 November 18, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. Has a Convention ever come to Burlington? Even a small one? Doesn’t look as if anyone in the corporate or association world has ever seen Burlington as a destination. Wonder why?
Part of the reason is the city didn’t really have anything in the way of facilities for a small convention. All Burlington has is geography – properly promoted one can go a long way with how you look. Other than water falling over the edge of a cliff – what else has Niagara Falls got going for it?
 The Delta Hotel will give the city some first class convention space that could radically change the way the city is seen by the small corporate convention community. Add the Performing Arts Centre to the portfolio and the city has a good offering. Now to put a team in place that could work with the Delta Hotel organization.. We don’t have that in place today. Burlington now has the Performing Arts Centre and should see shovels in the ground in 2015 when construction starts on the Delta hotel that is part of the Bridgewater development on Lakeshore Road. The Delta wanted to be open to participate in the Pan Am Games in 2015. So there is convention potential – even if it is small.
Team Burlington made its annual report to the Development and Infrastructure Standing Committee last week – my colleague at the media table slipped me a note while the presenter droned on – “terrible” she had scribbled on the agenda. Dismal was my thought.
The Team Burlington partners include City of Burlington, Burlington Chamber of Commerce, Burlington Economic Development Corporation, Burlington Downtown Business Association, Tourism Burlington, Aldershot Village BIA, and Burlington Hydro.
Team Burlington was formed in 2001, one of the former Mayor Rob MacIsaac’s ideas that hasn’t quite jelled – it needs a hard look. That isn’t likely to happen for some time – the administration is going to have their hands re-formatting the way the city works. The Tourism potential is there – creating a contact point within the city and promoting the opportunity could begin – even if the city brought someone in on a part-time basis.
The idea in 2001 was to “bring the major city economic development organizations together to form a dynamic team that is focused on the creation of a progressive and vibrant city with a unique approach to business development services. Only a public relations flack could write a sentence like that.
The city is a bit conflicted with what it wants. The Chilly Half Marathon brings 5000+ people into the city – downtown is certainly vibrant when they are there. But there is a bunch of people who live along Lakeshore Road who want the city to have the marathon run somewhere else. That Marathon is one of the best things the city has going for it. Many people don’t realize that Burlington is seen amongst the running crowd as the place with some of the best races in the province.
For 2012 Team Burlington lists the Mayor’s One Dream as an achievement. Not something most people would put on their resume. That event was poorly thought through, was a bit of a disaster from an operational point of view and after spending $50,000 there is yet to be anything in the way of ideas from the two-day event.
The Team Burlington Report says the event “solidified the direction of the city’s Strategic Plan and reinforced the work”. Poppycock – that event did no such thing.
With the Economic Development Corporation getting a face lift as well as a couple of major organ transplants the purpose of Team Burlington is no longer clear. The city will see some clarity when the revised BEDC format is unveiled at the April 2014 AGM. Deliverables at BEDC has been pathetic and it is going to take at least six months to stabilize that place.
After sitting through the Team Burlington presentation – “uninspired” is an understatement.
 Located in the lower levels of the municipal parking garage on Locust many of the Team Burlington members have modern offices and a decent restaurant with a sidewalk patio. There was no information – just a recitation of what are close to mickey mouse events. They had a Christmas gathering – really. There was one very good event that pulled together hospitality related groups to tie them into the War of 1812 celebrations. The presenters were as good as it gets, there was a lot of very useful information. But there was a problem – just one person from the hospitality sector showed up. The woman who put on the event for Tourism Burlington was a “fire cracker”: focused, motivated, and innovative – but she left town, a decision she made.
The report has statements like this:
“Team Burlington continues to evolve and be recognized as a leading edge and unique business development model, both within our City boundaries and beyond. The Team plans to continue this mandate to support and increase economic development in the City.” Corporate happy talk at its best.
Why do the people who sign off on these reports let things like this get out to the public?
Not sure where the credit for the new signage that is popping up all over town goes. Good looking stuff – the information needed is all up there. There are some who quibble with the design.
Everyone in this city talks about the vibrant, progressive downtown – I’ve never managed to see it. The small Tourism office is filled with brochures telling you everything you ever wanted to know about what is going on in town and the people behind the counters smile and are helpful.
 November 18, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. Is it an appropriate place for a restaurant that will have a patio on the roof of the building that is being built to handle up to 80 people? Depends on where you live. There will be seating for 90 people on the ground floor level.
The working name for the new restaurant is expected to be Casey’s. it is part of the franchise chain that operates East Side Mario’s and other brands. The Casey’s operation will start out as a corporate operation rather than a franchise.
Glen Wellings, the planning consultant representing FCHT Holdings (Ontario) Corporation, a unit of First Capital that basically owns the intersection. They operate the mall on the north-east side as well as the smaller strip mall on the north-west side.
 Architectural rendering of the proposed Casey’s restaurant at New and Appleby Line was described at a Public Meeting last week. A restaurant can have a patio at the ground level – to create a roof top patio they need an amendment to the zoning bylaw. The event was a Public meeting where anyone can show up to speak. The Public meeting format gives city staff an opportunity to hear what residents feel about a proposal. Staff then meet with the restaurant operators and return to Council with a plan and a recommendation that, ideally, meets all the concerns that came up at the public meeting.
The planners assured everyone they have made managing and buffering the sound a significant part of the design. Containing sound is not easy.
A number of the residents have a major concern about parking which they contend is a very tough go as it is. There is a martial arts school right next to the location which used to be home to the TD Bank. Some feel that parking will not be an issue – if there isn’t space outside Casey’s – patrons will just park across the street.
After the meeting an area resident opined that the plan was to make the roof a place where smokers could drink. The current bylaw calls for no smoking within 9 metre of a building – one has to assume that would apply to the 9 metres above the roof patio.
 The developers application is for an amendment to the zoning bylaw that would permit a rooftop patio. Sound control was a concern to residents. The architects have included barriers they believe will control the sound. The manager of the location lives in Burlington and gave the Standing Committee every assurance he could that the parking issues were more than manageable and that sound disturbance would not be as issue.
Well – try a sulky summer evening with breezes floating in off the lake and wonder aloud where that sound is going to go. It will be noisy; pleasantly so and acceptable to the community? To early to tell. Much depends on how responsible the operators of the restaurant are and the kind of clientele they attract. If you see half a dozen motorcycles in the parking lot – you know there is a problem.
The operators of the chain have done their market research and believe there is a place for what they want to operate. These people do their homework – if they got it right the neighbourhood will have a pleasant place to get out for a meal and a drink and spend some time on that patio – assuming the place isn’t populated by smokers.
 November 16, 2013
By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. This is what you would call a `”coup” The Different Drummer is bringing Margaret Atwood to town. The Drummer along with, Bryan Prince Bookseller and Random House of Canada will have Atwood at Royal Botanical Gardens on Thursday, November 28 7pm
 Margaret Atwood; one of the country’s finest writers. Ian Elliott, the guy behind the counter at the Drummer is “deeply honoured” to announce what is a rare local appearance by an international, leading literary figure.
 Atwood will discuss her work and the issues at the heart of the final volume in her enthralling dystopian trilogy, MaddAddam.
Tickets are $10. Please contact us at (905) 639 0925 or diffdrum@mac.com to reserve.
 November 15, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. The Burlington Executive Airpark has decided to appeal the decision that found the city of Burlington site modification bylaw to be valid.
One needs to look at the time line on this decision to appeal. Justice Murray released his decision at just before 5:00 pm on Wednesday the 13th. These things are often sent by fax and would have gone to the offices of the lawyer who argued the case.
That suggests that Vince Rossi and his legal team were up late Wednesday and then spent all of Thursday reviewing the decision and the applicable case law.
They then have to draft their documents and file them at the Court House in Milton and then have the documents served on the city, which they are reported to have done Friday afternoon.
 An early photograph of the Airpark property. There are now two runways and a lot more landfill now than there was when this picture was taken. The lines indicate the extent of the holdings. The news release announcing the decision to appeal did not come from the lawyers representing the Airpark but instead came from Tim Crawford who has been an advisor to Vince Rossi.
 Vince Rossi at a community meeting held in a barn a couple of hundred yards from the end of one of the airport runways The grounds for the appeal are twofold: arguing that Justice Murray erred in law and that there is a fundamental constitutional issue to be argued as well. That pulls the Attorney General of Canada and the Attorney General of Ontario into the case. When you involve federal and provincial governments you move into a pace that is best described as glacial. Someone is buying time.
There is a lot of Vince Rossi’s money at risk. He owns the land, has a $4 million mortgage to service and will have to keep his development plans on hold until he has a decision.
Selling gas to small planes isn’t going to pay the bills.
Earlier in the week, on Monday, King Paving removed all their equipment from the site. King was the company that hauled the bulk of the landfill onto the Airpark site.
The relationship between King Paving, Tim Crawford and Vince Rossi is a complex one. Both King Paving and Crawford have offices in the same building in Burlington. Crawford is in the aircraft insurance business and while he claims that he does not have a financial interest in the Airpark and does not earn fees from the company, many believe there is a benefit in there for him somewhere.
