 By Staff
June 28, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Burlington’s Art in Action Studio Tour decided a number of years ago to create a scholarship for an art student in the Region and this year awarded the $1500 award to Sarah Tom, a Robert Bateman High School student who will be attending Sheridan College in September for Visual & Creative Studies.
Along with the scholarship is free admission as a participant in the Art in Action tour the first weekend of November
 Darlene Throop, on the right, presents Bateman High School students Sarah Tom with the 2014 Art in Action $1500. scholarship. The award was presented to Ms Tom at the Robert Bateman Commencement, June 26th where Darlene Throop ( Art in Action Scholarship Chair) handed out this year’s Scholarship.
There were seven talented applicants from four schools; two from the public sector and two from the separate sector – all pursuing an arts focused future.
 Sarah Tom uses an interesting approach to normal portrait work – reflects a generation that is more digital than their predecessors. The public is invited to take part in the fall at the Pre Tour Show on October 19th, at Teresa Seaton’s Studio & Gallery, 654 Spring Gardens Road.
Assante Wealth Management, TD Canada Trust, ICCC/Rustol, Just Cremations & Burial, Keith Strong, Sheri Sutherland, Royal LePage, Ardent Motor, Smiths Funeral Home, Rob McKichan at Royal LePAge, The Healing Path, Dr. Beth Nixon, Coulter Building Consultants Ltd, Corby Custom Framing and Burlington Toyota Scion were financial supporters of both he tour and the scholarship program.
 By Staff
June 24, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Great day in Burlington history.
  After learning that the citizens of the city have paid for their pier twice, the good folks who remit their taxes on time, can take some pleasure in knowing that the Freeman Station is now sitting on its foundation and within day the construction crews will begin their work on the innards of the building.
 During the process of lowering the station onto the foundation, a 2014 Loonie was placed on top of the sill plate prior to the station being lowered.
James Smith, a candidate for the ward 5 council seat said “for some reason 2014 Loonies are hard to come by, but we did get one, and the people who move the station next can reclaim it.”
 That can happen when the railway station gets moved to its rightful location on the Beachway, where the railway track bed is now used as a walking path.
Ju ne 20, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
James Burchill is not big on bureaucracy. He doesn’t like getting tangled up on loose ends. Define the target, aim, pull the trigger tends to be the Burchill modus operandi. Here he gets on about having permission to email people.
By James Burchill
Quick everyone … July 1st is fast approaching and we need to ask everyone we can think of whether we have permission to email them in the future.
Are you freaking kidding me?
Way to go genius … that’s going to cost you dearly.
Why?
Because YOU DON’T NEED TO ASK NOW IF YOU”VE EMAILED THEM BEFORE.
Implied permission is still a legit way to connect via email UNTIL JULY 1st 2017 that’s 3 YEARS FROM NOW!
You’re basically going to burn your email list if you approach things this way. If you ask everyone in a frantic rush for permission you will get maybe 10% say yes. The rest WILL NOT.
This is not news … it’s typically been this way in the past. If you try and get a list to give you consent to sell them stuff – they usual say no … about 9 out of 10 people do anyway.
So stop with the knee-jerk reactions and think this through. Sure, the days of spamming people are over. Nope you can’t rent a list and sell stuff to them post July 1st without getting some grief … millions of it if you’re found wanting!
But, if you have a list and have been emailing it for a while and you have a pre-existing relationship with people that PRE-DATES July 1st then you have 3 MORE YEARS to move from IMPLIED CONSENT to EXPLICIT CONSENT.
And guess what … there are many wrinkles in the “law” that need ironing out before the REAL DROP DEAD DATE of JULY 1ST 2017.
You do not need to be scaring, spooking or generally giving your list the option to tell you to “go away!” … and if you keep asking them, well it serves you right because they will tell you to ***** off!
Stop being such a “fraidy-cat” and man-up. Email permission is getting a face lift for sure, and you should NOT SPAM PEOPLE but you certainly don’t need to commit email suicide either. Begin slowly converting the implied to the explicit by offering them a valuable report or “ethical bribe” that helps them solve a problem you’re in the market to remedy. Then you are totally on side with Bill C-28 and can email all you like.
Why the rant today? Well I’ve seen so many emails begging me for permission to stay connected … are you kidding me? Get real. This approach is wrong and frankly sends out the worst kind of desperate signals to people. So when I got yet another “whiny … please can we stay friends …” type email I lost it.
All ranting aside, seriously … stop shooting yourself in the foot. Work to convert (implied consent) people on your list by emailing them converting (explicit) offers … and USE THE NEXT 3 YEARS TO DO IT!
Again to be clear … you have 3 years to convert implicit to explicit permission and frankly if you can’t figure out a cool way to do that within your business sector … well I’d say maybe you don’t deserve an email list.
James Burchill runs the Burlington Social Fusion Network that meets regularly at the Ivy Bar and Kitchen.
 By: Peter Jacobsen Toby Mendel Shane Moffatt Cara Faith Zwibel
Originally published on Friday, November 8 2013 in the Toronto Star
Freedom of expression and democracy are being undermined in Ontario. A panel of experts convened by the Ontario government in 2010 found that the threat of abusive lawsuits claiming massive damages, especially for defamation, is deterring “significant numbers” of Ontarians from speaking out on issues of important public interest.
However, there is now hope that action will be taken to address this problem, as the province’s political parties find themselves in rare agreement that it is high time to deal with this threat through strong legislation.
 A court room is an expensive place to be – is this the place where justice gets done. Known as SLAPPs (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation), these dubious lawsuits are often brought by deep-pocketed companies with the specific aim of silencing resource-poor defendants. And they are very effective. The defendants, usually ordinary citizens or public interest groups, naturally feel threatened by the prospect of massive legal fees, disruption of their activities and the possibility of large damage awards. Even when the lawsuits have no merit whatsoever, they often result in a chill on free speech.
Comments on a wide range of public interest issues have attracted SLAPP suits in the past. These include reporting on environmental violations by large companies, exposing corruption and other forms of wrongdoing, and criticizing the behaviour of powerful individuals. In other words, SLAPPs are an attack on democracy. They undermine the ability of civil society and private individuals to act as watchdogs over the powerful.
Unfortunately, the threat of facing a SLAPP suit in Ontario is very real today. Greenpeace Canada is currently fighting a $7-million lawsuit brought by logging giant Resolute Forest Products. Dylan Powell, founder of small environmental NGO Marineland Animal Defence, currently faces a $1.5-million SLAPP from Marineland. The issue of SLAPPs first gained prominence in Ontario when Big Bay Point residents were hit with multimillion-dollar lawsuits by developers.
We need legislative protection from these chilling lawsuits. Anti-SLAPP legislation may affirm a legal presumption in favour of the protection of speech on matters that are of public interest, or engage public participation. If the defendant can demonstrate that his or her statements fall within the scope of this presumption, the burden then shifts to the plaintiff who must show that the case has substantial merit, that it is unlikely that any defence would succeed and that, on balance, the harm it has suffered outweighs the harm that would be done to the public interest if the case were to proceed.
Anti-SLAPP legislation has already been adopted in Quebec and most U.S. states. It’s now time for Ontario to follow suit. Important steps have been taken in this regard, specifically in the form of Bill 83, submitted by the Attorney General to the Ontario legislature in May 2013 – the first government-sponsored anti-SLAPP bill in Ontario.
