You will have heard the phrase – sector disruption” – which is when someone comes up with an idea that shakes up a sector of an industry.
Apple did that with their iTunes service – record stores took a huge hit. Newspapers took it between the eyes when Craig’s List and decimated the classified advertising business that kept many newspapers alive.
These advances in technology have had massive impacts on the way we get things done.
Pause now – and agree with me – you can talk 200 words a minute can’t you? You probably know others who can as well and wish they didn’t continue to do that when you are around.
Can you type 200 words a minute? Most of us can’t – at least not with much in the way of accuracy.
The screen you work from – but all you have to do is talk and your words appear on the screen.
What if you talked 200 words a minute and your computer captured those words which you could drop into a report or send out as an email.
You can talk into your cell phone and see the words come up on the screen. That feature is in actuality the Google speech to text feature that is built into Android phones.
Nine guys who have a converted store front they call their head office in the north west part of the city where the rents are low and parking usually isn’t a problem – and there is a decent coffee shop steps away, found a way to port that same Google speech to text feature to a desk top or lap top computer.
They called it LilySpeech and are marketing the service that costs $2.49 a month and you can cancel it any time you like.
Download and install it and then whenever you want to use the program you click on the icon that will get dropped into your computer when you set up. All you have to do is talk away.
You do have to be quite specific.
You say:
The specifications are quite specific and the costing has been done period new line
You have to dictate the punctuation.
There is nothing fancy about the head office set up. Lots of empty pizza boxes in a corner plus hours and hours of pouring over code to get LilySpeech just right. Type at 200 words a minute – and it works.
Jonathan Adams, one of the nine partners, believes he and his colleagues are on to something – they have completed the all the beta testing and have ironed out the bugs. “We keep adding additional features – small things that just make it better” he said.
How does it operate?
Once you’ve downloaded and registered a small icon will appear – on your computer – you click on that and LilySpeech shows up on your computer screen.
Then you start talking and LilySpeech generates the text in real time. When you have finished you click to transfer what you dictated to wherever you want it to appear; it could be a WORD file or an email.
LilySpeech is really a productivity tool – that has features that will save you a lot of time – especially for those tasks that are repetitive. You can set up a list of words that might be difficult for the speech to text software to pick up; scientific phrases that you use often. You’d say special word 5 and whatever that special word is will appear on the screen.
You can give the special word any definition – choose whatever works for you.
This is a productivity tool for anyone who uses the same material over and over; marketing people will just love this feature. You create the message and save it – and when you are using LilySpeech you just go to the “Canned Answers” section click on the one you want, it drops into your document and you continue with your dictation.
Like anything new, it takes a little fiddling to get just what you want – but it comes easily.
LilySpeech is something well worth looking into – and at a price of $2.49 a month you can’t go wrong. A newspaper or a cup of coffee costs more than this service.
Log into www.LilySpeech.com and give it a go – there is a one month free trial.
You will be on your way to saving hours of time each day.
The provincial government isn’t going to take too much guff from Patrick Brown, leader of the Progressive Conservative opposition party.
Brown, MPP for Simcoe North and leader of the opposition was speaking to the Ontario Road Builders Association where, according to the Ontario Ministry of Transpiration he “made a number of false statements about the province.
“Facts Still Matter in Ontario”, said the Ministry spokesperson, “especially when it comes to the historic amount of transportation infrastructure being built right now across the province.”
Brown said: “We want to make sure that historic infrastructure $130 billion is actually spent on infrastructure not spent simply on, on promises, on press releases”
Fact: Cost of the new GO station in Richmond Hill: $22 million, cost of the press release announcing it was open: $0, cost of catching Patrick Brown making up facts: priceless
Brown said: “We have become the capital of red tape in North America”
Fact: The CFIB nominated has nominated the Ontario government for its golden scissors award for cutting red tape 3 years in a row. This year the government received two nominations.
Brown said: “Projects need to start within mandate… It’s an insincere commitment promising something for 2019 or 2031”
Fact: Meaningful projects take longer than 4 years to build. If Patrick Brown won’t build anything that takes longer than 4 years that means he wouldn’t build any new subways or LRT’s.
Brown said: “The biggest announcement was for Hydro One, government said we’d get money for infrastructure. Of the first $4 billion sold, 0 went into infrastructure, money has been diverted to general revenue”
Fact: All of this money went into the Trillium Trust to be spent on projects like like GO Regional Express Rail, Mississauga and Hamilton LRT’s and the recently announced natural gas expansion.
Brown said: “I believe we’ve seen lip service to infrastructure over the last 10 years but we’re not seeing shovels in the ground”
Waterloo LRT under construction
Eglington LRT in Toronto
Fact: Here are some pictures of shovels in the ground
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne
Do you get the impression that the political parties are moving to an election footing. Premier Wynne just might call a snap election if she can find an issue to run with.
At 6:00 pm this evening this is what it looked like.
A two-vehicle accident on the QEW earlier this afternoon shut down all the westbound lanes – traffic was funneled to the Guelph Line exit.
A collision between a cube van and a Toyota passenger resulted in the female driver of Toyota, being trapped. The OPP said it took some time for the woman to be extricated.
Paper is given life through the works presented in the two Art Gallery of Burlington shows: A Safe Haven: Raphael Vella and Visual Poetry: Contemporary Woodcuts.
As a time honoured medium for artists, paper allows for the expression of thoughts, observations, reflections and statements. Artists Raphael Vella (Malta), Tom Hammick (United Kingdom), Donna Ibing (Burlington, ON) and Naoko Matsubara (Oakville, ON) use this medium to explore a variety of subject matter from contemporary politics to everyday life.
A Safe Haven: Raphael Vella combines his two series of drawings, For the Welfare of All Children alongside ten works from No Place Like HOMeS. For Vella, the role of the artist is not to create an object, but to engage people by sparking discussions and questions. In For the Welfare of All Children, Vella questions society’s supervision of children and the imposed social structures to protect them. For the series No Place Like HOMeS, Vella combines iconic buildings with the ravages of the Syrian War, bringing to the fore the power of war over peace and destruction over construction, while questioning the act of reclaiming such sites.
