 By Pepper Parr
February 26th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Is there a provincial election in the wind?
The province released a media background piece on some forthcoming legislation called Ontario Taking Steps to Make it Easier and Safer to Participate in Provincial Elections.
The media release explains that new legislation would help modernize the voting process in a COVID-19 environment by taking steps to make it easier and safer for people to vote, become a candidate, and protect provincial elections against outside influence and interference.
The Protecting Ontario Elections Act, 2021, would, if passed, help guard against threats such as the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, under-regulated third-party advertising, irregular campaign spending, and collusion.
 Doug Ford – can he be re-elected? “We strongly believe that Ontario voters should determine the outcome of elections, not big corporations or unions, American-style political action groups or other outside influences,” said Attorney General Doug Downey. “That’s why we are proposing legislative action to protect Ontarians’ essential voice in campaigns and to make it easier to cast a vote safely in an advance poll or on election day. These amendments would help modernize Ontario’s electoral process and ensure it is updated to meet urgent challenges, including COVID-19.”
The proposed reforms build on the Ontario legislature’s 2016 decision to ban corporate and union donations to political parties and help ensure individuals remain at the centre of the electoral process.
To protect Ontario elections, 19 legislative amendments have been proposed to:
• Make it more convenient and safer for people to vote in a COVID-19 environment by increasing advance polling days from five to ten, changes first proposed by Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer;
• Double the amount individuals can donate to a candidate, constituency association, leadership contestant or party from $1,650 to $3,300 per year, protecting the essential voice of Ontarians in campaigns;
• Extend third-party advertising spending limits from six to 12 months before an election period and introduce a definition of collusion to help protect Ontario’s elections from outside influence and interference; and
• Clarify the rules that allow Members of Provincial Parliament to maintain individual social media accounts before, during and after a writ period, as well as pave the way for the legislature to set other social media rules.
Elections Ontario has reported that the scale of third-party advertising in Ontario is greater than at the federal level, and Ontario is the only province in Canada where third-party spending is counted in the millions of dollars, rather than in the thousands. In 2018, third parties spent over $5 million during the election period and the six months prior to the election.
“Each and every Ontarian is a driving force of our democracy – from casting their votes to volunteering on campaigns or putting one’s name on a ballot,” said Attorney General Downey. “We want to ensure that the electoral system continues to evolve to protect their central role as individuals and promote fairness in the electoral process for everyone.”
 She can draw the crows but hasn’t been able to translate those faces into voters. Nice to know that they are keeping themselves busy at Queen’s Park. One wonders how the current Progressive Conservative government would fare if they had to face the electorate. Lots to complain about – but have you looked at the other two choices. Andrea Horwath does not seem to be able to win an election. A new leader could make a difference – is there anyone with real strength and profile on the NDP benches? Look hard and let me know what you find.
As for the Liberals – their leader has yet to run for a seat in the Legislature. Other taking a few cheap shots at the province for goofs on the Covid19 file, Del Duca hasn’t made much of a mark.
There is a group planning a policy convention – something the Liberals badly need if they are going to learn anything from the Kathryn Wynne disaster. A good stiff broom is needed if the Liberals are going to be competitive. If they can find a way to tap into and reflect what the people of Ontario really want they could form a government.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
 By Pepper Parr
February 25th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
They wrapped it up.
We now know what the tax levy is going to be for the fiscal year: they are going to tax the public a total of $182,276,388.
We don’t know yet what that will translate into in terms of a percentage and what it will mean in terms of how much taxation for every $100,000 of property assessment.
Those details were not presented to the public during the meeting. It does not appear that the Mayor is going to be able to deliver on the promise of a tax increase over last year of not more than 3.99%
It looks like it will come in at about 4.05%
Before the lunch break the percentage over last year was 4.14%. Members of Council decided they would dive back into the budget and see if they could change their minds on some of the decisions they had made.
That’s when things got sticky. The rules of the game on a reconsideration of a vote call for a person who voted for the original motion to bring a motion that needs a 2/3rds majority to pass.
 Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan chaired the committee that handled the budget review. He is said to have his eyes on the Office of the Mayor once Meed Ward has moved on to greener pastures. Chair of the meeting, Rory Nisan, did everything he could to get around that problem.
They went for lunch before they had a solution.
There is a contingency Reserve fund that had $1.8 million put into it – which was an increase over last year. Mayor Meed Ward wanted to decrease the increase by about 10% which would have allowed them to get to her much desired 3.99% tax increase.
