 By Staff
September 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The Burlington Community Foundation released the different aid packages that will be available and the processes they expect to follow. The information was released at a media event at Central Arena Wednesday morning.
What types of funds are available to victims?
The BCF Flood Disaster Relief Committee has identified two types of financial assistance for flood victims:
1. Advance funds to help with costs associated with emergency living expenses
2. Assistance for Losses and Damages for more complex requirements
What are the details of the Advance funds?
Advance funds of up to $1,000 will be made available to victims who have no insurance coverage for emergency additional living expenses. Eligible costs are: evacuation costs, accommodation and meals, and essential clothing.
How do I make an Advance funds claim?
Applicants are asked to complete an Advance Funds Claims Package that includes filling out a form, attaching receipts, and providing all requested information. The package must be submitted to the BCF Flood Disaster Relief Committee at Burlington Community Foundation, 3380 South Service Road, Unit 107, Burlington, Ontario, L7N 3J5 by October 4, 2014.
 The form can be found at www.burlingtonfoundation.org or residents can call 905 639 0744 ext.223 to arrange for an Advance Claims Package to be mailed, picked up or delivered. Our Committee is committed to assisting people in completing the form to expedite the claims process if that is requested.
Advance funding is being made available through generous community donations received from Burlington friends, neighbours, businesses and organizations.
How long will it take to receive Advance funding?
The Committee will work quickly to ensure these funds begin to be disbursed as rapidly as possible, and plans to start approving funds by September 15, 2014.
What are the details of the Assistance for Losses and Damages funding?
The Assistance for Losses and Damages funding is designed to assist victims in greatest need with more extensive losses and damages, and who were either uninsured or underinsured for their building and/or contents. Homeowners and tenants, small businesses, non-profit organizations and farms can apply. Applicants will be required to fill out a more complete form that will be made available at www.burlingtonfoundation.org by September 30th. At that time, more information outlining what expenses are eligible will also be provided.
How much money will victims receive?
The amount of funding provided depends on two variables – how much money is raised in the community during our fundraising campaign and whether the City of Burlington’s application to the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) for 2 to 1 funding is approved.
It is important to note that throughout our fundraising campaign the City and our MPPs will be communicating with the province on the status of the ODRAP application.
The Committee will review status of the 100 day community fundraising campaign on October 4th, at which time they expect to be in a position to determine how much funding is currently available to provide some further financial assistance to those in greatest need. Victims will be asked to submit an Application for Assistance for Losses and Damages funding with a specified deadline date provided. This process is more complete and will take more time. It requires the services of an insurance adjuster who will assist in determining the level of damage and relief. The claims process will adhere to ODRAP guidelines to ensure our process meets ODRAP’s terms and conditions.
How will the BCF Flood Disaster Relief Committee determine eligibility for Assistance for Losses and Damages funding?
The Committee will work to provide some financial assistance to victims in greatest need and will work closely with the insurance adjuster to determine and communicate the process, timelines for review and decisions on funds provided.
Who is the insurance adjuster?
Following ODRAP guidelines, the Committee is currently requesting three quotes from reputable and qualified insurance adjusting companies. We expect to make a decision by September 30th.
How often will the Committee communicate to flood victims, and the community at-large, to provide updates and new information?
The Committee is committed to communicating regularly to flood victims and community members. We will post updates on the BCF Flood Relief website at www.burlingtonfoundation.org every two weeks, or more frequently when important information becomes available.
By Pepper Parr
September 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
“We need money and we need it now” was the way local disaster fund chair Ron Foxcroft put it to an audience of about 50 people at the Central arena Wednesday morning.
 Front of the Burlington Community Foundation web site explains what they are all about. Foxcroft, chair of the Disaster Relief Fund that is raising the funds made it clear to anyone in the room that the only thing that mattered was raising the $2 million target. If we don’t raise those dollars there will not be any money to hand out.
 Foxcroft, who is loquacious when there is a microphone in front of him, explained just how “simply unheard of” the flood was for the city. Toronto’s flood was 100 mm, Hurricane Hazel was 121 Burlington got 191 mm of rain in a couple of hours.
Mayor Goldring said there were now 3100 homes flooded to date as well as a number of businesses.
Foxcroft has set a high bar to get over; he wants the bulk of that $2 million target on the table by October 4th. He calls it his hundred day campaign which takes him to the middle of December but the bulk of that money is needed now.
 Disaster Relief Fund chair Ron Foxcroft will drive the fund raising part of the program. Want to see the biggest part of the $2 million in the barn by October 4 – gives himself 100 days to complete the job. Foxcroft estimates that the loss on the residential side is $83 million with an additional $10 million in commercial operations.
“Something between 10% and 20% of the residential damage is uninsured –which is $8 to $16 million dollars. “We aren’t going to be able to raise that much money but the target of $2 million to be raised locally is more than do-able and Foxcroft is setting out to make it happen.
We will be knocking on some hard doors in the days ahead.
Foxcroft reported that there was now $350,000 in donations. There is still a lot of money raised by small groups that is working its way to the Disaster Fund bank account that is being managed by the United Way.
Foxcroft said that something between 400 and 500 people are going to need help; he hoped there would be enough to help all of them.
The Rotary had 60 volunteers out at Ribfest. Their official number has not been released but the number of $40,000 plus was mentioned.
Colleen Mulholland, Rick Goldring and Mike Wallace sent the $1000 Exgratia grant they received from the Region along to the disaster fund. Foxcroft passed along the $20 he won in a Tiger Cats, Argonauts bet – if that target is to be met Foxcroft is going to have to make bigger bets.
Some people found themselves wondering why nothing was happening. Foxcroft explained that he was moving quickly on the raising of funds locally. Mayor Goldring added that the Burlington applications are moving at the “speed of light” compared to what other municipalities have experienced in the past.
The Disaster Relief Committee is not just about raising money – it is about distributing funds to people who need the help.
There will be two aid packages.
One with an upper limit of $1000 to cover immediate essential such as paying for accommodation because people cannot live in their homes.
Some people lost all their clothing. This aid package is for immediate needs.
Funds for this $1000 aid package will be available as early as September 15.
 Burlington Community Foundation president Colleen Mulholland has been at the wheel of the organizational effort to get a process in place that will raise funds and then distribute those funds – soon. The second package is for those people who were uninsured or under-insured and is quite a bit more complex and will require more paper work “and it will” explained BCF president Colleen Mulholland “take more time”
“There are procedures and protocols within the ODRAP program that we are going to comply with” she said. “We are not going to get caught off side on this.”
The forms and procedures for both aid packages will be on the BCF web site.
 The level of desperation for some was evident when a man from the audience said he had no insurance – this is the fourth flood we have experienced in a year and a half. “What are we supposed to do” he said, “it makes you want to cry”.
Indeed it does – and on Wednesday morning there were no hard answers for anyone. There weren’t even promises – there were processes.
This is not going to be easy for anyone. The first part is to raise funds locally and then press the province to come through with what the existing legislation does permit. Burlington just has to convince the bureaucrats that we need their help.
The information people will need, will be on the Burlington Community web site September 4th.
 By Pepper
September 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Part 3 of 3
I had occasion to take the GO train the day before Ribfest started and bumped into an old university friend who was once in the fund raising business in a big way. He got bought out by a large bank (go figure that one) and he moved on to other endeavours. I agreed not to identify the individual because he has a high public profile in the academic world.