Visual Poetry: Contemporary Woodcuts looks at the work of Tom Hammick (United Kingdom), Donna Ibing (Burlington, ON) and Naoko Matsubara (Oakville, ON). Each artist works in a different style, though all execute their work on a grand scale producing multiple layers of meaning, creating unique and thought provoking work.
Raphael Vella
Raphael Vella is an artist, educator and curator based in Malta. He obtained a PhD in Fine Arts at the University of the Arts London in 2006, and is currently Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta. He has exhibited his works in important international exhibitions and venues, including the Venice Biennale, Domaine Pommery (Reims, France), Modern Art Oxford in the UK and the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland. For many years, he has also been active as a curator, having directed the Valletta International Visual Art festival (VIVA) in 2014 and 2015, and is currently co-curating the Malta Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of 2017. He has also directed the project ‘Divergent Thinkers’ for emerging artists in Malta since 2011.
Tom Hammick
Tom Hammick is a British artist based in East Sussex and London. He is a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, Painting and Printmaking at the University of Brighton, and a Visiting Lecturer of Fine Art at University of Ulster, and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD University). He has work in many major public and corporate collections including the British Museum (Collection of Prints and Drawings), Victoria and Albert Museum, Bibliotheque Nationale de France (Collection of Prints and Drawings), Deutsche Bank, Yale Centre for British Art, and The Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Donna Ibing
Donna Ibing of Burlington is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art, and is considered one of Ontario’s leading artists in painting and printmaking. Her work has been shown in major cities across Canada including Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. Ibing’s work can be found in collections across Ontario including the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Kitchener/Waterloo Gallery and the Toronto Public Library and Archives.
Naoko Matsubara
Naoko Matsubara graduated from the Kyoto Academy of Fine Arts, and was a Fullbright scholar at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh where she received her MFA. Subsequently she studied at the Royal College of Art in London. In 1981 she became a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and in 2009 she received an honourary doctorate of Fine Art from Chatham University in Pittsburgh. She continues to create single-sheet woodcuts, paintings and murals from her Oakville studio. Matsubara’s work can be found in private and public collections around the world including the British Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Cincinnati Art Museum; The White House; the National Museums of Modern Art, Tokyo and Kyoto; Staatliche Museum zu Berlin, Germany; Royal Ontario Museum; and Yale University Art Gallery.
The exhibition runs from February 10 to April 2, 2017 Art Gallery of Burlington in the Lee-Chin Family Gallery.
There is a public reception Thursday February 9, 5pm-7pm
Next to the weather and the amount of traffic on the QEW the upload and down load speds of your internet connection could well be the most WORDS
The map set out below is something you can access and see just what the upload and down load speeds are for where you live.
Dark blue has the best speeds. On balance the quality of service looks kind of patchy – not exactly a selling point for the city.
Odd that a part of the city the map labels as Freeman has the highest speeds – surprising is the speed available in the rural part of the city.
The city and the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) are working in partnership to test Internet performance test for the city.
You can test your Internet connection by visiting
https://performance.cira.ca/Burlington.
The test takes just a few seconds. So far 1833 tests have been run.
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) manages the .CA top-level domain on behalf of all Canadians. CIRA also develops technologies and services that help support its goal of building a better online Canada. The CIRA team operates one of the fastest-growing ccTLDs, a high-performance global DNS network, and one of the world’s most advanced back-end registry solutions.
It was late in the day, slightly overcast and cold. Nevertheless there were two boys and their Dad on the ice; the boys practicing their shot on the empty net.
The only thing missing from this picture is a goalie in the net. The rink was put up in the Alton community.
The rink was set up by residents in the community; there has been tremendous local business support but not enough “labour” support. The few people who take care of the rink spend a lot of nights out there.
It’s a decent 50 x 64 size rink that has suffered some damage to the liner. Folks have been waiting for it to get repaired.
There are no lights the community decided lights would mean kid on the ice late into the evening that might result in a lot of noise.
That one went where it was supposed to go. A goalie would have made it a lot harder.
The Alton rink is a pure community effort – the city created a local rink program that called for residents to look after a rink that the city would set up.
The following communities qualified for a rink because there was water access.
There are now 14 community rinks throughout the city – which is higher than last year.
It’s a program that works – and with decent weather the water actually gets to freeze. There was a point at which some people thought they were going to end up with splash pads.
Ken White and Mike Collins are spending a lot of their time on that rink -and they aren’t skating.
They rented a pump and draw in water from the creek.
“The task has been frustrating since the children have caused some inadvertent holes in the liner allowing water to leak out before it gets fully filled.”
Among the communities that qualified for a community rink are:
• Brant Hills Park (2 rinks possible)
• LaSalle Park
• Sherwood Park
• Bridgeview Park
• Nelson Park
• Tansley Woods Park
• Central Park
• Orchard Park
• Ireland Park
• Sheldon Park
Those who remember the December 2013 Ice Storm, will have a lot of sympathy for those people in New Brunswick who have been without power for 11 days.
Glenn Thibeault listen to Gerry Smallegange as he explains where a new hydro cable had to be put in place in north Burlington during th 2013 ice storm
Burlington Hydro learned a lot from that 2013 experience and determined that they would be handling this differently when the next storm hits – and they are convinced that there will be another storm – sometime.
A new Outage Management System, complete with a real-time outage map for customers, to upgraded phone systems, website enhancements and a new mobile application were brought forward with the intention of improving Burlington Hydro’s power outage communications..
The upgrades to the Operations room at Burlington Hydro make more information available in real time – which gets passed along to the customer base.
Launched in 2014, Burlington Hydro’s Management System (OMS) includes a web-based Outage Map that provides current information about power interruptions so that customers can access information on power outages in real time. In addition to a comprehensive map of the outage area, the web-based tool allows customers to access the cause of the outage if known, and the estimated time that power will be restored.
The OMS allows customer service and call centre representatives to link customer outage reports directly to the utility’s Control Centre. As each incident is updated, service representatives are able to provide the customer with updates and relevant information about the power outage.
These improvements complement the recently announced upgrades to the company’s customer call-in capabilities. The ability to handle a greater number of customer calls at one time – 24/7 – is another way that Burlington Hydro has improved its customer service competencies in 2014.
“We partnered with our mapping vendor to develop the customer Outage Management System which we call LiveOps. The new system aggregates data and produces a comprehensive central information repository of current system outages. Cutting-edge technology integrates smart metering and Geographic Information System (GIS) map platforms, and enhances Burlington Hydro’s Control Room Operators’ ability to manage, quickly deploy crews, and track power outages.