Her colleagues were having none of it and went after the Mayor for raiding the Reserve Funds piggy bank. The account had something in the order of $9 million it.
 Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith listening to what his constituents have to say. Councillor Galbraith said he got far too many negative comments from his ward about the way reserve funds were being raised. He wasn’t on for more of that.
Councillor Bentivegna said raiding reserves was not what he wanted to do. If the increase was higher than the 3.99% – so be it.
City Manager Tim Commisso said that while there was some risk chipping away on what was going to be salted away the one before Council didn’t bother him that much.
Something had changed. Members of Council appeared to have stopped buying into the Mayor’s 3.99%. It took a bit for that change to sink in and while the Mayor never did say she would go with the will of her colleagues – it appears that she is going to have to find words to get her out of this one.
 This is city council, Lisa Kearns is missing. City Manager, top left and Committee Clerk bottom right. Later this week there will be a carefully worded media release giving this budget that rosy red glow that the apple polishers can do to fruit that may have gone past its best before date.
It all goes to Council on March 3rd. Several Council members chose to withhold their comments on the budget until it gets to Council on the third.
This may not be over yet.
 By Pepper Parr
February 25th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
 While waiting for City Council to come out of yet another CLOSED meeting, I was able to spend a few minutes on the Ombudsman’s web site where they set out the Top 10 tips for municipal officials
Know and follow the Municipal Act, 2001 and your procedure by-law’s open meeting requirements.
Make sure you have a procedure by-law that complies with the Municipal Act – every municipality and local board is required to have one.
Give adequate advance public notice of all meetings, including the time and location of all meetings.
Keep meetings open to the public unless closure is specifically authorized under the Municipal Act and there is a real need to exclude the public.
Pick the right s. 239 exception before closing a meeting.
Pass a resolution in public that includes meaningful information about the issue to be considered (not just the exception) – before closing the doors.
Record the meeting, including all decisions, by taking minutes, and preferably also by recording audio or video.
Stay on topic – don’t stray from the subject stated in the resolution.
Do not hold a vote in closed session unless it is for a procedural matter or to give directions to staff or officials.
To the extent possible, report back publicly in open session about what occurred in closed session.
The spirit of the law can be summed up in six words: When in doubt, open the meeting.
 Committee chair Rory Nisan – didn’t appear to remember what he read in the Procedural bylaw. The Spirit of being open, public and transparent didn’t get beyond lip service with this council as they toiled with a budget that was difficult.
The behaviour of this Council was well below disappointing and needs to be brought to the attention of the Ombudsman for some corrective action.
Bad enough that Rory Nisan, Chair of the Standing Committee, let things run wild, worse that we have a Clerk who clearly does not fully understand the purpose of the Section 239 exceptions. Clerk Kevin Arjoon needs to be sent out for some training.
By Pepper Parr
February 25th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Updated on February 25th: 11:07 am
A day off doesn’t seem to have changed a thing.
No sooner had Rory Nisan, Chair of the Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability (CSSRA) committee, gotten through the Declarations of a Pecuniary Interest (there were none) and noting that there was nothing on the consent agenda – the meeting slid over to John Ford who said Tuesday had been a long day and then passed things along to Laurie Jivan who said that the tax rate for the city spending would amount to 4.18 % (that would be the increase over the 2020 budget) and that if they wanted to get it to 3.99% they would have to find $343,000 in savings.
The meeting returned to Nisan who said the Committee was going to look at items #4 and #24 on the Budget Action Requests (BAR) forms and in order to do that the Committee would have to go into CLOSED session.
Nisan asked Galbraith to so move, Galbraith did, everyone voted yes let’s do that and the screen went to the CLOSED image.
Not one member of Council asked for detail on why they were going into a CLOSED session.
 Those who watch Council meeting webcasts would have seen this image often – too often? Item #4 on the BAR form was a provision to reduce the amount that was to go into the Contingency Reserve. Staff was recommending anything between $100,000 and $338,445. The Mayor wanted that amount to be $400,000 while Councillors Bentivegna, Kearns, Galbraith, Nisan, and Sharman wanted the amount to be $100,000
Item 24 on the Bar forms was to remove $154,470 from the spending – remove 1 legal staff who worked on Community Planning matter. Bentivegna, Galbraith and Sharman proposed this.
