 By Pepper Parr
July 11th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Perhaps a book that was overdue just had to be returned.
Whatever it was – car went through the windows of the Alton branch of the Burlington Public Library.
No one was injured and the staff managed to get the building opened this morning with little in the way of service disruption.
 The Alton Recreational Centre has a high, a public library and some of the best recreational space in the city.
The property is owned by the city with the three jurisdictions sharing the use of the space.
An incident like this wasn’t in the operational plans.
“We are very glad to be able to welcome people back into the branch so soon,” says Amanda Freeman, Branch Manager. “This library is busy with families, especially during Summer Reading Club. We are very grateful to all our BPL staff and partner organizations for getting us back into operation so quickly.”
 A small area of the branch is closed off with barriers until the damage can be fixed more permanently.
The remainder of the space is still open for browsing, borrowing, programs, and study.
No one was seriously injured in the collision. It occurred before the branch opened Saturday morning.
Police report that:
A vehicle drove through the glass at the library on July 9 at approximately 9:00 am. I am not aware of any charges or injuries at this time.
The Gazette followed up and got this:
“Unfortunately I cannot confirm any other details. Accident reports are completed by the officer and then sent off to the Ministry so I am not able to view the report. The officer is on their 4 days off currently so I am not able to confirm with them either. From what I see there does not appear to be any evidence to support that it was a deliberate action.”
 By Staff
July 7th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
| SUSTAINABLE AND MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT FOR EVERYONE.
TRANSFORMING LIVES AND IMPROVING THE WORKFORCE AND ECONOMY.
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 By Lawson Hunter
July 7th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Lawson Hunter delegated at a Standing Committee earlier today to comment in support of “Climate Resilient Burlington: A Plan for Adopting to Our Warmer, Wetter, and Wilder Weather”. He said:
To my mind, this is one of the best reports I have seen this Council receive this term. I have every confidence that this committee will accept this report. My hope is that you will embrace the messages contained within and set in motion the recommendations with the urgency and the full commitment that they require.
Unfortunately, this report comes at a time when Council is near the end of its term, a ‘near lame duck Council’. Please do what you can to see that this report does not get lost in the transition to a new term and more importantly, that the City implements many, if not all, of the plans of action.
 Lawson Hunter: “we easily forget, especially if it doesn’t affect us directly.” I have delegated to Council on more than one occasion about Mitigating Climate Change. Today, I’m here to say that I’ve turned a corner in my thinking. I still believe in Mitigation but my personal viewpoint is that we need to shift more towards Adaptation.
In 2019, Burlington City Council, along with many other municipalities in Canada, declared a “Climate Emergency”. At the time, the International Panel on Climate Change stated that we had 12 years to ‘mitigate’ climate change. Well, we’ve got 9 years left before we pass the point of no return. Nine years to keep global GHG emissions below 350 parts per million. Sorry to tell you, but we passed 410 ppm a mere four months later. The IPCC (which the report references) told us that we needed to limit average temperature level increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius. We’ve blown past that. We now talk about 2 degrees, or even 3 or 4 degrees by the end of the century.
The dilemma, we face is our brains protect us by pushing those events from the past further and further out of our minds as we tend to focus on our day to day activities. ‘Live in the moment’ our coaches, and trainers, and self-help gurus tell us. Well, we can’t do that anymore. Not when those “climate events” keep coming, more frequently and harder and closer to home.
Sure, Burlington experienced the Ice Storm of 2013 and the Flood of 2014. A year ago, we watched on TV the drought and fire and flood that hit B.C. And in May of this year, less than two months ago, we narrowly missed the Great Canadian Derecho that tore a path of destruction from Windsor to Quebec City. A derecho is when a thunderstorm marries a tornado and creates a hurricane on land.
We, as a global society, recovered from the long list of environmental crises but did we learn anything from them? In her book, “The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters”, Juliette Kayyem says, for the most part we did. She writes, “It isn’t that you can manage a disaster so that no harm will occur, … Essentially, we can learn to fail, more safely.”
My point is, we easily forget, especially if it doesn’t affect us directly. And even if we are affected we, “Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, start all over again” as the song says. We take pride in Building Back Better. In a word we become ‘Resilient’.
And that brings me to my one, small uneasiness about this report. Words are important. They can spur us into action or they can lull us into complacency.
For example, in this report the word Resilience is used quite often in place of Adaptation. Resilience is described as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties”, or “the ability to cope with and recover from setbacks”, or, “to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune”.
 The impact of the 2014 flood on a Burlington basement
Climate Change is neither a difficulty, a setback or a misfortune. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. It’s not a ‘what-if’ scenario. It’s a when-it-will-strike, there will be consequences kind of thing.
The report talks a lot about ‘collaboration’ as if that were a new thing. One has to hope that the City already ‘collaborates’ with entities like Burlington Hydro, Enbridge, the RBG and other stakeholders. I respect that stakeholders were invited to the table, but the collaboration must go further than a dozen or so meetings. It must infuse the landscape. Every organization, every company, every developer, every resident, should ask themselves “Is this the best we can do to respond to a climate change event?” And, “what part can I play after a disaster has impacted my neighbours?” rather than let ‘the City’ clean up the mess.
We are fighting against a system that none of us created. A system of global off-shoring, over consumption, externalities, short-term thinking, a ‘make it-break it-toss it’ society that is leading us over a cliff. Burlington used to be, largely, self-sufficient. Broken global supply chains have shown us that that is not sustainable anymore.
