 By Staff
September 16, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Part 3 of a 3 part feature
All of the artists taking part in the Supernova this Friday are looking at the weather forecasts – this is an outdoor event.
throughout the area are gathering together the material and tools they will need to set up their art installations along Old Lakeshore Road for the third annual No Vacancy event – which this year is being called Supernova.
 Dozens of art ventures will appear on the Old Lakeshore Road, immediately outside, adjacent to and across the road from Emma’s Back Porch the evening of Friday, September 18th beginning at 7 pm – the installations will be in place until just after midnight and then disappear just as quickly as they appeared.
The now annual event that began in 2013 at the Waterfront Hotel where new ground was broken in the Burlington arts world. The second year drew 3500 people to the Village Square made No Vacancy, which is given a different title each year, an event that was now a must for the city.
Selena Eckersal and her crew – the people making all this happen with a piddling $5000 in financial support have announced that The Poacher Ukulele Band will be performing at SUPERNOVA on September 18th on Old Lakeshore Rd in Downtown Burlington, Ontario. They are a fun, passionate group that will have you singing and dancing along with them! Stay tuned to find out exactly what time and where they will be playing.
The Gazette has given a bit of a background on each of the participants – there are about 20+ of them – all up for one enchanting evening.
We start this time with:
 Emilio Portal
My practice is based on hunting and creating stories, scenarios and objects that explore the hidden, oppressed, unexpected, appalling, subtle and forgotten.
I am of mixed ancestry: my father is Peruvian; my mother, French Canadian. My origin is a constant personal reminder of the complex story of colonialism, expansion, growth, and its precarious and paradoxical terrain.
Through a multiplicity of means, (story-telling, photography, drawing, printmaking, poetry, video, sound, woodworking, installations and slow performances) I contemplate the questions:
How do we make meaning?
What is our ethos?
emilioportal.com
 Liz Little
Liz Little is a multidisciplinary artist working mainly in drawing, printmaking, and installation. She is a recent MFA graduate from the University of Waterloo and received a BFA with Distinction from Concordia University in 2010. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the United States, and Germany and is part of national and international private collections. She is the recipient of several scholarships and awards, including the Sylvia Knight Award in Fine Arts, the Keith and Win Shantz Fellowship, and the Bill Watson Memorial Award for Printmaking. She currently lives and works in Toronto, ON.
lizlittle.org
 Caitlyn Jean McMillan
Caitlyn Jean McMillan earned her Bachelor’s Degree at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay ON in 2008, her Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Regina in Regina, SK in 2012, and completed two residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2008 and 2010. Since graduating, Caitlyn has shown in Thunder Bay, Toronto, Sudbury, and Sarnia, where she currently juggles art-making while working as the Community Arts Educator at the Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery.
Caitlyn Jean works in a variety of media, from painting and drawing to new media and projection. Sometimes she enlists the help of Lisa Smith for her expertise with new media work.
caitlynjean.com
Miles Rufelds
 Miles Rufelds is a video and media artist from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He received his Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Ottawa in the spring of 2015. Coming from a background of abstract drawing and painting, he has come to work primarily in video and installation art, but branches at times into photography, sculpture, and audio. Rufelds’ art addresses the absurd and often-contradictory relationships that have existed between human beings and inanimate objects throughout history, abstractly questioning the role that nonhuman things can play in both the construction and diagnosis of the post-industrial human psyche. He has exhibited in various channels of the Ontario art community, such as the University of Ottawa’s Gallery 115 and Paradigm Gallery, as well as Cambridge, Ontario’s Idea Exchange gallery.
 And All Was Bright
And All Was Bright (Ben Robertson) is a musician and multimedia installation artist from Burlington, Ontario, Canada. His sound arrangements are progressive, emotive and strongly driven by concept; they span the spectrum of melodic dronescapes, noise, and heavy distortion. His video arrangements are abstract yet convey the underlying concepts behind the work. The installations are fully immersive. He fills the performance space with heavily-processed sound, projected visuals and controlled lighting, occupying the viewers’ auditory, visual, and physical senses.
andallwasbright.com
 VERSA
Versa is an audio/visual collaboration between process-based artist Monika Hauck and musician Alex Ricci. Influenced by contemporary soundscape, instrumental post-rock and 60’s psychedelic, the project combines heavily effected bass guitar compositions with projected visuals created live on stage. The composition of the music serves as a cause for the visuals, and vice versa; the need for movement in the visuals dictates choices made in the arrangement.
