 By Jim Feilders
June 6, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
City council fully understands the impact climate change is having on us. The storm in August of 2014 brought that point home in a very vivid and expensive manner. More than three hundred residents suffered significant property loss. The city, the Conservation authority and the Regional government realized there were serious gaps in the level of preparedness.
The climate is changing due in part to the amount of carbon dioxide that is being allowed into the environment. Much of the CO2 is the result of the fossil fuels we burn to run our car engines and heat our homes.
The city has a number of plans in place to begin to cut back on the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into the environment.
Their task is to take specific actions and educate the public.
Burlington Carbon Plans Confusing You?
We have three plans affecting us regarding greenhouse gas emissions. Understanding what they mean can be a little difficult.
Strategic Plan
Council endorsed the Strategic Plan for the next 25 years to 2040 with one of many goals being to be net carbon neutral. It’s a tough call but the right thing to do in my opinion. But what does it mean? The definition in the Strategic Plan is “Having a net-zero carbon footprint refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount not used, or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference”.
Talking to City officials, I learned that no one knows exactly how this will be achieved at the moment. Work will be done in the future.
But whatever is done must comply with the triple bottom line philosophy of sustainability. This means any plan must look at environmental and social impacts as well as economic. People have to be on board with the financial and environmental implications.
Province of Ontario
Last year the Province of Ontario announced its targets for carbon reduction to 2050.
 We know where we are and the targets for the future have been set – can we summon the discipline to achieve the targets? Our Premier says we have to reduce total carbon by 37% in 2030 and 80% in 2050 – from 1990 levels.
Community Energy Plan
We have started to address this in the Community Energy Plan (CEP) that Council endorsed in January 2014; a lot of progress has been made.
The focus of the plan is to reduce energy consumption and cost as well as reduce greenhouse gases and improve local energy security.
The timeframe is to 2030. A report on progress to date is available here
It didn’t relate to 1990 levels. We didn’t track them back then and the closest we have is 1994 of 1.4 Mtonnes – close enough. This shows we met the 2014 target (1.4 – 1.19 = 0.21 or 15%, see below) and probably will meet the 2020 targets (1.4 – 1.1 = 0.3 or 21%). But we’re looking a little shy for 2030, coming in at 27%.
The CEP has set a realistic target of 26% reduction in energy consumption per person over the 15 year period from 2014 to 2030.
Although mention is made of investigating heat pump technologies and electric vehicles, the plan does not rely on switching fuels but reducing the amount we use as well as generating new energy from renewable sources. As a result, the amount of greenhouse gas reduction is the same as the energy reduction. If you drive less and save a 65 litre tank of gasoline and you save 156 kg of pollution. If you switch to an alternate fuel, you can still travel almost the original distance.
The plan does not account for population growth which is predicted to rise from 175,000 by about 30,000 people over this period depending on whether you look at the City’s estimates or the Province’s Places to Grow. This is about a 17% population increase. This tells me that if 175,000 people reduce their carbon by 26% and 30,000 people are added to the mix at the same reduction, the net decrease for the City is 14% to 1.025 Mtonnes from 1.19 Mtonnes.
Putting it all together with the best data I could find, is shown in the chart below. It includes the “What if” we do nothing, called business as usual. You know, keep our heads in the sand and keep doing what we have always done. I’m not saying change is easy by any means.
 The obvious solution is to make the Community Energy Plan work – problem with that is we don’t know yet how to do that. Extrapolations for the CEP are less optimistic as most of the behavioural change will have occurred. With our CEP alone, we fall short.
 If we determine what the plan is and then stick to the plan – there is hope for us – but we have a long way to go – and it is not going to be easy. Enter fuel switching. We need to replace gasoline vehicles with electric and hybrid models and transition our residential space heating and water heating from natural gas to electric inverter heat pump technology – air, water and ground sources.
These technologies are actually less expensive on a life cycle basis than their fossil fuel alternatives. Approaches that use a “hybrid” system of gas furnace and heat pump are available. So we can save the planet and money at the same time.
This will bring us close enough that industry can make up the remaining gap.
 Halleluiah! We can do it and get our gold star from Kathleen living the life she depicts below.
To now go for carbon neutral may not seem impossible.
 Jim Feilders is an engineer by training and an environmentalist by choice. He drives a hybrid car, heat and air conditions his house at a cost of of approximately $375 a year. The views expressed here are solely his own and not necessarily those of the various organizations with which he is associated.
 By Staff
June 5, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
For those who enjoy a pleasant game of baseball as one of their ways to relax – it was a disappointing weekend.
There was a full slate of games scheduled for Sunday with all eight teams in action but rain, combined with an ominous forecast, scrubbed three-quarters of the scheduled action and rain caused havoc with the only game that was completed.
Guelph Royals at the London Majors was called early and the Brantford Red Sox didn’t go to Kitchener to play the first-place Panthers. The Burlington Bandits travelled to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs at Christie Pits but that game was called after two innings with the Maple Leafs ahead 4-3.
 The ball got there first – but the Hamilton Cardinals embarrassed the Bandits with a massive win. The Barrie Baycats and Hamilton Cardinals toughed it out in Hamilton with a rain delay of over two hours and the end result was a 17-7 win for the Baycats.
Barrie scored once in the top of the first and added six more runs in the second inning. It was 8-4 after five innings then Barrie scored again in the sixth and added another six spot in the seventh inning to put things away.