I get it. Your e-mail boxes are over-flowing with residents’ complaints about garbage, about potholes, about not enough ice rinks in the city. But you know what? Those fall into the category of the short-term thinking that got us here.
We, all of us, need to have the courage to say, “Stop it for a moment.” We need to shift our focus to ‘What will the impact of our decisions today, have on future generations?”. I’ve already spoken to Council about thinking, not in 20 years, or 50 years, but using the Indigenous wisdom of ‘seven generations’. In seven generations, 200 years or so, hurricanes, drought, floods, war, famine, will all probably hit Burlington. What will we construct today that will help future generations to Adapt?
We need to commit to the recommendations in this report. We need to set priorities. We need to ensure success by directing enough of the City’s budget now and into the future towards these goals. Let me tell you, it’s going to hurt, but future generations will thank us.
We also need to acknowledge the things that we’ve done wrong, but also what we did right to respond to disasters. We can adapt to a rapidly changing environment. COVID taught us that. Will we heed that lesson?
Biologically speaking, adaptation is “a change or the process of change by which an organism, or species becomes better suited to its environment”. Not us trying to change the environment to suit our needs.
We are heading down the train track and no one’s got their hands on the brake. Here’s an example. And it is in no way a slam against Burlington Hydro. Burlington has experienced 33 power outages since January 1 of this year.
 The 2013 ice storm blocked roads for days My question is – is sixty plus outages acceptable when every house and building could have its own renewable energy source? Is 60 plus outages the new normal that we should expect? Again, I’m not blaming Burlington Hydro – it has to deal with flooding, wind storms, ice build up, drivers knocking down poles, and a few instances of preventative maintenance by the utility. Burlington Hydro is working with a system that was designed in the 1950’s, built in the 60’s and 70’s, and feeding power from a transmission system that was created some 100 years ago. Doomed to fail.
But see, there I go talking about a Mitigation to the climate change problem. It’s difficult to separate the two. We need both courses of Action. I’m here to ask you to take the next 15 or 20 minutes and really concentrate on what this city – not City (with a capital C), but the community of Burlington can do to prepare to ‘fail more safely’ because we will fail when it comes to climate change, it’s almost guaranteed.
I’m not an expert. You’ve got plenty of smart people on staff. You’ve already got a shelf full of reports, and you’ve got partnerships with good organizations with all kinds of environmental experience. What I want to impress upon you is the sense of urgency that I feel.
I don’t want Burlington to just ‘Build Back Better’. We can ‘hope for the best and prepare for the worst’ or we can prepare for the worst and hope that it never comes to that.
Take-aways:
• Don’t be lulled into complacency with aspirations and buzzwords.
• Give all City staff adequate training in first aid and disaster relief.
• Empower employees to assist and support the rest of the community, be it disaster, physical condition, mental health situation, knowing what to do and where to go in an emergency.
• Create more heating and cooling stations, and emergency shelters.
• Make floodplain maps easily accessible and support Conservation Halton’s program and frequency of new maps created.
• Instill a long-term vision in City staff, residents, local employees that we need to work together, support each other, for the common good.
• Work with developers, the largest group of game-changers, to build better, more equitably, and with robust safety features – additional stair egress, adequate fire protection and services.
• Recognize that disaster could happen at any time, in any location, and know how to respond.
• Learn to fail, more safely.
 By Staff
June 28th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
 Totally focused
C.H. Norton PS in Burlington will be open for registration during the summer for in-person registration on specific dates
Although schools are closed in July and the first three weeks of August, the Halton District School Board is offering families of elementary students the opportunity to register their child(ren) for school this summer for the start of school in September.
Registering at this time helps the Board prepare for the upcoming school year and provides students more time to become familiar with their new school.
The following elementary schools are open to families to register their Kindergarten – Grade 8 child(ren) in Halton:
• In-person registration for all elementary schools in Oakville is available at Oodenawi Public School (385 Sixteen Mile Dr, Oakville) July 11, 12, 18 and 19 from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• In-person registration for all elementary schools in Milton is available at Viola Desmond Public School (1450 Leger Way, Milton) July 14, 15, 18 and 19 from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• In-person registration for all elementary schools in Burlington is available at C.H. Norton Public School (2120 Cleaver Ave, Burlington) July 11, 12, 18 and 19 from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Families can find their local school by visiting the HDSB’s Find My Local School webpage.
 High school students taking part in a cooking class Secondary students (Grade 9-12) new to the HDSB can register for school when all secondary school offices reopen on Monday, Aug. 22. All HDSB school offices will reopen the week of Aug. 22.
Families are asked to bring the following original documents when registering:
• Proof of age: birth certificate, passport, or baptismal/faith record for your child.
• Proof of address (any two of the following documents): lease or deed, car registration, utility bill, residential telephone bill, moving bill, property tax bill, bank statement, credit card statement, correspondence with a government agency. Note: A driver’s license will not be accepted as documentation for “proof of address”.
• Proof of citizenship: birth certificate, passport, Record of Landing (IMM 1000) or Permanent Resident Card.
• If you are not the parent and your child is under 18 you must provide proof of custody (court order).
For more information, call 905-335-3665, ext. 3324 or Toll free: 1-877-618-3456.
