The announcement from city hall was pretty straight forward – the review of city’s proposed 2018 operating budget will take place January 18.
Then the kicker – Proposed city tax increase of 4.19%
How much longer can Burlington smack the tax payers with property tax increases of more than 4%.
It just isn’t sustainable.
The 2018 operating budget delivers a base budget to maintain city service levels.
Other impacts to the 2018 operating budget include:
• $1.9 million or an additional tax increase of 1.25 per cent dedicated to the renewal of city infrastructure as outlined in the Asset Management Plan.
• $1 million or an additional tax increase of 0.65 per cent for legislative changes to the Employment Standards and Labour Relations Acts (Bill 148) including increases to minimum wage.
• $1.3 million or an additional tax increase of 0.84 per cent for changes in transit to provide operational sustainability.
• $1.2 million or an additional tax increase of 0.78 per cent for impacts from the 2014 arbitrated Fire settlement.
• $320,000 or an additional tax increase of 0.21 per cent to enhance maintenance standards on city sports fields.
The total city tax increase in the proposed 2018 operating budget is 4.19 per cent. When combined with Halton Region’s proposed tax increase and no change for education, the overall tax increase is projected at 2.49 per cent or $21.03 per $100,000 of Current Value Assessment.
There is an ongoing fallacy that gets trotted out each year by Joan Ford, Director of Finance: “Despite a number of significant budget pressures like the increase to Ontario’s minimum wage effective Jan. 1, 2018, and funding needed to address operational challenges in transit, Burlington’s proposed operating budget continues to ensure our assets are renewed and maintained in a fiscally responsible manner. Since 2011, overall tax increases in Burlington have averaged 1.9 per cent. In a comparison of property taxes in municipalities in the Great Toronto Hamilton Area, Burlington’s property taxes are the third lowest for a residential single-family detached home.”
Every word of that is true – however neither Burlington’s finance department nor its city council can do a blessed thing about the demands the school board or the Region make on the pocket books of the tax payers: Burlington is asking for an increase of 4.19% – they have been asking for more than, or very, very close to 4% for the past four years.
Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman was tough enough in 2010 to keep the tax increase to 0.
There was a time, back in 2010, when the tax increase was zero! Councillor Sharman was the driving force behind that effort. Council did it once – they should be able to do it again. It’s called belt tightening.
Members of the public who would like to speak at the Committee of the Whole budget meeting as a delegation can register by calling 905-335-7600, ext. 7481 or visiting burlington.ca/delegation. The deadline to register as a delegation for the Jan. 18 meeting is noon on Jan. 17, 2018.
Council approval of the proposed 2018 operating budget is scheduled for Monday, January 22, at 6:30 p.m.
“May you live in interesting times” — an English expression commonly attributed as a Chinese curse, and an appropriate characterization of the situation in Burlington at the beginning of 2018.
Without a doubt, 2017 was a year of some turmoil in our community. Two of our schools are on the chopping block and the campaign of the Halton District School Board to close schools come hell or high water has without a doubt been a source of civil conflict in our community.
And more recently, Burlingtonians have contended with drastic proposed changes to the city’s official plan, causing outrage among many (and satisfaction for others) as Burlington feels the effects of development agendas.
For those who are engaged on these issues, we enter 2018 with some trepidation. Will the approval of 421 Brant street stand? Will more proposals for sky scrapers at the bottom of Brant street come forward?
Will the 5-2 vote on the Brant street building be mirrored by a 5-2 vote in favour of the new Official Plan?
Margaret Wilson listening to a delegation during the Accommodation Review of the HDSB decision to close two high schools.
Similarly, what will Margaret Wilson’s Accommodation Review of the HDSB Trustees’ decision to close Pearson and Bateman high schools contain?
As easy as it would be to be fearful for the future, I see many reasons to be optimistic. We are busy people: families, commuters and active retirees, among others. We could be forgiven for not always having our fingers on the pulse of local politics. After all, Burlington is one of the best cities in which to live in Canada.
I am truly impressed at how many stood up for what we believe in this year. I have been most active with the Save Pearson team and many of us were not engaged between elections prior to this issue coming forward.
That has all changed.
Now, moms and dads, alumni and grandparents are working together towards common aims. There are bonds forming, political and social, that will carry us into 2018.
We are seeing Burlingtonians coming together across cultural lines as well. Burlington is changing fast — it has never been as diverse. We could either become more inclusive, or more exclusive — neutrality is tantamount to giving permission for xenophobia to creep into our society. After the Mosque attack on 29 January 2017 in Quebec, we organized a vigil for the victims at city hall. The hundreds of people who attended and signed the condolence book were proof that Burlingtonians want and will take action towards a more inclusive city.
After that, we wanted a more happy occasion to celebrate inclusion and diversity, and so with the support of a dozen faith groups we pulled together the first-ever One Burlington Festival. We celebrated our different cultures and faiths with food, music, dancing and games on 22 August. I am excited to help make it an annual event with another One Burlington Festival in August 2018.
Finally, membership on the City of Burlington’s Mundialization Committee has afforded me the chance to meet several younger Burlington residents. I was never anywhere near as engaged as they are in their high schools years. It has been gratifying to mentor some of the younger members of UN Subcommittee in particular. They are truly impressive and now, at 35 years old, I am finally understanding why it is often said that youth are the future. I aspire to be as focused and determined to be an agent of change as these students.
The next 12 months promise plenty of excitement. First, in June we will have a provincial election, which will bring fevered campaigning through the spring. Then, Burlington will hold its municipal election on 22 October along with the rest of Ontario. This one looks like it’s going to be interesting, with multiple competitive candidates for the Mayorship, and a strong probability that city council will not be fully re-elected as it was in 2014.
What I will look for in 2018 is how Burlingtonians will build on the actions taken this year to fight for the city we want, with the schools we want, the downtown we want, and the roads and transportation we want, all coming together to build a city fit for purpose in 2020. I am hoping that a 2020 vision emerges through citizens’ engagement and that the upcoming elections unify Burlington rather than divide us, and put us on a path towards the kind of city we deserve.
