a documents made public by the Planning department as one of the supporting documents there is a section on comments from various stakeholders.
The Clerk’s office set out the issues and then listed who had comments on that issue.
Processing Site Specific Requests in Mobility Hub Area Specific Plan Areas (excluding the downtown)
 The Leggat interests want site specific zoning for several of their automotive locations – automotive use might not be the best use of a limited resource. Matt Johnston, Urban Solutions, on behalf of 1059295 Ontario Inc (834-850 Brant Street)wanted a site-specific policy for the subject lands to be included in the Official Plan, wherein large-scale motor vehicle and storage uses are permitted.
Johnston, on behalf of Leggat Auto Group (2207 Fairview Street)wanted a site-specific policy for the subject lands be included in the Official Plan, wherein large-scale motor vehicle, financial institutions and storage uses are permitted.
Johnston, again on behalf of Leggat Auto Group (629 Brant Street) wanted a site-specific policy for the subject lands to be included in the Official Plan, wherein automotive commercial and storage uses are permitted and that the subject property be considered for additional height.
The Leggat interests clearly want to continue to be able to do what they are currently doing in their three locations and would like to be able to add some height if they come up with new plans for their property.
A number of years ago, when Bruce Krushelnicki was the Director of Planning for the city he met with all the major automotive dealers and had a discussion about their future plans for the dealerships and the property all those used cars for sale were sitting on
The Planners knew that used cars on prime property was not the best use of a limited resource.
Krushelnicki reported to council that there wasn’t much in the way of interest from the automotive people and nothing came of the meeting.
In their response to Johnston and his request for site specific zoning the planners noted that “the three properties noted above are located within a Mobility Hub study area. Policies were modified to add large-scale motor vehicle dealerships existing on the date this Plan comes into effect, to the list of permitted uses within Urban Corridor and Urban Corridor- Employment designations.
 Property owners are beginning to take steps to ensure that their interests are protected as the city begins to determine what will be permitted and what will not be permitted. “However, the land use permissions within mobility hub areas will be assessed through the area-specific planning process. Upon the completion of the are-specific plans, new objectives, policies, and land use designations will be brought into the new Official Plan.”
“There will be an opportunity through the Area Specific Planning Process to provide further input.”
It wasn’t a no – but it certainly wasn’t a yes.
 By Staff
February 26th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The City of Burlington Fire Department will be accepting volunteer applications online from the public from March 1 to 16, 2018.
All applicants must:
• be 18 years of age or older
• be legally entitled to work in Canada
• pass a health and medical evaluation, and fitness assessment
• have a permanent residence within six minutes travel time to Station No. 5 at 2241 Kilbride St. or reside in Burlington within 20 minutes of Station No. 1 at 1255 Fairview St.
The application period opens March 1 and closes at 11:59 p.m. on March 16, 2018.
 Burlington Fire fighters taking part in a training exercise. The Burlington Fire Department consists of both professional and volunteer firefighters. New recruits will be assigned to Fire Headquarters, Station No. 1 or Fire Station No. 5, based on where the applicant lives. The Kilbride station covers the rural areas of Burlington, mostly north of No. 2 Sideroad.
Deputy Fire Chief Karen Roche said: “We are looking for people who can help advance the Burlington Fire Department’s commitment to public safety and are interested in a challenging opportunity to serve Burlington as a volunteer firefighter.
“Being a volunteer firefighter is no ordinary job; the work is varied and challenging but also highly rewarding.”
One of the roads to a permanent position as a firefighter is coming in as a volunteer. If you’ve got the right stuff – they see it in you as a volunteer.
 By Pepper Parr
February 26th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
When the 23rd Winter Olympic Games closing ceremonies were over Denis Gibbons was able to get to bed at a decent hour and not be up all night watching events that set a record for the number of medals won by Canada as well as new records in a number of sports.
 Denis Gibbons That was a big change for Gibbons who has in the past served as a free-lance reporter in seven different Olympic hockey tournaments from 1988 to 2014.
Hockey and Gibbons go back to the days when Father David Bauer was a major force in the development of hockey in this country.