Gerry Smallegange, President and CEO, Burlington Hydro
Gerry Smallegange, President and CEO, Burlington Hydro Inc., remembers how tough things were in December of 2013 – he wasn’t going to go through that experience again. He wants it to be “as convenient as possible for customers to stay informed during power interruptions and extreme weather events.”
Christmas of 2013 for Smallegange was spent in the field trying to get a grip on the scope and scale of the damage.
Last night, Eleanor McMahon, MPP for Burlington and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, presented the Burlington Public Library with the Angus Mowat Award of Excellence at the Ontario Public Library Service Awards in Toronto, Ontario.
The Ontario Public Library Service Awards identify and promote creative public library service ideas. There are two types of awards: The Minister’s Award for Innovation and the Angus Mowat Award of Excellence, which recognizes a commitment to excellence in the delivery of public library services.
(L-R) Burlington Public Library staff members Amanda Wilk, Shelley Archibald, Minister McMahon, and BPL CEO Maureen Barry at the Ontario Public Library Service Awards.
Angus Mowat was a Canadian librarian who initiated and contributed to the continuing improvement of the library systems in Saskatoon and Ontario, from the 1920s through to the 1960s.
He was the Inspector of Public Libraries for the province of Ontario and remained head of the provincial library office – a part of the Ministry of Education – until his retirement in 1960.
Throughout his career he encouraged better quality collections for adults and children, professional staffing and library training, the necessity for improved finances, more efficient management by trustees and librarians, and upgraded or new buildings. He believed strongly that the ‘personal touch’ was essential for library service and that local effort, supplemented by provincial assistance, was the key ingredient in advancing local library development.
One wonders if he ever said hush in his life.
The Burlington Public Library received the Angus Mowat Award in recognition of the library’s community led youth service model, which provides empowering leadership and growth opportunities for teens.
“Libraries, librarians and the staff who run them”, said Minister McMahon, “are at the heart of our communities. I’m proud of the work that these incredible institutions do for everyone across the province, and I’m particularly proud that the Burlington Public Library’s achievements were recognized last night at the Ontario Public Library Service Awards.”
Burlington’s MPP brought one home to a library system that deserved this award
Crime Stoppers is said to be the second best tool the police have for catching criminals – the first is the user of finger prints.
It takes time to solve a crime – which is not always something the police have.
Crime stoppers brings old crimes to the public’s attention – more often than most people realize, someone reads the document and remembers something – they call Crime Stoppers and the crime get solved.
Each month the Halton unit of Crime Stoppers reminds the public of a crime that has yet to be solved. Here is the most recent crime they are bringing to the attention of the people of Burlington:
On June 24th 2016 at approximately 1:06 PM, an unknown male suspected forced entry through the front door of a residence on Woodview Road in Burlington. The suspect rummaged through several rooms of the home before being confronted by a resident of the home who had been in the basement at the time of the entry.
Upon seeing the resident, the suspect fled out a read sliding patio door and made good his escape with several stolen items which include a black “Gucci” duffle bag with clothing a watch and a ring.
The suspect was described as: male, black, 19-20 years of age, slim build, approximately 6’0, short black nappy hair, wearing a two toned powder blue track suit and a powder blue baseball cap
Anyone with information on this or any other crime can leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or by texting “TIP201” with your message to CRIMES (274637), or by submitting a tip online at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca
Yep- you couldn’t make this stuff up could you? Apparently the City of Burlington cannot function without the aid of consultants – refer to the 2017 budget request by City Manager James Ridge for a $550,000.00 ” just in case piggy bank” – approved – Cha-ching! (View on page 27 pf 2017 Proposed Operating Budget if anyone is interested)
So if it is inevitable that we are to have consultants lecturing Burlingtonians on how to live and what kind of city they are going to get for their tax dollars, as in so many other past situations, I would personally feel comfortable if it wasn’t all so “cosy”.
City manager James Ridge is a Toderian fan.
As previously reported (Inside Halton Feb 10th 2016) “It was city manager James Ridge who called in his former Vancouver colleague to advise Burlington on intensification and review of its official plan.” Cha-Ching!
OK – so James Ridge in his position as City Manager for COB calls in his ex-colleague Brent Toderian who was fired from his position (without cause) as Director of Planning, City of Vancouver in 2012 after almost 6 years.
Brent Toderian who was fired from his position as Director of Planning, City of Vancouver. Consults for Burlington.
I think it’s only natural to want check this guy out – after all consultants charge LARGE! A quick internet search brought up the following article published in the Vancouver Sun 31 January 2016 by Jeff Lee (the link to the article in below for anyone who would like to read it)
This particular article provided a bit of background as seen from a local (Vancouver) point of view. It would appear that the impetus for the firing may have been the fractious relationship that existed between then City Manager Penny Ballam and Brent Toderian – well let’s be honest – there’s no “may have” about it is there ? Consider the following after Hallam herself was ousted from her position as City Manager in 2015.
15 September 2015 – CBC News Vancouver (direct quote)
“When news of Ballem’s departure broke, former Vancouver city planner Brent Toderian, who was let go at the recommendation of Ballem in 2012, issued a tweet simply saying “What goes around, comes around.”
What goes around, comes around. #Vancouver #VanPoli
— @BrentToderian
Speaking to the CBC later, Toderian, who is now a city planning consultant for cities around the world (Cha-ching!), reflected that Ballem’s departure represented an opportunity to change the culture at city hall.
“It really is almost the entire city-making function that is about to be refreshed. That is both challenging and an incredible opportunity. “The morale at city hall has not been the best in recent years, so I think this is a chance to get back to Vancouver city hall being an international model.”
Mmmmm -classy guy – trash your old boss – reveals quite a lot. Type A personality????
So how did we end up in this situation? Like Mayor Goldring I seem to have lost the plot. REVIEW TIME !!!!!
23 March 2015 -James Ridge takes up his position as City Manager (as per COB web site)
11 February 2016 Consultant Brent Toderian arrives at the invitation of ex-collegaue James Ridge to advise Burlington on intensification and review of its official plan -Cha-Ching!
Planning Director Mary Lou Tanner had worked with Brent Toderian before he was invited to Burlington.
