By Staff

January 26th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

They seemed to be on a robbery spree – three robberies in a single day.

A joint effort involving police from all three districts of the Halton Regional Police Service led to the arrest of four adult males.

Charged is:
Liban Guedi, 19 years old of Etobicoke is charged with three (3) counts of robbery and possession of property obtained by crime under $5000.00.

Hasan Abdihafid Hassan, 18 years old of Etobicoke is charged with three (3) counts of robbery, wearing a disguise and possession of property obtained by crime under $5000.00.

Dahir Kheyre, 19 years old of Brampton is charged with three (3) counts of robbery, wearing a disguise and property obtained by crime under $5000.00.

Ilyas Kheyre, 20 years old of Brampton is charged with three (3) counts of robbery and property obtained by crime under $5000.00.

It began with the robbery atRabba Fine Foods on Derry Road, Milton, confronted the clerk and demanded cash. The accused males indicated they had a firearm but one was not observed by the clerk. The accused males fled the store on foot with cash and ciagettes in hand. They were last seen exiting the parking lot in a black vehicle.

A short time later at 1:03 am on the 26th of January 2020 the same crew attended the Esso gas station at 1170 Guelph Line, Burlington. The males again indicated to the clerk they were in possession of a firearm and demanded cash. No firearm was observed. The accused males fled with a small amount of money.

The males quickly struck again at 1:13 am on the 26th of January 2020. This time hitting the Esso gas station located at 5539 Harvester Road, Burlington. Cash and cigarettes were demanded of the clerk however the accused’ were interrupted by an unsuspecting patron and they quickly fled the scene.

Uniform patrols utilizing suspect and vehicle information relayed to them from the visual evidence captured at QEW corridor ramps. The accused males were located within minutes of the last robbery by a sharp eyed two district patrol officer who observed the suspect vehicle entering onto the QEW at Dorval Drive. The officer conducted a traffic stop and the driver pulled over without incident.

The cameras that help media report on road traffic were used to watch for suspected vehicles.

Investigation at the scene led to the arrest of the four males the recovery of stolen property from inside the vehicle including cash and cigarettes.

No one was hurt or injured during the robberies.  The investigation is ongoing and Police are asking anyone with additional information about the robberies to contact the Halton Regional Police Service Burlington Criminal Investigation Bureau at 905 825 4747 ext. 2316.

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.

Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court

By Staff

January 21st, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Earlier this afternoon, the body of a deceased individual was located submerged under the ice in a viaduct in the area of Grahams Lane and Legion Road in Burlington.

Expect a significant police presence in the area as our officers investigate.

There is no ongoing, related public safety threat.

By Staff

January 17th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The people in the Mt Nemo community have shared some news.

A restaurant on Guelph Line that has been doing great business, bus loads from Burlington arrive for lunch in the good weather, at times it is difficult to place a reservation,

The Wundeba was a very welcome addition to restaurants out of town.

The news from the community was disturbing. The details are set out below.

Philippe St-Cyr
5123 Mount Nemo Cres Burlington, Ontario, L7M 0T7 Canada

Sjonum Sristi Awalia 5123 Mount Nemo Cres
Burlington, Ontario, L7M 0T7 Canada

Site
4448 Guelph Line
Burlington, Regional Municipality of Halton

1. Authority to Issue Order

I have authority to issue orders under the EPA and the OWRA to further the purpose of the EPA and OWRA, namely to provide for the protection and conservation of the natural environment.

This Order is being issued pursuant to section 16(1) of the OWRA and section 157(1) of the EPA.

I reasonably believe that the Company has contravened or is contravening these sections of the OWRA and the EPA as outlined in the Suspected Violations/Offences section of this Provincial Code Act applies.