Welcome Newcomer Families
Newcomer families ready to begin the school registration process must complete the Welcome Centre Intake Form for Registration. Families new to Ontario and who speak another language other than English are asked to complete the Where Do I Register My Child? Form to determine where the registration process begins.
The Welcome Centre will follow regular office hours (8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday to Friday) for the week of July 4. From July 11 to Aug. 18 inclusive, the operating hours will be 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday to Thursday, with the centre closed on Fridays.
The Welcome Centre is open to visitors and can offer in-person or virtual assessments on an appointment basis. Beginning Aug. 22, 2022, the Welcome Centre will return to regular office hours: Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. To book an appointment, email welcomecentre@hdsb.ca or call 905-335-3665, ext. 3440.
 By Pepper Parr
June 21st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The Procedural Bylaw determines what you can say and how you must say it when you are delegating before city council.
They like it that way. I will come back to that Bylaw later.
It’s a little different when citizens can put what they are thinking and feeling about the plans to purchase Bateman emails/questions posed
The following are questions that were sent to the city by residents.
 Why is the business of purchasing this property proving to be so difficult – it is really about one pocket of public money being put into a different pocket of public money. 1. Hi there,
I would like to give feedback on the project. Hope this is the correct forum.
I have lived in Burlington my entire life, I have been a volunteer in various areas from
sports to mental health.
My family [Greg/Andrea] Howard has been recognized for work in the community.
Today I am 45 years old – the last two ice arenas that have opened were Mainway in
the 1980’s / then Appleby in the 2000’s.
Our population continues to grow, our recreational infrastructure for ice sports / indoor
events does not.
Youth hockey is growing, girls and women’s hockey continues to grow, adult programs
are growing.
Arena’s are destinations, and I would bet besides the sound of music festival and
soccer fields – more visitors come to these arena’s / rec. centers than other place in
Burlington.
The “Skyway” rec center project is now used to hold city arborists equipment. We have
now reduced arenas, not grown them
The city of Burlington needs to look at this project with the inclusion of an arena. The
youth deserve it.
Hope someone can acknowledge this.
I’m happy to discuss more.
Thanks, Justin Howard
2. Turn the available land into a much needed full ice and training facility for our
youth. Ice availability in our City is not sufficient for the demand. Our youth are
shortchanged when it comes to ice sports!
Do something to make our residents proud without turning it into another pier
disaster! Dave Guluche
3. Why did the city not have a public engagement plan in place from when it decided
to pursue the acquisition of the property? Jim Thompson
4. When will the traffic studies be complete?
5. What is the plan for removing the asbestos on the site?
6. What is the plan for removing the asbestos on the site? (see above, in the
FAQs)
7. When will the traffic studies be complete?
CM-17-22
8. “What regulation prevents the release of the cost information? The city offer was
accepted by the school board so why the need for secrecy?”
9. Good Morning, I’m glad to see and very much support the proposed adaptive
reuse of Robert Bateman High School by the City of Burlington for a combination
of community and educational uses. I am particularly happy to see the relocation
of the New Appleby public library branch to a more appropriate long term home.
Thank you to city staff and council for your leadership in making this happen.
10. Why is the city rushing engagement – how much is this going to cost the city
taxpayer?
11. Why is the city not answering any questions regarding this project – who wrote
the FAQ.
12. How can a survey that was only up for one day and an information that only
lasted 90 minutes be considered as adequate public engagement?
13. There are outstanding questions that needs to be answered.
• who provided the money to purchase the property in question?
• who provided the money to build the school sitting on the property?
• In both cases it was the TAXPAYER. Therefore the TAXPAYER should receive
the money back, NOT have to “PAY AGAIN” for the City to obtain the property &
building.
• We TAXPAYERS would like these questions answered!!!
Some additional questions from the Gazette.
Why is this engagement business being handled so badly?
Is anyone in the Communications department even listening?
And that Procedural Bylaw – it gets written for Council based on what they want the bylaw to be – why isn’t this an election issue?
Why isn’t there a group people (10 or so is all it would take) to go over the document, re-write and then lobby the members of Council and put together a petition and press council until they make changes to the document.
 By Alex Larsens
June 21, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Factors Influencing The Prices of Cryptocurrencies
Over the last few years, cryptocurrencies have become popular among investors worldwide. These digital currencies are characterized by high volatility, which translates to high levels of risk. Simply put, crypto prices can experience a wide swing in both negative and positive directions.
If you are wondering about the causes of these price fluctuations, then it is a must to look into the various factors that can influence the prices of cryptocurrencies. As the use of cryptocurrencies gains more adoption, they have become intertwined with the global economy. For this reason, this guide will look into these price fluctuation drivers.
 What Drives Price Changes In Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies are not backed by the government or any central authority. This ensures that they are not affected by inflation rates, as well as other monetary policies, that can affect regular fiat currencies. However, other common factors can impact crypto prices. Some of these are introduced as follows:
Demand and Supply
Just like other traditional commodities, the concept of demand and supply can affect the prices of cryptocurrencies. Take, for instance, the supply of the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is limited to 21 million coins. As the supply of this cryptocurrency nears its limits, demand increases since the supply drops. When demand rises, the price also rises.
The Impact of crypto exchanges
There is a dramatic rise in the rate at which cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and TeslaCoin, among others, are traded. This higher rate has been followed by the introduction of a plethora of crypto exchanges on the internet. For most major tokens, which are available on many crypto exchanges, there is a rise in the number of investors that are purchasing and selling the tokens.