Of course, it is not enough to hope from the comforts of the couch. It is critical to take action to be a part of the change that one wants to see, and that is what I will do.
Will you?
Rory Nisan is a long-time Burlington resident and Lester B. Pearson High School alumnus. He has been an active member of the Save Pearson community organization.
In our business we get media releases from city hall, from the Region, from the provincial government and from the federal government. Plus dozens of commercial organizations who want a mention. Nice to know that they think we matter.
The number coming in daily from the province tells you that something is up – and of course the expected election in less than six months means the media releases get cranked out for just about anything.
There were two media releases today, that are not news but, point out to two changes the province has put in place that make sense in their own right and are examples of good government policy – they were the increase in the minimum wage to $14 an hour and a better deal for the minimum wage workers in terms of the time they can take off for sick days and personal matters.
The hospitality sector has been crying poor over paying the people who take our orders and serve us our food a decent wage. Their hope was that our gratuities would make the job worthwhile.
The other is described as OHIP plus which gives people under 25 all kinds of pharmaceuticals free of charge.
There was a new story of a university student who had to come up with $500 a month to cover the cost of her medications. There is one vote the Liberals can count on.
Both new programs appeal to and were aimed at a demographic that has not been known for its engagement in things political.
Will these two offerings make a difference to the Liberal party’s fortunes? They are said to be behind the Progressive Conservative opposition in the popularity polls.
Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon
With the festive season behind us – expect to see a lot more election advertising and much more from the candidates. In Burlington the sitting MPP Eleanor McMahon, who is also a member of Cabinet and sits on the Treasury Board as well, will be on your doorstep. She is an accomplished campaigner – expect her to hold her seat.
While she should hold her seat she may return to Queen’s Park as a back bencher.
Jane McKenna, Progressive Conservative candidate for Burlington in the June provincial election.
The Progressive Conservatives brought Jane McKenna back after her loss to McMahon in YEAR. McKenna’s campaign is being run by former Member of Parliament Mike Wallace who has his hat in the ring for the job of Mayor.
They might have been better off running Wallace as the candidate for the provincial seat.
Vince Fiorito – Green candidate in the 2014 provincial election – is expected to run as a candidate again.
The New Democrats have yet to name a candidate. Vince Fioroto is reported to have agreed to run as the Green candidate. This time around he might actually campaign in Burlington – last time he spent much of his time in Guelph where the Greens thought they actually had a chance of winning that seat.
Burlington is represented by three people in the provincial legislature – the constituencies are: Burlington, Milton (covers the northern part of Burlington and Oakville North Burlington. Editorial on those constituencies will follow.
Do you trust the grocer to sell you food that has not passed its best before date?
Trust doesn’t seem to go as far these days does it?
Learning that the largest supermarket operator in the country has been involved in the fixing of bread prices for more than ten years was a bit of a jolt. Many were stunned when they learned that Volkswagen was playing with the emission test results.
Hundreds of Ontario investors are out a lot of money because of foul play on the part of shady financial operators. These people wonder why the Ontario Securities Commission isn’t doing more to right the wrongs.
Thousands of Burlingtonians are close to furious with what they believe their elected officials seem prepared to let take place in terms of growth in the downtown core which they feel will destroy the city they love and live in.
Those same people question who the bureaucrats are working for and why recommendations they don’t believe reflect what the citizens want are sent to city council.
In 2010 the citizens of the city decided they didn’t like the way the then Mayor, Cam Jackson was doing his job and they turfed him. They elected a council that was quite a bit different led by a new Mayor they trusted.
Hold over Councillors Taylor, Dennison and Craven were re-elected. The sense was that Councillors Meed Ward, Lancaster and Sharman and a new Mayor was enough to change the way things were being done.
The electorate was satisfied enough to re-elect all seven members of city council which then let the bureaucrats foist a tag line on them that said:
Burlington is one of Canada’s best and most livable cities, a place where people, nature and business thrive.
The problem with the tag line is that it isn’t true – the “best city” part comes from a magazine that runs a poll each year and they declared the city was the “best”. The citizens of the city didn’t come to that conclusion – a publisher somewhere made that statement and the bureaucrats fell in love with it.
Far too many of the citizens are disagreeing with that statement – the trust that needs to be there is no longer in place.
A rapt audience listened to an overview of a city budget.
Make no mistake however that tens of thousands of the people that live in Burlington love their city – the way it is. They are not opposed to change but they want to be involved in the decisions that are made and when they speak they want to be heard.
When a group of well-meaning people take the time to gather names on a petition they don’t want to be belittled and denigrated by a member of council who suggest the names gathered are suspect.
Monte Dennis delegating at city council.
Vanessa Warren delegating at city council.
People who don’t have much experience speaking to others don’t want to feel inadequate when they have finished their delegation and are not asked a single question.
Gary Scobie delegating at city council
Jim Young delegating at city council
Burlington is fortunate to have some very accomplished people who address council; this writer cannot remember a single situation where an idea put forward by a citizen has been taken up by council. With the exception of Councillor Meed Ward, none of the others offer to get back to the speaker and follow up. They may do so – but they aren’t seen to do so.
It is a trust issue which this council does not appear to hear or even understand.
The quality of the image is terrible – the city has chosen not to invest in cameras that will produce a decent image. These are the messengers.
By way of example – the images from Board of Education meetings are clear – and their vote recording system actually works.
Much of what city council is given in the way of staff reports infuriates intelligent, informed people who expect better. City managers serve at the will of council and they take their direction from Council. The bureaucrats are just the messengers – look to the people the bureaucrats serve for the kind of direction you want – and then press on to ensure that your message is heard.
And good luck – very few new faces wanting to become city council members have come forward. We are aware of two – need more than that. Four of the incumbents might not even be challenged.