This follows the first ever Ontarian anti-SLAPP bill, put forward by Andrea Horwath of the NDP as a private member’s bill in 2008. The Progressive Conservatives have also voiced support for this type of legislation, noting that abusive lawsuits represent a serious waste of taxpayer dollars.
Despite these positive steps forward, we are concerned about whether there is sufficient political will to see this through. The parties must not delay in adopting legislation that will champion the human rights of ordinary Ontarians, allow for robust debate on matters of public interest, save taxpayer money and uphold confidence in our legal system and our democracy.
Our organizations, along with more than 150 environmental organizations, free speech groups and unions, call on the Ontario legislature to pass anti-SLAPP legislation as a matter of priority. No less than 64 municipalities and the Ontario Bar Association have also supported anti-SLAPP legislation. It is time to protect Ontarians’ right to free expression.
Peter Jacobsen is Chair of the Canadian Issues Committee of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression; Toby Mendel is Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy; Shane Moffatt is Forest Campaigner for Greenpeace Canada; Cara Faith Zwibel is Director of the Fundamental Freedoms Program of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Bill 183, the legislation that was to create anti-SLAPP legislation that would become law died on the Order Paper when the Legislature was dissolved for the provincial election.
By Pepper Parr
May 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It was an interesting week for the arts. The Arts and Cultural Collective got closer to what its mission will be while the Performing Arts Centre released its program for the 2014/15 season to more than acceptable comment.
Not to be outdone, the former Burlington Art Centre decided to go for a whole new look and re-branded themselves and will forever after be known as the Art Gallery of Burlington – AGB; the place where Creativity Lives.
 The arch in the A is supposed to signify the Skyway bridge – sure – with art the view is always in the eye of the beholder. The BAC, old acronym for the Burlington Arts Centre, made it a bit difficult for many people to figure out which was which. While the BAC – oops, that’s the AGB now, had a much stronger pedigree and “involved” more people, there was still the sense that the building on Lakeshore road needed a stronger look and an identity that made it stand out.
The BAC board put together a very strong presentation during the budget cycle and got the funding they needed to do the re-brand. They brought in John Duff to do the work.
The new name reflects their identity as a centre for art and supporting artists in the community and the evolution of the place as a multi-faceted gallery. For the past several years, the gallery administrators have been working to increase the profile and quality of their exhibitions and promote their acclaimed collection of Canadian contemporary ceramics. Today, they are positioned to host national and international exhibitions, tour their ceramics collection and further develop their award winning educational programs.
The Art Gallery of Burlington also brought in a new curator, Denis Longchamps, who uses the title Director of Programs, has some very clear ideas on the direction he feels the gallery should be going in.
The Art Gallery of Burlington has gone so far as to attach a promise to their brand – to embrace and celebrate creativity and integrate the gallery into the community at large. Delivery on this promise includes the promotion of three key messages:
- Art Gallery – providing the highest quality, stimulating exhibitions and contemporary ceramics collection
- Programs – that embrace the qualities of creativity, inspiration and supporting artistic development
- Outreach – that takes the AGB beyond its brick and mortar and into the community with partner events, school programs, city initiatives and connecting through Art Etc Gallery Shop
The tag line, CREATIVITY Lives Here! is the first example of how the Art Gallery of Burlington is going to define itself an operate.
In a letter to the membership President Ian Ross said: “We are increasing our investment in exhibitions, responding to emerging artists, celebrating our national-significant ceramics collection, enhancing creativity in our educational programs, and reaching throughout our community and forming new partnerships.”
Putting meat on the bones of that statement means that the AGB is committed to celebrating and promoting the innovative and imaginative elements in all that they do and in all that they are. Creativity will be the foundation seen in – Programming – Education – Partnerships – Membership – Strategy.
Founded by a number of guilds, the Art Gallery of Burlington has come up with a way to end the confusion as to who they are – Performing Arts Centre and Burlington Art Centre – PAC or BAC was confusing, but it will take more than a new name to get the message across.
What the public has not seen is the strength, energy and vision of two new staff members who are adding to the strength of the team that was already in place.
Leslie Page who runs the educational side, Johnathan Smith who has built the ceramics collection into what it is today are now joined by Kim Varian, Director of Enterprise and Dennis Longchamps, Director of Programs. This team is what will make the difference.
 The ceramics collection needs a home; a place where it can be properly and effectively displayed. Right now it gets scattered about the gallery with hundreds of pieces stacked on shelves in a storeroom.
Many at city hall have wondered if the land the gallery sits on is the most effective use of that piece of property. Heard aloud were the words: “great place for a high end condo” and indeed it would be. Selling the site would free up some money to build the kind of location an art gallery needs to display its ceramics collection.
More on the new team members, the ceramics collection and where the Art Gallery of Burlington might take the city in a future article.
 By Staff
May 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
It may have moved from top of mind ‘for a lot of people but a local chapter of the Council of Canadians activists, local residents, allies and First Nations blockaded the access road to an exposed section of Enbridge’s Line 9 pipeline Tuesday morning.
The blockade was to be twelve hours in length as a symbolic gesture; one hour for every thousand anomalies Enbridge has reported to exist on the line.
 Enbridge inspection workers were prevented from getting to their work site on Tuesday by protesters demonstrating against the National Energy Board decision to approve the direction of the flow through the line.  Integrity digs are when crews dig up the soil covering the pipe and inspecting it for cracks and possible leaks. They are checking on the “integrity” of the line and its ability to transport a product. Thepress release from the blockade states that “Line 9 has at least 12961 structural weaknesses along its length. And yet, Enbridge is only doing a few hundred integrity digs. Enbridge has been denying the problems with the pipe for years, and they still refuse to do the hydrostatic testing requested by the province. Are we really supposed to simply trust Enbridge when they tell us that this time they’ll do it right?”
Many of the blockaders point to the disastrous spill from Enbridge’s line 6b into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan in 2010, where millions of litres of oil spilled and have so far proven impossible to clean up. They also point out testimony at the NEB that Line 9 has a 90% chance of catastrophic failure in the initial years after its operation is changed.
 For the Line 9 protesters the issue is transporting oil from the tar sands in Alberta through a pipe line that runs through Burlington. This public demonstration in Burlington is the first seen since the National Energy Board approved the reversing of the flow in Line 9. There were a significant number of conditions attached to the approval, one of which was a number of digs to determine the condition of the line that is almost 40 years old.
 By Pepper Parr
April 24, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
See it as a Jeff Fielding legacy. It was a good, if expensive idea, and hopefully it will get used by Pat Moyle, the incoming interim city manager and whoever the city hires as its full time city manager later in the year.
Fielding was a believer in listening to what the public had to say and he wanted to hear opinions but didn’t like the time most of the processes for gathering opinion took.
A chum of his, Angus Reid, sold him on the idea of using an electronic service ($100,000 a year) and he signed the city on for a three year deal.
It took some time to get the public to go with the idea and the number of participants isn’t as high as Fielding wanted them to be. There was always a little suspicion on the part of some people that the city would “know” who they were. The city can never know who you are personally. They don’t have access to that level of information – it isn’t on city computers.
The service is one that is run out of Vancouver – the city just creates the questions and the Vancouver people run the questionnaire. Right now the city is looking into how people get information from the city. There is a website – terrible thing – try finding something on it.
There is the three times a year magazine that is more puff and fluff than any really useful information. There is the annual community report that is – how does one put this – selective in what they say about different projects and issues in the city. Nice layout and design – but it doesn’t tell people anything they didn’t already know something about. It doesn’t delve into the issues. And there are issues.
