 By Pepper Parr
November 11, 2014
Burlington, ON
From the RCAF Awards & Citations Page
BIRCH, F/O John Oswald (J23888) – Distinguished Flying Cross – No.103 Squadron – Award effective 26 September 1944 as per London Gazette of that date and AFRO 2373/44 dated 3 November 1944. Born 1920 in Winnipeg; home in Toronto; enlisted there 21 January 1942. Trained at No.6 ITS (graduated 31 July 1942), No.12 EFTS and No.2 SFTS (graduated 19 February 1943). Commissioned 1943. Award sent by registered mail 19 December 1945.
 Those are the bare facts – set out as only a military bureaucrat could. The fill story is:
One night in July 1944 John Oswald Birch was pilot and captain of an aircraft detailed to attack Stuttgart. At the commencement of the bombing run the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. The starboard fin and rudder and a portion of the tail plane and elevator were shot away. The mid-upper and rear turrets were rendered unserviceable. A fuel tank was pierced whilst much damage was sustained to the control surfaces. In spite of this, Flying Officer Birch executed his attack. On the long flight home it was very difficult to maintain control and it was necessary for another member of the crew to assist by maintaining pressure on the rudder controls but an airfield was eventually reached and a safe landing effected. In most difficult circumstances, Flying Officer Birch displayed notable skill, courage and tenacity.
Part of the crew on that Lancaster bomber that night was a man named McDonald. His son Terrence contacted the Gazette asking if a comment written by John Birch might be related to the man who brought that Lancaster bomber back to London where it crash landed.
Terence G. McDonald wrote the Gazette asking:
Dear sir, I was looking up something regarding Bomber Command and I came across your article dated August 27, 2013. One of the people who commented is John Birch. I was stunned because his father and my father were on the same crew.
 My father was the wireless air gunner and when they hobbled back to England my father, after seeing the majority of crew bail out, in turn bailed out and landed in a tree in Battersea Cemetery. In my father’s memoirs he talks about J.O.
I’ve attached the story as written by my father about that night. If you can track down John Birch and give him a copy I’d appreciate it.
We put the two men together and Terence G. McDonald and John Birch began a long electronic conversation.
Birch wanted to know if Terrence has “any photos or more info re my father, they would be deeply appreciated, as my father’s pilot log book, photo binders, DFC & other service medals, and uniform along with a treasured engraved Ronson lighter with the 103 Squadron logo gifted to him by his crew, and their names engraved on the reverse side, ‘to F/L J O Birch DFC, for getting us home’ were all lost in a house fire in the early 1950’s on Indian Point, Burlington.
 Officers and crew flying in Lancaster bombers were always at great risk and there was no comfort. These were bare bones aircraft built to carry bombs and fight off attacking aircraft with machine guns in turrets. “My father, so my mother told me, was deeply moved by the gift from his crew.”
Burlington’s John Birch went on to say that: David Fell, archivist for 103 Sq Association Elshom Wolds put me in contact with one of my father’s crew still alive. I received a very personal letter, from F/O A C P Gamble DFC a few years ago, who had replaced F/S Evans as upper turret gunner sometime in August 1944. F/O Gamble was on his second tour and was considered a lucky addition to the crew. He and my father became good friends and everyone referred to my dad as J O.
Mr Gamble stated in the letter, he’d flown with many pilots and considered “good old JO was the best and most skilled pilot I had ever flown with …, I feel I owe my life and surviving the war to your father’s flying skills’
“According to Mr Fell, that night, July 28-29 1944, 103 Sq suffered the worst losses of the war, having contributed 8 aircraft to the 3rd Stuttgart raid, only 4 returned, the rest either shot down or damaged and landing elsewhere. The sister Sq also operating out of Elshom Wolds, contributed 7 Lancs, with only 4 returning.
“Fell wrote that when my dad arrived July 7th 1944 at 103 Sq, moral was quite low, for the preceding 6 months not one aircrew had survived to be rotated out at the end of their tour.
“Casualty rates, as you know, in bomber command was 54% with a statistical likelihood of 5% loss per operation. 5% x minimum 30 operations to complete a tour – well, the math didn’t work out well for the aircrews.
 At the nose of a Lancaster there was a bomb aimer and gunners just above them Birch continues in his correspondence with Terrence to say: “While I knew the entire starboard fin, rudder; controls and horizontal stabilizer were blown off, and the turrets rendered inoperable due to the loss of the hydraulics, and the fuel tank holed, I did not know that 6′ of wing was also blown off along with the bomb bay doors. Lancs could take quite a beating. Quite amazing considering the Lanc’s origin was the disastrous Manchester – but the slide rule boffins at AV Roe added 15 feet of wing to the Manchester and an extra pair of Merlins, called it the Lancaster and a legend was born.
“I do know my father was quite worried when they didn’t report back to base for 3 agonizing days as he thought he might have ordered them to their injury or deaths. My dad’s Lanc made a belly landing at White Waltham SW of London (being the closest field they could make and near out of fuel) and he had directed the non essential crew to bailout once over England, as it was a very tough landing to effect – particularly so now that I know the bomb bay doors were blown off too, leaving a 33 foot long scoop on the bottom of the aircraft. The landing gear could not be lowered.
 At the tail of the plane were two more machine guns to ward of attackers from the rear. Birch adds that “it was a good thing for both of us my dad and crew regained control and pulled PB147 out of that dive, for neither of us were yet conceived – and Lancs had such a terrible survival rate in an uncontrolled bailout.
F/O J O Birch DFC was promoted to F/L. He was a Lancaster pilot attached to 103 Squadron RAF. As was common practice RCAF and other Commonwealth crews flew together often as mix and match from across the colonies.
“We owe so much to all of they who served, and really have no idea what it was like.”
That sentiment will fill the air and the hearts of those who gather at the Burlington cenotaph this morning.
 By Staff
November 10, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
This Thursday Nov. 13th at 7pm., Rm 305, at City Hall, the city and Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward will host a public meeting to review the proposed five story condominium for the property at Blathwayte Lane and Elgin Street (Stretching over to Locust Street).
The lots are zoned as four storeys maximum. Five storeys will require a zone change and zone changes on any property in St. Luke’s Precinct will set a precedent toward other zone changes.
 Area residents do not approve of an additional storey being added to a proposed condominium in the community. The St. Luke’s precinct residents have been very successful in having developers stick to the rules and the zoning given to a property.
This meeting is an early stage of the process event where the developer is gauging community reaction. The precinct residents see this as a critical first meeting where they can influence a design and urge to the developer to adjust the building to fit within zone or take their model somewhere else.
St. Luke’s is an easy 15 minute walk from the intersection of Lakeshore Road and Martha Street where a developer wants to put up a 28 storey structure on a site zoned for a maximum of eight storeys. While there has been strong reaction to the Martha Street project that part of the city has not had the same success as the people in St. Luke’s.
 By Pepper Parr
November 6, 2014
BURLINGTON. ON.
Local government works best when the people in the community play a meaningful role in the determination of what the tax rates should be and what the money raised is to be spent on.
Bureaucrats can`t do it all. In Burlington, many of the senior people don`t live in the city 0- their relationship with citizens is for the most part paper based and interactions at committee or Council meetings.
Burlington has a number of Advisory Committees – some work exceptionally well while others are a mess. This reporter has sat in on two Advisory Committee meetings where members were throwing copies of reports at each other.
 Nicholas Leblovic. chair of the now sunset Waterfront Advisory committee. Some Advisory Committees work well – others don’t. The city has created Advisory Committees and shut them down before they completed a full term; that was the fate of WAPA – the Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory committee that was the starting point for that startling decision of the Council that will end its tem at the end of the month.
There are Advisory Committees that do superb work – better than staff people at city hall. And there are Advisory Committees that are poorly chaired.
Who sits on the Advisory Committees?
The city runs advertisements asking for people to submit an application; they are reviewed, people are interviewed and the selections announced. The decisions of city hall staff who make the recommendations then go to Council where they are approved. There have been occasions when Council decide not to approve a particular person – that kind of a decision gets made in a closed session.
Thus the final word on who sits on those Advisory Committees is made by Council – they want to keep the trouble makers out – or do they want to ensure they will get people who will support what Council wants to see done?
Do Council members put names forward?
There are people in this city that do not agree with some of the policies city Council puts forward and they would like to see some form or organized opposition in place.
While municipal governments do not follow provincial or federal party lines – there are people who would like to see something in the way of an organization that is not specific subject based.
 The Official waterfront advisory committee was shut down by the city – citizens thought it important enough to have a committee and formed something independent of city hall. The Burlington Library is working with the city this year to put on an event that will let people learn more about the different advisory committees. The event will include committees that are not part of the civic administration.
The event: An Introduction to Boards and Committees, takes place on November 19th at the Central Library – starts at 7:00 pm. Oddly enough it doesn’t appear on the Library calendar and the city hasn’t said a word about it publicly. Disapointing.
The city has since advised that the event is n the city web site and that paid advertising is to appear soon.
While a large part of the city population lives south of the QEW – there are a lot of people north of that stretch of pavement. Why isn’t an event like this held in Alton in the recreational complex up there? This would give the people north of Dundas and those to the immediate south a chance to really participate.
Among the Boards and committees that will have representatives at the event are:
Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee
Burlington Cycling Advisory Committee
Sustainable Development Advisory Committee
Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee
Senior’s Advisory Committee
Inclusivity Advisory Committee
Mundialization Committee
Committee of Adjustment
Downtown Parking Advisory Committee
Burlington Public Library Board
Burlington Museums Board
Doors Open Volunteer Organizing Committee
Canada Day Committee Organizing Committee
Christmas Parade Committee
 Bfast is an independent group that is well informed on transit matter. They delegate frequently. We understand that BFast (Burlington For Accessible Sustainable Transit) will also have a table for people who want to be involved in transit issues.
By Pepper Parr
November 6, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
In his day he was one of the heavy hitters at Queen’s Park. He ran the elections that got Dalton McGuinty elected and re-elected. He had his own problems with an inquiry and was totally cleared. He experienced a little too much zealousness on the part of the police.
A new session of Engaging Ideas, proudly hosted by A Different Drummer Books and Burlington Public Library, features a guest renowned for his achievement and experience and for his insight into our political process:
 Greg Sorbara in the Legislature – always on his feet with the facts at his finger tips. A senior figure in Ontario’s governance, as long-serving MPP, as Liberal Party president and as Minister of Finance, Greg Sorbara will take his audience through the many colourful challenges of his long and extraordinary career, and share the startling facts and opinions newly revealed in his candid and provocative memoir.