When the Airpark issue was heard at the Region, Crawford who expected to do a 10 minute delegation, was kept hopping with some close to hostile questions from the Regional Councillors. They kept him on his feet for close to an hour and gave him quite the grilling
Vince Rossi is a relationship builder. He seeks out people with power and influence and manages to get them to do some of his bidding. When he needed to send a fax to the Minister of Finance the document went from the offices of Hazel McCallion, Mayor of Mississauga. When a fax from the Mayor of Mississauga arrives – attention is paid to it.
 Lisa Raitt, second from the right, Tim Crawford centre behind the flowers and Vince Rossi in the red sweater. The flowers suggest a Christmas event. Rossi has developed a better than working relationship with Lisa Raitt, the MP for Halton – good business. That relationship is such that Raitt shows up at some of the Airpark social events.
Rossi has done the same thing with Burlington`s Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster. She has held at least two ward corn roasts at the Airpark
Relationships are good to have but they will never beat a positive cash flow which many suspect is something the Burlington Executive Airpark does not have.
The saga continues.
Background:
Rossi meets with residents; his lawyer fails to browbeat city council.
Airpark landfill damage cannot be seen from Appleby Line.
City gets details on landfill damage – not a pretty picture.
City thinks about road access suspensions to airpark property.
It all came to the attention of city council back in may.
 November 15, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. So – what’s next with the air park? The city won – the airpark people can appeal – they’ve got 30 days plus a couple of jiggle days to decide what they want to do. The final date for an appeal is December 18. The two lawyers representing the Airpark will be going over the decision with a fine tooth comb looking for grounds to appeal – assuming their client can come up with what it is going to cost to file an appeal.
Meanwhile the city will pull together its team – that will include Ian Blue, the lawyer the city hired to argue the case, and the internal staff that have worked this file.
The city bylaw is pretty specific –
An applicant for a Permit must submit a Control Plan as part of its application which must contain, inter alia, a map showing the location of the site, the site boundaries and the number of factors, the current and proposed use of the site, location of lakes, streams, wetlands, channels, ditches and other watercourses and other bodies of water on the site, the location of the predominant soil types, the existing site topography at a contour level not to exceed 0.5 m, the proposed final elevations of the site, the location and dimensions of temporary soil, or silt stockpiles and provisions maintaining site control measures during construction.
And if the decision stands this is what the Air Park is going to have to comply with.
 This Regional government map shows they knew what the plans were – but they didn’t do anything – instead bought the Vince Rossi argument that the airpark was federally regulated. The challenge is going to be for the city to find a way for the Airpark to comply. City General Manager Scott Stewart explains the Airpark will have to hire a consultant and put forward a proposal on how they think they can comply with the bylaw. Expect to see a lot of back and forth on this one. Vince Rossi has never given an inch in his previous dealings with the city.
The relationship Rossi established with the Ward Councillor Blair Lancaster, which bothered the people whose property was being harmed environmentally and de-valued financially, is not going to get Rossi out of this one. There is one resident who has probably lost 50% of the value of her property now that there are 30 foot hills either side of her lot.
Many felt that Lancaster, was far too close to Vince Rossi. They felt her sitting beside him at a community meeting was a dumb decision and when she was spotted walking out of the court house with Rossi some wondered if any of the confidential information Lancaster is given as a Council member was working its way to Rossi.
 Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster held some of her ward meetings at the Airpark. Area residents didn’t fully appreciate in 2011 and 2012 how tight she was with Vince Rossi. Lancaster had spent a few minutes with Ian Blue, the city’s lawyer and Scott Stewart, general manager for Development and Infrastructure and the point man on this file, after the Judge completed the hearing. Lancaster then walked from the Court house to her car with Rossi. The political optics were terrible – one would expect the Council member to be mindful of her position.
The north Burlington residents have been meeting with senior city staff at regular Saturday morning get togethers at a coffee shop and have been kept in the loop. One hopes that the city will have at least some of that Saturday morning group at the table as they work out how to get the Air Park to comply with the bylaw.
The city expects Rossi to comply with the bylaw using some of the money he made from landfill dumping fees – problem is much of that money doesn’t show up on the Airpark’s financial statements. So where is that money – and we are not talking chump change here.
During the hearing before Justice Murray, Ian Blue managed to slip in the fact that the $2 million plus per year, earned by the Air Park in 2011 and 2012 and a smaller sum in 2013 did not appear on the company’s financial statements. Many want to know where that money went.
The public does know that there is something in the order of $4 million in mortgages on the Airpark property – hard to understand how that debt is going to be serviced with no more dumping fees coming in. Might the TD Bank end up foreclosing on the property and offering t sell it to the city who might operate the place as a municipal airport?
Stranger things have happened. Jeff Fielding, city manager, has council convinced to let him come up with business cases for what he calls Enterprise Corporations. A municipal; airport could be just another enterprise.
Assuming the court case is not appealed the city has some major thinking to do. First how to fix the damage that was done and then to decide just what it wants to do in terms of how it grows north Burlington. It is a development no go zone, designated as agricultural but doesn’t really support an agricultural industry. There are a number equine operations up there, places where you can pick your own berries and pumpkins and quite a bit of hay and soy bean farming.
The mess the city got itself in with the Airpark development was because there was no one paying any attention. The residents were telling anyone who would listen that there was a massive landfill operation going on up there and when people at the Region, city hall and the Conservation Authority made telephone calls they were told that the Airpark came under federal jurisdiction and for a time everyone let it go at that.
 Will this mountain of landfill ever get taken out? It wasn’t until Vanessa Warren formed an organization and went public at both the Regional and city levels that we saw some action on the part of the city. They sent people up and took a look around; the Mayor visited several of the properties and left stunned by what he saw and is reported to have been on the phone to the city manager as he drove out of one property saying he was appalled at what was being done.
The city, to its credit, grabbed this one by the horns and moved quickly and with more certainty and confidence than was ever seen under the term of the previous city manager. When Glenn Grenier, a lawyer representing the Air Park, delegated to city council the city manager advised the Mayor on three occasions during the meeting to send the man packing. Fielding, who is a man you do not want to cross, exchanged words with Grenier in the Council Chamber foyer later. That should have been signal enough for the thickest of mindsets to figure out they had a fight on their hands. But Vince Rossi has never indicated that he took listening very seriously.
Right now he is reading and re-reading Justice Murray’s decision and telling his lawyers to find a hole in the document; give him something to crawl through.
 November 12, 2013.
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. It was a report requesting approval to explore new service delivery models and if it gets the approval the city manager is asking for – it will change drastically the way the city is run.
If we don’t change the way we run the city – what we have today is just not sustainable.
 City manager Jeff Fielding: About to put his stamp on the way the city has to be run. The report comes directly from city manager Jeff Fielding’s desk and is the first look we get of his longer term thinking. It is a strong report, it takes the city in a direction it has not been before.
Now Fielding has to debate his ideas with a Council that has never seen anything like this before and there are several members who will have difficulty grasping what Fielding wants to do.
His mission is to identify and report back on opportunities that will support the sustainability and quality of directly delivered services.
Fielding believes he can get this done in a month. He already knows what he wants to do and has the team that will get it done during the next two years already lined up.
City Council has not seen what Fielding is putting before them. The first step of the long term plan took place All Hallows Eve when the Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation was given his walking papers.
The Economic Development Corporation will hold its AGM in April – expect it to dissolved and become a city department.
Look for the creation of what Fielding calls Enterprise Corporations – free standing organizations that will probably not report to any of the Standing Committees.
 Developers have done a great job with condo creation along the Lakeshore Road. The city has not managed to find a way to get the developers to put some of the economic lands into production. There are five of the things on the “thinking board”.
Economic Development Corporation: This corporation would oversee strategic investment and to potentially hold strategic land assets.BEDC is currently in the process of developing this concept.
Real Estate Asset Management Corporation: This corporation would control civic facility assets to increase asset value and
potentially create a revenue stream (dividend) from increased asset value.The City’s Real Estate Office and Corporate Strategic Initiatives have taken the lead in developing this concept.
Service Based Corporation: This corporation, in partnership with Burlington Electric Services Inc. (BESI) (which is managed under the Burlington Hydro Board), would serve as an in sourced business to operate a select group of services currently managed in-house by each of the parties.
The initial services considered (storm water management, street lighting, tree trimming, right of way access, etc.) and would involve minimal risk to the taxpayers while representing an opportunity to establish and/or enhance existing common or shared services. What this translates into is: should street lighting be a tax supported service? Could the city and hydro create an organization that handles all tree trimming. These are significant changes.
Cultural Enterprises Corporation will not be advanced at this point but you can see where the city is going. This corporation would manage culturally – focused revenue generating businesses.This concept aligns with the theme of the Cultural Master Plan.
The final Enterprise Corporation would focus on energy and would establish and manage the City’s revenue generating energy service delivery model.
For each concept, a comprehensive business case , inclusive of a legal and decision-making framework , will be developed in order to-identify and assess the benefits, costs and risks as well as determine the recommended course of action. Each concept will have a revenue generation and/or cost saving focus, and will only engage in more traditional municipal service functions when it is deemed to be advantageous by Council.
Enterprise Corporations, like other operating models, have inherent advantages and disadvantages. For example, an arm’s-length organization has the ability to act quickly and adjust to market pressures, but on its own, may not be as sensitive to social and/or political issues. Conversely, the City’s current model, inclusive of public engagement, has been successful in addressing wider community issues, but can result in slower decision making.
