 By Staff
November 20th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Complaints about the leaf collection are understandable. However the people who put th schedule together had no idea that the warm weather we have experienced would last quite this long.
As nice as the weather has been – it does play havoc with the plans some departments put in place.
Could we, should we have expected them to have crystal balls that would tell them it is going to be another couple of weeks of unseasonably warm weather?
Just how proactive could they have been?
 Leaves being cleaned up along New Street, The city could have revised the plans and moved everything back a few days – perhaps the contracts they signed didn’t allow for that. Write better contracts.
Global warming is changing everything which means everything has to change.
Set out below is the schedule the city is working to at the moment.
 By Pepper Parr
November 20th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
There is chatter about a larger city council.
It began with a column in the Hamilton Spectator by Joan Little and was followed by a piece written by Brian Heagle. Links to both are below
The significant seven we have now are not that interested in anything bigger. Mayor Goldring has pointed to Portland Oregon which has a seven member council which he thought was great.
 Mayor Goldring’s 2015 Christmas card photograph. Goldring doesn’t manage people all that well; his career path has not included any significant management roles. He prefers small groups of people that are like minded. Much of the thinking the city has seen the Mayor take up has come from a book he read and then invited the author to town for a speech.
There is going to have to be some form of leadership from the current Council and then a citizenship that rallies to that leadership and says it wants a different size Council.
The public is going to have to hear from past members of city council to talk about the deficiencies of a seven member council.
The people on city council now don’t get along all that well but they each have their alliances and know who they can go to for support. There are – it is not fair to call them cliques – but groupings that come together. Councillors Craven and Sharman are frequently joined at the hip and Lancaster will listen to almost everything Sharman whispers in her ear.
 Councillors Sharman and Lancaster: both part of the Shape Burlington committee who seem to have forgotten what the report was all about – civic engagement Taylor is wearying of the game and doesn’t want to be challenged by any upstarts who might have some new ideas. Dennison is comfortable with what exists now.
 Does she still want to put her hat in the ring for job of Mayor in 2018? Meed Ward used to be ‘gung ho’ on change; we haven’t seen that much of the Marianne Meed Ward who delegated ferociously before she was elected to council and was a thorn in the side of most during her first term – something the other council members needed. The fight seems to have gone out of her. To a considerable degree she is still ostracized. Her public comments on the seniors situation were disappointing.
Political organizations need new blood – that is part of why we hold elections.
Municipal politics is complex business. Its financial statements are not like those in the business world. A municipality cannot have a deficit – if they are short they have to dip into the reserve funds – there are more than fifty of those with millions of dollars sitting in bank accounts.
The Finance department to its credit does a good job of getting the city a good return on the investments it makes – given that there are a lot of things the city is now allowed to invest in.
For a newcomer to get elected to council the learning curve is very very steep. It takes a full term to get a feel and understanding for the way the city works and how staff relate to council.
 Councillors Craven and Taylor live on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Each has their strengths – along with a considerable amount of time on city council. For those new to municipal politics having to learn how city hall works and how the Regional Council works is more than most can manage.
It makes a lot of sense to have two levels of Councillors; one who is just a ward Councillor and the other who is both a ward councillor and a Regional councillor.
The comments we are seeing about what these ward only level councillors should be paid is insulting. Those who do the job work hard; the issues they have to deal with are not simple. To pay someone $30,000 to serve as a ward only councillor is going to get you someone stupid enough to accept such a pittance.
If you are not prepared to pay well – you are going to get very little in the way of talent. That $115,000 – give or take a bit – we pay our city council members now is money well spent. They make mistakes and they could tone up their attitude when dealing with the public – especially with delegations to council meetings. But they are fairly paid.
The view that they were elected to run the city and the public gets to decide if they like what they got only at election time is an idea that went out of style in the late fifties. This lot trots out the words accountability and transparency without understanding or believing what they really mean.
 Dennison has the best understanding of the dollars and cents side of civic administration. It is up to you the public to hold them accountable every chance you get. They are no better than you are. When that OPP cruiser slides by you on the 403 your foot comes off that gas pedal – that is you being accountability to that police officer. It’s the way the world works.
If the current council chafes at that it is because you have let them get away with far too much.
Just don’t insult the institution of public service by not paying them adequately and fairly and providing them with the staff support they need.