“This is a lovely, insightful book from one of modern Ontario’s most influential figures. It provides deep insight and personal reflections on both the policy process and the real-world of politics from a man who has shaped the evolution of Ontario as much as anyone in the past three decades.”: that’s how Matthew Mendelsohn, a former senior federal and provincial civil servant describes the book.
The Battlefield of Ontario Politics on November 17 at 7pm at Centennial Hall, Burlington Central Library, 2331 New Street. Tickets are $10, available at A Different Drummer Books and at the Third Floor Information Desk at the Library.
Sorbara has been a member of the Ontario Liberal Party, and served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 until 1995, and then from 2001 until 2012, most recently representing the riding of Vaughan. Sorbara served as the Minister of Finance in the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty from 2003 to 2007.
He differed with Premier David Petersen on the calling of the 200xx election – won his seat but the Liberals lost that election. He ran for the leadership of the party; lost to Lynn McLeod.
He was a supporter of Dalton McGuinty and did all the backroom thinking for each of the McGuinty elections.
He resigned on October 11, 2005, following a police investigation involving his family’s real estate development firm and was reinstated on May 23, 2006 after a judge ruled that there was no cause for including Sorbara’s name on a search warrant.
 Greg Sorbara during the public investigation days. He was totally cleared of any wrong doing. Sorbara chaired the party’s successful 2007 election campaign but announced on October 26, 2007 that he was leaving the cabinet to spend more time with his family but would continue as a backbench MPP.
On August 1, 2012, Sorbara announced that he was retiring from the legislature but would stay on as chair of the Liberal’s election campaign.
He will be at the Central Library on November 19th – should be a fine evening. The man has a great story to tell.
By Staff
November 4, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The Friends of Freeman Station are presenting their first museum exhibit in the community gallery of the Joseph Brant Museum.
Titled Railways, Regiments and Restoration: A History of the Freeman Station, the exhibit explores the 108-year history of the train station and the significance of the railways to Burlington using maps, photos and artifacts.
 Freeman station – the day cements was poured for the foundation. Visitors will learn about the arrival of railways in Burlington in the mid-1800s, their vital importance to the region’s economy, particularly fruit and vegetable production, the role of the Freeman Station in The First World War, and current efforts to restore the building to its former glory.
Highlights include a scale model of the station as it would have looked in 1906, maps showing the station’s location in the village of Freeman, and Grand Trunk Railway, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway artifacts recently donated to the Friends and never before exhibited to the public.
The exhibit opens November 4, 2014. The museum is open Tuesday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Sunday 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. General admission is $4.50.
The Friends of Freeman Station is a registered charity working to restore Burlington’s only surviving GTR station to its original appearance and open it as a museum. The building was moved to its current location in 2013 and this year the group has lowered it onto a new basement and begun work on the interior.
They are currently raising funds for a new roof and seeking volunteers. Their AGM will be held Wednesday, November 12th at 7 p.m. at Burlington City Hall.
By Pepper Parr
November 4, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
As you drive south on Walkers Line and pass under the GO tracks and get ready to drive over the QEW you may not see the construction taking place on the west side just a little north of the North Service Road.
 There is a fairly large sign with the word BELL on it and a Subway shop tucked in behind. That patch of land has a level of sensitivity to it that doesn’t apply to most other pieces of property in the city.
Some of that land recently changed hands at what can only be described as “eye-popping” prices. We got calls from a number of people suggesting we sniff around a little and learned that the whopper of a land sale price is related – tangentially – to the deal that never closed also known as the new IKEA location.
 This is where IKEA wanted to relocate their Aldershot operation. They were going to build a bigger store and add quite a few head office jobs as well. The city went along with Official Plan and zoning changes. The Conservation Authority would not go along with the parking plans close to Tuck Creek. The green line is Tuck Creek. Back in March of 2011 IKEA decided they wanted to move from their current Plains Road location to a property on the North Service Road. When the Gazette first learned of those plans we drove out to the site – what was immediately obvious to us was that the North Service Road was never going to be able to carry the traffic that IKEA planned on attracting.
And it wasn’t just the North Service Road that was a problem – Walkers Line itself would not be able to handle the volume that was expected to come in off the QEW.
Anything done to Walkers Line has to go through Ministry of Transportation filter. As the city worked its way through the IKEA proposal all kinds of interesting tid bits of information bubbled to the surface – the most significant being – a lot of people both at the city and IKEA had not done their homework.
 The owner of this property had plans to develop it beyond the single storey structure. His plans did not fit with the developing IKEA Plans. That red line is where Tuck Creek flows. In order for the North Service Road to get wider Walkers Line had to widen and that impacted on the ramps that lead from and to the QEW. Those QEW ramps are Ministry of Transportation (MTO) territory .
We walked the North Service Road from Walkers Line to Guelph Line to get a better sense as to what had to happen if the IKEA site was going to have roads that let traffic get to it.
It was at about this point in time that the Economic Development people began to feel their oats and were coming up with some slick marketing phrases. Burlington was going to have Prosperity Corridors – several of them.
The property either side of Walkers Line was going to be one of those prosperity corridors. The idea was to identify property that was zoned and labelled for economic development and get them to the point where they were “shovel ready”.
Members of city council and the Economic Development Corporation really liked that “shovel ready” phrase. It seemed to mean that when someone wanted to locate in Burlington the city had property that was ready for a shovel to dig into it and put up a building that was going to house people doing well paying high tech jobs.
 We will buy this said the city…. IKEA wasn’t going to employ all that many high tech people – it’s a retail operation but they were going to expand their head office administration space and bring in a bunch of people.
The IKEA plans didn’t make it through all the hurdles. More than three years at the talking stage but it was all for naught. When IKEA withdrew their application it wasn’t clear why they had decided not to go forward. That gets us back to that piece of property that has a building going up.
IKEA apparently wanted to put parking spots a little too close to Tuck Creek which runs down the east side of what is called the Hopewell property. The Halton Conservation Authority wasn’t prepared to go along with that idea. It all hinged on what the Conservation people call “top of bank” which is a term used to describe just what it says – the top of the bank – be it a creek or a large body of water.
 … and you can keep that part. Top of bank is the starting point for what is called “stable top” which has to do with the geology. Stable bank is determined by a formula that starts from where the top of the bank is. All complex and esoteric but it was those two terms that brought the IKEA project on the North Service to a halt.
A lot of time and a lot of money was spent on getting IKEA from Aldershot to the North Service Road. The people that make the wheels move at city hall decided to put a positive spin on the loss of IKEA and are saying that the North Service road has to be improved anyway so let’s get on with making the road wider and ensuring that access is what it needs to be.
 During this multi-year exercise the city improved its relationship with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and what it plans on doing with the QEW and its access ramps. They learned that Walkers Line will reach capacity around 2031 (some think it is already beyond capacity but those people don’t know what real traffic is) which means the MTO people weren’t wanting to pay a lot of attention to improving things on Walkers Line.
No Walkers Line improvement – not much you can do with the North Service Road and if you don’t do something with the North Service Road there goes the Prosperity corridor concept and there won’t be much in the way of land you can put a shovel in.
Different level of government has different levels of responsibility for roads. Walkers Line is a city road whereas Brant, Guelph Line, Appleby Line and Burloak are Regional Roads with some portion a city responsibility.
While all this is happening the owner of the land that is east of Tuck Creek and to the west of Walkers Line between the GO tracks and the QEW take an application to city hall.
The plans that property owner had did not fit in with the long terms plans the city had for improving access to the North Service Road. The city knew they did not want to approve the application and they probably knew they didn’t want to expropriate – so it was time to “do a deal” and what a deal they did.
 It is still an empty field on which a lot of money has been spent. Hopewell is still looking for a buyer and there are reported to be a lot of people “sniffing” around. Access to the road will be improved but the road itself is still two lanes. IKEA had planned on a $60 million 428,500 sq ft facility to originally open in 2013 The city bought a chunk of the land – it was 1.1 acres in size and paid $5,676,880 They then apparently gave the property owner an “enhancement” in allowing him to put more on the property than would have been permitted.
One exceptionally well informed Gazette reader had these comments:
“Was the $5.7 million just for the land and the building or was there monies paid for the property owner to move his tenants out of the existing building into the new building when it is completed?”
The Gazette learned that the $5.7 million was for the land shown on the graphics and the building – even though the building sits on land that is now owned by the city and the company – 1100 Walkers Line Inc.
“Were there any sweeteners in this deal – because it is a deal” says our informant.
“It is unlikely that a private property owner enter into a deal like this unless there was a benefit to him, at a cost to the City.
The property transferred from a private commercial property owner to City on February 10, 2014. At a Council meeting on February 19th, they went into a closed session to discuss a property matter” which we later learned was IKEA. The next day the city put out a press release saying IKEA had withdrawn their application.
The city is now stuck with land for which there is no justification because there is no reason to enhance access to the North Service Road.
“It is very unusual for any level of government to secure property under speculative conditions; in fact, governments typically only acquire property once there is justification to do so; the IKEA relocation was the justification, but, that did not happen, so this deal should also have not happened. It also becomes an issue of fairness and equity; why not buy up other locations from other private landowners? And who made the decision to buy the land that was purchased. Is there anything on the public record?
“If the market value of commercial land is in somewhere in the range of $1M – $1.5M/acre in Burlington, why did the city pay $5.7M/acre? Did the purchase price include payment for the demolition of an old commercial building and the cost to build a new 6-storey office building?
If so, is the $5.7M paid so far to the private property owner the end of it, or, is there more money to be paid by the City to the proud owner of the new building.
“Is this a case of enrichment? The City should have only entered into such a deal if the City had an irrevocable IKEA relocation play in place including all MTO interchange reconstruction commitments in place, together with cost sharing with IKEA to offset the City’s share of the total costs.
“Did the city have any indication that IKEA was going to withdraw their application? When did IKEA make the call to the city.
“One of the smell tests for this situation is this: If MTO were to reconstruct the interchange, they would only pay market value for the city’s 1.1 acre; basically, the city would not be able to recover the $5.6M because that is well in excess of the market value of the land bought by the City, and the interchange reconstruction would be under the jurisdiction of the MTO.
What our informant may not have been aware of is that Walkers Line is a city Road. MTO owns the ramps leading to Walkers Line and they have the right to intervene on anything built within 300 metres of the centre line of any MTO. So – MTO was “in the room” as they say, but they weren’t picking up any of the tabs.
“It appears” says our informant” that the City made and concluded a deal they should not have completed, to the benefit and arguably an enrichment of a private sector commercial land owner, and now they are pitching it as a planned acquisition to encourage new economic development at the northwest quadrant of Walkers Line and QEW.
“This deal is an expensive outcome from a major failed relocation which appears to benefit a private owner as enrichment”
Our informant thinks there may be more money to be paid to this property owner once construction is complete but doesn’t have any proof – yet he adds.