Gibbons, as an altar boy at St. Joseph’s Parish in Acton, followed the St. Michael’s Majors, the team Father Bauer coached, very closely. He was hooked on hockey for life.
During his first trip to the Soviet Union Gibbons found it difficult to get a real sense of what was going on – he didn’t know a word of Russian and the Cyryllic lettering completely baffled him. But hockey was hockey and he didn’t have to know Russian to understand the game.
Gibbons decided to learn Russian and see if he could get a free-lance assignment to cover the 1980 Olympics.
He got himself into a Russian class at McMaster University where it took him several efforts to come away with decent marks – but he eventually learned the language and got a job as researcher for the ABC television network in the 1988 Olympics.
Gibbons decided his experiences covering Olympic hockey were worth a book.
 That book – Hockey My Door to Europe, which details his experiences that included being detained by the Czechoslovakian police and being in Europe when the Berlin Wall fell, is a detailed look at how hockey was covered by the television networks and the role Gibbons played in getting information out to the public.
The book has a Burlington angle – the Burlington Cougars midget reps were paying a visit to Semperk Czechoslovakia in 1983 to take part in a tournament. During some off time Gibbons was walking about with two cameras around his neck taking pictures. He attracted the attention of the STB – the Czech secret police.
For those interested in hockey – the book is a must.
A review will follow.
Gibbons is a former editor of the Burlington Post and currently free lances for the Bay Observer.
By Pepper Parr
February 26th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It was a quickie meeting.
Maybe 50 people jammed into a small room with hardly any standing room.
Ward 2 Councillor Marianne was meeting with the Seniors to update them on what was happening to the Seniors’ Centre – the natives didn’t like what they were seeing in the way of changes.
 There is nothing fancy about the place. It’s simple, serves the purpose with a bus stop almost outside the door and plenty of parking. Seniors have exclusive use of the space during the day – Monday to Friday. The operation of programs was undergoing changes and the Seniors wanted some clarification – they also wanted to know just what was going on with the downtown core.
Meed Ward was in her element – these were her people. They like her, they trust her and they look to her for answers.
A ruling from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) made it necessary to have staff at the Centre become employees rather than people on contracts. Meed Ward assured her audience that this wasn’t going to make a difference in the program – all but five of the program instructors became employees of the city.
There are not going to be any changes to the relationship between the city and the members of the Seniors’ Centre – except as one senior pointed out “we aren’t members here – we are customers. She wanted to see more in the way of program for the well over 80 set.
 Mayor Rick Goldring became a membership of the Seniors’ Centre the week he turned 55. Joining was a first term election promise. The meeting took place at noon hour and the place was packed. There wasn’t an empty chair in the dining room. One woman said the place is “bursting at the seams”.
Burlington senior population is not going to get smaller, membership at the Centre is up by 10%Centre and “there is not a lot of capacity here.
 There was a time when the Seniors Centre was run by a Board of Management that had representation from the seniors. The city took over the operation of the centre last year. While a survey done by the city had a 92% satisfaction level – Joe Veitch pointed out that seniors don’t like to complain – he added that there isn’t nearly as much in the way of social programs that the Seniors Association puts on. The city took over the running of the Centre more than a year ago – the citizens don’t have much in the way of input.
The number of seniors who volunteer has apparently dropped. There were a number of staff in the room which several seniors said later “sort of cuts down on what people are prepared to say in a meeting. Meed Ward told the audience “this is your sentence” and there was a time when the seniors had a significant say in what was offered. Many don’t feel that is the case with the new management style . They are hoping that Meed Ward will ensure that changes are made.
The third item on the agenda was transit – it quickly became a vigorous discussion on the development that is taking place downtown.
She explained the current height levels in the Official Plan and that the new Official Plan will allow 17 storeys – “what goes where” is the important question said Meed Ward.
Meed Ward said that she didn’t think the approved development at 421 Brant should be built and she expressed some hope that a new council might look at things differently.