The Baycats pounded out 24 hits in the five-hour marathon with leadoff batter Ryan Spataro leading the way. Spataro had four hits, scored four runs, drove in a run, walked, reached base five times and upped his batting average to .417.
Kyle DeGrace had two hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. Jeff Cowan had four hits and scored three times and Conner Morro had four hits and scored three times.
For the Cardinals, right fielder Dre Celestijn had a day, with a double and two singles, an RBI and he scored twice. Third baseman Callum Murphy had two doubles and TJ Baker had a single and a double.
Barrie improved to 8-4 with the win and Hamilton slipped to 3-11.
Standings:
Team
W L
Kitchener Panthers
9 1
London Majors
7 3
Barrie Baycats
7 4
Brantford Red Sox
6 4
Toronto Maple Leafs
5 4
Guelph Royals
3 7
Hamilton Cardinals
3 10
Burlington Bandits
1 8
Future games:
Tuesday
Barrie Baycats at Guelph Royals, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Burlington Bandits at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 p.m.
London Majors at Brantford Red Sox, 8 p.m.
 By Staff
June 4, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Bandits (1-8) dropped both games of a double-header to the Hamilton Cardinals (3-9) both by scores of 8-5 in front of 647 Bandits’ fans at Nelson Park.
Hamilton started the scoring early in the first game by bringing home Geoffrey Seto off two wild pitches by Jack Dennis (0-2).
 647 people at a Bandits ball game is some kind of a record. The Bandits would get on the board in the second bringing in five runs off a RBI single by Justin Gideon and walks by Shawn Mayhew and Julian Johnson.
The Cardinals would come alive in the following innings, putting up two runs in the 3rd, 4th and 5th to bring the lead to 7-5.
The Cardinals would add a run in the final inning to seal the win. Cardinals Jonathan Palumbo (2-0) would take the win.
Game two saw a much more even affair as the contest went to extra innings. The Cardinals would open up the scoring in the first driving in two runs off a Connor Bowie RBI single.
The Bandits would respond down 3-0 in the third with a four run inning. John Whaley would drive in a run with a single, followed by Canice Ejoh RBI single and a Carlos Villoria single that would drive in two runs to bring the score to 4-3.
The game would become tied in the 6th with a single by Jonathan Palumbo to score Marcus Dicenzo.
The game would remain tied through the 9th inning before the Cardinals exploded in the 10th with a four run inning to take the win once again 8-5.
Burlington’s Christian Hauck would take the loss going 4.1 innings while giving up five hits and four runs with two strikeouts and two walks. Hamilton’s Jonathan Palumbo would take the win going 4.0 innings allowing one unearned run and striking out one.
Burlington replaces Hamilron as the team in the league holding to the bottom rung.
Panthers Win 6-2 Saturday over Guelph
The Kitchener Panthers beat the Guelph Royals 6-2 Saturday to win their ninth of their last 10 games.
The game was tied 3-0 after the opening inning and remained the same until the fifth when the Royals got on the board with one run.
Kitchener would add more insurance in the 6th with three runs and would never look back as they kept the Royals to only one more run in the 7th to take the game 6-2.
Panther’s starter Noelvis Entenza (3-1) took the win going 6.0 winnings striking out seven batters and allowing two runs. Royal’s starter Adrian Yuen (0-1) took the loss allowing three earned runs in 0.2 innings pitched.
Red Sox Offence Explodes in 17-5 win over Baycats
The Brantford Red Sox bats were hot Saturday night as they recorded multiple runs in five innings.
The Sox would start early with a three run lead after a sacrifice fly by Brandon Dailey and an RBI double by Jeff Hunt.
The Red Sox would continue in the third with two runs before exploding with a five run inning in the fourth following four hits and two walks to score runs, a RBI single by Ben Bostick and a sacrifice fly by Brandon Dailey.
Brantford would follow the fourth with three runs in the fifth including a two run home run and four runs in the sixth to seal the win.
Barrie’s offensive highlights include home runs by Ryan Spataro and Jordan Castaldo but it wouldn’t be enough to stop the Red Sox.
Brantford’s starter Grant Tebbit (1-1) took the win going 7.0 innings allowing three earned runs while striking out three and walking two. Barrie’s Nate Arruda (0-3) took the loss putting 3.0 innings of work allowing four earned runs with three strikeouts and three walks.
UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, June 5th
Guelph at London; 1:05 PM
Burlington at Toronto; 2:00 PM
Brantford at Kitchener; 2:00 PM
Barrie at Hamilton; 2:00 PM
 By Pepper Parr
June 4, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
This story gets more and more tangled – it can now be ended
The accident took place in March.
Charges were not laid for 90 days. Names were not released.
The police eventually lay charges – still do not name the person charged.
They then release the name of the person charged.
Still no reason for the delay in the laying of charges.
The Gazette learns from a usually reliable source that the person who was eventually charged had been in a coma since the accident and that he had become conscious a few days ago. Charges were then laid.
Was there not a better way to manage the flow of news?
Confidence in the integrity of the police service is critical. We have to know we can believe them at all times.
This situation is truly tragic – driving while under the influence of alcohol, runs a stop sign, crashes through a metal road rail, is seriously injured and in a coma for several months. To then come out of the coma and then be charged by the police.
