 By Pepper Parr
February 22, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There will be a heritage planner – a full time heritage planner but getting the position secured was easier said than done.
The question in front of city council as they worked their way through the budget was: how much did they want to spend on a heritage PLANNER – $206,000 or $103,000.
The city already has a heritage planner who spends half of her time on heritage matters and the rest of her time on other planning work; she is swamped. She gives the city far more time than she gets paid for and has done a lot of superb work.
Heritage has become a sort of favourite flavour of the moth in this city. The Heritage Advisory Committee is much more active – at times they think they need a full time planner. When the decision was made to go forward with the idea of a Conservation Heritage District for the Mt Nemo Plateau the work of the heritage planner suddenly got much bigger.
The question then was – how much staff resource are needed? For some reason council wanted to get right into the weeds on this one. They first talked in glowing terms about the job the current heritage planner has been doing and then began to map out her career for the next ten years until they were told that wasn’t council’s job.
 It was about 15 months ago that rural Burlington began the discusion about what it wanted to be. Some things were clear – others not as clear. The early draft of a vision got put on a huge board and for the most part the community liked the look of what they had said to each other. Council had gotten into the weeds on this one the way they do far too often. For a bit it looked like they were going to start running the department. Should the current planner become full time on heritage? a full time role and contract someone for an additional half day; no that’s not good use of human resources. OK look for someone within the department and have them pick up the development work the planner was doing – the rationale for that view was that development is off so there must be bodies in planning with nothing better to do.
General manager Scott Stewart who signs off on everything that comes out of planning, struggled to get a grip on all the ideas flying around when the city manager pipes up with his position: it isn’t pretty.
“You don’t Jenna, she does; she decides what she wants to do. You have asked us to manage – then let us manage; that is not your job; this is not the type of discussion we should be having; you have me here to tell you things like this.”
 A heritage planner was critical if a Conservation Heritage District bylaw was ever to get passed. First part of that effort got through a Standing Committee. The proposal to think about turning the Mt. Nemo Plateau into a Conservation Heritage District which is just at the information gathering stage will require a lot more of a planner’s time. That file has the potential to become a lot messier than it would at first appear – when individual land issues are on the table get ready for noisy meetings.
Councillor Taylor is a big advocate on for making the plateau a conservation district – he wanted the planning resources available.
While council was digesting that blast from the city manager, Scott Stewart the general manager invited the Director of planning to “take it outside” where they worked out the possible time/task splits
The proposal was to have 1.5 heritage planners – then it looked like they were looking at two planners. Then there was a tussle over what this planner would be doing. The issue was where the planner was going to come from and the amount of work that was going to get created by the Mt. Nemo Conservation District task that is now on the table – or look as if it is going to be on the table.
A motion to hire more people failed, the amended motion to make the existing half time planner into a full-time position and distribute other work she was doing within the existing staff compliment passed 6-1 with Taylor voting against the decision made. He wanted more in the way of human resources than his colleagues were prepared to pay for.
 Residents look at a large map of their community during a Rural Summit more than a year ago. That meeting was the genesis of making the Mt Nemo Plateau a Conservation Heritage District. Some members of council wanted to know why staff just didn’t do the staff allocation. It was a new position – they were moving from a half time heritage planner to a full-time heritage planner and that was a decision council had to make, explained director of finance Joan Ford. What Ford was trying to say in a polite way was that council had to decide on the expenditure – staff would then decide who should be doing the job.
Councillor Meed Ward said she had “difficulty with the process that got us here”.
Was the spend going to be $103,000 or was it going to be $206,000 and would the new position be added to the base staff compliment or would they go outside and contract with someone, or would they look within the planning department and find someone who wasn’t all that busy.
Councillor Lancaster thought the city was moving too quickly on this file. Her view was that council needed to be more reflective and to take some time. But that wasn’t the view that Councillor Taylor brought to the horseshoe. The Conservation District would be in his ward and he is fully aware as to just how powerful the people in North Burlington can be. They were the folk that hung in and fought the Nelson Aggregate quarry expansion. Those people know how to dig in and for them a Conservation District would solve a lot of their concerns or they think it will.
 It took $2 million out of the legal department’s budget to pay for the tear long tribunal that decided the Jefferson Salamander was important and that an expansion of the existing quarry should not be permitted. It was rural Burlington residents who were the force behind that battle – they were not to be trifled with. The expansion to the quarry was going to be in the lower part of this topographical map Councillor Dennison said that “we didn’t ask for this, we don’t need to get all gung-ho about it. He wasn’t all that keen on the “foremost specialist the city hired to do the first cut of the research presented at the January meeting. Get ready to see this as a file that becomes very contentious.
At the community event in January city planner Bruce Krushelnicki explained that a Heritage Conservation District was created through a bylaw passed by the city. No one else has any input on that bylaw he explained. The city can pass a bylaw to create something and they can revise that bylaw anytime they wish.
What the planning department has to do is do the research necessary to figure out how best to craft a bylaw that will stand up to scrutiny – and at the same time ensure that the community wants such a bylaw and understands the ramifications. There are both ramifications and consequences – some of them unintended.
Once e a bylaw is in place it tends to take on a life of its own – which is what the rural life advocates want to see.
Making that happen requires a lot of hard work, a lot of research and a lot of public opinion massaging.
The first battle was to get the planner in place so that some of the early research work could get done.
There will be a planner, working full-time on heritage matters. The planning department will figure out a way to reallocate day-to-day work in the department.
Our significant seven weren’t seen at their best on this issue and they needed the sharp rebuke from the city manager to remind then what they were supposed to be doing.
At times one wonders how we manage to stay out of serious trouble.
Background links:
Rural Burlington figures out what it wants to be.
 By Pepper Parr
February 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There isn’t going to be a Cultural Manager in Burlington during 2014 – perhaps in 2015, but a Standing Committee just didn’t see a compelling case for hiring a new person for a job that wasn’t as clearly defined as it could have been.
The arts and culture community brought its existence to the surface – the city learned a lot more about who they were, what they are and what they do. Their lobbying efforts blew hot and cold. They certainly pulled the Mayor into their circle – but that wasn’t enough.
Staff, particularly general manager Kim Phillips, who is the lead on culture in the city, didn’t do all that much to support the creation of the position.
Council seemed to feel that a full-time cultural planner was enough for now and would revisit the needs of the cultural community next year.
 What was nascent and budding – has been stunted at the administration level. It is going to be up to the artists to create whatever structure is needed. What the city will see is various initiatives – and there is some very solid work being done by individual artists, but people who are not always the best at administrative stuff aren’t going to be able to market and move the idea that Burlington is a legitimate cultural centre forward very much.
There is some hope but it doesn’t exist at council nor at the senior staff level.
 The unveiling of the Spiral Stella outside the Performing Arts Centre on a bright summer day was thought to be the beginning of a breakthrough point for the arts and cultural community. Hasn’t worked out that way, yet – but art perseveres – their day will come. Discussion on this item that was on the books for $128,000 + a one time set up cost of $8,320 started with Councillor Lancaster saying she was not on for this one – mostly because she didn’t think there was all that much to manage –and on that point she was right. The arts community saw this as a person who would do some ground breaking and seed planting.
Mayor Goldring followed Lancaster saying he would not support the expense – at least not this year. Councillor Sharman said he was where the Mayor is – not at this time.
Councillor Craven wanted to know what the impact would be without a Cultural Manager – he seemed to think that with the cultural planner in place whatever had to be done would get done.
General manager Phillips conceded that the Cultural Action Plan that Council has approved will certainly proceed much slower. She added that there is some cultural mapping being done –people are adding data on who they are and what they do to the web site.
Councillors Taylor and Dennison took a pass – made no comment.
 The city’s cultural planner is all the arts community has at this point. There is some cultural mapping being done – which is useful in itself but won’t do all that much to build the tremendous potential culture has in this city. Angela Papariza will use her well-developed culture background and training to work with people like Trevor Copp – not likely to see much more in 2014. For Councillor Meed Ward – it was also a “not now – re-evaluate later” an odd decision given that much of the cultural activity is in the downtown core which is her bailiwick. Meed Ward could see where this was going.
The question now is – what is the cultural planner going to do? The current occupant of the position certainly has cred within the arts and culture community but Burlington has had good people working the culture file in the past – and they have all moved on.
The hope for many was that with the surprising energy that was seen within the arts and culture community (it was always there – just not seen or appreciated) the time had come to get serious and develop the opportunity.
The Arts and Cultural Collective did as much as they could – and then some. Trevor Copp sent out a last-minute plea to the Collective membership: “Without this position, Arts & Cultural Grants, an outside Arts body, use of space and bylaw reviews in our favour is seriously jeopardized. All our work may go up in smoke. Let them know how you feel please”.