21 September 2016 (as reported Inside Halton) Mary Lou Tanner, Burlington’s chief planner and director of building announces that at a cost of $20,000, Consultants BrookMcIllroy -Cha-Ching! have produced the 28 page Tall Buildings Guidelines – she described it as “a living document” that will evolve as staff has more experience implanting it. What does that even mean?
14 November 2016 Consultant Brent Toderian, invited back again to lecture, apparently by the Mayor, but this time with Consultant Jarret Walker (Jarrett Walker and Associates) -Cha-Ching!
8 December The Financial Overview of the 2017 Proposed Operating Budget is presented to The Community and Corporate Services Committee. James Ridge makes a pitch for $550,000.00 in 2017 budget -Cha-Ching!
23 January 2017 (After review and approval by The Community and Corporate Services Committee 16th and 19th January 2017) Council approves the 2017 Operating Budget. Signed, sealed and delivered! Cha-Ching!
25th January 2017 it’s reported that Developer Carriage Gate Homes has dropped the BIG planning application on the planning department’s collective overflowing desk-if approved massive Cha-ching!
Marianne Meed Ward reports it in her news letter as if it was a shock and a big surprise and arranges a public meeting. Sadly though, as correctly reported in this publication, it appears to conform to the Tall Buildings Guidelines – can you say OMB -Cha-Ching!
So after a long journey in response to your very pertinent question posed in the title of your article – “do we need consultants?” As we have seen so many times in the past COB seems totally unable to function without them I suppose the answer must be yes.
Mayor invited Brent Toderian to speak at one of his Inspire lectures
Is Brent Toderian, for example, the right choice for Burlington? I personally find it difficult to imagine a less suitable fit. He appears to have no time for consensus building; according to him you spend your energy convincing the convincible – so does that mean you ignore the yet to be convinced? Absolutely! He never ever wants to hear the words “stable neighbourhood” because in his world they do not exist; his advice is to take those words right out of the conversation.
Unsurprisingly taxpayers are viewed as nothing more than cash cows who then become an annoyance when they dare to try to get in way of “planning” As per the Brent Toderian’s of this world,rip that band-aid off quickly.
Ouch! – lookout residents!
Gwen Lock is a Burlington resident with strong views on how the city uses consultants. She believes choosing Brent Toderian to advise was a mistake.
Amidst the commotion outside the House of Commons doors, I couldn’t help but hear one MP say to another
“What’s going on here?” I think many Canadians are asking that very question as they hear the news that the Liberal Government is going to abandon its plans to reform our electoral system.
In a mandate letter to newly minted Minister of Democratic Institutions and Burlington MP Karina Gould, Prime Minister Trudeau was clear that this once touted election promise was not to be pursued.
“Changing the electoral system will not be in your mandate” it read.
As opposition MPs lined up in droves to criticize the move, I began to realize what all this would likely mean. Electoral reform, the dull policy area turned Cinderella story, was fast losing its footing.
President of FairVote Canada Dr. Real Lavergne.
To get a better sense for the situation and the road ahead for electoral reform, I decided to talk to electoral reform advocate and President of FairVote Canada Dr. Real Lavergne.
I opened with the only question I could think of: “Is it over?”
Without hesitation I got the response I had been expecting: “It’s looking over.”
As we talked, it was clear that Dr. Lavergne was disappointed by the Government’s actions.
“I think the NDP bent over backwards and so did Elizabeth May to [bring about] electoral reform… [We all were] looking for a solution that would give us a better system for Canada and this government was simply unable, unwilling, to deliver on its promise. “
Dr. Lavergne’s frustration was no doubt rooted in the all for naught work that had been dedicated to this cause.
For years FairVote Canada and many other actors have been advocating for the country to adopt a proportionally representative electoral system. Trudeau’s election victory had marked the potential turning point, as electoral reform had been outlined by the Liberals as a promise.
Since the electoral reform committee’s first meeting over the summer, politicians, advocates, academics, and ordinary Canadians spent an extensive amount of time and energy to bring about reform. However, despite their best efforts, it seems the government refused to listen.
“[FairVote Canada] wrote a letter to Minister Gould about 10 days ago…. What we were saying was: “look, if you want to reduce the disruption for sitting MPs, there are ways to do that while still bringing in Proportional Representation, here they are… We also said you could have ranked ballot… within the context of a proportional system. If it is within the context of a proportional system and what you are doing is giving voters the opportunity to express themselves in more detail, that’s great! That’s democratic.””
It was clear from what Dr. Lavergne’s was saying that the conditions existed for multiple parties to find consensus. However, despite these efforts, the government was simply not prepared to compromise.
While this announcement certainly marks a setback for electoral reform, Lavergne was confident that the extensive work of the various actors had been worthwhile.
“I don’t know how many people voted for them strategically in 2015 but I can’t imagine any of those people doing so again… I think it will cost them.” Real Lavergne.
“I think awareness for this issue in Canada is at an all-time high….As time goes on, people have been becoming more and more aware of the need for electoral reform. “
He also suggested that the fight to implement electoral reform was far from over.
“Every time there is an election now, people are outraged…. [They] are starting to understand this doesn’t make any sense, this is not democratic. As more and more people understand that, we’re going to have more situations where there is a possibility [for electoral reform] and people will keep fighting for it…This is unstoppable.”
On conclusion, Dr. Lavergne suggested that this could come back to bite the Liberals.
“I think they are going to pay quite a severe price for this. I don’t know how many people voted for them strategically in 2015 but I can’t imagine any of those people doing so again… I think it will cost them.”
As this chapter in our political history comes to a close, electoral reform seems to be lying dead on the operating table. However, maybe the fruition of reforming Canada’s electoral system to be more proportional is an inevitability that just hasn’t been realized yet. Perhaps, as Dr. Lavergne put it:
“The Liberals lost the opportunity to be on the right side of history.”
Jay Fallis writes on politics for several newspapers in Canada.
Sometime later this year the Director of Education will present the Halton District School Board trustees with a report on what he believes should be done to solve the problem he has with more than 1800 empty high school seats in Burlington.
The four Burlington trustees are glued to this issue.
Director of Education Stuart Miller is going to have to write a major report on school closings sometime in May.
Each will read over the Director’s recommendation and consider the views of those who chose to communicate with them.