He had some word comments on Burlington’s disaster experience. “It may be too late for Burlington to raise the funds they need” he said. The city has failed to adequately tell its story and without a story the wallets just don’t open. Giving money to people who need help is an emotional thing – raise the emotions and you raise the funds.
“And” he added “there has to be a consistent public voice. It has to be daily, the community leader – and it really doesn’t matter who that leader is – just as long as there is one the public can identify with – has to be out there daily with new information giving people the re-assurance they need.
“Focus on the activity, not on the outcomes and empower people to make decisions and say no to something they don’t feel is right” he said . “What is important in any fund raising initiative is determining who is at the table. Based on what I’ve seen there doesn’t appear to be all that much in the way of “grass roots” involvement. You seem to have all the established groups running the show” the source added. He noted that the Red Cross was in the field very quickly – but asked – where was the Salvation Army?
“There is no place for the 9-5 mind set when raising funds for disaster relief and the effort has to involve the grass roots” said this source.
The biggest task is telling the story – the people impacted have stories to tell – and those stories matter.
 Ron Foxcroft who can now walk around town with his head held high after the squeaker of a score in the annual Labour Day CFL game between Toronto and Hamilton – the Tiger cats took it by a point, tells the story of “a lady at the game, single mom, with a son in a wheel chair, Spinal Bifida since birth, handed my son Dave $10. She said, this is for the Burlington Flood Relief Victims. HOLY COW.”
Those are the stories that move people to dig deeper.
“I think Burlington’s city council is way outside their comfort zone with this one” said the former fund raiser. “My observation is that they are more involved in being self-congratulatory – how long are they going to talk about being the best mid-size city in Canada? Don’t get me wrong – Burlington is a fine city – it just doesn’t have all that much in the way of an identity which is why they need other organizations to define them.”
What has become evident to many is the lack of a Standing Committee with procedures in place ready to move in fifteen minutes into the community.
 There are people calling MPP Eleanor McMahon a “rock star” which would horrify her – but her contribution to the getting help from the province has been superb. There has been some really great efforts by some people. Burlington’s MPP, Eleanor McMahon is being referred by people as a “rock star” with her consistent performance. At times it seemed as if she was everywhere. She has been tireless in her work at the provincial level – prodding the government she is a part of to deliver for the city. Publicly McMahon uses all the right words; privately she can be very direct and tart.
McMahon has that public touch – we saw it during the provincial election that brought her to public office and we are seeing it now as she works to get people the help people need. McMahon appears to believe that government is there to help people and if she has anything to do with it – government is going to deliver.
My fund raising source says “Burlington has less than 60 days to get this done and it may already be too late to capture the public’s imagination and emotions.
Ron Foxcroft tends to concur – “We have to drive this and we don’t have a lot of time” he said. This is going to be a private sector initiative and I am confident that the people who can help in a big way – will help in a big way. Great comment, but more than 30 days after the flood there was a total in the United Way account of $150,900 – which is a long, long way from the $2 million that is said to be needed.
There was the suggestion that the fund raising arm get in touch with Fortino’s and see if they would use their cash registers as a collection point. In the past Fortino’s has been the focal point for other fund raising efforts and while those may have been corporate decisions – Fortino’s is a franchise operation where the owners have a strong local identification.
Imagine if you were to be standing there with your wallet in your hand ready to pay for the groceries and the cashier asked if you would like to put a twoonie into the Disaster Relief fund? Do you know how many people walk through those cash registers? Of course you do – you are often one of the people in line waiting to pay for the food.
That idea was floated last Wednesday – waiting to hear an announcement.
Wednesday morning there will be a media event that will focus on the fund raising part of the drive and explain the process and procedures that will be in place for those who wish to apply for financial support.
Let’s see what the province has to say to the people of Burlington.
Part 1 of 3
Part 2 of 3
 By Pepper Parr
September 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Part 1 of 3 parts
The rain just poured.
The city manager was away for what was a long weekend for everyone; Pat Moyle didn’t learn about how bad things were until he went into town the following day – the Tuesday and learned that Burlington was in the middle of a disaster much bigger than the December ice storm.
He was at his cottage celebrating his Father’s the 90th birthday; within hours he was on his way back to Burlington – in a hurry.
People in Burlington were stunned. There was basically nothing in the way of communication from the city until well into Tuesday. People were talking to people; those in wards four and five had been through this before, some more than once before – but much of the rest of the city had not experienced this kind of weather.
Aldershot was basically spared while the council member for Ward 3 made the very inconsiderate remark that he had some “repeat customers”
Councillor Meed Ward – ward 2 said later that there was very little damage in her ward – which didn’t stop her from getting things going, making phone calls and looking for ways to help out.
 By the end of Tuesday it was clear that the city was in the middle of a serious disaster. CHCH television in Hamilton took up the story and there was a lot of tweeting – but if you’re not part of a tweet string – you’re out of the loop. There was no central source of information.
The Region began promoting their 311 service at which people could report the extent of the damage to their homes. This was the collecting of information – which was critical data, the city needed to quantify the damage in order to make its case for support to the province – but none of that meant all that much to the people whose basements were under water and people were still in that “stunned” stage with water as high as their knees.
By Wednesday the Red Cross had people out on the street trying to get a sense as to just how bad the damage was. Before they were done their work they had knocked on more than 10,000 doors
 The Samaritan’s Purse was first out into the community helping. They understood what disasters were all about – they came to Burlington to help. Meanwhile the Samaritan’s Purse had people in homes working at cleaning up the mess. By the end of the first week they had restored more than 35 homes.
The city held a press conference – more for TV than anything and then held a community meeting in one of the harder hit parts of town. That event was exceptionally emotional and very uncomfortable for those from the Region. Regional chair Gary Carr is reported to have not wanted to even attend the event.
Mayor Goldring was exceptional at this event. The compassion people needed was there; the mayor, who was also flooded, listened and responded in a way that few have seen in him before. Deep down he is a bit of a softy – and that was what people needed at that point.
City hall was scrambling to determine what they could do. They knew a little about the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) which has two parts; funds made available to a municipality for damage done and funds made available to individuals. Burlington put in a request for funds as a result of the December ice storm – no money from the province on that one yet.
The public part of the ODRAP program requires a municipality to create a local Disaster Relief Committee. It took Burlington close to a month to get that committee in place. The city first had to pass a motion at Council asking the province to declare the city a disaster area. That happened August 14th – ten days after the flood.
 The early objective was to tell the stories as widely pas possible using every media available. A T-shirt was as good as a television screen The province has yet to actually declare Burlington a disaster area. What was evident to thousands of people in the city, wasn’t as cut and dried (no pun intended) to the province.
Burlington had gone after the public part of the program for the winter ice storm; they have yet to see any of that money. Getting money that would go into the hands of people harmed by the disaster was something city hall was not up to speed on.
Mayor Goldring then began to reach out to community partners for the help needed. He touched the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) to take on the leadership role of creating the local Disaster Relief committee. BCF president Colleen Mulholland took the lead on that even through her own home had been badly flooded.
It took a little longer than many expected to get the basics of the Disaster Relief Committee in place and name a chair – that was supposed to happen on the 27th of August but got pushed back a day. All the public saw was a terse announcement naming Ron Foxcroft as the chair.
Foxcroft was to lead the fund raising side while former city manager Tim Dobbie was to handle the dispersement of the funds that were raised.
Goldring got on to the Burlington/Hamilton United Way and asked them to accept donations for the Disaster Relief fund. Newly appointed United Way head honcho Jeff Valentin, took on that challenge and had a portion of the United Way website set up to receive donations.