Tomy Bewick
Tomy Bewick is the founder, host and artistic director of the Burlington Slam Project (BSP), a monthly poetry platform in Burlington, On. He is a poet familiar with national and international finals stages, as well as a full-time professional with a specialty in environmentally sustainable construction (LEED AP, BD+C). Tomy has published two collections of poems, released three full length spoken word CD’s and featured across Canada, with multiple appearances in the US. He enjoys working with new poetic voices in his community, as well as continuing to provide a platform for local and international artists to share their words, at the BSP.
www.burlingtonslam.wordpress.com
 Klaus Pinter
Klaus Pinter is an International Artist who Lives and works in Vienna. Quite how he wound up in Burlington is something you can ask him when yiou meet him Friday evening.
klaus-pinter.net
 Frances Adair McKenzie
Picture
Frances Adair Mckenzie lives and works in Montréal. She combines genres and technologies to invoke fantastical internal and external worlds. Her work results in a din of concentrated effects, melding both high and low cultural references.
Frances attained a diploma in New Media from B.C.I.T. and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University. The National Film Board of Canada has com- missioned her animations and her work has been exhibited at the Musée de art Contemporain de Montréal, and the Société des Arts Technologiques. Frances also collaborates with Aleks Schurmer, to form the collective Party Like it’s 1699. The collective’s aim is to take classical music from the confines of the modern concert hall and reclaim it as a popular medium in the form of a digital Baroque opera.
 Brody Robinmeyer
Brody Robinmeyer is of European-Dominican descent, was born in Toronto moved to Iceland and then back to Ontario. Briefly studied in the U.K. as well as Germany. Graduated with a fine arts degree from Ryerson University. His artistic practice is strongly influenced by current scientific understanding and its intersection with eastern philosophies (i.e. hsin hsin ming). Currently working from his atelier in Hamilton.
Ms. Anonymous
 Ms. Anonymous has been namelessly creating art for almost two decades. You may have already seen her work without knowing it was hers, been in her presence without noticing her, and been touched by her work in some way. Ms. Anonymous prefers to remain nameless, faceless and unknown without the need for any recognition. She wishes for her art to speak for itself, with a voice of its own and an energy and life force that lives beyond the need for a creative host. Ms. Anonymous believes that it is her anonymity that allows her to be bold, provocative and unafraid in art.
Part 1 of a 3 part feature.
Part 2 of a 3 part feature
 Cine Starz Upper Canada Place
460 Brant Street
WWW CINESTARZ.CA
SHOWTIMES September 18 to 24 , 2015
PIXELS PG
Fri to Sun 11:15 1:15 3:15 5:15 7:15 9:15
Mon to Thur 1:00 3:00 5:00 7:00 9:00
RICKI AND THE FLASH PG
Fri to Sun 11:30 1:30 3:30 5:30 7:30 9:30
Mon to Thur 1:00 3:00 5:00 7:00 9:00
TRAINWRECK 18A
Fri to Sun 3:00 5:10 7:20 9:30
Mon to Thur 1:00 3:00 5:10 7:20 9:30
AMERICAN ULTRA 18A
Fri to Sun 11:20 1:10 3:45 5:30
Mon to Thur 1:10 3:15 5:10
JURASSIC WORLD PG
Fri to Sun 11:15 1:10 5:20 7:15 9:40
Mon to Thur 1:00 5:15 7:15
SOUTHPAW 14A
Fri to Sun 1:30 7:20 9:30
Mon to Thur 7:00 9:15
INSIDE OUT G
Fri to Sun 11:20 1:15 3:15 5:15
Mon to Thur 5:20
PAPER TOWNS PG
Fri to Sun 11:15 3:25 7:40
Mon to Thur 1:00 3:15 7:30 9:30
AMY 14A
Fri to Sun 9:30
Mon to Thur 3:00 9:30
 By Staff
September 15, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Artists throughout the area are gathering together the material and tools they will need to set up their art installations along Old Lakeshore Road for the third annual No Vacancy event – which this year is being called Supernova.
Dozens of art ventures will appear on the Old Lakeshore Road, immediately outside, adjacent to and across the road from Emma’s Back Porch the evening of Friday, September 18th beginning at 7 pm – the installations will be in place until just after midnight and then disappear just as quickly as they appeared.
The now annual event that began in 2013 at the Waterfront Hotel where new ground was broken in the Burlington arts world. The second year drew 3500 people to the Village Square made No Vacancy, which is given a different title each year, an event that was now a must for the city.
During the next few days the Gazette will tell you a little bit about each participant – there are about 20+ of them – all up for one enchanting evening.
We start this time with:
 Apollonia Vanova is a Contemporary artist from Slovakia, currently residing in Canada. She is a graduate from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, BC. Before she attended university, she travelled to Italy and became an apprentice to the famed sculptor Tomasso Gismondi. Upon her return to Canada, she opened Vano inc., where she designed and produced large ceramic murals. Her first commission at the age of 20, was a 20′ x 5′ pediment sculpture for a Neo-classical private villa. Apollonia works out of her private studio in Toronto, Ontario and continues to create contemporary sculptures and installations in various media including bronze, steel, leather, hair, as well as paintings in oil and acrylic.