A trained administrative assistant could serve two Councillors in the same ward – it wouldn’t be a bad idea to recruit those people from outside existing city hall staff.
If there are people out there who want to run for public office they have to have started their campaigns by now. The rules have changed giving the incumbents an even better chance of winning.
How good it is for the incumbents?
Marcus Gee, a Globe and Mail writer who focuses on municiapl politics wrote on the weekend asking:
Imagine a high-school student council whose members never graduate but stay on year after year, growing older and crankier as the student body they govern evolves. It shouldn’t be much of a strain for residents of Toronto to picture. That’s what their own city council is like.
Councillors hang around year after year – sometimes decade after decade – aging in place as the dynamic city they govern changes all around them. The same old characters have the same old quarrels over and over in a repeating loop of futility.
Like any group or organization that doesn’t renew itself, they have become inward-looking, inbred, ingrown. Voters tune them out. Cynicism about politics grows.
How do we break out of this trap? A small group of reformers has an idea.
The Open Democracy Project announced it was putting together a DemocracyKit, “a crowd-sourced, crowd-funded resource to equip the next generation of city-builders.” The plan is to give newcomers the tools they need to break into the restricted club of city politics.
The democracy kit would include such things as fundraising plans, a guide to door-to-door canvassing, website templates and contact-management systems.
 Democracy at work – people planning on what they want to see done. It’s all aimed at counteracting the power of incumbency. Sitting politicians have overwhelming advantages. They have name recognition, especially critical at the municipal level, where most voters aren’t paying much attention. They have access to the big-name spin doctors and campaign managers who dominate the election game. They have a web of contacts in unions, community groups and local business associations that help them get re-elected. They know the ropes.
No wonder that so many manage to stay on and on. The Open Democracy Project says that incumbents won 92 per cent of the time in elections held in three cities – Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa – since 2001.
Burlington has Councillors who have warmed their chairs in the council chamber for more than twenty years.
Related articles:
Little in the Spectator
Brian Heagle with his view point.
Open Democracy project
 By James Burchill
November 20th, 2016
BURLINGTON. ON
In 1860, due to continued pressure from the various employers, the government developed the first education system: to create literate employees.
The employers of the time were finding it progressively harder to find employees who could read and write.
So bowing to capitalistic pressures the government created a system of public education with the sole intent of creating “literate employees”. Like the modern army where we train people to become soldiers, the education system was created to create “factory workers”.
This was 155 years ago and nothing much has changed since. In fact the education system is still producing “literate employees” – not free thinking, creative types, but human ‘worker bees’ or drones.
The education system instigated testing to measure advancement and learning but now the testing is often more important than the skills they try and train. In fact, most students only focus on how to “ace the tests”. What good is that?
After school the students go on to “higher education” – there is another oxymoron as research shows only a few post graduate students actually end up using their degrees in their careers.
Why spend all that time, energy and money only to not use the degree?
 It’s a job! When asked why they went to University, or why they got a degree the student answers were frighteningly similar – “to get a job”.
We have created a system were the apparent need to get a job is so great that people will spend about four years and $50,000 on a degree for the sole purpose of ignoring it later and using it to apply for jobs!
In conclusion, we create “literate employees” who now feel so compelled and “must” get a degree to apply for a job (which we all now know has no security anyway) to enter a social and economic environment where they are ill equipped to handle the majority of ‘free-agent’ type thinking (remember this creativity was eroded during school years during the mania with testing and NOT creativity) and did I mention that the cost of this education was over $50,000 (I can’t bear to add in the time before University and the lost opportunity costs.)
My point? Simple, if you have children remember this about the system, firstly it is a system and it is antiquated and there solely for the purpose of creating ‘literate employees’. Know that there is no law (at least here in Canada) that says your children MUST go to school – you can home school.
That the training they are receiving is not going to be very helpful in years to come as the work place is becoming more fragmented and a free-for-all-free-agent place (remember school does not train and create entrepreneurs only ‘workers’) and finally that you and I came from this same training and we need to remember what we most likely think about or world is probably wrong.
How we perceive our environment is a function of how we think about it, and how we think about our environment was ‘trained’ into us by the early educators we were exposed to (school, the place where ‘literate employers are created)
 James Burchill is the founder of Social Fusion Network – an organization that meets regularly in Burlington to allow networking and relationship building. He also writes and trains people about how to make technology work for them.