Description of Site and Orderees
The Site is located at the address municipally know as 4448 Guelph Line, Burlington, Ontario. The Site is operating as Wundeba Restaurant and is located in a rural area, on the west side of Guelph Line, south of #2 Side Road, Burlington. Residential properties are located south and north of the Site and a retirement home is also located to the north of the Site. A. pond is located on the southern portion of the Site which has been designated by Conservation Halton as part of the Grindstone Creek Headwaters Wetland Complex, a “Provincially Significant Wetland .”

The Company was incorporated in Ontario on February 13, 2012 and has as its registered mailing address: 5123 Mount Nemo Crescent, Burlington, Ontario, L7M 0T7. The Company purchased the August 2014 and therefore is responsible for compliance with conditions of the ECA.

The Directors are named as Orderees because they have management and control of the Company and the Site. In the Ontario public corporate records, the Director’s names are listed as: “Sjonum Sristi Awalia” and “Philippe St-Cyr”. The Ministry of Transportation Drivers License information records the Director’s names as: “Awalia St-Cyr, Sjonum S” and “St-Cyr Diotte , Philippe”.

Historical Information re: Environmental Compliance Approval# 5131-757NNN In 2007, the Ministry received an application from the engineering firm of Kenneth Youngs Engineering which had been retained by the previous owner of the Site- Frank Moser Investments Incorporated. The engineering firm submitted an application to the Ministry to replace the two existing Class IV septic systems. Both were old clay tile drainage systems which were failing.The Ministry’s engineering assessment report which supports the current ECA, concluded that the holding tank was the only feasible option for the Site as follows:

The Consultant has carried out the design for a replacement sewage works using tertiary treatment and shallow buried trenches and concluded that housed on the type of soil, size of lot, setback requirements for wetland and building/parking requirements, there is not adequate space to construct an on-site sewage disposal system even with tertiary treatment.

ECA # 513l-757NNN was issued to Frank Moser Investments Incorporated on July 26, 2007. The ECA lists the equipment that has been approved for the handling and storage of sewage at the Site as the 40,000 litre storage tank and related equipment. This is the only equipment that is documented on the ECA for installation and use at the Site.

Summary of Events
The following provides a summary of the significant events relating to the Site and the ECA.

On August 9, 2011, the Ministry received a letter by Kenneth Youngs Engineering Incorporated signed by an engineer confirming that the 40,000 litre storage tank, alarm system and works had been installed in accordance with their submissions.

On February 9, 2015, the Ministry received a letter from a representative of 1866252 Ontario Limited advising the Ministry that the Company was the new owner of the Site as of August 8, 2014 and requested that the ownership of the ECA be transferred to 1866252 Ontario Limited.

On July 21, 2015, the Ministry forwarded a letter to 1866252 Ontario Limited acknowledging receipt of $10,000 for financial assurance which is required by condition 8 of the ECA.

On May 30, 2016, the Ministry forwarded a letter to 1866252 Ontario Limited acknowledging a change of ownership of the Site from Frank Moser Investments Incorporated to 1866262 Ontario Limited. The Ministry’s letter also provided notification of any environmental approvals which were in effect at the Site and listed Environmental Compliance Approval# 5131-757NNN.

On May 18, 2018, the Ministry received a complaint that employees of Wundeba Restaurant were pumping sewage from a holding tank, onto the ground. The complainant described strong odours and provided photos. It appears from the photographs provided, that employees had pumped septic waste out of the 40,000 litre holding tank and onto the ground.

On May 31, 2018, Provincial Officers Nick Fowler and Carly Munce conducted an inspection of the Site. During the inspection, Officer Fowler was advised by an employee that since purchasing the property, the new owners had re-routed the sewage works. Sewage from the washrooms was now being directed to a septic system and not to the 40,000 litre holding tank. Only sewage generated in the kitchen, was being directed to the holding tank.

On June 13, 2018, Provincial Officer Nick Fowler issued an Onsite Sewage Disposal Site Inspection Report which detailed the Company’s non-compliance with the ECA and required them to enter into a service agreement with a Ministry-approved sewage hauler, by June 22, 2018.