Her work has been exhibited in galleries across Canada, and acquired internationally in private collections. Currently, her artwork explores narcissism within contemporary society through the meaning and interpretation of language, myth, dreams, instincts and objects of desire.
vanovaart.com
 Ryan Van Der Hout
Ryan Van Der Hout is a photo based artist working in Toronto. His work explores photographic materials and experimental processes. Ryan has an ongoing documentary project focused on artistic process and studio space.
Ryan’s work has been exhibited across Canada, the U.K. and in New York and is held in both private and public collections.
He’s a graduate of Ryerson’s photography program.
ryanvanderhout.com
 Keith Busher
Hamilton, Ontario based artist Keith Busher started Precious Mutations in January 2012. Inspired by the art of David Irvine, and tired of his kids watching the same old television programs repeatedly Keith took his kids to the local ‘Drop n Shop’ to find an up-cycling project. Keith came home with several ceramic figurines and began his mutating career. Since then he’s created over 50 mutations and continues to create every day. In May of 2013 Keith shared a show with David Irvine at Manta Contemporary Gallery entitled ‘Re-Visions’ and was featured in the Hamilton Art Crawl.Highlights of what he’s accomplished so far include his ‘Zombified Nutcrackers’ which were highly sought after during the holiday season of 2012 and saw his work get shipped globally to Australia, Japan, Europe and throughout North America.
Keith has expanded his ‘mutations’ to include photography and other items being up-cycled, no longer just figurines. You can find Keith and his Precious Mutations at this years upcoming Toronto Zombie Walk on October 26, 2013.
preciousmutations.com
 Sanjay Patel
Sanjay is Canadian of Indian descent, residing in between Hamilton and Toronto. His main focus for, “Live Art” is to capture the atmosphere and energy of the particular events he attends. This talented artist is also carving a path with his one-of-a-kind commissioned work; a unique experience that offers the client a custom abstract representation of the their energy, tastes and personality, while taking into consideration the current colour, lighting, and space in the room.
sanjaybpatel.com/
 Reg Moore
Reg Moore is a projection and light artist holding unique events under the name Realtime Activities. Realtime turns the clock back and forth with shout-outs to eclectic moments and personalities in motion picture, photography, animation, music and popular culture. Using an existing site and manipulating it, Realtime creates installations that are a visual feast for the average individual and a delight to the more seasoned viewer who recognizes Realtime’s incorporation of such ground-breaking works as “Moth Light”, “Rhythmus 21”, “Dog Star Man”, and “Matrix III”, to name a few. A Realtime installation is both a fabulous live event and a compelling expression of art.
realtimeactivities.com
 Jordyn Stewart
Jordyn Stewart is an emerging artist from the Niagara Region. Coming from a small town, she adopts child-like fascinations and curiosities from her upbringing. Now, immersed in developing urban environments, she investigates the materials found within these spaces in search for the familiar. Working predominantly in video and performance, she creates site-sensitive performances.
Stewart recently received her BA, Specialist in Art and Art History at University of Toronto, joint program with Sheridan College. She has most recently exhibited works at Trinity Square Video,Video Fever 2015, as well as, The Blackwood Gallery, Horizon Line. She is currently living in Toronto, interning as a curatorial assistant for Christine Shaw, the curator of The Work of Wind, an exhibition featured in this years Nuit Blanche. Jordynstewart.ca
 Tiffany Schofield
Tiffany Schofield is an emerging Canadian artist and curator. Her practice explores the relationship between the body, place and history through site-specific performances, photography, and video installations. Her recent work is concerned with the physical and psychological manifestations of the suburban landscape. Schofield recently completed her Honours Bachelor of Arts with a Specialist in Arts & Culture (Studio) at the University of Toronto Scarborough, where she received multiple awards and scholarships. Most recently, her work has been exhibited at Artscape Youngplace and Trinity Square Video in Toronto.
tiffanyschofield.com
 Elyse Portal
Somewhere between meditations and memorials, Elyse Portal’s creative research is rooted in embodied intimacies generated between local material research and place-based exchanges. Textiles and video confront solastalgia, a term coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht, which means the “homesickness you have when you are still at home.” Here, beauty is (re)discovered within the micro-processes of indigenous and invasive plant species. Materia medica is an ontological survey of ecological remembrance, including dye experiments with organic cloth and video of the watery plant pigment ecologies – alongside urban traffic.
elyseportal.com
There are others. The event, which has broken several of the artistic boundaries that kept Burlington a quiet sketches of flowers town for a long time is at that point where it will take on a life of its own and draw people from well outside the area. Will it ever equal the Supercrawl in Hamilton – would city hall ever let that happen?