A former councillor at a Halton municipality pointed out to us in an email that:
A meeting or part of a meeting may be closed to the public if the subject matter being considered is:
• the security of the property of the municipality or local board
• personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees
• a proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board
• labour relations or employee negotiations
• litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board
• advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose
• a matter in respect of which a council, board, committee or other body may hold a closed meeting under another Act
• information explicitly supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board by Canada, a province or territory or a Crown agency of any of them
• a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board, which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization
• a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial or financial information that belongs to the municipality or local board and has monetary value or potential monetary value
• a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board.
In a memo to Council the Finance department provided the following comment on the Provision to Contingency Reserve – As stated in the budget reduction list provided to you on February 1st, the list included a $100,000 reduction to the provision that would flatline the amount to the 2020 budget. The note included that the uncommitted balance was approximately $9.5 million. A question was asked as to whether the amount of the provision could be reduced further given this balance. Legal staff are reviewing outstanding and potential future litigation matters. At this time, a range could be considered for Committee’s discussion. This range would be from $100,000 (results in a budget provision of $2,038,445) to $338,445 (results in a budget provision of $1,800,000).
Would item #4 and # 24 meet these conditions? At some point the provincial Ombudsman will be asked to investigate and determine if these two, along with the other multiple occasion Council went into CLOSED on this budget – which at this moment has yet to be agreed upon before it goes to Council on March 3rd – and when you will know how much of your money is going to slide out of your pocket.
 By Staff
February 24th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Tough enough being quarantined – but imagine a security guard trying to extort money from you and then sexually assault you.
 The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has arrested and charged a security guard with multiple charges related to a quarantine compliance check.
The accused is employed by one of the four private security companies hired and trained by the Public Health Agency of Canada to be designated Screening Officers under the Quarantine Act. Screening Officers visit travellers’ quarantine locations to establish contact, confirm identify and confirm that travellers are at the place of quarantine they identified upon entry into Canada, to ensure that travellers are complying with the mandatory 14-day quarantine requirements.
Police investigation revealed that on February 18, 2021, the accused attended a residence in Oakville to conduct a quarantine compliance check. The accused informed the victim that they were in violation of the quarantine order and demanded that a fine be paid in cash. When the victim declined to pay, she was sexually assaulted by the accused.
On February 23, 2021, HRPS officers with the Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit located and arrested 27 year-old Hemant (full name) of Hamilton. Police will not be disclosing the name of the security company that employs Hemant, but can confirm that he has been suspended.
Hemant has been charged with the following:
• Sexual Assault
• Extortion
Hemant was released from custody pending a court appearance in Milton on March 23, 2021.
There may be additional victims, and police would encourage anyone who may have experienced something similar to contact their local police service (where the offence took place).
 Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers. “See something? Hear something? Know something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
Note: Screening Officers contracted by the Public Health Agency of Canada are not police officers and cannot issue an offence notice (ticket) or conduct an arrest. Immediate demand for payment of any kind should never be made in the course of a quarantine compliance check.
 By Staff
February 24th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Housing in Burlington covers the full spectrum. From the outrageously expensive to the basement apartment that is poorly heated and too expensive. The only housing the city doesn’t have are shelters set up in the ravines where the homeless do their best to keep warm
 Part of the Station |West development – has the tiniest park you will ever see. The City of Burlington is hosting a Virtual Launch for the Burlington Housing Strategy on Monday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The Housing Strategy is an opportunity to develop creative, innovative solutions for housing issues in Burlington. The City’s strategy will build on and support Halton Region’s Housing Strategy.
Last month, City Council endorsed the Burlington Housing Strategy Terms of Reference and directed City staff to start work on a Housing Strategy to give current and future residents more housing options.
Residents are invited to join City staff and a community panel to learn and talk about housing in Burlington. The Virtual Launch of the Burlington Housing Strategy is on March 8 from 7 to 9 p.m. on Zoom. To hear the presentation and join the discussion, click on https://zoom.us/j/91995969251
 Whenever it sells – it will sell for millions The launch, hosted by City staff, will feature a community panel of key stakeholders from government, the private sector and the community to share their ideas. Ted Hildebrandt of Community Development Halton will present, followed by a discussion period for community members and stakeholders to give input, voice concerns and share experiences.
Residents are encouraged to take the online Burlington Housing Strategy survey as well, starting on Monday, March 1.