There are the full-page advertisements in the newspaper; then there are the newsletters that Council members send out. I’ve yet to read an opinion in one of those newsletters that is the least bit controversial. Pablum for the most part – just plain bland. Voters want to know what their council members think. They would like to be educated on the issues – not placated by men and woman who want to do everything they can to assure their re-election.
The most recent Insight Burlington survey tries to dig a little deeper on how people get their information about the city. It begins with:
Hello Insight Burlington Community
This survey is about how the city communicates with residents.
It is very important for us to learn about where you get your information from on services, upcoming events or neighbourhood meetings. Are the tools we use effective? Is the information easy for you to understand?
Connecting with more people in the community is important to us and we need to learn from you, on where to focus our efforts.
This survey required about seven minutes. What was intriguing about the questionnaire was the way the person taking the survey manipulated information on the screen.
The data base that holds all the information on each participant knows if you own a home or live in an apartment; knows if you are male or female and your age. They have a rough idea of your income and the postal code you live in. But they don’t know WHO you are.
So- when they have the results of this survey they MAY know (the results haven’t been tabulated yet) for example that people over 60 prefer the newspaper and no one really like the Community report. And, again, for example that no one manages to get very much from the city web site.
If you want to take part in future surveys – email Leah Bisutti – Email Me – and she will direct you to the right place on the city web site.
 The way one answered this question was really cool. You just dragged the question into the order you wanted the information to appear and if you wanted to change your mind you just clicked on the little buttons to move things up and down. while it took less than seven minutes to complete the survey – you might find yourself playing with it for a while.  The layout is neat, clean and clear. It is very easy to understand and it allows you to change your mind.  The green progress at the bar tells you how far along you are in the questionnaire process
 By Staff
April 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The Pythons are back. This annual event created by the Rotary Clubs of Burlington is an occasion for entrepreneurs in the commercial world and students at high schools who think they have good commercial ideas to get some of the technical help they need as well as some capital to grow the business idea.
Pythons’ Pit provides an avenue for creative, entrepreneurial residents and students of Halton Region and beyond to pitch their business concepts and product ideas in front of a live audience and a panel of real business moguls from the community. Open Category applicants can win up to $150,000 in start-up capital and a package of in-kind professional services to help launch the business. High School applicants can win cash prizes up to $2,500 or a bursary of up to $5,000.
 The Pythons look for that person will a bold idea and a vision; those that step forward and show initiative and drive. These are the people that keep an economy growing. There are two categories Open and High school students.
The Open Category entries this year are:
GymChum – Aydin Betez
Country Basics – Ted & Lisa West
V.M. Enterprises – Vincent Marchese
Tetra Biologicals Inc. – Bruce Robinson & Thurkathipana Navaneethan
Ranggo – Noha Abdelaziz & Peter Basil
Finalists in the High School Category are:
NORSAF Technologies – Jack Greenburg, Garth Webb Secondary School
Smart Tasks – Jennifer Palfi: Bishop Reding High School
Smart Tap – Jessy Kang; Abbey Park Secondary School
Fashion on Wheels – Nita Stranaghan & Katie Henderson; Georgetown District High School
Cyclo-Charger – Mark Suan: Corpus Christi Catholic Secondary School
Leading the event as Emcee this year is Connie Smith, well know local television personality. The program is brought to the community by McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business. Presenting sponsors are: Royal Bank and the MNP Group
Students winners last year were:
Ryan Muil, a Grade 12 student at Christ the King Catholic Secondary School in Georgetown, won first place and $2,500 for his already successful company Muil-E’s Hot Sauce, that Ryan founded when he was just twelve years old.
Jasmine Mercer, a Grade 11 student at Corpus Christi Catholic Secondary School in Burlington, won second place and $1,000 for her Mobilization of Restaurant Software – an application she developed, which offers solutions to problems Jasmine encountered while working in the restaurant industry.
By Staff
April 4, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It’s hard to keep up with the different colours used by the corporate community and community organizations to signify interest in what they are doing. I think it all started with that American pop song: “Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree” to celebrate the return of a person who wasn’t at all sure he would be welcome.
I thought that pink was taken by the CIBC bank people and their Run for the Cure to raise funds for cancer treatment but pink is also being used to recognize International Day of Pink
 Set in the east end of the city on New Street the Nelson Youth Centre has been serving youth since the 1980’s Each year on the second Wednesday of April, millions of people wear pink to remember that positive actions make a difference. On Wednesday April 9th, RBC will make a donation to the Nelson Youth Centre in Burlington to support their efforts to eliminate bullying and discrimination.
Nelson Youth Centre is an accredited Children’s Mental Health Centre that offers treatment programs for at-risk youth in Halton. Reconnecting Youth is a community based program focused on helping youth develop effective social/emotional skills, coping strategies and effective learning skills to transition into adulthood and become successful and independent. The program works with youth, families, schools and the community and provides mental treatment and support for youth between the ages of 14-17 who are experiencing moderate to severe mental health issues which significantly impacts their ability to cope.
Day of Pink is an international day against bullying and discrimination supported by RBC. Last year, more than 16,000 RBC employees wore pink to show support for this great cause; this year the bank is encouraging employees to wear pink and in Halton South we are also making a donation to the Nelson Youth Centre in Burlington.
The Nelson Youth Centre has a program called Reconnecting Youth that provides individual and group counseling for youth struggling with self-esteem, social/emotional issues and poor peer relationship issues.
Next week we will take a look at the people and programs at Nelson.
 By Staff
April 2, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Tracy MacCharles, Minister of Consumer Services and Consumer Protection Initiatives got herself out in front of a microphone earlier today and passed on what she thought was good news – and good news it was – assuming what she said is true, true, true.
 The Minister of Consumer Services and Consumer Protection Initiatives told us how we were going to be protected from cell phone contract abuse – from the offices of a cell phone provider. Which is a nice way of saying the prices aren’t coming down but you will know just how high – try sky high – those prices are going to be when you sign up.
That the Minister delivered her comment at the offices of Wind Mobil gives you a sense of who has the clout; had she been out on a street corner with people who had their phones next to their ears and talked to them about what works and doesn’t work – this might have been a different story.
So for now we have to go with what the Minister said in that controlled environment the politicians like.
Eight out of every 10 Ontario families have a wireless services agreement but most of us don’t really understand the contracts we sign: the terms and conditions, what’s included in the agreed upon monthly fee, and what will cost extra.
Thus the new Wireless Services Agreements Act now in effect, brings long-awaited improvements to the marketplace. Ontario consumers can now expect clearer, easier-to-understand information, and fewer surprises when they enter into, or amend, cell phone and wireless services contracts.
Requiring plain language contracts;
Requiring that contracts clearly outline which services come with the basic fee, and which would result in extra charges;
Requiring that providers get a customer’s explicit consent before amending, renewing or extending a fixed-term contract;
Enforcing a cap on cancellation fees, making it less expensive for consumers to walk away from contracts; and
Allowing a consumer to cancel a contract at no cost after two years.
 What can consumers do if they think their contract was not properly made — or they feel they are paying for services they didn’t contract for? Under our new law, providers who do not comply with the rules must give consumers who cancel their contracts a full refund for up to a year of service.
 If a provider charges for services after a contract is improperly amended, a consumer is entitled to get that money back.
The act also addresses advertising by wireless services providers. Providers must now show the minimum monthly costs in ads – if they are advertising any costs – and the most prominent price must be the all-inclusive price.