 By Pepper Parr
September 14, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
It was a good healthy crowd.
All the right people said all the right things and when it was over Pam Damoff had a campaign office that was open and ready to take her campaign to the next level.
The campaign was close to running out of signs – a good omen? Depends on how many signs they printed up the first time around.
 Campaign chair Ed McMahon and campaign manager Keri Schoonderwoerd go over the agenda for a full campaign office opening. Fund raising is always a challenge – the Liberals fell back on a tried and true approach – pass the hat. It soon filled with $20 biils
Damoff is the Liberal candidate for Oakville Burlington North,(ONB) a new riding which makes it appealing to everyone.
 The western boundary of the Oakville North Burlington constituency is Burloak and Bell School line. With candidates in three different constituencies – voters are going to be confused on where they are supposed to vote. Messy re-distribution. This riding had quite an early history. Last summer, former Conservative MP Eve Adams and local chiropractor Natalia Lishchyna abandoned their bids for the Tory nomination amid allegations of wrongdoing.
 Liberal candidate and Oakville Town Councillor Pam Damoff opened her campaign office in Burlington on the weekend. Ward 6 Councillor for Oakville, Max Khan was the party’s original nominee. Mr Khan died in September, 2014. Oakville Town Councillor and longtime community volunteer Pam Damoff was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate on May 26, 2015.
There are five candidate: A Liberal, a Conservative, a Green candidate; a Libertarian candidate and a New Democrat.
The race in this riding, ONB, is between the Liberal and the Conservative. The eventual winner will probably be decided by the strength of the coat tails of Stephen Harper or Justin Trudeau.
The NDP candidate brings little to the race, the Greens hope for a strong showing so they have something to build on – and the Libertarian is there because the democratic process allows him to be a candidate.
The Conservative candidate has a very strong pedigree, impressive as well but it is going to be difficulty to see her in action.
Effie Triantafilopoulos is the Conservative candidate for Oakville North-Burlington. Prior to her candidacy, Effie held key roles in Ottawa as a Chief of Staff to Ministers responsible for three important departments: including, External Affairs and International Trade, Industry Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada. In these jobs, she provided strategic advice to the federal government on how to increase trade and economic growth.
She has also served as Deputy Director and Senior Advisor at the Summits Management Office of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada for the G20 Summit in 2010.
In the private sector, Effie specialized in corporate, international trade and immigration law while working closely with Canadian companies to create jobs, attract investment and find markets for Canadian products. She served as a director at leading business associations, including Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Ontario Exports Inc. and the Forum for International Trade Training.
In the not-for-profit sector, Effie served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Canada. In this role, she promoted programs focused on improving the health and education of children in Canada and in countries across the world.
Effie received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Toronto, followed by a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa and a Master of Laws in International Trade and Competition Law from Osgoode Hall.
Effie is committed to public service and volunteerism, and has played an active role in community and national not-for-profit organizations for more than 25 years, including the Hellenic Heritage Foundation and Accessible Media Inc.
The Gazette sent in a request to be added to the ONB media list – and were told we would be added – nothing so far – but then it is early in the campaign.
The Green Party nominated Adnan Shahbaz an educator working in the Curriculum Support Services division of a local school board as an Instructional Coach.
Libertarian Party of Canada nominated David Clement. David is a local entrepreneur in the consulting field.
On March 22, 2015 members from the ONB NDP nominated Rebecca Rajcak,an OSSTF member and high school teacher in Oakville. She later resigned the candidacy and Janice Best, a local union official, replaced her as the NDP candidate.
The Conservatives have reportedly told their candidates to keep their heads down – don’t take part in any debates; focus on the core vote, those died in the wool Tories who will take their ballot to the grave with them. The objective will be to get the Tory vote out and hope that the tide does not turn on Mr. Harper.
The first candidate campaign for Burlington had candidates from both Burlington proper and Oakville North Burlington (ONB) meeting in the Burlington library answering questions from youth.
 Candidates from both the Burlington and Oakville North Burlington constituencies take part in the first federal election event in the area. Wallace took part and managed to get out a statement on the Old Age Supplement – there were some seniors in the room – that is his target market. If he can keep them – and they do like him – he could be safe.
They appear to be depending on the solid Conservative vote in this part of the province. Effie Triantafilopoulos does not have a local profile but the party membership thought she was a better candidate than Blair Lancaster who was prepared to give up her ward six Burlington council seat and sit in the House of Commons.
We are now into the thick of the campaign that pollsters are calling a dead heat between the Liberals and the New Democrats nationally with the Conservatives losing a bit of the lead they had
 Pam Damoff campaign manager Keri Schoonderwoerd passes the hat to raise funds for another print run of campaign signs. The focus of the campaign appears to be shifting from one scare tactic – that the terrorists are going to arrive on our shores in droves to a new scare – the economy is not safe in the hands of either Liberal Justin Trudeau or God forbid the socialists.