We are still tracking this part of the deal which as one authority who understands these kinds of arrangements said: “it doesn’t pass my smell test”
 The structure will rise to six storeys and over look the railway tracks at the back and the QEW at the front. On a nice summer day office workers can wander down to the edge of Tuck Creek, The steel beams for the six storey office building snuggled up close to the GO trains tracks are being put in place. The city is clearing the land they bought to improve access to the North Service Road – not that the road will be able to handle all that much traffic – but the Prosperity concept is now still valid.
Hopewell Developments, the people who own the land IKEA was going to build on are still looking for a buyer. That is one of the few remaining properties Hopewell has in Ontario – they want to pull back to their Alberta roots where they probably realize prosperity is much more than a corridor.
$5,676,880 for 1.1 acres of land. That is eye-popping. Admittedly the city also bought the building that is now on the land – but they are going to tear that down – and you know who is going to pay for the demolition.
By Staff
November 4, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
With the weather slipping into temperatures that call for a sweater and a scarf and a search for your gloves the idea of a hot bowl of soup sounds just about right. There is soup – and then there is soup and we all know the difference.
 Individually hand crafted bowls done by artizans across the province. Enjoy a special gourmet soup and then take the bowl home. The Art Gallery has this traditional celebration of both the culinary and ceramic arts. Starting November 13 and running to the 16th – they serve guests from beautiful handcrafted bowls donated by potters from across Ontario ready to be filled with delectable gourmet soups from some of the area’s finest restaurants.
AGB event will feature all of the best loved Soup Bowl elements – beautiful handcrafted bowls donated by potters from across Ontario ready to be filled with delectable gourmet soups from some of the area’s finest restaurants.
Guests choose their bowls, fill them with a gourmet soup to enjoy with the rest of their meal, and then take the bowls home after they are cleaned and packaged for them.
Soup Bowl is an important fundraiser which supports AGB programs and is quickly becoming a sold out event. Tickets are on sale now: $50 ($40 for AGB members) for all lunch and Friday evening sittings.
Tables of eight also can be reserved. Order tickets online or by telephone (905-632-7796, ext 326) or in person at AGB 1333 Lakeshore Road, Burlington.
 Shopping at the Arts Burlington Christmas Sale is an added bonus during the Soup Bowl. There is no admission charge to browse and buy at the Arts Burlington Christmas Sale, which features a wide variety of handcrafted items produced by the Guilds of Arts Burlington with Christmas in mind.
More than 2,000 visitors are drawn to the annual Christmas Sale of Fine Art and Craft presented by the seven Guilds of the AGB, and also to the seasonal beauty of the Gallery Shop, brimming with gift items carefully selected for quality and design.
It is open to everyone on November 13 from 11 am to 3 pm; November 14 from 11 am to 9 pm; and November 15 and 16 from 11 am to 4 pm.
The Art Gallery of Burlington is located at 1333 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, and is an accessible facility with lots of free parking over the course of the event. The 2014 Soup Bowl is sponsored by Utter Morris Insurance Brokers Limited, Wendy and Don Smith, Smith’s Funeral Homes, Brechin and Huffman, Barristers and Solicitors and J.M. Edwards Associates.
 By Pepper Parr
November 1, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
In an early edition of this article we gave the closing date for the fund raising as November 4th – we were mistaken. Fun raising will end on November 14th. There are still have some gifts anticipated and promised by Nov. 14th. Some donours are waiting to hear what the Province does.
Mayor Goldring has come out from behind the Municipal Elections Act and is now acting as a Mayor and is keeping people posted through his blog with news and updates on the issues and fundraising efforts on the August 4 Flood Disaster.
 From left to right in the photo (and along the back) we have Burlington Lions Club members VP Barry Leppan, VP Blair Greer, VP Alastair Mirrlees (over Mayor Goldring’s shoulder), Director Jim McLaughlin (who is directly behind by Colleen) and President Ken O’Breza (the tallest gentleman). And of course Mayor Rick Goldring and Burlington Community Foundation President & CEO Colleen Mulholland in the front, holding the cheque for $8,000. Goldring reports that: “Almost $800,000 in cash has been raised by the committee to date.
“I have been in contact with both our local MPP Eleanor McMahon and Minister McMeekin’s office for the latest updates from the province on our ODRAP application which we hope will match funds raised. The Burlington Community Foundation has a 100-day campaign for fundraising efforts which will come to completion on November 14, 2014.”
One informed participant with the fund raising group says that “you need a search warrant to find the Minister” who will have to eventually sign off on the Burlington request for ODRAP support. Burlington has yet to hear anything official from the provincial government.
 Ron Foxcroft Kicking Off the Flood Relief Campaign. When the fund raising Kick Off event was held in August the Burlington Community Foundation understood that there were potentially 500+ homes that were either under insured or uninsured. They did a quick calculation as to what would be needed and came up with the $2 million figure – and that became the fund raising target.
The BCF didn’t quibble over that number – they just stepped up to the plate and began making phone calls – they also put $15,000 of their own money on the plate. At the time many people were up to their necks in water and sewage – this wasn’t the time to ask a lot of questions.
However, as the amount raised grew the fund raisers began to ask: – just how much money are we going to need? It became increasingly difficult to determine that amount. There was no clear picture on just how many people might need help. Was it 500 homes damaged but covered by insurance or was it 250 homes that were damaged an either didn’t have any insurance or were under insured.
There were many homes, especially in the Regent Road area where homeowners were told they could no longer buy insurance. Others learned that their insurance company had scaled back the level of coverage they could buy.
Burlington believed the provincial government would come through on the two for one Ontario Disaster Relief and Assistance Program (ODRAP). All anyone has heard so far is that we “should be optimistic” which sounds like a politician playing games.
Premier Kathleen Wynne is going to be in Hamilton next Saturday during the Tiger Cats game (who are they going to lose to this time) and will be pinning medals on four members of the Argyll and Sutherland Regiment.
Burlington’s MPP Eleanor McMahon appears to have been left out to dry on this file. Her efforts have been close to heroic but the provincial government doesn’t appear to have all that much – at least so far – for Burlington residents.
 Glenn Nicholson planned on an event to help a senior whose home was badly damaged by the flood: hundreds showed up including the Burlington Teen Tour band The $800,000 raised to date has been due to the outstanding efforts of the Flood Disaster Relief Committee, local businesses, sports organizations, neighbourhood groups and individuals. There was that great street party on Elwood and the $3000+ raised by an 11 year old student Sheil Patel and the $8000 put on the plate by the Lions Club. The supermarkets came through; the banks came through and local merchants put out the donation boxes.
Burlington is close to “donation exhausted” said BCF fund raiser Ron Foxcroft who added “and the flood is no longer front page news. Other organizations – the United Way and the Joseph Brant Hospital need opportunities to raise what they need – the BCF needs to close the books and make the best with what they have raised.”
The Burlington Community Foundation is moving from their fund raising efforts to managing the applications for Losses and Damages claims. The Burlington Community Foundation Flood Disaster Relief Committee is hosting a Town Hall meeting with the Claims Committee and Cunningham Lindsay, the insurance adjuster supporting the initiative. The meeting is planned for Tuesday, November 4th from 7:00 – 9:00 pm to answer questions and provide support to those interested in making a claim.
 Peter Hodgson led the Red Cross data collection drive to find out just how many homes had been flooded and how much help was needed. Councillor Meed Ward wore one of the first flood T-shirts. At this point there have been just 50 applications for financial support. The ODRAP program is intended for those who were either uninsured or under insured.
When the Red Cross did their door-to -door survey work immediately after the flood they reported that there were 500 homes that were severally flooded. However, Peter Hodgson, the Red Cross volunteer who led that data collecting team, found that many people whose homes were flooded said they didn’t want any financial support and that what money there might be should go to people who truly needed financial support.
Hodgson also found that there was no one home at many of the doors they knocked on. “We had no idea if they had suffered severe flood damage and moved out or were just away for a few days.”
Hodgson spent weeks on the data collection work even though his home was flooded and he still doesn’t have the full use of the house he lives in. “it might be three more weeks before all the work is done”, he said.
Colleen Mulholland lives in a house that was badly flooded as does Mayor Goldring and Burlington’s MP Mike Wallace.
 One of the unfortunate elements of this situation is that the information the Red Cross collected and turned over to the Region is being treated as something that comes under the privacy rules which means that the Burlington Community Foundation cannot access that data to communicate with the people who may need financial help and are entitled to financial support.
Colleen Mulholland, president of the Burlington Community Foundation, is spearheading a Town Hall meeting on November 4 at the Seniors Centre on New Street. “We have advertised the event and we hope we get everyone who needs help into the room. “We know there are hundreds of Burlington families who  will qualify for financial assistance and are concentrating our efforts to communicate with those folks and help them through the process,” says Mulholland, President and CEO of the Burlington Community Foundation. “We are also communicating with the provincial government to understand its position on providing financial assistance so we can be crystal clear on how much funding we have to disperse.”
We believe there are people out there who need the financial support that is available and either don’t have the forms and don’t understand the process.
“There is only so much time left – all the forms have to be submitted by December 14th and this program has to be wrapped up eight weeks after that deadline.”
 The fear is that there will be people who will not apply because they did not know or fully understand and they will lose out. Once the program ends it is over,
Since the Application for Losses and Damages became available on September 30th approximately 50 claims have been filed. The Claims Committee has set a deadline of December 14, 2014 for all Applications for Losses and Damages to be submitted. Disbursements will begin over the following eight weeks after the deadline.
 Bank of Montreal dug into their vault and found $20,000 for flood relief. Mulholland explains that “we will have volunteers on hand to work one-on-one to help complete the forms that are required. We will go to people’s homes to help them but we need to know who they are in order to help.
Mulholland would like every person who reads about this situation to tell five people and to ask those five people to tell another five people about the November 4th Town Hall meeting. “We just need to get the word out” she said.
Application forms are available on the BCF website, or they can be mailed out to residents by calling the BCF office at 905-639-0744, ext. 223.
By Pepper Parr
October 31, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Burlington, through its Public Art Program, has selected artist Simon Frank to install a public art piece at Mountainside Recreation Centre.
Frank was chosen by a community jury through the Public Art Program after the call for proposals produced a list of 32 submissions. The list was shortened to four artists: Karl Ciesluk from Ottawa, Ont., Simon Frank from Hamilton, Ont., Andrew Owen from Toronto, Ont. and Teresa Seaton from Burlington, Ont.
 werc “Frank has a well-established, contemporary art practice that examines the relationship between people and the natural environment,” said the jury’s statement. “He was able to clearly communicate his understanding of the community that the public art will exist in.”