When the four Burlington trustees decided to run for office and serve on the school board they entered public office with a set of values they would use to guide them in their deliberations.
The Gazette wanted to know what the driving force was for each trustee.
Was it a desire to serve the public? Was there a burning desire to resolve a school related problem in their community?
Maybe they just wanted to get out of the house a couple of nights each month.
The Gazette set out some of the possible driving forces and asked each trustee to rank them from their perspective and the importance they give to each when they make a decision on accepting or not accepting the Director’s recommendation.
We asked:
Is the driving force for you:
The financial impact of closing or not closing a high school in Burlington?
or is it
The impact the closing of a high school will have on the quality of the academic offering the closing of a high school will have on students in the communities that will be impacted?
or is it
The impact the closing of a high school will have on the community it is located in. Where does community rank in your view?
We asked: Do you feel schools are a vital part of a community and that every community should have a school in its neighbourhood?
In ranking the possible driving force for each trustee we asked:
Financial – academic – community. Label them 1, 2 or 3.
There are going to be some long hard board of trustee meetings in April and May.
We added that a trustee may feel there were other choices and invited them to add those choices but to first rank the three we set out or them.
We then invited each trustee to write whatever you wanted to expand on your choices and the views they had to support their choice.
We suggested 350 words on each choice is reasonable but write longer if they wished.
Leah Reynolds – trustee for the ward Central high school is located in.
We asked the trustees to respond within ten days but added that – if you feel you need additional time – be in touch and we will work with you to give you the time you need.
In our request we made some comments saying that “The closing of two high schools is a very significant event – it is a decision you are going to have to make based on the information you are given.
“We would like to report on the philosophy and vision for education that you bring to the responsibility you have as a school board trustee.”
We thought the request was a reasonable one.
Andrea Grebenc: “I’ll get back to you” – she didn’t.
Tracey Ehl Harrison: A polite note – but no answers.
The trustees didn’t see it that way. Two of the 11 trustees sent a note saying they would get back to us; they didn’t.
One trustee, Leah Reynolds, sent a very long response which we will publish as a separate article.
The Chair of the Board of trustees stunned us with her response which was:
The Program and Accommodation Committee (PARC) have not started their work and trustees are reluctant to comment on anything that might either impact or impede the work of the PAR committee.
We (the Board of Trustees) are ultimately the decision makers and are aware of the importance of letting the process proceed as outlined in the policy. Trustees must maintain our objectivity, without influencing or appearing to influence the PARC process.
School board chair Kelly Amos – decides to speak for all the trustees.
The Gazette felt this was a critical time and that the public deserved to know where these women come from in their thinking.
Tom Muir, an Aldershot resident who comments frequently in the Gazaette said: “This is their job, and if they don’t want to do this for their own “political” motives then they have lost their way, and are not representing us. Commenting is not the same as trying to affect the vote
We will put these questions to the trustees again once the Director has sent them his report.
Having the views now would give the public an opportunity to lobby the trustees who are there to listen to the views of the people they represent.
These people cannot hide – they have an important job to do.
The #1 reason your customers walk out the door, never to return is simply this: they feel unappreciated.
Business is personal
A stunning 68% of the people who once walked into your place of business stop doing business with you because they feel you don’t care! That’s almost 3 out of 4 clients who take business personally.
The data proves it:
9% leave because of price issues 14% leave because of quality issues 5% leave because they change their purchasing habits 4% of your customers leave because they simply move away 68% stop doing business with you simply because they feel unappreciated!
You don’t lose the majority of your customers due to high prices, or poor quality. You lose 68% of your customers simply because you don’t pay enough attention to them!
What Can You Do About It?
The absolute easiest and most ‘hands-off’ way for you to pay attention to them and boost your bottom line each and every month – a simple tactic that only a handful of smart business people use – is this:
Step 1: Contact your customers on a monthly basis.
Step 2: And there’s no better way to stay connected to your customers and clients than a monthly newsletter!
Not exactly rocket science – but it’s true. The simple reason this works so well is because your customers or clients have already spent money with you (they trust you.) And they’ll spend more money with you if you let them, and if you give them a reason to do so. You can’t simply sit back and hope that people will remember your business next time they need your product or service.
I’m sure you’ve heard the same thing over and over again from every marketing expert. I bet you’ve even considered publishing a newsletter (you may even already do so), but if you’re like most business owners, you just can’t find the time to ever get one published, or get one published regularly … and it’s most likely the writing that ‘gets in the way.’
No doubt about it, coming up with interesting articles and content is hard work, and unless you have lots of extra time on your hands, it’s easy to keep putting off publishing a newsletter until “tomorrow”.
But of course, we all know “tomorrow” never comes
Yes, that’s the big problem: Who has time to write a monthly newsletter — how do you make a newsletter fun, enjoyable and useful for people to read without making it a full-time job?
A number os smart people who know how important it is to communicate with thier customer outsource the creating of a newsletter to a professional writer.
You get your time back – priceless!
You stop worrying your newsletter won’t be published on time
You can focus on running your business
You will reduce (or stop) customer loss
And by default … MAKE MORE SALES/MONEY
It’s win-win all around.
Of course it helps to know a trusted source that can help you with this project. It’s not something you can just throw together. You need to consider the format, the content balance, the tone, the style, and the images.
James Burchill has been the associate publisher for two of Canada’s leading aftermarket auto magazines, written over a million words for clients. He has published three business books reached best-seller status online. He currently operates the Social Fusion Network that brings business people together in a friendly social setting. He also produces two trade shows for the local small business market.
The Minister of Energy, Glenn Thibeault, came to town to look over the operations at Burlington Hydro. He closeted himself with the hydro board of director for a chat and then came out to tour the property and see what Burlington is going about the way energy is used and distributed.
Energy Minister Glen Thibeault touring the Burlington Hydro facility with Colin Saunders, Director, Safety, Health and Facilities..
Thibeault, was at one point MP for the federal New Democratic Party. He was coaxed by the Liberals into running for them. He quit his job and his party to carry the Liberal banner in Sudbury for February, 2015 by-election.
There was a bit of a scandal that involved the Premiers deputy Chief of Staff Patricia Sorbara who was expected to run the 2018 campaign and is now facing criminal charges for offering Thibeault a bribe. That case has yet to go to trial
Thibeault was a Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change from 2015 to 2016. On June 13, 2016, Thibeault replaced Bob Chiarelli as Minister of Energy in a Liberal cabinet shuffle.