Problem was that the flood restricted itself to water and sewage – there wasn’t that much money flowing to the fund even though there were several large donations in the first few days. Newalta stepped up very quickly with $10,000 and the BCF put $15,000 of their money on the table to which CUPE added $10,000.
Before the start of the Labour Day weekend there was just over $150,000 in the account – to be fair there is thousands of dollars from different groups working its way to the account.
 A Rotarian stacks the buckets that were used during Ribfest to hustle as much as possible from a potential audience of 150,000 + Goldring then reached out to Linda Davies, president of the Lakeshore Rotary – and asked if they would use Ribfest as a fund raising event. Davies got on the telephone and within hours had a buy in from all four Burlington Rotary organizations and then displayed the plastic buckets that would be used to collect twoonies and paper money, if people were so inclined, at the Ribfest kick off.
Things were coming together very well on the fund raising side – at least the potential is there for all to see. The proof of course is in the pudding and we’ve not seen that yet.
Part 2 of 3 parts
Part 3 of 3 parts
 By Pepper Parr September 2, 2014 BURLINGTON, ON Wow! Do you know what they did over on Elwood Street last Monday?
 Glenn Nicholson, the man on Elwood who came up with the idea of holding a street event to raise some money for the local Disaster Relief fund. His team brought in more than $20,000. They raised 20 big ones – $20,000. That is a truly amazing number and one that Ron Foxcroft chair of the local Disaster Relief Committee is going to have to bust his buns to better. Foxcroft will bring in more money – he has a bigger field to work – but relatively Glenn Nicholson, the guy that got the Elwood Up the Creek event off the ground. Nicholson is the kind of leader that is quick to point out that the $20,000 number wouldn’t have happened without a lot of help – and that is certainly true . But those volunteers would not have had a chance to come forward if Glenn Nicholson had not first stepped up. Great work. Nicholson pointed out that the amount of money that gets to the Disaster fund might be a little less than $20,000. “We have a few invoices that haven’t come in yet – the insurance bill and the cost of the T-shirts.” But still – $20,000 is a lot of hot dogs.
 By Pepper Parr
September 2, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
He`s running for office and tackling a major problem in ward 5 – and he`s letting people know there are solutions to the problem – but the city has to take action and do so now – to solve a serious problem.
Should James Smith take the Ward 5 seat from incumbent Paul Sharman – we now know what his first act is going to be at the first Development and Infrastructure Standing Committee meeting.
In prepared remarks Candidate for Burlington’s Ward 5 in the October 27th Municipal Election, James Smith, addressed the need for immediate solutions required for Burlington’s neighborhood’s that have ongoing flooding and sewage back-up issues.
 Ward 5 candidate James Smith believes floods like this can be prevented. Smith asks and answers two questions: “How do we fix this problem?” and “How do we pay for it”?
For the first time during this devastating flood, someone has said publicly what could be done and how it would be paid for. The citizens of this city have not heard a word from city hall nor the Regional offices as to what could be done.
Smith proposes a ten point plan that puts the city to work immediately for those affected by the August 4th and previous floods. “The city”, he says “has allowed this problem to go unresolved for far too long. We need action now!”
Smith maintains part of the issue is administrative. “Some of the answers were made known to council as far back as 2007 in a report: Understanding Storm-water and Residential Flooding & Proposed Actions & Strategie s, July 2007– which has yet to be fully acted upon.”
Letting reports sit and collect dust has to end, said Smith. “As a City Council we either act, or we specifically and publicly choose to reject staff recommendations. Having problems languish is no solution. Burlington needs a protocol for not letting staff reports and recommendations sit and gather dust.”
Smith points out that in the July 2007 report there were two reasons, for basement flooding due to sewage backup, identified: downspouts and weeping tile connection to sanitary sewer lines. “These two problems should be our first priority.”
Smith’s ten points address the problem. “This council and the current Ward 5 Councillor have allowed this to be neglected.” Smith doesn’t mention the fact that the current Mayor represented ward 5 prior to 2006.
Smith addresses how we pay for these actions. “Many people have asked, as I’m presenting these ideas: How do we pay for them? Money now allocated in development accounts must be re-allocated to solve this problem and, he adds money budgeted for the roads should be spent on this urgent need.”
 James Smith, on the left, led the Friends of Freeman Station in saving the building from a scrap heap. He sits with the Freeman five, the people that are leading the restoration of the building on Fairview next to the fire station Smith also points out “the city presently has more than twenty million dollars budgeted for rebuilding North Service Road and the Walkers Line intersection: this money was allocated to allow for IKEA to move to the area; that move isn’t going to take place -, spend this money now helping those affected by the flood.
The following is Smith’s ten-point action plan for the city and the Region of Halton to fix the flooding problem in Burlington neighborhoods:
Smith sets out immediate plans and longer term plans. His immediate actions are:
1: The Region of Halton and the City of Burlington must implement a program, fully paid for by the Region of Halton and the city of Burlington to disconnect foundation drains (weeping tiles) from the Sanitary Sewer System in the areas most frequently experiencing the problem of sewer backup.
2: The city has to make downspout disconnection mandatory. We know the areas worst affected, get the word out, and inspect property for non-compliance. Like foundation drain connections the Region of Halton and the City of Burlington have to pay for this program.
3: Add or enlarge Storm-water capacity and catch-basins where required and retrofit sanitary sewer access points to prevent storm water from entering the Sanitary sewer system and add sewer venting where required.
4: Re-write storm water management rules; Burlington has ignored provincial norms for decades. Specifically we need to bring top of bank and setback rules to provincial standards (or exceed them), reverse the city’s preference for burying creeks and creek channelization, forbid the construction of box culvert crossings of creeks, improve debris clearing of creeks, and forbid development upon, and the destruction of swales.
5: Enact a private property tree by-law. Trees can help retain storm water, and can prevent soil erosion reducing creek flow rates and reduce the harmful effects of storms. (As part of my volunteer activity, over the years, as a member of the Conserver Society, we lobbied against a number of plans by the City of Burlington that would have allowed the destruction of wood lots, channelizing of creeks and encroachment on setbacks of watercourses. If our group had not been successful in preventing the destruction of the Sheldon Creek Wood Lot, the damage from flooding on August 4th would have been much greater in my opinion). The City and the Region needs to also set a goal of increasing the area of our Tree canopy.
 Smith and other candidates,notably Ward 4 incumbent Jack Dennison, point to the wrong way to handle storm water. Longer term solutions:
1: Evaluate and improve Burlington’s emergency response systems and protocols. The events of August 4th are at least the second time this year the city was not up to the job of emergency management. We need a best practice solution to responding to crisis, and communicating with our citizens during a crisis.
2: Set a goal to reduce the area of impermeable surface in the city and the Region. Develop planning regulations that reduce the percentage of hard surfaces in all building permit applications, require greater on-site storm water retention and promote permeable paving systems and implement their use at all City and Regional facilities.
 Smith wants the city and the regional governments to pay for disconnecting downspouts and installing backwater valves and sump pumps in some of the city’s dwellings. 3: Better fund the Regional Conservation Authority and evaluate the uploading of Storm- water management to the Region of Halton
4: Have the Region of Halton Purchase and develop a 3D modeling platform in co- operation with the Colleges and Universities in the Region. This should be an open sourced platform and either housed in a regional theatre, or, better yet, as a mobile presentation kit that can be taken to public meetings. This system should allow for producing Digital Terrain Modeling of the Region, as well as populating this platform with Utilities, Geological, Geomorphological, Roads and Building Intelligent Modelling as well as important flora.