 By Staff
November 20, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Not sure an evening enjoying craft beers is the “best way possible” to help kick off the holiday season – there is something else we are celebrating.
Nevertheless, the RBG’s Fest-of-Ales returns for its second craft beer event- Thursday, December 8 from 6 until they are done!
 This year includes DJs, breweries, food stations, a cash bar for those wanting libations other than beer, and a mocktail station for our important DDs!
The vendors include Collective Arts Brewing, The Hamilton Brewery, Big Rock Brewery Inc, Muskoka Brewery, Shawn & Ed Brewing Co, Nickel Brook Brewery, Four Fathers Brewing Co., Clifford Brewing Co, Silversmith Brewing Company & the infamous Beaus Brewery! + more to come
Food Stations will be offering Poppers! Sliders! Dips! Snacks! Enough for the meat and veg lovers alike!
Prices: Advance tickets: $35 – includes Fest-of-Ales mug and 5 craft beer tokens. Tickets are $40 the night-of.
Designated driver ticket: $10 (no alcohol can be consumed with this ticket and you must be age 19+)
Thursday, December 8 from 6 until they are done. Sounds ominous.
Tickets available on line
 By Pepper Parr
November 19th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
There is a lawyer in town who loves the city – has run for public office and is “involved” in civic affairs. Nice fellow; dependable, decent, gives a damn. He speaks of the city as being a nice place where the quality of life is good.
And on that one he isn’t wrong but he isn’t as right as he would like it to be.
 Is leaf collecting a service the city should be providing? The trees are on city property.  These chemical containers were discovered in Sheldon creek – is their removal a city responsibility? Another citizen is also active, also involved and has lived in the city since the 50’s. He is the kind of guy who will pick up the phone when he sees something he thinks is wrong. He lives near the Village Square.
The Blyth Academy made a smart move when they set up classes for their students in the Village Square. This gave the “campus” a downtown feel rather than an austere building in the boonies or some commercial waste land where space was cheap.
There is a decent number of students about which suggests the idea is working.
Adults seem to understand that smoking is going to kill you eventually and certainly shorten your life span but that doesn’t seem to have penetrated the fertile minds of the Blyth Academy students. They got into the habit of slipping out for a fag in the Village Square which happens to abut a condominium with which they share common spaces.
The residents don’t appreciate the cigarette butts littering the ground – the students got rousted and the problem was solved.
Students being students, driven more by peer pressure than common sense, found another place to smoke – the city parking lot right across the street.
Our observant citizen picked up the phone, called city hall thinking a bylaw enforcement officer could pay the area a visit and shoo the students back to their classroom
Didn’t quite work out that way.
Our citizen was told it was a Regional responsibility; then was told it was a Parks and Recreation responsibility and that the person who could do something was away. After three to four transfers to someone else – the citizen gave up.
While going through the background papers the city has provided on the capital budget that is going to be debated next week we came across an item which we passed along to the citizen with a real hurt for smokers.
The budget submission includes the funding of the purchase of a Customer Relationship Management / Knowledge Base System (CRM/KB) that will build services for the community, focusing on the needs of our customers. This system will allow our customers to engage with the city and have access to information and services through the channel of their choice; phone, social media, city’s website or email. Creating an integrated service delivery model available through multiple channels is only possible through the acquisition and implementation of such a system. Staff plan to consolidate service inquiries and requests and transform Service Burlington into a centralized customer contact centre.
His comment: “It seems to me that it’s a people problem. No system will fix the experience I had. It’s more to do with the culture, a simple commitment of all staff to excellent customer service.”
The same could probably be said the the falling leaves problem in Roseland. The comments made by readers on that problem are instructive.
Related article:
Leaf collections – problem with the timing.
 By Pepper Parr
November 19th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Update: Asked if he wanted to expand on his comment Jack Dennison, the ward 4 member of council said: “The experts will”
Phillip Waggett, a resident of South Burlington, said his street received its second leaf pickup.
This morning, he advised the Gazette, he took a series of pictures of the serious leaf drop which is ongoing–primarily from city-owned trees.
 South Roseland street after leaf pick up – resident thinks the city has made a mistake with its scheduling. “It is not just my street: wrote Waggett “it is across South Burlington and into Roseland, leaves are everywhere, especially on maple trees which have only dropped a small proportion of their leaves at this time.