Frank, a poet, artist and rustic furniture-maker, will use community input, the design of Mountainside and the natural area to create his final plan. He will be on site this fall to explore the area and consult with the community as he begins the $25,000 project. Dates, times and locations for public input will be announced.
The public art piece will complement the Mountainside Recreation Centre revitalization project.
Simon Frank was born in 1968 in Glasgow, Scotland, but grew up in Dundas, Ont. Over the past 18 years, Frank has participated in solo and group exhibitions across Ontario, as well as exhibiting in special projects in Saskatoon, Italy and South Korea. He has received grants from both the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
 “Island” at the Dominic Agostino Centre Frank has installed two permanent, public art works in Hamilton: “Island” at the Dominic Agostino Centre (2003) and “Concrete Poetry” on Locke Street (2011). He has also been a finalist in public art competitions in Waterloo and Surrey BC. Frank is a member of the Hamilton-based collective TH&B, which has produced site-specific projects in Hamilton, Kingston, Buffalo and New York.
Over the past eighteen years, Frank has participated in solo and group exhibitions across Ontario, as well as exhibiting in special projects in Saskatoon, Italy and South Korea. He has received grants from both the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. Selected exhibitions and offsite projects include: “Take on Me”, Luminato Festival, Toronto (2014); “Romancing the Anthropocene”, Nuit Blanche, Toronto (2013); “View (from the escarpment)”, Art Gallery of Hamilton (2012); “The Tree Project”, McMichael Gallery, Kleinburg (2012); “Terra Incognito”, Rodman Hall, St Catharines (2009); “Earth Art”, Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton (2008); “Sketch for New Forest”, The Koffler Gallery,  Toronto (2007); “Wild Wood” Haliburton Forest Preserve, Haliburton (2007); “The Forest for the Trees” Galleria di Arte Contemporanea, La Spezia, Italy (2007); “Ice Follies 2006”, WKP Kennedy Gallery, North Bay (2006); “Gold Leaf” (performance), Art Gallery of Ontario (2005); “Shorelines”, MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie (2005); “Exchange-Changing the Landscape”, The Tree Museum (2004); “SPASM II”, Saskatoon (2004); “The Geumgang Nature Art Project”, Korea (2002); “CAFKA/Power to the People”, Kitchener (2002); “Zone 6B: Art in the Environment”, Hamilton (2000). Frank is also a member of the Hamilton-based collective TH&B, which has produced site-specific projects in Hamilton, Kingston, Toronto, Banff, Buffalo and New York.
The mission of the City of Burlington’s Public Art Program is to enhance the quality of life in Burlington through art. The program strives to bring artwork by both established and emerging artists throughout Burlington.
By Pepper Parr
October 31, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
How do you move when the stuff you have weighs a couple of tonnes?
You hold a sale and move what you’ve got to the place where the buyer lives.
 Part of the Rickli Studio Walt Rickli is moving his studio and this weekend will be selling a large part of his inventory which includes many of the items at the Sculpture Garden tucked in behind the Lowville Bistro; 2 Lowville Park Road Burlington
It was close to 20 years that the Nelson Aggregate Quarry let Rickli set up his studio in their quarry. Within the next year the limestone beneath that studio will be transformed into gravel – thus the move. The actual “move out” date is June 1, 2015. “Although it is months away there is a lot of work involved in relocating my world” said Rickli. “It felt like the place to start would be to sell all existing sculptures.
 One of the more evocative stone sculptures in the Rickli collection. The sale takes place today – October 31st, and Saturday, November 1st as well as Sunday November 2nd 2014 at the Studio which is located on the # 2 Sideroad. There are signs at the gate with detailed directions. For those of you using your GPS to get there – the address is: 2433 No 2 Side Rd, Burlington, ON L7P 0G8
All sculptures will be available at 20% to 80% off list pricing.
For more information on what is being offered and the prices attached to pieces – click.
 The event will be held indoors at the studio (where it’s nice and warm!) I will also be including all sculptures on display in my Sculpture Garden in Lowville in this event.
Also – the winter season is approaching – I will be offering free storage of sold pieces until May 1, 2015 and I will arrange delivery and installation as required.
Rickli will be accepting a limited number of commissioned works over the winter months.
 By Staff
October 31, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette is a Burlington newspaper published on line and while we are certainly aware of that smokestack called Hamilton to the west of us, we try hard not to be continually angry about all the stuff they spew into the environment.
 They recently did something that we fully approved of and appreciated. They chose Joan Krygsman as a Hamilton Spectator Reader’s Choice Awards winner and named her the First Place Platinum Award winner as BEST LOCAL ARTIST 2014.
Joan Krygsman and her Striped Aardvark studio has been doing what has been called colourful, quirky and unique art. They are certainly different – we think delightful – but art is often in the eye of the beholder – so you get to decide.
 Joan is one of those “she’s everywhere” type of people. She plays a guitar and takes part in any group that will invite her. She works with the Rain Barrel people and delegates at Hamilton City Council on almost every issue that touches on the environment.
Krygsman also does Income Tax returns for people. We came across Joan when we were looking for someone to put together a complex reader survey.
 We learned that Joan was pretty good at revising and upgrading WORDPress themes, which is the software we use to format the Gazette. It was advice from Joan that convinced us to move to the theme we currently have.
Colourful, quirky and unique are words used to describe Joan Krygsman – she is all of the above
For more on Joan slip over to her website . Most of what she produces is for sale.
Krygsman usually takes a small selection of things each weekend to the Wilson Street Farmers Market in Ancaster.
By Pepper Parr
October 30, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
They have been doing it for more than ten years.
 Artists who put on an arts tour during a weekend that give Burlingtonians a chance to visit nine studios where there are three, sometimes four different artists displaying their work.
Art in Action has been doing this for more than ten years. Each year new artists are added and others who have been showing for a while are dropped off. The studios are scattered about the city with well-marked directions.
 The selection this year in the nine studios include:
 STUDIO 1
654 SPRING GARDEN RD
Teresa Seaton – Stained Glass Artist
Helen Griffiths – Fine Artist
Josh Tiessen – Fine Artist
Silvana Terry – Jewellery Artist
STUDIO 2
1247 LEMONVILLE RD
George Wilkinson – Wood Turner
Kim DiFrancesco- Fine Artist
Done Graves-Fine Artist
Monica Bell – Quilter
 STUDIO 3
1292 HIDDEN VALLEY RD
Ed Hoyer – Fine Artist
Maria Hoyer- Fine Artist
Kathy Fenton – Jewellery Artist
Casandra Ward – Fine Artist
STUDIO 4
1359 HIDDEN VALLEY RD
Julio Ferrer – Fine Artist
Tamara Kwapich – Fine Artist
Liz Meister – Jewellery Artist
STUDIO 5
1295 Knights Bridge Court
Ian Cowling – Photographer
Aubrey Denomy – Sculptor
Brian Harris – Fine Artist
Karen Harris – Clay Sculptor
 STUDIO 6
711 ROSS ST
Dan Jones – Photographer
Glen Jones – Photographer
Fred Oliver – Photographer
STUDIO 7
531 Limerick Road
Anne More – Fine Artist
Donna Fratesi – Fine Artist
Joe Speck – Glass Fuser
Marilyn Walsh – Sculptor
STUDIO 8
424 SPARLING CRES.
Donna Grandin – Fine Artist
Lois Shaw- Fine Artist
Louise Young – Jeweller
 STUDIO 9
377 Cosburn Crescent
Dave Lawson – Photographer
John Highley – Glass Mosaic Artist
Peter Schlotthauer – Artist Blacksmith
Tammy Warren – Jewellery Artist
For those who make the tour an annual event – there is the opportunity to watch an artist grow and evolve. And you tend to meet people at a one studio that you met at a different studio earlier in the day and you exchange views on what you saw and what you liked and didn’t like.
You find yourself returning to favourite artists and wondering if you can afford what they have knowing that you would like to have that painting or piece of quilt work in your home.
 Don Graves, on the right, showing a canvas to a perspective buyer (she bought) will head up the Art Discussions program for the Art in Action crowd. During one of the previous tours it was a delight to watch Don Graves selling a small piece of work to a young woman who was a first time art buyer. Nice too to see Graves mount a show at the Art Gallery of Burlington that saw a slightly different direction in his work.
It was with some delight that we got a request from a Gazette reader asking if we could put them in touch with Don Graves – they had seen one of his paintings and wanted to talk to hm about a possible purchase. We put the two people together but never learned if a sale took place.
 Darlene Throop, on the right, presents Bateman High School students Sarah Tom with the 2014 Art in Action $1500. scholarship. Each year the Art in Action group awards a scholarship to a Halton student. The award for this year went to Sarah Tom.
By Lana Kamarić
October 28, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Thursday evening, at the Edy Roy Glass Gallery on Spring Garden Road, just in behind the Royal Botanical Gardens, True Visage, a specialty show for Devil’s Night will take place.
True Visage will be featuring a new body of work from Salt, a glass artist from Austin Texas, which will include his glass pipe work as well as a series of masks – appropriate for the occasion.
In these new pieces, Salt examines the masks we wear through the faces we put on for the world. He plays with the concept in both a literal and figurative sense, postulating that while we do not necessarily cover our faces with a latex shield we do tend to smile even when we are not happy.
 Latex masks with removable glass eyeballs are part of the True Visage exhibit at the Edy Roy Faller this Thursday Salt has collaborated with special effects artist Kim Zii to create latex masks with removable glass eyeballs. Zii is also an experienced glass and make-up artist from Philadelphia.
In addition to the masks Salt will also be displaying a series of glass pipes. As a functional piece he raises the question of whether the pipe is disguised as art or if the art is disguised as a pipe. Salt describes the pipe as a product of its environment – much like the faces we wear for the world.
Salt’s work often resembles monsters and strange creatures. True Visage was created specifically for this Halloween geared show. Edy Roy Glass Gallery strives to promote original and unique pieces. Creative director, Kyle Brooke, focuses on pieces from “artists that have something to say and have a voice.”
While the gallery does display traditional soft glass work, they also work to showcase the contemporary glass movement that involves borosilicate glass work, which tends to be more functional. Brooke provided some insight into this movement, specifically that of glass pipe art. She describes this art form as a subculture much like graffiti and tattoo art.
 Kim Zit’s glass pipes are a subculture much like graffiti and tattoo art Brooke also mentioned how this art form has become its own industry and gathered many followers. Artists do events all over the world and are often regarded as “rockstars” in their field. Brooke discovered this movement in the US and is working to bring more of it to Canadian audiences.
The opening night will be this Thursday October 30th. A private showing will take place for the sponsors on the opening night, however the show will be open to the public from 6 – 10pm.
The Edy Roy Glass Gallery exhibits are very popular and draw a lot of people for their specialty shows. Line ups are not uncommon – it is expected to be quite the event. In the spirit of Halloween the event will be a masquerade, so bring your mask.