If the Conservatives can scare enough people – they might get themselves returned to office.
Damoff has local experience – she serves on the Oakville town council; she is personable, knows the issues and understands Ottawa where she worked in a number of administrative capacities for a Cabinet Minister.
She is certainly visible and has an active, committed, focused campaign team.
Burlington residents are now part of one of three different constituencies and will now be represented by three different people: all three could be female.
Going to be tough to get anything out of Ottawa with that kind of representation. The municipalities and the Region will have to scurry to get someone to listen to them.
.
 By Pepper Parr
September 14, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
How did this manage to happen?
Two of the more significant community events scheduled for the same day at basically the same time?
 Amazing Bed Race – doing its 6th Annual event – same day as the Terry Fox Run The 6th annual Amazing Bed Race on Brant Street in downtown Burlington, Sunday, September 20, 11am-3pm.
The Burlington Terry Fox Run course is a 5km or 10km loop long the beach and Spencer Smith Park. The start and finish are at the Pavilion at Beachway Park on Lakeshore Rd. Runners for 5km and 10km start at 9:00am. Everyone else starts at 10:00am. Registration opens for runners at 8:00am.
We have food, music, a raffle, balloons and tattoos, and even dog treats. Joins us for a run or walk and a great party atmosphere. It is a great day for a run or just a family day to remember Terry Fox and keep his dream alive.
The Amazing |Bed Race has people who formed teams, decorated a bed and race up Brant Street trying to beat a clock – it’s great fun
 Burlingtonians have been doing the \Terry Fox Run for 35 years. Raised close to $1 million. The Terry Fox isn’t so much great fun – it is a time of reflection and celebration for the thousands of people who show up – the way they have for the past 35 years.
It is a true pity that the two groups were not aware of the conflicting dates.
A person could cover both events – it would be a bit of a dash to get from one to the other.
Better planning would have made a difference.
 By Staff
September 10, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Route 1 bus Detours in Downtown Hamilton Sept. 11 – 14
 Beginning Friday, Sept. 11 through to Monday, Sept. 14, Burlington Transit’s Route 1 will detour in downtown Hamilton during the James Street Supercrawl.
Detour Information
Friday, Sept. 11 from approximately noon to 5:30 p.m.:
• Regular routing to York Boulevard and Queen Street
• Right at Queen Street
• Left at Main Street
• Left at John Street
• Left at King Street
• Resume regular routing
Friday, Sept. 11 (at approximately 5:30 p.m.) through to Monday, Sept. 14 (at approximately 1 a.m.):
• Regular routing to York Boulevard and Queen Street
• Right at Queen Street
• Left at Main Street
• Left at John Street
• Left at Cannon Street
• Resume regular routing
Cine Starz Upper Canada Place
460 Brant Street
WWW CINESTARZ.CA
SHOWTIMES September 11 to 17 , 2015
WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS 14A
Fri to Thur 1:20 3:10 7:20 9:15
SINISTER 2 14A
Fri to Sun 5:20 9:10
Mon to Thur 7:40 9:30
AMERICAN ULTRA 18A
Fri to Sun 1:30 5:40 7:30 9:20
Mon to Thur 1:30 3:30 5:20 7:10 9:20
FANTASTIC FOUR PG
Fri to Sun 11:30 1:30 3:30 5:20
Mon to Thur 5:30
JURASSIC WORLD PG
Fri to Sun 11:10 1:00 3:20 5:10 7:15
Mon to Thur 1:00 5:10
VACATION 14A
Fri to Sun 11:20 1:30 3:15 7:30
Mon to Thur 1:00 3:15 7:20
SOUTHPAW 14A
Fri to Sun 11:15 7:15 9:30
Mon to Thur 1:15 3:00 7:20 9:30
INSIDE OUT G
Fri to Sun 11:15 1:15 3:15 5:15 7:15
Mon to Thur 5:40
PAPER TOWNS PG
Fri to Sun 11:00 3:20 9:30
Mon to Thur 3:30 5:15 7:30 9:30
AMY 14A
Fri to Sun 5:00 9:15
Mon to Thur 1:10 3:20 9:00
 By Staff
September 8th, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Keith Marshall will be at the Fireside Lounge at the Art Gallery of Burlington to talk about his latest on Wednesday September 9th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
 His work is on display and will be open to the public until September 28th.
By Pepper Parr
September 8, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Once the “love in” part of the evening was over – those in the room at the Royal Botanical Gardens were able to take part in a good discussion on what the province was planning on doing about transit in the province.
 Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs is in the thick of transit issues as well – Ted McMeekin takes part in Town Hall on Transit Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon and Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs MPP Ted McMeekin hosted the event at which Minister of Transportation Steve Del Luca did most of the talking and the listening.