 The lesson learned on the building of the pier was the need for a tight working relationship between the builder, the project manager and city hall. If the public ever gets to see just how terrible the relationship was with the project managers they will demand better staffing in the Engineering department. When a second contractor was given the job the city had some top notch people doing their jobs. There is no perfect service delivery mechanism, so it is important to investigate these concepts in order to identify the operating model that offers the “best fit”. What will be vital, when public spending is limited, is a clear understanding of the City’s objectives within a wider social-economic context.
“The evaluation of which service delivery vehicle might best achieve the City’s identified objectives will include an analysis of whether the service is best delivered in-house only, by a combination of in-house resources and a special purpose vehicle (ex. municipal service board) or by an independent development corporation.”
This is heady stuff. What doesn’t appear evident is this: Where is the public input in all this? And why, politically, are ideas like this coming forward when we are less than a year out from a municipal election?
Where is the concept of Community Engagement in all this. We do have an engagement Charter – it’s on a shelf somewhere in city hall.
 Burlingtonians will show up for public meetings and take an active part in any discussion – but they have to be given background briefings and decent opportunity to study and prepare. Fielding doesn’t talk much about public involvement – but he does explain how he will marshal the staff he has and assign them to this task.
Each concept will be investigated in accordance with the following principles:
1.Alignment with the City’s strategic plan and objectives.
2. Preservation of services that are core to the municipality and its citizens.
3. Transparency with respect to the approach, assumptions and risk considerations.
4. Accountability to Council, citizens and identified interested parties.
5. Positive social or environmental impact, or at minimum, socially or Environmentally neutral.
6. Return on investment will be measured by several metrics, with a primary focus on enhanced service delivery and long-term sustainability.
7. Adaptable and flexible to expeditiously take advantage of emergent opportunities.
8. Risk tolerance will be viewed in the context of its position as a subsidiary of the municipality.
9. Legal authority and framework for establishing the service delivery vehicle and its relationship with the municipal council.
10. Conflict of interest considerations.
In order to provide consistency with decision-making and support,a staff resource will be reassigned. This reassignment will be
managed by utilizing a vacant FTE.
To provide context, many private sector organizations have small strategic staff groups that focus on identifying and fostering Innovative growth opportunities; some are referred to as mergers and acquisitions while others may go under the banner of sustainable development. Patterning a small (temporary staff) group on this model would allow the City to coordinate service delivery and corporate services in a new and innovative way.
 Given the depth and breadth of the analysis required, the investigation stage is estimated to take between 18-24 months; depending on staff availability and resourcing.
All this is going to cost money – however this time Fielding does not have to go to council members with hat in hand. Burlington Hydro is a wholly owned subsidiary of the city and each year it takes its surplus – call them profits – and pays the city a dividend which gets tucked into one of the reserve accounts and used to lower the tax rate. Last year the dividend was $750,000 but it didn’t get put into a fund that would reduce taxes – it was set aside as a sort of piggy bank for the project Fielding is taking to Council on Tuesday.
There is more to this than just some fiddling with the way services are delivered. City hall staff are currently working through a list they call the portfolio – what does the city do for the taxpayers?
 Staff and Council members went through six days of Strategic Plan development in 2011. None of the issues set out in Fielding s report came up in the Strat Plan discussions. does the city have the bench strength it needs on both Council and the staff side to pull off what Fielding says we have to do> It is a bold, new approach to civic administration. Fielding isn’t taking the city through this exercise because he thinks it’s a nice idea. He has come to the conclusion that we must look at the cost of what we deliver and find less expensive ways to do what we do.
Thus those Enterprise Corporations.
One of the ongoing problems Burlington has had is the quality of its relationships with other levels of government and agencies. Fielding maintains Burlington’s approach to service delivery and economic growth will require support from various governmental agencies and officials and local businesses. A dedicated resource in this area has the potential to drive Burlington’s priorities forward by leveraging the relationships with several levels of government and local business. The role of an Inter-Governmental Affairs Officer has the potential to secure support, thereby establishing our platform for growth, and is recommended for consideration. Many thought the Economic Development Executive Director would be doing this job. That didn’t happen.
Staff is in the early stages of investigating opportunities through the potential formation of a targeted enterprise corporation. The intended purpose of the corporation(s) would be to undertake business opportunities that will generate new sustainable revenues and/or cost savings for the City in order to offset the municipal tax levy.
Notice the consistent use of the words “new sustainable revenues” and “cost savings”? Fielding realizes that the tax base we have isn’t going to cover the costs. He will do what he can to cut costs but Fielding doesn’t look like a budget slasher. Council probably wouldn’t let him cut all that deeply anyway – they do need to get re-elected.
 He has already explained to Council that the Industrial Commercial sector is not bringing in what it should be bringing in, in terms of tax revenue. Part of the reason for that is the terrible performance of the economic Development Corporation. Burlington has some serious catching up to do – and we are competing with every other municipality out there for those companies that set up shop and create jobs.
Add to that the difficulty the city has had with several of the developers with very large lands holdings that are zoned “economic” The property owners would much rather put housing on that land. They’ve not been able to convince the city to let them do that – so they do nothing. And that is a big “ouch” for all of us.
Buried in all this is a very significant change in customer service. You saw it mentioned in the remuneration report on Council member salaries. There is the suggestion that Council members might not really need the six admin assistants that are in place now – the thinking is that better, more focused customer service at the counters and bigger use of the internet and creating a totally different delivery of information with the e-Gov stuff the city is working on will solve all the problems.
That is pie in the sky bureaucratic thinking. Keeping people who are in touch with constituents and their problems at the right hand of every Council member is much better public service. Watch for the battle that takes place on this one.
Fielding has produced a fine piece of work. Council now has to debate the merits and then it has to bring the public onside. Nothing will happen before the end of the year and come 2014 members of Council move into election mode.
With the decisions the city manager wants Council to make and the direction he feels the city has to go and all the changes that will entail – there is a need for strong public debate.
 November 11, 2013
By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. MP Mike Wallace will be hosting a seminar for young adults aged 18-30 on Thursday, Nov. 14 from 7-9 p.m. at the Burlington Central Library, 2331 New St.
Employment Options for Young Adults will feature four guest panelists representing the financial, health care, manufacturing and food sectors will talk about accessing the job market in specific industries and learn about current hiring trends and what they can do to get the competitive edge and stand out from other applicants.
 Burlington MP Mike Wallace – flipping burgers at a Chamber of Commerce event. The Region recently held a Job Fair that attracted 800 skilled and motivated job seekers who met with 43 employers from across Halton. Halton Region’s Economic Development Strategy has been successful in attracting new business to Halton but those companies don’t seem to be choosing Burlington as their home base.
The unemployment rate for the Region in the second quarter of 2013 remained historically low at 4 per cent, markedly lower that the region’s five year average unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent and significantly lower than the provincial rate of 7.5 per cent.
There seems to be a data gap in there somewhere – unemployment at 4% with 800 people showing up at a job fair?
 Several of the courses given at the Centre for Skills Development & Training are fully booked months in advance – the students usually know where they are going to be working before they graduate. Wallace get is right when he says: “Employment is integral to a healthy economy.” While job creation has traditionally been seen as a local and provincial responsibility the federal government has come up with a plan that would cost share the training of new people in new jobs. The provinces are suggesting the federal government turn those funds over to the provinces and let them design programs that meet the specific needs of each province.
At least they are talking about training people. With technology surrounding everything we do – and that technology changes almost every 90 days – keeping people fully trained and productive as opposed to just employed is a prime concern.
Co-host for the seminar is the Centre for Skills Development & Training.
For information or to register, call 905-639-5757 or email mike.wallace.c1@parl.gc.ca.
Background:
Training classes:
 November 8, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. Liberal government has decided that if they can’t get the private sector to use the cash hoard they have then they will spend their way of out the mess we got into back in 2008 when Wall Street almost bankrupted the world.
 Charles Sousa, Ontario’s Minister of Finance told the provincial Legislature on Thursday that the government’s economic plan, released today, “makes strategic investments in people and infrastructure to support an innovative business climate.” And just what is an “innovate” business climate? Sounds like corporate happy talk.
The government’s plan “builds on the province’s strengths and the potential of our people and is the surest, fairest way to balance the budget by 2017-18.”
The government maintains that the opposition wants drastic, across-the-board cuts to the vital programs and services on which the people of Ontario rely. “That will harm our economy, not help it. The people of Ontario are worried about the future and they need the support, steady hand and investment of their government.” said the Minister.
“We choose to address our economic challenges by investing in our future: giving individuals, communities and industries the tools and opportunities they deserve. And so in the Fall Economic Statement I announced a number of actions, including:
We will create two new ways to fund crucial infrastructure investments without raising taxes – The Trillium Trust and the introduction of Green Bonds
We will spend $35 billion over three years to modernize infrastructure, creating 100,000 jobs a year
We will work with businesses to identify tools that encourage them to invest their cash reserves in the economy, creating jobs, improving productivity and leading to province-wide growth
We will introduce Ontario’s first ever Seniors Grant to help non-profit community groups promote healthy, active and engaged seniors across the province
We will work to make sure everyone in Ontario can retire with comfort and secure
We will make it easier for Ontario’s small businesses to hire and grow by cutting the Employer Health Tax for 60,000 Ontario small businesses.”