This system could be used in the Region as a visualization tool to study a variety of topics from proposed building projects to storm water management. Tools like this are now being used by some jurisdictions in the UK and Europe. A tool like this would greatly aid in finding solutions to flooding and sewer backup. As building permits are issued, more refined topographical information needs to be included in permits to limit negative storm water impact to neighbouring properties.
5: Evaluate less costly alternatives to traditional concrete sewer pipes (ie PVC), thereby reducing costs and freeing up capital for many of the ideas outlined here
The August 4th rains are a wake-up call on climate change, said Smith. The city, he said needs to take climate change more seriously and do a better job planning for extreme weather events, especially when it comes to rezoning and storm-water management.”
 Everyone wears a smile at the signing of an agreement between the city and the Friends of Freeman Station – getting to this point was not made easy by a majority of city council. James Smith is second from the left. Smith understands there may be legislative difficulties in implementing new spending priorities in an election cycle. “I’m urging Burlington City Council to adopt my five short term actions in principle and petition the Minister of Municipal Affairs to give his approval for this spending so we can get a start before the construction season comes to an end.”
Smith adds one more comment, a plea actually for more donations to the Flood Relief. “Many people’s lives have been turned upside down. As a community we need to do the right thing and dig deep to help our neighbours. Go online to help with Burlington Flood Relief by visiting: https://www.uwaybh.ca/urgent-burlington- flood-relief/”
Smith was the chair of the Friends of Freeman Station that worked tirelessly to save the old railway station that is now being restored after being moved to a new foundation beside the Main fire hall on Fairview.
 By Staff
September 2, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
 So much for the summer we didn’t really have – here we are rolling towards a fall season – which will perhaps be a lot nicer than the past 90 days.
Theatre Burlington is doing their part to make the fall season more endearing with their production of “Sherlock Holmes and the West End Horror”, a comedy/mystery by Marcia Milgrom Dodge and Anthony Dodge
The production is a merry madcap mixture of mystery, murder and mayhem. A despicable theatre critic has been murdered, and Holmes and Watson are soon visited by George Bernard Shaw, an aspiring Irish playwright who entices Holmes to take the case.
As they cross swords with the most famous literary luminaries of the day — Oscar Wilde, Gilbert & Sullivan, Henry Irving, Bram Stoker, and a young H.G. Wells, Holmes and Watson come face to face with their own celebrity as they pursue the killer in this rollickingly funny whodunit.
You can say this about the two playwrights – they do know how to drop names.
Show dates are: September 19-20, 25-27, October 2-4 2014
All at the Theatre Burlington- Drama Centre (beside Central Library, 2311 New Street. All shows start at 8:00 PM
Adult- $22.00 Senior- $20.00
Reserved Seating- Call the Box Office 905-637-1728 to order your tickets now.
 By Pepper Parr
September 1, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Communities organize themselves in various ways. Almost a month ago many of the people in Wards 4 and 5 were scrambling to save as much of their possessions when their basements were being flooded.
 The food lines wound their way back and forth on Elwood Street. The Bake Sale was a hit and the T- shirts also did very well. That little red head, with blonde Mom behind her gets the hair from a grandmother. That was a month ago and there has been a lot of anguish, despair and hard kitchen table conversations about the financial impact since then.
Many had insurance that covered their situation but just as many, perhaps more, had insurance that is proving to be inadequate. All have homes that are less today than they were August 3rd.
Each household works through its situation differently, some talk to immediate neighbours, some work with their extended families. The placement of homes in suburbs is such that community is different. People aren’t always as close. Burlington has districts, but it doesn’t have neighbourhoods with strong sense of identity.
There are few large apartment buildings where people gather in a party room.
For those in that pocket of Burlington, west of Walkers Line and north of New Street – a short, short walk to Tuck Creek that over ran its banks and did serious damage to the infrastructure – their sense of humour came to the rescue and they organized a street party.
It seemed like a good idea to Glenn Nicholson, the Elwood Street resident who came up with the idea of holding an event for his neighbours. He then watched it grow to the point where he was able to get the Burlington Teen Tour band and CHCH television coverage. Not bad for a local kid. Glenn Nicholson, an Elwood resident decided to organize an event for his neighbours. It was going to be small – just for the people on the street at first – but when the name of the event got around – the occasion grew like topsy. “I have about 35 volunteers and we expect somewhere between 1000 to 2000 people.
Nicholson did get loads of support from his ward Councillor. Jack Dennison made phone calls and got permit fees waived and someone got the Burlington Teen Tour Band out on the street for some marching band music.
We don’t know yet how much Nicholson and his volunteers managed to raise – we will report that when it is available.
 The T shirt says it all for a lot of people. They called it “Up the Creek” which reflected just how many of the people flooded felt as the struggled to save their homes with little in the way of support from the city corporately.
City hall decided to outsource the resolution to another organization and asked everyone else to take on a task while the city worked on recovering as much as it could from the province for the damage done to its infrastructure.
 Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison chats with Mayor Goldring and his wife at the Elwood Street Up the Creek event. The Mayor apparently chose not to wear one of the Up the Creek T shirts. While Calgary is a much bigger city and the flood it was hit with this year was bigger – there wasn’t a day that the citizens of Calgary did not see and hear from there Mayor. Naheed Nenshi, Calgary’s Mayor was everywhere.
Yes Calgary has better media than Burlington ; we are squeezed between Hamilton and Toronto – but a little creativity on the part of the media people at city hall could have had video done and posted on the city web site and loaded up to YouTube.
The Mayor could have gone into communities and meet with people. He did this the once – to great effect. Handling people and their issues seems to be within the Mayor’s comfort zone; certainly not the case with Gary Carr the Regional Chair.
 Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon is everywhere. She is being referred to as a “rock star” by Ron Foxcroft, chair of the Disaster Relief fund. Would it have been different were Goldring being opposed in the municipal election for the job of Mayor? Most certainly – but while it isn’t too late for someone to step forward – those who hold their breath waiting for another name to appear on the ballot are going to have health issues.
For those who felt they were left “Up the Creek” – they will work things out and come away with a different understanding as to what their municipal level of government is doing for them.
Everyone tells me I need to use Social Media and I guess they’re right – but I find it confusing and it takes a lot of time which is the one thing I don’t have.
James Burchill, one of the city’s most shameless self-promoters, which is what has made him the success he is explains that “one of the main reasons this important task doesn’t get done is simply because it takes time. Let’s let him tell his story.
 By James Burchill
August 31, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Social Media is time sensitive – if you’re going to do it – you have to do it right. Social media updates, these micro messages (while short) still require time to plan, to write, to consider the overall strategy (more on that later) and time to publish.
Time management and performance studies show an interruption costs us about 15 minutes of lost time before we are able to regain our former productivity. Assuming you had to stop 3 times a day and tweet, and 2 times a day to update your Facebook page, that’s 1 ¼ hrs just there — 17% of your day.
Think about it, add a little buffer to this and you’ll easily spend 20% of your time on this task … that’s easily ONE DAY PER WEEK spent on social media!
We can all write, they teach us this basic skill from a very early age but documenting your required groceries, or penning a letter to Aunt Maggy is not the same as crafting compelling copy for business use.
And being able to perform when required and ‘get creative’ takes practice and training. You’ve heard of writer’s block, – it’s a real phenomenon and professional writers have techniques to combat this wasteful problem.