The feedback gathered from the survey and during this meeting will be considered as City staff develop a draft housing engagement plan. Staff will present the draft engagement plan and community feedback to Council at the Community Planning, Regulation & Mobility Committee on Tuesday, April 6, 2021.
For more information and to take the survey on the Burlington Housing Strategy, visit getinvolvedburlington.ca/housingstrategy.
By Pepper Parr
February 24th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Just what was the hullabaloo all about? It was about a possible $1,466,000 savings that had something to do with city hall staff remuneration.
 Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte had some ideas on where savings could be found – wasn’t allowed to talk about them. They had to do with how much the city pays its staff. Details on just what was behind that idea were not made public because Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte was not given the opportunity to talk about her proposal in a public session.
We are never really going to know the whole story but based on what is available we can say this: no one in the city knows the Municipal Act better than Clerk Kevin Arjoon who managed to find several sections on the Closed meeting provisions to keep Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte from speaking publicly about her idea for reducing the size of the tax bite for the current year.
Stolte had an item on the BAR forms that didn’t have an amount next to it. It did have a note that it was to be discussed in a CLOSED session.
The items Stolte had in mind were broken out by Staff who created a list of four items.
Council then went into a CLOSED session to debate. We do not know what Stolte said, if anything, in the CLOSED session of a Standing Committee that lasted 12 hours.
There is a report that Stolte did not speak to her own motion while Council was in CLOSED.
Item 1 Defeated.
Item 2 – withdrawn
They then recessed until 6:30.
After the recess they then went back into Closed session to debate the other two items.
Based on what we have been able to piece together, we know that the proposal had to do with staffing.
 City manager Tim Commisso appears to have out the interest of his staff ahead of the taxpayers. The city manager was adamant in wanting to get the discussion off the public table and have the views of Council members, particularly Stolte, away from the public.
More to follow on this one. There are very serious grounds for the way large parts of the meeting were held, including Chair of the meeting, Rory Nisan, who called the vote on a Stolte motion but did not allow her to speak until after the vote – and then cautioned her on several occasions about what she was going to say.
More details on what happened will be the focus of a follow-up story.
The big issue for the Mayor at this point is where she is going to find the $343,735.00 to get the tax increase down to 3.99%. As it is now it stands at 4.18%
More on that as well.
 By Pepper Parr
February 24th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton District School Board released its Multi Year Plan for the period 2020-2024 earlier this week. One quarter of the time frame has already passed making the document, in our view, a little less relevant.
The Gazette asked HDSB trustee chair Andrea Grebenc why the delay. She explained that “traditionally the plan has been announced just as we begin the school year in which it was intended to start – so summer 2020 would have been the appropriate time.
 Andrea Grebenc, Chair of the HDSB learned that listening was the biggest part of creating a Multi year Plan “We ended up soft-launching by approving it in the fall. The MYP creation process is a 6-month plus process and was interrupted by the pandemic. The process involves dedicated time from senior level staff and trustees and when the pandemic hit mid-March, both trustees and staff were pulled into dealing with the crisis at hand.
“We run a very lean administrative compliment (meaning we spend less than our provincial allocation on senior staff and redirect into the schools) so the pandemic stretched us and briefly pushed the MYP development down the priority list.”
The pandemic did much more than stretch the public school system – they had to create a new, effective way of delivering an education to students with nothing in the way of a play book to follow.
It will be some time before classes return to anything even near normal. There are some solid lessons to come out of the pandemic – those will have to be thought through.
Next September the Board should have a new Director of Education in place; he or she (it could and should be a she this time) will have to rebuild much of the way Boards of Education prepare students for a much different future.
The purpose of the MYP, approved by Trustees in November 2020, sets direction and prioritizes the collective actions of all stakeholders to ensure efforts of the HDSB are aligned to support the Board’s more than 65,000 students, 9,000 staff and the broader community.
The MYP 2020-2024 consists of five key areas:
• Equity & Inclusion
• Mental Health and Well-Being
• Learning and Achievement
• Environmental Leadership
• Indigenous Perspectives and Awareness
 The Board identifies its commitment within each area and outlines goals that define the key strategic work the Board will undertake during the next four years. While there are five distinct areas to the plan, no one area stands alone or above another as each is connected.
Adaptability, Relationships, Innovation, Communication, Accountability and Engagement are foundational elements of the MYP plan that describe the values of the HDSB and how staff and stakeholders will work together to achieve the goals outlined in the plan.