 So what does the Fall Economic Statement mean for you?
It means your government claims that you will have the support you need to care for your families and contribute to the economy. It means communities across Ontario will be safe and strong. And it means Ontario will promote a competitive environment that draws investment and creates jobs.
Might this also mean our government is changing direction and repositioning itself before it goes to the polls for your support.
Let’s see what they can do – but please – actually do something before you ask for our vote.
 November 4, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. October 31st – was not a trick, nor was it a treat for the Executive Director of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) – he was relieved of his keys and his access to the city`s information systems and informed that he was being relieved of his duties immediately.
Kyle Benham has served as the Executive Director of the BEDC for a number of years. He came to Burlington in 2008 from Toronto`s economic development corporation and brought some people with him.
 Kyle Benham, former Executive Director of Burlington’s Economic Development Corporation Benham and the city were never a good fit. The city has not brought in anything significant in terms of new business and has seen a number of major organizations move to what they felt were greener pastures.
There are a number of situations that were being handled by the BEDC, the IKEA file being one that has been badly managed. A replacement has not been announced.
Changes were also made to the BEDC board of directors which is far too large and has a number of organizations that hold seats to protect their interests rather than advance those of the city.
Economic development has been a major blot of the city`s copy book. It may take as much as a year to find the person the city needs to get that train moving. Then there will have to be changes to the department and a strategy put in place.
Will the city keep economic development as a standalone arm’s length operation or will that work be brought in-house and if it is brought in-house which General Manager will oversee the work. These decisions have probably been made – it will just take some time for the city to make an announcement.
The decision to remove Benham was the first necessary step. The only reasonable comment is that it took them long enough.
Now that board has to pull itself together, work hard as a team and begin to make up for the lost time.
 October 31, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. It doesn’t take long to get the gist of Murray Hogarth. If you listen and watch his eyes you realize that Murray did it his way – he beat the big guys, he beat big oil.
He did it through hard work and being very fast on his feet. With a very successful company running smoothly Murray Hogarth was able to turn the whole operation over to two of his sons and use his time keeping a sharp eye on them.
Born in Napanee, raised there – after high school he got himself along the 401 to Kingston where he enrolled as an engineering student at Queen’s University and realized very quickly that wasn’t the road he wanted to travel and switched to Arts & Science but found that all the lab work wasn’t all that inspiring either. Murray realized he was a doer – he needed to be out in the field, talking to people, thinking through his ideas and planning. Murray was probably born a planner.
During his high school years he had an orchestra – 10 piece set up that he used to earn his keep. Blew a trumpet and played events that included his high school and the Ontario Ladies College in Brockville.
 Murray and Diana Hogarth in the sun room of their Lakeshore Road home. Murray`s parents ran a retail operation in Napanee that specialized in gift items and fine china. He worked the shop with his brother when he wasn`t renting the golf club for dances. Murray was probably making money before he was out of short pants.
In `53 he was hired by what was then British American Oil company (they became Gulf oil) and given a territory in Scarborough where he made sure 40 gas stations were meeting their sales targets. Murray soaked it all up and within a year the company moved him to Windsor where it was a much bigger business. He watched over the gas stations as well as farm and industrial accounts.
 The first Pioneer gas station – it didn’t look like this the day it opened but it has been open every day since November 1956. In those days there were very few individual gas station operators to speak of; everything was run by the national brands – the Americans had private operators but the idea hadn`t taken hold in Canada – yet. One of the corporate accounts Murray serviced was a single station – Beaver, that grew and was eventually sold to Shell Oil. But before that sale took place Murray became a chum of the owner and the two of them tried some of the American ideas – Murray was in the process of becoming the man who would create the most successful private brand oil and gas operation in the country. The only thing they don`t do is refine or run a pipeline operation – yet.
Windsor was a great proving ground for Murray. If you saw an opportunity you were able to go ahead and develop it. The relationship with the Beaver operator flourished. They liked the ideas they saw being developed across the river in Detroit and tried many of them in Windsor. After two and a half years in Windsor Murray began to wonder why he was working for big oil – he made his move.
Every weekend Murray would drive to Hamilton and scout that market. He knew the blue-collar market and he believed he knew how to market to it better than anyone else. He didn’t know a soul in town when he first got there but he knew he needed a market just like Windsor and focused on Hamilton. He found what he was looking for at the corner of Upper James and Mohawk. Murray leased the land, which he later bought and began to build the empire that today has 200 stations in Ontario and a clutch of them in Manitoba where he took over a bunch of Esso Stations.
There was a bit of swamp on the land that Murray was going to build his station on and he knew that at some point he would need to fill that in. Then he noticed a contractor doing some grade work and hauling away the fill. Murray invited the contractor to dump that fill in the swampy land he had leased.
 Murray Hogarth: Reflective and able to focus on pet project with the operation of the gas companies now in the hands of his sons. That Upper James station is still operating – it has never closed since he first opened in November of 1956. It began as a 24/7 operation and has stayed that way. When Murray chose that first Hamilton station the world of gas stations first saw the wily mind of a mater marketer. In those days Upper James and Mohawk were just across the County line – and Hamilton had an early closing bylaw. That first Pioneer station was 150 feet beyond the County line.
Murray saw Hamilton as a market that was small enough for a private operator to be recognized yet big enough for him to grow in. And grow he did. Buying property meant a need for capital or earnings that could pay for the second and third stations.
Murray put his money into property and marketing. In the early days he will tell you gas stations didn’t have canopies over the pumps; Murray put in canopies. Most of the stations were a single island with maybe two pumps. Murray wanted volume so he put in three islands with two pumps at each so that four, six or eight cars could swallow that gas.
Gas stations were pretty bland looking places. Murray brightened them up and because he stays open long hours he put in as much fluorescent lighting as he could afford. He gas station business was never going to be the same.
He put up bunting, flags and offered deals and lower prices. In those days stations carried several brands of oil at different price points. Murray carried several and made sure that the brand with his name on it was the lowest price.
He was the first to put booths with cash registers out where the pumps were so that people could pay quickly and move on – making room for another customer.
He was one of the very first, if not the first, to create a loyalty program that gave customers another reason to return. Car washes were added to the mix.
 Created marketing tools that led the way. The Pioneer loyalty program rewards its customer with cash rebates that are printed on the receipt. Air Miles doesn’t give you that. Growing the business was no slam dunk – there was more than one very close call – three of them in fact , but what kept the chain alive was Murray’s ability to make quick decisions. “I didn’t have a board that I had to meet with”; one gets the impression that Murray Hogarth isn’t all that big on corporate committees either.
Listening to Murray explain the corporate structure and the way he moved two of his sons into the company and gave them increasing levels of responsibility, one assumes the man has an MBA. No, Murray worked from the pit of his stomach and a developed understanding of his customer base. He learned by doing and from his mistakes. He looked for opportunities to give staff all the responsibility they could handle. He was a task master – with a heart.
While retired, it doesn’t take long to see a pair of eyes that don’t miss much and at the same time have that twinkle that tells you – Murray Hogarth did it his way – and he beat the big guys. He did it with a strong, supportive wife who may not have actually pumped gas but she was in every one of those stations in the early days and when Murray leaves out a fact – she is quick to remind him that they acquired a string of stations in Manitoba from Esso.
 Diana Hogarth – five boys and a husband build a business doth a career make. She is also a noted designer. Murray first laid eyes on Diana when she was ten. She was the sister of one of Murray’s best friends. Years later that friend asked Murray to go to a dance with him – Murray couldn’t hustle up a date and the friend suggested he ask his sister Diana. “Ask her just for laughs” the friend suggested and the Murray and Di story began. The two of them, almost in unison say: “and we’ve ben laughing ever since”.
We interviewed Murray and Diana Hogarth in the sun room of their Lakeshore Road home, nicely decorated with good art and sculpture tastefully sprinkled throughout the house. Murray soaks up the sun as he recovers from surgery. With the interview nearing its end Diana gets up to see her guest out and touches Murray on the shoulder asking: “Are you ready for some lunch”.
Today, son Tim is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company while another son heads up the marketing side.
Arching over the different t corporations is the “family” firm – Pioneer Energy where Murray, Di and the five boys sit as Directors with two outside directors to create strategy and guide everything.
Murray took in part of the Community Foundation celebration last weekend. Recovering (very nicely by the way) from serious surgery, he chose not to give a speech and had his son Tim fill in for him.
Tim was not there to laud his parents. He spoke about giving back to the community and the lessons his Dad had taught him and his brothers.
“Typical of my father’s entrepreneurialism” said Tim, “Murray recognized that while we can’t always predict what lies ahead, we can always make sure we are prepared to seize the opportunity or meet the need when it arises. And that is what this is all about. It’s never too late… philanthropy, as Murray and Diana have proven time and again, has no retirement age.”
Tim had taken up the philosophical torch from his Dad.
Murray was big on giving back to a community that has given to him. His early involvement in growing community was with the Hamilton Community Foundation where he served as president. He reminds people that Hamilton and Burlington didn’t always work that well together. Burlington wasn’t contributing the way some felt it should and Murray got behind a movement to create a Burlington Community Foundation, and was its first president. “I wrote them their first cheque” he adds with a modest measure of pride.