“My neighbour is of the opinion that the leaves were picked up one week earlier than last year, resulting in possibly the WORST pickup I have experienced in nearly 40 years of living here.
“Who is responsible for this lack of proper planning/scheduling? I do understand that scheduling must be done in advance but surely City Hall has access to the same long-term weather reports as I do?
 This maple tree has yet to lose its leaves – warm weather has it confused – that weather also has the people scheduling the leaf pick-up confused. These are trees on city property. “And I assume city staff responsible are capable of looking outside to see how much of the leaf fall has occurred? None of this has happened with the consequent poor results. What is the City going to do to rectify this?”
Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison did get back to Waggett with the following:
“I have included the director of the Roads and Parks maintenance department”
That was it?
No wonder there is disappointment with the way things get done at city hall.
The map showing where leaves are to be collected was published early in October. Someone appears not to have factored in the milder weather and made some changes.
 By Staff
November 18, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Hamilton’s Santa Claus parade will be taking place in the downtown area on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016 and street closures will be in effect from approximately 2:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Route 1 buses will have to detour using Locke Street to King Street. For service, please move to the Locke and King Street corner, or to the shelter/transfer point on King Street at Dundurn.
 By Staff
November 18th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Earlier in the month the Halton Regional Police reported small fires being set off randomly in the Palmer Drive and Newlands Crescent part of the city.
The Burlington Fire Department doused several small fires and several more burned out on their own. Police searched the area and did not locate any suspects.
 Fire department responding to an alarm in the Palmer Drive part of the city. Later in the day, police received numerous complaints from residents in the same area who reported items being lit on fire which fortunately caused only minor damage however could have been much worse. Items such as Halloween & Christmas decorations, garden accessories, realtor signs, newspapers, yard waste bags and a wreath hanging on a front door were ignited.
Yesterday, November 17th 2016, investigators arrested a 16-year-old male in relation to these arsons and executed a search warrant at his Burlington home. During the search, police found supporting evidence along with 11 Zanax pills and 24 grams of marihuana.
The male, who cannot be named due to his age, was held for bail, charged with Arson (10 counts), possession of an incendiary device, and possession of a controlled substance (2 counts).
Police continue to investigate to identify the other involved youths and are encouraging them to turn themselves in.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2316, or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
 By Pepper Parr
November 18, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Big name in the music world and a lady with a colourful background is going to be at the Port Nelson United Church December 10th for a single performance.
Liona Boyd, the five-time Juno Award-winning guitarist, will be bringing her Winter Fantasy Tour to Burlington on Saturday December 10th. Lowville Festival and Port Nelson United Church are co-presenting “The First Lady of the Classical Guitar”- events starts at 7:30 pm.
Liona Boyd has enthralled millions with her romantic and unique brand of classical, folk and world music. She has performed solo and orchestral concerts around the world, had her own television specials, and recorded twenty-seven albums, many of which have gone Gold or Platinum. She has had over four million views on YouTube. Over the past several years, Ms. Boyd has also branched out as an accomplished singer-songwriter.
 Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau with Liona Boyd at Juno Awards, O’Keefe Centre, Toronto Ontario. Boyd was also the one-time lover of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau –an intriguing lady.
A Winter Fantasy is a celebration of the music of the Yuletide season, and features fantasias on many popular carols and seasonal songs. On this tour she will be introducing the talented young Waterloo-based singer-guitarist Andrew Dolson. She will be also be joined by the Port Nelson United Church Choir under the direction of Music Director Stillman Matheson.
 Liona Boyd – classic guitarist. Liona Boyd’s concert is a co-presentation of Port Nelson United Church and the Lowville Festival, “a festival of all the arts for the artist in all of us” which is held annually in the majestic Escarpment country of north Burlington.
PORT NELSON UNITED CHURCH
3132 SOUTH DRIVE, BURLINGTON
7:30 pm
TICKETS $30
AVAILABLE AT 905-637-5631, DIFFERENT DRUMMER BOOKS and at the Door
 By Staff
November 17th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The pressure is building.
Hamilton Spectator Joan Little did a column on the size of city council which the Gazette reproduced. We then got a note from Brian Heagle who directed us to his words of wisdom. Heagle thinks the current size of council is out of whack with what the city needs.
Let us pass along to you what Heagle, a past candidate for public office, had to say. The content has been edited for length – a link to the full and the three second poll is at the end of this article.