The Indigenous Perspectives and Awareness area of the MYP demonstrates the HDSB’s commitment to expanding knowledge and understanding of Indigenous perspectives and realities. To further the Board’s commitment to this area, Stephen Paquette has been hired into a permanent position as the Board’s Indigenous Knowledge Guide ＆ Engagement Advisor, to provide expertise to staff, schools and departments.
As part of the Equity & Inclusion area of the Plan, the HDSB created the Discriminatory and Harmful Language Protocol to provide clear expectations for how staff respond when harm is caused. This protocol will be followed by students and staff to promote a school environment free from discriminatory language.
In September 2019, the Board initiated a process to develop a new MYP. A steering committee was created to help guide the development of the MYP. An external consultant, Maximum City, was hired to initiate an extensive stakeholder consultation process to review the contents of the previous MYP and seek input about what the HDSB community values and would like to see represented in the next MYP.
Input on the MYP was received from more than 4,000 HDSB respondents including parents/guardians, students, staff and community members on a broad range of issues.
Chair Andréa Grebenc said “The resulting plan clearly outlines the focus of the next few years and recognizes the key priority areas we heard from students, our staff and the broader Halton community.”
The pandemic will have bumped some of those priorities down the list – there is a whole new world ahead of the education system – the challenge will be to identify the positive opportunities and at the same time take a pass on some of the past practices.
Link to the MYP
By Pepper Parr
February 23rd, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
It was late; 9:45 pm. They had been going at it since 9:30 in the morning.
City Council was doing their best to get a budget increase of 3.99% that they could take to council on March 3rd.
They didn’t make it in Tuesday.
The budget number when the adjourned was at 4.18% – they needed to find $343,735 in savings to get to the 3.99%.
The schedule called for a follow up meeting on Thursday – maybe they will find the savings then.
At times it was a bit of a gong show. At one point they were arguing over how they would vote against something that had no amount attached to it.
On another occasion the Chair, Rory Nisan, went to call the vote on an item and had to be informed that it had been withdrawn. Nisan had stepped away from his seat.
 Everyone needs a break – the Gazette will get up bright and early on Wednesday and report on what they did get done.
We will tell you all about the budget item that had to be discussed in a CLOSED session.
We also learned that the city does not have an employee suggestion box. Does that say something?
 By Staff
February 23, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Halton Region is ready to open our vaccination clinics for prioritized populations once vaccine supplies are secured by the Federal Government.
“Halton Region staff have been working tirelessly to ensure we are prepared to vaccinate our residents, starting first with our most vulnerable populations,” said Halton Regional Chair, Gary Carr.
“Like other regions, our ability to get these sites operational is dependent on supply from the Federal Government. These clinics are in addition to our mobile teams vaccinating residents in long-term care and retirement homes, Halton Healthcare’s clinic for health care workers and our ongoing preparations to eventually provide vaccine to the rest of our community.
I cannot thank our Public Health, Paramedic Services, Hospital teams and staff working behind the scenes enough for their dedication to get us ready.”
Clinics are located in each municipality and have been selected based on the ability to maintain health and safety measures, accessibility and amenities.
- Gellert Community Centre, 10241 Eighth Line, Georgetown
- St. Volodymyr Cultural Centre, 1280 Dundas Street West, Oakville
- Compass Point Bible Church, 1500 Kerns Road, Burlington
- Milton Centre for the Arts, 1010 Main Street East, Milton
These are initial locations and other clinics may be identified as required.
“The preparation of these clinics is an important milestone in our work to vaccinate those most at risk of becoming very sick with COVID-19,” said Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton Region’s Medical Officer of Health. “I encourage everyone to get the vaccine when it is your turn, and in the meantime, prepare yourself and your family by reviewing credible information on the vaccines on halton.ca.”
Quick Clinic Facts:
- The clinics are not yet open to the general public. The clinics will first serve priority populations identified by the Province, beginning with adults 80 years of age and older.
- Information on clinic openings and how to book an appointment will be available when the amount of vaccines is confirmed. The public and current priority populations will be notified through a variety of print and digital channels when the booking system is ready and more details are confirmed.
- Planning is also underway to provide additional supports such as transportation for residents who require them. More information will be provided as those details are confirmed.
The Gazette will provide details on just where these places are later in the week
By Pepper Parr
February 20th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Working our way through winter days that at times have a beauty of their own; getting some of the needed exercises shoveling snow.