He also requested that the Company decommission the unapproved septic system and reroute the septic system back to the approved, 40,000 holding tank by July 13, 2018. These actions have not been done.

As a result of his inspection, Provincial Officer Nick Fowler issued two Provincial Offences Act notices on the Company. One notice was issued for a depositing waste without an Environmental Compliance Approval, which is a violation of section 40 of the EPA.

The second offence notice was issued for a violation of section 186(3) of the EPA for failure to comply with conditions of the ECA. Specifically, the company failed to provide pumping records which were requested during the May 31, 2018 inspection.

On June 27,2018, I met with Philippe St-Cyr as requested. Mr. St-Cyr stated that they only pump grey water from the kitchen, onto the ground from the holding tank. He agreed that they would cease pumping sewage onto the ground. He also stated that he was not aware of the ECA and that since it was issued to the previous owner it was not applicable to 1866252 Ontario Limited. I stated that the requirements of the ECA are the responsibility of the Company that has care and control of the Site and are in effect at this time. I stated that non-compliance with the conditions of the ECA and pumping sewage out of the septic system and onto the ground were chargeable offences. We discussed the septic systems which were installed at the Site. However it wasn’t clear what equipment had been installed. I requested that an assessment be done of the septic systems at the site. We discussed the possibility of submitting an amendment application to this Ministry requesting approval for the septic system which was in use.

On July 06, 2018, as a follow-up to tour- meeting, I forwarded a letter as an attachment to an email to Mr. St-Cyr. I requested that a service agreement be entered into with a Ministry-approved septic hauler who would regularly inspect and pump out the holding tank as required. This requirement to obtain a service agreement from the hauler is required by condition 5.2 of the ECA. I also requested that a Qualified Person be retained to inspect the system to ensure that it was operating in accordance with the ECA and any unapproved system had been decommissioned by August 09, 2018.

On July 13, 2018, I received an e-mail from Mr. St-Cyr confirming that a Ministry-approved septic waste hauler had been retained to inspect the storage tank bi-weekly and pump it out as required. He disagreed with the purpose of the assessment of the on-site system, which he believed was to assess the functional operation of the system in use and not to assess the environmental compliance of the septic system. He stated that he would like to apply for approval of the septic tank, distribution box and septic bed which is in use at the Site.

On August 07, 2018, 1 received the following report:
Inspection Property: Wundeba Restaurant, 4448 Guelph Line, Burlington, Ontario ESSE Canada, July 31, 2018.

The report assessed the components of an unapproved septic system, which is currently in use at the Site. The components include a septic tank, distribution box and septic bed. It didn’t discuss the 40,000 litre storage tank which is in use, or compliance with the ECA which is in effect for the Site. ·

On August 20, 2018, I mailed a letter to the Company, providing my comments on the July 31, 2018 report. I stated that the approved 40,000 litre holding tank had not been mentioned in the report and the septic system that was described and is in use, has not been approved by the Ministry.

I again requested that the following actions be completed:

1. Retain the services of a Qualified Person to ensure that all sewage from the Site is directed to 40,000 litre holding tank and that the unapproved system is decommissioned. Decommissioning the unapproved septic system would only require that the septic tank be decommissioned and provided a guidance document to decomnssion the septic tank.

2. Provide confirmation that the above acti1ns have been completed. Confirmation was to have been received by October 01, 2018. To date these actions have not been done.

On July 31, 2018, Philippe St-Cyr forwarded an email to me with an amendment to the July 13, 2018 report. The report did discuss the 40;000 litre tank which is installed and in use at the Site.

On September 06, 2018, I received a letter from Mr. St-Cyr. The letter discussed his understanding of what was agreed upon at the June ·27, 2018 meeting at the district office. He believed that the purpose of the assessment was to identify the components of the septic system in use and to determine if they were functioning properly. He also stated that the septic system was in use when the Company purchased the Site and had not been altered. He requested again to submit an amendment application.