 Lana Kamarić is a contemporary surrealist artist and a self-taught painter. Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia Lana arrived in Canada at the age of five. After moving to Burlington she attended Robert Bateman High school and graduated from York University with a degree in Art History. Lana has worked with the Museums of Burlington, the Art Gallery of Burlington and is currently working as a full-time artist. Lana was a participant in Cirque, the 2014 No Vacancy installation event in the Village Square. Her last show was Art in the Workplace at McMaster Innovation Park.
 By Pepper Parr
October 26, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
If the incumbent in ward 2 is beaten October 27th – it will be the upset of the year.
There are two challengers; one who we suspect has been put up to running and the other should find a new hobby.
Marianne Meed Ward is what the commercial people call a “disrupter” – she wants to change the way the city operates and she wants to get people involved. She doesn’t have much time for the social groups who feel they have influence and clout and she has no time for the vested interests.
 Meed Ward was a frequent delegator at city council meetings. Anyone wanting to run for Council in the future wants to look at her model – it works. Meed Ward cannot avoid a microphone and is like a moth to a flame when the television cameras appear. Some think she talks too much – and she does. She spoke longer than the candidate when Katrina Gould was being nominated as the Liberal choice for Burlington in the next federal election.
She drives her council colleague’s bananas – Councillor Taylor rolls his eyes frequently when Meed Ward is going on and on – and he is her friend.
However, when Meed Ward is going on she is asking the questions that need to be asked; she is asking the questions that no one else bothers to ask.
 They had every reason to be smiling. Councillors Meed Ward and Lancaster pose with five members of the Friends of Freeman Station after the Council meeting that approved the entering into of a Joint Venture that would have the Friends moving the station and taking on the task of renovating the building. She, along with Councillor Blair Lancaster, saved Freeman Station from destruction.
Council will consider a Code of Conduct which Councillor Craven wants to see in place hoping that it will keep Meed Ward out of his territory. Craven goes close to ballistic when Meed Ward talks about ward 1 issues. Craven takes the old approach to local politics – each Councillor is responsible for their ward and they keep their noses out of the others. Meed Ward sees herself as on Council to represent ward 2 specifically but she feels free to speak about issues in every ward.
She is by far the most aggressive member of Council, aggressive in a positive way; but that doesn’t make it any easier for her council colleagues to cope with. They don’t share her approach to municipal politics – she works for participation and inclusion. She is usually quite comfortable delegating and letting the people, who are going to be impacted by a decision, be part of the decision making process.
 Meed Ward wanted this project to be not more than four storeys in height to protect the character of the neighbour. The economics of the project made that impossible. Meed Ward does have problems with her understanding of economic fundamentals. She wanted the Maranatha project on New Street to be much smaller than economics of development make necessary.
Meed Ward doesn’t think the city has to change it rules so that developers can make a profit. The people developing Maranatha are certainly not your classic developer; this is a Christian organization that looks for ways to create housing that meets the needs of different groups.
The economics of buying property don’t seem to matter to Meed Ward, but they are a reality for anyone wanting to build anything. The people whose property is being bought want the best price they can get. The prices paid for the property assembled determine to a large degree what the cost of the units being offered will amount to – that economic fundamental seems to go right over Meed Ward’s head.
While Meed Ward talks about a collaborative approach to solving problems and arriving at solutions – collaboration means creating groups that can work together and it would be difficult to point to an occasion, when she has been able to work closely with her colleagues. The Freeman station cooperation was more of an exception than a rule.
It is often her against them. Like it or not, Council is made up of seven people and Meed Ward needs to work with all of them. We did not see much of that in her first term of office. She has worked closely with Councillor Lancaster on saving the Freeman Station from destruction – so it can be done.
 The Molinaro Paradigm project will change the stretch of Fairview and Brant hugely and result in major changes in future development in the area. Meed Ward also worked closely with the Molinaro’s on their Paradigm project on Fairview next to the GO station. So she can and has worked with developers.
Mayoral candidate Peter Rusin however pointed out that there are going to be just five affordable housing units in the five structure complex: “who negotiated that deal” he asked. Good question – who did negotiate that deal and was that the best that could be done.
There is a lot of fuzziness around affordable housing – how it works and where the responsibility lies for the creation of affordable units and then assuring that they remain affordable. Some leadership is needed on this – Meed Ward is the logical one to take this on – so far we’ve not seen the kind of leadership this issue needs.
According to the Meed Ward Newsletter web site: “…a number of developers have agreed to meet with residents before submitting development proposals, and in several cases they’ve modified their plans based on your input, most notably the Molinaro “Paradigm” project on Fairview. More than a dozen changes were made to that project after two public design workshops, all voluntary since the project has already been approved by the OMB.
On Section 37, she spearheaded a community conversation about the risks and benefits of using this tool, and secured a review of our Section 37 protocol which was changed to require consultation with the ward councillor to ensure public input on any benefits negotiated in your name. Meed Ward effectively took that issue out of the hands of the Planning department and put it into the hands of the residents – at least in ward 2.
Meed Ward believes “we can reach our provincial growth targets through jobs or residential units” and adds that “we need to focus on jobs downtown, so more of our residents can live and work here.
City Council approved the downtown as one of five hubs in the city for focused economic growth through the Burlington Economic Development Corporation.
 There was a time when a much larger bus terminal existed 25 yards to the left of this small terminal on John Street – it was where people met. There were fewer cars, Burlington didn’t have the wealth then that it has now. We were a smaller city, as much rural as suburban. The times have changed and transit now needs to change as well. This part of town is to become a transit hub. This same Council actually thought about closing the transit station on John Street – a mixed message if there ever was one.
And “mixed message” is the best that can be said of the ongoing efforts to create a downtown with more buzz. Shutting down traffic for car Free Sundays was a nice idea but it didn’t work in ward 2.
Meed Ward wants to see a retail attraction strategy developed.
Right on sister – now get the Burlington Downtown Business Association to do the job they are in place to do and make downtown more people friendly. They could start with a better job of getting the retailers on Brant Street to gussy the place up a bit during the holiday season. Last year’s effort was pathetic.
Meed Ward wants to “explore the feasibility” of a year-round farmer’s market downtown.” Make sure the Rotarians are involved in that discussion. They operate a very healthy market at the Burlington mall and they don’t want to see tax payer dollars taking their customers away from their event.
In the next term of council, Meed Ward said she “will get a report back on the possibility of setting up incubators for start-up businesses, including downtown.”
 A successful entrepreneur took a risk and opened up what can be called a start-up incubator. All the politicians showed up for the opening night drinks and then forgot about the place. There is a start-up incubator downtown. Meed Ward attended its flashy opening – and that was it. The city hasn’t given it an inch of support. Meed Ward argues that the city cannot favour a private venture. Rubbish. The HiVe uses a “membership” model and there is no reason why both the BEDC and the city could not have bought a couple of memberships and used them for people who are in the city and need a place to work with their computers.
 It is going to take quite a bit more than Red Bag Sales to grow the downtown retail sector. It would be interesting to see the reports on the meetings between the Downtown Business Association and the Economic Development Corporation – were there any? The EDC doesn’t seem to have figured out how to push the clutch so they can get their act in gear. Don’t hold your breath for those two organizations to come forward with a cohesive well thought out plan. There are people at city hall who have gone grey trying to develop policies and guidelines for something in the way of downtown commercial growth.
The number of new business enterprises is about the same as the number of people who either ran out of money or just plain gave up. Not very promising numbers.
The development community see Meed Ward as dangerous and describe her as such. Former city manager Jeff Fielding once said that if she had a decent handler she would be a very strong Mayor. The idea of Meed Ward being “handled” is one that is not easily embraced.
Meed Ward got herself into office by creating an organization focused on a single issue: Saving our Waterfront. That group had representation in every ward. She showed her community that she knows how to listen and they have embraced her approach.
Meed Ward brings a significantly different approach to municipal politics in Burlington. She has shown a willingness to share the power and authority she has. She gets called a “populist” for that approach.
We were never sure just what was meant by that word “populist”. Meed Ward certainly doesn’t set out to be popular. She has forced her council colleagues to stand for recorded votes; her best evening was when she forced them to stand four times.
Why every vote taken by this Council on everything at both Standing Committees and Council meetings is not recorded boggles the mind. Those men and women are chosen to lead and paid to do so. The public has a right to know what they decide and they have a responsibility to ensure the public knows what they have done.
Ward 2 is the smallest in the city which makes the task of organizing quite a bit easier. There are pockets that are not getting the attention they need. The Queensway community is an example. There is an opportunity to get some playground space for that community
 More than 100 mature trees were cut down for a development that razed 8 homes to put in 58. Bad planning. Meed Ward has spoken out strongly against the shameful Ghent Street development that took out more than 100 mature trees and then filled the property that had 8 houses with 58 units that are crammed in like sardines. Great for the developer – bad for the city overall. In time the city will come to see that the Ghent development was a serious mistake.
Meed Ward has a true sense of what a public needs to hear from a politician. During her kick off campaign event at the Art Gallery she asked people not for just their votes but for their trust. Politically that was a close to brilliant choice of words.
When she was running for office in 2010 there were a number of former politicians who were prepared to work with her, but she wasn’t prepared to listen to them. In 2010 her objective was to win the seat and position herself for a run against Cam Jackson who she thought was going to win in 2010.
Full disclosure here: I sat in on several of those early campaign meetings and was asked to play a leadership role in her campaign. I decided against playing a role – not because I didn’t think Meed Ward was a winner – it was clear that she had the potential to win. What wasn’t clear then, and still isn’t clear yet, is this: Does Meed Ward have what it takes to serve as the Mayor of Burlington? Can she develop the skills needed to serve as Mayor?
She is not there yet, but that isn’t going to stop her from trying. Could she beat Rick Goldring in 2018 – based on what Goldring did during the 2010-14 term of office her chances of winning in 2018 are better than even.
Meed Ward was more right than most people give her credit for on the pier issue. The city could have settled for much less than it did – but some smart political spin when the settlement was reached, allowed the city to come out looking like the winner.
 The pier was just a part of a longer term development that will next see a 22 storey condominium and an eight story hotel go up and possibly followed by a 28 storey tower as well.- The pier is just one part of the waterfront. There is a patch of land that is referred to as the “football” that is bound by Lakeshore Road and Old Lakeshore Road and has a reported 18 different property owners.
 The west end of the “football”, a patch of land with Lakeshore Road on he north side and Old Lakeshore Road on the south. Begging for intelligent planning. When the Waterfront Advisory Committee was in place they had plans to hold a design competition for some ideas as to what could be done with that part of the city. It was a good idea then (it was given to them by former Toronto Mayor David Crombie) and it is a good idea now. Meed Ward needs to find a way to move this from an idea into a reality. It would certainly position her very well for a run at the top job in 2018.