Diana – they call her Di, runs the household and still puts in time at her design business. Do not call Diana Hogarth a decorator – “decorators”, she will tell you, almost dismissively, “paint walls or hang wall paper”. Diana is a designer and if the sun room we met in is an example of her work – there are a number of homes in this community that have been very, very nicely done.
She and Murray raised five boys, two of whom are in the family business. Between them they have 13 children. Gregory, twins Tim and Geoffrey, Christopher and Peter. Tim and Geoffrey are at Pioneer. Peter, Tim and Greg are heavily involved in the franchise business with Wendy’s and Tim Hortons being their biggest operations. Peter is also in the home building business.
Murray and Diana Hogarth were recognized last weekend by the Burlington Community Foundation as the Philanthropists of the Year. The evening they were recognized, the family announced a gift of $1 million to the Joseph Brant Hospital which they gave through the Burlington Community Foundation.
A small room that serves as a bit of an office just inside the front door of their home, that has every inch of its walls covered in either book shelves or pictures that Diana refers to as the “rogue’s gallery”. The pictures capture the boys and their families – there are 13 grandchildren, at the various stages of their lives.
Tim said to the audience at the Masquerade Ball where Murray and Diana were honoured: “We experienced and watched the struggles of Dad and Mom establishing a business and trying to make it work and grow. Our father invested his life savings along with a small loan from his father and brother to get the business started.
 Murray Hogarth with sons Geoff and a representative from the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters “We boys had absolutely no clue of the hardships and challenges our parents faced in trying to make their dreams a reality. Being oblivious can sometimes be a wonderful thing! Somehow it all magically seemed to work out- the business took flight and grew bigger.. but as my brothers and I soon would learn from Dad.. you create your own magic with hard work, passion and a commitment to succeed and the rest will take care of itself.”
“As their sons, we couldn’t ask for better role models on how to live and lead a successful life. Back in the 60’s.. Burlington was a relatively small community and somehow while having to support five boys, a new fledgling business, and pay the mortgage my parents still found time to give to the community and support local causes.
“I remember my mother being very involved in the Junior League as well as launching and chairing the first campaign in Burlington for the Heart & Stroke Foundation and actively canvassing many evenings and weekends.”
“Regardless, of the challenges they faced as the years went by they always supported their community and that philosophy infected us. Murray explains that the Masquerade Ball was the occasion he used to pass the torch to his sons. I showed them how it’s done – now I expect them to lead in their own fashion.”
Today, the Burlington Community Foundation manages $7.5 million, with 67 endowed funds from individuals, families, corporations and agencies. It has granted over $1.6 million, and touched over 41 charities and non-profit organizations in the past twelve months. That is success by any measure! And that is how a gift of $100,000 can multiply.
Former Burlington Mayor Rob MacIsaac put it very well when he said that first $100,000 “really sparked a coming of age for philanthropy for our city… and demonstrated a level of leadership that paved the way for many donations since.”
For the Hogarth’s the question they ask about philanthropy is: “Isn’t that why we’re here? The welfare of our community, of others, IS our concern. It is not a burden, but an opportunity.”
‘Why not share is a question worth asking yourself. Business is not just all about making money. Although, critically important, it is not how you create value. Money is the offshoot of value – not the cause of it. That is something both my parents have always believed in.
 Murray Hogarth: Can you see the twinkle in his eye? He did do it his way. They gave through the Hamilton Community Foundation, which Murray eventually chaired. And went on to help establish the Burlington Community Foundation and then the Napanee Community Foundation in Murray’s original home town with his brother Don.
And they set up the Pioneer Energy Foundation and Pioneer Energy Fund in 1999 as projects to mark Canada’s Millennium.
As Murray puts it: “This public / private foundation model is an efficient way for businesses and families to give back in perpetuity to the areas and projects of their community where there is the most need, both now and in the future.”
And that’s the key: “in perpetuity”. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, keeps on benefitting the community. It ensures “sustainability”.
That’s when Murray Hogarth’s quiet smile builds up. He did it his way and it worked. His boys will now carry the torch – expect it to burn as brightly in their hands.
 October 28th, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. It’s that time of year again – Halloween yes – but much more interesting is the Annual Art in Action Studio tour which this year will include 29 artistes in eight locations.
 This Studio Tour event is now in its 11th year. There are some of the old standards and at couple of places that might better be given a rest but this is still very much a superb opportunity to get out and see what the city’s arts community has to offer.
 Premier Arts event for November in the city. Not to be missed. If this event is one that you’ve done in the past there is an opportunity to see the growth in artists you’ve watched and see how they have perhaps grown and changed.
There are two we have been watching and appreciating the changes, the growth and the new directions they are going in. Last year there were a few that weren’t on the tour and we missed them.
The tour lasts two days. You will find yourself bumping into the same people at different locations and striking up friendships and talking about what you saw that you liked.
November 2 and 3.
 A Helen Griffiths piece. This artist continues to both surprise and delight. Art in Action runs the Studio Tour which gives artists exposure which never hurts. The organization also has a scholarship is gives each year. Last year $1,500 went to Michelle Nguyen, a Robert Bateman High School graduate studying landscape architecture at the University of Guelph.
 Fratesi has pieces at the Burlington Art Centre where her work can be rented from the Art Bank Cheryl Goldring and Don Graves handle fundraising for the group which pay for studio tour advertising and scholarships.
New to the Studio Tour this year are: Tamara Kwapich (Studio 5), Lois Shaw (Studio 6) and Donna Fratesi (Studio 1) and Rachel Quinteros (Studio 4)
 October 29, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. The four Burlington Rotary organizations in Burlington got trashed by local media and people involved in the Santa Clause parade when all they did was advise the parade committee that they were changing their priorities.
Burlington’s four Rotary Clubs have put up $1250 each year for the past ten years to support the annual Santa Claus parade that is organized by a citizen’s committee chaired by Gunther Kaschuba. The parade committee says they were blindsided – the Rotarians didn’t see it that way and will be dealing with the parade people in due course.
Rotary pays full freight for a float of their own in the parade plus putting a cheque for $5000 on the table each year. In the past they have asked for some corporate recognition as Rotary moves forward with plans to enlarge their membership and re-focus their projects.
 The Santa Claus parade has taken place for more than 45 years in Burlington. Organized by a citizens group that works out of the city’s Festivals and Events office it is the premier holiday event in the city. The elves have got a spot of trouble to manage with one of their benefactors this time around. Like any organization, Rotary continually looks at its program and reviews the effectiveness of what they are doing. They apparently came to the conclusion that the Santa Claus parade was no longer part of the way they wanted to interact with the community. Rotary has yet to issue a statement. Because there are four different groups in Burlington – it is not always easy to come up with a single voice but the message to the Santa people was that the end of their participation had arrived.
One might quibble that perhaps more time could have been given but the parade organization, which has never issued a financial statement that we are aware of, has in the past been somewhat high-handed with the way they manage the event.
 Colorful to say the least. For Rotarians right relationships are paramount and, after listening to a number of people, one gets the impression that there was more wrong than right with the way the Santa parade people managed one of their biggest benefactors.
The parade will take place Sunday, December 1st beginning at 2:00 pm at the intersection of Prospect and Guelph Line. Somehow the financial problems will get worked out. Remembering to thank people for their contributions and not to take them for granted is one of the life lessons most of us get at our parents knee.
 October 27, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. It was a SOLD OUT event. No numbers yet on exactly how much was raised but the auctioneer was really busy for a part of the evening.
 Angelo Paletta worked the room of the Burlington Community Foundation Masquerade ball like a politician running for office. It was a fun night where Angelo Paletta, this year’s Patron for the Burlington Community Foundation annual fund-raiser, worked the tables so well one might have thought he was running for office.
 There were there to dine, to dance, to raise additional funds and just have a good time. The setting made all that possible. The Burlington Convention Centre was very nicely decorated with the event where the masquerade theme dominated.
The evening was part social, part fund-raiser and the occasion when Murray and Diane Hogarth the Philanthropists of the year were celebrated and honoured for what they have given back to the community.
 This wasn’t an occasion to take name of identify the “usual suspects” but a time to catch people in an environment they are comfortable in. Deals and conversations are always part of the social mix. The Burlington Community Foundation is an organization that works on several levels for the city. Besides holding a boffo ball – it has a structure that serves the people who want to donate some of the wealth and their talent to the community. The Hogarth’s are the first couple recognized as philanthropists in Burlington and they are the fourth to be so honoured. Predecessors were: Don Smith, Kevin Brady, Doug Leggat and now Diana and Murray Hogarth.
The Foundation collaborates with individuals and corporations to build endowments, give grants and connect community leadership. There are currently more than 55 funds overseen by the Foundation with Donour Designated, Donour Advised, specific fields of interest; scholarship based and unrestricted funds.
Philanthropy is not just people giving money – it is service to the community where talent is as relevant as the size of the cheque that might be written.
Each year the Foundation produces a Vital Signs report setting out where the city is on a number of different socio-economic levels and highlighting areas of specific concern to the community.