 Transit was an issue for Seniors who would benefit from an upgraded bus terminal on John Street. Having the upgrade become an anchor in a system of mobility hubs is something they are not as certain about. What most people know as the Brant Street parking lot has undergone significant changes – with fewer parking spots. Her view on changing the direction as to “what goes where” hinges on the Urban growth Centre (UGC) which impacts the location of the Mobility Hubs – there are four – those at the GO stations make sense – the Downtown Mobility hub doesn’t make any sense to many people. Meed Ward believes that changing the boundaries of the UGC and pushing high rise buildings further north on Brant will keep the essence of the downtown core where residents are not opposed to growth – they just think that 20+ storey towers is excessive.
While Meed Ward has yet to declare that she is a candidate for the Office of Mayor she would appear to be making the issue of downtown development her lead campaign plank.
 Shown (L-R): Mayrose-Tycon Limited Principal Matt Jaecklein, MADY Development Corporation Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Greg Puklicz, Burlington Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison, Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman, Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven, Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward, Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring and MADY CEO Charles Mady. She made an interesting observation about the impact the Martha at Lakeshore ADI development is having on the matter of intensification. Every member of Council was opposed to the development – the developer took it to the Ontario Municipal Board and won – 26 storey’s will get built at Martha and Lakeshore – the development will be a couple of football fields away from the 22 storey Bridgewater project which didn’t raise any howls from the public. Meed Ward was in front of the TV cameras when Mady Development broke ground for the project in 2015.
 By Pepper Parr
February 25th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
So – who was in the room?
The meeting was intended as a Candidates Workshop sponsored by ECoB – Engaged Citizens of Burlington.
There were prospective candidates from wards 2, 3, 4, a possible for 5 and 6
 Carol Gottlob Carol Gottlob, the ward 4 potential had run before and did exceptionally well for a campaign that was very short on boots on the ground and just as short on the financial support side. To win she would have to work at knocking on doors full time and her job as a teacher limits what she can do until school is out. A credible candidate who sits on the BurlingtonGreen board.
 Rory Nisan Rory Nisan, expected to declare publicly very soon. His campaign manager was handing out business cards.
Gareth Williams, a former chair of the Burlington Sustainability advisory committee and a prospective ward 3 candidate was there. He is said to have a campaign team waiting in the wings; Williams is also said to be close to the Mayor.
 Gareth Williams Lisa Copper and Jeff Brooks, 2014 candidate for ward 3 were scooting about.
Greg Woodruff was in the room – a ward 1 resident who wants to leap frog being a city council member and grab the brass ring – which most of us call the Chain of Office. Woodruff ran for Regional Chair in 2014 – his 5812 votes then are, in his mind, high enough to propel him to the Mayor’s seat.
There were no council members in the room but the Manager of the Mayor’s re-election campaign manager David Vandenberg was there. He is close to Mike Quackenbush who is also a ward 3 hopeful.
 Could three of the people in that center row end up sitting at the horseshoe in the city council chamber? Williams, Fiorito and Gottlob would be a change. Standing in the background on the left is David Vanderberg, the manager of the Mayors re-election team. Vince Fiorito is thinking about running in ward 5 but has to get his run for the Burlington seat as a Green candidate in the provincial election behind him. Fiorito is a very strong environmentalist who thinks that he will gain enough in the way of profile during the provincial election to give him something in the way of an edge when he files nomination papers for the ward 5 city council seat where he would run against Paul Sharman.
Ken White hasn’t formally announced – he has been working diligently to ensure that the ward doesn’t have 10 candidates running for the council sear. White had a former city planner with him at the ECoB workshop might be a conflict there.
Michael Jones stood up and told the room that he would run for the ward 2 seat just as soon as Meed Ward announces she is running for Mayor. There are two other probable candidates for the ward 2 seat. Leah Reynolds is believed to be Meed Ward’s choice. Given the role she played in ensuring the Central high school remained open she could be a shoo-in but another female candidate with a much stronger pedigree could snatch the prize from Reynolds. Meed Ward has said she is aware of a candidate that would serve the ward very well.
 The ladies that made the meeting happen: From the left Dania Thurman. Lisa Kearns and Penny Hersh. Is there a candidate amongst the three? The ECoB Candidate Workshop drew a young crowd which is really healthy; they were given a solid grounding of the election rules by Elaine O’Brien that apply to municipal elections which are set out by the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
A firm understanding of those rules is vital. The audience was told that candidates need a campaign manager, they need someone to handle the financial affairs of the campaign and they need a disciplined approach to winning.