This young man has some serious problems ahead of him.
The police were in a position to be both sympathetic and at the same time carry out their duties and use the opportunity to drive home the message – you can’t drink and then drive.
The consequences are disastrous.
Young David Dren now has to rebuild his life – we wish him well.
The Halton Regional Police Service do strive to keep the public informed – they might use this situation as a case study on how to inform the public and at the same time keep driving home the message – you can’t drink and drive.
The full story line:
Original story.
Police release the name of the driver.
 By Pepper Parr
June 4th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
In a media release the city said: “In order to add comfort and enhance customer service, Burlington Transit is adding benches to 57 bus stops around the city. Some bench installations will require a concrete slab to be poured first.”
Maybe service is going to become so sporadic and unreliable that they want customers to at least have a place to sit while they wait?
The locations were chosen based on areas that have busier pedestrian and vehicular traffic and public space available.
 The seats in this transit shelter are truly pathetic. Hopefully the new benches being placed are more usable. “Providing benches will provide a more comfortable place to rest while waiting for a bus,” said Mike Spicer, director, Burlington Transit. “Taking Burlington Transit should be a pleasant experience and it begins at the bus stop.”
The bench expansion is already underway and will continue as weather permits throughout the summer and into the fall, if needed.
Something you wanted to know – the locations of those benches. The number at the front identifies the bus stop,
433 – Lakeshore Boulevard at Burloak Drive
1003 – Lakeshore Boulevard at Kenwood Avenue
3 – Lakeshore Boulevard at Torrance Street
751 – Lakeshore Boulevard at Brock Avenue
755 – 1340 Lakeshore Blvd.
72 – New Street at Guelph Line
185 – New Street at Walker’s Line
184 New Street at Walker’s Line
495 New Street at Hampton Heath
557 – 5514 New St.
453 – Appleby Line at Fairview Street
388 – Fairview Street at Inverary Road
206 – Fairview Street at Woodview Street
95 – Fairview Street at Drury Lane
64 – 2065 Fairview St.
785 – Plains Road at Francis
767 – Plains Road at King Road
759 – Plains Road at Long Drive
832 – Plains Road at Downsview
833 – 127 Plains Rd.
162 – Harvester Road at Guelph Line
264 – 3450 Harvester Road
248 – Upper Middle at Mountain Grove
326 – Burlington Heights Centre
1030 – Upper Middle Road at Guelph Line
922 – Upper Middle Road at Country Club
628 – Upper Middle Road at Heron Way
269 – Brant Street at Hazelton Boulevard
200 – Brant Street at Havendale Boulevard
110 – Brant at North Service Road
102 – Brant at North Service Road
33 – Guelph at Lakeshore
77 – Guelph Line at New Street
83 – Guelph Line at Glencrest Road
114 – Guelph Line at Prospect Avenue
113 – Guelph Line at Prospect Avenue
156 – Guelph Line at Harvester Road
155 – Guelph Line at Harvester Road
220 Guelph Line at Mainway
245 Guelph Line at Centennial
299 Guelph Line at Upper Middle Road
302 Guelph Line at Upper Middle Road
622 Walker’s Line at Berton Avenue
619 Berton Avenue at Walker’s Line
611 Walker’s Line at Constable Hensaw
608 Walker’s Line at Darien
584 Walker’s Line at Country Club
368 Walker’s Line at North Service Road
296 Walker’s Line at Harvester Road
290 Walker’s Line at Harvester Road
355 Appleby Line at New Street
360 Appleby Line at New Street
395 Appleby Line at Pine Street
451 666 Appleby Line
899 Appleby Line at Harrison Court
522 Burloak at Spruce
89 2200 Fairview Street
By Pepper Parr
June 4, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Ciarán Downes, one of the six men that play under the band name Oh Geronimo, said that for an unrepresented band he felt they had done well in being named one of the top 25 bands in the region by CBC’s Searchlight for talent.
The group is made up of – Ciarán Downes- Vocals, Guitar Kyle Robertson- Vocals, Guitar, Banjo Andrew Donofrio- Guitar Drew Mattiacci- Drums Cole Mortillaro- Bass Stuart Mitchell- Vocals, Guitar, Keys, Percussion
 Ciarán Downes, Kyle Robertson, Andrew Donofrio, Drew Mattiacci, Cole Mortillaro and Stuart Mitchell. Burlington got bundled in with Hamilton (they always do that to us) in the creation of 23 regions – with one winner coming out of each region and two other bands chosen by popular vote.
As part of a process that stretched the search out for a longer period of time there was a top 25 in each region then a top ten and then a top five
 Ciarán Downes  Oh Geronimo didn’t make it beyond the top 25 level in their region but that didn’t seem to matter to the crowd at The Dickens last night.
This year’s CBC Searchlight competition was described as “incredible, with so much amazing talent across the country.” It was a tough decision for the industry panelists.
Oh Geronimo won with their “Arctic Shores”. Here is what the panelists had to say: “Oh Geronimo’s ‘Arctic Shores’ had me simply for the first bars of harmonies, then I started paying attention to the lyrics and then this solid, banging guitar riff hits. And then boom, the song was over! Didn’t feel like an almost 4 minute song, which blew me away. I’d see them live anytime.”
 The crowd at Dickens Friday night loved Oh Geronimo – pretty good band to move the beer a lot of beer.