While that committee got shut down – they did produce some good information. They identified who the property owners were and what was possible and not possible from a planning perspective. Members of that committee learned all about “top of bank” which limits severely what can be done with the properties that line the lake along Old Lakeshore Road.
 Meed Ward used this graphic in her 2010 campaign to show what was possible within the “football”. She never dreamed that a developer would come along and ask to plunk a 28 storey structure across the street. There are significant limitations as to what can be done – but there is also significant opportunity – but nothing is going to happen without real vision and leadership from city hall. That hasn’t come from the Mayor nor has it come from Meed Ward.
Her very strong position on the possible sale of waterfront land makes it clear how she feels – there is an opportunity to put those feelings behind some concrete action in her second term.
By Pepper Parr
October 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
He is the best educated member of this city Council.
 Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison always has an eye open for an economic opportunity. He has far more real business experience than anyone else on this Council.
He knows more about property and buildings the city owns than any other member of Council and he cannot help but get right down into the weeds on almost every issue.
During a discussion on what was causing the flooding August 4th on Dryden Street Dennison explained that all staff had to do was walk out into a storm water pond and cut a couple of feet off a pipe and the flooding would stop.
Jack Dennison loves the art of a deal. He is like a used car salesman with an unsuspecting buyer – he can’t help himself.
The idea of selling the Tyandaga Golf club was being discussed and Dennison thought that was a great idea – he had worked out how many upscale houses could be built, what the take for the city would be – he couldn’t wait to take a city owned asset that frequently lost money and turn it into something that would raise cash.
Mayor Goldring didn’t like the idea – he described it as a “cash grab” which is exactly what Dennison wanted it to be. That one didn’t fly.
 Dennison wants the city to stop renting space in the Simms building and add on to the existing city hall or build a new one. Dennison wants the city to get out of the Simms building which is across the street from city hall where a number of city departments are housed. He feels we could have bought the building given the rent that has been paid in the past 10 years. Dennison wants to either add two floors to the back of city hall or get out of the city hall building, which is far from energy efficient, and put up a purpose built structure with underground parking.
Dennison got drawn into politics back when Jack Diamond, a renowned architect who was advising the city on the development of Spencer Smith Park. He was fascinated with what a city council could do – there were deals galore just waiting to be done – all with tax payers money. In those days Dennison truly wanted to make a difference.
When a development proposal comes to council and what the developer is asking for is more than the city wants to give, Dennison does everything but take his pencil to their drawings and lob off a couple of units. Never too many; just a couple to leave the area residents feeling that they at least got something.
Dennison once said that he had yet to meet a municipal bureaucrat who couldn’t figure out how to spend more than was needed.
Dennison owns a heritage home on Lakeshore Road, yet would put the Joseph Brant Museum on a raft, push it into the lake and set it ablaze. He had no interest in saving the Freeman Station.
As the owner of Cedar Springs Health Racquet and Sports Club he does a significant amount of business with the city and from time to time he declares a conflict of interest.
 Dennison’s heritage home on Lakeshore Road; he made an application to sever the property – was denied and appealed to the OMB. That hearing has yet to be held. He lives in a community (Roseland) where the voters are fully informed and up to date on what is happening and are fierce when it comes to protecting the integrity of their community.
They live in million dollar homes and they don’t want anyone trifling with the value of their property or the character of the neighbourhood they live in. Large spacious lots are the norm in Roseland and the burghers over there want to keep it that way. Thus when Dennison applied for a severance of his property with the intention of building on and then selling the new lot, he was breaking a cardinal rule in the community – you don’ take what we have going for us and lessen its value.
Roseland likes the idea of large lots along Lakeshore Road – they speak of affluence, prestige and old money.
Dennison felt he had a strong case when he made the severance application to the Committee of Adjustment but he attempted to buy a strip of land from his neighbour to the east to create a little more in the way of lot size. They refused to sell and became key players in the Carol Gottlob campaign to replace Dennison.
Jack Dennison lives in a world where there are friends who do you favours and you do them favours in return.
Dennison never understood that as a Council member he was held to a higher standard than others. He was chosen by the taxpayers to represent their interests and to resolve their problems.
Dennison didn’t understand, still doesn’t, that while he has the right to apply for an adjustment to his property – it is a right the public does not expect him to use.
The locals felt he had broken all the rules and when it looked as if he had a vote already in place at the Committee of Adjustment (COA) the Roseland burghers were apoplectic. “We’ve become a banana republic” said one attendee at a very long contentious meeting.
 The Committee of Adjustment that denied the application for a severance to the Dennison property on Lakeshore Road. Was there a member of this committee that was influenced by Councillor Craven? Dennison chose to speak for himself at the CoA meeting; not his wisest move. He had to tangle with a planner that knew the file inside out and was not going to get tripped up by a member of council no matter how slick they might be.
Ward 4 doesn’t have a community council per se. The Roseland Community Association was created to fight the attempt to sever a Hart street property – they won that battle and hope to win the Dennison appeal of a CoA decision now at the OMB. That association now has 150 members; they incorporated because they realized there were going to be other severance applications that would end up at the OMB.
 Dennison gets right into issues with residents – usually knows more than anyone else in the room. Dennison, the best friend small developers have on Council, doesn’t understand the angst of the Roseland homeowners who believe small developers see their community as their company’s inventory for their business – not a community of homes and trees. The RCO is determined to maintain the character of the area: the developers want to buy, sever, build, sell and move on to the next opportunity and in the process significantly change the character of the community.
Dennison applied for membership in the Roseland Community Association; his application was rejected and he found himself in that ignoble position of being black-balled by the people he had been elected to represent.
Dennison, like Councillor Taylor consistently pushes more tax payers dollars and grant money from the province into the infrastructure deficit but doesn’t own up to the fact that that deficit was built up during the past 20 years they were both members of council.
Dennison doesn’t flinch for a second when he reduces the portion of the gas tax payment from the province that normally goes into transit and increases what is used to “shave and pave” the city’s roads.
One sometimes thinks that Dennison sees transit as a necessary evil; for Dennison everything and everyone is supposed to pay their way. That others may fall on hard times is something Dennison understands but he doesn’t think it is the role of Council to be there to help out – usually.
 Councillor Dennison lets home owners bend his ear. But then there was the horrific flood August 4th and people needed help – and Jack Dennison was there to help. He had an election to win and he needed to get the anger over his severance application off the front page; helping people with their flood issues was just the tickets He consistently told people that he had been into more than 1000 basements – given the number of days that had passed since the flood the math didn’t support his claim.
Both Councillors Sharman and Dennison were now very active helping people who had been flooded.
These people were not going to have to get themselves out of this mess – their Council member was there to help them.
While campaigning door to door Jack found himself calling upon a woman who he had once been on city council with and was a little stunned to see a Gottlob sign on the lawn. He appeared to think that the collegiality that once experienced on Council was still in play. It wasn’t.
The 2008 recession did a lot of damage to the Burlington economy. Dennison’s sports operation relies on discretionary spending and that had been reduced significantly in thousands of Burlington households.
Cedar Springs is a large operation with fixed costs that have to be met. Tax bills from the city came in but didn’t get paid. Dennison found himself as a business person whose taxes were in arrears but serving as a member of the Council that direct staff.
There was nothing illegal about delaying the payment of taxes; funds that would have been used to pay taxes were used to cover operating costs. Cash was king and Dennison did what every business person does – you do what you have to do to stay alive.
And he did stay alive – it wasn’t easy. The business community in this city fully understood.
 Dennison taking part in the Strategic Plan sessions early in this term of office. Dennison holds his community meetings in his sports club. It used to be that if you wanted to see the ward 4 Councillor you traveled over to his office at Cedar Springs on Cumberland. During much of the 2006-2010 term Dennison didn’t have an office at city hall – felt he didn’t need one and that the job was really just part time. He didn’t have a full time assistant either – shared one with another council member.
This ward’s election issue has settled down to a battle between a candidate with no municipal experience and an incumbent with more than 20 years as a council member – and his seat is at risk.
 By Pepper Parr
October 24, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
People parking on the shoulder of the road along the rural part of Guelph Line are getting parking tickets and they don’t understand why. “This concerns a parking ticket I received recently off Walkers Line near the entrance to the Bruce Trail hike that goes up to Mount Nemo” said a citizen.
“My family has been hiking up to Mount Nemo several times a year for at least 15 years and parking on the shoulder either on Walkers Line or No 2 Side Road.”
“There are several places with no signs saying parking is not permitted . Last year we checked with an officer who was handing out tickets and he claimed we could park on the shoulder where there are no signs.”
“This is what we did – parked on the south side of No 2 Side Road. But we were ticketed in any case. And now we are told that we should know that there is no parking allowed on any shoulder. This means that ALL the hikers (and there are many) using this trail are parking illegally. It seems that the Bruce Trail is ‘the spider’s web’ and that Burlington parking authority is the ‘spider’.”
“This is totally unfair and unjust. Either put up signs that there is no parking allowed or stop handing out tickets.”
 Bruce Trail access off Guelph Line is used by hundreds each week – some are getting smacked with parking tickets. City has worked out a solution. Bruce Zvaniga, Director of Transportation Services seems to agree there is a problem and has said the “quick solution, we will be permitting parking in a signed area on the east side of Walkers Line, north of No.2 Side Road adjacent to the cemetery, where the shoulder is wider. “
Zvaniga adds that “ Parking is unsafe and illegal on roadway shoulders and this offence is not generally signed (because it applies everywhere).
“However”, he adds “we absolutely want to encourage walking – the Bruce Trail is a gem. We are definitely not seeking to issue tickets so we are proactively looking for a solution.”
“Our preferred solution that we are working on in parallel, is to have a small off-road parking area provided on the west side adjacent to the Bruce Trail entry point. This location would be safer, more convenient and not require pedestrians to cross Walkers Line. To accomplish this, we will need the cooperation and assistance of Conservation Halton who have ownership of the land.”
“In addition, this location will be the catalyst for a broader discussion with the Bruce Trail, Conservation Halton and ourselves about providing safe, legal parking areas that will allow people to enjoy the trail.”
Perhaps you can’t beat city hall – but you can get them to see things a little differently you just have to talk to them – and a little media attention doesn’t hurt.
By Pepper Parr
October 24, 2104
BURLINGTON, ON
It is the ward that current MP Mike Wallace ran in; it is the ward that Current Mayor Rick Goldring ran in and it is the ward currently served by Paul Sharman who is completing his first term as an elected official.