Keeping up with all these rules and the services being provided to protect us can be daunting. The government has launched a new program (yes, another one) called Consumer Protection Ontario; an awareness program that will link together all of the consumer protection activities of the Ontario government with a common identifier.
Provincially mandated administrative authorities – such as the Real Estate Council of Ontario, the Electrical Safety Authority, and Technical Standards and Safety Authority, will help the people of Ontario know where they can turn to get information about their consumer concerns.
The Stronger Protection for Ontario Consumers Act gave provides more effective rules to help people who have to deal with door-to-door transactions, dealing with debt settlement companies, or in real estate transactions.
The province is going to modernize Ontario’s Condominium Act, so that the 1.3 million people in this province who live in a condo will have up-to-date legislation that reflects the reality of condo life today – including proper qualifications for managers and increased consumer protection for owners.
They are also continuing to explore home inspector qualification to increase the level of confidence people have when they buy a home – they need to be sure that their pre-purchase inspection has been done by someone with appropriate credentials.
 Protection from tow truck drivers – now that is something useful. Do you get the sense that we have a government working hard to convince us that they are out there doing everything they can to protect us – which many of us wanted them to do when they were thinking through how to get out of those gas plants they decided not to complete – that was a $1 billion ouch.
 By Pepper Parr
March 31, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There were myths to be dispelled and facts to be shared – and it would have been nice if there had been time to ask questions earlier in the evening. For some reason many civil servants feel they need to take their audiences through all the legislation that is out there to be dealt with – the people in the room at the Holy Lutheran Church on Lakeshore Road wanted to ask questions about the coyote problem Burlington is experiencing.
 Coyotes are territorial, weigh 40 lbs. if they are male and prowl at night. The audience learned that coyotes are very territorial. They tend to mate for life. They have the one gestation period each year – February. Their gestation period is 60 to 63 days and something between 20 to 50% of each litter survive.
Coyotes do not mate with dogs. They will mate with some wolves
 Pups stay with the parents until they know how to hunt – then they find a mate and leave the pack. Both parents raise the pups. Burlington has a population of what are known as eastern coyotes. They are not all that big: females are 30 to 35 lbs,; males 40 to 45 lbs. The Ontario Ministry of Natural resources has a number (21) of coyotes that have GPS collars and can be tracked with their located plotted on a map. The audience was shown a map of a pack that lives in the south Burlington area.
 Orange dots on the map indicates where a pack of coyotes was between March 7 and 14th in Burlington. Known as MISSO14 this pack is tracked by GPS collars. Coyotes sleep during the day and prowl at night looking for food. They have been known to take down sheep, goats and if there is a cow that is injured they will bring that down as well but for the most part they go after mice, they eat berries and will go after wild geese.
They look for corridors they can travel in; railway lines, hydro rights of way as well as the edge of the lake.
Coyotes will not attack – but they will chase. If confronted by a coyote make all kinds of noise and leave the area but do not turn your back on the animal and do not run.
Coyotes have been come habituated in urban communities. John Almond of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources told the audience that a fed coyote is a dead coyote – when fed they stop doing what they do naturally – hunt for their food.
 Coyotes have very acute hearing and can hear mice scurrying about beneath the snow. Coyote is preparing to pounce on a mouse. Coyotes look for places where they can sleep during the day and have a territory large enough for them to find the food they need. The live in packs, but once pups are taught to fend for themselves they leave the pack, find a mate and create their own pack. Territory is critical for them and they don’t welcome newcomers to an existing pack.
They have exceptionally acute hearing and know from sound where mice are beneath snow.
One of the biggest problems with coyotes in urban areas is people. We leave garbage out where they can get at it and some people actually leave food out for the animals.
 Coyotes howl to communicate to others in a pack. When coyotes howl – they are not telling the world they are about to kill something or have just killed something; their howling is a form of social vocalization.
 There was a time when government paid a bounty for coyotes trapped or shot. Coyotes have been with us for centuries. Governments used to pay a bounty to trappers in attempts to lessen the population. That didn’t work. disease and an inability to find the food they need is what controls the size of the coyote population. – there is a pack of them in south-east Burlington that has GPS collars the ministry uses to track them – they can take data from a satellite and know where that pack is at any given moment.
If you leave the coyotes alone, let them be the natural predators they are, don’t feed them – they won’t harm you. Because they are natural predators they see your cat as their lunch. Keep the cat inside at night.
 By Pepper Parr
March 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Denise Davy, a mother who lost a son in a railway crossing accident, became a tireless advocate for change and took her concern about the lack of safety barriers at railway crossings in Burlington to city council. She managed to bring about changes – there are barriers now in a number of places where people foolishly scoot across railway tracks, including ward 4 councillor Jack Dennison who publicly set an example he showed be ashamed of – but apparently isn’t.
 There is now a sturdy fence at this rail line. Davy, a former Spectator reporter, who now runs a writing and editing business, took her cause to the Regional government; she took it to Mississauga and got invited to a Roundtable held by the Member of Parliament for Halton, and also the Minister of Transport, Lisa Raitt. Here was someone who could do something.
Davy understood that she was to be one of a number of people taking part in a discussion about safety features along the railway tracks. She was amongst some pretty important people:
Attending were: His Worship, Gordon Krantz, Mayor of Milton; Andrew Siltala, Senior Manager, Economic Development, Town of Milton; Bill Mann, Chief Administrative Officer, Town of Milton; Jean Tierney, Senior Director, Corporate Safety and Security, VIA Rail Canada; Susan William, Regional General Manager, Central, VIA Rail Canada; Greg Percy, President, GO Transit; Paul Finnerty, Vice President, Operations, GO Transit; Michael Farkouh, Vice President, Safety and Sustainability, Canadian National Railway; John Orr, Vice President, Eastern Canada, Canadian National Railway; Randy Marsh, Manager, Community Relations, Canadian Pacific Railway; Andy Ash, Director, Dangerous Goods, Railway Association of Canada; Brad Davey, Executive Director, OntarioConnex; Eve Adams, Member of Parliament, Mississauga-Brampton South and a Representative from the Halton Police.
 Simple message bearing a lot of the pain that results from a needless death at a place where rail tracks were easily cross. No more at this crossing. There wasn’t a hope in hades that Denise Davy would have ever been able to pull a group of people with the kind of clout this crowd had. Davy saw herself as one of the group and was a little stunned when after a few words from Minister Raitt, she turned to Davy and gave her the floor. It wasn’t what Davy was expecting but she dove into her story, her experience and explained for the hundredth time that education alone does not work – barriers have to be put up – and if those barriers are expensive then we have to find a way to pay for them.
She worked at dispelling the myth that most of the people who lose their lives on railway tracks are suicides – the people in the rail transportation business have words to describe them: deliberates and accidentals. To Denise Davy they are all lives that were needlessly lost.
She points to the way the public safety people reacted to motorcycle people who used to drive without helmets – we passed laws requiring motorcycle people to wear helmets and we reduced deaths. We are in the process of putting in stiffer penalties in place for those who text and think they can drive at the same time. We learned she said that public education didn’t work in those situations and we know it doesn’t work to prevent rail crossing deaths. If it is going to cost money – then we have to find that money.
There weren’t a lot of concrete suggestions thrown out by others; mainly they went around the room and talked about what they’re currently doing, which included everything from public education to putting educational campaigns in the schools.