Thibeault is now touring the province to get a close up look at how energy is distributed in the province.
Burlington Hydro operations centre
He got to see the co-location set up hydro has, a unit that looks a little like a box car that uses natural gas to heat and air condition the hydro office on Brant Street.
Time was spent showing off the two BMW electric powered cars Burlington Hydro leased to loan to people so they can gather data on how people would use this type of vehicle.
The cars were loaned to members of city council for a week each – they got a sense as to what it is like to drive electric.
Large large interactive screen that can show live pictures of parts of the distribution system – this image is of the full distribution network.
Provincial MP and cabinet minister Eleanor McMahon got in behind the wheel – they didn’t’ let her put it in gear – might she get to use one of the things for a period of time? Smart move – she won’t run out of gas with an all-electric.
The Minister of Energy was shown the electric charging stations that Burlington Hydro bought as part of their pilot project to learn more about what the demands on the hydro distribution are going to be when electric vehicles become the prime mode of transportation for many people.
Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault with Hydro president Gerry Smallegange looking at the map that shows the part of the distribution system that hydro had to replace during the 2013 ice storm. Replacement cable had to be hauled by hand up a steep slope with snow up to the knees of the line men.
Media also got a close up look at the Operations Centre – the room where all the parts come together – where everything is monitored and controlled.
In one corner of the room is a large screen (all the screens were large) with the Weather Chanel – weather determines to a very large degree the demands that are made on hydro.
In another part of the Operations Centre there was a screen the size of a large living room wall that sets out the distribution network. It is a partially interactive screen that can shift to Google earth and get a close look at some of the hydro towers.
Bfast – Burlington for Accessible affordable Transit, published a piece on what a consultant said to city council.
They, Bfast, seem to be suggesting that consultants don’t always get it right,
Brent Toderian
On February 11th, noted Urbanist and Twitter phenom Brent Toderian was invited to come to Burlington to speak with City Council and Staff, as well as to present to the public as part of Mayor Goldring’s “Inspire Burlington” series.
Here are some things we picked up on from Brent’s presentation to Council:
Brent Toderian’s first point was that we need to change our thinking from being a suburb to being urban. We need to look at three dimensional streets rather than one dimensional roads. He noted that a suburb with more density will result in gridlock and congestion. In order to make this transition, and to position us for success our government needs to treat the Official Plan review as a rethink, not a tweak. Part of this is being willing to fail before we succeed.
Mobility: Brent stressed the need to prioritize transit, walking, and cycling over cars. We now have a very car-centred system meaning that we have to go well beyond the so-called balanced approach to moving budget dollars from cars to transit, walking and cycling. The car as the primary means of getting around has had a 40-50 year head start, so just seeking balance now won’t get us there. He also stressed that in urban places, balance isn’t good enough.
Transit: Brent noted that western Canada’s largest condo developer has said that the key factor in real estate development has changed from “location, location, location” to “transit, transit, transit”. Brent called improving transit “our strongest opportunity” as a city.
Strategic Plan and Budget: Brent noted that the City’s Strategic Plan was good – but the budget was not. He stated “the truth of a city’s aspirations is not in its plan, but in its budget”.
Making the transition -“pull the bandaid off quick” Brent was very critical of the slow approach re bike lanes. He said this approach maximized the controversy. Instead, he recommended rapid completion of a viable network that would work immediately. He also said that separation was needed on arterials – but not on other streets. Although he cited cycling in this approach, it would also apply to transit.
Prioritize the incentive for taking transit: Brent said that drivers need to see a benefit to take transit for example, bus only lanes that allow buses to move faster than cars.
Parking: Brent emphatically said “get out of Park’n Ride” (will Metrolinx listen?). He suggested that the City constrain the supply of parking.
Intensification: Brent discussed how building density right is a challenge because it can result in “the sweet spot of failure”; intensification on too low a scale will create traffic congestion but not enough density to support efficient transit. We need to have an honest conversation about the real cost and consequences to growing the right and wrong ways, with respect to climate change and public health. The starting point of “I don’t want the city to change…” is common, but ‘stable neighbourhoods’ are a lie. All cities are changing in ways beyond the control of local government, so take the word ‘stable’ out of your vocabulary. Cities should reject the idea that there is an optimal number for growth (how big should we get) and worry about quality instead of quantity.
Doing the wrong thing better: Painted bike lanes were one example of this; need to make sure we don’t mistake for doing the right thing.
Public Engagement: Your goal should be to convince the convinceable; as leaders you need to change the conversation. Just because we don’t have consensus doesn’t mean we can’t have an intelligent conversation.
Burlington Transit: It was upsetting to hear that Brent Toderian did not get to meet with anyone from Burlington Transit.
As I read through the piece I found myself asking – is this how we decide what kind of a city we want and how we build it? Do we have to bring in consultants who have never lived here, never walked the streets, never attended an event?
Toderian told city council that they need to get rid of rural names – hang on – Walkers Line, Guelph Line and Appleby Line are part of the history and a part of the feel for the city. They remind of us our rural roots.
They no next to nothing about how rich our agricultural background is.
These consultants want to come into town for short periods of time, get very well paid for their time, spout all the most recent flavour of the month in urban design and move on to the next consulting assignment.
City manager James Ridge – an old friend of Toderian who he had worked with during his time in Vancouver. Toderian got turfed by a th Vancouver city council.
Both city manager James Ridge and Director of Planning Mary Lou Tanner, both relatively new to Burlington, knew of Toderian and his work – they thought the guy was great before he had spoken as much as a paragraph. It was almost like he was a member of the club coming back into the circle.
It’s the citizens that decide what kind of a community they want. Consultants have a place and their opinions are important but the people who grew up in the city and want to see it evolve and be something they at least recognize when they are taking their grandchildren to events.
There is nothing wrong with progress and growth – it just has to take place at a pace that works for the people who live here. Why else do we have a community?
They don’t get to make a decision – they are asked to advise, the decision lies with Board of Trustees
The (PARC) Program Accommodation Review Committee is to act as the official conduit for information shared between Trustees and school communities
They are expected to provide feedback on the option considered in Director’s Preliminary Report They can seek clarification on Director’s Preliminary Report and provide new accommodation options and supporting rationale.