The outline that was handed out to anyone interested in running for office is on the ECoB web site.
Peter Thoem, a single Councillor for ward 2 was pretty direct in his comments. “You will have status” he said. “People will respect you and you will have a mountain of paper work in front of you.” Thoem told the audience that on many occasions he had just a couple of days to read complex material and arrive at an understanding.
Thoem made the most important point of the meeting: It is a people business he said; if you don’t like and genuinely care about people – you shouldn’t be in politics.
One has to wonder if anyone delivered this message to the current council.
 Former candidates that have won and and have lost gave the audience some of the best advice they are ever going to get. How much of it did they hear? From the left: Mark Carr, Diane Leblovic and Peter Thoem. During the Q&A part of the meeting Mark Carr, who was defeated by Blair Lancaster in 2010, told the audience that the staff at city hall “are not your friends – they are accountable to you”.
Did the audience listen and were the speakers heard?
Hard to tell – some of the candidates are very well organized and have the discipline that is needed. Are any of them out knocking on doors? Didn’t look that way.
Has every prospective candidate picked up a copy of the two budget books from city hall and spent the hours needed to make sense of the document? Do they understand how municipal finances work – that cities cannot run deficits and that there are millions tucked away in reserve funds that the city can dip into.
Have any of those candidates mapped out their door knocking schedule – have they figured out where the incumbent is weak and how they can lay claim to those voters?
 Identifying the vote and getting it out on Election Day. Diane Leblovic, a former school board trustee, was pretty direct – “identify your supporters and make sure they vote on Election Day. Offer them a ride if that is what it takes.”
I had breakfast with a man who expects he will run in the election – and asked him if he had a map of the ward and if he had figured out how many doors he could knock on in a day. If he took the number of streets and estimated the number of houses and multiplied the two then divided that by the number of days he could campaign, he would have some idea of what he was up against.
He gulped, then paid for the breakfast.
The 2014 election results.
By Pepper Parr
February 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
There will be delegations during the Tuesday February 27th Statutory Meeting on the draft Official Plan that the Planning department would like to see “adopted” at a council committee April 4 and then made real at a city Council meeting on April 27th – after which the then Burlington approved city plan goes to the Region for approval.
Burlington, like Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills are part of the Regional government where their official plans have to be approved to ensure they fit the Regional Official Plan.
 Regional Councillors Traditionally Official Plans from the municipalities go to the Clerk of the Region who passes them along to Regional Planning department that produces a report that gets sent to the appropriate Regional Standing Committee.
The Regional Standing Committee debates the report and sends it along to the Regional Council where it is debated – changes can be made – and eventually voted on by the Regional Council.
Once that vote takes place the Burlington Official Plan is seen as valid and the Burlington can make it effective from that point forward.
The problem – and there is a problem – which is that the Standing Committees are not going to be meeting during the months of April, May and June; in July they move to a vacation schedule and are not likely to get much done before the October municipal election which applies to the Region as well.
The demand from people who are opposed to both the content of the Official Plan and the pace at which it is being pushed forward want it made an election issue in October appear to have made their point.
The Burlington official plan that is in draft form would appear to have little chance of being cleared by the Region before the municipal election.
 Deputy city manger Marylou Tanner during a Cogeco TV broadcast. The argument coming from the Planning department and the city manager that it will take even longer for the plan to get approval if it has to wait after the election because there might be new members of council that will have to get brought up to speed on the content of the plan is specious at best.
Anyone running for city council in Burlington will be very much up to date on the contents of the draft official plan – if they aren’t they shouldn’t be running for office.
The Gazette learned of the changes in the Regional meeting schedule during a meeting ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward had with members of the Seniors’ Centre.
By Pepper Parr
February 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
 Stephen White Steven White, a ward 5 resident, stood at the ECoB Candidate Workshop Thursday evening and asked if some time could be found for the prospective candidates in the different wards to get together and work through their differences.
White said that the prospective candidates could look at their individual strengths and determine which candidate had the best chance of taking the council seat away from the incumbent.