What happens next will depend on the kind of energy and leadership that comes from the general manager handling this file. Don’t get your hopes up.
Background links:
Turns out the art community didn’t get anything from the cookie jar.
 By Pepper Parr
February 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
James Smith, the man who led the Friends of Freeman Station to where it is today and a leader in the transit advocacy community and one of the better delegators in the city did a no,no,no at the Thursday Standing Committee reviewing the current portion of the city budget.
Smith was one of five people delegating on two late arrival staff reports that impact the budget and was delegating on the transit report, which wasn’t all that bad a document.
 The late Les Armstrong, one of the strongest advocates for the Freeman Station revitalization chats with James Smith on the right. Smith took to the lectern and didn’t start with his usual polite “how ya doin” introduction but said he was going to depart from his prepared remarks and speak extemporaneously and then asked if the people who wrote the transit report were on crack cocaine?
Some in the council chamber wondered if Smith thought he was delegating at Toronto city council. He continued in the same vein until committee chair Meed Ward stopped him in his tracks, read him a portion of the riot act and Smith retracted the remarks.
None of his Bfast (Burlington For Accessible Sustainable Transit) colleagues could understand why Smith behaved as he did. “He wasn’t speaking for us” explained Bfast chair Doug Brown.
Any plans Smith had for a run against Councillor Paul Sharman in ward 5 now need a serious re-consideration.
The lingering question over the exceptionally poor behaviour is – why?
 By Pepper Parr
February 17, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Marianne Meed Ward set the scene when she explained as Chair of the Community and Corporate Services Standing Committee that they were there to “listen today”.
This was the day council members were going to hear delegations. There were 12 of them and at ten minutes each we knew we were going to be there for a while. Several were exceptionally good – all added to the process in a measurable, meaningful way and at the same time gave us an insight as to how your council works on your behalf.
Culture, economic development, caring for the community and transit got coverage. In this series we will run three articles and focus on what happened and what it all means for the economic and social health of the city.
 Culture was clearly the biggest concern: with delegations from the Art Centre, who had a very spiffy presentation, Sound of Music, who finally shared their audited financial statements, Heritage Burlington who came up with a new logo that cost less than $2000, which made Councillor Dennison smile. And then the decision as to whether or not to hire a full-time Cultural Manager to implement the Cultural Action Plan council had already approved.
We will focus on culture in this piece and follow-up with two additional pieces on Economic Development and services to the community.
 Great crowds, great weather, great music – Burlington’s Sound of Music Festival – a standard since before 1996 The Sound of Music wants $44,000 from the city in addition to the $54,101,00 that is already in their base budget. Council appears ready to go along with getting those additional dollars. Dave Miller, Sound of Music Executive Director said in his delegation that he wouldn’t come back looking for money for five years if the city agreed to put the additional funds into the base budget. That`s the kind of deal this council just might take him up on. Miller has been at this Council almost since they were sworn in. He has been relentless.
While the event is probably the largest that takes place on the waterfront, Dave Miller didn’t get much in the way of respect from this city council. In this his third year before council seeking financial support the SOM hasn’t managed to convey the size of the economic impact the event has on the city. Council can’t see beyond the more than half a million dollars they have on their balance sheet. Miller hasn’t succeeded in convincing this council that the funds are vital – all it takes is one year of bad weather and the SOM would take a huge hit.
 They come in droves for the biggest free music festival in the province. Miller pushed all the usual keys: the excellent ratings from visitors, the quality of the performances, the demographics, the accessibility of the event, the awards they continually get; the constant improvements they make to the environment with their clean up practices and that the SOM is a fun safe event. He trots out cute pictures of kids and talks up what the event does to Burlington’s profile and the support the event provides for emerging bands. He was talking to people who are deaf to the upside of what the SOM does for the city. Council sees all that money on the balance sheet and drools.
Miller adds that the SOM is the driving force for more than $6 million in economic activity with 45,000 of the attendance defined as new visitors to the event; 40% are from outside Burlington and according to Miller 80% of the people attending have been to the event before. Something in those numbers doesn’t quite add up – but that’s not the point. Try taking it away: What would happen if the SOM folk decided that they have been at it for many years and need to take a break for a year and re-think what they are doing and how they do it? This council would howl.
 What Miller hasn’t managed to do is make the city his partner. The SOM doesn’t have a champion, a true spear carrier on council. An organization with 800 volunteers, a very strong balance sheet and a solid record of achievement deserves the nomination they got from the Chamber of Commerce as a best business operation.
The SOM financial statements point to;
$35,900 + that they pay the police security
$13,946 + they pay the city for permits
$22,381 they pay the Parks and Road Maintenance for material, equipment and repairs to the park grounds.
The SOM pays the Performing Arts Centre $8,300 + for the use of their space.
The event results in $8,000 in parking revenue plus a significant boost in parking tickets.
SOM says they add $15,000 to transit revenue.
The Sound of Music has a strong story on the performance side as well. In 1997 there were 47 performances – in 2013 there were 100. Attendance in 1997 was 90,000 that number rose to 215,000 in 2013
The city`s financial contribution rose as well; from$25,000 in 1997 to $54,000+ in 2013. In terms of what portion of SOM revenue came from the city – that number slid from 13% in 1997 to 4% in 2013.
Miller has been at this since 1996 when he joined as a volunteer and earned the position of Executive Director some time after that. Miller gets paid but doesn’t have a pension. SOM has more than 800 volunteers, many that use their vacations to “do the festival”.
Miller keeps wanting to grow the event – which led to Councillor Lancaster asking last year when was “enough enough?” There has been some reluctance to see the event grow to anything bigger than it is which suggests Miller and his organization have some relationship building to do.
Miller needs the funding from the city to qualify for funding from other levels of government. Governments ted to want everyone to be in the tub at the same time, sharing the same bar of soap.
 The Sound of Music Festival parade gets the annual event off to a strong start. Sound of Music for 2014 will begin June 7 with the parade that will have a slightly different route and then moves into their usual four-day event that brings great music to the city and hundreds of thousands of people to the waterfront – and loads of revenue for almost everyone in the city.
And yet the Sound of Music can`t get a miserable 4% of their budget from the city. Not coming up with the cash is sort of like throwing the baby out with the bath water – isn’t it?
 By Ray Rivers
February 14, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
If you believe that citizenship is a privilege as well as a right, you might be pleased with the Harper government’s recent initiative making it tougher for immigrants to become Canadians. Indeed there are no good arguments against longer residency requirements for potential citizens. And, discouraging ‘citizens of convenience’ is something we would all agree with. Recall how we had to send a ship to Lebanon to rescue our ‘citizens of convenience’ living there during the last Israeli bombing a few years ago.
 Immigration is what has grown this country – will the new rules fix the mistakes that were made? But Mr. Harper’s plans to strip citizenship from unsavory characters will run into problems with our constitution and possibly our international treaties – not that anyone would object to seeing terrorists deported. Of particular concern is the plan for citizenship to be placed in the hands of the minister, instead of an independent citizenship judge or panel, as it is now. Just another bad idea tempting politicians onto the slippery slope of political corruption.
Canada has always been pretty accepting of immigrants, even before we allowed them to buy their way into the country, a practice which we’ve mostly ended. Other places like New Zealand, which had been the victim of ‘brain drains’ in the 50’s and again the 80‘s welcomes young immigrants who can contribute to its economy. But don’t even think about retiring there as an immigrant, unless you can ante-up with over a million dollars in cash.
On the other hand, Switzerland, always cautious about how immigration might erode Swiss values, has become even more restrictive, recently voting to shut the door to a potential flood of European Union (EU) applicants. And then there is the USA which has talked about immigration reform for the last fifteen years while illegal immigration has made a mockery of government policy. And given the Americans’ perennial legislative gridlock, don’t expect much to change over the next fifteen either.
 Will the aboriginal student population get the services they need to become employable – or are we still in that old Residential School mindset? Another initiative last week came with the announcement that the government will fund efforts to improve aboriginal education. It is disgraceful that those students who do complete secondary school on reserves fail to meet provincial education standards and can’t compete for the better jobs in the labour market. So this is a very welcome and long overdue initiative – one we would have seen in place almost a decade ago had Jack Layton and Stephen Harper not teamed up to bring down the Martin government and kill the Kelowna Accord.
 The last federal budget form Minister of Finance Flaherty didn’t do anything for Ontario. “We were ripped off” said the Ontario Premier. Then this week the Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, brought down the federal budget and he might as well have left his old shoes on. While the budget came close to being balanced, it did so by delaying costly Tory programs and promises until after the next election. And some of the spending cuts came on the back of government employees. Salary and pension cuts, while helping bring the budget close to balance, will continue to take its toll on a public service already under performing due to lack of resources, morale and leadership.