The members of the PARC getting introduced to the rules they are going to work within.
The end result is a big one for Burlington and people in the communities that will experience the change. Both Central and Pearson high schools believe they have strong arguments for being kept open – both arguments seem to rest on the way the board has changed boundaries.
The committee that is going to produce a report is made up of representatives from the seven high schools as well as advisors. They are expected to stick to a framework that has been given to them. Will they do that?
Criteria the PARC is expected to adhere to.
Set out below are the names of the representatives for each school as well as the email address you can reach them at – a single email address gets your comments to both representatives for a school;
Parents who want to ensure that the school in their neighborhood is not closed.
Aldershot HS: Email: aldershotparc@hdsb.ca Steve Cussons and Eric Szyiko
Burlington Central HS: Email: centralparc@hdsb.ca Ian Farwell and Marianne Meed Ward
Dr. Frank J. Hayden SS: Email: dfhaydenparc@hdsb.ca Matthew Hall and Tricia Hammill
Lester B. Pearson HS: Email: lbpearsonparc@hdsb.ca Steve Armstrong and Cheryl De Lugt
M.M. Robinson HS: Email: mmrobinsonparc@hdsb.ca Marie Madenzides and Dianna Bower
Nelson HS: Email: nelsonparc@hdsb.ca Kate Nazar and Rebecca Collier
School parent association representatives worked at a different table for part of the meeting.
Robert Bateman HS” Email: rbatemanparc@hdsb.ca Lisa Bull and Sharon Picken
They meet for their next meeting as a group on Thursday evening.
It is too early to tell if the report they come out with will be a unanimous document or if some people will want to issue a minority report.
The Tottering Biped Theatre and Pat the Dog Theatre Creation are bringing a different production to the stage of the Performing arts Centre. It is a love story about climate change.
Trevor Copp is directing ‘Receiver of Wreck’.
A shoe salesman chops off his foot with an axe. An esthetician has hers amputated by an outboard motor. At opposite ends of the same country, staring out at two different oceans, two people each lose something on the same day and are sent crashing together toward the dark heart of Canada.
Three day, four performance run starting February 9th.
Inspired by the Salish Sea human foot discoveries, Receiver of Wreck is a grotesque comedy about human waste and the mystic potential of change, produced by Tottering Biped Theatre and Pat the Dog Playwright Creation.
The production takes to the stage for a three day, four performance run under circumstances at the Performing Arts Centre that are somewhat strained.
There is a program for local professional companies and the Tottering Biped Theatre is theoretically one of the resident companies right now. But it’s under threat, once again, by the changing of administrations.
Brian McCurdy, the current Executive Director, filling the gap because the theatre board asked abruptly asked Suzanne Haines to empty her desk and turn in her keys, has been a strong advocate for local performance groups, but the future, according to people who work closely with the Performing Arts Centre, is unclear as to when another candidate will take over and who knows what their stance will be on local companies.
“The frequent changing of Executive Directors has been very difficult for us. We are now in the process of trying to secure a clear, long term relationship with BPAC” is the way the situation was explained to the Gazette.
Brian McCurdy has done a very good job of running the Performing Arts Centre – then he took retirement only to be brought back in to hold the fort while a replacement for Suzanne Haines, far right, was found. Brenda Heatherington, second from the left, was the first Executive Director who did a good job on the artistic side. The Board apparently expected her to handle the financial side as well. Ilene Elkaim, far left, is the current Chair of the theatre board.
Getting the kind of leadership needed has been an ongoing challenge. Brian McCurdy does a sterling job and is appreciated by all those who work with him. But McCurdy apparently wants to move into the at least semi-retirement phase of his life.
There hasn’t been a word from the Centre – the most recent media item on their website is dated September of 2016.
Not a healthy situation.
Almost everything Trevor Copp does on a stage is worth seeing.
Administratively, the place may be a bit of a mess – and that is no reflection on Brian McCurdy – the guy is solid gold. It is the people who direct him that are the problem.
A provincial government is showering dollars all over the place. Two sums are being given to organizations in Burlington.
Curling club to get provincial grant to upgrade ice maintenance equipment.
The Curling Club is getting $32,700 they have to spend over an 11 month time frame to maintain the club’s ice surface by purchasing a new ammonia/brine chiller.
The Ontario150 Community Capital Program helps not-for-profit organizations, municipalities and Indigenous communities renovate, repair and retrofit existing community and cultural infrastructure.
In celebration of Ontario’s 150th anniversary, the province has also released a new recording of A Place to Stand (Ontario Song), the province’s unofficial anthem. The 50-year-old song has been refreshed to instill a sense of pride and belonging for all.
The museum organization might take a pas on the provincial grant of $500,000 hoping they will get a federal grant of $5 million.
The Joseph Brant Museum has access to $500,000 to improve the infrastructure and refurbish the Joseph Brant Museum to current AODA/museum standards.
The grant to the museum is bumping up against a federal grant of $5 million the museum hopes comes their way.
It is all taxpayers’ money – you gave it to them to spend and they are certainly doing that.
The community got to get a bit of a sense as to where the Halton District School Board is going with the Program Accommodation Review that is now underway.
The Board recommendation to the trustees is to close two of the seven high schools in the city.
The parents at Central high school oppose this and are providing the board and the public with data to support their argument that there is no need to close Central high school.
Parent representatives from the seven Burlington high schools discussing the high school closing options that were being considered. Some of the words used were less than respectful.
The parents at Lester B. Pearson argue that their school was fine until the Board of Education changed boundaries and had students taken away from Pearson and sent to Hayden which is now at 125% + capacity.
The procedure is a multi-level process. The Board of Education staff see a problem with accommodation levels – a report is given to the trustees,
The trustees decide that there should be a Program Accommodation Review.
A PARC (Program Accommodation Review Committee) is formed and begins to hold their meetings.
The first public meeting of the PARC was held last week.
The PARC will produce a report which they will give to the Director of Education who will then prepare a report to the elected trustees who will make a decision as to whether or not any of the high schools should be closed.
The Gazette has reported extensively on the various meeting. Those news reports can be found elsewhere.
The process of reviewing the available information and going through the mountains of data given to the PARC has begun.