 Then there’s the issue that all professional writing is not created equal. I’ll let you in on a secret, within the hallowed halls of writers there exists a snobbery; a class system of sorts. At the risk of having ink spilled on me at the next writers ball, some writers craft content to inform, others to compel. Persuading your prospects and client to engage and interact with you is key.
If all you needed is time and the ability to write well then you are good to go – but it isn’t that simple. In fact it is quite complex. You need to know about the technology too. You need to know how to leverage the various platforms properly and ensure you don’t goof or post to early or too late. You need skills to make these byzantine platforms turn chaos into a symphony of concordant content.
Simply put, you need to know how to use the tools. And to keep things interesting, the programmers behind these tools keep changing the game! Blink and you’ll miss an update or some other neat new function.
It requires an overall integrated marketing strategy; working in a vacuum sucks – literally.
Creating any marketing messages and syndicating them at random is a recipe for failure. And if you imagine social media is all hip, cool and “off the cuff” then you are dancing with disaster.
Better to think of your marketing messages as sled dogs, they all need to be pulling in the same direction to gain traction and make head way.
It does yields results, if you do it right. And outsourcing the task gets it done on time and as agreed. You get results – guaranteed.
And further to this, the actual efforts yield, SEO lift, increased exposure and legitimate back-links to your target URL are huge values. SEO means Search engine optimization.
 You also get additional results in the SERPS (Search Engines Results Page) listings – and any time you can secure another top 10 slot, it’s a space your competition cannot.
Google’s mandate has always been to provide the best answer (content) to those searching. Google is always updating its algorithms to single out and better reward unique content. So if you thought re-hashed, spun, or scraped content would work … Think again.
It becomes clear that making social media work for you means getting help. OK I’m biased because this is service my team and I offer our clients, so I’m not going to get into magical numbers that “prove” how much of a good deal it is to outsource. But if you sit down and really look at all the twiddly bits & pieces that go into this task each day/week/month … it adds up quickly and outsourcing costs a fraction of the typical annual salary equivalent.
Leads generated from social media content marketing are more likely to convert into business. The science behind this is solid and speaks to millions of years of behaviour. Think crowd sourcing, social proof, ‘monkey see, monkey do’ and a myriad of other psychological precepts.
Social Marketing content gets found – the first part of a successful online marketing strategy.
Social Marketing content gets shared – necessary for your message to move through the market.
Social Marketing content works 24/7/365. You pay once for its creation and syndication and it just keeps on working. The same can be said about articles too, the Return in Investment (ROI) is amazing!
 James Burchill is the founder of the Social Fusion Network that sponsores a monthly get together where people network and do some great business. SFN is about connecting, promoting and supporting local business using social media and in-person networking events. It’s FREE to join your local SFN and membership includes all our chapters. He also sponsors the semi annual mini-trade show at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Learn more
By Pepper Parr
August 31, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Those people who earn their living as artists – have a rough row to hoe. Artists get asked to do any number of things for free. We all assume that their art is far too expensive and we want to buy too cheaply, hold it until the artist become famous and then sell for a fortune.
 Margaret Lindsay Holton Burlington artist, Margaret Lindsay Holton is having a family-friendly SOLO art exhibition in the Hamilton Beach Rescue Community Hall at 316 Beach Blvd, on the Hamilton Beach Strip, Sunday, Sept.14th, 2-5pm. FREE lemonade, with free parking at the back of HBRU. ‘
 Summer Haze; Piano improvisations on a century-old Bell Upright – Performed by Margaret Lindsay Holton Holton ranges over several disciplines – never adverse to trying something new and different. Along with her art, Holton will be releasing a CD, Summer Haze; Piano improvisations on a century-old Bell Upright.
Pinhole photography is something Holton has been doing for years. She describes this as “the oldest known form of photography on the planet first used in Asia around 500 B.C, and in the West, around 500 A.D.
For Holton this is photography without the use of lens or fancy gadgetry that lets a small pinhole of light into a completely blacked-out cavity. This incoming ‘pinhole’ of light creates a reverse image of what the pinhole is facing, in other words, a ‘negative’. Today, from this ‘negative’, a ‘positive’ print is pulled using conventional darkroom developing techniques. In other words, the ‘positive’ photo image is what you see as a ‘finished’ photograph.
 Leaves you with the sense that you are seeing both summer and the beginning of the fall colours. Holton is fascinated that any ‘image’ can transfer without any mechanical intervention. She likes how this process forces her to ‘slow down’ in the act and art of taking pictures. Pinholing is the epitome of ‘slooow photography’. An exterior shot, on a good bright, cloudless day, can easily take 3-4 minutes of exposure depending on the camera she am using. She only get ONE shot per camera. Interior shots can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, again, depending on the incoming pinhole light source.
 Sugar Shack: Crisp feel, strong colours – about as Canadian as you can get. Hamilton Spectator art critic Jeff Mahoney had this to say about Holton pin hole work: “Perhaps more than any of the other arts, photography is the horse that memory rides on. Music can take us back, but it is not documentary in nature. And literature, for all its reach, precision and poetry, remains essentially abstract, from a sensory point of view, everything left to the imagination.”
“A memory is not what happened, it is not the thing that is being remembered. It is a shadow of what is being remembered, and a picture is a shadow of that shadow.”
“We try to get at memory to get at the life, the time, the emotion behind them. But the sources are no longer available and immediate to the direct senses. Their residue in the brain gets mixed up with static; extraneous feelings, psychic noise, dream and mental error. We use pictures and other media to get at memory, to fix it. And that confuses an already confused issue even more. Pictures are partial stories, subject to perspective and quality of light, leaving out much — smell, sound, touch, temperature, heart rate, context.”
“How are all these ideas contained in Holton’s art? In two ways. Computerized photo collage and pinhole photography. In the first, the collages, Holton uses computer manipulation to layer several colour photographic images, sometimes of the same subject taken from different and/or overlapping angles, sometimes of different subjects. Now this is what memory looks like. Or at least feels like.”
“Memory’s Shadow confirms our impression of Holton as an important mixed-media practitioner, with a genuine artist’s eye and a probing intellect.”
This is an artist worth spending some time with.
 Moody, soft use of colour leaves a sense significantly different than the Sugar Shack piece. Directions: If driving in from either Niagara or Toronto on the QEW, take the Eastport Drive ‘turn off’, and then turn into the ‘Hamilton Beach Community’ via Beach Blvd. Beach Blvd is only one long road for the length of the beach strip. The Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit – 316 Beach Blvd – is on the west side.
If you want to follow Holton – make a note that she is partaking in ‘Doors Open’ on Sept 27th at the Different Drummer Books, signing copies of a new WW1 short story anthology, ‘Engraved: Canadian. She has one story in the 16 piece anthology.
By Pepper Parr
August 30, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
There he was – standing at the entrance to Spencer Smith Park, white bucket in hand, hustling for loose change and paper money if you had a mind to give that to him. Mike Wallace was beating the bushes in that folksy style he brings to the public part of the job he does – all for the benefit of the Flood Disaster Relief fund.
 Mike “Joe Cool” Wallace out shilling or flood victims.  The bucket guys were everywhere. People going to the Ribfest almost had to run a gauntlet to get in – the Rotary was not letting you forget that there was a need and they were there doing their darndest to fill it.
The damage done to homes went from damp floors to water that was up to the ceiling in basements and inching its way into the rest of the house.
The Mayor’s home was flooded and so was that of Mike Wallace, Burlington’s member of parliament; proving that the rain gods don’t discriminate.