Flaherty also cut his own home province’s equalization payment by over $600 million, in an unprecedented action. This is just old fashioned meddling in provincial politics, helping his old friend Hudak. Holding back money due the province, this former MPP is trying to further damage the Liberal government at Queens Park, in advance of a provincial election expected this spring.
 Ontario’s Minister of Finance claims the province was ripped off and short changed by $600 million by the federal government. Premier Wynne held a media conference the next day to complain about the 110 actions the Tories have undertaken to hurt Ontario since they came to power in 2006. Flaherty arrogantly re-announced the Canada Job Grant, which the feds had generously advertised last year regardless that the program didn’t even exist. And since it was supposed to involve the provinces, Ontario wasn’t alone complaining about the absence of any consultation.
This is Mr. Flaherty’s ninth budget and his tamest, given those omnibus bills which have done serious damage to Canada’s environmental assessment process and emasculated its fisheries act. This is probably his last budget as well. Perhaps that is why it is so uninspiring, much like its author, the real Flaherty. I think back to his economic statement in 2008, which nearly brought down the Harper government.
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province. He developed the current policy process for the Ontario Liberal Party.
Background Links:
New Citizenship Rules Current Immigration Rules Citizenship Stripping New Zealand Aboriginal Education
Aboriginal Education Crisis Kelowna Accord
 By Pepper Parr
February 11, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
City manager Jeff Fielding has to be a happy camper today. Council gave him $67 million and change for the various capital projects he has on the go. Actually he got $67,973,902.
Council like to go through these budgets and lop off a bit here and a bit there to leave the clear impression that have a grip on the spending. Part of the budget process is to have council members send in the items they want more information on – there were 25 pages of those. If a Council member wants then to debate the item they put it on a list.
 This year there were 17 items from just two council members: Dennison and Taylor of ward 3 – both whom have been on council individually for more than 20years
 Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison, who knows the Tyandaga part of the city very well – used to represent that part of the city – wants to see a couple of hundred million dollars home on the land. His thinking appears to be aligned with that of the city manager. Capital projects are all those roads, buildings and vehicles the city needs to keep things moving. At one point it looked as if Fielding was going to have an additional $10 million in savings when Jack Dennison, ward 4 came up with an idea that would have the city out of the golf business and sell of the Tyandaga property and get a couple of hundred high-end single family dwellings built. Dennison had figured out everything except the potential development charges but his colleagues weren’t buying it – too premature they said.
However, the writing was on the wall for Tyandaga – too many people see it as land that can be put to better use. Dennison said there were 40 golf clubs in the area – that number seemed high – Parks and Recreation Director Chris Glenn wasn’t able to say how many golf clubs there were in the city, which seemed odd.
Sometime last year city manager fielding did say that he had some ideas about the Tyandaga property – felt there was more value for the place than the city is getting from operating a golf course.
There was a $250,000 capital expenditure related to what city hall – staff and elected council members want to do with city hall – but the lips got kind of tight when that subject came up. Dennison wondered of part of that quarter of a million couldn’t be moved back to 2015 but Allan Magi, Executive Director of Corporate Strategic Initiatives explained that there was a report that would get produced and presented in June that would set some of the “high priorities” and “options” for the city.
Because this is a real estate matter fielding didn’t want much said by anyone to anyone. He told Council he would get back to them with a confidential memo that would tell all – but it wouldn’t be telling all to everyone.
Get ready for some interesting ideas on a significant city hall initiative – maybe a new one. Bet on it staying in the downtown core.
There will some of that stuff that is known to hit fans in the late Spring or early summer – which is when Council members will be gearing up their re-election campaigns. One of the ways to deflect the details on the pier and its legal fallout would be to get all warm and fuzzy about a brand new city hall that is going to (finally) revitalize the downtown core.
 Marianne Meed Ward chaired the meeting – she runs a swift, no-nonsense meeting; this is a council member that has learned a lot in the four years she has served the city. Much more focused when it comes to running a meeting. As chair she gets to talk as long as she wants – and to the delight of her colleagues she has learned that 50 words can often do as much as 500 words.
 By Pepper Parr
February 10, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Expect to hear much more about “business cases”, documents that set out what the city wants to do with your money.
The document the bureaucracy provides is pretty straight forward. It sets out what they want to do and how much they expect to spend. Some of the business cases are recommended by the Executive Budget committee while others are not.
 The arts and culture set knew what they wanted – what they weren’t sure of was – is city hall listening to them? The city wants to hire a Manager of Cultural Planning. There is currently a Cultural Planner on staff who worked half time out of the Parks and Recreation department. That position has been made full-time, however the planner is still doing quite a bit of Parks and Recreation work..
The intention is to have a Cultural Manager along with the Cultural Planner who will oversee the implementation of the cultural plan that has been approved by city council. What the public has not seen yet is the specifics of the plan that is to be implemented.
The city will spend something in the order of $120,000 for the manager and associated costs. Back when the Performing Arts Centre was a gleam in the eye of many Burlington had a small arts organization that got renamed Creative Burlington. It was the place that had what information there was on the arts and the people in the art business. They were heavily involved in the Taste of Burlington event but relied on Ontario Trillium funding. When that ran out Creative Burlington appealed to the city for $65,000 to stay alive while they worked on a funding formula to become sustainable. The city turned them down – now the same council is going to consider putting up $100,000 plus, for a full-time person that will be come part of the year to year budget.
 Jeremy Freiburger, author of a report that provided direction for the city’s cultural plan based on reams of data he had gathered. Now the city has to determine how it wants ti implement its Cultural Action Plan. About a year after that, the city put out a Request for a Proposal for some research and idea development on culture and the city. Jeremy Freiburger, head of Cobalt Connects brought in his Cultural Directions report that provided the city with all kinds of data based on extensive research and community input. It was some of the best data the city has every had available about culture. Freiburger was able to tell us how much we spend on culture, where we spend it and where there was opportunity for cultural growth in the city.
This at a time when the Performing Arts Centre had opened to mixed reviews and then went into a dive when it went to city council saying they needed twice as much money as originally thought they would need in the way of a subsidy. To its credit the Performing Arts Centre has recovered and while it will always require a subsidy management over there expects that to come in at below $500,000 perhaps as early as 2015
That resulted in the then Executive Director deciding that family was more important and submitting a resignation to the Board. The board itself realized it needed to up its game and recruited some new members –this time adding some much-needed business acumen and one member who at least dabbled in the arts.
 It was real art which the public liked and it was one of a number of elements that brought to the surface a desire for more in the way of cultural life in the city – and brought it from a community few knew all that much about. At about the same time the city took up the generous offer insurance executive Dan Lawrie made to pay for a large part of a sculpture that was to be erected outside the Performing Arts Centre. The Spiral Stella was unveiled on a bright sunny day – the audience oohed and awed and that was it. The thing just stands there with nothing more said or done about it.
This after a delightful piece of public art set up in a just plain dumb location – on a major traffic artery yards away from a railway underpass on Upper Middle Road.
We seemed to be going from one disappointment to another when –  Trevor Copp, who had been named Artist of the year delegated before city council and said he wanted to be able to perform in the community he lived in and didn`t want to always be “on the road”. His delegation was like one of those Chinese fire crackers that go one and on. Copp struck a chord that is still reverberating.
A meeting of arts types was called, there is some difference of opinion as to who actually called the meeting, but it took place with 20 people at the first one, then a second meeting with sixty people and out of that came the Arts and Culture Collective of Burlington with its own Facebook page that you have to be recommended to get in.
Suddenly the arts community had a voice and the bureaucrats had someone they could listen to. Prior to this, all the city had was those who wanted culture and those who didn’t think it was the city’s business to be doing all that much for the artists.
With all this early stage fermentation taking place there was then the No Vacancy art installation at the Waterfront hotel that was as avant guard as it gets and over the top for Burlington. It was a one night stand that was supposed to take place in a motel but got upgraded to the Waterfront hotel where management was scared silly that the vice squad was going to raid the place. The nude stretched out on the hotel room bed was a stunning piece of installation art. The event lasted a couple of hours and was a knockout.
Mixed in with the No Vacancy event was a bit of Slam Poetry – few even knew what Slam Poetry is, but here in Burlington there is a group of poets who perform once a month at the Black Bull on Guelph Line. They work with funding from the Canada Council and no one for the most part knew anything about them.
 A delightful work of art – but you may never see it – sitting as it does in the middle of Upper Middle Road yards away from a railway underpass. Councillor Lancaster argued that the thing wasn’t in her ward. Members of Council seemed thrilled that the city had such a vibrant arts community – one they knew very little about – so much for council members having their ears to the ground.
With all that by way of background – what will city council decide to do in the way of supporting this nascent community? Will they approve the hiring of a full-time Cultural Manager? And what impact will that have on the implementation of the Cultural Action Plan? And just what’s in that Plan anyway? And who is overseeing this cultural initiative?