The stopover in Burlington was the fourth Town Hall type meeting Del Luca has held – 40-50 people in the room – close to a quarter of them bureaucrats of one flavour or another.
He told the audience that his mandate was to “catch up” and “keep up” on transit matters. While highways are a large part of that mandate – this meeting was about transit.
Difficult for a Burlington audience not to want to drift into highways when the QEW and the 403 cut us into pieces.
Del Luca pointed out that the government has committed $130 billion over ten years into getting a transit system that meets the needs – it’s amazing how these people throw around those big number – billions – millions.
An additional $31.5 million has been has been added to put a 15 minute – both ways service in place on the Lakeshore, Kitchener, Stouffville and Barrie services.
De Luca made a strong point when he explained the situation on the Barrie line: four trains leaving Barrie every morning and four leaving Union Station for the trip home each evening.
Which was Ok for people who just commute and stay in the city all day but for those who want to slip into the city for an early afternoon meeting and then head back to an office in Barrie the current service doesn’t work – those people explained Del Luca drive in and out – adding to traffic congestion and wasting a lot of time behind the wheel of a car.
The Transportation Minister added that getting 15 minute service has some hurdles to be gotten over – and the electrification of the system has its own problems.
Track ownership is also a problem – but Del Luca was able to leave the impression that he has a strong team and that they can learn to understand the problems and then find solutions.
What was refreshing was that Del Luca didn’t even try to sugar coat the problem.
 Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon hosts a Town Hall on Transit and lets the Ministers do all the talking. He made it clear that he wants to see the changes made within a decade and that to make it happen there has to be a change in the culture – the car isn’t going to be what it has been – both in the way it is used and in the way it is designed for the future.
The rail lines are going to be electrified – if we don’t do that greenhouse gasses will kill us all.
Everyone wants better service but the changes we need to make to provide that service will be disruptive – which boots the ball into the political realm. Del Luca’s trip to Burlington was to get a sense of what the public in this part of the world was thinking.
Something not usually seen at Burlington based event s was the participation of students from McMaster. All males and all appeared to be graduate level students – and they had good questions.
Del Luca, who represents Vaughan in the Legislature, pointed out that his mandate is focused on capital projects – this guy is building a transit system – all the bells and whistles on what happens when the transit system is in place is the responsibility of the municipalities that connect with those rail lines.
The only thing the Ministry does, explained Del Luca, is give the municipalities a portion of the gas tax it collects. Burlington got between $20 and $21 million last year.
There are Buringtonians who come close to swallowing their tongues when they see some of that tax rebate being put into infrastructure (roads) upgrades and upkeep.
The cultural change the Minister is working to bring about hasn’t penetrated as deeply as it is going to have to in Burlington – the city may be one of the last to fully understand what has to be done.
There were people from Burlington transit and transportation in the room – but they didn’t seem to be paying a lot of attention from where I was sitting.
There was a little bit of money for new ideas and pilot projects explained Del Luca. “We put $1 million into a fund for new ideas and doled it out in $100,000 grants. It was so popular and useful that we increased the annual allotment to $2 million.”
Milton got a grant to create an application that would let commuters use their smart phones to tap into their transit schedule – there was no mention of any application from Burlington Transit.
 Minister of Transportation for the province Steve Del Luca engages Greg Woodruff on the role of the car in future transit plans – both agree the car isn’t going away. Aldershot activist Greg Woodruff engaged the Minister on the role cars would play in transportation. He pointed out that the car is undergoing a very radical change and added that research suggests there will be 40% fewer cars on the road within the decade – what does that do to your transit plans he asked.
Del Luca told Woodruff he didn’t think he was wrong and added that within the decade 70% of the cars on the rod will be automated. Both men agreed that the car was not going to go away and it doesn’t need to go away – it will just play a much different role and will not dominate the way it has for the past number of decades
While transit was the focus of the meeting – land planning policies that make sense was a critical clutch point – and the sense in the room seemed to be that we weren’t doing all that well on developing those policies.
 Ted McMeekin, a political activist who got into government to make changes talks with Rishia Burke, a staffer with Community Development Halton – an organization McMeekin got started with others many years ago. One could almost see the torch being passed. Minister McMeekin, who wasn’t saying all that much, explained that he was coordinating a review of the urban sprawl we have to work with and what part urban boundaries play in transit planning.
There are transit advocates in Burlington who wonder why the Oakville, Milton, Burlington and eventually Halton Hills transit services are not rolled into a single service – York Region has done that very successfully.
At some point there is going to be transit service along Dundas and rolling up into Milton – whose court will that ball be in – Milton or Burlington?