Living with the expectation that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that all we have to do is follow the rules that have been explained very well.
 This is where the outbreaks have taken place Some of the messaging doesn’t get through. While reporting to the Regional Council Dr. Hamida Meghani said that if people choose to get out to a restaurant there shouldn’t be more than four at a table and that all four should be from the same household. Not two people from one household and the other two people from a different household.
The Regional Public Health Unit is producing solid data that gives a promising picture. The unit is in the process of going through a phase that will see it continue to handle the identification of new infections and follow up on the tracing that helps determine where the infections came from. The arrival of variants to Covid19 makes that job much harder and calls for an even faster response. A tough task for a unit that is already overloaded.
 Facilities and logistics group has worked with Human Resources to recruit the 400 nursing people that will be needed to do inoculations for up to 12 hours a day – seven days a week once the required vaccines have arrived. On top of it all they are putting in place the procedures needed to begin the mass inoculation that will begin hours after the vaccines arrive.
Dr. Meghani works with a team that is now seasoned and beginning to be able to keep at least half a step ahead of the pandemic many don’t really fully understand.
During the most recent update given to Regional Council Dr. Meghani was seen to actually chuckle – just a bit, while responding to a question. There haven’t been all that many occasions for her to slip away from the sobering side of the possible outcomes if the variant Covid19 infections get out of control. I suspect this keeps her awake at night
 This is where the infections are being found. For Burlington the east end of the city has the highest rate.  The hospitalization rate and the effective reproduction number are what support the view that we are getting ahead of the virus.  The very legitimate fear that the hospitals would not be able to cope with the number of people needing serious care would become a reality – the current numbers indicate that – so far – so good.  The Public Health Unit has been able to reach 93% of those people who have become newly infected in one day; This is critical in identifying the source of the infection.
By Staff
February 20th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Stunned by the federal government decision to approve the CN rail hub that is proposed for the southern part of Milton, Regional Council announced on Friday they would make an application to the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review of federal decisions by the Minister and Cabinet resulting in federal approval of the CN truck-rail hub in Milton.
“We understand how important this effort is to our communities and our goal is to overturn this decision through the legal system,” said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. “The fact that the Federal Government approved this project while ignoring the significant adverse effects on health identified by the expert panel it appointed is beyond disappointing. We will continue to fight for the health of Halton residents.”
Since the project was announced, community opposition has centered around the significant adverse effects on air quality and human health, in addition to concerns about safety in the surrounding areas due to the potential for increased traffic. The project will be within one kilometer of more than 34,000 residents, one hospital, 12 schools, and two long-term care homes.
 The development that will bring few jobs to the community has the potential to do significant ongoing environmental damage. While seen as a Milton area issue the number of trucks that would travel the roads in Burlington is significant – the estimate is for 1,600 truck trips a day – every day. This is to be a 24/7 operation with shipping containers brought in by rail and transferred to trucks that would delivery to locations throughout the GTA.
“The Federal Government has approved a project that will have a significant detrimental impact on the health of Halton residents that its expert panel said cannot be mitigated,” said Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward. “Cabinet owes our residents an explanation.”
The communities and local representatives at the provincial and federal levels have come together and have been a strong voice against this ill-conceived proposal that is off-side what this Region and Province approved for the CN lands. Regional Council thanked Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden, for his continued opposition to the CN plan.
Following its multi-year review, the federal panel concluded that this Project’s significant health effects cannot be mitigated. Even after mitigation there will still be significant problems. These effects result from the release into the air particulate matter (PM2.5) that is dangerous at any level of exposure and causes an array of health effects on the community.
The CN facility in Milton would not create a significant number of jobs, or provide the kind of investment Milton or Halton Region has planned for and approved in Regional Official Plan Amendments.
Although the Project’s significant adverse environmental effects on air quality and human health are paramount, the Project’s permanent adverse effects on anticipated employment, investment, and municipal finances are also significant. There is a belief that the economic and capacity benefits desired by CN could be achieved by modernizing its existing Brampton facility.
By Staff
February 19TH, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
We asked the Regional Health Unit for an update on who will get vaccinated first.
We received the following:
“Preparations are underway to vaccinate additional priority populations identified by the Province, including adults 80 years of age and older and recipients of chronic home health care. We will be providing an update to the community in the coming days with additional details as they are confirmed.
Understanding that these groups may have barriers to accessing information and appointments, we are also working with our local partners who will support us in targeted outreach to these populations.”