Blame yourselves for what you have.
Salt with Pepper is an opinion column written by Pepper Parr, the publisher of the Gazette.
Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown is said to be leading in the polls – will that lead hold?
It’s Patrick’s Brown’s election to lose according to the pollsters surveying Ontario’s political landscape in advance of the 2018 vote. Of course the only poll that counts is the one on Election Day but his PC party has been topping the Liberals for the last two years. Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals are mired in second place, tied with the other centre-left party, the NDP, led by veteran Andrea Horwath.
Premier Wynne has been to Burlington on numerous occasions. Anyone who will flip racks fo ribs has got to care about what happens in this city. Will this city be part of the province that returns her to office later this year?
Wynne is generally seen as unpopular though it is hard to understand what she has done which might have offended the public. Horwath, on the other hand is more popular though still perceived as an unknown. Even after leading her party since 2009, and with a couple of elections more under her belt than her opponents, she and her party have failed to connect with the voters.
Patrick Brown is a breath of fresh air for a political party that has a history of too often catering to its socially divisive extreme right wing. He flew on that wing himself not so long ago, but obviously has found the other one and put together a balanced platform that, with a couple of exceptions, pretty much looks like what the other two leaders have been promising. The biggest question is whether he really means it.
Paint it any colour you like Ontario is moving smartly on a solid track and that means its Premier, Wynne, has been doing the right things – or at least most thing right. The budget has been balanced, electricity rates have been scaled back, unemployment levels are way down and the economy is booming. Wynne can also take credit for the expansion of the Canada Pension Plan as well as inflation-proofing and increasing Ontario’s minimum wage laws – measures intended to help address the needs of those who are victim to our ever growing income gap.
There is also good news for those eligible for free tuition and Pharma- care. But the electricity file has been a sore point for the Liberals, though in truth it has been that way for governments going back to at least Bob Rae. And thanks to Mike Harris and Dalton McGuinty there has been a huge transition in the province’s energy business including a greater role for the private sector and a revolution in how electricity is generated.
Coal-fired electricity is a thing of the past. Few remember just how significant the changes to the provinces electricity supply system have been.
To be sure, none of the parties will be bringing back coal-fired electricity nor resurrecting Ontario Hydro. There is, in fact, little disagreement on the fundamentals. It’s only on the edges that the parties are staking out territory. Brown has promised to somehow re-negotiate the iron-clad energy supply contracts downwards and put a stop to expansion of the electricity system. It’s true that today’s hydro bills include payments for electrons which gets delivered whether they are needed or not.
But the world is changing so fast that within a few years most automakers will finally be producing electric vehicles (EV) in quantities to rival and even exceed the gas guzzlers. And that will mean a rapid increase in electricity demand as gasoline stations start to disappear, becoming as rare as Blockbuster video stores and hen’s teeth. And then charging your EV at home overnight will cost you a lot more if Brown eliminates smart meters as he is also promising to do.
The Smart Meters are apparently not smart enough for Patrick Brown,
Climate change is being caused primarily by the greenhouse gases (GHGs) generated by fossil fuels. Ontario became the first jurisdiction to get rid of its coal-fired energy plants, one of which had been the largest point source of GHGs in Canada. Recently the federal government has mandated carbon pricing, a carbon tax, across the country to shift demand away from fossil fuels.
Ontario and Quebec have decided to meet that mandate through a ‘cap and trade program’ where GHGs would be capped and major players, e.g. oil companies, would have to buy quotas. Some of the costs of those quotas would be passed along to consumers when they fill their tanks, but the total cost of ‘cap and trade’ is generally less for an economy than a carbon tax.
That fine point is lost on Brown who would get rid of cap and trade and apply a flat carbon tax as Alberta and B.C. do. And like B.C. he would make it revenue-neutral, targeting income tax reductions for the middle class, thereby also making it mildly redistributive as well. Yet claims of over 20% in tax cuts will need to be weighed against the much higher prices for home heating and cooking fuels, public transportation and of course what you pay at the pump.
By definition revenue-neutral is like moving money from one pocket to another. But at least a carbon tax is an easier concept to understand and more directly consistent with the federal mandate. Of course to be effective the tax will have to be significant and ever increasing – and it will be. But as carbon use and carbon tax revenue decline, will the tax cuts that it funds also diminish?
Andrea Horwath leader of the New Democratic party – will Burlington have an NDP candidate for 2018? Who?
Horwath has complained about smart meters as well, and has mused about buying back Hydro One shares but has yet to release her full party platform. And if history is any judge the NDP policies will be a twist, a nuance, on the ones the Liberals already have borrowed form the NDP – or stolen as the NDP regularly accuse.
All of this seems to indicate a kind of humdrum, big yawn of an election muddle. It may all depend on how badly people want to change, how bored or unimpressed they are with the Liberals and their leader after a decade and a half, despite the good times. It would be naive to ignore the age and gender of leaders as factors voters consider, though style and campaign performance will probably be the final determinants. And of course the party stalwarts will be voting the party line.
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 a candidate for provincial office in Burlington in 1995. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Tweet @rayzrivers
If this is what Councillor Med Ward has to say on New Year’s Eve, on can only imagine what she is going to have to say at city council when they meet on January 23rd and city staff seek approval to fundamentally alter Burlington’s downtown by adding height and density throughout the downtown.
The video set out below, came from the Meed Ward newsletter released earlier today, is pretty stark; the heights that are proposed will mean hugely different downtown.
Precincts that will be created when the Official Plan, currently in draft form, is approved by city Council. The time line for that approval has been moved from the end of January 2018 to the end of April. Many want the plan to be made an election issue.
She makes one vital point and follows that up with the kind of detail the city has not put out.
Her vital point is that the city hasn’t done nearly enough to inform the public that:
Height will go from 4-8 storeys in the Downtown Core Precinct to up to 17. This area covers most of the east side of Brant from James to Pine over to Pearl.