Central high school parent had a front row seat.
For the next several months a group that includes two parents from each high school along with a number of advisors will review, discuss, debate and finally produce a report for the Director of Education on what they feel are his options.
The Director of Education will then give the trustees his final recommendation and they will decide what should be done. They can do whatever they think is in the public interest.
What was taking place last Thursday was a meeting where between 40 and 50 people watched what 30 people were doing on the other side of the room – with no microphones to pick up the sound.
The public got to hear Chair Scott Podrebarac, a Board of Education Superintendent tasked with shepherding the PARC process, outline the procedures. He is supported by Kirk Perris, a senior vice president with Ipsos, a leading public opinion research firm who is serving as a facilitator and data analyst on contract with the Board of Education. Perris has a doctorate.
One could pick up some of the conversation at the tables. It was obvious that the PARC people were heavily engaged in discussion working from 3 inch loose leaf binds containing all kinds of data.
The PARC had the framework they are expected to work from presented to them with some explanation
There were comments on the December 8th public meeting where it became evident that there were competing interests. The data collected indicated parents wanted their children to be able to walk to school; less use of any form of transportation.
Parents wanted more information on the fiscal issues and wanted to hear a lot more about boundaries that are created.
The public wanted to know more about what there was going to be in the way of future public meetings. Kirk Perris admitted that they lost the debate on how the December 8th public meeting went and asked rhetorically what a public meeting would/should look like? The old chestnuts transparent, robust and clearer got tossed into the discussion.
While Director of Education Stuart Miller is not part of the PARC process he did say in his short remarks that the data the public and the PAR Committee have been working from is based on the LTAP – Long Term Accommodation Plans; a document that is revised every year by the Board’s Planning department.
The Board has surveyed anyone that moved. The students were surveyed; the school board staff were surveyed and the parents were surveyed.
As the 30 some odd people settled in to begin their work Miller again commented that the recommendation that was put forward was “the one that fit”: he didn’t say what it was being fitted to.
Hayden high school – opened in 2012 took in students who used to attend Pearson. That reduced the Pearson enrollment to the point where the school was recommended for closure. Meanwhile Hayden is now at close to 120% capacity.
The parents at Pearson high school are saying that if the board gave that school back the students that were transferred to Hayden – a school that is over capacity now and has 12 portables with WiFi that could be a lot better, Pearson would not be at the 65% accommodation level that requires a PAR.
When the PAR process started there were 19 options – there are now 23.
The first task now is to begin eliminating some of those 23 options.
With the introductions and the overview explanations done with – the PAR Committee members were broken into two groups.
One group had the parents who were chosen by the parents group of each high school plus Milton school board trustee Donna Danielli who served as an advisor.
The other table had the people chosen by the Board of Education from people who had “expressed an interest” in serving on the PARC. The Board asked people who wanted to serve to apply and the board vetted that group. They were looking for balance in age, gender, diversity and geography.
PARC chair Scott Podrebararc, on the left with city manager James Ridge who is representing the city.
City manager James Ridge was put in with the Expression of Interest group. He didn’t appear to be saying all that much. What isn’t clear to many is what does Ridge have as a mandate? Is he there to serve as an information resource? Has he been given a clear mandate from city council? All we know is that the Mayor thought he would be a great choice to represent the city. Nothing was heard at a city council meeting on what he supposed to do – other than “represent” the city which was invited to be at the table.
The seven representatives from the high school parent groups and the seven representatives from the Expression of Interest groups are the people who will decide what the report that goes to the Director of Education will contain.
Scott Podrebarac who chaired the “Expression of Interest” group started by going through the 19 options staff had identified and getting a sense as to what his group felt about each option. While it was very difficult to hear what was being said at the tables Podrebarac seemed to be leading the conversation and working at whittling down the list that kept getting longer.
Principals from each high school were on hand to answer questions; the Manager of Planning Dom Renzelli was prowling from table to table answering questions.
The evening got off to an interesting start when about 50 parents from Pearson high school put on a boisterous demonstration outside the Board offices on Guelph Line where the meetings were taking place.
While very difficult to hear what was being said it was evident that Podrebarac was leading his group while Kirk Perris was letting his group work out where they wanted to go. Hearing a PARC participant say “Oh come on” suggested that the conversation was animated
Podrebarac later said that he and Perris would compare and compile notes and get the agenda ready for the February 2 meeting.
The PARC is scheduled to hold four working meetings.
There will be tours of the high schools set up for February 7th and 8th.
What came out of the first working meeting? Difficult to tell at this stage.
Parents paying close attention to the PARC proceedings last Thursday.
It was a full meeting – but very much in the early stages. The members of the PARC are getting a feel for each other – where each school representative is. Sharon Picken, a parent representing Bateman high school was very direct with her comments which members of the audience found a little offensive.
Picken was overhead saying to former trustee Dianna Bower, who is representing M.M. Robinson, that she, Picken, thought “whoever wrote this isn’t even human”. Picken was commenting on the submission from Central high school parents. The PARC has meeting norms about respectful comments that the Central people want to see put firmly in her place.
Meed Ward who is participating as a parent with a son at Central high school – she also has a daughter at Aldershot high school, was her usual self – asking questions and pressing for answers.
Bateman high school parent and PARC member Sharon Picken.
Three of the four Burlington school board trustees attended. Trustee Richelle Papin was ill. The trustees play no role in this part of the process – all they can do is observe.
What was interesting was that none of the trustees from Milton or Oakville attended – Burlington has four of the 11 votes that will decide what gets done with the high schools in the city. How the other seven trustees vote is critical. Burlington needs to ensure that it has the support of at least two of the other seven trustees.
If the issues becomes one of how does the Board of Education pay to keep high schools that are nowhere near their capacity open – and there are trustees who see fiscal prudence as their primary role – then Burlington might have a problem.
These meetings are going to be drenched in data – keeping on top of it all is going to be a challenge.
By Pepper Parr
Apple did that with their iTunes service – record stores took a huge hit. Newspapers took it between the eyes when Craig’s List and decimated the classified advertising business that kept many newspapers alive.
This is a productivity tool for anyone who uses the same material over and over; marketing people will just love this feature. You create the message and save it – and when you are using LilySpeech you just go to the “Canned Answers” section click on the one you want, it drops into your document and you continue with your dictation.