Getting to this point has not been easy. There was a point at which Freiburger saw his efforts as being “trashed” by senior city hall management that didn’t bring an arts or culture background to their work. Most had come out of a gymnastics culture that many in the arts community felt didn’t understand what it is that makes the arts tick. The differences between bouncing on a trampoline and working the strings of a big Gibson guitar are not comparable other than they both require discipline and practice.
The Freiburger report landed on the desk of General Manager Kim Phillips who had her portfolio drastically cut when city manager Jeff Fielding moved finance, legal and information technology to his desk. Philips was left with Parks and Recreation, the Fire department and oversaw the management of the creation of a Citizen’s Charter – which has yet to be given life. Culture will also report to Phillips
The working relationship between the city manager and general manager Phillips is not the best – perhaps some additional “adjustment” to his senior team when a performance review takes place?
The cultural initiative is sitting in limbo until city council approves the expenditure for the Cultural manager who is expected to work somewhere outside city hall. The Executive Budget Committee (EBC) supports the expenditure which will become an annual expense.
 The cultural community wanted to be in on the ground floor of any decision-making – they made their voices heard – now they wait to see of council will fund culture in a meaningful way. The arts community will be out in force on the 13th when this item will be open for delegations. It is a critical decision for the city – the choice they make will pinch the growth of the arts and culture in the city or give it the room it needs to grow and flourish.
What will this person do? The Business case the city set out has the Cultural manager serving in a leadership role to “develop and maintain networks of cultural contacts including cultural Board and maintain cultural mapping on-line. This leader will use a community development model to develop an external non-profit organization that will be called the Burlington Arts and Cultural Council.”
“The Cultural Manager will be expected to ensure that the city`s cultural services: – festivals and events, public art, Burlington Teen Tour Band and the Burlington Student Theatre are delivered in a customer first service model and are well-managed with appropriate requests for financial and human resource support.”
The expectation appears to be that this manager would become the “service owner” for cultural services in the city.
The Sound of Music has their request in for $48,000 (they asked for basically the same amount last year – didn’t get it) and the EBC has not recommended the request this year but, Heritage Burlington is in for a tonne of money – one chunk with a $103,450 price tag and the other budgeted at $125,000 in 2013. Of that amount there is $97,228 that will be rolled over into 2014.
Next in this look at business cases series – the Burlington Economic Development Corporation and its ask for $275,000 – which has been approved by the Executive Budget Committee comes up for debate. Council has continued to throw money at the EBC hoping some of it will produce results.
Background links:
Arts community smells funding.
No Vacancy event revealed a different Burlington.
 By Pepper Parr
February 7, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Auctions are both a form of entertainment and a chance to learn more about art, see what you like and decide if you are prepared to pay the price the auctioneer has worked the audience up to.
Friday evening, Nello Romagnoli pulled $80,000 from a room that was packed.
Earlier in the week, an event that usually draws 250 people did manage to get 150 hardy souls to the CIBC Wood Gundy private reception in weather that had the city cancelling all its public events as Burlington buttoned down to weather yet another winter storm.
 Robert Bateman’s Coyote on Mt. Nemo was certainly the draw and for the most part the crowd pleaser but it didn’t pull what it should have pulled in the way of price. The bid came in by telephone – they got a deal. The draw for most was a very recent and much different Bateman than they’d seen in the past. Robert Bateman, who is in his 83rd year, has done a piece that is much closer to his Burlington roots. Titled Coyote at Mt. Nemo, the 30 x 43 cm oil on board resonates instantly with those who have taken the paths to Mr. Nemo.
The rock formations are identifiable not only to the eye but to the heart-strings as well. It is as if one was taken back to an old, familiar, comfortable place and there, almost in the shadows, is a coyote looking at a crevice between two rock formations and deciding if he can make the jump from one side to the other. Between the two sides of the crevice the green branches of trees are visible – that’s our Mt. Nemo.
 Art Centre Executive Director relays a telephone bid for the Bateman. Best he could do was pull in $13,000. A deal at that price. The painting is given a market value of between $15,000 and $19,000 – Executive Director Ian Ross had his phone pressed against his ear as the unknown clients settled at a bid of $13,000. That buyer got a deal.
The Bateman piece was one of 120 pieces of art that are part of the live and silent auction – the 35th put on by the Burlington Art Centre that will be going through a re-branding once the city budget is approved. John Duffy, who has done some impressive work in the past, has taken on the task of freshening the image of the Art Centre.
Auctioneers are at heart psychologists – they bring an ability to read a room as well as read a person and know if they can entice a higher bid. They can spot a bottom feeder a mile away and usually know when a bidder is about to top out.
 Hundreds of people dropped by the Art Centre to take their time and see what was in the catalogue and decide what they liked. Several excellent pieces went for well above the Estimated Market Value – eight items were withdrawn. A good auctioneer will ease a bidder up an additional $100 and the moment he has pulled that from you – he is off to the next person to see if he can entice them to take the price up $50 and if he does he will be back to the first person trying to coax an additional $50. – all the while casting his eyes about the room looking for that furtive hand that flicks its fingers – the sign that there is life and a wallet the auctioneer can get at.
Good auctioneers learn where the laughs are in the room and will choose people, often couples that he can use as foils to advance the bidding. Watching a good auctioneer is a little like watching a play – one in which the bidders are not just the audience but get drawn up on stage to play a small part.
 A Helen Griffiths piece went for less than the Market Value and will hang in the home of Burlington MP Mike Wallace. Good taste in art. So – who bought what? Well Burlington MP mike Wallace was seen walking out with three shrink wrapped pieces , one of which was a Helen Griffiths still life of six coffee cups. Griffiths is a local artist whose work will appreciate in value. Her portrait work is well worth looking for.
Someone asked Mayor Goldring if he was buying, and he replied that he was buying the pier. There was an “encaustic on panel” of the pier by Hamilton artist Ron Eady that went for $1600, but it didn’t look as if the Mayor was the buyer – so perhaps he meant he wanted to purchase the pier itself. Should he somehow manage to do that – well there are $50 million lottery tickets sold – the citizens of the city would be forever grateful, re-elect him for certain and probably name the thing after him to show their eternal gratitude.
 Hillside Homes went for its Market Value – most didn’t make that level. There was one art matron who held up her catalogue displaying her bid number more than once and on each occasion the auctioneer managed to coax an additional hundred dollars or so from her – then dart away to see if he could do the same thing to someone else. On at least two occasions this matron was the top bidder who just wiggled with delight at her purchase. For this woman it was the pleasure of the piece she was buying that moved her.
“Fly Fishing” was struggling at the $200 level when the auctioneer scowled at the audience and informed them that a fishing license costs more than the bid. He managed to get it to $250 and had to settle for that.
 A Life’s Journey by Doug Mays went for a little less than the Estimated Market value – a fine piece of work. Most of the final prices were considerably lower than the Estimated Market Value shown in the catalogue – which may have been deliberate. A total of eight pieces were withdrawn when the bids did not reach the minimum the artist had set. The price a piece is sold for determines the value the market places on a work – for budding artists there is a level they do not want to go below – if that isn’t reached they exercise their right to withdraw a piece.
For some artists, usually people who do not see themselves as full-time professionals will donate a piece to see just what value the market places on their work.
Frank Myers has a capacity to discover old buildings which he photographs – producing often evocative images. He did a tour of parts of Pennsylvania a number of years ago and came back with a very intriguing collection of pictures. His Turtle Rock photograph sold for more than the Estimated Market Value. William Warren, another NAME photographer, didn’t do quite as well with his Peace Lily Quintet
The surprise of the evening was Jodie Hart’s January Sunlight with Five Celementines, which went for more than $1000 over the Estimated Market Value. The buyer of this piece was very excited over her purchase; her friends can expect to be invited over for a private viewing.
 Those who wanted to catch the auctioneer’s eye sat in the front rows, placing heir bid numbers on their seats. Some local corporations buy a row of seats and use the occasion as a Staff appreciation event. One local architectural firm did this; they also bought a few pieces for their corporate collection. The delightful part of this was that one young couple bought their first piece of art. For those that understand how art enriches life – it is a pleasure to see young people buying something they like,
Was it a great auction? Watching an original Bateman go for less than $20,000 is disappointing, but it was a good auction for the Burlington Art Centre. It’s an annual event – something everyone should take in at least once in their life time.
The reception hall buzzed with a very healthy crowd. CIBC Wood Gundy has been the lead sponsor of this event since 1995 – that is more than commendable.
 By Pepper Parr
February 5, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Sometime before the snow is all gone – you will be able to hear the dulcet tones of the city manager when he speaks at city council meetings.