On September 12, 2018, I emailed a letter to Mr. St-Cyr. This letter provided an overview of the relevant environmental history of the Site. I also provided a link to the Ministry’s approval applications and guidance documents which are available online.
The letter concluded with the following action item:

Retain the services of a Qualified Person to prepare a report to assess the options to handle the sewage at the Site. The report shall provide recommendations which are in compliance with relevant provincial environmental law and any other regulatory requirements. The report shall include an implementation schedule and a copy forwarded to the undersigned provincial officer by October 17, 2018.

On October 16, 2018, I received an email from Philippe St-Cyr in response to my September 12, 2018 letter which stated that the new owners of the Site, have not re-routed any septic system.
The email concluded with a request to submit an application to amend the current approval. The assessment which I requested in my September 12, 2018 letter, has not been done. On October 31, 2018, the Ministry received a phone call from a resident complaining about strong odours from sewage being pumped out onto the ground at the restaurant.

On November 05, 2018, Provincial Officer Nick Fowler and myself conducted a Site inspection. We noted that the lids on the 40,000 litre tank weren’t secure as required by the ECA. While onsite, we had a brief discussion with Philippe St-Cyr. He again requested to submit an amendment application to approve the septic system that was in use.

Scott Thompson
Provincial Officer
Badge Number: 386
Date: 2018/12/20
District Office: Halton-Peel District Office

In a related matter:

The family who owns Wundeba, the restaurant that was raided along with a home in the Mount Nemo area of Burlington last week has released a statement.

After Halton Regional Police Servcices (HPRS) arrested Mohan “Jarry” Ahlowalia for several charges related to human trafficking, his family—the owners of Wundeba—issued a statement claiming the allegations are baseless.

“It is easy and enticing to follow the media and believe everything it says. However, when you and your family are targetted by it, you can really start understanding the meaning of ‘fake news’ and how it can lead you to think a certain way about a situation and can appreciate that what is portrayed in the news is sometimes, and probably more often than not, a fabrication to make their media more exciting,” the statement reads.

By Staff

January 15th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The scammers work at this kind of thing full time. And why wouldn’t they?
Doing just this kind of thing (see below) someone sucked half a million out of the Burlington coffers.

It is always THE golden rule: If in doubt – don’t and double check.

We received the following earlier today.

November/December statement and outstanding payment have been generated, Find Google Drive uploaded Document for details.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1Mt_wC4sBlK3XgLZoKGVTcE3_ObrKmYCu

Note: No login required

Regards,

Edward Simpson
Invoicing/Payment Processing Unit

The email address this came from was:
Edward Simpson <edward.simpson@metalcontractor.org

We had never heard of the organization and it is clearly a phony address – but a clerk somewhere in some company might mistakenly click on the link.

Somewhere out there a bunch of crooks are spending your tax dollars – the money they stole from the city.

By Staff

January 14th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

On December 25, 2019, while many members of the community were gathering with family and friends for the Christmas celebrations, Halton Regional Police Service officers were dispatched to a residence after receiving a call from a concerned party.

Through an investigation, the officers developed reasonable grounds to believe that a male had physically assaulted his female partner earlier in the day. During this assault, it is believed that the male party pushed the female, choked her, and threatened to kill her.

Thankfully, witnesses stepped in and provided immediate assistance to the female by restraining the male and preventing the assault from continuing. The male subsequently significantly damaged the home, breaking a door frame, damaging furniture, breaking objects, and damaging walls.

Children were present in the home at the time of the assault.

The male accused was arrested and subsequently transported to Central Lock Up. Thereafter, the Halton Regional Police Service Domestic Violence Investigative Unit took carriage of the investigation. The accused was charged with Assault Causing Bodily Harm, Utter Threat to Cause Death or Bodily Harm and Mischief Under $5,000 and held for bail.