 A fence that cannot be easily climbed with a notice and a contact number for those under severe emotional stress is now in place at Drury Lane. Now for the rest of the Region and then the rest of the province and then the rest of the country. Davy said she listened and commented then said that the problem was clearly none of the things they were doing are working because people are still being killed.
Raitt proved to want to be more proactive than many expected. She made it absolutely clear according to Davy, that this is an issue for her, that she is concerned and glad that it was brought to her attention and said that it should be included with an overall review on rail safety. She is going to connect with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Rail Association of Canada and get the conversation going on the issue with them as well.
She also wants to go big with something on rail safety week which is April 28. It was mentioned a few times by various people, that the area around the GTA has the highest number of accidents in Canada.
Raitt gave Davy a printout that listed 29 accidents and incidents in Burlington, Milton and Oakville between 2009 and 2013. The total for Halton for same period was 46.
The tragedy came right to the doorstep of the Friday Roundtable in Milton. Passengers on the Lakeshore West GO line got the following message: Due to a police investigation of a trespasser fatality at Clarkson, train service on your line is suspended between Port Credit and Clarkson until further notice.
Davy had not seen the message as she was preparing to drive from Burlington to Milton for the Roundtable. “That is unreal. How many more people have to die before something is done!!! My heart is breaking reading this.” All the pain, the grief, the sorrow and the hurt came flooding back and the realization that the anniversary of her son’s loss was less than a week away.
Trooper that she is, Davy attended the meeting and left with a platform created for her by the Minister of Transport to get the message out. The matter of rail crossing safety was not on the agenda said the Minister – and added that “it is now”.
 Denise Davy rests a little easier knowing that fences like this at places where rail lines were once easily crossed might eventually get put up across the province. Raitt is planning something for the week of April 28th – Rail Safety week in Canada. The rail car disaster in Lac Megantic is the high-profile event – but Denise Davy now has a platform she can work from. She said after the Roundtable: “ I know change can’t come right away and the fact that I was given a platform to speak to such high level officials who are in a position to make change was a huge step forward.”
“The main thing” said Davy is “to watch where it goes from here. I am going to plan something for April 28 and told everyone in the room I would be open to working with any of them to do something on that date.”
Before Denise gets to April 28 – she first has to deal with March 27th.
Background links:
Single citizen get rail crossing safety improved.
Rail crossing deaths brought to attention of council.
 By Ray Rivers
March 20, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Another day, another free trade deal. Canada has landed what is being called a big one, this time with South Korea. Promoted by both Liberal and Conservative governments, these trade deals have inadvertently contributed to the de-industrialization of Canada.
Recall the sound of doors closing and windows being shuttered as the ink was drying on our first trade deal, the Canada-US FTA. Many of Ontario’s small and medium manufacturing enterprises, acting like characters in a Steinbeck novel, packed up and moved to larger markets, a warmer climate and the lower wage rates south of the border.
Former Ontario premier, David Peterson, had predicted that a quarter of a million jobs would be lost to FTA, and indeed, unemployment in Ontario more than doubled as its manufacturing sector took the hit. And then there was NAFTA. The Economic Policy Institute, a research think-tank in the US, estimated that by 2010 NAFTA had lost 700,000 US jobs to Mexico. It is worth recalling US presidential candidate Ross Perot and his famous prediction of a ‘giant sucking sound’, as American jobs rushed off to Mexico.
Free trade is just another economic theory. Hypothetical notions of absolute and comparative advantage sound logical on paper. But, the reality can be so different, particularly if the playing field is uneven, if your trading partners don’t play fair. South Korea is one of those nations which adjusts its exchange rates to make their exports competitive, and the nation employs a raft of non-tariff barriers to discourage its citizens from buying foreign goods.
 Cars being loaded on to ship for transportation to North America. with tariff removed many of those cars will come to Canada. The Korean deal is being sold as offering greater access to the Korean market for Canadian beef and pork, but even the government accepts that Canadian manufacturing, and auto making in particular will be hit by this deal. The US signed a trade deal, just last year, with South Korea (KORUS FTA) and their experience was that the US lost 40,000 jobs, and its historical trade surplus with Korea was turned into a substantial deficit.
Ford Motor Company, whose US parent had not initially objected to the KORUS FTA, pointed out this sad experience to the Canadian government just as we were putting the seal on our own trade deal. The PM’s response was a sharp rebuke to the manufacturing giant, accusing Ford of ‘duplicity’. Ford is Canada’s largest auto maker, employing about eight thousand people in Ontario and responsible for substantial spin-off employment, mainly in Ontario. Currently about a half million Canadians are employed in the auto industry, with fully a third of those in manufacturing. All Korean-made cars are imported into Canada.
Another potentially impacted auto-maker, Fiat-Chrysler, had been in discussions with the federal and provincial governments over financial support to help it expand its manufacturing operations in Ontario. Last September Ford had been awarded $140 million in a similar move to help it upgrade its plants. In fact the federal government maintains an open budget allocation just for this purpose. And jurisdictions south of the border have long used grants and loans to attract auto companies and other large employers to their states.
 Will beef actually get from Alberta to South Korea? Before either the federal or provincial governments could officially respond, Ontario’s provincial opposition leader, Tim Hudak, slammed any funding for Chrysler, calling it ‘corporate welfare’, ‘extortion’ and ‘ransom’. Both official levels of government were stunned and Chrysler immediately withdrew its request, claiming that it was not prepared to become a ‘political football’. Mr. Hudak, who is fond of complaining about Ontario losing its industrial base and jobs, needs to reflect on his behaviour and how he has shown himself to be unfit for the job of premier of this province. And his party needs to show him the door before the next provincial election, something a number of PC party members have already contemplated.
There will be winners and losers from this South Korean trade deal. While some beef and pork producers from Ontario and Quebec may see increased sales, most of the meat products will come from the west, primarily Alberta. On the other hand, Ontario auto makers Ford, Chrysler and GM, will los e sales to even cheaper Hyundai and Kia models, depressing both employment and provincial incomes.
Why would the federal government be so keen on adding more jobs into Alberta’s booming economy and driving up inflationary pressure there? And why are the feds OK with further depressing Ontario’s economy – the latest entry into the economic ‘have-not’club? It makes no economic sense, something that Ford and the Ontario government have been saying. And that is perhaps the reason this South Korean deal, which had been started a decade ago, had been left sitting on the shelf until now.
This is not only bad economic policy, it is patently unfair – unfair that a trade deal will benefit one province, one where the PM happens to reside, at the expense of another. Watching Quebec’s PQ government set the ground work for another sovereignty referendum, perhaps as early as next year, it is useful to reflect on what we tell Quebecers to expect by voting to stay in Canada. If it is not fairness, then what?
Background links:
Premier Peterson US Korean Trade Pact Free Trade and Jobs Auto Sector Worries Harper Slams Ford Harper Takes on Ford
Hudak Slams Chrysler Chrysler Backs Out
By Pepper Parr
March 17, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Information is power. Knowing what is happening gives the person with the information an advantage over the person who doesn’t have that information.
City hall has tons of information – getting at it is not always easy.
 The city recently released a report, it was put together by Andrea Holland of the Clerks department and covers almost every sin imaginable when it comes to what information there is, what you can have, what you can’t have and how you get it. It’s not exactly an easy read but the information is there.
Transparency, accountability and privacy are common themes today. The City of Burlington is committed to fostering a culture of transparency, based on the principle that city information:
Must be provided to the public, limited by a few exceptions
Should be released proactively and responsibly.