North of Blairholm to Graham’s Lane & Prospect in the new Upper Brant Precinct, height will increase from 4–8 storeys to 25 storeys.
The urban growth centre boundaries have changed to include parts of stable neighbourhoods, including the Lion’s Club park and neighbourhood to the north between Pearl and Martha. This area will see possible density increases to 200 people or jobs per hectare.
Meed Ward provides an excellent video on where the growth will take place – it moves quire quickly – you might want to keep your finger on the pause key.
The Downtown core precinct is of particular concern to many.
Planning staff also recommends permitting semi-detached homes in the St Luke’s and Emerald Precincts, and all low-density downtown neighbourhoods. Protection to limit semis to the same lot coverage as single family homes, at 25%, and the same Floor Area Ratio, to avoid monster semis covering most of the lot will be considered later.
All these changes are to ensure that Burlington reaches the intensification levels set by the province. Meed Ward argues that “The downtown is already on track to meet its growth targets with the current plan.
She adds that “This is a bad deal for Burlington – by giving away height and density – the city gets nothing new – just tall buildings and more congestion.
As she too moves into election mode Meed Ward urges people to: “Tell council to vote no on January 23rd. Canada’s best mid-sized city deserves a better plan.”
A New Year’s resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal or otherwise improve their life.
This tradition has many other religious parallels. During Judaism’s New Year, Rosh Hashanah, through the High Holidays and culminating in Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), one is to reflect upon one’s wrongdoings over the year and both seek and offer forgiveness.
People can act similarly during the Christian liturgical season of Lent, although the motive behind this holiday is more of sacrifice than of responsibility. In fact, the Methodist practice of New Year’s resolutions came, in part, from the Lenten sacrifices. The concept, regardless of creed, is to reflect upon self-improvement annually.
Some examples include resolutions to donate to the poor more often, to become more assertive, or to become more environmentally responsible.
Improve physical well-being: eat healthy food, lose weight, exercise more, eat better, drink less alcohol, quit smoking, stop biting nails, get rid of old bad habits
Improve mental well-being: think positive, laugh more often, enjoy life
Improve finances: get out of debt, save money, make small investments
Improve career: perform better at current job, get a better job, establish own business
Improve education: improve grades, get a better education, learn something new (such as a foreign language or music), study often, read more books, improve talents
Improve self: become more organized, reduce stress, be less grumpy, manage time, be more independent, perhaps watch less television, play fewer sitting-down video games
Take a trip
Volunteer to help others, practice life skills, use civic virtue, give to charity, volunteer to work part-time in a charity organization
Get along better with people, improve social skills, enhance social intelligence
Make new friends
Spend quality time with family members
Settle down, get engaged/get married, have kids
Pray more, be more spiritual
Be more involved in sports or different activities
Spend less time on social media
Success rate
The most common reason for participants failing their New Years’ Resolutions was setting themselves unrealistic goals (35%), while 33% didn’t keep track of their progress and a further 23% forgot about it. About one in 10 respondents claimed they made too many resolutions.
A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying “lose weight”), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.
Many people actually write out New Year resolutions for themselves – setting out the things they want to achieve during the year they are going into.
History suggests that the resolutions don’t get met.
ECoB – Engaged Citizens of Burlington has set out their resolutions for 2018.
They are a little scattered:
• We will champion real engagement that is not merely holding public meetings; it means to actually listen to what residents are saying and follow through.
• To question why Council, led by Staff, failed to know that the province never mandated that the downtown be a mobility hub? We will challenge the effect of the Downtown Anchor Hub relative to its unproven value.
• We will protect the character of Brant Street and ask Council to not ratify their decision to allow the development of 421 Brant to move forward. We will expose why Council voted for this development, did having to defend this at the OMB by the developers play into their decision to approve?
• We will challenge why the Official Plan, the most important municipal document, is never really official and that that it seems to be used as a starting point in negotiations.
• To enforce the City’s Strategic Plan for an Engaging City by vetting new candidates for each ward for the upcoming municipal election where an incumbent has voted on the official plan as drafted.
• We will champion “A Made in Burlington Solution” – what works in Vancouver or Portland does not necessarily work in Burlington.
Laudable but a little confusing. “Exposing why Council voted” suggests there was something not quite on the level about that 5-2 vote city council meeting to approve the 421 Brant Street project.
New and worth keeping an eye on.
The “vetting” of candidates is interesting; how does an organization do that? Who sets the criteria. Does a candidate who has been “vetted” mean the candidate has been endorsed?
ECoB is new, a little thin on the ground at this point but these things take time and they were getting started during the biggest festive season of the year. Let’s see where they are by the end of March.
It is said that “80% of human experience is filtered through the eyes”. The choice of a colour used is then critical.
But who makes that choice?
The Pantone Color Institute helps companies make the most informed decisions about color for their brands or products. Whether it is color trend forecasting, brand color development, custom color solutions, or product palette selection, the Pantone Color Institute guides their clients through the development of a color strategy.
They also make a pronouncement on what the colour for a year is going to be – and the trend makers tend to follow.
The Color of the Year 2018 is a dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade, PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future.
Expect to see a lot of it – we were having lunch at the Tin Cup on Friday and sitting at a long table with at least 30 boys celebrating a hockey event was a Mother with purple hair.
Pantone maintains that their 2018 purple alludes to the mysteries of the cosmos and the unknown. Not sure the Mother had an “unknown” look about her – more one of being frazzled trying to cope with the boys who all needed to talk at the same time – loudly.
Laurie Pressman, vice-president of the Pantone Colour Institute, said: “The Pantone colour of the year has come to mean so much more than ‘what’s trending’ in the world of design; it’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today.”
Promoting a Comedy Festival seems like a good way to close out the year.
The Burlington Downtown Business Association (BDBA), in partnership with the Kitchener-Waterloo Comedy Festival and The Water Street Cooker are putting on the 3rd Annual Burlington Comedy Festival.