Heagle starts his comments with a picture of the 1988-1991 council – pointing out that Jack Taylor was a member of council that far back, and asks: “Did you count the number of people around that table?
 Not a computer screen in site – those were the days when members of council would look at you and not be reading their cell phones At that time there were seventeen (17) people for a population of less than 130,000 in 1991.
There are only seven (7) members of council now – for a population in excess of 175,000.
Oakville has 13 members of council with a population of 180,000.
Milton has a nine member council for a population of more than 100,000
Halton Hills has 11 members of Council for a population of 60,000.
 Brian Heagle when he was a Liberal. The decrease in Council’s size was a well-intentioned move in the right direction but the pendulum swung too far. A telling example is how weary and wary our Mayor and Councillors appear at Council meetings. Who can blame them?
In fairness, who could properly get through all of the reading materials thrown at them (whether paper or electronic), investigate all of the truly important matters (after filtering through the truly less important ones), and genuinely listen to their constituents (as a reminder, improved civic engagement was the rallying cry when this Council was first elected in 2010)?
No wonder Council members often have their heads down, relying heavily on staff reports (is it an unwillingness to challenge them, or lack of preparation?) and rarely looking or standing up to offer strikingly innovative or breakthrough ideas.
Risk-takers? Not this group.
I wrote last year about how this Council is seemingly “stuck in neutral”, and nothing much has changed since then – their long-overdue Strategic Plan eventually passed in April, sadly in line with Council’s previously limp and lengthy versions.
Visionary and bold do not describe this Council. Caretaking seems more appropriate.
To be clear, Council’s work is not easy or straightforward, nor is it restricted to Council chambers.
There’s also the incredible time and energy drains of dealing with cats getting caught in trees, ribbons getting cut, photos getting taken, calls getting made, emails getting returned and getting to countless meetings and events.
Not to mention constant public pressure, as Council goes about their work.
 Getting the word out – Brian Heagle in action. Having said that, though, there’s really not much in the way of public scrutiny. Local media is virtually non-existent in Burlington, (We take exception to that comment Mr. Heagle) and it infrequently provides actual in-depth news reporting or analysis anyway.
It’s exhausting merely to try to visualize Council’s unrelenting work schedule, and the personal sacrifices involved, especially for a completely undersized team with an overwhelming to-do list.
Despite Council’s best efforts, have you noticed that public discontent keeps bubbling to the surface lately, replacing our usual general disengagement or disinterest with local matters? And we’re not talking about the Pier anymore.
Citizens seem increasingly frustrated with and anxious about Council – with big and small tipping points.
Unwarranted road diets, the shadow cast by the unrelenting threat and pace of new high rises by the waterfront, the City terminating the core group of seniors volunteering at the Seniors Centre, the City’s short-sighted selling of public waterfront lands to private interests, and more.
It’s no surprise that one natural conclusion and overriding factor can explain, in large part, why this Council gets such unfavorable or unenthusiastic reviews, and why it has seemingly been so unproductive and uninspiring despite 6 long years together. It’s been 25 years in the making. Council fatigue has firmly set in.
 Fuzzy picture – but there is no mistaking Brian Heagle pictured with local Conservative party activists – this was during that period of time when Heagle had his eye on a seat at Queen’s Park Why expect any Council to excel when they’re always faced with too little time and far too many demands? We’re talking about burnout.
Increasing the size of Council is inevitable, and would represent an important step and signal to re-energize Council as part of a long-overdue governance review – Council isn’t leading by example about a Code of Conduct, which doesn’t exist for them, but does for City Staff).
With a larger group, there’s real opportunity to elect a more dynamic, inclusive and representative group for an evolving Burlington – hopefully, more diverse backgrounds and more progressive thinking will be brought to the table as a result.
It’s time to cleanse the stale air of a tired “small club” environment, and breath new life into a modern Council to help it build an even greater community for the longer term.
To create a healthier culture, you need to get at the root of the problem, not merely trim around the edges.
A change to the size of Council would be at the centre of structural changes that will make a difference.
 Is it time for a change in the size of city council? Drawing new lines for Wards is a related burning issue too.
The new Strategic Plan trumpets “GROW BOLD”, as Council seeks to lead Burlington into the future. Will this Council itself “GROW BOLD”, and be wise enough, to pursue increasing its size before the 2018 election?