 For investors that are interested in swapping a cryptocurrency token with another by making use of multiple exchanges, each swap comes with a fee, which eventually increases the cost of investment.
Production Cost
To verify the authenticity of a transaction on a cryptocurrency network, there is a need for a process called mining. To reward miners, the network offers them a new cryptocurrency. In Bitcoin, for example, this is how new coins are produced. Miners are often charged with the responsibility of solving complex mathematical algorithms for the right to add a block of transactions to the public ledger, called Blockchain.
 With this effort from miners, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies is not compromised. As the supply limit draws near – 21 million for Bitcoin – the level of mathematical algorithms that miners must solve to find and verify a block becomes much harder. The amount of energy and time that is needed to achieve this mining process might become very high.
To maintain their profit to make up for the high production costs, most miners often raise the value of cryptocurrencies. After all, it makes no sense for miners to invest more production costs into the mining process if the cryptocurrency they are rewarded is lower in value.
Government Regulation and Media Hype
The fact that cryptocurrencies cannot be controlled by a single entity scares the government. They feel that traditional FIAT currencies might be under serious threat since cryptos are more than capable to stand in as alternatives. For this reason, many governments restrict – or completely ban – the use of cryptocurrencies in their country.
For nations with a high number of crypto investors, any bad government regulation can negatively impact the value of the digital asset. Besides this, social media hype has also been known to affect cryptocurrencies by lowering and raising their values. The involvement of celebrities can also influence the adoption of cryptocurrencies, which raises demands for them and increases their values.
Conclusion
The crypto market is on the rise. However, its high volatility makes it a risky investment. For this reason, it is important to understand the various factors that can drive crypto prices while implementing the right strategy that can manage these factors.
 By Christopher Boyd
June 21st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
One of our security service providers published a scam that is targeting Facebook users – targeted in massive phishing campaign. We share it with you. First published June 9th, 2022
Facebook is once again the launchpad for a large-scale phishing campaign, according to researchers at PIXM. The campaign, which first shows signs of life back in September 2021, has generated millions of page views and ad referral revenue “estimated to be millions of USD at this scale of operation”.
Credential harvesting on a grand scale
Researchers claim the threat actors stole one million credentials in four months to help achieve the above potential level of revenue. Aspects of the phish campaign are fairly typical of what you can expect to see from a Facebook phish, and the tactics used to spread bogus links are not particularly original. What matters most of all is that it works. When basic phishing tactics pull in so many accounts and clicks, there’s no need to overcomplicate things.
 One of the scam pages from 2021 attracted no fewer than 2.7 million users, with the number rising to about 8.5 million in 2022. This is a huge ramp-up of already significant numbers, and also perhaps a little surprising that the site avoided being taken down for abuse.
This is one phishing campaign that isn’t messing around.
How the phish worked
Unfortunately specifics are absent in a few areas, but it works as follows.
A Facebook user receives a notification in Messenger. This is, at its most basic, a rogue link.
There’s no information around whether a message accompanies it, and if so, what it says. However, something as simple as the below messages are routinely used in Facebook scams:
Seen this?
Is this you in the photo?
Guess who died?
Check this out!
The link is shortened to help bypass any Facebook spam filters. The shortening services used are commonplace, popular and entirely legitimate. This makes it trickier for Facebook to figure out if the link is potentially good or bad.
The link takes potential victims to a variety of sites but a phishing page will be the primary destination. Once phished, the victim is sent elsewhere. It could be a promotion, a survey scam, or pretty much anything else that’s ad-centric. There’s also the mention of potential malvertising pages, on top of the threat of being phished. All these links have ad trackers and other ad-related forms of revenue generation buzzing away in the background.
Current state of play
According to PIXM, the campaign is still alive and kicking. Many of the sites involved have been taken down, and one website listed in the landing page code has been “seized” in relation to an investigation. What that investigation is, and who is doing it, isn’t clear.
What is clear, is that without dedicated resources and probable law enforcement involvement, something like this will never fully go away. It’s simply too easy to keep creating spam domains, signing up as an affiliate, and generating endless shortened URLs. The (potentially exaggerated) claims of $150 for every thousand visits from the US alone from the threat actor is all the incentive they need to keep doing it. As researchers note, this figure would result in a theoretical revenue of $59M from the end of 2021 to now.
Tips to avoid Facebook phishing
 Be wary of messages which don’t follow the natural flow of a conversation. Messages sent at unusual hours or out of the blue with a link should be treated with caution.
If you’re presented with a “Login to view content” box, take a deep breath before going any further. If you’re already logged in, there should be no reason why you’d be asked to login again. Check the URL. Are you on Facebook.com, or an unrelated website?
If you’re able to, ask the sender about their message away from Facebook. Their Facebook account may have be compromised, but you probably don’t have to worry about sending them a text.
Enable 2-factor authentication (2FA). If you hand over your password to a phishing page, the phisher can’t do much with it while you’re protected with 2FA. Keep in mind that some phishing sites will also try to steal your 2FA codes.
Add login alerts to your Facebook account. If someone does compromise your login credentials and access your account, you’ll be notified by Facebook as soon as this happens.