Upon arrest of the accused, the victim was referred to the Halton Regional Police Service Domestic Violence Victim Coordinator within the Victim Services Unit. The Victim Services Unit connects victims to appropriate support services in the community, assists with safety planning and victim care, and, through the Victim Quick Response Program (VQRP), can provide immediate short-term financial support toward essential expenses for victims of violent crime.

In 2019, Halton Regional Police Service officers responded to 3,613 intimate partner domestic incidents. These calls for service resulted in 842 arrests and the laying of 1,548 criminal charges.

Every person has the right to feel safe in our community.
You are not alone. Victims of intimate partner violence or sexual assault and witnesses are encouraged to contact the Halton Regional Police Service. The following is a list of valuable support services and resources in Halton Region for victims of intimate partner violence and/or sexual violence:

Halton Regional Police Service Victim Services Unit 905-825-4777
Halton Women’s Place 905-878-8555 (north) or 905-332-7892 (24-hour crisis line)
Halton Children’s Aid Society 905-333-4441 or 1-866-607-5437
Nina’s Place Sexual Assault and Domestic Assault Care Centre 905-336-4116 or 905-681-4880
Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Services (SAVIS) 905-875-1555 (24-hour crisis line)

By Pepper Parr

January 9th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward today tweeted that “The Third Party Advertiser who targeted my 2018 mayoral election campaign with negative advertising was arrested over the Christmas holidays, and will make his first court appearance Tuesday, Jan. 21 at the Milton courthouse, 491 Steeles Ave. E.”

Meed Ward reports that: Sean Baird has been charged with:

Uttering a Forged Document – Contrary to section 368(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada;
Fraud over $5000 – Contrary to section 380(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada; and
Corrupt Practice (four counts) – Contrary to the Municipal Elections Act.

She adds in her Tweet that: Court dates and schedules can be checked through this link up to a week in advance: https://www.ontariocourtdates.ca (agree to terms on the main page and select Milton).

“We will continue to share public information with the community when we learn about it as this case moves through the court system. I am thankful to the police investigating and laying charges in any matter that has the potential to undermine elections, the foundation of our democracy” said Meed Ward.

What is both interesting and disturbing is that the Gazette has been communicating with both the Ontario Province Police, who are believed to have carriage of this case, due to the investigative work done by the Anti Rackets Branch (ABR) and the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) who are still doing local investigations.

The ABR appear to have lost their tongues; the person we talked to said someone would get back to us.

We heard from the HRPS asking what we knew. We referred them to the Gazette where we have reported consistently on this case well before the Mayor made it a police matter.

Everything you want to know is still on the web site.

The disturbing part of all this is that the Mayor is releasing information that should be public knowledge. The first bit of information on Baird and the Provincial Police came out in an OPP media release saying they were looking for Baird.

Is the Mayor of Burlington now the mouth piece for the OPP? How long has the Mayor had this information? And who gave it to her?

There is an interesting cast of characters on the stage. A former Mayor, a former Member of Parliament and a former candidate for Mayor and Regional Chair.

The question is – who put Baird up to creating numbered corporations and what is he prepared to tell the police? Or was a developer with a development application before Local Planning Act Tribunal (LPAT) the cheque book behind all this?

By Staff

December 23rd, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

On December 20, 2019, members of the Halton Regional Police Service’s Child Abuse and Sexual Assault (CASA) Unit, with support from the Emergency Services Unit (including Tactical and Canine officers) and additional investigative officers, arrested a 58 year-old male for multiple offences, including human trafficking, sexual assault, and assault.

These offences are alleged to have taken place in the City of Burlington and the Town of Milton between January 2006 and December 2019, and involved more than one victim.