Ward 3 is one of those classic situations where there are, at this point in time, five prospective candidates plus John Taylor the incumbent.
Two of the five, ran in the 2014 election. Lisa Cooper is in the race for the third or fourth time and has some name recognition; not much more than that. However she did take almost 26% of the vote.
Jeff Brooks was in the race for the first time in 2014. He never fully understood just what the job was but he did take 15% of the vote.
 Rory Nisan  Gareth Williams The other three are all young. Two, Rory Nisan and Gareth Williams would make good members of Council.
Both have accomplished much at this point in their lives.
 Mike Quackenbush The third Quackenbush is likeable enough but probably not up to the rigorous demands of a city councillor.
John Taylor, the incumbent has served the city well for the more than 25 years he has been a member of Council. He is the Dean of a city council that has frequently treated Taylor rather shabbily. The ravages of time have caught up with Taylor and there are parts of the job he is no longer able to do.
Actors, politicians and the sports community look for that time when they are at the top of their game and find an opportunity to leave the stage. There is an opportunity for Taylor to look at the five prospective candidates and sign the nomination papers for one of them and then work closely with that person during their first two years on office.
The room at the Tansley Woods Community Centre was made up of people who wanted to get elected along with their supporters and those who had been elected and believed change was needed at city hall; they had the experience to tell prospective candidates what they had to do to win. The message was simple – get out there and knock on doors, identify your support and the get out the vote on Election Day.
Other than talking amongst their supporters we doubt that any of the candidates have been out on the streets of their community knocking on doors and looking for support.
 Mark Carr, Diane Leblovic and Peter Thoem had some solid advice for prospective candidates. Were they listened to? During the two hour ECoB sponsored Candidate Workshop seasoned and weathered politicians Mark Carr andDiane Leblovic laid it out pretty clearly – determine which of the prospective candidates has the best chance of winning and put your energy behind that candidate.
Peter Thoem, a one term member of council for ward 2, explained to prospective candidates that the job is a lot harder than they imagine. “The number of reports you will be given are complex and you don’t have anywhere near the time to read and absorb the documents, form an opinion and get input from the people you represent” he said.
 Lisa Kearns Lisa Kearns, part of the ECoB leadership team, told the prospective candidates that one of the things they could do as members of council was change the way information gets to them.
Narrowing the field in ward 3 to a single candidate who can take on the incumbent will call for a selfless act on the part of four of the five names out there now. It takes depth of character and the strength to put the community before oneself.
Related news story:
Who got the votes in the 2014 election.
By Staff
February 23rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
A Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) officer is facing charges related to the alleged fraudulent use of a service-issued gas card.
On February 23, 2018, Michael KELLAS (29) was arrested and charged with 13 counts of Fraud Under $5,000, and was released on a promise to appear and an undertaking.
Kellas was previously arrested on February 13, 2018 and charged with Theft of Credit Card, Possession/Use of Stolen Credit Card, and Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under $5,000.
“An investigation has revealed that there are reasonable grounds to believe Kellas utilized his service-issued gas card, while off-duty, on 13 separate occasions for his own personal benefit,” said Detective Sergeant Dave Costantini of the Halton Regional Police Service One District Criminal Investigations Bureau. “Gas cards are issued to members of the HRPS only for the purpose of fuelling service vehicles.”
Anyone who may have additional information concerning this ongoing investigation can contact Detective Sergeant Dave Costantini at 905-825-4747 ext: 2415.
Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See something? Hear something? Know something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222- 477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
Please be reminded that all persons charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
 By Ray Rivers
February 23rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Come next year’s federal election Mr. Trudeau will be making a list of promises. Top of that list should be never taking another family holiday outside of Canada.
 The Trudeau family in India. Oh sure, he is just doing what his father did, hauling the wife and kids along to see the sights, mixing with the locals and appropriating their traditional wear. It’s the classic Canadian charm offensive.
But the PM’s trip to India became way too offensive when he inadvertently brought along a convicted Sikh terrorist to an official function. Hello, how on earth could this character evade the PM’s security detail and end up in a photo-op with the PM’s wife? And what is it with this Sikh thing.