 By Staff
June 14th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Dave Meslin has been working tirelessly to “Unlock Democracy” and change the way we elect our leaders.
He champions ranked ballots and thinks that is the way the public will get the kind of representation they deserve.
First past the post keeps the small less established political parties of the House of Commons and the provincial legislatures.
There was a time when Justin Trudeau that it was an idea worth trying – then changed his mind and put Burlington’s MP Karina Gould in front of a microphone to explain what wasn’t going to happen.
And it will never happen until the public votes the New Democrats or the Green Party into office and they “might” stand behind their promises.
Politics is about power and those who have it don’t trifle with it – they hold very tightly in their hands.
Nevertheless Meslin soldiers on. He sent us two illustrations and asked that we share them.
 For those who didn’t vote – you know who you are – you get to live with what Doug Ford is going to do to this province. Those two donuts are about as healthy as Crispy Cream donuts.
Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.
Related background:
What does Dave Meslin mean when he talks about ranked ballots?
Meslin offers a free course on the first day of every month – Click here for the link
 By Staff
June 8th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
 They fascinate almost everyone – the 7 to 11 age group wanted to hold them in their hands. You may not have heard about the Butterfly Project – but you have certainly heard about Climate Change.
How do you explain Climate Change to children between the ages of 7 and 11?
The older children get it and often become champions.
For the 7-11 set it’s a different situation. However they are the demographic that tends to be fascinated by Butterflys.
Gloria Reid and her pal Sharon Clark who are now officially Butterfly Rangers and have brought the David Susuki led initiative that started with five Canadian cities in 2017 to Burlington..
The Butterflyway Project is a volunteer-led movement that’s bringing nature home to neighbourhoods throughout Canada, one butterfly-friendly planting at a time.
They recruited a team of volunteer Butterflyway Rangers in each community. Their mission was to plant native wildflowers in yards, schoolyards, streets and parks to support bees and butterflies. The goal was to establish local “Butterflyways” by planting at least a dozen pollinator patches in each neighbourhood or community.
Over the past five years, they have recruited and trained more than a thousand Butterflyway Rangers from hundreds of communities. They’ve connected with neighbours, schools, city agencies, businesses and community groups. To date, they’ve helped:
Get 85,000+ butterfly-friendly wildflowers into the ground.
Create 6,000+ pollinator patches for wild bees and butterflies.
Establish official Butterflyways in 75 communities and neighbourhoods.
Gloria Reid and her pal Sharon decided to grow a Ranger Group in Burlington. They expect to show that a small group of residents can make a big difference. Rangers make their communities greener and healthier. They create opportunities, connect people and champion fun ideas.
Apply HERE to be a Butterflyway Ranger
You can also apply at this address.
 By Staff
June 7th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
 Community Development Halton has rescheduled the Social Location and Systems of Oppression workshop to Wednesday June 15, 2022 at 12:30pm.
If you previously registered for the original date of May 31, you have received an email with instructions; if you missed registering earlier, you can register for the new date until June 13 at 5:00pm.
 In this workshop you will walk away with:
• an understanding of your social location, systems of oppression, and common terms and how they relate to JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion;
• understanding and harnessing your power, holding power, and giving power;
• how to share power – where and how this is possible at all stages of the volunteer engagement cycle; and
• how to lead equitable volunteer programs regardless of your positional power within your organization and specific tactics to foster inclusion
WEDNESDAY JUNE 15, 2022
12:30PM – 2:00PM
Via ZOOM
Register Today at: CiviCRM | Community Development Halton (cdhalton.ca)
CDH Members: $15
Non-Members: $25
 By Staff
June 1st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
One of our correspondents set out one view on the Public Meeting that took place virtually last night with the statement:
Smoke and Mirrors adding that the “the city doesn’t have a clue what it will be doing with the space other than the 15-20% of the building ( approx 40,000 square feet) that Brock is perhaps willing to sign a 20 year lease.
The space has to be ready by September 2024, and I have to wonder if there is a clause that if the renovations are not completed in time they can simply walk away from the lease.
The parking issue was skirted around, very similar to how the city deals with parking and traffic ” We will do this in phases and the existing parking will be sufficient”. What happens when phase 2 and 3 are complete? No mention of the timeline between the 3 construction/renovation phases. I can see this going on for years and years before it becomes “the much needed community centre”.
The City has not even looked into the cost of the removal of the asbestos. They have no plans to do this until the sale is finalized. Who does this ??? – go into such a large project without knowing what the cost will be for this removal ( this will be a very expensive proposition )- as you know it can be more dangerous to remove the asbestos.
I found it interesting that in 2014 the City paid to renovate a pool that didn’t belong to the city.
The HDSB who took art in the virtual event, skirted the issue as to what it will do with Gary Allen.
No company in the private sector would go through with the purchase or renovations of Robert Bateman without having all the necessary costs involved known before acquiring the property.
 Early thinking on what the site could look like. The only thing I got out of this meeting is how much or should I say how little space Brock is going to lease and that in my opinion this is what is driving the speed in decision, especially since Tim Commisso indicated that the city is the only one interested in the Bateman Property.
At the close of the meeting City manager Commisso said “ I think the fact that this is going to create a really strong facility and legacy for our community. But it’s been a year of us trying to look ahead while also seeing what the immediacy of having to make a decision about the purchase.