Early in this decade the provincial government created the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act; FIPPA for short. The purposes of this Act are,
(a) to provide a right of access to information under the control of institutions in accordance with the principles that,
(i) information should be available to the public,
(ii) necessary exemptions from the right of access should be limited and specific, and
(iii) decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government; and
(b) to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by institutions and to provide individuals with a right of access to that information.
The province then created a sub set for the municipal sector and called that MFIPPA. In order to provide clarity around the FIPPA legislation with regards to records of members of council and the protection of personal information contained within those records, staff have prepared a reference guide – Access, Privacy and Records, A Guide for Council. It is to provide you with information to make informed decisions about the personal information you have within your office.
 The guide was prepared in consultation with staff and members of council to ensure that the information provided was clear and informative. Further research was conducted on Information and Privacy Commission orders that have been issued with respect to councilor records as well discussions with staff from the Ministry of Government Services.
The Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) came in to effect on January 1, 1991. It applies to all municipalities in Ontario, including local agencies, boards and commissions, school boards and police services.
MFIPPA has two purposes:
Allows every person to request information from a municipality
Describes how the municipality must respond to requests, step by step
Lists limited and specific situations where access must not or may not be granted
Allows individuals to access and correct their own personal information
Requires that municipalities protect personal information in their care
Establishes rules for how personal information must be managed, including proper collection, use and disclosure
Compliance with MFIPPA is overseen by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC). If a requester is not satisfied with the quantity or quality of information released by a municipality in an access to information decision (e.g. adequacy of a record search, information withheld under an exemption), or if an individual feels that their privacy has been breached while interacting with a
municipality, appeals and complaints may be made to the commissioner. Following an investigation, the IPC will then issue a public order or report describing the circumstances of an appeal or complaint, and what must be done to resolve the matter.
Transparency, accountability and privacy are common themes today. The City of Burlington is committed to fostering a culture of transparency, based on the principle that city information:
Must be provided to the public, limited by a few exceptions
Should be released proactively and responsibly.
This report explains how MFIPPA applies to elected officials at the City of Burlington, and provides guidance for how to comply with the Act in daily practice.
MFIPPA and the City of Burlington:
The City Clerk has been delegated with the responsibility for overseeing and administering MFIPPA within the municipality. Within the Clerks Department, the Records and Information Coordinator is responsible for the receipt and processing of access requests, providing advice and consultation to corporate staff, serving members of the public, and advocating for privacy and confidentiality throughout the organization.
FOI request process:
1. A request is received via mail, or in person at the Service Burlington counter. Requests must be accompanied by a legislated $5 fee.
2. The records and information coordinator sends a search memo to all affected departments and staff, which may include individual members of council.
3. Within 7 days, the affected departments and/or individuals provide unaltered and entire records to the records and information coordinator, along with recommendations on release, for analysis.
4. The records and information coordinator analyzes each record to determine whether or not it should be released under MFIPPA. At this stage, the Clerk’s department may seek an opinion from the City’s legal counsel.
5. When analysis is complete, a release package is prepared and approved by the City Clerk. Records may be released in part or in full, or withheld in their entirety, in situations where all responsive records are exempt from disclosure, or where no records exist.
6. All records pertaining to the request are securely stored in a locked cabinet in the Clerks Department until the required retention period has expired.
What is a record:
MFIPPA defines ‘record’ as “any record of information however recorded, whether in printed form, on film, by electronic means or otherwise.” The definition is broad in order to include the full range of possible information formats.
Under MFIPPA, councillors are not considered to be officers or employees of the corporation and records related to interactions with their constituents as elected officials (constituency records) are therefore not covered by MFIPPA and therefore not accessible under the Act. However, if a member of council holds corporate records  created by the City of Burlington, or is discussing city business, or where they relate to city business such as communicating directly with City staff, that information may be accessible under MFIPPA.
Councillor Assistants are considered to be City of Burlington employees, to which MFIPPA access provisions do apply.
 Constituency records:
Records of a councillor acting on behalf of a constituent and representing their interests are not accessible under MFIPPA. This includes all content, opinions and personal information contained in any correspondence to and from a constituent, i.e. name, phone number, email and mailing address. For more details on what constitutes personal information, see Definitions below.
Examples:
Correspondence from a constituent concerning a pothole in their neighbourhood
Email from a constituent requesting that the councillor attend a community event
Correspondence between a councillor and a private sector company
City business records:
Corporate records include information that is related to the business of the city, its agencies and boards, and may be requested through MFIPPA. All corporate records related to city business are also governed by the City of Burlington records retention by law 97-2005 and amending by-law 62-2013.
Examples:
Email sent to city staff and members of council, including carbon copies (cc).
Councillor records that advance the interests of the city.
Councillor forwards request for pothole repair to Roads and Parks Maintenance.
Roads and Parks Maintenance receives a request sent via email directly from a constituent to repair a city owned asset.
Email from a citizen, forwarded to a city department by a Councillor’s Assistant for follow up
Records related to a Council member’s involvement with a City agency, when acting on behalf of the city.
 Email:
Email between Council members and city staff is typically accessible under MFIPPA. Other email contents which are not generally accessible under MFIPPA include:
Citizen contact lists, addresses and phone numbers stored in email systems (hosted and on site, i.e. Outlook; Constant Contact.)
Emails between a member of council and a constituent or local business
Personal emails sent from one member of Council to another.
When a FOI request is received for councillor records, all requests will be analyzed on their own merit and a decision will be made whether the records are subject to MFIPPA or not, and if they are, a further decision will be made to release or withhold. Each request represents a unique set of circumstances that will need to be considered.
Councillor records management: During the term of office and when re-elected.
At the start of each term of office, members of Council will receive training on MFIPPA as part of Council orientation.
Corporate records related to city business must be retained and disposed of according to the City of Burlington records retention by-law.
Confidential and Transitory information, including draft or working documents and duplicate copies, can be securely destroyed in a locked shredding bin or with a cross-cut shredder when no longer required. On-site shredding services are highly recommended for secure disposal of personal, confidential and sensitive information.
Constituent records fall under the sole custody and control of the member of council. Even though MFIPPA does not apply to these records, each councillor should take steps to safeguard any personal information that is in their possession from unintended use or disclosure.
Constituent records can be treated as “General Correspondence” for retention purposes, with a suggested retention period of Current + 4 years.
 Any constituent records and/or personal information that has been collected by a member of Council or received through the Councillor’s office, including contact details, that resides on city email or other city-owned resources, can not be shared or used for any purpose without the individual’s prior consent. Similarly, contact information cannot be shared with election teams without prior consent to do so from the individual. The voter’s list is not intended for use related to constituency business.
Before leaving office, a councillor may forward any outstanding constituency matters or ward-related documents to their assistant for future follow up with a request to the affected constituent for approval to send the unresolved matter to the incoming councillor.
Private or personal contacts saved in Outlook folders must be destroyed.
 If an elected official wishes to retain a copy of any records associated with their time in office, contact the City Clerk.
Any records and documents retained by former councillors must be kept according to the City of Burlington records retention by-law. Electronic records should be encrypted, using one of several methods available.
When there is a change in office, the Councillor’s assistant should send an email to all current recipients of the Ward newsletter, offering a clear option to opt in and continue receiving the newsletter, or to opt out from future communication.
One example is provided below:
“As you may be aware, a new Councillor will be in place for Ward X as of December 1. If you wish to continue receiving the Ward X newsletter, please opt in at the link below.”