It is a diverse ward with that doesn’t have the patch of affluence in the south end that wards 4 and 2 have. It does have communities that were poorly planned – no fault of Sharman’s – that have significant parking problems.
 The ward runs from Appleby to Burloak – Dundas to the Lake.
The plaza at Appleby and New Street could be a challenge – depending on how one looks at the building of high rise towers. The First Capital project will certainly go a long way to producing the housing units the city has to come up with to meet the province’s Places to Grow intensification mandate.
There is a considerable amount of Employment Lands in the ward as well – much of it owned by the Paletta interests. While Sharman has been a member of the board of the Economic Development Corporation we’ve not heard much from him or seen much in the way of leadership in developing the property along Mainway and Harvester Road that run through the ward.
Nothing either on what could be done with the large tract of land on Upper Middle Road where it joins Burloak.
The economic engines of Burlington are located for the most part on Mainway, Harvester and that clutch of buildings at Burloak and the QEW. Has Paul Sharman manged to have any influence on how the economy and the job growth of this has been shaped during his first for years on Council?
There is a significant senior’s population in the ward that Councillor Sharman has catered to but he hasn’t delivered all that much for that demographic.
The Skyway Plaza in the east end is in desperate need of an upgrade but no one at council or at city hall can get through to the owner. Despite Sharman’s producing a staff direction nothing has come of the various efforts. Is there something going on in the background? Is there going to be a surprise announcement? Probably not at this point but that plaza does need serious attention.
The Appleby arena is in the ward; there isn’t a hockey parent in the city that isn’t unhappy with the way the place is scheduled but there is nothing any member of Council could do to keep those parents happy.
There has been some excellent small scale development at Dundas/Appleby cluster and quite a bit of development at Dundas and Appleby.
The major development at the top of the ward – at Sutton and Dundas has managed to get out of the planning department and past city council to the Ontario Municipal Board.
In May of this year the city chose to oppose the applications for Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments, submitted on behalf of Adi Development Group Inc., to permit a mixed use development consisting of 298 residential units in four connected apartment buildings and 1249 m2 of ground floor commercial development. That project is now at the Ontario Municipal Board where there is a settlement that has not yet been signed off on yet.
The Planning department was the lead on this – there didn’t appear to be much input from the Council member.
 It is going to be a large project – the OMB will make the decision probably based on agreements that are already in place. Council supported a modified approval of the applications for Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments to permit a mixed use development at the southeast corner of Dundas Street and Sutton Drive in accordance with the revisions recommended by planning staff.
On January 2, 2014, the city received an appeal of the Official Plan Amendment and rezoning applications, submitted by the applicant, for council’s failure to make a decision on the applications within the 180 and 120 day time frames in the Planning Act.
The record of the applications are now before the Ontario Municipal Board. The Ontario Municipal Board held a hearing on June 24, 2014 that was scheduled for four days – lasted just two. Minutes of settlement have been prepared and agreed upon – the city now awaits a decision from the OMB.
During the various deliberations there wasn’t all that much heard from Councillor Sharman. We did hear him talk about the need for more space between the project – which is very large in scale and the houses to the south.
We did hear from Sharman on the need for better security along the pathway beside Bronte Creek. One never got the sense that the council member for the ward was really in charge of; leading and directing the growth in his ward.
A project of this size and significance in ward 1 would have Councillor Craven’s finger prints all over it – that level of involvement doesn’t seem to be the way things are done in ward 5.
Yet when it comes to the budget or the need for better, more detailed data – Paul Sharman is all over the discussion. He would appear to be more comfortable with paper and numbers than he is with people.
In his campaign literature Sharman sets out what he feels he has done.
John W. Boich Public School surplus land parkette in The Orchard was approved after much community involvement. Getting started has taken a year longer than expected because contaminated soil found on the site had to be removed. I expect work will begin in spring 2015.
Parking changes that he promoted in Uptown and The Orchard that allow overnight parking, coupled with the city wide on road increase from 3 hours to 5 hours, have been well received. However, a change that was made with insufficient community engagement banned parking on the apron, perpendicular to the road. This has caused significant, unnecessary disruption and many tickets and needs to be permitted. Community members are circulating petitions for change, which I support.
 Lakeside Plaza is a blight on the delightful neighbourhoods of south east Burlington. I asked and obtained council agreement to direct staff to contact the owner about making improvements. As a result, the owner has approached the City to discuss possibilities for redevelopment. Preliminary plans call for residential and retail mixed use. It will be a while before we hear anything official.
 It is an arena badly in need of an updte. There was discussion about a plan to roll the arena into a package that would see a major upgrade done to a part of the city that needs an economic shot in the arm.  I asked staff to evaluate how Skyway Arena might be improved to better serve the community in which it is located. Someone misinterpreted that as meaning it should be sold. The possibilities for Skyway Park/Arena include additions of a library branch, seniors centre, community meeting rooms and a transit hub, which should be designed to work well with the redevelopment of Lakeside Plaza.
 The First Capital proposal doesn’t have the blessing of the ward Councillor – he doesn’t want kids to have to play in a supermarket parking lot. Appleby Mall proposed towers are unacceptable to me and community members. Apart from all the other concerns, the idea of raising hundreds of children in a parking lot is really troublesome.
ADI development at Sutton and Dundas has been a problem since it was first discussed. At the outset I held community meetings to review developer proposals. I have always opposed the plans because of height, density, traffic and congestion concerns. Those concerns led to the development application process to be slowed down. The developer then asked the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) to intervene, effectively taking the matter out of Councils hands. In an attempt to settle at the OMB, ADI negotiated increased setbacks with City staff. We still await the OMB final ruling. Irrespective, the development is still going to be a source of much discomfort for existing community members. Meanwhile ADI have recently filed a site plan with about 290 units, 3 x6 story and 1x 4 story building.
 The debate between the delegator and the Council member on this project on Pineland was memorable. The delegator ended up being the candidate and James Smith is now running against Paul Sharman By working with the community we accomplished significant changes to be made from what was originally proposed for Pinedale Plaza. Those changes made it more acceptable to the community. Neighbours are understandably frustrated with the amount of time it is taking to get things moving, they want it finished.
Combined 4 year City, Region and education property tax increase on your household bill 2011-2014 was 6.2% inclusive of funding for the Hospital. City budget increases of 12.7% including the hospital levy were offset by assessment growth in Region of Halton and education budgets. Total council pay increase for the last four years was 5.75%. Council pay increase calculations are very thoughtfully determined by an advisory committee, which stops Councillors from meddling.
Council is investing in Burlington Transit (BT), despite what some people like to say. Smaller buses have been purchased and Council voted, this year, to spend $2m to implement software that will, amongst other things, allow management to track buses and analyze where people get on and off buses. This information was not available previously. In 2012, Council was advised that BT operating performance was the worst in its peer group of 13 other municipalities. I support good transit management and future investments in a good transit plan when staff is able to provide one.
 The flood became a political issue that the Council members for wards 4 and 5 didn’t know quite how to handle. It was a Regional matter and Burlington’s city Council doesn’t have much in the way of clout at the Region. Damage to both the property and the lives of the people whose homes were flooded got turned into the base on which an election campaign was built. Sharman tried very hard to get something going at the Regional level but that organization has chosen to be unresponsive.
Will that change after the election? If Sharman is re-elected will he manage to make a difference at the Regional level. Try as he might – he hasn’t managed to get the Region to respond to the needs of his community – so far.
Related material:
Paul Sharman: An assessment.
 By Staff
October 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Ron Foxcroft a member of the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) board and Chair of the BCF Disaster Relief Committee is also Honourary Colonel of the Argyll and Sutherland Regiment in Hamilton.
 Ron Foxcroft: Honourary Colonel of the Argyll and Sutherland Regiment He, along with his board, send their sincere condolences to the family, friends and fellow officers of Corporal Nathan Cirillo who was killed in a tragic incident at the War Memorial Museum in Ottawa on October 22nd .
“This is a terrible tragedy for our country and for the family and friends of Corporal Nathan Cirillo,” said Foxcroft. “Last night I was with the troops who have worked side by side with Corporal Cirillo and they are extremely saddened for their fallen comrade. Training went on last night and all the troops continued with very heavy hearts.”
 In addition to spending time with the troops last evening in an effort to support them during this difficult time, Foxcroft spent hours on the phone doing interviews with media from around the world to honour the death of Corporal Cirillo and share the grief being experienced by the entire country.
 By Pepper Parr
October 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
 There is no doubt that Fortinos got behind the flood relief effort in a big way. Program will run to the 30th of the month. With fundraising for Burlington Flood Relief entering the final weeks of the 100-day campaign, the Claims Committee is focusing on assisting those who qualify for financial assistance prepare their claims.
A Town Hall meeting with the Claims Committee and Cunningham Lindsay, the insurance adjuster supporting the initiative, is planned for November 4th to answer questions and provide support to those interested in making a claim.
“We know there are hundreds of Burlington families who will qualify for financial assistance and are concentrating our efforts to communicate with those folks and help them through the process,” said Colleen Mulholland, President and CEO of the Burlington Community Foundation.
 Every cashier, every employee in the Fortinos supermarket wears the red Flood Relief T shirt. “We are also communicating with the provincial government to understand its position on providing financial assistance so we can be crystal clear on how much funding we have to disperse.”
Since the Application for Losses and Damages became available on September 30th approximately 40 claims have been filed. The Claims Committee has set a deadline of December 14, 2014 for all Applications for Losses and Damages to be submitted. Disbursements will begin over the following eight weeks after the deadline.
“Our Committee is committed to assisting everyone who needs help in submitting their claim forms,” said Mulholland. “We encourage people to attend the Town Hall on November 4th or to connect with the BCF office by phone or email.”
As of noon today, the Burlington Community Foundation Flood Disaster Relief Committee has raised $780,000 in cash.
 Long way to go – not all that much time left – three weeks. Ron Foxcroft, Chair, BCF Flood Disaster Relief Committee said: “We are in the final stretch our 100-day fundraising campaign and our Committee and a roster of dedicated volunteers continue to seek support from our community”. “We are working on some significant gifts and hope to have details to share shortly. Burlingtonians will continue to have an opportunity to donate to flood relief when shopping at retailers throughout our city and we are confident these efforts will make a big impact.”
Link to find Application for Losses and Damages or call: (905) 639-0744 ext 221
More donors are encouraged to continue supporting the campaign by:
Cheque – make cheques out to “Burlington Community Foundation” with a memo reference to Flood Relief Campaign – mail or drop off at Burlington Community Foundation, 3380 South Service Road, Unit 107, Burlington, Ontario, L7N 3J5
On-line donations – Click on the DONATE NOW button.