There were more than 2,000 acts submitted with songs, ranging from hip-hop to rock to country to folk-indie, showcasing diverse talents from coast to coast to coast.
This year’s Searchlight competition had a big twist: the top four finalists vied for the grand prize on a prime-time televised broadcast on CBC-TV, competing in front of a live audience and our celebrity judging panel.
Musicians also had the chance to have their entries heard by a Searchlight industry panel, which included music programmers, journalists, label representatives, managers, radio/TV hosts, publicists and more.
But, in the end, one act was named Canada’s Searchlight winner. Desirée Dawson, from Surrey, B.C., was crowned Searchlight champion. She appeared at the CBC Music Festival in Toronto on Saturday, May 28, and will receive $25,000 from Yamaha Canada Music and a Career Booster Package from Canadian Musician magazine worth over $25,000.
 By Ray Rivers
June 3rd, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON.
Both the Liberals and Conservatives held national conventions recently and there was lots of news coming out of both. In Vancouver the Conservatives seemed to have taken a breath of fresh air as they brought the Harper-era to an end, and were even encouraged by their former leader to reflect on the future and not the past. Though this is the party which claims its historic past to include the title of Canada’s first government.
In fact, it was called the Liberal-Conservative party back then, and it became a little more liberal when a few members of the left-wing agrarian-based Progressive party forced the name change to Progressive Conservative in the 40’s. But then the PC party self-destructed in the 90’s and what was left of it later dissolved itself, and turned the corner sharply with a precipitated marriage to the right-wing Reform party. So it isn’t really the party of Sir John A or Diefenbaker or even Mulroney anymore.
 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets delegates at the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention Winnipeg Saturday, May 28, 2016. Was it a political party convention or a meeting of a movement? Macleans/John Woods But at least it’s still a political party. The Liberals left their convention in Winnipeg with a new constitution that has put an end to membership fees and memberships. You can register as a Liberal but not as a member. It appears that Liberals don’t want to belong to any club that would accept them as members. But that doesn’t mean the new Liberal movement doesn’t want your money, as anyone who has ever received an email from them will attest.
It all has to so with research which shows that the latest generation of mainstream Canadian adults don’t go in for that old membership routine, but love the idea of being in a movement. Besides the $10 membership fees cost more to administer than they brought in, and then there are all those tiresome volunteer hours and membership drives. And if membership fees were really about making money the other parties would be thinking, as the Tories briefly did, about a more realistic $25 a year – similar to what the NDP charge in Ontario.
Mr. Trudeau has been extremely successful, at least so far, in challenging conventional wisdom. Imagine winning an election by campaigning on welcoming refugees, deficit spending and higher taxes for the rich. What about the decision to allow those 300,000 Liberal non-member supporters the right to participate in choosing the next leader – which happened to be Trudeau. And didn’t he shock the world with the free world’s first gender-balanced Cabinet, despite the critics.
One of the most applauded and condemned election promises we’ll see implemented this election term is changing how we elect our government. Of course this initiative is damned by the Conservatives, because the first-past-the-post system works best for a party which can only win when there are electoral splits among the other parties at the polls. And changing the system is applauded by all of the the other political parties for exactly the same reason – to keep the Tories out of office.
Mr. Trudeau’s right hand woman on the issue, Democratic Reform Minister Maryam Monsef, has struck a committee to examine the facts on the options. One of those options will be proportional representation (PR), the most common democratic system in the rest of the free world. Under proportional representation some MP are elected to represent their ridings (as they are now) and the rest are appointed based on the percentage of the popular vote their party obtained in the last election.
These latter MPs are often referred to as list MPs since they are appointed from a list of candidates developed by the party based on their qualifications and loyalty to the party. Should that option be implemented, and it’s currently not the favourite among the PM and his brain trust, a PM Trudeau may have difficulty convincing Canadians that his list of non-riding MPs are even Liberals, since they will not be members. Everyone is still waiting to see how the non-Liberal senators will perform in the Senate.
 This is a political party. It is a picture of the Chinese communist party. Orderly. Can there be a party without members? Even in China and Cuba the communist parties have members. Except that in China one can’t just buy your way into the party with a membership fee – you have to be accomplished and worthy. In fact only one in sixteen Chinese who apply get qualified to be party members. Nevertheless there are almost 88 million communist party faithful there, almost three times Canada’s entire population.
But since almost all top government positions in China are staffed with party members, it just makes sense to try and get in the club. Now I’d have to call 88 million members a movement, even in China with its over billion souls. So it begs the question, as we reflect on our changing political scene, is that where our new PM is heading? One has to recall his one-time remarks a couple years ago about admiring the government of China.
Ray Rivers is an economist and author who writes weekly on federal and provincial issues, applying his 25 years of involvement with federal and provincial ministries. Rivers’ involvement in city matters led to his appointment as founding chair of Burlington’s Sustainable Development Committee. He was also a candidate in the 1995 provincial election
Background links:
Conservative Party – Conservative Convention – NDP Membership Fees –
Proportional Representation – Liberal Membership – Trudeau Liberals –
Trudeau and China –
By Staff
June 3rd, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident early in March was not identified in two police reports.
Police appear to have had second thoughts – release the name of the up to now unidentified driver.
The driver David Dren (21 years) of Burlington was charged with one count of Impaired Operation of a motor vehicle and one count of Over 80 Contrary to the Criminal Code.