 That is a great smile! Mental Health was highlighted as a very serious concern and one that will be given more attention through a Roundtable the Foundation will sponsor in the New Year.
There are other organizations that use the Foundation to distribute funds into the community. The Halton Heros leave the funds they have raised with the Foundation and have the organization deliver the funds when there is a need. The service allows an organization to focus on fund raising and not get bogged down with the investment and management of the funds raised.
 How two women can have a conversation and ignore a Bobby Orr sweater defied understanding – well male understanding anyway.  When it came to bidding for items it was clear this woman knew what she wanted.  Foundation Executive Director Collen Mullholland makes sure the event Patron Angelo Paletta stays on track  Fist full of dollars. One unique auction item was a high end purse stuffed with cask. The winning bidder got the purse and a tax receipt for the cash which went to the Foundation.  He needed just that much more – and the deal might have been done or perhaps it was just that much more for the golf ball to go into the hole. We will never know which.  A ball is a social event – where people spend as much time walking as they dancing and dining. Gives everyone a chance to check out the gowns as well.  You dance with the person who brought you – and dance they did.  Do the masques hid the beauty?   This wouldn’t be a Burlington organization if there wasn’t an invitational golf tournament as well. The Foundation distributes funds to an extensive list of organization including ArtHouse, Bay Area Restoration, Bruce Trail, Burlington Art Centre , Canadian Mental Health Association, Conservation Halton Foundation, Danielle’s Place, Easter Seals, Food for Life, Habitat for Humanity, Halton Food for Thought, Reach Out Centre for Kids ROCK, , Start2Finish and the YMCA.
Later in the week the Foundation will announce what was raised and move on to the next project which in a few short months will be the Roundtable on Mental Health and the impact that is having on our community.
We asked Ashley to cover the Masquerade Ball, seen as the premier social event in Burlington, where the funds raised go to the Burlington Community Foundation.
One table insisted on posing for the camera – something we don’t do much of. We prefer to catch people as they are rather than what they want the camera to see. But this bunch of happy campers had bid on a Bahamas Cruise and invited our photographer to tag along and do an expose on the crowd. This might be a Burlington Ashley Sloggett could get used to
 A night out doesn’t mean the home front doesn’t have to be looked after – this couple work the phones – perhaps to determine just where the kids are. I’ll call this one – you call that one.
 October 24, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. You know that culture has some traction in Burlington when city council members ask what a Poetry Slam is and when Councillor Jack Dennison suggests the he might even drop by the Black Bull on Guelph Line and hear how Tomy Bewick, a construction worker delivers his message.
Bewick runs the Burlington Poetry Slam, an event most Councillors knew absolutely nothing about; yet it is an organization that has been given a Canada Council grant to bring together Slam poetry artists from across the country. In Burlington, whoda thunk?
After a close to brutal session at the Regional offices in Oakville where council members took part in a vote that marked the beginning of the end of the Beachway Park community, council met in Burlington to discuss the basics of a Cultural Action Plan and then decide what they wanted to do.
 Teresa Seaton, center, organizer of the Art in Action Tour, thinks through a response at one of the Cultural Action Plan sessions. She is one of 250 people organized as an Arts and Culture Collective in Burlington. They didn’t make any decisions – it was far too late and everyone was far too tired to be able to make sensible decisions, but Burlington did get to see the outline of a community that few really knew existed. The Arts and Culture Collective, a group of more than 250 people organized on-line, didn’t really know each other but they have become a voice and they want a seat at the table where the decisions are made. Nine of their members delegated and laid out their aspirations for a Cultural Action Plan. They have certainly “informed” the plan the city wants t create but there is still some distance between the bureaucrats and the artists.
 The Collective had done their homework – they knew what they wanted – now to actually get it – that’s their challenge. The delegations were listened to, heard and engaged. This is not something that happens for many delegations at our city hall. All too often Council members sit there close to mute as people take their case, their concerns and their hopes the city’s leaders. That wasn’t the case Wednesday night.
Organized as the Arts and Culture collective in July the thing grew from some 20 people who took part in the first meeting to the 250 people who exchange thoughts and ideas on-line and have learned how to deal with city hall and bring about changes.
The process began a couple of years ago when the city hired Jeremy Freiburg to prepare a report on just what Burlington had and didn’t have going for it in terms of culture. Everyone knew about the newly minted Performing Arts Centre and everyone knew about the Burlington Art Centre but few of the many ever went to the place to look and see and feel the art over there.
Freiburger’ s report dug up all kinds of data on where Burlingtonians spent their cultural dollars – far too much of it gets spent outside the city. He mapped where people go and how much they spend. He told us what people wanted in terms of culture.
What he revealed was a city that really didn’t have a solid cultural tradition. We saw a city that chooses to go elsewhere for its culture and entertainment, partly because, they feel, there isn’t anything they like here.
Some thought Freiburger was going to deliver a set of recommendations on what the city should do next – but he chose not to do that. Instead he gave them the data they needed to begin to figure out what they want to do.
And that is when the Collective began to form. The people who met, first wanted to be able to do their art here in this city and not have to go to Hamilton or Toronto – but there was no place, no space, nor any expectation, that there was indeed a local arts community. The city didn’t know they were there and they didn’t know each other.
The group – the Collective – had surfaced and is telling the city that they are here and they want to be involved.
 The artists came from every possible discipline. They met to talk through what the city should include in its Cultural Action Plan – then they had to figure out how to actually control that plan once it’s established. Artists don’t march to the same drummer that the rest of us do – schedules and rules aren’t their strength and it was difficult for the collective to pull together a large number of people.
Because many of the artists were working by themselves they didn’t know many of the people who were doing the same thing. Trevor Copp, who ended up being the leader/spokesperson for the group came up with the idea of holding a Speed Dating event at a local pub. The idea was that people would gather and sit with others for a couple of minutes and then move on to another table and meet someone else. Such is the state of relationship building in this world. It was a good idea, novel and it had the potential to work. But very few people showed up. Copp didn’t miss a step – he chose to see the upside, the bright side and pulled together a meeting that saw less than a dozen people talk about what they wanted in the way of an arts community.
That conversation will get reported on at greater length at another time – what we saw was a group that is thinking this through and while the plan is still in the formative stage city hall now has to work with people who are the arts community – we just didn’t know they were there.
Bureaucrats being bureaucrats they decided to have Copp become part of the Steering Committee that was to fashion a plan out of the data the Freiburger report provided and once a plan is in place, put together a schedule and time frames to implement it.
One of the major beefs the artists had, was that there were no artists on the steering committee. The addition of Trevor Copp and Rosanna Dewey to the Steering Committee that had people who administer funds but didn’t “do” art was a significant step. The challenge now is to ensure that Copp and Dewey don’t get co-opted and turned into bureaucrats. Power can be very seductive.
Dewy is an artist in her own right and part of the Burlington Fine Arts Association, which has a temperament quite a bit different from that of many of the members of the “collective”.
That there is a change taking place in the cultural temperature of the city is evident. Freiburger maintains that the change began with the unveiling of the Spiral Stella outside the Performing Arts Centre – debatable. One of the occasions that signaled the change was the “No Vacancy” event that took place at the Waterfront Hotel.
This was “avante garde” for Burlington and while the event lasted less than four hours and experienced a small loss it brought out people who hunger for depth and maturity in their cultural menu – the No Vacancy – which will take place again next year, showed that it can happen in Burlington and is happening in Burlington.
 Performing Arts Centre Brian McCurdy makes a point with the Mayor. He is making points all over the city as he brings about a different working relationship with the Centre and the city. City Hall and the Tourist people see the arts as something that could perhaps attract people to the city. The Executive Director of the Performing Arts Centre has been in town long enough to have figured out what we have and don’t have and has already shown that his institution is able to be flexible with the performance community.
All good signs – but like a great recipe, there is something to the way you flick the rest to get that meal on the table and make an occasion to be remembered.
Council will meet early in November to get down to the nitty-gritty of spending money – and at the rate this council is spending the artists had better move quickly or there won’t be any left.
With a little luck the artists will be at the table helping people whose experience is in parks and recreation learn how to move beyond swimming schedules and volleyball games to events that stir the soul. Mind you, watching Maurice “The Rocket” Richard put another one past a Toronto goal tender is certainly something to stir the soul.
 October 18, 2013
By Dr. Jeremy Hayden.
BURLINGTON, ON In light of the looming cold and flu season, I am interjecting with a brief mention of a promising, true and tested approach to improve one’s health (and I’m talking about thousands of years here folks, not a time frame to take lightly). Granted traveling south for the winter may be the most attractive option, running from those pesky winter viruses and bugs won’t ultimately fix what may already be broken. We all should know that a whole person approach to a healthier more robust system should be first and foremost, yet it’s often quite evident that what we know is best for one self, due to lack of time, motivation, commitment and effort, is, for some, sometimes a lot easier said than done…
Reference to fighting a cold or flu is often a primary focus for many. The immune compromising winter season is one which too often places unnecessary and undue stress on our bodies. One may argue that getting sick or catching colds build the immune system and is beneficial, which to an extent may be true. However wouldn’t you prefer to reap the same benefits by doing so without ever needing to get sick? Within the Naturopathic Medical (and Natural living) realm, the realization of this can be achieved, and often with simple ease; strengthening our innate and adaptive immunity whist keeping happy and healthy throu gh it all. Why position ourselves to have to fight these bugs, when we can utilize and take advantage of their unwanted effects to better our overall health?