The three-day kicks off on Family Day: Monday February 19th, 2018.
Featuring over twelve comedians and variety performers at two venues tailor made for live stand-up: The Burlington Performing Arts Centre and the Water Street Cooker (2084 Old Lakeshore Road)
The 3rd annual Burlington Comedy Festival, in support of the Canadian Cancer Society, commences with a Family Variety Show. This show is suitable for all ages and features award winning, international circus artists. Including a Portuguese Clown who is one of the judges on Portugal’s Got Talent, a Magician who has performed in Las Vegas and a Juggling and Acrobatic Duo who will be coming direct from China.
The show runs approximately 80 minutes, Family Day: Monday February 19th, 2018, with no intermission. Seating is general admission. Tickets are $15.00 and show time is 3:00 p.m. at The Burlington Performing Arts Centre.
That same evening the “Best of the Fest” (tickets are $49.00) at The Burlington Performing Arts Centre, 8 p.m. start time. The seven comic lineup is headlined by comedian/actor Kevin Pollak, “The Kids in the Hall” alumnus Scott Thompson, and Canadian writer/actor Jon Dore.
The Festival concludes with two performances at The Water Street Cooker: Tuesday February 20th and Wednesday February 21st. Featuring “up close and personal” comedy (and a variety act) starting at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $29.
This includes admission to the reserved seating area and $25 for dinner at Emma’s Back Porch. A $54.00 package!
The material is not censored and intended for a mature audience. Seating is general admission, no recordings are permitted.
For a full list of complete acts and to buy tickets
Brian Dean, Executive Director, Burlington Downtown Business Association wants to make the experience of live comedy against the backdrop of Lake Ontario an annual tradition.
It has been a couple of years since the city invited Brent Toderian into town to advise the city manager and the Director of Planning on the steps to take to turn Burlington into the city he thought everyone wanted it to be.
Brent Toderian
Toderian is beloved by much of the planning department – that sentiment didn’t manage to spread to the citizens of the city. On balance – views are mixed.
This is not an occasion to dig deep into the impact Toderian is having on the city but it is an opportunity to get a look at the thinking he does from time to time.
It might help to understand where some of thecore thinkingwithin transportation is coming from.
We are going to be looking at those rows of bread on the supermarket shelves a little differently for some time.
The price of the product has been fixed by at least one supermarket for the past 14 years. Confirmed parties who were part of the investigation include Canada Bread, Sobeys and Metro Inc. The companies say they are cooperating with investigations by the Competition Bureau.
We will look at shelves like this quite a bit differently for some time. At least one supermarket has admitted that they were fixing the price of bread for 14 years.
Loblaw Companies Ltd. is offering customers a $25 gift card as a goodwill gesture after admitting the company participated in an industry-wide bread price-fixing arrangement.
Visit www.LoblawCard.ca and enter your email address to be notified once registration opens. The company expects registration to begin on Jan. 8.
Why the $25 amount
“This is our effort to respond directly to our customers, acknowledging ultimately our specific accountability in what was an industry-wide arrangement,” said Galen G. Weston, CEO. “We’re trying to go directly to our customers and let them know how serious we’re taking the situation,” he added.
“This conduct should never have happened.” We hope that they’ll see it as a meaningful amount that demonstrates our commitment to keeping their trust and confidence.”
Price fixing is something that is governed by the federal Competition Bureau and it apparently is something very difficult to detect and then even more difficult to prove.
The rules that govern what the Competition people do work like this: The first company that fesses up and squeals on all the others gets a Get out of Jail free card – none gets charged criminally and the company pays a huge fine.
The company expects three million to six million people will receive the gift card. The company says it expects to take a charge of between $75 million and $150 million.
There are going to be some class action suits – the lawyers will benefit most from that.
What is particularly galling is this: In a report in the Toronto Star a number of months ago there was the following:
“Loblaw Companies Ltd., Canada’s largest grocery and drugstore operator, warned Wednesday that minimum wage increases in Ontario and Alberta threaten to harm its bottom line and it will have to find ways to cut costs.
“The company, which owns Shoppers Drug Mart and grocery chains including Loblaws and No Frills, estimates that the wage hikes will mean its labour expenses will balloon by about $190 million next year.
“We are flagging a significant set of financial headwinds and the organization is mobilizing all of its resources to see whether or not it can close that gap,” Loblaw chair and CEO Galen Weston Jr. told analysts during a quarterly earnings conference call.
At about the same time George Weston Ltd. (TSX:WN) reported a 189% increase to its first-quarter profit, mostly because of improved results from its stake in Loblaw (TSX:L).
The Toronto-based company, which also owns the Weston Foods bakery business, had $107 million or 83 cents per share of net income for common shareholders in the quarter ended March 25.
There is something wrong with a society that reports a company experiencing a profit increase of 189% in just one quarter that admits to fixing the price of bread for a period of 14 years and at the same time complains about the financial hit they are going to take when the minimum wage is increased to $14 an hour.
Some community organizations are asking people to register for the Gift Card and pass it along to the local food bank. Pressing the government to push for a higher value on the Gift Card would seem appropriate as well.
The city Finance department takes care of collecting the money.
They create a budget that gets put through dozens of hoops with no public input until the document is sent along to a Council Standing Committee. The Finance department tells the Councillors what it will take in the way of a tax rate to pay for the contents of the budget.
There is then a full day session when city council meeting as a Standing Committee goes through the budget with as close to a fine tooth comb as Burlington is capable of – based on last year’s budget, when the city manager asked for $500,000 (that’s half a million) added to the base budget by explaining that things just “trickle up” and have to be covered that fine tooth comb doesn’t do its job.
Ward 2 city Councillor Marianne Meed Ward in the first office she had when elected in 2010.
Ward 2 Councillor Meed Ward tried to cut that back to $300,000 the first year and then take a closer look in the second year. She got nowhere with that. Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison who usually knows where every nickel goes was at one point unaware that the $500,000 was going into the base budget – which means he gets that amount every year.