City manager Jeff Fielding has a very light voice – he tends not to raise that voice but he can should he choose to do so.
But when he is in the Council Chamber he can’t be heard because the microphones are absolutely terrible. Old fashioned megaphones would be better.
Council members struggle with the on/off button on the units in front of them and all too frequently staff members have to pass a microphone to the person beside them to get one that works.
It has been an embarrassment for more than two years and has made Burlington look like some hick town in southern Arkansas.
Those days have come to an end. The city has put a sumo of $30,000 in the capital budget that will cover the cost of new, much more efficient equipment.
From time to time there are inexperienced staff at the Clerk’s desk and they forget to flick the switch that will “light” the microphone used by speakers at the podium.
If the company that is brought in to do the job gets it right they will have microphones that work for shorter people and well as for taller people. We have watched from the media table as short people stand on their toes to reach the microphone.
 Town Crier David Vollick reading the message from Gazette publisher Pepper Parr at Council in December of 2011. Back in December of 2011 I was unable to attend a Council meeting and sent the Town Crier, David Vollick to speak on my behalf Dave read from a script we had prepared together.
It went over well – Council members were laughing in their seats as Vollick read aloud. Here is what he had to say:
Oyez Oyez Oyez
Your Worship Mayor Goldring, gentle lady and gentlemen of the council, members of the public gallery, I appear before you tonight at the request of, and on behalf of, that epitome of Burlington’s political reporting and punditry – Mr. Pepper Parr.
To his despair he finds that he is unable, not only to attend, to but to document, and disseminate the momentous deliberations and decisions of this the penultimate council meeting of the year of our Lord two thousand, ought ,and eleven.
He bids you to persevere in his absence, and to carry on as sagely, judiciously, and with all due prudence, albeit with the caution that he has come to expect of this august body.
Why you may ask has Mr. Parr sent a young stripling in his stead, and an answer you shall receive.
This very night, yea, in not so many hours hence Mr. Parr, in the precinct of Aldershot in that bastion British values in Burlington, will pledge his troth to his beloved Pia. Yes indeed he has chosen to splice his life line, join in nuptial bliss, to become as one, to slip on that golden ring, in short to join the ranks of married men.
So while it is with regret that he cannot be with you tonight; let it be known to one all that he is in the throes of rejoicing, rapture, possibly stupefaction, bliss, and / or terror as befits a gentleman of mature years, as he is about to embark on the good ship “Married Life”
To one and all who inhabit this hall he sends his true best wishes, but don’t despair he will be here as 2012 commences.
 The applause was real enough – but – No audio; a great moment lost. As funny as it was the recorded voice is forever lost – the microphone didn’t work that night.
It will be working properly before the snow is gone. Perhaps we will ask Town Crier Vollick to pronounce on our behalf again. Wonder what we can ask him to say then?
By Ray Rivers
January 30, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Last week two passengers flying from Toronto to Halifax got carried away and joined the Mile High Club (MHC). On landing the police detained them, and the female ended up getting arrested – which as you can imagine would kind of ruin the moment. Perhaps the most celebrated case of making your own in-flight entertainment was Ralph Fiennes and a very eager-to-please attendant, on route to Bombay from Darwin. Australia. Somebody caught her fixing her skirt as she left the toilet cubicle shortly after Fiennes did.
 Part of the growing up stages? These are the stories of fancy – how many of us secretly wish it were us? And seriously, why would they arrest somebody for doing what comes naturally, providing it was in the confines of a plane’s tiny toilet compartment or discretely in one of those horribly uncomfortable seats. Perhaps the lucky couple should qualify for a medal for having the chutzpah to engage in that kind of near-gymnastic activity, rather than being arrested. Maybe this could be another Olympic event?
Anything to escape from the boredom of listening to those whining jet engines and that annoying intercom. Richard Branson once bragged that he got initiated into the MHC at a very young age – but then what would you expect from a guy who named his airline ‘Virgin’? I once saw an advert for an hour-long MHC private flight for under $500, and our own Justin Bieber reportedly has joined the club, though the HIGH may be just the kind one gets from smoking Rob Ford’s favourite herb.
Then there is the other mile-high club – the one where Canada’s prime minister flies hundreds of business people to foreign lands to expand Canada’s trade opportunities. Jean Chretien first created the Team Canada concept. And last week Stephen Harper flew 200 people to Israel. though I’m not sure why, since we already have a free trade deal with them – one Chretien negotiated back in the 90’s. And our business with that tiny nation will only ever amount to a mere fraction of our total exports.
So what was Harper doing in Israel and why did he bring over so many delegates? The fact is that this excursion wasn’t about trade, it was about politics. Harper apparently believes that if you profess your love enough times you’ll get loved in return. Though, it’s really the votes he wants – enough to give him another ten or so ridings in vote-rich Ontario.
Is it working? The pollsters and pundits will tell you it is, but my friends of Jewish background always seem more insulted than impressed with this kind of deliberate over-the-top pandering. After all, the PM’s love extends shamelessly to any minority group which can return his love at the ballot box. We recall how he performed a masterful grandstand for the Tamil community, refusing to attend an annual commonwealth meeting in Sri Lanka last year.
And there is never a shortage of client groups to love. The recent Ukrainian disturbance, for example, has provided him with a plum opportunity to play up to Canadians of Ukrainian origin. For Mr. Harper and his party all politics is local – and Canada’s foreign policy gets determined by what will win votes back home. That isn’t new and he isn’t the first politician to play politics with international relations, but Harper has turned this kind of pandering into a new art form.
In one of his speeches he talked about Canada’s unquestioning support for Israel as being the right thing to do. But is it? The roadmap to the future for Israel and the Palestinians is either a two-state solution or a one-state solution. Of course a form of occupied single-state is what they have right now. But this situation is unsustainable – a time bomb ticking until violence once again brings chaos and calamity to this part of the middle east.
 Close to 200 people trekked to Israel with the Prime Minister – the public paid for a lot of those airplane seats. And time is also against a two-state solution, which is partly our fault, since Canada’s international posture has helped mitigate against that outcome. John Baird voted against a Palestinian state at the UN and we intervened at the G8 to avoid criticizing Israel’s occupation beyond the 1967 borders. Our recent role in the Middle East has helped enable Israel to flaunt international law, including construction of a barrier through occupied territory, violating UN resolutions and creating new settlements in the occupied territories.
Stephen Harper may claim he is doing the right thing – but his unquestioning support for the status quo in that nation is wrong. While his motives may be genuine, this is not the kind of love that Israel needs. If there is no two-state solution there will be a one-state solution and that will mean the end of the Jewish nation. Israel will not be able to avoid integrating its Palestinian population into an evolved secular democratic state. South Africa, Israel’s one time ally, can provide a working blueprint of how to proceed.
Being a mile above the earth is supposed to provide greater perspective, but our PM was missing the big picture as he and the rest of his 200 mile-high delegates flew in to Israel last week. Just like that couple on the flight to Halifax he is confusing passion for love. What they were doing may have felt like love but it was really just going through a motion.
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province. He developed the current policy process for the Ontario Liberal Party.
Background links:
Stephen Harper and Israel
A Matter of Principle
Jewish Voters
Harper’s Zeal
Mile High Club
Justin Bieber
Halifax Flight
Two State solution
 By Pepper Parr
January 29, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
“We would like to invite you to join Insight Burlington – an online, interactive community panel that will give participants an opportunity to engage and connect on a variety of issues. You will be invited to share your thoughts, ideas and insights on a variety of issues that are important to you and the City of Burlington”, said the email.
Sounded pretty straightforward.
“To get started please click on the link below and complete the short survey. It should take you no more than 6 minutes” took less.
You can be part of this Insight panel the city is setting up. Click on the link below and answer the questions and you’re in.
 Knowing what people think helps a city provide the services the city can afford. City manager Jeff Fielding had hoped to have several thousand people signed up and ready to answer whatever questions the city wanted to ask. When there is an issue being considered the city wanted to be able to turn this Insight panel – run a couple of questions by them and factor that “public opinion” into their decision.
The city does not own the software that runs the program and all the background technology that makes the service work is owned and operated by the son of one of the best public opinion polling expert this country has. Angus Reid, basically retired now, serves as a thinker for Vision Critical – the name of the service Burlington bought into.
Who you are is none of the city’s business. They will, for example, know you are 55 years of age, live in L7M 1T5, own your home and have a household income of $119,000. The WHO you are by name – the city will never know – all that information stays on the Vision Critical computers which happen to be located in Vancouver.
The Insight panel is something the city manager has control of – members of council don’t get to put their sticky fingers anywhere near it. They may be asked if there are questions they would like to see posed – but the service is in place for the city administration. It is a tool to help them make decisions.