Collection, use and disclosure under MFIPPA
MFIPPA includes specific requirements for how municipalities collect, use and disclose personal information.
Every time that personal information is collected by a municipality, notice must be provided to the affected individual(s) which states:
The legal authority to collect
The purpose(s) for which the personal information will be used
The title, business address and telephone contact for an officer or employee who can answer questions about them collection.
MFIPPA prohibits the collection of personal information unless the collection is:
Expressly authorized by law, or
Used for the purposes of law enforcement, or
Necessary to the administration of a lawfully authorized activity.
 The personal information collected by an institution may only be used under the following conditions:
With informed consent from the individual
For the purpose for which it was obtained or compiled, or for a consistent purpose.
A municipality is not permitted to disclose personal information in its custody or under its control, unless the person to whom the information relates has consented to its disclosure, or in a few other limited circumstances described under the Act, for example: when there is statutory authority to disclose for law enforcement purposes.
Example:
The name and address of a citizen signing in at a public meeting can only be disclosed if the citizen provided consent,or if the possibility of disclosure was indicated in a written collection notice posted at the meeting.
The use and disclosure of personal information must always be consistent with the original purpose for which it was collected.
A consistent purpose is defined under MFIPPA as something an individual might reasonably have expected. Reasonable expectations are typically established in collection notices.
Under MFIPPA, councillors do not have any special right of access to records held by municipalities, including the personal information of citizens and employees.
In other words, members of council may only access information that would not normally be exempt from disclosure under MFIPPA. The same is true for former members of council or employees who, at one time, may have had access to records in the performance of their duties.
This approach is intended to protect members of council and the City of Burlington from the following risks:
 Contravening MFIPPA
Breach of privacy or confidentiality
Negative media exposure Example:
Members of Council cannot access contact information listed on public meeting sign-in sheets unless the attendee has consented to that kind of disclosure in advance.7
Records of unsuccessful tender submissions for a city construction project are reviewed and redacted according to MFIPPA exemptions before being received by a member of council, if requested outside of standing committee and council documentation
Councillors may have a right of access to certain types of information that would not be available to the general public, if they require the information in their capacities as members of council in order to carry out duties related to that function.
Councillors who wish to request information from the City of Burlington outside of their official capacity may submit an FOI request to the Clerk’s department at any time.
Access to personal information:
Where a councillor acting in their official capacity seeks access to personal information held by the city (for example, the personal information of an employee), information may only be obtained if the individual has provided prior consent.
The Mayor, as Head of Council, is considered an “officer” of the City. The Mayor’s records that relate to the mayoral duties, as opposed to constituency or personal papers, are considered to be in the City’s custody or control and therefore may be requested under MFIPPA.
 Examples of mayoral duty records, which may be accessible:
Notes taken at Burlington Hydro meeting, while acting in official capacity
Speech delivered at opening of new recreational facility
Staff within the Office of the Mayor are considered to be in political positions, to which MFIPPA access provisions do not normally apply. For example, an email sent from the Mayor to one of their staff members would not typically be accessible under MFIPPA. However, if city staff are copied on the email, it could be accessible.
Any time that the Mayor or one of his or her staff forwards a customer service or constituency matter to city staff for follow up, that record may also be requested under MFIPPA.
This is in contrast to staff working within Councillor offices, who are considered to be City of Burlington employees to which MFIPPA access provisions do apply.
Definition of personal information:
“personal information” means recorded information about an identifiable individual, including,
(a) information relating to the race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation or marital or family status of the individual,
(b) information relating to the education or the medical, psychiatric, psychological, criminal or employment history of the individual or information relating to financial transactions in which the individual has been involved,
(c) any identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned to the individual,
(d) the address, telephone number, fingerprints or blood type of the individual,
(e) the personal opinions or views of the individual except if they relate to another individual,
(f) correspondence sent to an institution by the individual that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature, and replies to that correspondence that would reveal the contents of the original correspondence,
(g) the views or opinions of another individual about the individual, and
(h) the individual’s name if it appears with other personal information relating to the individual or where the disclosure of the name would reveal other personal information about the individual.
There you have it. Not the kind of document you will take to the beach to read in the summer – but it is the kind of document you might want to refer to – and it will be on the Gazette website for a long time – until it is revised.
In the past these rules have not been fully observed. with an informed public – we just might see better compliance.
 By Pepper Parr
March 15, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
John Willard has certainly put a much different twist on what we thought quilts were all about. Canadians used to see quilts as things that people on farms used – often made out of bits and pieces of discarded clothing and flour sacks.
We then saw quilts done by the Mennonite community that were pieces of art – with traditional patterns that sold into the tens of thousands at the annual quilt sale in New Hamburg each fall.
 A lot of tradition in this quilt but the use of pastel colours move it out of what many see as the “traditional” rural quilt made from remnants and flour sacks. Then along came John Willard who introduced designs that had not been seen before and quilt making was now going in a different direction. Willard has a 40 year retrospective on at the Burlington Art Centre where there is a feast for the eye and, if you look very closely, some very, very powerful statements hand stitched into a quilt.
There are a number of quilts that would meet the demanding standards of the Mennonite community and there is one that would fill the wall of one of those Lakeshore mansions.
Willard will tell you the very moment he became an artist. The family came across an old trunk stuck in a chicken coop on a family farm in Shediac, New Brunswick. It was filled with brightly coloured crepe paper – that moment James Willard could almost feel the colour entering his blood stream – we see that colour today on the walls at the Burlington Art Centre.
Willard was a set designer, a photographer He bought his first quilt in 1972; in the next five years he could display a collection of 30 quilts.
His work has meandered all over the place. He worked as a custodian at the Oakville Library and later accepted the position of Publicity and Programming Assistant which he held for 23 years.
Willard’s introduction to the finer art of actually quilting was received at the hand of Michael James who was giving workshops. Willard didn’t subscribe to the diehard traditionalists who insist quilts must be completely hand stitched from geometric blocks, have four square corners and be used as bed covering upon completion. Willard went with those who believed a quilt could be of any size, shape, texture or subject matter and could be hung on a wall to be admired as a work of art.
 It all began on an evening in 1907 needs very close inspection. What appears to be white caps on the waves is much more than the eyes sees at first glance.
There is a quilt that didn’t do much for me when I glanced at it. It saw it as a postcard, mildly interesting, until a woman asked if I’d looked at the Titanic – I said I had but it wasn’t my kind of quilt – but that I did like the ribbon quilts. “Take a closer look” the woman said to me. I did and said – “so it’s a quilt of the Titanic sinking – there are two of them.”
 The names of those lost when the Titanic sank in 1907 With that tone of voice only a teacher or a Mother can use, the woman said: “get closer” so I walked up and took a really close look – and then it hit me. The names of the more than 1500 people whose lives were lost when the Titanic sank at sea were hand stitched into the waves the ship was sliding beneath. The quilt is called: It all began on an evening in 1907.
 This massive piece needs a very large wall – it takes over any room it is installed in – but then what a room. The colour, the energy – it is almost a tapestry. The Ribbon Series, of which here are seven at the exhibit, celebrate a turning point in Willard’s life when he came out of the closet and embraced his life as a gay man with a joy and celebration that is evident in the flows of the ribbons in some of the quilts and the tight design and discipline in others.