I’m not going to make any apologies for the fact that we’ve done as much as we can as much due diligence, but we don’t have all of the answers that perhaps people think we might or should have. In order to make the purchase decision.
 Partly because we’re under a prescribed process that really requires us to be responsive to the school board in terms of meeting their needs. I will say the worst thing that can happen is that somehow that we weren’t involved in this process or whatever. And I won’t even speculate on what that means. But, you know, I think we made a commitment. And counsel certainly made that commitment that we would go through this process and try to do as much as we could in advance. But we don’t have all the answers. We do commit to is the process from here.
So let the design you know, what’s the community centre going to look like? What are the uses? How is that going to be done parking through zoning will all be public thing. It’s really a part of a process.
I think that we see moving forward and we hope and we encourage as many people as possible to get engaged now. Because I think at the end of the day, you know, this is a facility that we all want to be proud of. And I think by having our partners in there to really showcase I think the fact that Burlington is creating a hub here, so I’ll leave it at that.
I know I’m kind of over my comments over the time, but I just wanted to acknowledge that says that this is a unique project. It’s not like we bought a piece of land and then we started planning for it. We have to meet a prescribed timeline in order to purchase it because we’re an eligible agency. And then we have to essentially make sure that we design and program that properly. So that meets the needs of the community over the long term. In my years this has probably been the most challenging facility projects that I’ve worked on. And I’ve worked on quite a few of them.
The Gazette had two meeting taking place at the same time and has not found a way to be in two places at once.
We will review the recording a d go through the transcription we have of the event and report back real soon.
 By Staff
May 31st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington is inviting artists, artist-led teams and community groups to submit their ideas to create art in Burlington public spaces celebrating Burlington’s diverse communities.
A total of $29,000 is available for up to eight projects, depending on the proposals submitted.
 Public art attached to the bridge on Regal Road. Proposals may include, but are not limited to murals, sound / light installations, artist designed seating, children/youth projects, temporary art projects, or artist designed crosswalks. Interactive projects are encouraged.
The public art program will support successful applicants by providing resources and staff support through the planning, installation and execution of the project. This can include connections to artists and fabricators, assistance with permits and permissions as well as general project support where applicable.
Information Session
Applicants are invited to an optional information session to learn more about this public art opportunity and the application process.
 Publicly funded art on an electric utility box at Port Nelson Park – a location that was once a major port for what was then the Township of Nelson Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 7 p.m.
Online – Please RSVP to kim@cobaltconnects.ca before June 15, 2022 for virtual meeting details.
Who Can Apply?
This opportunity is open to individual artists, artist teams, artist collectives, ad hoc groups, or arts and culture organizations, as well as partnerships and collaborations between arts and non-arts applicants. Applicants from equity-seeking groups are especially encouraged to apply. The deadline to apply is Friday, July 15, 2022.
For deadlines and more information on how to get application help and/or apply, please visit www.burlington.ca/publicart.
Timeline:
Deadline Activity
June 16 Voluntary online information session
July 15 Application deadline
By July 31 Successful artists selected; enter into a contract with the City of Burlington.
August Project development: Artists work with Public Art staff to develop and approve Detailed Project Proposal
September – December Project execution (TBD – based on individual project requirements)
 Councillor Sharman speaking to Angela Paparizo. By diverse backgrounds the city includes: seniors, youth, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour), LGBTQ2S+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, TwoSpirit) and those with disabilities.
Angela Paparizo, Manager of Arts and Culture tells the arts community: “We want your creative ideas to activate a community space and will provide project support to make it happen!
Please join us for more information on June 16 and be sure to submit your ideas by July 15. We look forward to hearing from interested artists, whether you are an emerging or established artist.”
By Staff
May 30th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The following was passed along to us by a reader who was given the information by the city’s Communications department.
Director of Communications Kwab Ako-Adjei, Director, Corporate Communications & Engagement said:
“As with any public meeting the City holds, including virtual meetings, those in attendance will have an opportunity to ask questions. We are finalizing the details of how the questions will be asked, we will let those in attendance know at the beginning of the meeting how they can ask their questions.
“City Manager Tim Commisso will be leading the discussion along with other City staff (to be confirmed) that can speak to the project.”
 Want to see just how good those facilitating chops are. Finalizing the details the day before the event is cutting it kind of close – but better late than never.
The City Manager will lead the event – our recollection is that this will be the first time Tim Commisso will chair an event. His practice is to make a comment during a meeting.
It will be interesting to see just how good his facilitating chops are.
By Staff
May 30th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Bike Month, is being celebrated in Burlington through to the end of June.
The city sees this as an opportunity for people to try riding a bike for the first time, learn new skills, or simply have fun and connect with new people.
 Special lanes for bicycles and the speed at which vehicles travel along city roads are an ongoing concern . Riding a bike is one of the best ways to get around and explore your community. Fifty per cent of trips in Burlington can be done in a less-than 20-minute bike ride.
Burlington is once again holding a draw to give away bike racks for businesses and organizations to encourage cycling to their locations and offering a series of cycling webinars to celebrate Bike Month in Burlington.
Bike Rack Giveaway
The City, in cooperation with the Burlington Cycling Committee and the Integrated Transportation Advisory Committee, has 25 bike racks to give away this year. Each rack holds about 10 bicycles and is valued at $700. Interested parties are asked to email Dan.Ozimkovic@burlington.ca with contact information by June 15, 2022.