Creating a smoother transition for transit users in the east end of the city who want to or have to use both Oakville and Burlington transit is another problem
When Burlington’s politicians got all hairy about transit and began taking the bus to work, and making sure there was a photo op to prove they had actually ridden the bus, ward 2 councillor Marianne Meed Ward took the bus to a Regional meeting – that isn’t something she will be doing again.
It has become clear to the government that in order for transit use to be increased – growth and intensification has to be along transit lines.
 Vito Tolone, interim director of transportation for Burlington, did a lot of listening as the two provincial minsters did all the talking. Their comments seemed to tie into the Draft Transportation Master Plan Tolone is working on Where are the transit corridors going to be in Burlington. Vito Tolone, interim Director of Transportation, is working on a Transportation Master Plan – a draft was put together by people from both planning and transportation. While far from complete – there were some pretty solid suggestions as to the direction the city could consider taking.
Unfortunately there wasn’t much in the way of enthusiasm in the response from city council on what was a well presented set of suggestions and ideas – whatever Burlington does – transit is going to have to be the core – and this city council just doesn’t have much of an appetite for more busses on the streets – all they can see is empty busses going by.
Minister Del Luca asked the municipalities to “work with us and get it right” He wants to do away with the artificial transit barriers and the artificial municipal barriers to get it right.
It is not going to be easy to do that with the city council Burlington has today.
The last topic to get some time was the HOT lanes that were put in place for the Pan Am Games. It may not be popular, but High Occupancy Toll lanes are becoming the flavour of the month in transit and transportation circles.
Ontario transportation officials are fine-tuning a plan to introduce the concept to selected highways in the Greater Toronto Area. Most Ontarians are familiar with HOV (or High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes that require a vehicle to have at least one passenger.
The HOT lane expands upon that, extending access to lone motorists — but charging them a toll. The government is moving ahead on installing high occupancy toll lanes. These are on the way but “we want to make sure we get it right,” he told the media.
At the Burlington event Del Luca said the move wasn’t intended to produce revenue but to free up capacity – the thinking being that if someone was prepared to pay a fee to drive in a HOT lane that meant their car would not be taking up space in the free lanes.
Del Luca told the Burlington meeting that the government had not clearly communicated what the program was, how it would work and the difference it would make.
He certainly got that part right. Many wonder just what the cost would be – and how much would be spent on creating the things – whenever government and technologically are in the same room – the costs just seem to rise – remember the mess and the expense with making hospital records electronic – gazillions – and it isn’t done yet.
 By Pepper Parr
September 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Prime Minister came to town and spoke to a decent sized audience at a small steel plant and told them if his government was re-elected there would be an Advanced Manufacturing Hub created in Burlington. A number of people in the twitter world were asking – what is an Advanced Manufacturing hub?
 Prime Minister Harper making his Advanced Manufacturing hib at a steel plant in Burlington on Tuesday. The Gazette is asking – where does that hub fit in with the long range Strategic Plan the city has been working on. We are in pretty close contact with the Economic Development Corporation in Burlington and we’ve not heard a word about this idea from them.
The city is certainly talking about hubs, mostly in a transportation context, with the idea of developing both housing and office accommodation as part of those hubs. The city has four mobility hubs of in mind; one at each of the GO Stations and another at the John Street bus terminal.
 Federal Liberal candidate for Burlington: Karina Gould Liberal candidate Karina Gould, who was in all probability not in the audience when the Prime Minister spoke, had these comments on the Conservative announcement.
“After a decade of watching manufacturing jobs disappear under Stephen Harper no voter is going to believe that he suddenly cares about the sector. Over the next 10 years a Liberal government will invest $60 billion in the kind of productivity enhancing infrastructure that all sectors, including manufacturing, need to compete in the 21st century.
“Strong economies produce goods. Manufacturing is the number one investor in research and development. It provides good jobs outside urban areas as well as in urban centres. We will help manufacturers to modernize and to reach new markets. We will help small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets and help them gain a foothold in Europe. We need to be prepared for the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
“Since Stephen Harper came to power our growth in exports has been the worst of any G7 country.”
 Conservatives at 28.8; NDP at 30.8 and the Liberals at 29.7 – tight. There is certainly an election taking place and with the opinion polls where they are it is an all-out effort on the part of every candidate.
 By Pepper Parr
September 1, 21015
BURLNGTON, ON
It wasn’t a debate – but it got pretty freewheeling a couple of times and it was a more than decent opportunity to hear what the candidates thought about specific issues and to get a sense of where they were coming from in terms of why they were in politics.
The national picture – tight – some of the Conservative seats are going to have a different seats are going to be a different colour – |Is Burlington one of them? Too early to tell.  The event was sponsored by 3Things for Burlington – and was an event intended for youth. There were as many adults as there were youth in Centennial Hall at the public library but the young people brought the energy to the room. Some adults had questions they wanted to ask – there was no time – the young people had good direct questions – it was a pleasure to see them involved.