This kind of spending helps understand why Burlington has had tax increases in the 4% range for the past four years.
Most Councillors have a project in their ward they want to promote – it’s just good politics.
For ward 3 Councillor John Taylor – it is quite often something for Lowville.
This year he has his hand out for $30,000 to do a study on what can be done with the Lowville School House, a building that is structurally sound but doesn’t have a heat source or running water.
For the past couple of years the city has had a working arrangement with Thinkspot, a Lowville based mini think tank that has developed a reputation for being the place to go for well-honed leadership in getting at just what the root of a problem is and then putting together a process for resolving the problem.
The locale is about as good as it gets – 15 minute drive from the city to a rural setting that is pleasant, relaxing and has a decent kitchen for putting together snacks. ThinkSpot often used the school house for larger groups and often for ThinkSpot sponsored community events.
The city decided some time ago that there was a better way to use the space and advised ThinkSpot that the working relationship that was in place was no more.
Lowville has a really robust group of people who keep a close eye on what city council does – it was Lowville residents who tipped off the Gazette about the land fill that was being dumped at the Air Park. They don’t miss much.
The bureaucrats want to be careful with what they take to the community – they have pretty high expectations.
Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor doing what he does best – listening to people
Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor has this soft spot for Lowville. His ward includes much of rural Burlington. When he retires he just might find himself wanting to live in that community.
Foe a home assessed at $500,00 – find one of those in Burlington – the taxes are really close to $2,000. If that amount $18.66 will pay for city council; $70.56 will be used on roads and transportation. These numbers are based on the proposed operating budget.
The really hard look at the Operating budget will take place on January 18, starting at 9:30 a.m. – Committee of the Whole – Operating Budget review
Anyone who wants to delegate must register by noon on January 17.
The following Monday, January 22nd, city council will vote on the recommendation that comes out of the Standing Committee. That’s four days later – not much time for people to digest what came out of the Standing Committee and form argument for a change to the budget.
The Capital budget has already been set.
The Capital budget – it has already been approved.
This is an example of the city claim that it really engages with its citizens. It is a part of the why there is now a citizen’s organization that believes things have to be different.
Every member of the current council was re-elected in 2014 and there doesn’t appear to be rush of bright stars on the horizon who want to challenge the incumbents. There are a couple.
ECoB – Engaging Citizens of Burlington got off to a pretty good start.
There is some money in the bank, the web site is up and running – plans are being put together for a crowd funding page.
All good – and then – nothing or not very much.
In our travels we meet with people who comment on what is taking place in the city – the good stuff, the not so good stuff and the inevitable question: Is she going to run?
Of course she is going to run. Even if they took all her high healed shoes away from her, Marianne Meed Ward would still run for the office of Mayor in October of 2018 – ten months away.
But we digress.
Some of the more serious minded people who are firm in their belief that the city needs a strong citizen based organization ask if the people who got ECoB off the ground are going to be able to give it the momentum it needs.
The group seems very small – are there new people becoming part of the core team?
We were told there is a bigger picture and that the intention to appeal the city council decision to approve a 23 storey tower opposite city hall is not their sole reason for being.
There has been a bit of a timing glitch and any appeal has to be done under the newly created Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) which replaces what we knew as the Ontario Municipal Board.
The appeal application is the matter that is on the ECoB front burner right now.
What is being done to reach out to people in the wards that are not part of the downtown core?
When Lisa Kearns took to the lectern at the December 13th meeting she told the audience that they “had to do their homework” and there is a lot of it to do.
ECoB has a very well designed web site that set out he events their membership needs to pay attention to – the response to the web site has not been overwhelming – to be fair it was launched in the middle of the biggest holiday season of the year.
Understanding just what the issues are is the starting point and then stick handling the appeal application as well as building ECoB so that it reflects all of Burlington and not just the downtown core.
At this point the leadership team is three people – the founder spends much of her time in Florida and the co-founder is experiencing some health issues and isn’t going to be as available as he would like to be.
This leaves the organization in the hands of Lisa Kearns, Dania Thurman and Penny Hersh.
Kearns is the conceptual thinker – she fully understands the issues. Thurman is the social media leader who got the web site up and running and is ready to move on the crowd funding level once the holidays are behind them.
Penny Hersh is doing community outreach and is handling the funds that have been raised.
It is going to take far more than these three very capable woman to make this work.
A few people have complained that ideas they have sent the ECoB have not been responded to – that could well be because the team in place at this point is run ragged.
Is it a doomed project that is going to get tangled up in a bureaucratic quagmire where assets slide down a drain rather than into concrete.
The organization has to be both advocates for change, the organization that leads in the education of the public and at the same time do the strategic thinking that is vital.
They have to work with a city hall bureaucracy that many feel has a tin ear and is not capable of listening to the citizens. They have to cajole the existing city council into learning to do things differently.
They have to contend with a developer community who may see projects delayed, their costs increased and disruption to plans that have been in development for some time. Many believe that every piece of property on the east side of Brant Street south of Fairview has either been acquired by a developer or is under an option. There are huge amount invested by the developers and they don’t like to lose. Burlington has been very good for the development community for a long time.
There was a time, about twenty five years ago when the city had a very strong active community group. It worked very well for a period of time but then interest fell, the urgency was gone and it just dried up.
Two planners, and a Carriage Gate vice president at the first Carriage Gate development public meeting. From the left: Robert Glover, Ed Forthergill and Mark Bales
When the 421 Brant project was first put before the public there was very little in the way of objections. At the public meeting held at the Art Gallery there were people asking when they could make deposits.
Some very solid, credible planner spoke of the project with sound explanations as to why Brant Street had to become the “spine” of the city.
When the project got to the Planning and Development committee there was one lone delegation opposed to the project.
Yet when it got to city council where it was approved on a 5-2 vote, the ward Councillor and the Mayor were opposed – there is a dynamic behind those two no votes that needs s bigger understanding – citizens, especially those in the downtown core were almost taking to the streets.