 Bike rack that will be given to 25 locations Selected organizations will be required to pick up and transport their bike rack to their private property and install the bike rack on a concrete pad for public use.
The City has been providing various organizations in the community, such as places of worship, small businesses and schools, with free bike racks for the past eight years.
Free Cycling Webinars
Residents are invited to learn about cycling with kids, bike maintenance, road rules and other cycling topics with the City’s free webinars.
 Basic maintenance is important
Family Biking
June 2, 7 to 8 p.m. Webinar information – Zoom link
June 20, 7 to 8 p.m. Webinar information – Zoom link
 Knowing the rules of the road Basic Bike Maintenance
June 13, 7 to 8 p.m. Webinar information – Zoom link
June 26, noon to 1 p.m. Webinar information – Zoom link
 By Staff
May 30th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
With the pandemic receding from our day to day lives – that doesn’t mean it is over – the lock downs and restrictions are not as harsh.
We didn’t have a chance to update our readers on event at the Art Gallery of Burlington.
 Joiri Minaya, Container #3, 2017. Archival pigment print, 40” x 60“
. Courtesy of the artist. Here Comes the Sun is running until August 13th, 2022 in the Perry Gallery.
Four artists are featured – Irene de Andrés, Katherine Kennedy, Joiri Minaya and Ada M. Patterson
The exhibition was curated by Noor Alé
Here Comes the Sun traces the origins of extractive tourism industries through the works of contemporary artists whose practices examine the interconnections between colonial legacies of crop plantations and service economies in the Caribbean.
Gesturing towards the Caribbean’s complicated relationship with the tourism industry, Irene de Andrés and Katherine Kennedy deliver criticisms of international stakeholders and land developers who stand to benefit from the economic, social, and environmental well-being of the region. Countering the intrusive colonial gaze, Joiri Minaya exposes fictitious representations of the landscape and the exoticization of Caribbean women. Ada M. Patterson subverts images of crops to offer a lamentation on the place of sugar and tourism in the Barbadian cultural imaginary.
The works problematize the paradise trope ascribed to the Caribbean by the West and pose questions about its construction: What are the historical foundations of this trope? Why, and for whom, was it built? Together, these works resist the Western gaze, address the shared complicity between tourists, diasporic communities, and land developers, and critique reductive conceptions of the Caribbean as a site of escapism.
The exhibition title is borrowed from Jamaican-born writer Nicole Dennis-Benn’s titular fictional novel. In Here Comes the Sun (2016), Dennis-Benn narrates the lives of three Jamaican women against a backdrop of power dynamics, economics, and gender inequities to advance conversations in the Global North about the complexity of tourism industries.
Here Comes the Sun has been generously sponsored by DJB Chartered Professional and the Ontario Arts Council.
The AGB is supported by the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
By Staff
May 26th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
There weren’t that many participants taking part in the survey the city put out and then withdrew two days later but the data they collected does have merit.
The city wanted to know how people felt about the city selling a sports field to the Board of Education, and how people felt about the city buying the Bateman High school site and then renting part of what they bought to Brock University.
The results will surprise a lot of people – especially the ward 2 councillor who thought selling the sports field was close to a travesty.
The results:
There is some additional data if this kind of thing turns your crank Click HERE for that data.
 REVISED By Pepper Parr
May 25th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The city’s Communications department had some concerns about wording we used to describe what we referred to as a self inflicted wound. There are some subjects that are very sensitive and we decided to remove a phrase we used. Other than that – the story stands. We changed the date as well from the 20th to the 26th.
 Sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to.
The decision to get public feedback on the city decision to sell the sports field to the west of Central High school has, to be polite about it, hit a speed bump.
The words transparency and engagement seemed to have been lost by the city communications people. They are now falling over themselves trying to back out of a survey that wasn’t thought out all that well.
The tweet on the right, sent out earlier today, is kind of embarrassing.
City Manager Tim Commisso is reported to be putting together a public meeting to pass along more in the way of information. What isn’t clear at this point is – will it be a joint meeting with the Board of Education or is the city going to have to wear this one all by itself.
What is so perplexing is that the rush that has been behind all this just wasn’t necessary – these are self inflicted wounds – the people who put together the survey need to really think through what took place and look for different approaches to what is a serious problem.
There is a public that is confused and angry.
 City manager Tim Commisso needs to get a grip on this issue. It is close to being totally out of control. There are tens of millions involved.
By Staff
May 18th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The City of Burlington is looking for residents’ feedback on a proposed land transaction with the Halton District School Board (HDSB) and leasing arrangements with the HDSB and Brock University for the City’s planned acquisition of the Robert Bateman High School building and property.
The proposed transaction with the HDSB would see the City transfer ownership of approximately five acres of City owned-land (sports field at Central High School) to the HDSB as a component of a land exchange for the Robert Bateman site.
 The sports field beside Central High school is owned by the city. Selling it to the school board frees up some cash that can be applied to the purchase of the Bateman location. It is a complex deal with a number of players that may not have had the benefit of some some take our time second thought. Some are wondering – why the rush? One pressure point is that Brock wants to be in the space they are renting – when? Tight timeline. The City owned-land in question is located near Burlington Central High School and includes the high school football field and running track.