The link provided in the quote is important.
By Pepper Parr
February 19th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Have you ever seen something like this before?
BAR forms (Budget Action Requests) are documents Councillors use to bring forward changes they would like to see made in the budget Staff have put forward.
The Gazette has learned that the Clerk has informed a member of Council that the item that was put forward must be treated as confidential.
Confidential matters are determined and governed by the Municipal Act and usually relate to matters that involve a named individual or a property matter.
There is much more to this story.
By Pepper Parr
February 18th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
CORRECTION: The $2150,000 for malicious and high handed conduct should have been $250,000
Sean Baird has instructed his legal counsel to file a Notice of Action and has delivered a Statement of Claim to the following
 Marianne Meed Ward on election night. Adam Atkinson – with CHCH
Sharon Balcaran-Grantham
John Bkila – Communication person in the Mayor’s office
Kelly Childs – owner of a cup cake shop
Lynn Crosby – citizen and manager of the Mayors 2018 election campaign manager
Georgie Gatside, City of Burlington employee
Victoria Hughes Al-Samadi – Chief of Staff for the Mayor
David Lea – journalist for Torstar
Marianne Meed Ward – Mayor of Burlington
Don Mitchell – with Global News
James Burchill – operates the Smart Car Confidential blog
Pepper Parr, publisher of the Burlington Gazette
The Mayor and I are finally involved in a law suit where we are on the same side.
Some facts. Mr Baird was charged under the criminal code for fraud over $5,000 and Used forged documents. He was also charged under the Municipal Elections Act. The Crown withdrew the Criminal Code charges against Sean Baird. The municipal elections Act charges have yet to be heard in a Courtroom.
Sean Baird is now suing for damages to his reputation.
The Statement of claim is for $1 million for libel plus $250,000 for malicious and high handed conduct.
Many of those served with the Statement of Claim are employees of a national newspaper operation who will cover the legal costs.
The City will cover the legal costs of the Mayor, her staff and city employees. That expense will be buried in the legal department budget.
In the covering letter that accompanied the Statement of Claim and the Notice of Action counsel writes.
“You are invited to make inquiries with respect to these matters, and to publicly apologize to Mr. Baird with respect to the contents contained in these pleadings. On a without prejudice basis, I will thereafter seek instructions from Mr. Baird for dismissal of the claim against you on a without cost basis.”
More to this story.
Related news stories:
Sean Baird charged with fraud
Criminal charges against Sean Baird withdrawn
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Pepper Parr
February 18th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
They are referred to as BAR (Budget Action Request), forms that each Council member can submit asking for an increase or a decrease to the budget brought forward by Staff.
At this point – before there is a serious debate on the budget, the increase is 4.99% over what the city taxes were last year. Mayor Meed Ward told Staff that she wanted them to come back with a budget that had a 3.99% increase over last year – and to include some ideas on how to get to that point.
There was something quite a bit different this year many of the 29 items were submitted by all the members of Council. In previous councils a member would push for an item they wanted to deliver to their ward – re-election for this crowd is just 20 months away, not a lot of time in the world of politics.
The following list of items, requested by Councillors on the BAR forms.
Are the changes asked for enough to bring the tax increase down to that 3.99% the Mayor wanted – maybe even lower?
Each of these will be debated, with Staff on hand to advise. Note that for many of the items Staff is in agreement with what a majority of the Council members want to do.
Of note is this. Ward 4 Councilor Shawna Stolte did not join her colleagues on the BAR items they put forward but did put forward three of her own – all were suggesting decreases in salary for the Members of Council. She wanted members of Council to take a pass on the annual increase they get each year and to take a 10% cut of the salary they currently get for 9 months.
The sum total for the two BAR amounts to $629,000.
There are two situations where Council asked that funds be added to the budget. Stolte wanted $110,000 added to the Capital Works budget while Kearns, Nisan and Meed Ward wanted $15,000 added to the Heritage Property Tax rebate program.
Look for the Mayor wanting to take a victory lap when the budget is approved in March.
By Pepper Parr
February 18th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
The day the COVID19 vaccines arrive, expect the Prime Minister to make an announcement on how well his government is doing ensuring that Canadians are getting the Covid19 virus protection they need.
Dr. Hamidah Meghani at the Regional Public Health unit will move the people who have been hired to give us that needle into position and wait for the province to tell her exactly when the vaccines are going to be in the inoculation centres ready for use.