The Insight Burlington panel is open to anyone 16 years of age and older who is a resident, taxpayer or business owner/operator in the City of Burlington. The goal is to create a panel that reflects the community. It is an opportunity to voice your opinions on a variety of topics and issues related to the city and the services it provides.
The service is described as a part of the Engagement Charter – now there’s something we haven’t heard about for some time.
What fascinates the people at city hall is the granularity the service will give them. Suppose you said you never used transit – they could ask you why and focus on people in specific parts of the community based on the postal code that was captured.
If there is an issue related to parents in the northern part of the city – the postal codes allow survey questions to be directed to people they are relevant to.
If you want to join click on the link below and answer the questions. The system will get back to you letting you know that you are one of the chosen – actually you choose yourself.
The system can’t be gamed, you can’t flood it by having all your buddies, people who think the way you do, register. The software was designed to provide the city administration with a balanced view.
The city manager is starting this with a soft launch – they want to see how well it works. Early thinking had them taking a look at transit but that may have changed.
Leah Bisutti, administrative assistant in City Manager’s Office has what is called “ownership” of the service. Bisutti along with four other people at city hall have been trained on how to set up a questionnaire. The intention is to send out questions frequently but keep them short. And for those with Smart phones – you will be able to respond on the GO train.
Bisutti is excited about the project. Burlington is the first city in Ontario to take this approach to community engagement. The question staff ask is: Will it work, will people take us up on this.
If you registered to become part of the panel – you can expect to see the first set of question within three to five days. I’m excited, Leah is excited and the city manager is hoping that the investment pays off – he doesn’t want to have to tell council that he blew $100,000 on an idea.
 Checking in – being heard. If you didn’t get one; accept this invitation from the Gazette. Join Now
Got questions? Bisutti has an electronic help line – pop her a note and ask your questions. insight@burlington.ca
If you are unable to click on the link above, please copy and paste the full URL below into your browser:
www.insightburlington.com
Background:
City reveals public opinion polling plans, not cheap.
City hall recruits public for opinions
 By Staff
January 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
We have a fascination about quilts. Long a household staple in the rural community – it gets cold out there they eventually became an art form with some very traditional patterns.
 Quilt sales and exhibitions draw consistently strong audiences. In southwestern Ontario quilt designs were once painted in the sides of barns. Over time many of those traditional patterns were challenged by new artists . John Willard was one of those who challenged the traditional; a 40 Year Retrospective of his work will take place at the Burlington Art Centre from February 15, 2014 – March 30, 2014. The quilts will be hung in the Lee Chin Family Gallery
Denis Longchamps is curating this exhibit and will lead the Reception & Artist Talk on February : 23, 2-4pm at the BAC
Armed with scissors, needles, threads and fabrics John Willard has been making quilts for 40 years. Not one to follow the rules of tradition, he creates his own designs. Sometimes inspired by traditional patterns he has deconstructed, others by historical events, Willard creates quilts that are beautiful and turn the craft of quilting into an art form.
 Willard working on a quilt. A 40 year retrospective of his work will be shown at the BAC in February. John Willard is a basically self-taught quilt maker. He came to quilt making via set and costume design, photography, display and collecting, and created his first quilt in 1975 after amassing a sizeable collection of antique ones. Although his first quilts were very traditional he soon branched out into his own designs, which have evolved into bravura works of intense colour and complex patterns. He is especially noted for his daring combinations of varying and disparate fabric prints. John’s quilts have been exhibited internationally in Britain, Denmark, Japan, France, Taiwan and the West Indies as well as Canada and the US. His works are in numerous private, corporate and public collections.
 There is a level of precision seen in Willard’s quilts that is not seen in some traditional patterns. This Clair de Lune, done in 2002 was well received. John teaches the art of quilt making, specializing in contemporary design for those who wish to break away from the traditional. He and his works have been featured in many books such as A Fine Line: Studio Crafts in Ontario; Design Through Discovery: An Introduction to Art and Design and magazines including City and Country Home Magazine, Select Homes Magazine, Quilters’ Newsletter Magazine, American Quilter, Embroidery Magazine, Ontario Craft and West of the City Magazine. As a photographer he published a very successful book on Victorian houses, The Gaiety of Gables in 1974.
 January 27, 2014
By James Smith.
BURLINGTON, ON..
This past Friday Burlington lost another giant as my friend and predecessor Les Armstrong passed away at the age of 80. I say predecessor as Les was the first member, and the first president of The Friends of Freeman station.
 Les Armstrong and James Smith. To say Les was the first President sounds so administrative; so matter of fact – it doesn’t really do his work saving the station justice. For me it’s like saying Sir John A was a politician, or Joseph Brant was a farmer. As our first President Les made saving our old Grand Trunk Station possible. Being part of the first board of directors of Friends of Freeman Station with community leaders such as George Curran, the late Jane Irwin and Les Armstrong as our President, made our goal of saving the old Burlington Junction Station at Freeman that much more easy. Not that saving the station has been easy, but with a profile and standing that only comes from having spent many years working for causes in our community,
 Burlington has lost two of its strongest advocates for preserving the history of the city. Jane Irwin, who died last February and Les Armstrong who passed away on Friday. Les’ reputation, skill and influence opened doors and gave The Friends of Freeman Station a certain dignity that we might not have otherwise had. Les earned respect in Burlington not just by his long & deep roots in our town but by working to make this a place to be proud of.
When I joined the board of Friends of Freeman Station, I knew of, and had met Les over the years for several of the projects he was involved in, such as Aldershot Village Vision and the Historical Society. I have to admit, I was more than a little intimidated, Les seemed larger than life with a knowledge and passion for the station. After about two meetings I found Les’ passion for saving the station not only infections but also inspiring. Les had a way of speaking to our board in such a way that we never lost sight of our goal, and encouraged all of us not to give up even when things looked bleak.
Many times after some long meetings Les and I would spend time talking. We’d talk about the station, about his memories and connection to the station in particular and to Burlington in general. We also talked about radio and TV and shared some stories about that industry as he and my late father were contemporaries in South West Ontario many years ago. Les also told me about his father’s hardware store & how much life in Burlington has changes, and how, in some strange ways, it is very much the same place. Les loved the town he was born in and he was happy to share that love with any and all, in an easy-going manner that was really quite disarming.
 He probably sold more of the Freeman T-shirts than any other member. Les Armstrong first President of the Friends of Freeman Station. As many people know, Les was an avid sailor, and he used to end his EMail messages with the line: “Anyone can steer a boat in calm waters”, this simple line is so very true of so many things in life and especially true of my friend Les. I truly believe that Les is docked now in much calmer waters, but we should all take Les’s motto to heart and weather what ever the seas of life may throw at us. Sail on in peace my friend, sail on to calmer waters.
The funeral for Les Armstrong will take place at the Smith Funeral Home on Guelph Line at 1:00 pm.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON.
January 24, 2014
It is winter – we are Canadians – we can handle it – right?
The Lowville Winter Games take place Sunday – 11 to 4 and this year there is going to be snow.
The lineup is solid; the weather is supposed to be good and the Bistro will be open with hot chocolate.
The human gyroscope
The Body Zorbs race track
A pancake-eating contest – provided by the Sunset Grill.
Log-sawing contest
Winter crafts courtesy of Momstown
Photos in the Burlington Events photo booth
Three-time Olympic gold medalist, women’s hockey champion Becky Kellar (noon to 2 p.m.) in the school house
TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games: Find out how to get involved in the games, try playing a sports activity and learn about record-holding achievements by athletes
Conservation Halton’s birds of prey exhibit
Bur Bear frisbee golf course
Horse-drawn wagon rides
Skating and tobogganing
 Oliver Hannak,a Niagara College photography student came across this situation and like any good photographer pulled over, got his gear out and started taking pictures.
The hope is the Sunday weather will be sunshine and clear skies as hundreds head up to Lowville Park to enjoy the day. Solid winter fun. Get out and enjoy it and use the occasion to forget the really poopy weather some people have had to cope with.
Drive safely up Guelph Line – keep it between the ditches.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON
January 23, 2014
It sounds really simple. It’s as direct as you’re ever going to get in terms of getting money into the hands of people.
All you have to do is care and can space a part of an evening four times a year and are willing to write a cheque for $100. Who does your money go to – you decide, along with the other women in the room.
Sort of like mainlining a donation.
 The Burlington Chapter of 100 Women Who Care will be holding its first meeting Wednesday January 29, 2014; bringing together women who care about the community, it’s people and causes and who are committed to community service. 100 Women Who Care is a concept that’s been taking root in many communities across North America and now it’s coming to life in Burlington.
The concept is very simple – 100 women (or more), $100 each (or more if you choose), 1 hour meetings 4 times per year. The goal is for 100 Women Who Care Burlington to collectively generate a minimum of $40,000 annually for local charitable initiatives. The impact is very powerful!