Wallace just got the inventory from his insurance company and said “it look as if we are going to be OK – but I am still doing small pieces of clean up. I couldn’t find the iron yesterday – it was in one of the boxes the restoration people did when they cleared up the mess from the water that seeped into the basement.” Wallace added: “We didn’t have water above our knees but after a foot, it really doesn’t matter, does it” he said.
“The dumpster was just taken away from my house this morning”, he added.
Wallace mentioned that he had not heard a word from anyone at city hall about how his office might help out. Most people thought the help was going to come from the provincial government – which is true – but what most people don’t know is that all of the provinces have an agreement with the federal government that gets federal money to the provinces when there is a local disaster.
 Crowds were good -weather held – and coins were being put in those buckets. Enough? We will know Tuesday morning. The Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Relief (ODRAP) request to the province to be declared a disaster area hasn’t been accepted by the province yet – even though Burlington is beavering away collecting money – there is $150,000 in the bank with many more thousands in the pipeline and on its way into the account the United Way has set up for the disaster relief fund.
By Pepper Parr
August 30, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington slides to the end of the month of August wondering if we really had a summer and asking questions about the challenges some of our neighbours face.
For the more than 1000 households impacted by the flood the month of August was somewhere between “another damn flood” to horrific – that may have wiped some people out.
 Catherine Brady talks to a volunteer about providing tax receipts for those who choose to donate real paper money. It has taken the organized part of the community almost a month to prepare a response and to get a major fund raising drive underway along with the processes that will put aid in the hands of the people who desperately need it.
The community itself has raised just over $150,000 to date. The target has unofficially been set at $2 million.
The Burlington Community Foundation was asked to take on the task of putting together a community based Disaster Relief organization required by the province if there is to be any provincial funding added to what the community comes up with.
The Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) allows the province to match what the city raises on a two for one basis. The funds dispersed by the Disaster Relief Community have to adhere to pretty strict provincial policies and procedures.
The Disaster Relief committee, chaired by Ron Foxcroft will have two components: fund raising and the dispersement of funds raised by the community and those funds provided by the province on a two-for-one basis.
The province has yet to say that they are actually going to give Burlington any money. They didn`t give Toronto any money when it had the huge flood nor did Mississauga get funding. The number of homes seriously damaged in Burlington is much higher than it was in those other communities.
The deciding factor for the province will be the need but most importantly – how well the community comes through for those who need the help. Premier Kathleen Wynne has been to Burlington a number of time and she personally asked Eleanor McMahon to stand as the Liberal candidate for the constituency – and of course she won. But that provincial cheque is not in the mail yet.
Former Burlington city manager Tim Dobbie will be handling the dispersement of funds part of the Disaster Committee. There will be a public Roll Out Event on Wednesday September 3rd at the Central Park Arena at 10:00 where details will be provided.
Frank , a Rotarian steadies the stack of buckets that will be used at all the entrances to Spencer Smith Park during Rib Fest. This weekend at Ribfest, the Lakeshore Rotary Club will host the annual event that brings more than 175,000 people to Spencer Smith Park, where they take in concert events and chow down on those ribs.
This year the event involves all four Burlington Rotary clubs whose volunteers will be at the entrance gates and walking around the park with white plastic buckets that they want to see filled with loose change – preferably twoonies.
Enjoy the ribs, take in some of the music – just don’t leave the park with any loose change in your pocket. Those buckets will take paper money as well.
Link to related stories:
By Staff
August 29, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
We all know what Rib Fest is – we get ourselves to Spencer Smith Park where we have to look through a haze of smoke to see the lake. The crowds are usually very good, the eating tables tend to have places to sit down and chow down on those ribs – they ain’t bargain prices but that is not the purpose of the event.
 Last year Premier Kathleen Wynne tried her hand at flipping ribs. Her tutor on the right didn’t think the Premier should give up her day job. The event is the largest Ribfest in Ontario. That happens because the Lakeshore Rotary, that has just 65 members, manages to pull together 600 volunteers to make it happen.
The funds they raise support: Community Living Burlington; Compassion Society; Hamilton Food Share; Salvation Army; RCBL Scholarship Foundation; Athletic Scholarship Foundation; Kenyan Scholarship program; Joseph Brant Hospital; Sew-on-fire Ministries; Wheel Chair and Specialized footwear and Earth Day.
This year they have been asked to lend strong support to the Flood Disaster Relief Funds drive.
Mayor Goldring called Linda Davies, President of the Lakeshore Rotary Club, and asked her if she would help out with the need to raise funds. Davies immediately called the other three Rotary presidents in Burlington and by the end of that day they had pulled together a team and had their show on the road.
RibFest 2014 was going to be another super-duper event and at the same time it was going to become a “premiere” fund raising occasion for disaster relief.
You are going to see dozens of people wandering the grounds and at the gates, carrying plastic buckets and asking for a donation of at least a Twoonie.
With attendance at the 175,000 level – the flow from RibFest could add as much as $250,000 to the public fund raising drive.
During the Kick off lunch OnSite, an organization that does set up work on the grounds, put up a donation of $500 and said they were challenging two people to take part in an event that was a twist on the ALS dunking campaign.
Sometime during the weekend these gents will be dunked with – not cold water – but BBQ sauce. One of the two asked how much it would cost him to get out of taking part in the event. It is going to be a different RibFest this year.
The entertainment line-up is superb:
Friday August 29th
 Noon to 2:00 pm Mike Stevenson and Friends
2:30 to 4:30 The Kat Kings
5:00 to 7:00 pm The Groove Corporation
7:30 to 9:00 Elton Rohn; a tribute to Elton John
9:30 to 11 Simply Queen; a tribute to Queen.
Saturday August 30th
 11:30 to 1:00 Grindstone Blues Band
1:30 to 3:00 – Stinky and the Hotrods
3:30 to 5:00 Runaway Angel
5:30 to 7:00 Community Soul Project
7:30 to 9:00 Justin Time
9:30 to 11:00 Freedom Train
Sunday August 31st
11:30 to 12:30 Bare Blue Sea
1:00 to 2:00 No Sugar Tonight ; a tribute to the Guess Who
2:30 to 3:30 Tim Park and the Younger Guys
4:00 to 5:0 IN2U
5:30 to 7:00 The Soul Project
7:30 to 9:00 Images in Vogue
 9:30 to 11:00 The Spoons
Monday September 1st
1:0 to 2:30 Corey Lueck and the Smoke Wagon Blues
2:45 – Rib judging events
3:00 to 4:00 Desire; a tribute to U2
4:30 to 5:30 Scarecrow; a tribute to John Mellencamp
6:00 to 8:00 David Love Band
By Pepper Parr
August 29, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There has been some movement – is it enough?
 Ron Foxcroft has been appointed chair of the Burlington Flood Disaster Relief Committee which will Roll Out its Action Plan September 3rd.
The public will hear how things are going to roll out on Wednesday, September 3, 2014 – 10:00 a.m. at the Central Arena Auditorium.
There have been meetings galore and the structure is in place – with lots of small details to get completed. The Flood Disaster Relief Committee was formed by the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) at the request of Mayor Goldring.
Colleen Mulholland, president of the BCF, swung into action and began pulling together the team that will both drive the fund raising campaign and set up the process and procedures for distributing funds as well.
Foxcroft has business interests in both sports and trucking. Best known for inventing the internationally celebrated Fox 40 whistle – which is officially sanctioned by the NFL, CFL, NCAA and the NBA – Ron was a professional basketball official for three decades. Off the court, he’s also a legend among community supporters – recognized as the 1997 Hamilton Citizen of the Year, 2011 Burlington Entrepreneur of the Year and holds an Honorary Doctor of Law from McMaster University.
