By Pepper Parr

June 17th, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

It has to be the most impressive effort this city has seen, made by a bunch of people who just did not know how to take no for an answer.

The Freeman railway station – that was really just a small spur on the railway line that went through Burlington – took on a life of its own when those “concerned citizens” fought hard to keep the station alive.

They still need donations and volunteers are always welcome – the big day will be July 1st.

When your city council couldn’t find a home for the station, they did their best to try and sell it – even if it was just for kindling. No takers.

The Freeman station got moved around a number of times while the city figured out what it wanted to do with the thing. When city council failed to come up with a solution citizens helped by Councillors Meed Ward and Lancaster found a solution.

A group was formed and they managed to find some support on city council – Councillors Meed Ward and Lancaster – joined forces to hold off the willingness of the rest of city council to see the thing meet a swift death – and end the ongoing embarrassment.

The tearing up of the rail line on what is now a magnificent pathway along the edge of the lake was the end of old time rail transportation.

Now GO trains, Via Rail and freight trains snake through the city but they don’t have the colour and the character that those old railway station waiting rooms had.

They had every reason to be smiling. Councillors Meed Ward and Lancaster pose with five members of the Friends of Freeman Station after the Council meeting that approved the entering into of a Joint Venture that would have the Friends moving the station and taking on the task of renovating the building.

July 1 – the Freeman Station will get its Official Opening – the Mayor will cut the ceremonial ribbon. It should be Meed Ward and Lancaster doing that job – they earned it.

These are some of the group that pushed their city council to working with them to save the Freeman Junction railway station.

The group that runs the Friends of Freeman station have this thing about the role of the Mayor – he didn’t do all that much to keep it alive in the early days. He did, to his credit, work to get them some of the funding they desperately needed to do all the work that was needed.

The story of the hundreds of hours those guys put in – and it was mostly a male effort, should not go unrecorded.

Hardly a weekend went by during the last year and a half without at least some people working on the renovation of th station.

With the official opening day close close at hand there is a drive to get as much done as possible.

The Regions Heritage Services group has climbed aboard the effort and will be mounting a small exhibition in the space referred to as the Baggage Room.

Sarah Rolko who works for Halton Heritage Services as an assistant curator said the Friends of Freeman approached the Regional Heritage people initially for fundraising, collections management and exhibition development in April 2016.

The station was taken off the blocks it was sitting on for a number of years and settled into their new home beside the Fire Station on Fairview.

“The reconstruction process then got very busy and we were unable to reconnect with them until January 2017”, she said

“We were able to start up conversations again after meeting in January 2017 at the “Making Heritage Happen Conference” hosted by Region.

From there, we made a plan to develop an exhibit for the July 1st opening.

Sitting on some “cribbing” with a sign badly in need of several coats of paint, the Freeman Station gets ready for its big move.

The exhibit focuses on the hard work of the Friends of Freeman and other involved members of the community so far as well as the importance of the station within the community in the past, especially the major role the railway played in developing the city of Burlington.

The existence of the Freeman Station just might be the biggest thing Burlington has to celebrate and make note of as the County celebrates its first 150 years as a country.

By Pepper Parr

June 12, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

Last week Burlington MPP Eleanor held her now annual Tea for the city’s seniors. The day happened to also be close to her first anniversary as a Member of the Wynne Cabinet and a member of the Treasury Board.

We wanted to hear what McMahon had to say about the move from being a back bencher to becoming a member of Cabinet and then appointed to Treasury Board – which is the group that looks at where the money is going to come from and how it is going to be spent.

McMahon with Bill Reid Sr of the year 2016

McMahon explained that as a member of Treasury Board she is in a position where she is at times on one side the Treasury Board table asking questions and on other occasions on the opposite side answering questions. She has to explain and justify the plans her Ministry has and get them past the Treasury Board – and that isn’t always easy.

McMahon is the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports for the province. At the federal level each of those three is a separate department.

She has a Deputy Minister that reports to her and three Assistant Deputy Ministers that report to her deputy – the job is as close as one is going to get to heading up three ministries. And these aren’t little ministries. McMahon will tell you that culture contributes as much to the provincial gross domestic product as construction – which was a bit of a surprise to this reporter.

The Art Gallery of Burlington for funding for a van that lets them take art out into the community.

Culture is a big deal that pulls the Minister into the soon to begin renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – content and intellectual property are now big drivers of an economy. And keeping an economy healthy is the biggest part of the job for every Cabinet member.

McMahon will let you know every chance she gets that Ontario is going to have a balanced budget. While relatively new to provincial politics – her 2014 election win was her first venture as a politician. She was personally recruited by Premier Kathleen Wynne; the fluently bilingual Minister has worked in the private sector with Petro Canada, the Ontario Medical Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the United Way.

It was her United Way experience and contacts that made it possible for her to pick up the phone and convince them to let the 2014 flood relief program to use their web site platform to begin collecting donations.

When McMahon first stepped into the provincial legislature we asked her: “What’s it like?” How did you feel when you first walked in the Legislature and took your seat”?

“There are 13 million people in Ontario” explained McMahon. “And just 107 in the Legislature – that fact just overwhelmed me. I am one of those 107 and the 13 million expect me to make good decisions for them.”

While it seems like a long time ago – the 2014 flood was a baptism by fire for McMahon. She had to convince the province to get on board with a matching dollar program and that was not a simple task. The province initially said no – which had McMahon working the telephones to get that decision changed.

The city raised $905,000 which the province matched on a 2 for 1 basis creating a fund of $2,715,000 that was  distributed to people whose homes had been flooded.

Seniors get top billing with McMahon.

It isn’t all drudgery and work – McMahon stood up in the legislature recently and said the province needed to have some fun – the rubber duck was coming to Ontario.

A lot of her colleagues on the opposition side of the legislature hammered her for spending tax dollars foolishly – McMahon explained that the rubber duck was going to visit communities that asked to be destinations. “They got it” said McMahon who added that thousands of people will show up to do selfies with the 161 foot tall rubber duck.

The Ontario 150 Tour in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary features a summer of entertainment in waterfront cities and towns. It launches on Canada Day weekend in Toronto and then travels to Owen Sound, Sault Ste. Marie, Midland, Amherstburg and finishes in Brockville on August 13th.

McMahon couldn’t say if the duck was coming to Burlington – each destination works out its own arrangement with the festival organizers.

What a draw that duck would be as it slid by the Pier and moved on into Hamilton harbour.

That wasn’t something the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport was going to get into. She is now in early election mode – pounding the pavement with the provincial Liberal organization getting the word out on the job she has been doing.

McMahon moved her office out of a dreary high rise and into a new building with much better exposure.

As she works the election trail there will be some explaining to do – the sale of part of Hydro One has a lot of people upset – they don’t think Crown Jewels should be sold.

The huge sums of money being put into infrastructure are a plus and the eventual electrification of the GO train service along with 15 minute service are welcome.

A government heading into its 15th year of leading the province raises some eyebrows. McMahon sees it all a little differently – she saw her win in 2014 as putting a Liberal in the Legislature to represent Burlington for the first time in 70 years.