Original accident report
Report of charges being laid 90 days later
By Pepper Parr
June 3, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
You remember Jennifer don’t you? The lady with the Fish and Chip Shop on Guelph Line – the one who got busted for putting a sign out by the road side to attract traffic?
 The one who got a visit from the Mayor who dropped by asking how he could help and then never following up.
Jennifer Soukup told the Gazette earlier this week that she was told by someone in the bylaw office that she would get a chance to talk about the by law when it is next reviewed – in 18 months – that’s what she was told.
She wasn’t going to wait.
She had been fined $180 for putting the sign out – but she didn’t have to pay it – next time they would enforce the penalty.
She then did her homework and learned that she was allowed to put a sign out but only for a very specific amount of time – 45 days in each year and never for more than two weeks at a time.
It will cost her $250 to rent the sign – and no one is going to miss that sign.
There is a $90 fee to put the sign out – that’s included in the in the $250
What we are seeing is a young, energetic innovative entrepreneur who wants to run a successful and profitable business.
As I watched her serve her customers I notices that the price for the take out came in at around the $20 range. When I have lunch, which I do often, the bill comes in at around $12.
 $750 to keep this sign up for 45 days – is it worth it? Jennifer has to sell a lot of meals – assuming average price of $15 dollars – she is going to have to sell 50 meals and give every penny to the sign company to pay for the sign that she can put up for a total of 45 days.
Does this mean every retailer should be able to put out whatever they want in the way of signs? No, the public isn’t going to put up with that.
But there has to be an easier way to let merchants advertise and let their clients know where they are – for more than 45 days of the year.
Meanwhile Soukup is doing fine – she just wants to ensure that the money she spends promote her business and doesn’t line the city’s coffers.
By Staff
June 3, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Member of Parliament for Burlington rose to speak on the House of Commons about the matter of electoral reform – changes to be made in the way Canadians elect their Members of Parliament.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to participate in this important and historic debate on the establishment of a special all-party committee on electoral reform. This is an issue that affects all Canadians, and I am glad to see such strong principles proposed in the amended motion to guide this committee’s study.
I wish to spend my time today discussing some of the changes to our electoral system that have been introduced over the past century; changes that at the time were seen as rather dramatic alterations to our system.
Many of these reforms, however, are now looked back upon by Canadians as moments of true progress in the history of our great democracy.
 Boundary for the constituency of Burlington The electoral system we have today is the product of almost 150 years of evolution. The election we saw in October was quite different from elections upon Confederation, when only a fraction of Canadians, namely land-owning men, had a say in our democratic institution.
Our government’s pledge to replace the first past the post system is just another step in this historical evolution to a more inclusive, efficient, and stronger electoral system for all Canadians.
Allow me to begin in 1920, over a half century after Confederation.
After 50 years of elections in this country, Parliament established the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer. It was not until 1927 that the Chief Electoral Officer was appointed by the House and not the government. These were seen as quite major changes at the time, but they are ones we can all look back on, knowing they have helped lead to nearly a century of trusted and independent electoral administration in this country.
It was not until 1964, nearly a full century after Confederation, that Parliament introduced independent electoral district boundary commissions to draw riding boundaries, bringing an end to gerrymandering. Prior to this, the government could simply decide who got to vote where, with little recourse for individuals, communities, or opposition parties. This is another instance of what was once proclaimed to be a fundamental change to our electoral system. In hindsight, we see that this reform has helped build trust among Canadians that our electoral system has integrity, that it is fair, and that all communities have a voice.
 Karina Gould accepting congratulations from former MP Mike Wallace the night of the last federal election. In our ever-evolving system, parties only began registering with Elections Canada in 1970, and they only became subject to election spending limits in 1974. After a century of elections, Parliament significantly altered our politics by removing the role of big money in our elections. I truly believe our democracy is stronger because of that, but once again, it was an area of contentious debate at the time. Today, the idea of unlimited spending in an election would be quickly dismissed by Canadians as a barrier to the level playing field we hold dear for free and fair elections. We are proud that our elections are based on ideas and debate, and not simply dollars.
I have spoken briefly of some reforms to the electoral system itself, but I would like to turn now to the increasing franchise over the years; a clear example of how far our electoral system has progressed since Confederation.
Allow me to return back to the 1920s, when elections in this country were decentralized and run under a hodgepodge of provincial statues.
In the 1920s, the federal legislation deferred to the provinces in allowing disqualifications on the right to vote for “reasons of race”. This provision worked to disqualify many Canadians, including those of Chinese, Japanese, and Ukrainian descent, among others. However, it was not until 1948 that Parliament deleted references to disqualification on the basis of race. It was not until 1950 that Parliament allowed the Inuit the right to vote, and it was not until 1960 that Parliament allowed first nation people the right to vote without forcing them to give up their status or home on a reserve.
Expanding the franchise was divisive at the time. Today, however, we look back and simply wonder what took Parliament so long to recognize the rights of all Canadians in exercising their vote.
 Karina Gould listening to a constituent. Women were not able to vote until legislative changes were enacted in 1918.
Those individuals living in poor houses or the homeless were not able to vote until 1929. War objectors were not able to vote between 1938 and 1955.
It was only in 1970 that the voting age was lowered to 18 from 21.