Foxcroft understands the plight of the people who were flooded in this city. His basement was flooded three years ago. On August 4th he was scrambling to make sure his pool didn’t overflow and flood him once again.
Foxcroft, who is the ultimate team player, says his first email at 5:00 am is from Mulholland and his last is from her at 11:00 pm. “This lady is a dynamite organizer and has a Rolodex worth dying for”, said Foxcroft
Foxcroft is off to New York for an National Basket Ball association meeting but will be back in town for the Tiger Cats game on Monday. Asked exactly where that game would be played – because it doesn’t look as if the spanking new stadium is going to be ready – Foxcroft said “the big LED signs that will be used during the game are in a Fluke truck – and the drivers of those trucks know where to drop them off.”
 We reminded Foxcroft that if Burlington had taken up the challenge to have a stadium built in Aldershot back in 2010 this problem wouldn’t exist. “True” said Fox, “but you know, we didn’t give Burlington all that much time. We met on boxing day and needed an answer by the end of February. Foxcroft who is the ultimate private sector guy was reminded that he bought Fluke Trucking in less time than that.
Watch Foxcroft create a superb fund raising team. “We’ve already got some major commitments, but we know that all we have is 60 days to get this done.
The total donated via the Burlington United Way fund raising site is now at $150,000.
Tim Dobbie, a former city manager of Burlington is going to head up the funds distribution side.
By Pepper Parr
August 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The announcement was going to be made sometime on Wednesday – but it didn’t arrive so Burlington still doesn’t know who is going to be Chair of the local Disaster Relief Committee that is required by the province before funds can be made available to people who have suffered hugely from the August 4th rainfall.
 Mayor Rick Goldring does a television interview, wearing, for what is believed to be the first time his Chain of Office A couple of weeks ago Mayor Goldring asked the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) if they would take on the task of creating the Disaster Relief committee. BCF president Collen Mulholland, whose home was flooded, took on a herculean task of pulling together a team and has been in meetings with the 22 agencies that are part of what makes the city work as well as liaising with the provincial government through the offices of Burlington’s MPP Eleanor McMahon to ensure that the province has the information it needs. It is Flamborough MPP, also Minister of Housing and Community services, Ted McMeekin, who signs off on the Burlington request to be designated a disaster area.
We believed the BCF wanted a big announcement with major donations from several of the philanthropists and corporations to beef up the donations to date, which are at the less than $150,000 level.
Perhaps the people the BCF has been talking to needed to have their photographs updated for the announcement.
 The scale of this map doesn’t allow us to show just how many dots there are – but each represents a home that was damaged in the August 4th flood. For those who have not been directly impacted – it is difficult to appreciate the scope of this disaster. The Region advised us earlier today that 2053 applications have been received for the $1000. Exgratia payment the city will give people who have had sewers back up into their homes. That amount to more than $2 million dollars the Region is going to pay out.
Could that money have not been spent on preventive measures instead of being given to people who are at the desperate stage?
We are advised that the announcement as to who the chair will be and what will exist in terms of sub-committees to get things moving will be made on Thursday. The flood took place 23 days ago. Since that time the Samaritan’s Purse has done basic repair to more than 50 homes in Burlington.
Why is it that some organizations can get things into gear and have them moving while others – well, what can one say?
 By Pepper Parr
August 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Got a note from Joshua Miller, that’s the kid that delivers the Post to my dear three times a week.
The note Josh left me with the paper said: We wanted to let you know about a change in the Post distribution as of September 3rd. The Burlington Post will no longer have a Wednesday delivery, but will continue with a Thursday and Friday delivery.
Josh has had his time cut back by a third – the Post apparently is going to reduce their publishing schedule to just two days a week.
These decisions are always financial – the revenue just isn’t there to support three issues a week.
Odd – because when you go to lift that Thursday edition out of the mail box and catch the flyers before they fall out of your hands you might arrive at the conclusion that the Post is a very healthy business.
Burlington needs all the local media it can get and while the Post was limited in the coverage it gave many of the events and city Advisory Committees – it will now do even less.
The Burlington Gazette will continue to do the job it has been doing for more than three years. We publish seven days a week and everything we publish is on-line in the archive.
By Pepper Parr
August 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
There is a strange dichotomy at this time in this city. There are those who were flooded and those who weren’t. Those who were are, in some cases, devastated while others live their day to day lives and hope that we will have a nice fall because summer appears to have forgotten us this year.
 Graphic of the rainfall pattern August 4th. On August 4th 190 mm of rain fell on a part of the city in 3-4 hours causing havoc and devastation for the more than 2,600 homes that were flooded.
On May 13th 75 of the same homes flooded when 60 mm fell in one hour. Most people had adequate insurance, however many did not. The majority of the homes affected were in the South East part of Burlington. About 1,000 homes flooded in Ward 5, perhaps more than 15% of the homes south of the QEW between Appleby and Burloak.
About 1200 homes between Walkers Line and Guelph Line in Ward 4 flooded, mostly due to sewage back up. The Mayor’s home is reported to have experienced 4 to 5 feet of sewage in his basement. There were hundreds of others in other wards. For homes that received overland flooding there appears to be zero insurance coverage.
In notes left on the Burlington Sewer Backup Victims Coalition web site, Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman explained that the sewage back up happened because all of the houses in the badly hit areas were built prior to 1974 when the building code changed.
Prior to 1974 it was normal to have gutter down spouts and weeping tiles plumber into the sewage system. After 1974 those were not plumber in. Without storm water in our sewage system the risk of flooding is minimized.
 Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman Sharman says he has personally spoken to “about 500 flooding victims. I still have perhaps another 700 or more to speak to in coming weeks.”
Some of those flooded on May 13 had their insurance cut off; they were left totally unprotected for the August 4th flood. Many have had their insurance coverage drastically reduced, while deductibles increased to as much as $5000. Most people want to understand why the flooding occurred to them and not others. Everyone is anxious about whether the next significant looking rainstorm will cause their home to flood again and about what they can do to protect their homes in future. Multiple flooding victims believe the value of their home is compromised.
Sharman wants to see the Region and the City and our home owners have to take steps to get the water out of our sewage system so that this terrible flooding does not happen again. He points out that on July 9th he successfully got Regional Council to undertake a region wide flooding study to assess the hydraulic design of our sewer systems that might help provide relief in future. The study is being accelerated for high risk areas of the city.
The Region is paying out a $1000 “Ex Gratia” grant to those who experienced sewer back up.
There is a subsidy of up to $2,725.00 or 50% of the cost, to install a backwater valve, a sump pump and disconnection of weeping tile and redirection of gutter down spouts.
Sharman has provided more information in his remarks on the Sewer NAME web site than any other member of Council including the Mayor and the Region.
At the Regional level there is a communications bureaucracy that consists of a Director, a manager, advisors and specialists. One would like to think that with that level of resources, which you the tax payer pony up every quarter when the tax bill is sent out.
The Red Cross have now knocked on the doors of 10,000 plus homes. 62 of which have been identified as high priority cases. Some may have to be demolished.
At an August 15th meeting between about 20 Ward 5 home owners and the Region Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), the Region`s Commissioner of Public Works and the Commissioner and Medical Officer of Health, home owners were advised that those who suffered multiple flooding and live in high risk flooding zones will receive free of charge implementation of backwater valves and sump pumps.
The Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) was asked by the Mayor to form the Burlington Flood Disaster Relief Committee which is now leading fundraising efforts. That organization expects to announce it’s chair today and then make public the Roll Out plans that will give people access to various forms of funding on September 3.
 The fund raising is coming along: The most recent number is $142,665.00 – which is a long, long way from the $2 million target that Councillor Sharman has mentioned
While raising funds is critical – what is more important is an understanding from those who were not flooded on just how devastating this has been for those who were flooded.
For them – it has been brutal
By Pepper Parr
August 26, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
The flood has only begun as far as the flow of information is concerned.
A graphic from the Weather Network shows just how much rain fell on Burlington August 4th. We are still struggling with the impact of that raifall. The four Burlington Rotary Clubs are pulling together at RibFest this weekend collecting funds for the Disaster Relief program. This is a significant opportunity for the community to help out – we don’t have details yet on exactly what the Rotary Clubs are doing – they will hold a media event later today and tell us more.
Tomorrow – the name of the chair of the local Disaster Relief Committee will be announced along with the sub committees that will be set up.
On Wednesday of next week there will be a major Roll Out event at which all kinds of information will be made available.
The Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) has been managing this community effort and will have a Disaster Relief portal set up on their web site. It is expected to become THE source for information.
Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman, whose ward was heavily hit by the flooding, said that the community is going to have to raise $2 million – which if the city actually gets a 2 for 1 deal with the province, will result in $6 million available for distribution.
“We need more than the two million” said Sharman “but that is the target”. It isn’t clear if this is a Sharman target or a BCF target.
 What has been disturbing is the very poor flow of information from city hall. A lot of people over there are beavering away at stuff – but there is no flow of information to the public. The section of the city web site with Flood Relief information says:
The City of Burlington and Halton Region are committed to helping people as quickly as possible following the storm of August 4 that resulted in extensive flooding in many areas of the city.
The city is taking this matter very seriously and has additional staff in place to meet ongoing needs. Please check this web page frequently for what the city is doing to respond to the flood and the needs of people in Burlington.
They then refer people to the United Way web site but don’t give people the specific address to log in and send in donations.
When asked about the poor flow of information Councillor Sharman said: “I don’t know about that – that isn’t my job. My job is to take care of the people in my ward.
 A very large part of the reason for so little information is – wait for it – the Elections Act – which sets out when incumbents running for office can use city facilities to talk to the public.
Given the crisis Burlington faces – someone could just say – to hell with – I’m going to tell the people in my city what has been happening. Given that the Mayor isn’t running against anyone yet and isn’t likely to have a challenger – he could step out and talk to people.
Lackluster leadership.
 By Staff
August 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
INCITE A Single Moms Support Group, a local non-profit organization, will be closing its doors as of August 31, 2014, due to financial reasons.
 INCITE did great promotion for their events and turn out was usually quite high – the business model they had proved to be unsustainable. “As the Board of Directors, we are pleased to have provided support, encouragement, guidance, direction and opportunities for empowerment; to single moms and their children in our community, since April 2011.
Due to the passion, vision and direction of Executive Director, Beth Hudson, our organization has helped hundreds and truly made a difference in the Burlington community. For the last 3.5 years, INCITE has offered single moms a Weekly Support Meeting, Weekly Children’s Program, Social Outings, Philanthropy Events, Affordable Advice and a Good Samaritan Program.
We are proud that INCITE accomplished so much in such a short time, touching the lives of countless people. INCITE, with support from the community, through our Good Samaritan Program helped single moms-in-need through difficult times offering assistance with Christmas help, back-to-school supplies, furniture, food, toys, bikes and much more. Though many of our families were struggling, they gave back and helped others in the community through our Philanthropy Events; including volunteering at Wellington Square’s Community Dinners, the Rotary’s Ribfest and Amazing Bed Race, Salvation Army’s Christmas Toy Drive, as well as facilitated an “Extreme Makeover” on the Shifra House, a local shelter for young Moms.
INCITE A Single Moms Support Group quickly gained recognition across Canada and the United States, providing a rare and unique, but much needed support system, for single moms. Our popularity grew to over 11 000 visitors on our website annually and INCITE was showcased in the Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator and Burlington Post, as well as on CHML and Cogeco TV. INCITE also produced The Single Mom Show, a web-based show that offered professional guidance from experts, for Single Moms everywhere, as well as produced An Agenda For Single Moms, a book specifically for Single Moms that focussed on taking stock and goal setting.
We were very blessed and are extremely grateful for the support we received from the community. Though there are many to recognize, we want to especially thank Verico Designer Mortgages, Astra Print, the Central Rotary, Halton Region, Rick Burgess, Jeff Lewis, and The Centre for Skills Development & Training, for their on-going support.
 There were cheques, some very healthy cheques – there just weren’t enough of them. Thank you also to our amazing team of Volunteers and Staff, present and past. All of you added something very unique and valuable to the organization, team and families. We all greatly appreciate your passion and contributions, that ultimately made INCITE the success that it was, touching and changing lives.
We want to thank all of the Single Moms that participated in the group, offering their support, feedback, wisdom and experiences; ultimately helping other single moms along their journey. It definitely has been an incredible and memorable experience for all involved.
Thank you to all of you for your support these last few years and for your understanding during this difficult time.
Beth Hudson, the Executive Director of the organization that the annual operating cost was “around $36,000” – that amounted to $3000 a month. Hudson added that when they were refused charitable status by the federal government – that was the “nail in the coffin”. We could see it coming and there was nothing we were able to do to keep the doors open and the program running.”
There is one event – a weekend retreat in October that will take place. As for Beth Hudson -she will begin to work on a web based – national organization to be known as “Answers for Woman”.
Hudson reports that one in five families are run by single Moms.
By Pepper Parr
August 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It is coming together. It’s taking a little longer than many people had hoped but it looks as if they are going to do it right – right from the get go.
There will be a media release on Wednesday announcing who the chair is going to be along with additional information on just what the local Disaster Relief Committee can do and can’t do.
 Colleen Mulholland,BCF president, is stick handling the biggest project her organization has been asked to do. They are going to give her a T-shirt. On the following Wednesday, September 3, there will be a Roll Out event at a location in the east end where the full program will be explained along with the procedures people need to follow.
While the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) has not yet announced a theme, based on the words BCF President Colleen Mulholland uses continually “Above and Beyond” just might be the call.
“This is a huge problem and there are hundreds of people who are hurting – hurting badly” explained Mulholland who is getting by on around four hours of sleep each night.
She is pumped over the size of the challenge and is stretching her team to the limit.
The BCF has encountered a number of desperate situations where they have had to dip into their own coffers to help out.
Their Annual Golf Tournament, being held September 4th, will be asking people to dig deep into those pockets.
A “portal” is being set up on the BCF web site that will have all the forms; all the details and answers to all the questions they think people will be asking.
That team leading this event are covering all the bases. There will be T-shirts for volunteers to wear; there will be coin boxes at every possible retail location. Great opportunity for the Burlington Downtown Business Association to show what they can do – and hopefully both malls are on board as well as all the supermarkets.
This stuff works – but you have to work to make I happen.
 Sandra Baker on the left talks with Burlington Community Foundation president Colleen Mulholland during days when things were not nearly as hectic. On Friday – donations sent via the United Way collection point were at $140,000 but come Monday morning there was just $141,600.00
More is needed – that Above and Beyond call to action is vital.
In the very near future major donations will begin to flow in – but this is a grass roots effort – this is community helping community. We too are Samaritans – or we can be if we choose to do be.
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