Herbal medicine is a practice that will help achieve this common goal
Herbalism is utilized to incorporate the vaccination stimulating effects of cold and flu viruses in order to ramp the immune system while simultaneously building immunity to those pesky cold and flu season bugs. Think of it similar (relative perspective here) to getting a vaccination shot; the bug or virus enters the body, provides a stimulus to our immune system, enough to create a resistance to its current and future presence, yet without the effects of making us sick. Enter the herbal medicine perspective; Cold and flu bugs are inhaled and enter the body day-to-day from those around us who may be infected by a cold or are sick. Specific herbs taken prophylactically allow the body’s immune defenses to become stimulated and build immunity to various cold and flu strains, yet due to the stimulation and balancing effects of concentrated herbals, the immune system is strong enough not to allow these ‘bugs’ to take over and make us sick.
 Herbal medicines are not injected – they are swallowed. Basic facts about herbal medicine for a better immune
Most immune herbals are safe when used as outlined on the bottle.
Little to no contraindications exist when using these herbs (contact a licensed natural health care practitioner if and when in doubt or if complicated health issues may exist)
· Herbal tinctures (liquid herbal form) are often the best option for many people as they concentrate the active constituents of a herb and allow for better therapeutic effect.
· Immune herbals often have long-lasting therapeutic immune effect.
· Liquid herbals are considered food type medicine; they are in whole form, grow naturally, and are unadulterated, but concentrated naturally, so our bodies recognize and utilize them best
· Herbals work well as individual (single herb) extracts, however will work to a greater synergistic effect when combined together
· Look for Canadian companies that represent true certified organic, pure herbal tinctures (all are not created equal!)
Top immune prophylactic herbals are:
Astragalus root, Siberian ginseng,codonopsis, schisandra, reishi and licorice root.
Look for herbal liquid tinctures that contain some or all of the above immune herbals. Effective herbals exist for acute immune compromise as well (existing cold), so don’t hesitate to use an Andrographis, Baptisia, Echinacea, Thuja herbal combination to ‘beat the current bug’ (discontinue other immune herbals until the acute virus has been eradicated). A minimum of three-month prophylactic treatment is always best, however supporting your immune system at any point will help your body remain healthy, build immunity and prevent that nasty cold or flu.
Finding a supplier that is reliable is not always easy in a market that is not that tightly regulated. People in the naturopathic field are always very comfortable recommending products from St Francis Herb Farm
What is a naturopathic doctor? Where an MD focuses more time on pharmaceutical medicine, NDs also study pharmacology and its drugs, however extensive training in natural medicine (such as botanical, Oriental, nutritional, physical, and homeopathic medicine as well as lifestyle, counseling and herb-drug interactions) is adjunctively studied as well. In Ontario, a naturopathic doctors is considered a primary care physicians. NDs cannot prescribe pharmaceutical medications in Ontario as MDs are able to, and are only covered under extended health plans and not OHIP billing, however they are able to employ conventional laboratory testing and diagnostic imaging as necessary.
 Jeremy Hayden, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND). ND is a professional medical designation earned following an undergraduate pre-medical degree and four years of post-graduate medical training at a fully accredited (CNME) naturopathic medical college. All licensed Naturopathic Doctors practicing in Ontario have been fully regulated under the Drugless Practitioners Act.
 October 14, 2013
By Gordana Liddell
BURLINGTON, ON. Travel has been different since the tragic attack on New York and Washington in September of 2001. Public safety took on a whole new meaning as airlines in particular increased security which meant a much closer look at the people who boarded air[planes and what they carried on with them. The rules imposed at times seem confusing and some feel perhaps a little silly. Well just what can you take aboard a plane and what should you pack and not pack?
Asha of Burlington asked:
 Harmless in the hands of your sweet Grandmother – but how does security know she’s a sweet little old lady? Recently, my 80-year-old mother’s knitting needles were taken away at airport security. I think it’s ridiculous. She’s a senior citizen. What do they think she is going to do with knitting needles?
Dear Asha,
The first thing to remember is to not take it personally. The airlines and airport authority are only trying to do all they can to ensure passenger safety. They have rules they need to follow – without the option of discretion. It’s safest that way.
Think of it this way if you like: it’s not assumed that passengers will do nothing. Even your 80-year-old mom. This thinking is, what if this person is a psycho? Or what if the person sitting next to her is a psycho and gets a hold of those knitting needles? Or what if she drops them and they roll down a few rows into the hands of the psycho sitting in 3B? Yes…in order to ensure the safety of all those passengers enclosed in that metal tube darting through the sky…everyone is viewed as being a potential psycho.
You just never know what anyone is going to do at any given moment. And normally, people just go about their lives without going ballistic. But if they do go off, it’s usually easy for us to gain some distance. Up in the sky however, this is not possible, and so it is imperative to completely avoid any potential danger.
I realize it seems silly to you, and we are all aware that your mom intended to use the knitting needles to knit. But when she is on an airplane, think of them as eleven inch metal spikes rather than crafting tools. It’s not a public space where we are free to do as we please. There are rules set in place that we must follow and to try and dispute them is pointless.
I once had an enraged passenger come to me because security had turned her away. They would not let her bring her bullwhip on board as carry-on and she was just outraged. She told me it was ridiculous and screamed at me, “What do you think I am doing to do on a plane with a bullwhip? Whip someone?!” I was almost speechless; struck by the simplicity of what she just said…but what had obviously escaped her. I did manage to get out an, “I have no idea.”
And that is the truth. You have no idea what anyone will do, and on an airplane, it’s just best to prohibit any item that might pose any possible danger.
 That September 11th changed the world and certainly changed airline security procedures. Box cutter, bombs in a diaper and a bomb in a shoe are the attempt we know about. Knitting needles in the wrong hands would be lethal. Look at an item in terms of its basic form…not in terms of its use. There is no difference between trying to board with knitting needles or a bullwhip, handcuffs or fuel or box cutters or any number of potentially dangerous things people try and innocently carry onto planes on a daily basis. Nobody thinks the person carrying them WOULD use them for ill intent. But for the safety of others, the WHAT IF must be considered and general rules must be made and enforced.
The next time you or your mom travel and plan to do some knitting on the way, check with the specific airline you are travelling with. Every country and airline has their own security guidelines, and these are constantly being updated.
The smaller, rounder tipped needles as well as the circular knitting needles are usually okay. The smaller and the more blunt they are, the more likely they will pass through security without a problem. Anything sharp and pointy should be avoided as a general rule. Common sense goes a long way.
Once again, don’t take it personally. They are just looking out for everyone’s safety as best they can.
 Gordana Liddell is our resident travel writer. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto, a travel industry veteran with nearly two decades of experience as a freelance travel writer, and most recently book editor. She is fortunate enough to live right here in Burlington with her family.
 October 10, 2013
By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. If you hustle hard enough, if you promote and promote and promote marketing objectives can be met.
 700 people – a networkers idea of heaven – all at the Performing Arts Centre Thursday evening. James Burchill has done that with his Social Fusion Network and has managed to get more than 700 people to register for his trade show event taking place at the Performing Arts Centre this evening.
Was it the $500 cash prize he put up? Was it the opportunity to meet with 700 people in one location without spending a dime? Or is it that Thursday is just a quiet day and there was really nothing else to do in town.
Whichever, it will be interesting to see how much buzz there is in the room this evening. The guy has done something right.
 October 6th, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. Do you know where you are going to be at about 5:00 pm on Thursday October 10th? You might want to be at the Business Week – Social Fusion Networking & Trade Show and mix with some 500 odd avid networkers at the Performing Arts Centre.
Who will you have the opportunity to meet with? Small business people, trades and services people for the most part. There are the regulars who use the occasion to keep in touch with a large group of people at one location. There isn’t a bar in town where you are going to be able to network with hundreds – and all of them sober.
 Social Fusion Network’s first trade show and meet up at the performing Arts Centre – well attended. Run by James Burchill, the Social Fusion Networking group is for people and businesses doing business in Burlington Ontario. SFN Burlington (aka BiB – Business in Burlington) is not the Chamber of Commerce. There are no memberships, no fees, no agenda – just show up and you’re in.
Burchill, a shameless promoter, defines himself as Marketing Strategist • Author • Trainer • Speaker. He has done what a lot of independent people set out to do and that is find a niche he can work and grow. On occasion he has had a flashy red Ferrari parked outside the location he is using; some lucky person will get a chance to drive the thing.
 Burchill – regularly in the Gazette Burchill also writes a column for the Gazette where he tends to assuage his technical bent. Type the word Mojo into the search box – and you get to see everything the man has written for us. His take on Tweet going public was interesting and his background on wearable devices are both worth a read.
For the Business Week event the marketing angle is a cool $500 cash gift. You have to be in the room to personally take that cash home.
Many people wonder – are these events worth the time? There are just under 2000 people who have registered with the Network and show up on an infrequent basis. Originally held at the Waterfront Hotel Burchill had to find a venue with more room and is now at the Ivy Kitchen and Bar on the South Service Road.