The Town Hall meeting will take place on:
Tuesday, November 4th, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Burlington Seniors Centre, Port Nelson & Wellington Rooms
By Pepper Parr
October 22, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
A second citizens group has been set up to deal with the flooding problems that resulted from that August 4th flood. This group, known as Halton Residents Against Sewage Backup and Flooding (HRASBF) has been a little more active at the social media level and expects at some point that it will join forces with Burlington Sewer Back-up Victims Coalition (BSBVC)
Differentiating between the two groups can be confusing so we will call them the “Victims” and the “Advocates”.
 The “advocates” once met with ward five council member Paul Sharman at what he wanted to call a private meeting held in a church. It was clear at that meeting that the residents had more information than the council member who admitted that his problem was getting information out of the Regional level of government.
The “advocates have called a public meeting for Friday, October 24th – from 4:30 to 6:30 at Fortino’s Plaza
Sharman, to his credit, got the Region to do a study of flooding in July – before the August storm because there had been persistent flooding in his ward.
The flooding issue has come close to defining Sharman’s re-election campaign.
Jack Dennison, who is running for re-election in ward four claimed he had inspected more than 1000 basements.
Peter Rusin, who is running for the office of Mayor said Mayor Goldring’s absence from last night’s meeting was less than encouraging. If I was elected Mayor, it would not be resident groups requesting meetings or pressuring for solutions. I would set up a series of workshops involving Regional Engineers, City Engineers, the Conservation Authority and possibly include representatives from both the federal government and the insurance industry.
“My goal” said Rusin, ” would be to fast track and prioritize future remediation measures such as capital projects for new storm water ponds, greater erosion control, flow capacity consideration and emergency plan measures.”
This is a difficult time for those involved in the politics of wards four and five – there are some terribly painful human tragedies going on in hundreds of households but there isn’t all that much a candidate can actually do.
The need for the flood victims is financial but unless a home owner was uninsured or under insured they will not benefit from the funds being raised by citizens through the Burlington Community Foundation.
The frustration in the community comes through in the email chatter – some of which we set out below.
The email chatter:
 Christina Thorpe, spokesperson for the Halton Residents Against Sewage Backup and Flooding (HRASBF) speaking at a community meeting at Glad Tidings church on Guelph Line. From: Harnum, Jim [mailto:Jim.Harnum@halton.ca]
Sent: October 21, 2014 9:25 AM
To: ‘Christina Thorpe’
Subject: RE: Flood
Hi Christina,
Sorry for the delay in responding, I was out at an offsite meeting yesterday. The magnitude of this storm was unprecedented in Halton Region, in the past we had only experienced 20 to 30 flood claims per year vs 3000 in one week. We did not have this pamphlet prepared until after we received feedback from the community, that more information was required.
With respect to your second point, please accept my apologies for the impression that I was downplaying the impact or magnitude. I was merely stating the facts concerning the dilution factor of the water in basements. I recognize that this has been a terrible event for thousands of individuals and by no means was I downplaying the impacts. A storm of this magnitude would have overwhelmed any system in Canada as sanitary sewers are not designed to handle rain water, especially at these magnitudes.
Jim Harnum, CET, MBA Commissioner, Public Works
Thorpe responds:
From: Christina Thorpe [mailto:christinaathorpe@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2014 10:16 PM
To: Harnum, Jim
Subject: Re: Flood
Hello Jim,
With all due respect, hard copies should have been mailed or hand delivered to each resident within a few days of the backups/flooding with the ex-gratia grants. Does the region realize how many residents were blindsided by restoration companies and contractors? These restoration companies charged exorbitant fees and did not do proper clean up and residents were none the wiser, and according to the Ontario Environment Safety Network (OESN), every home they visited in Burlington was inadequately cleaned and tested.
I, personally, don’t appreciate your downplay of the situation. My children have unexplained rashes on their legs and face. I have seen exhaustion in elderly folks and those who are not well. The region should be holding information sessions for residents in this aftermath in conjunction with the public health department.
Christina
Jim gets back to Christina:
 Jeff Brooks, candidate for the ward three council seat speaks at the Glad Tidings meeting. On Sun, Oct 19, 2014 at 9:16 PM, Harnum, Jim <Jim.Harnum@halton.ca> wrote:
Hi Christina,
Residents can get hard copies at Region offices or they can call 311 and we will mail them out one. During the Aug 4 flood, the ratio of rainwater to sewage was very high, in other words the majority of water in basements was rainwater mixed with a very small volume of sewage. Therefore the threat to health was very small. As far as fecal mater in weeping tiles, most plumbing would be thoroughly flushed after another heavy rainfall, which we have had several since the flood. If a homeowner did still have a concern they could enlist the services of a plumber to send a camera into weeping tiles to review the condition. I hope this helps and answers your questions.
Jim Harnum, CET, MBA, Commissioner of Public Works
Christina responds again:
From: Christina Thorpe
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2014 8:48 PM
To: Harnum, Jim
Subject: Re: Flood
Hi Jim,
Where can the hard copies of the guide be found? Did elderly home owners who do not have access to computers, those who lost their computers or those who no longer drive receive copies from the region?
Also, you have not answered the question of fecal matter stuck in the weeping tile and drains. How is the region responding to this?
Christina Thorpe
On 2014-10-19, at 6:17 PM, Harnum, Jim wrote:
Derek Johnston joins the chatter and gets a response:
Hello Mr. Johnston,
> Thank you for the information, I will review the situation that occurred on Mcraney Avenue in the past to see if there are similarities. As far as the health and wellbeing of homeowners, Halton has also been very proactive in this area. Although we cannot go into residences to review the presence of mold or other contaminants, we have worked closely with our Public Health Department and developed very comprehensive material on our website to help homeowners understand the issues.
We have also developed a very detailed guide titled “A guide to Flooding Prevention and Recovery”. This guide has all of the information that homeowners in Halton would need to help protect themselves from future flooding events and how to ensure that their homes are safe if they do experience flooding. The website link is below and the guide is located here as well. The guide is also produced in hardcopy for those who do not have access to a computer.
https://www.halton.ca/cms/One.aspx?portalId=8310&pageId=114218
Jim Harnum, CET, MBA, > Commissioner, Public Works
> —–Original Message—–
Johnston sends a polite response:
From: Derek Johnston [mailto:derek@soundmaskcanada.com]
> Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2014 4:44 PM
> To: Harnum, Jim
> Cc: Paul Sharman; Phil Cavanagh; Christina Thorpe; Bob Vrenjak; Carr, Gary; matt johnston; Linda Johnston; peterrusin@royallepage.ca
> Subject: Flood
>
> Thank you Jim
 Nicole Dunn, part of the (HRASBF) talked about the health issues related to the flooding. She thinks they are serious and being overlooked by the Regional bureaucrats. > We are not done yet but i am impressed by the quality of your response and by the fact that it came out so promptly on a Sunday afternoon,.
> You might want to take a look at what happened on Mcraney avenue 20 years back it was remarkably similar to the Tuck Creek overflow . The City of Oakville picked up the tab for all repairs to a large number of flooded homes My serious concern at this point is the most vulnerable flood damaged people. There are a lot of elderly people in our neighbourhood. I am concerned that sewage damage which is not immeadiately apparent might be missed leaving a festering disease and mold Infested condition with possible deadly ramifications. Is there any way we can make sure that all houses are safe. Please be advised i am aware of several homes where damage to the piping did not become apparent until weeks after the flood , Sewer gas smell and backed up sewage pipes were discovered. i want to be sure that all flood victims are safe from disease and illness.
>
> Best Regards Derek Johnston
Jim Harnum responds to Johnston again:
On 2014-10-19, at 11:16 AM, Harnum, Jim wrote:
>
Hello Mr. Johnston,
Thank you for your e-mail, I understand your concerns and assure you that the Region is taking this issue seriously and we have been very active in assisting residents and looking for short and long term solutions.
The Region has received over 6000 flood related inquiries since August 4th. All calls received by 311 (Access Halton) by phone or e-mail that require follow up are logged and tracked. Staff has responded to calls received by connecting directly with residents or by leaving a message with relevant information. We have encouraged all residents impacted by flooding to contact 311. This message was communicated to over 30,000 Burlington residents using the Community Emergency Notification System as well as by the Red Cross when they visited 10,979 homes at the request of the City and the Region following the flooding. There has also been communication through the media and social media.
I would also like to provide you the following additional information highlighting the Region’s response to the August 4th storm.
Over 3000 homes have been visited by Regional staff and almost $2 million in ex-gratia grants provided to assist residents. The Region also initiated a special program for residents in high priority areas where homes have been impacted by repeat flooding, covering 100% of the costs of basement flooding prevention measures. It is expected this program will cost an additional $1 million.
The regular Basement Flooding Prevention Subsidy program is available to all residents covering up to 50% of the cost to install basement flooding prevention measures. The demand for this program increased significantly after the August 4th storm. It is estimated that the Basement Flooding Prevention Subsidy program will cost the Region over $1 million.
Since the August 4th storm, the Region has also provided enhanced waste collection services in Burlington to assist residents clean up following the flooding. The cost of the enhanced services is expected to cost approximately $500,000.
Halton Region has supported the City’s request for Provincial assistance through the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) and the fundraising efforts by the Burlington Community Foundation to provide financial assistance to residents impacted by the flood.
Halton Region has not previously experienced a storm with the intensity of the August 4th storm. It is clear that weather patterns throughout the world have changed. The City and the Region have initiated reviews of the storm water and sanitary sewer systems to identify actions that can be taken to reduce the risk of future flooding given the new realities of climate change. The review will consider changes in infrastructure, programs to disconnect private downspouts and updates to the Basement Flooding Prevention Subsidy program. Public Information Centres will be scheduled to update residents as the study proceeds.
 Councillors Sharman and Taylor attended the community meeting but neither was asked to speak. Shaman’s ward was seriously damaged by the flooding. One would think the residents would want to hear from him. Taylor who has been around longer than any other council member knows more about how the Region works than anyone else on Council could have added some very useful information. Residents with questions or concerns related to basement flooding are encouraged to call 311 or visit the Region’s website at Halton.ca/flood. In addition, the Region has recently published a “Guide to Flooding Prevention & Recovery” which is available online at Halton.ca/flood, or by calling 311 for a print copy.
Jim Harnum, CET, MBA, Commissioner, Public Works
—–Original Message—–
Regional Chair Gary Carr jumps in:
From: Carr, Gary
Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2014 5:30 PM
To: Derek Johnston; Harnum, Jim; MacCaskill, Jane
Subject: Re:
Thank you
Jim will give you a detailed update
Regards
Gary
On Oct 18, 2014, at 5:28 PM, Derek Johnston <derek@soundmaskcanada.com> wrote:
You quick response on a Saturday afternoon is noted and appreciated.
Thank you Derek Johnston
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