Seven is definitely not the right number. Not anymore. It doesn’t work well in 2016 – and won’t for the next 25 years.
The three second poll Heagle posted is at – https://brianheagle.wordpress.com/2016/11/17/size-matters-in-burlington/
Links:
 Joan Little column from the Hamilton Spectator
 By Pepper Parr
November 17th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Are there some really big changes in the wind for the Art Gallery of Burlington?
The city has always wanted a major academic institution in the downtown core. At one point it looked as if McMaster was going to have a structure on what is now the Elizabeth Street parking lot but that didn’t work out the way the city wanted it to – McMaster got a better offer for land on the South Service Road so a progressive university set up shop beside a field where someone is growing hay that they really don’ harvest.
 Brock University has been around for 50 years and has been spreading its wings – with facilities in Hamilton and an apparent interest in taking up lodgings in Burlington. Turns out that Brock University, headquartered in St. Catharines, has been sniffing around the Art Gallery of Burlington to see if some kind of a deal can be put together.
An informed source says the talks haven’t been going all that well – and that the problem is with the Burlington side of the negotiating table.
No one at Brock wants to say anything at this time.
The AGB spent a couple of hours Wednesday evening take a small audience through a Strategic Plan exercise that had all the right buzz words in it: Inclusive; Inspiring; Encouraging; Engaging; Collaborative and Respectful.
Those and the right Gift Card will get you a cup of coffee.
There is a Draft Strategy that is based on three pillars- the Gazette will report on these later.
One of the objectives appear to be having hands-on activities always being available for walk in visitors – a challenge and not something the clubby Guilds are likely to welcome.
 AGB president Robert Steven. AGB president Robert Steven has to be credited with boosting donations somewhat but the place has a long way to go to raise the funds needed for the Art Gallery program wish list.
Getting into bed with a university would certainly juice up the place – but it doesn’t look as if there is going to be anything to announce in the near future – other than – there have been talks.
Picking up this news from the “grapevine” however is not the smartest way for the AGB to get the news out. The objective is to get in front of the parade and lead the band wagon so people can jump on.
By Staff
November 17, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Teen Tour Band has been selected to take part in the January 1st, 2018 Tournament of Roses Parade!! There is no better way to end of the band’s 70th Anniversary year then to be selected as a Rose Bowl Band!
 This is a biggie – an accomplishment that very few bands are ever given the opportunity to participant in. This will be the 5th time the BTTB has been given this honour so even in our own history a very small number of band members have been a part of an achievement of this magnitude!
It may seem like a far way off…it is not! The Band has a lot to accomplish between now and the
They need to recruit at least 40 more members. The band has to be a minimum of 200 members.
 The stadium where the American football classic is played.  A part of the Rose Bowl parade – one of the best in the United States. Expect a knock on the door – they will be out fund raising, Dedication and commitment on the part of the band members – to attend all performances and rehearsals as they prepare for this 5.5 mile parade.
The Rose Bowl – an American football classic takes place in Pasadena California.
 By Staff
November 17, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
They are going to do it again – they do it every year.
 More Ho Ho Ho guys and gals that you would expect to see anywhere.
Burlington apparently puts more of the Ho Ho Ho’s on the street than any other Santa 5K run
This year the event is on Saturday November 26.
The route being run and details are set out below.
Ho Ho Ho!
By Pepper Parr
November 17th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The city recently asked those who are part of the Insight Burlington opinion panel which of three illustrations they would like to see on a series of smart phone apps they are thinking of developing.
The choices were: The Escarpment; a picture of a family and The Pier.
 The Pier on the day it was officially opened. That was the structure you the taxpayer shelled out $14 million for when it was originally going to cost something just over $6.5 million.
Most organizations keep their skeletons in the closet.
Let’s see what they choose to do.
 By Pepper Parr
November 17th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The closing of a high school is significant and disruptive.
The Director of Education wants to give the public every opportunity to be informed and ask questions.
Burlington has seven high schools where there are 1800+ empty seats – and that isn’t, as Director of Education Stuart Miller points out is not sustainable.
To add to the situation – Burlington has a high school that is at 115% of capacity and has had to add portables – for a school that was opened three years ago.
 Director of Education Stuart Miller preparing to talk to Central high school parents. The high school capacity in Burlington is south of the QEW – the population is north of that line.