What I am trying to get at is that, when we reflect on these developments without the partisan frames in which they were originally debated, we see reforms that uphold and correspond to our values as Canadians; we see reforms that uphold the rights of all Canadians; and we see reforms that strengthen the bond between the people and the government and that instill trust that the government is formed by the true democratic will of all Canadians.
It is almost incomprehensible that we could ever exclude a full 50% of society from the franchise, that we could exclude indigenous peoples, ethnocultural minority groups, and those who dared to express different beliefs from those of the government of the day. While I am certainly not proud of the history of disenfranchisement in Canada’s electoral history, I am truly proud of how far our democracy has evolved into a more inclusive system for all Canadians.
Electoral reform is the next step in this evolution toward a more inclusive system. We can build a better system that provides a stronger link between the democratic will of Canadians and the election results, one that motivates Canadians to take part, one that reflects our collective values of fairness, inclusiveness, gender equity, openness, and mutual respect. To get there, the process leading to reform must also embody these values.
Parliamentarians will need to set aside partisan interests and engage in a thoughtful and substantive dialogue with each other and with citizens.
 Karina Gould during the federal election debates in Burlington. I strongly believe that stepping away from the first past the post system and embracing a new system that can reflect these values and the values articulated in this amended motion would be another milestone in the history of Canada’s elections. I suspect future generations will look back at the reforms proposed in this motion and reflect on them, as I have done today with past reforms. I suspect they will note this is yet another example of how our electoral system has evolved to further increase the inclusion of all peoples, to better reflect the will of voters and the representation of the House, and to work toward a system that produces a House that looks more and more like the faces of Canadians.
I hope all members will join me and support the creation of this committee.
By Staff
June 3, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Bandits tried to shake off last week’s heartbreaking extra inning loss. At least, that was the hope. The reality was a 12-1 blowout delivered by Guelph, sending the Bandits (1-6) back to the drawing board on a three-game losing streak.
 Bandits owner Scott Robertson – in full array, wonders if taking a bat in his hands will help the team. The highlights were few and far between for the Bandits; the Royals dominated with a five run inning in the second that included a grand slam by Chandler McLaren.
Burlington starter Liam Munshi (0-1) struggled, giving up seven runs in 1.1 innings of work. The right hander gave up home runs to Guelph’s Keegan Marsden.
The Bandits collected just four hits in the game. The Guelph Royals pounded out 10 base knocks – five of them for extra bases.
Guelph’s starter Richard Gill took home the win for the Royals going 7.0 innings only allowing four hits and one earned run.
The Bandits are now 1-6
UPCOMING GAMES
Friday, June 3rd
London at Hamilton; 7:30 PM
Toronto at Brantford; 8:00 PM
Saturday, June 4th
Hamilton at Burlington; 1:05 PM (Double Header)
Kitchener at Guelph; 1:00 PM
Brantford at Barrie; 7:00 PM
 By Staff
June 3, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Doug Mays, award winning artist, will be demonstrating his watercolour techniques at Gallery [2] on June 8th from 7pm to 9pm.
 There will be a Q&A session.
Light refreshments will be served. Tickets: $15. Contact Gallery 2 on their website at www.gallery2burlington.com
 Doug Mays Gallery 2 is one of a couple of galleries that have taken space yards away from the Royal Botanical Gardens on Spring Garden Road. They are almost a bit of an outpost –away from the downtown core – not part of the Village Square that was once the home, the equicentre for local artists, in Burlington
They are part of the Art in Action crowd, a group that found and felt that the Art Gallery of Burlington, formerly the Burlington Art Centre, was not meeting their needs.
The Seaton Gallery – stained glass – is right next door.
By Staff
June 3, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Late last night the police released a follow up report on a motor vehicle accident that took place early in March.
Basically a car went off the road at the intersection of Kerns Road and North Service Road. The collision left one man with serious head injuries while a second male escaped with bruises and concussion. There was also a significant amount of damage caused to a roadside guide rail that resulted in a lengthy road closure.
 It was around 4:00 am in the morning. Someone overshot the stop sign, crashed into the barrier at the intersection and ended up in a patch of land. A stupid accident which police at the time said speed and alcohol were suspected. Charges laid – no names released – why? Following a protracted investigation, a 22-year old Burlington male has now been charged with two offences – Impaired Operation and Over 80 contrary to the Criminal Code.
No further details regarding the charged individual will be released.
In the March media release the following information was given:
Halton Regional Police Service is investigating a serious single motor vehicle collision that occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning leaving a Burlington man in critical condition.
Shortly before 4:00am Saturday March 12th a black VW Golf was travelling south on Kerns Road in the City of Burlington. At the intersection with North Service Road, the vehicle failed to stop or to negotiate the turn and continued through the guard rail at the south edge of North Service Road, coming to rest in the sunken area between North Service Road and Highway 403.
The male driver of the Golf, a 22-year old Burlington male, sustained serious injuries and was transported to Hamilton general Hospital where his condition is described as critical. His male passenger escaped with minor injuries.
Due to the serious nature of the incident, the Collision Reconstruction Unit attended and assumed responsibility for the investigation.
At this stage speed and alcohol are being considered as factors.
Details of the vehicle occupants are not being released.
It’s pretty clear someone doesn’t want their name in the paper – must be some heavy legal talent leaning on someone.
It’s a Traffic Court offence.