Donations from each meeting go directly to local charities. The idea appears to be efficient. The 100 woman meet, choose a charity, write the cheques, chit chat for a bit and go home.
In just over an hour some group that needs help has $10,000 they didn’t have an hour earlier.
Exactly how the group decides what the charity is going to be; does it all have to go to a single charity, are tax receipts generated? That all gets worked out at the meeting. Could be neat – could be very effective.
Meet for an hour.
Jointly select a local charitable initiative.
Each write a $100 cheque to the selected Registered Charity and watch how the group’s commitment turns into a $10,000+ donation.
Do that four times a year and witness how $40,000 improves the lives of our neighbours when placed in the hands of deserving grass-roots agencies working to serve the local community.
This Group Is Perfect For You If: you are committed to helping others in our community but are stretched for time; you want to be part of a powerful group of local women making an immediate, direct and positive effect on the lives of our neighbours; you want 100% of your donations to go directly to local charity;
The people putting this together in Burlington are: Marion Goard; Pat Grant; Megan Teall and Laurel Hubber. Click on their email address below if you’ve any questions.
Laurel Hubber: laurel@laurelhubber.com
Marion Goard: info@100womenwhocareburlington.com
Megan Teall: megan_teall@quadrachemicals.com
Pat Grant: patmgrant53@gmail.com
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON.
January 22, 2014
Doug Leggat is going to take the wheel when the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) goes native at their annual fund raising event and dances the night away next October 25th – two days before the municipal election – that should be a howl!
 Doug Leggat to serve as Honourary Chair of the 2014 Masquerade Ball. Leggat, who probably sells more cars than anyone else in this city has been named the honourary chair of its Masquerade Ball, taking place on October 25th at the Burlington Convention Centre.
BCF celebrates 15 years of service to Burlington in 2014, during which time they distributed over $2.7 million in grants to a range of community needs.
Colleen Mulholland, President and CEO of the Foundation is delighted and “honoured to have Doug assume this key leadership role”.
Doug Leggat was the first Chair of BCF’s Board of Directors and the 2011 Philanthropist of the Year, so it is very special that he would be our Masquerade Ball’s honourary chair in our fifteenth anniversary year.”
The Foundation is a vital part of the community not only because they make funds available to groups that need the support but for their research and advocacy for the health of the community. In 2012 they issued their first Vital Signs report and followed that up with a second report in 2013.
 They wined and they dined and they had a great time – that was in 2013. The 2014 event will be the flappers of the 20’s along with a Speakeasy. The Masquerade Ball highlight is the honouring of the Philanthropist of the Year. Nomination forms will be on the BCF website on February 3rd, and the announcement of the honouree will take place in April. Along with Doug Leggat, past Philanthropists of the Year include Diana and Murray Hogarth, Kevin Brady and Don Smith.
 This year’s Masquerade Ball will continue with the allure of a masked gala, and will showcase the Roaring Twenties, a glorious decade of flappers, art deco, high fashion and the speakeasy.
Established in 1999 as a centre for philanthropy, Burlington Community Foundation collaborates with donors to build endowments, address vital community needs and support areas of personal philanthropic interest. To attend Masquerade Ball as a Proud Supporter or by purchasing a table or tickets, contact Sandra Baker, sbaker@burlingtonfoundation.org, 905 639 0744 x 223.
Background links:
2013 was a blast.
Hogarth celebrated at 2013 Ball.
Philanthropy about more than writing cheques.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON.
January 21, 2014
Good authors, good books and a good interviewer can make for a pleasant evening. Burlingtonians got some of each last night at the Central Library where Susan Delacourt talked with former Liberal MP Paddy Torsney about her book – Shopping for Votes.
Torsney, who has shopped for the odd vote herself, sat with Delacourt and tossed questions to the author of four books who has been covering the federal political scene for more than 25 years.
 The keeners – those that take notes like crazy and often ask a lot of questions. She stunned this listener when she said Question Period in the House of Commons wasn’t worth listening to – this at a time when the public is seeing some of the very best opposition questioning of the Prime Minister day after day in a relentless onslaught that has kept the hottest political topic in front of the public for more than six months. No mean feat in this world of 24 hour news cycles.
 Delacourt’s fourth title appears to have struck a chord in those who question the way politics is done in Canada. Delacourt is however on to something significant when she talks of the way politics has changed from a discussion about vision and direction to one where the political parties treat voters the way a toothpaste company treats its customers and merchandises product to them.
Delacourt believes Canadians’ relationship with their politicians changed with the consumer boom of the 1950s. The explosion in consumerism resulted in advertising becoming the leading source of information — even in politics.
 Frank McKeown, former Chief of Staff to Mayor Rick Goldring asked about how politicians can handle complex issues when voters tend not to be informed and don’t have the background needed to arrive at decisions. But as she argues in her new book, Shopping for Votes, consumers have wants, while citizens have needs — and that creates a clash between short-term and long-term policies in the bid for votes.
Delacourt told her audience that she has found when she speaks to people about politics and elections she is asked: “Is this all there is to politics?” It’s not much different than going to the mall she said and then added that her very first visit to a mall was here in Burlington.
The Milton native said she found that “government is done to you instead of being you” and that governing today has followed a consumer approach. We started with Henry Ford telling us we could have any colour of car we liked as long as it was black. He made the cars and we went to him to buy them.
That shifted Delacourt pointed out when corporation used advertising to tell people what they had and hoped that you bought it. We are now at the point said Delacourt where political parties research and poll the public to find out what they want and then make it for them.
 A healthy, just under 100 audience, took in the event on one of the colder evenings the city has experienced. An older crowd – the kind that tend to vote. Was there a future first lady for the city in the audience? Delacourt won a Canadian Journalism Fellowship at Massey College where she happened upon a course in “material culture”. It was essentially about our relationship to stuff, and it raised a lot of good questions about consumerism. “I was taking the course” she said “at the same time as the 2008 election was under way, and I suddenly realized that the politics friendliest to consumers (Conservatives) was the winning formula.
Delacourt explained to her audience that the Conservative government doesn’t like data in government but they love it in politics and are relentless in digging out small pockets of support and exploiting each to the fullest. She gave the example of the snow mobile community for which the party bought a magazine mailing list and began targeting individual households, first with research polling and then with literature supporting ideas that had come out from the research. Delacourt explained that the Conservatives were miles ahead of the Liberals on this type of engagement with the public. She added that the New Democrats are pretty good at target polling as well – they focus on consumer interest matters.
 Book signings are a part of the game for authors. Delacourt, surprisingly tended to write fairly long notes in each book – not just a signature dashed off. Delacourt brings 25 years of political reporting to her explanation that the public does no always understand that politics and government is not the same thing.
Many people want the government to operate as a business, to bring market discipline to the operation of government services – which is an interesting approach except that the public are not consumers or employees when it comes to government – and you can’t lay off voters when times are tough and revenue targets are not being met.
What the just short of 100 people at the event heard was a journalist who has been at the game for more than 25 years and has followed the current Prime Minister from the day he began to serve as an elected politician. As an experienced observer she brings a critical eye to what she sees and is quite direct with her observations.
 Book sales are what it is really all about. The event, a joint effort by the Public Library and A Different Drummer Books, was part of a series of events. You can almost feel her ire rise when she talks of the “robo-calling” that took place in Guelph where it was a clear case of voter suppression. “We don’t know who the master mind in that situation was” she said, “ but we certainly know who the players were” and then added that that situation is not done with yet. Elections Canada have been all over what was done.
According to Delacourt people do not get their information from news anymore – they get their information from advertising where the message is totally controlled. Andy Frame, a Tory since the beginning of time told the audience that he had listened to Justin Trudeau at an event in Oakville and he was convinced the young man was going to be the “next Prime Minister of the country”. That perked up Torsney’s ear and brought some comment from Delacourt who said it is too early to tell whether or not Justin is more than a flash in the pan but there is little doubt that there is something going on there.
As people were leaving the library the membership secretary of the Burlington Provincial Liberal Association approached Mr. Frame and asked if he would be interested in purchasing a membership. Money did not exchange hands.
Is there hope asked one member of the audience? There is according to Delacourt. The British are finding that they don’t like being manipulated and the changes that we have seen in the United States where Barak Obama tapped into a deep yearning on the part of the black population to be at the table.
Delacourt explained that in Canada about 60% of the people vote and that 10% of that vote is really the swing vote – people who are not locked into a political party. Every stripe and flavour of politics works at tying down their core vote and then doing whatever they feel they have to do to get more of than 10% than the other guys.
 Paddy Torsney, Delacourt’s “interrogator” during the evening certainly understood what the author was saying when she declared that attack advertising certainly works. Jacket at Joelle’s if you wanted to know. What about those attack ads? Delacourt was asked. “Well the certainly work” she replied. Dionne and Ignatieff will attest to that. And they will continue to work as long as the public gets its information from advertising.