Something had to be done to fix this imbalance. The Board of Education staff put forward a recommendation – one of 19 different possible recommendations to close Central and Pearson high schools.
While not required to get out into the community and explain the full story – some school boards pass the task along to the trustees and let them deal with the mess – Miller decided to hold at meeting at every high school and pass along to them the information he has.
 One of the five people in the picture is the high school principal. Parent participation was dismal. Some of those meetings were very well attended – others, sparse would be being polite. The parents just didn’t show up at Bateman high school which is a school that is very much at risk. That it wasn’t the staff recommendation doesn’t save Bateman. It is the trustees that will make the decision and there were 19 recommendations – and Bateman has a low and falling registration.
 Amy Collard, school board trustee for the ward Bateman high school is in attended the sparsely attended meeting. With Nelson high school just a couple of km away – Bateman parents want to listen up – carefully.
Miller has decided to go one step further and hold an on line Q&A on Monday, November 21st between 7:00 and 8:30 pm
By Pepper Parr
November 17th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Halton District School Board Director of Education Stuart Miller made two comments at the regular board meeting last night that deserve a closer look.
He commented on a report that school bus drivers were having problems with cars that did not obey the rule that they must stop behind or in front of the bus while students are embarking and disembarking.
 Hard to miss the intent of this sign – some car drivers are not getting the message. Each bus has a small barrier that is lowered when a bus has stopped – close to impossible to miss that signal. Why would a car driver choose to take a chance and drive around the bus?
The Gazette will be following up on that problem.
The other item in the Director’s report was equally disturbing.
The Board is about to launch the PARC (Program Accommodation Review Committee) that will review the staff report that recommended closing both the Lester B Pearson and Central high schools.
Miller has pointed out every time he discusses this process that the recommendation is just that “a recommendation. There are other high schools that could be closed instead of Pearson or Central. The decision as to which school should be closed is one that will be made by the trustees once the PARC has delivered its report.
Every high school in the city gets to have a person on the PARC – there is apparently one high school that has not yet provided its nominee to the committee.
This is serious stuff for a community whose high school is at risk.
The PARC will hold its first meeting December 1st – that meeting, and only that meeting will be closed to the public. The justification is that the committee will need some time to work out the rules and norms that will apply and have an opportunity for the 20+ people on the committee to get to know each other. Every high school in Burlington has two representatives on the PARC.
The full committee will consist of:
Trustee from outside Burlington
Superintendent from outside Burlington
Principal or designate from each affected high school
Two parents/guardians from each affected high school
The Board is waiting for all the applications from people who have expressed an interest in serving on the committee. Friday November 18th is the closing day for those expression of interest applications. It is going to prove to be a big job – not for the faint of heart.
 Not exactly a large crowd is it? Bateman high school parents apparently missed the message.  The Central high school parents understand the issue – they are very well organized. Miller advised the Board that he and staff have attended information meetings at every high school and “given them the information we have”. Some of those meetings were very poorly attended.
There is going to be one additional meeting that will be done via the internet – Stuart and staff members will take questions electronically and answer on a live streaming board web cast November 21st at 7:00 pm.
 Scott Podrebarac Superintendent of Education Scott Podrebarac will chair the PARC.
By Staff
November 17th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Does Social Media work?
Donald Trump certainly believes it does – look where it got him.
The good folks at Lettuce Love Café are using social media to announce their Pure Love Smoothie Bar and the 50% off all day on November 25th when they hold their Grand Opening.
 Social media is one of the ways commercial operations avoid having to pay for advertising. The Gazette, and every other on line media gets hundreds of pitches a week from public relations people asking us to give them a mention. Some of them are important enough from a public interest point of view to get coverage.
Others are just great examples of how interesting graphics and an innovative idea get attention. Here is what the Lettuce Love Café people put together in the way of graphics.
It caught our attention.
By Pepper Parr
November 16th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Queen’s Park – that where your provincial government lives announced today that they were putting forward legislation that will “Help municipal rules work better for communities”. Let the public decide how much better things get.
The legislation is designed to help local governments be more open, flexible and accountable to the people they serve.