By Staff
June 2, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service, in conjunction with Halton Women’s Place report a very successful “Dress for Success” Campaign.
Last April members of the Halton Regional Police Domestic Violence Investigative Unit launched a clothing drive to gather new and gently used professional attire to donate to Halton Women’s Place. The goal was provide clients of the shelter with attire suitable to allow the women to feel confident and to thrive in a professional environment.
The campaign concluded May 31 and was incredibly successful with over 122 large size bags of new and gently used items donated.
 Staff from Halton Women’ Place and the Halton Police Service Domestic violence unit [pose with some of the clothing that was donated. Carm Bozzo, Development Manager at Halton Women’s Place said: “Halton Women’s Place is so very grateful for the Halton Regional Police Services’ campaign of collecting clothing and accessories for the month of May for our clients. The Domestic Violence Unit has worked so hard and did a fabulous job with this campaign. We were happily overwhelmed with the generosity of this community. Our clients were also very overwhelmed and so grateful for the incredible items that they received. As well, we are always happy to share our excess donations to organizations like Compassion Society and therefore more and more individuals are helped”.
Detective Donna Whittaker from the Domestic Violence Investigative Unit proposed and managed the clothing drive. She noted that the campaign was a huge success and a positive experience for her and members of the unit. “Halton is an amazing community full of kind, generous people and the response to this campaign has been absolutely exceptional. We are all so appreciative of the community’s generosity and support of this worthwhile initiative. I am confident the donations received from this campaign will have a positive impact on many, many women who can now “Dress for Success”. Thank you to everyone who donated or were otherwise involved in this campaign. “
By Staff
June 2nd, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Municipalities across Ontario are asking the province to reform the Ontario Municipal Board, and severely limit its power over local planning decisions. More than 80 municipal councils have passed resolutions seeking OMB reform, including Toronto, Markham, Guelph, Newmarket, York Region, and Oakville.
 Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward thinks the Ontario Municipal Board should be abolished – it was put in place years ago for good reasons – do those reasons no longer matter? Burlington is not one of them.
The resolution began in Aurora and asks the province to “limit the jurisdiction of the OMB to questions of law or process” and to “require the OMB to uphold any planning decisions of Municipal Councils unless they are contrary to the processes and rules set out in legislation.”
Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward supports this kind of change
A resolution passed by Oakville council asks the province to: exclude the board from hearing appeals of applications for amendments to provincially approved official plans; require the OMB to show deference to the decisions of local councils subject only to the test of reasonableness; and require the board, as an appellate body, to implement the concept of precedent in its decisions.
The province has said it will look into OMB reform this year.
In May, Meed Ward joined over 100 municipal representatives (the only one from Burlington) at a Municipal Summit on OMB Reform. The consensus from the Summit was to request that the province forbid any appeals to the OMB of local Official Plans that have already been approved by the Province. This would dramatically reduce the number of appeals, save time and money, and free up time for the OMB to deal with other matters within its jurisdiction in a timely fashion.
 Councillor Jack Dennison appealed a Committee of Adjustment decision that went against his request to sever his property. The Ontario Municipal Board sided with Dennison and allowed him to sever. Another recommendation arising from the Summit was to remove appeals to the OMB for Committee of Adjustment decisions on minor variances, and instead direct local councils to create an appeal body or let the local city council be the final appeal body (which would be more time and cost effective).
These and other recommendations from the Summit will be forwarded to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the province. A representative from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario attended the summit, and AMO will discuss OMB reform at its annual conference in August.
Meed Ward said she “whole heartedly supports reform, and wouldn’t miss the OMB if it were abolished.
The OMB has become, in effect, the local planning departments for municipalities, creating duplication of services, overriding decisions of locally elected councils by an unelected tribunal, and costing hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars to defend Official Plans that have already been approved by the province and conform to growth requirements. These costs, borne both by municipalities and the development industry, are built into taxes and into the cost of housing. OMB-driven municipal planning is expensive, wasteful, time-consuming and unaccountable, and must change.”
 The ADI development group is before the OMB not because they didn’t like the decision the city made but because the city did not make a decision within the required time frame. Meed Ward wants Burlington to join the call for a change and plans to introduce a moption at Council. When? She isn’t sure. “Hard to say anything about timing at this point. Would either be July or September.
Introducing this kind of motion in July just before the August break when a lot of people are away might not be the best time to go public with something like this.
Whichever, we will be hearing from Meed Ward on the role the Ontario Municipal Board should play in the affairs of the city in the not too distant future.
By Staff
June 1, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
A local green house has announced the Great Tomato Race – where contestants can grow their biggest tomato and enter it into the race to win a grand prize $5,000 TERRA gift card!
 This contest is open to gardeners of all skill levels.
Way back in the 1930’s, when times were tough, tough – The Mortgage Lifter Tomato was developed by a gardener who planted the four biggest tomato varieties he knew and crossed one with pollen from the other three. He did this for six seasons and created a variety that produced immense, tasty fruit. He sold the plants for $1 apiece and paid off his $6000 mortgage in 6 years.
 Will the winner of the contest bring in a tomato this big? TERRA ran this kind of a promotion 20 years ago and felt that it was time to let people get used to the idea of growing some of their own fruit and vegetables.
Climate change is going to have an even bigger impact on the way we live our lives. TERRA believes Ontario can expect to see much more of its produce gown locally.