 The colour, the flourish and the tight discipline take the art of quilt making some distance from the remnant quilts traditionally seen as folk art. Willard is very much a quilter, evident when you watch the way he holds the needle and draws a thread tightly but he has always relied on fellow quilters who have worked with him following his designs and instructions. The late Alvina Martin and Linda Robertson have done much of the finishing work from designs Willard spent months perfecting.
This is an exhibit well worth the time. It is the work of a master who broke old moulds and advanced the art of quilt making to a new level.
The quilts are on display until the end of the month – well worth some of your time.
 By Pepper Parr
March 15, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Much like the way rolling stock went through town at the Burlington Junction, what we fondly call Freeman Station, people come and go at the organization that is getting ready to begin real work on the structure that now sits on the north side of Fairview just before you get to the fire station.
 It was a proud day for James Smith – the signing of the Joint Venture Agreement between the city and the Friends of Freeman Station. Smith, standing behind the red light, signed on behalf of the organization. The Board of Directors announced that James Smith, President of Friends of Freeman Station (FoF) has resigned for personal reasons – good personal reasons. Smith will remain on the Board of Directors. He was a lead player in the significant effort that saved the station from the wrecking ball – the city did everything it could to get rid of the building – weren’t even able to sell it for scrap wood.
Brian Aasgaard, will assume the position of President; he served as a Vice-President of Friends of Freeman Station for a number of years. Brian has done an outstanding job as Vice-President, and will devote the same level of high energy and enthusiasm he has always shown. Brian has this uncanny knack for getting people to give the FoF stuff that relates to railway operations.
The FoF is always looking for new members, especially people who are good with tools and want a reason to get out of the house and be with the guys.
 John Mellow stands in the cold with artist David Harrington proudly displaying a print of the building the FoF are refurbishing to its 1906 condition. The renowned, internationally acclaimed heritage artist, David Harrington has taken out a membership and generously donated one of his limited edition prints to Friends of Freeman Station to assist in their fundraising efforts to restore the station back to its 1906 when it was first constructed. This limited edition “ The Burlington Freeman Station” print is numbered 19/500, signed by the artist.
Getting the public to take a sense of ownership in a project is a fine art – coming up with a name that tells the story in a few words is part art and part science. The good people over at the Friends of Freeman Station appear to be breaking one of the cardinal rules in keeping a story alive and growing: never mix up the message.
 Most people know it as the Freeman Station – even though officially it was the Burlington Junction station and that is what the sign on the structure will say the day it is opened as a tourist destination. We are seeing the words Burlington Junction being used – and that is in fact the real name of the station. It was one of two train stops in Burlington. The Burlington West station was the one used by the farmers to ship their produce into Toronto. It was located near a farm owned by the Freeman family and came to be known as the Freeman station when in fact the Freeman’s and had nothing to do with the station. Farmers tend to talk in terms of property by the name of the people who own the land – even though the ownership of that land changed hands years ago.
However, the public knows it as the Freeman Station – introducing the real name in media releases just confuses people. Do what the politicians do – stick to the message. If you don’t – you lose your audience.
Background links:
Freeman station saved – city signs the agreement.
 By Staff
March 13, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
If the inaugural meeting is any indication of what’s to come from this grassroots group, several local charities and organizations will be benefiting from additional funding, simply because passionate and caring women are coming together as 100 Women Who Care Burlington.
The concept is simple enough – 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!
 Laurel Hubber, the energy behind this project said: “Just thinking about the impact we’ll have on much-needed charitable programs and services in our community is incredibly inspiring.”
She put the word out to her friends and networking circle and asked if they would give an hour of their time to talk about people and organizations in Burlington that needed some help. Once they had decided who – the cheques got written and the funds distributed – all within an hour.
 Having decided who they want to donate their funds to this first meeting of the 100 who care sat to have their picture taken. As a concept – this is very powerful. At their first meeting they chose the Burlington Humane Society as the recipient. Here is how Adrienne Gosse, Shelter Manager commented “the Burlington Humane Society was incredibly surprised to learn we were the recipients of this wonderful donation! You could hear the shouts of excitement and joy from the shelter staff and volunteers when we got the call from the 100 Women who Care foundation. This money will be used to provide our cats and dogs with all the medical care they need, such as medical exams by a veterinarian, vaccines, medications, spays and neuters, along with any additional care such as dentals and broken bone repairs.”
The group meets again on March 26, at Tansley Woods – for an hour, to donate and decide where the funds are to go this time. Meeting begins at 7:30 – ends at 8:30; registration takes place at 7:00 pm
Background links:
They get it done in an hour.
 By Staff
March 11, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
At a time when many were at church last Sunday, the fire department got a call – 10:56 am exactly – that smoke was coming out of the roof at 2063 Hadfield Court, a street north of Upper Middle Road, west of Appleby Line.
The first fire crew to arrive could see smoke and flames on the roof of the single family dwelling. Firefighters determined the fire originated in the attic area on the second storey of the house and pulled the ceiling beside the chimney down exposing the flames which were quickly extinguished.
 In a community with swimming pools in many of the back yards – a chimney fire cause damage estimated at $250,000 The fire had extended into the roof which moved the focus to the exterior of the house.
Once the fire was extinguished on the roof crews ensured that any extension from the fire was eliminated.
The fire was declared out and the home owner was allowed back into the building at 14:02, the fire trucks pulled out and that was it.
There were no injuries just massive water damage estimated at $ 250,000
The fire is believed to have been caused by a fire in the chimney The fire safety message in the media report: Have all chimneys cleaned and inspected every year.
And now the family at 2063 Hadfield Court begins the messy job of cleaning up and doing their best to get the smell of the fire out of the house.
 By Staff
February 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
If you are one of those who believes that there is an end to this winter and that Spring will arrive and the flowers will bloom and you are thinking about the work to be done to get your garden ready – there is a place you want to be: Saturday, March 1, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church 662 Guelph Line for the Halton Seedy Saturday.
 A large variety of garden seeds will be for sale at the Halton Seedy Saturday. A $2 entrance fee will give you access to a day full of swapping seeds at community seed exchange tables, buying from heirloom and organic seed vendors, learning from garden experts, and garden craft fun for kids. You can also discover community garden opportunities in Burlington and Halton. Food and drink from Family First Organic Meals will be available for purchase.
Featured guest speakers: at 11:15 a.m., Karen Walsh, a Halton Master Gardener, will discuss starting vegetables indoors; at 12:15 p.m., Fran Freeman, an Urban Beekeeper, will present urban beekeeping and attracting pollinators; at 1:15 p.m., Linda Crago, an heirloom vegetable farmer from Tree & Twig will discuss exciting vegetable varieties for your garden; and at 2:15 p.m. Sarah Hemingway from Sarah’s Kitchen Garden, will present growing, cooking and preserving herbs.
Confirmed vendors and exhibitors thus far include: BurlingtonGreen, Greening Sacred Spaces, Oakville Sustainable Food Partnership-Growing & Sharing Food in Halton, Burlington Horticulture Society, Urban Harvest Seeds, Days to Harvest, The Plant Lady, Matchbox Garden & Seed Co., Sarah’s Kitchen Garden, Tree & Twig, Urban Beekeeper, and Halton Master Gardeners.
Additional information can be found at Burlingtongreen. Event proceeds will support Halton community gardens. Non-perishable food items will also be accepted for food bank donation.
Halton Seedy Saturday is brought to you by BurlingtonGreen, Greening Sacred Spaces (Halton-Peel), and Growing & Sharing Food in Halton, with funding support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Background links:
Burlington opens its community garden.
 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.
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