 At some point this city council will get a Code of Conduct for Council in place. They haven’t managed to agree on one yet which does not mean their conduct is beyond reproach. The Municipal Act, and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act set out the roles, responsibilities and conflict of interest rules for Ontario’s municipalities. If passed, these changes would benefit local governments and residents by:
• Increasing fairness and reducing barriers for women and parents elected to municipal governments by allowing time off for pregnancy or parental leave
• Empowering municipalities to address climate change in their communities through by-laws related to green construction in certain circumstances
• Broadening municipal investment powers, which may help better finance repairs and replacements of local infrastructure
• Improving access to justice for the public and for municipal councillors by allowing integrity commissioners to investigate complaints
• Requiring municipalities to have a code of conduct for members of municipal councils and local boards.
More specifically, the province will:
Requiring municipalities to establish codes of conduct for members of municipal council and local boards.
 City manager James Ridge – given the task of coming up with a Code of Conduct for city council – more than six months ago. Burlington has been struggling with this one for more than a year. At this point th creation of a code of Conduct for council members is in the hands of city manager James Ridge – he hasn’t said a word publicly since the task was put on his plate.
Providing the public and municipal Councillors with access to integrity commissioners with broadened powers to investigate complaints, provide advice and initiate investigations related to conflicts of interest and the municipality’s code of conduct.
Burlington has a contract with a group who serve as “ombudsmen” for the city.
Updating the definition of “meeting” in certain cases within the legislation to help ensure that rules would be clearer for municipal officials, local board members and the public
This should be interesting. When there is a contentious decision to be made – they do like to hurry up the meeting and slip something through or go into closed session.
Enhancing justice by providing a broader range of penalties for contraventions to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
Burlington is going to love this one – this city council can’t seem to recognize a conflict of interest on the part of one of its members when it is close to blatant. One wonders why a member of council didn’t challenge the member of Council who took the city to the Ontario Municipal Board over a Committee of Adjustment matter,
These changes come as a result of public consultations as well as feedback from municipalities and stakeholders.
The government isn’t doing this out of the goodness in their hearts – current rules call for the province to review the Municipal Act every five years. The purpose is to address and incorporate broader themes of accountability and transparency into the review.
By Staff
November 16th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Our Member of Parliament, Karina Gould, is hosting a town hall discussion on Budget 2017, to provide residents of Burlington the opportunity to share their insights and suggestions for the 2017 federal budget.
 Right this way with your comments suggests MP Karina Gould who was masquerading as a Burlington Bandit. The event is to take place at the Burlington Public Library, Centennial Hall, 2331 New St, Burlington, ON L7R 1J4 – Saturday, November 19, from 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Gould is asking for input from members of the community to identifying the opportunities that will help more families make ends meet, as well as ensure more prosperous communities, and foster long-term, sustainable economic growth.
Following the consultation, Gould will take these insights and suggestions back to Ottawa and present them to Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
By Staff
November 16th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It worked very well for them last time – so why not do it again?
The Regional police found a winner when they were able to issue 117 tickets by running a Targeted Traffic Enforcement program driven by complaints from the public.
 The Halton Regional Police continue to address the numerous traffic complaints provided from the residents of Burlington each day. The police continue to encourage residents to report traffic complaints by going to the Halton Regional Police Website and submitting the required information on-line.
A large number of traffic complaints received by police relate to drivers exceeding the posted speed limits. Officers will continue to target areas throughout the City of Burlington that have been identified as high traffic complaint locations.
Officers conducted a one day targeted blitz around Prospect Street in the City of Burlington on November 15th due to a number of complaints forwarded by residents of Burlington. As a result of police presence all along Prospect Street in the City of Burlington, 123 traffic stops were initiated for Highway Traffic Act violations and 90 Provincial Offence Notices were issued by police.
30 Division Officers will continue to conduct target enforcement throughout Burlington to ensure the safety of all residents using the roadways. “Drivers need to be mindful of their actions when behind the wheel. Speeding, distracted driving and stop sign violations were all observed by officers along Prospect Street. Our officers will continue to target areas throughout Burlington in order to deter these types of behaviours by drivers.” said Sgt. Jared McLeod of the District Response Unit.
The Halton Regional Police Service is committed to reducing dangerous and aggressive driving behaviors that put all road users at risk.
If any citizen would like to report a traffic concern they can do so by visiting our website and submitting an online traffic complaint,
https://www.haltonpolice.ca/PRC/Pages/TrafficComplaints.aspx
Related articles:
More than 115 tickets issued by police that originated with citizen complaints.
Stories people tell police when they get pulled over – and the language they use.
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