 Burchill probably has the best collection of relevant business cards in the city. Finding the metric that tells if the event worked or not isn’t as simple as counting the number of people who came through the door. There is nothing for people to actually buy – other than a drink at one of the most impressive bars in the city, so there are no sales numbers. How any people return – something in the range of 250 – 350 each month; on occasion it climbs higher.
One of the indicators that says a lot is the number of people who commented on the event on the web site – there were 321 feedbacks for the first trade show. I didn’t see anything negative when I scrolled through.
This “trade show” is the second Burchill has held. The take up on this event has been better than that of the first – so he is on to something. The Gazette met a woman at one of the MeetUps who now writes a regular column for us – and we didn’t even have to buy a ticket to get in. So for us, networking clearly works.
Burchill has taken to calling his operation the Social Fusion Network – it works and the five $100 bills he is waving in the air may turn out to be the enticement that moves his numbers up.
Is the event worth the time – yeah it is something you want to take in. Don’t break a great dinner date opportunity to get there but if you’re looking for a place to relax a bit and have a cool one as James would say – drop in. Starts just after 5 pm – runs till 7:30. Bring your wallet – you might need a place to stash the cash.
 October 3, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. It is going to be a scramble to get all the paper work done in time for IKEA to meet some deadlines that are out there.
The first hard date is October 21st when the Development and Infrastructure Committee will go over a report that covers details that have to be approved at that Committee level. It is vital that the report staff produces be approved at that Committee meeting.
 Red line at the op is the railway line – that isn’t going to move. Dark line on the right is the creek that has to be dealt with and Conservation Halton isn’t making that easy. Lot of room for the interchange upgrades that are going to be needed to handle the volume of traffic. The schedule is now so tight that council members will move from meeting as a Standing Committee on the evening of the 21st into meeting as a city council to pass the zoning by-law change IKEA needs to build its new office/retail operation on the site.
There is a mandatory 20 day comment period when a change is made in a zoning by-law.
While everyone waits out that 20 day period, documents from Conservation Halton have to be signed. Conservation is involved because there is a creek running along the east side of the property.
But that isn’t the only issue that has to be resolved and, longer term, it isn’t the toughest one. The intersection at Walkers Line is reaching capacity. Changing the configuration of an intersection like Walkers Line is no small matter.
 Currently located on Plains Road in Aldershot IKEA has wanted to move for some time and committed to staying in Burlington – why not this is a great market and IKEA is a top tourist draw for the city. Then the complications set in and the project is getting close to needing life support. IKEA has been toiling away since before March of 2011 on plans to move their operation from Aldershot to a piece of land on the North Service Road just west of Walkers Line where there are multiple problems that someone didn’t see coming their way.
IKEA made a corporate decision to move and put together an agreement with Hopewell, the company that owns the land on the North Service Road.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see immediately that the North Service Road could not handle the traffic that would be created with an IKEA on the Hopewell property.
Widening the North Service Road would be necessary but there were problems there because North Service is cheek by jowl with the QEW which itself is going to be widened in the not too distant future.
A walk along North Service between Guelph Line and Walkers Line suggests that property could be bought to widen the road but there is at least one large structure that is going to have a road very close to it when widening takes place..
Add to that the Creek that winds its way down the east side of the property and dips under the QEW and is governed by Conservation Halton rules and you get a sense of what IKEA is up against.
Did the planners that IKEA engaged not do their homework? Did they not make themselves aware of all the problems they would incur? When they first talked to Burlington’s planners did the Planning department not brief them?
The IKEA development is the first initiative seen in what the city calls one of its prime development areas. This one is called the Prosperity Corridor and covers both sides of the QEW from Appleby on the east to Brant on the west with the focus at this point on the Guelph Line – Walkers Line stretch.
City hall is realizing that a change made to Walkers Line and the QEW ripples through to the other major intersections. City hall has also learned that you just don’t come along with a development application and expect the province to take a serious interest in what you want to do.
The province takes a much longer term approach and the next time the Burlington intersections along the QEW come up for a hard close look with a cheque book in their hand is 2016 – and that’s when they begin looking at what might be needed.
IKEA wants to be OPEN in its new location the spring of 2015 with shovels in the ground before the end of this year if they can get the paper work out of the way.
 North Service Road looking west: There is room to widen the road; not sure how Leon’s will feel about giving up some frontage so people can get to IKEA. Report providing information regarding 3455 North Service Road (IKEA Properties Limited) (PB-82-13) (Referred to the October 21, 2013 Development & Infrastructure meeting)
The city has growth plans that cannot be met without significant development in the Prosperity Corridor
The Walkers Line /QEW upgrades are critical
Land west of Walkers Line has been purchased for the development of 300,000 sq/ft of industrial office space. It is not clear at this point if this is ‘new development’ and what stage it is at.
IKEA alone accounts for half of the new Industrial Commercial construction forecast for 2013 – thus if the deal in the works now doesn’t close before the end of the year – there goes the forecast and up go residential taxes – unless the finance people raid some of those fat reserve funds the city has tucked way.
 One of the city’s top tourist destinations is going to move to the property on the left. Widening this road to three lanes isn’t going to handle the traffic – and left hand turns are going to be terrible. Lots of work to be done on this file – and the clock is ticking. Making the North Service Road work as a development site is not going to be easy and the city knows now that it needs partners from the private sector as well as more from the Region and the province.
Problem is the province doesn’t think the city needs the kind of help it is talking about.
The agreements that are being readied for signature have IKEA paying all the short term costs – these will get spelled out in the report that wasn’t tabled last night.
The city and the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will pay all the costs for the long term – which refers to the cost of reconfiguring Walkers Line and the North Service Road.
This would seem like one of those situations where Burlington General Manager Scott Stewart needs to get all the players in the same room at the same time and give them a solid dose of his “tough love”. He once took on a group of soccer Moms and if a deal can be worked out with that crowd, IKEA should be a cake walk.
But it doesn’t look like that today – does it?
 October 3rd, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. If you want to talk to people in the city’s legal department this week – do it today, because most of the brains in that department will be in Milton on Friday, sitting in a Courtroom hearing an application that has been made by both the city and the Burlington Executive Airpark over who gets to call the shots when it comes to changing the way land is used.
 What was thought to be a sleepy little airport became a massive problem for the city The city creates by-laws and believes everyone has to abide by the bylaws in place. The Airpark argues that they don’t have to follow the city’s bylaws because they are regulated by the federal Department of Transportation.
The airport began making massive changes to their site about five years ago. The city, the Region and Conservation Halton didn’t pay much attention to what was being done at what had been a sleepy little rural airport. They understood that the airpark came under federal jurisdiction and were content to leave it at that.
When it became evident that the airpark was being upgraded significantly the city asked then ordered the airpark management to apply for the necessary permits.
Nope said the airpark people. There was some back and forth – the city sued them, they sued the city and it became evident that there were serious differences of opinion over how the laws the airpark were relying upon were to be interpreted.
So, back in late August, lawyers for both the city and the Airpark met in a Courtroom and agreed this had to be resolved and set October 4th as the day a judge would listen to arguments on arcane points of law. Both the city and the airpark brought in big legal guns and for the past seven weeks have been doing their “examination for discovery”, which is that period of time when they get to ask all kinds of questions.
Each side then prepares its brief and files it with the Court.
Someone in the Court house decides which judge is going to hear the arguments and at just after 10:00 am a bailiff will call out All Rise, the Judge will enter and the game begins.
There will not be any witnesses, there won’t be any television type court room drama; just some very smart lawyers arguing important differences on what was meant when a federal law was written and how that law impacts on a different level of government.
North Burlington residents have taken it in the ear over this issue – they have put up with trucks driving up and down the roads hauling landfill. When they found out how much fill was being taken onto the airpark site they were alarmed and made their concerns known to city hall and the regional government.
Delegations were made at both city hall and the Region during which it became evident that Burlington didn’t know what was going on and the Region didn’t appear to be at all concerned. Some in Milton kind of like the idea of an airport being close to their part of the Region.
The residents were having none of it. They formed an interest group and showed up everywhere they could to press their point. Both the Region and the city got the message.
 How does this kind of site alteration take place without a permit? If you’re an airpark and federally regulated – this is what you can get away with. The space atop that hill is where a helicopter landing is going to be located. It quickly became very clear that the airpark people were not going to budge so the city sued. That got us to the point where everyone is before a judge who will hear an application for an interpretation of just what the law means. These are called judicial interpretations.
Each side, the city and the Airpark were originally given two hours to give their interpretation of what the federal law means. When all the talking is done, the judge tells them that the decision will be reserved and in a couple of months (this won’t be a case that is decided upon in a couple of weeks) a decision will be handed down and both sides will read that decision very, very carefully.
And then you can bet the wine allowance that the side most unhappy with the decision will appeal. There is the possibility that this case will go from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.
In the meantime the Airpark development plans are frozen and that suites residents on Appleby Line and Bell School Line just fine.
One small question: Why did the city’s Community Services Committee go into Closed session to discuss a Confidential Legal department September 18th report regarding the Burlington Executive Airport? Were the city’s lawyers seeking direction? Was there a glitch in the case law they were relying upon to make their case. It just seemed a little odd that there would be a Confidential report that close to the hearing date.
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