The irony of all this for Delacourt is that at a time when there is more information available than ever before, people have less time to read and there is no one giving the public the analysis and background needed to make sense of all the noise and the clutter.
“Is it depressing” asked an audience member? “No” replied Delacourt, but there didn’t appear to be a lot of confidence or certainty in the response. Many feel Justin may turn out to be a “celebrity” rather than a sound political leader.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON.
January 17th, 2014
It was to be the focal point in the city for those doing cutting edge computer application work. It was going to be the place where all those geeks that do those marvellous new applications would gather. It was going to be the place where people could spend a couple of hours in an environment that had a bit of a buzz to it as well as a pace where the support needed was at your fingertips.
 If the coffee doesn’t give you a jolt – that wall will. It had a boffo opening night. Everyone that mattered in the city was there along with more than enough in the way of photo ops to satisfy any politician.
The Mayor touts the operation every chance he gets.
 Writing computer code is intense, creative work that the best coders need to get away from. Ping pong table have always been a favourite. Shaun Pennell put in hundreds of hours of work and close to $200,000 in capital costs just to get the doors open.
But it didn’t take off – it didn’t have one of those hockey stick shaped growth curves. It is growing and it will grow and in time it will find its market but it has ben and is a grind.
 A quiet corner where an individual can work alone or collaboratively with a small group. It was a new idea – something different and Burlington doesn`t do different all that well. While there are a number of top-notch, first-rate technology companies in the city, we really aren`t a technology ‘city. It is going to take some time for the HiVE to take off commercially but Pennell knew that going in. What he wanted to create was a place where those people doing that ground breaking work could come out of their basements and meet like-minded people.
Every new idea usually needs some level of support in the early days and Pennell thought the city would be involved in some way. Pennell wasn`t looking for a hand out but he did think the city would be an early subscriber to the service.
 Breakout space where people can relax, read or talk through a concept. The HiVe is a place for people who are perhaps working at home and need a place for meetings that is a little more upscale than their kitchen table. He put together a business model that allowed people to buy what they needed – and do so by becoming a HiVE subscriber. For a couple of hundred a month a person got access to very well dressed out premises where they can work for a couple of hours and store their equipment in a locker or spend the fill day taking potential clients or investors through their work.
 An entrepreneur who did his time in Silicon Valley and came home to help others do what he has done. Pennell also hoped that a number of professionals who live in Burlington but work in Toronto might from time to time use the location as a Burlington office.
There was hope too that the city and the Economic Development Corporation might take out memberships and on those occasions when a client is in town meeting with the city or the economic development people and needed some time and a place to upgrade or revise a proposal they could skip over two blocks and load up a computer and make the changes they wanted to make and zip it back to city hall.
For some reason the city didn’t feel it could play favourites and take out a membership at the HiVe and not with anyone else. There is no one else! While Mayor Goldring uses every chance he gets to talk about the place a little support from the city would help – and the city would get excellent value for its membership.
The city is looking into having the HiVe made a RIC – a Regional Innovation Centre, which would be close to a kiss of death. The words “innovation” and municipal administration don’t exactly fit into the same sentence. Innovation calls for risk – major risk and that is not what anyone wants a municipal administration to be doing.
Leave the entrepreneurs to themselves, don’t shackle them but where you can support them. The province does it, the federal government has large funding operations that do just this.
The city of Burlington had an opportunity to spend a couple of hundred dollars to take out a membership and send people to the location. The professionals that come to the city to do business want places like this – and there are some of them using the place now. Still time – do the right thing and promote the place. It deserves the recognition.
See for yourself – the HiVe is located on Elizabeth – doors away from the Dickens, on the very edge of Village Square.
 Perhaps the smallest film screening room in the province; a plus for those who work with visual material and want to demonstrate a feature to a small group of buyers. The location isn’t just for the nerds or the professionals who need a place to get some work done. Plans are underway for small cultural activities that will use the space on the weekends and in the evenings. Sara C ollaton has organized a unique event that has a trained and accomplished artists working with a limited number of people on the same painting. Well not exactly THE same painting – each aspiring artist will do their version of the same painting with guidance and direction from the visiting artist. This first event is sold out – there will be others that we will tell you about.
Everything is supplied – clothing to keep the paint off those designer jeans, all the paint you are going to need – and if you’re of age – a glass of wine as well.
That’s my kind of entrepreneurship.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON.
January 20, 2014
There were twelve entrants to the Tottering Biped Film Short Film Festival. They had a SOLD OUT night at the Burlington Art Centre. The best thing to be said about the event is that it was a first for Burlington and that it took place.
The Art Centre put a lot of their resources behind the event providing the space, the printing and the framing of the Award certificates and selling the tickets. They topped all this off with a $50 award to the winners in each of the categories.
 Christopher Giroux chatting with Katie. The venue was small, additional chairs had to be added to the space. Trevor Copp, the dancer who came up with the idea for a short film festival proudly announces that attendance was 110% – a total of 126 seats. Small, but a good start. Copp didn’t do this all by himself – he worked with Christopher Giroux who brought a background in short film to the table
 Angela Paparizo talks with Trevor Copp founder of the Tottering Biped Short Film Festival.we It was evident that more was needed in the way of volunteer support; some serious help on the technical side will be welcome next time out as well.
The winners in the six categories were:
Best Local Film: Wanderlust
Best Screenplay: Tomas Street, Kid’s Town
Best Director(s):Freddy Chavez Olmos, Shervin Shoghian for their film “Shhh”
Best Dark Film: Tasha And Friends
Best Picture: Yeah Rite
People’s Choice: Yeah Rite
Best Performer: Elizabeth Stuart of the film “Promise”
 Michael Penny on the set of Yeah Rite, a short film on Exorcism – sort of. Winner of the Best Film and the People’s Choices Awards. Yeah Rite, was the People`s Choice and the winner of the Burlington Gazette award for the Best Picture.
The Dark Film Award had a special sponsorship. Jim Riley provided money to pay the screening fee for all the films entered.
Judging of the 12 short films, that ranged from 4 minutes to just over 11 minutes, was done by Angela Paparizo and Nathan Fleet, an accomplished award-winning film maker out of Hamilton and Mayor Goldring. Quite why the Mayor was used as a judge is hard to understand. Other than being a nice guy who gets out to the odd movie like the rest of us the Mayor brings zip to the judging of a very specialized film genre.
Paparizo serves as the city hall staff member who manages cultural issues within the Parks and Recreation department at city hall. The only reason to put the Mayor on the judging panel had to be to curry favour with city hall.
The arts have to make it on their own merit – which they have certainly done in the past year. The creation of the Arts and Culture Collective brought the depth and quality of the arts community in Burlington to the surface and to the attention of city council that now has an opportunity to pump some money into the sector.
Burlington built the Performing Arts Centre, to the chagrin of too many people in Burlington. A building alone is not an arts community – it takes artists to bring life to the stages. That`s where people like Trevor Copp and the Collective come in. They will make it happen and in the process upgrade the level of cultural sophistication in the city.
They are however, never going to develop the Mayor`s film appreciation to the point where he can serve as a viable judge.
Background links:
Best Film Teaser
Best film – full video – 6 minutes long.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON.
January 19, 2014
That #1 BEST mid-sized city in Canada thing the political set can’t stop talking about is in jeopardy. The new flavour of the month is the happiest cities in Canada – and we are in the bottom half of the thing. They determine best by measuring the smiles on people’s faces and according to their approach – we don’t rank all that well. I suppose we should be grateful we are even on the list.
Kingston, the city with more correctional institutions than anywhere else in the country ranked first. How did Saskatoon rank higher than Burlington? They don’t have a pier they will be paying for forever.
I don’t understand why London came ahead of us – we have their former city manager and he’s doing a bang up job for us.
Hamilton beat us!
Here’s the list – you figure it out.
Kingston
Regina
Quebec City
Gatineau
Saskatoon
London
Waterloo-Kitchener
Kelowna
Edmonton
Banff
Hamilton
Surrey
Calgary
Winnipeg
Burlington
Victoria
Halifax
Ottawa
Mont-Tremblant
Niagara Falls
Whistler
Montreal
Toronto
Vancouver
Niagara-on-the-Lake
 This outfit uses the smiles on people faces to determine how happy a city is. So why isn’t Burlington # 1 on that list. Are we that glum? Jetpack, a group in the travel business works from pictures that are put up on Instagram. They measure the size of a smile, the look on people’s faces and even the brightness of the lipstick people wear or the size of a mustache. It’s all good clean fun and, maybe, someone will take their metric as seriously as Burlington took to the #1 mid-sized city.
Want to know more – try their website.
|
|