The HDSB has wanted to own the sports field beside Burlington Central High School for some time; that desire is consistent with the HDSB’s long-term intention to continue operating Burlington Central High School as a school. This land exchange component will advance the City’s efforts to secure the Robert Bateman site in continued public ownership, ensuring that the Robert Bateman site is available for continued educational and community-oriented uses.
Feedback will also be sought on proposed leasing agreements with the HDSB that wants to use some of the space and Brock University that wants to locate one of its departments in Burlington.
Both leases are expected to be long-term but not to exceed 25 years.
Burlington City Council directed staff to gather feedback from the public on these proposals. Public feedback can be provided at the City’s online engagement portal, Get Involved Burlington. The time frame for getting sufficient public feedback is short.
 The site is a big one; the plans to re-purpose the location from a local high school to a multi-use site that would pull together local residents, a unit of Brock University, a public library and a number of gymnasiums with lots of space left over. A considerable amount of controversy is expected from the downtown community where there isn’t all that much open space to begin with. The 100th anniversary event was planned to take place on the sports field in June of 2023. Will that space still be available to the public once it is in school board hands?
Any thought of a community centre with a pool in that part of town would be lost. With three towers planned for Ghent and Brant, a short walk from the sports field, residents wonder if they are going to be locked out of creating more in the way of public amenities.
Click for the Link to Get Involve
This engagement opportunity will be open to Burlington residents until June 13, 2022.
Following public input, staff will report back to Burlington Council with a final report and recommendations at the June 21, 2022 Council meeting.
Some background:
In June 2021, HDSB announced that it has declared Robert Bateman High School surplus to its needs.
In December 2021, Council provided direction to staff to submit a formal offer to purchase the Robert Bateman High School site
On Feb. 3, 2022, Burlington City Council endorsed next steps to advance the potential acquisition of the Robert Bateman High School site from the HDSB.
Shortly after, also in June 2021, the City of Burlington announced that an expression of interest would be submitted to the HDSB to purchase the Robert Bateman site through a partnership with Brock University.
 By Staff
May 18th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton District School Board put out the following media release.
The Halton District School Board is advancing a land transaction with the City of Burlington that would see the exchange of the City-owned sports field at Burlington Central High School (1433 Baldwin St, Burlington), with the sale of the former Robert Bateman High School (5151 New St, Burlington).
 The school will own the sports field once the negotiations are complete The parcel of land adjacent to Burlington Central High School is approximately five acres and includes the sports field and track to the west of the school. The Board’s purchase of this land ensures the continued operation of Burlington Central High School by the HDSB for the foreseeable future.
In June 2021, HDSB trustees approved a plan to declare the former Robert Bateman High School facility surplus to its needs and retain an interest in a portion of the facility to relocate the Burlington Gary Allan Learning Centre. In September 2021, the City of Burlington expressed interest and submitted their formal offer on Feb. 3, 2022, which was accepted by the Board.
This opportunity to acquire the area at Burlington Central H.S. presented itself to the Board and the City as part of the negotiation process, where the land exchange was incorporated as part of the final offer. This was supported by the Board, as it advances its long-term facility accommodation strategy in Burlington. The Board sought Ministry of Education approval and received a positive response to proceed with the transaction.
The outcome of this transaction addresses key objectives for the HDSB and the City by ensuring important educational and community programs continue to be offered within Burlington.
The Board looks forward to continuing to work with the City of Burlington on this matter.
The acquisition of the sports field is related to the Robert Bateman High School land transaction.
The bigger story is that the city had to find a way to lessen the public pressure on a price tag that was being floated and resulting in a lot of indigestion. Whatever the city gets for the sports field will lower the cost of the Bateman site.
The city is gearing up another engagement effort to get some grease on a very squeaky wheel.
 By Pepper Parr
May 9th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Every reporter strives for accuracy – they listen hard to what people are saying – waiting for that quote that just makes the story.
Accuracy matters – not as easy to get as people think.
Technology has made a big difference; it allows a reporter to capture what a person said and then transcribe it and use it in the copy being written.
As everyone knows – the technology can bite your bum.
The people best at getting what is said down perfectly are the Court reporters – they have a device that lets them capture what is said and instantly read it back
A number of years ago the City employed what would be the equivalent of a court reporter to capture what was said at Council meetings.
 A Court Reporter with the transcribing equipment The transcript produced was something the Gazette was very interested in getting a copy of.
We asked if we could have a copy.
We were told we couldn’t have the document which we thought was a public document.
We asked if we could buy a copy of the transcripts.
No the city wasn’t interested in doing that either.
We asked for the name of the company doing the work. We thought we could buy the transcripts directly from them.
No – the city was not prepared to give us the name of the company that was doing the transcribing.
 Kwab Ako-Ajei.,Director of Communications All this back and forth was done by email with the Director of Communications Kwab Ako-Ajei. Director of Communications for the city. Kwab reports directly to the City Manager.
Someone somewhere at city hall made the decision that the Gazette, a credentialed online newspaper, operating for more than ten years (longer than the people who have their fingers on the flow of news information to media have held their jobs), that the Gazette was not to be given access to the data they need to do their job effectively.
Council talks about the importance of media in the process of engaging the public. At one point the Mayor of the city publicly praised the Gazette for the job it was doing.
We may have done the job a little too well for some.
What to do?
Folks, Burlington is your city, your home. You elect the government you get and they appoint the administrative leadership.
We push for better transparency – your job is to demand it.
Part 1 of the series
Part 2 of the series
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