Accused:
Mohan “Jarry” AHLOWALIA (58) of Burlington is charged with the following:

• Assault x7
• Assault with a Weapon
• Sexual Assault
• Uttering Threats
• Extortion
• Trafficking in Persons (Forced Labour)
• Receive a Material Benefit from Trafficking in Persons (Forced Labour)
• Unsafe Storage/ Transportation of a Firearm
• Contravention of a Storage of a Firearm
• Possession of a Firearm Knowing its Possession is Unauthorized
• Firearm in a Vehicle
• Possession of a Prohibited Firearm
• Possession of a Prohibited Weapon without a Licence

The accused is known to use a number of aliases, including: Gerry AHOLOWALIA, Jarry Mohan AHLOWALIA, Jarry AWALIA, Mohan J. WALIA, M.J. AWALIA, Jarry AHLUWALIA, Mohan AHUWALIA, Jarry A’WALIA, and Jarry WALIA.

Investigators believe there are community members who may have any additional information pertaining to this investigation and they are asked to contact the Child Abuse and Sexual Assault (CASA) Unit at 905-825-4747 ext. 8970.

Be reminded that all persons charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Due to the fact this investigation is ongoing, no further details will be provided regarding this investigation.

Every person has the right to feel safe in our community.

Victims of violence and/or sexual assault and witnesses are encouraged to contact the Halton Regional Police Service. The following is a list of valuable support services and resources in Halton region for victims of violence and/or sexual assault:

• Halton Regional Police Service Victim Services Unit 905-825-4777
• Nina’s Place Sexual Assault and Domestic Assault Care Centre 905-336-4116 or 905-681-4880
• Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Services (SAVIS) 905-875-1555 (24-hour crisis line)
• Radius Child & Youth Services 905-825-3242 (Oakville) or 1-855-744-9001
• Kid’s Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 (24-hour crisis line)
• THRIVE Counselling 905-845-3811 or 905-637-5256

Traffickers need customers – some attention needs to be paid to the people who deal with human traffickers.

By Pepper Parr

December 18th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The announcement that the police had a warrant to arrest Sean Baird may have had a number of people putting in calls to their lawyers.

Baird created a number of Ontario Corporations that were registered as Third Party advertisers during the 2018 municipal election that made Marianne Meed Ward the Mayor.

The Gazette was unable to elicit any comment from Sean Baird during that election – he basically said he had nothing to say.

The election, one of the messiest Burlington has seen in some time, pitted a lot of vested interests against a public that wanted to retain the look and feel of the city, especially the downtown core where high rise condominium development applications were flooding the city’s Planning Department.

Police react to complaints – in Ontario they don’t go looking for infractions that might have taken place during an election.

Someone has to put information before them – then they take action.

Other than a concerned citizen – there were just three people who would have taken a complaint to the police.

We do know that the Halton Regional Police Service received a complaint and that they turned to the Ontario Provincial Police for help.

The charges that were laid came out of an investigation by the OPP Anti-Rackets Branch, with the assistance of investigators from Halton Regional Police. The Regional Police would not have a lot of experience or depth with this type of criminal offence.

The Provincial Police were asked to, in the language the police use, take carriage of the complaint.

The charges laid include:

Uttering a Forged Document – Contrary to section 368(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada

Fraud over $5000 – Contrary to section 380(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada

Corrupt Practice (four counts) – Contrary to the Municipal Elections Act.

The question on the minds of many is: Who took the complaint to the police and what were the police given in the way of information or evidence?

The Gazette published the names of the Third Party advertisers – they were all numbered companies, registered by Sean Baird. It was the Gazette that brought that information to the public.

Baird wasn’t running for public office –is it  reasonable to assume that he was acting on behalf of someone ?  Who?

When the police eventually locate and arrest Baird (at last report the police were still looking for him), he will be interrogated and then arraigned in Court at which point everything is public.

It will be interesting to learn who will defend Baird.

Related news stories:

The numbered companies

Arrest warrant issued for Sean Baird

Hanky panky during the 2018  election campaign.

The Baird numbered companies.