Contestants can sign up for the Great Tomato Race which started May 14th and ends July 15th
Those entering the contest will be invited to weigh their tomatoes over three Saturday’s in August. The prizing is as follows:
– One Grand Prize of a $5,000 TERRA Gift Card
– One 2nd place prize of a Margherita Wood Pizza Oven ($2,499.99 Value)
– Five third place prizes of a Broil King BBQ one winner per store ($949.99 value)
TERRA decided to run this contest to kick start the excitement around growing your own food this summer with hopes it will lead to increased healthy lifestyles and will generate new interest for contestants and families to get out in the garden and grow your own!
 This is one big tomato! Contestants can visit their local TERRA to sign up for the Great Tomato Race
TERRA has locations in: Burlington, Hamilton, Milton and Waterdown. There is also a location in Vaughan.
 By Staff
May 30th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
Detectives from the Halton Regional Police Service Child Abuse and Sexual Assault (CASA) Unit have charged a Burlington man, Joseph Robert Angel (25 years of age) in connection with two separate sexual assaults committed on May 24, 2016.
The two incidents took place at the Longo’s grocery store located at 1225 Fairview Street in Burlington between 8:45pm and 9:30pm.
Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to contact Detective Constable Matt Cunnington at 905-825-4747 ext. 8978 or Detective Constable Alanda Prescod at 905-825-4747 ext. 8977 of the of the Halton Regional Police Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit, or Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222 TIPS, or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes)
By Pepper Parr
June 1st, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Not quite sure what this means but the Mayors of Burlington, Ontario and Apeldoorn, Holland signed an Expression of Interest today at Burlington City Hall to promote economic development opportunities between the two cities.
In a media release city hall said an Expression of Interest focuses on advancing potential partnerships in three specific areas, including:
• Clean technology sector development;
• Trade partnerships;
• an exchange program for post-secondary students.
The word that matters here is “potential” for that is about all we have seen in terms of new development in the city.
The Burlington Economic Development Corporation will lead discussions on behalf of the City of Burlington.
 Apeldoorn Mayor John Berends and Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring “expressing an interest” in each other Mayor Goldring said: “Based on conversations during our visit to Apeldoorn last spring, as well as meetings this week, we have agreed on three specific areas of opportunity we are looking to pursue. Apeldoorn is a natural economic partner due to our twinning agreement, as well as its prominent clean technology sector as it relates to Burlington’s Community Energy Plan.”
The Mayor went on to say that: “Today’s signing furthers the twinning agreement established between the cities of Apeldoorn, the Netherlands and Burlington, Canada on May 6, 2005. The twinning agreement states that the cities will explore economic development and new business opportunities.”
And that is about all the two cities have been able to do “explore”.
“Apeldoorn is interested in furthering business with Burlington,” said Mayor John Berends. “Several of our companies are interested in Canadian partnerships, especially in a city like Burlington where we have already established a good working relationship.”
There has been some relationship development between Apeldoorn and Burlington but just at a mid-management staff level. Rob Peachey, Manager Parks & Open Space in the Capital Works Department, was part of the delegation that went to Holland to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Holland and he said at that time that he expected to exchange ideas and processes with his peers in Holland, particularly as it related to parks and recreation.
Holland is a country where bicycles are a large part of the movement of people. Burlington is still struggling to get to the point where bicycles are more than a form of weekend recreation.
 The Economic Development Corporation shows land that is vacant and for sale. New Regional Court House is to be built on part of the property. Burlington’s Economic Development Corporation hasn’t had much in the way of real economic development to report on – they list future conferences on their web site and, we stand to be corrected, but there hasn’t been a new business of any size or significance brought to the city since the BEDC was reorganized and new management out in place.
Fresh Insights Consulting was created to do some market research for the local business community by MBA students from McMaster University and that operation appears to percolate nicely.
If the objectives and targets in the much touted Strategic Plan are to be met there is going to have to be something significant happen in the next 25 years, which is the length of the dream contained in that document.
Both the Economic Development Corporation and the city’s Strategic Plan appear to be pretty well reflected in the image on the BEC web site – lots of colour but pretty confusing looking.
 Image on the Economic Development corporation web site, while colourful, is confusing – reflecting that state of economic development in the city. Has there been any? The development taking place in Burlington is residential – with million dollar condos on Lakeshore Road and small residential on Fairview next to the GO station – plus the ADI development on Dundas and Sutton.
The ADI development on Lakeshore and Martha street is still being actively marketed and still working to get through the Ontario Municipal Board hearing that is due to come up for air sometime in June.
Hard to see where those high-tech, high paying jobs are going to come from – if they do arrive – there should be a places for people to live.
 By Staff
May 31st, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
On Sunday June 5, 2016 Appleby Line will be closed from Fairview to New Street from noon to 6 p.m. for the “Appleby Line Street Festival” affecting detours on routes 4, 10 and 20.
Bus stops within the road closure area will be bagged. For service, please proceed to the Appleby GO station or bus stops along New Street.
By Staff
May 31st, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
On Sunday June 5, 2016 Appleby Line will be closed from Fairview to New Street from noon to 6 p.m. for the “Appleby Line Street Festival” affecting detours on routes 4, 10 and 20.
Bus stops within the road closure area will be bagged. For service, please proceed to the Appleby GO station or bus stops along New Street.
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