Residents at the first ECoB public meeting.
This shift in opinion and the opposition to the project grew very quickly and caught everyone off guard. It took on a life of its own and now, assuming the appeal is successfully filed a large city shaping development will be put on hold while close to half a million dollars gets spent on legal fees and support from the professionals.
Woven into all this and at the same time feeding it, is a community that is finding its voice while the members of city council prepare to move into election mode.
To add to the mix is the fact that the province changed the turf on the playing field creating a shorter period of time for election campaigning to take place and put new rules into effect on where campaign money could come from.
Meed Ward with Mayor Goldring.
That dynamic between the two city council votes opposed to the project – the ward Councillor and the Mayor, is underscored by the fact that the Mayor has already held his “I am running again” announcement – some thought he was offside on that decision. The only thing Marianne Meed Ward has not done is announce that she is actually going to be a candidate for Mayor.
She has been eyeing the Chain of Office the Mayor wears since the beginning of her first election campaign in 2010 for the ward 2 seat.
Human nature is complicated and in the world of politics anything can happen.
The creation of a city wide citizen’s organization will be a little like trying to herd cats. Each local organization has its own agenda and it will take some gifted ECoB leadership to recognize the individual community group needs and at the same time see, if not create, the bigger picture.
If ECoB can find the oxygen to survive we will see more of them in the New Year. The milieu within which they have to work is daunting.
Let us not rush back into the real world quite yet.
Christmas was festive, fun, and family – the day after has become a holiday with a quaint tradition that is celebrated in the Commonwealth countries that reflects the class tradition of the times.
The first mention of Boxing Day as a tradition is believed to be in 1830. It was the day that the Upper classes gave a “box” to people like post-men, errand-boys, and servants of various kinds.
It was a present, a gratuity given at Christmas to people who had provided a service. In Great Britain the custom for tradesmen to collect “Christmas boxes” of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year. The tradition goes back as far as December 1663.
It was a different time, a different era when class differences defined everything. The Boxing Day tradition came out of that era.
The tradition was linked to an older British tradition – servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts, bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.
In South Africa as recently as the 1980s, milkmen and garbage collectors, who normally had little if any interaction with those they served, were accustomed to knock on their doors asking for a “Christmas box”, being a small cash donation, in the week or so before and after Christmas.
The European tradition, which has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions, has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown. It is believed to be in reference to the Alms Box placed in areas of worship to collect donations to the poor.
Boxing Day became a secular holiday that is traditionally celebrated on 26 December, the day after Christmas Day. 26 December is also St. Stephen’s Day, a religious holiday.
In the UK, Boxing Day is a bank holiday
In Scotland, Boxing Day has been specified as an additional bank holiday since 1974In Ireland – when the island as a whole was part of the United Kingdom – the Bank Holidays Act 1871 established the feast day of St. Stephen as a non-movable public holiday on 26 December. Following partition in 1920, Northern Ireland reverted to the British name, Boxing Day.
In Australia, Boxing Day is a federal public holiday. The Australian state of South Australia instead observes a public holiday known as Proclamation Day on the first weekday after Christmas Day or the Christmas Day holiday.
In New Zealand, Boxing Day is a statutory holiday; penalty rates and lieu time are provided to employees who work on Boxing Day.
In Canada, Boxing Day is a federal statutory holiday. Government offices, banks and post offices/delivery are closed. In some Canadian provinces, Boxing Day is a statutory holiday that is always celebrated on 26 December. In Canadian provinces where Boxing Day was a statutory holiday, and it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, compensation days are given in the following week.
In the United States, 26 December is not observed as “Boxing Day”.
The tradition has become a massive sales push that has people lining up outside large chain store operations as early as 5 am waiting for huge discounts, usually on electronic items that are positioned as loss leaders to attract customers.
Boxing day at the Eaton Centre – packed.
The CTV television network reports that in 2010 Boxing Day sales totaled $1.8 billion. The tradition has become a shopping holiday that has become Boxing Week
Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer door buster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. It is not uncommon for long queues to form early in the morning of 26 December, hours before the opening of shops holding the big sales, especially at big-box consumer electronics retailers.
In recent years, retailers have expanded deals to “Boxing Week”. While Boxing Day is 26 December, many retailers will run the sales for several days before or after 26 December, often up to New Year’s Eve. Notably, in the recession of late 2008, a record number of retailers were holding early promotions due to a weak economy. Canada’s Boxing Day has often been compared with the American Super Saturday (the Saturday before Christmas) and Black Friday.
From 2009 onward Black Friday deals become more prominent among Canadian retailers to discourage shoppers from crossing the border to the USA when the Canadian and USA dollars was close to parity, and this has lessened the appeal of Boxing Day in Canada somewhat as it was overtaken by Black Friday in terms of sales in 2013.
Boxing Day is not and has never been a shopping holiday in the USA.
In some parts of Canada, particularly in Atlantic Canada and parts of Northern Ontario, most retailers are prohibited from opening on Boxing Day, either by provincial law or by municipal bylaw, or instead by informal agreement among major retailers to provide a day of relaxation following Christmas Day.
A tradition that came out of a social class based society has evolved into a week-long shopping spree.
It isn’t just about shopping; sports events have become major Boxing Day events.
Major European leagues may enjoy a winter break when players can put their feet up over the festive period. But it’s all go in the Premier and Football Leagues. And that means plenty of action for armchair soccer fans.
In the United Kingdom, it is traditional for both top-tier football leagues in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the lower ones, as well as the rugby leagues, to hold a full programme of football and rugby union matches on Boxing Day.
Originally, matches on Boxing Day were played against local rivals to avoid teams and their fans having to travel a long distance to an away game on the day after Christmas Day.
This is probably much more than you wanted to know about the holiday we celebrate today.