 Jaspal Atwal was convicted of attempting to murder Malkiat Singh Sidhu three decades ago. Here he is shown with the Prime Minister’s wife, Sophie Gregoire while on a tour in India. Sikhs make up a solid political block in places like Surrey B.C. and Brampton. But we are all Canadians first, something the PM and the novice NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh need to remember as they watch over all these potential multi-cultural divides. Singh has been known to waffle on the Air India bombing (a couple of decades ago) and Sikh terrorism generally.
And all politicians need to take a deep breath before musing on the recent decision of the Quebec court of appeal to uphold the ban on Sikh ceremonial daggers (Kirpans). As in everything, there are limits to what can be stuffed under the umbrella of religious freedom. One only has to look south of the border where the NRA (National Rifle Association) is preaching that ownership of assault rifles is now God’s will, and
The PM did get to announce a billion dollar trade deal and did finally have an official meeting with the Indian PM, which apparently went well. But this was anything but the well organized state-to-state courtship it was intended to be with the world’s fourth largest economy and largest democracy. Nobody was singing ‘When Irish Eyes are Smiling’. Unlike his ill-conceived trip to visit the Aga Khan a Christmas ago, at least there were no major personal conflicts.
But somebody needs to figure out why one of his MP’s would set him up by inviting along a former terrorist, and how this character actually got through Indian immigration in the first place. And the PM would do well to ensure his official travel is more necessary than just nice. Most pundits are still wondering why Trudeau took that trip at all and whether he was even invited.
And it’s not that his presence wasn’t requested back home as Alberta and B.C. went at it over oil and wine. B.C.’s new premier Horgan, governing with an NDP/Green Party coalition sparked the conflict with his eastern neighbour. Obviously he was getting grief from the Greens for approving the environmentally destructive Site C massive hydro project, opposed by farmers, indigenous communities and the usual crowd of environmentalists.
So to appease his coaltion partner, Horgan announced he was going to slow down or stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline which Alberta desperately needs to keep its oil sands operations competitive, and to get the product to markets. Alberta’s premier Notley then took on her fellow NDP’er by banning BC wine in her province.
 When my oil goes THAT way – your wine can come THIS way. Rachel Notley, Premier of Alberta. And in a most ironic moment for both of these governments, Notley also cancelled a power purchase agreement from B.C.’s Site C which would have helped Alberta get off coal-fired electricity. That was a key component of helping the province meet its carbon emissions targets – something very near and dear to every Green Party member’s heart, and the key to winning federal approval for the pipeline in the first place.
Make no mistake that this was pure politics on the part of the new B.C. premier. He might have been hoping that by showing strength he’d win a timely by-election to replace former premier Clark – which he didn’t. Though nothing raises a political leader’s poll count better that going to war; even if it’s only a war over oil and wine. And then there was this thing about mollifying his Green Party partner and keeping the coalition together.
But everyone knows that the inter-provincial pipelines fall largely under federal jurisdiction and the feds had already green-lit Kinder Morgan. And that was Notley’s point as she pleaded for the PM to shut down Horgan. Perhaps he was too busy picking his wardrobe for the India visit but he had little to say about the matter – other than the obvious.
Alberta is the biggest export market for B.C. wines, and Albertans love their wines. So it didn’t take much for Notley to drop the ban and let the wine flow once Horgan announced he was not going to shut down Kinder Morgan. Rather he was going to ask the courts about the limits of his authority. A case of much-ado-about-nothing in the end, though Notley comes out a hero and Albertans get to savour their favourite wines again.
It is pure speculation whether this issue would have been better solved had the PM barged in and demanded Horgan put his guns back in their holsters. In hindsight, whether intentional or not, Trudeau’s calm and low profile approach – letting the situation evolve pretty much on its own or behind the scenes with his officials – was the best thing he could have done. And that also makes him a winner in this. Now about that trip to India?
 Ray Rivers writes weekly 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. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
India Trip – Kirpans – Jagmeet –
NRA and God – Blessing the AR-15 – B.C. Challenges –
B.C. Wine – Site C – Pipeline Tensions –
A Way Forward – Test for Trudeau –
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The entire hamlet of Lowville in north Burlington will be “wearing of the green” on St. Patrick’s Day this year.