 The administering of the vaccine is a three phase program. Earlier this month Dr. Meghani and her team met with General Rick Hillier, former Chief of the Defence Staff , now retired, who is overseeing the distribution of the vaccines that were purchased by the federal government for distribution to the provinces.
The Halton Regional plan was approved – now Meghani and her colleagues are waiting for the word – the vaccines are here.
So – when the vaccines arrive does that mean we all scoot over to the inoculation centre? Not quite.
We learned yesterday that there will be just four inoculation centres in Halton. One will be at the Oakville Trafalgar Hospital that will handle all the front line people – which at this point are those in the medical field.
Regional Council members wanted to know if the people who work in the supermarkets will be considered front line. Dr. Meghani said she did not know, that that has yet to be determined.
We know now that there will be a process to register for a jab of the needle.
The province is in the process of creating a computer application (app) that people will use to register.
Nothing more than that at this point.
The province has not been able to launch that application; it is apparently in trials at this point. It will be on a program called COVAX.
What has become very clear is that the province is calling all the shots – the Public Health units follow the directions they are given.
Meghani expects to be inoculating people before that provincial app is ready – she has a backup plan in place.
 The time line – who is expected to be vaccinated when. Asked when does this all start – Dr. Meghani said – the day after the vaccines arrive. Where will the inoculation centres be located in each community? Not yet determined. They know where they want them to be – now to work out the details with the municipalities or the school boards.
We did learn that the Region will pick up whatever there are in the way of costs at the local level.
We learned too that the Region has hired 200 nursing people and will be hiring an additional 200 for a total of 400 people in place.
Interviews are taking place in the evenings and on the weekends.
Halton CAO Jane McCaskill mentioned that the Region has spent an additional $1 million and has invested heavily in Information Technology upgrades.
Dr. Meghani said that the Region will have a backup system in place. This woman doesn’t leave very many stones unturned.
By Pepper Parr
February 17th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
During an in depth meeting at which Dr Hamidah Meghani and Halton Region CAO Jane McCaskill took Regional Council through where things were with the current Covid infection rate and the plans to begin immunizing residents, we learned that Dr. Meghani was concerned, she actually said “startled, when she saw an early version of a report that will be made public on Friday about the rate at which the COVID19 variants are growing out in the community.
 The lock down we just came out of worked – the number of infections has been much lower – many think it should have been even lower before ending the lockdown. She said on more than one occasion that she could see a possible third wave, using the word “likely”.
Regional Councillors got a solid briefing with Chair Gary Carr saying that the problem Halton is going to have is not enough in the way of supply to do the job that has to be done if we are to get ahead of the virus.
 A very sophisticated and well staffed Regional Vaccine Committee is in place – everyone is just waiting for the arrival of the vaccines. Sometime in January Chair Carr and Burlington Mayor Meed Ward were on to the province demanding that they deliver on what had been promised so that the Region could vaccinate the people in Long Term Care Centres. Hot spots in Toronto got what was supposed to come to Halton.
Watching Gary Carr when he is angry is not a pretty picture.
By Staff
February 17th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
This scam is perfidious – deceitful and untrustworthy.
Many of us have resorted to buying on line and the people who sell and then ship to us tend to use whatever is available.
FedEx and UPS appear to be swamped at time.
The packages are frequently late but they do get there.
This note appeared in my mail box. I knew the moment I saw it that it was a scam – but that is due to a large degree because I see literally dozens a day.
Take a look at this:
My first reaction was that I had not bought anything from the company – but maybe one of the companies I did buy something from was using a different delivery service.
The address it was supposedly sent from could be real. When I thought it about it – it just looked too fishy. Then I noticed the address they used to reach me I realized that was not a name I would ever use.
Cardinal rule: If in doubt – don’t.
By Staff
February 17th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
It should come as no huge surprise – COVID19 infections are being reported at several schools in the Region.
 A single student was infected and the class was closed – the school remained open. Just the one infection reported in Burlington at the Mohawk Public school where the classroom has been closed.
Classes resumed at schools this week.
How many infections are there likely to be? No one has any idea. At this stage everyone is keeping a very close eye and readying for whatever they think could happen and be ready to respond.
It is going to be stressful week – we know why the infection took place – someone without the infection came in contact with someone who was infected.
The virus is in the community. How deep is infection rate likely to be ? We don’t know yet.
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