Taken during a Burlington Santa Claus parade – it expresses what we believe the season is really all about. The fundamentals of our society are based on that message.
Not the best time of year to ask people to find a couple of minutes to respond to a city survey. Things are so busy that the supermarket in my part of town is going to be open until 11 pm tonight.
Nonetheless – know this: The City will be replacing 14 playgrounds over the next two years and is encouraging families who use the specific parks to complete a survey to say which kinds of playground features would be most wanted.
Beginning Dec. 28, 2017, city staff will be at nearby recreation centres asking for input.
The online survey is HERE and will be available until January, 31, 2018.
Location of the 14 parks that will be upgraded in 2018
Playgrounds to be replaced in the next two years are:
1. Brada Woods Park, 5196 Brada Cr. 2. Breckon Park, 4471 Spruce Ave. 3. Brittany Park, 1370 Headon Rd. 4. Champlain Park, 2101 Mountain Grove Ave. 5. Cumberland Park, 562 Cumberland Ave. 6. DesJardines Park, 1811 Imperial Way 7. LaSalle Park, 50 North Shore Blvd. 8. Maple Community Park, 750 Maple Ave. 9. Maplehurst Public School, 481 Plains Rd. E. 10. Optimist Park, 2131 Prospect St. 11. Sheraton Park, 594 Sheraton Rd. 12. Spencer Smith Park, 1400 Lakeshore Rd. 13. Sycamore Park, 3157 Centennial Dr. 14. Tansley Woods Park, 4100 Kilmer Dr.
Chris Glenn, director of Parks and Recreation explains that: “The survey results will be used to create plans for the parks that will be specific to that park. Talk to your kids about what kinds of play structures they like. Ask them if they prefer straight or curving slides, monkey bars, poles, swings and other fun, interactive equipment.”
The survey questionnaire runs 17 pages – we will run it again in the New Year when you have more time for this kind of thing.
The Halton District School Board is hosting several Pathways Planning Information Evenings in January 2018 that will allow parents and Grades 7-12 students to explore program opportunities high schools offer in Halton.
Today’s student.
The Board offers more than 80 programs designed to meet individual needs and help students succeed after high school, whether they are pursuing a pathway toward apprenticeship, college, community, university or the workplace.
Information nights help students to be better prepared for a rapidly changing world while receiving a relevant and engaging education.
All are welcome to attend and registration is not required. The meetings will be held at the following locations from 6-8 p.m.:
• Thursday, January 11, 2018: Georgetown District High School, 70 Guelph Street, Georgetown
• Tuesday, January 16, 2018: White Oaks Secondary School, North Campus, 1055 McCraney Street East, Oakville
• Tuesday, January 23, 2018: M.M. Robinson High School, 2425 Upper Middle Road, Burlington
These programs include the Specialist High Skills Major programs, Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Programs, Specialty School to Career programs, the Employability Skills Certificate program, Dual Credit college programs, Grade 8-9 Transition programs, and more.
Agenda for each night:
6-6:30 p.m. – Pathways displays staff by Pathways Program teachers 6:30-7:15 p.m. – Pathways presentation (Programs and planning for post-secondary) 7:15-8 p.m. – Teacher displays and elementary transition to high school workshop
On Thursday, December 21, 2017, just before 10:30pm, a traffic stop was initiated at Longmoor Drive and New Street in Burlington. As a result of an investigation, Owen Brown (31) of Burlington was charged with driving over 80mgs.
On Thursday, December 21, 2017, just after 10:50pm, a traffic stop was initiated at Mainway and Appleby Line in Burlington. As a result of an investigation, Erblin Shehu (29) of Stoney Creek was charged with driving over 80mgs.
On Thursday, December 21, 2017, just after 11:20pm, a traffic stop was initiated at Walkers Line and Mainway in Burlington. As a result of an investigation, Panayiotis Diakoloukas (40) of Burlington was charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle and driving over 80mgs.
What will it take to end news items like this?. There are a couple in Burlington every day.
The Police Service reminds the public that driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol is a crime in progress and to call 9-1-1 immediately to report a suspected impaired driver.
By Staff
Other impacts to the 2018 operating budget include:
The total city tax increase in the proposed 2018 operating budget is 4.19 per cent. When combined with Halton Region’s proposed tax increase and no change for education, the overall tax increase is projected at 2.49 per cent or $21.03 per $100,000 of Current Value Assessment.
Without a doubt, 2017 was a year of some turmoil in our community. Two of our schools are on the chopping block and the campaign of the Halton District School Board to close schools come hell or high water has without a doubt been a source of civil conflict in our community.
The next 12 months promise plenty of excitement. First, in June we will have a provincial election, which will bring fevered campaigning through the spring. Then, Burlington will hold its municipal election on 22 October along with the rest of Ontario. This one looks like it’s going to be interesting, with multiple competitive candidates for the Mayorship, and a strong probability that city council will not be fully re-elected as it was in 2014.
Rory Nisan is a long-time Burlington resident and Lester B. Pearson High School alumnus. He has been an active member of the Save Pearson community organization.
There were two media releases today, that are not news but, point out to two changes the province has put in place that make sense in their own right and are examples of good government policy – they were the increase in the minimum wage to $14 an hour and a better deal for the minimum wage workers in terms of the time they can take off for sick days and personal matters.
The other is described as OHIP plus which gives people under 25 all kinds of pharmaceuticals free of charge.
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 a candidate for provincial office in Burlington in 1995. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Tweet @rayzrivers
History suggests that the resolutions don’t get met.
Pantone maintains that their 2018 purple alludes to the mysteries of the cosmos and the unknown. Not sure the Mother had an “unknown” look about her – more one of being frazzled trying to cope with the boys who all needed to talk at the same time – loudly.
For the past couple of years the city has had a working arrangement with Thinkspot, a Lowville based mini think tank that has developed a reputation for being the place to go for well-honed leadership in getting at just what the root of a problem is and then putting together a process for resolving the problem.