Randi Minaker introduces the panel: Laird, Best, Gould, Damoff, Shabaz, Clement and |Wallace. They each set out the position and their main arguments quite well. Some had to use notes – why? – while others wandered off the topic – Wallace. Attending were David Laird, New Democrat candidate for Burlington, Janice Best for the NDP in Oakville North Burlington, Karina Gould, the Liberal for Burlington; Pam Damoff the Liberal for Oakville North Burlington.
Adnan Shabaz the Green candidate for Oakville North Burlington, David Clement the Libertarian candidate and Mike Wallace.Member of Parliament for Burlington
David Laird is a long time New Democrat with some pretty hard boiled views on the economy and the role the banks play – he sees the money system as one that is a private thing run by the banks – he seems to have forgotten that the Bank of Canada is in the game and that the federal government regulates the banking industry.
Laird has the government in the pockets of the bankers. He referred to an Oxfam report that had 85 people owning 50% of the wealth in the world – which is a stretch.
Laird commented that he had never seen youth involved in an election before.
Karina Gould the Liberal candidate for Burlington reminded Laird that he once spoke at a civics class at MM Robinson – she was in the class – she went on to explain that it was those high school days that were the beginning of her political career.
Gould told the audience that most young people saw politicians as older men in suits. Gould said she found younger people don’t think they will ever have the lifestyle their parents have and that student debt and the environment were key issues – most seemed to feel they would never be able to own a home.
 Mike Wallace, Burlington MP, takes a closer look at art work at the Art Gallery of Burlington. Mike Wallace, the current Member of Parliament for Burlington has been an MP since 2006 and a politician for 26 years. Wallace commented on the audience having as many adults as youth – he wasn’t wrong. His advice for the young people: do your research and decide who has the competency to do the job.
David Clement is the Libertarian candidate for Oakville Burlington North. That political party. Which Clement described as fiscally conservative and socially liberal, has yet to actually elect a member to the House of Commons. Clement said he didn’t see politics as either left or right – what he wanted to see was a political process that empowered people.
Adnan Shabaz is the Green Party candidate in Oakville North Burlington. That party’s leader is a hero in Shabaz’s eyes – “She stands up and speaks her mind” and Shabaz certainly came across as very well informed with not much nonsense in his comments and answers to the questions he was asked.
He told the audience that a politician’s job is to represent the people; that their views are why a Member of the House of Commons is in Ottawa.
That is not what party politics is about. Several references were made to “whipped” votes – but no one explained to the young audience just what a “whipped” vote is.
Every political party has a person known as the “whip” whose job is to make sure the members of the political party are in the House and casting their vote in favour of the party’s policy.
The practice is referred to as “party discipline – without that discipline it would be very difficult to get anything done. However, it is when party discipline is overdone that democracy suffers; many feel that this is where politics in Canada has gotten to under the Harper government.
 Pam Damoff – Liberal candidate for Oakville North Burlington Pam Damoff, the Liberal candidate for Oakville Burlington North never tires of telling people that it is the young people that change the world – and she wants to be around as many young people as she can. The room at the Central Library certainly had more than her share of kids in red T shirts.
Damoff wants to see young people at the table – based on what was heard at the meeting Monday evening – those young people deserve a seat at the table – they had good questions and handled the meeting very well.
Damoff told the audience that the federal government is not doing enough at the municipal level – a point that Regional Chair Gary Carr would agree with that statement. The pie chart shows where the tax dollars go – that isn’t where the spending goes.
Janice Best, the New Democratic candidate for Oakville North Burlington commented that she would certainly like some of those young people on her campaign team.
She delivered one of the toughest comments to the young people. “You are going to become part of what is called the “precarious work force” – part time, low wages and no benefits. And if you did get to university” she added “you will leave with a degree and a debt load of about $26,000.
She pointed out that the student loan legislation has not been upgraded since 1971.
What was disappointing was that both Damoff and Best had to read from notes – one would have hoped that these two women would have had more than enough of a grasp on what they and their party stood for to be able to speak extemporaneously.
However – the two women were in the room – the same could not be said for Effie Triantafilopoulos, the Conservative candidate in Oakville Burlington North. She was a no show.
 Oakville Burlington North is a new federal riding.  Stephanie Bye and Randi Minaker made sure the event went smoothly – expect to hear more about Bye – WOW – she ran the event with an iron fist. Handling the speakers was left to Stephanie Bye – what a stick of dynamite this young woman was. Awesome she would say when a speaker had finished. Cool she would add. And when a speaker was getting off topic Stephanie was in there like a little Bull Terrier getting them back on track.
After each speaker had explained why they were there the questions came from the audience – here is where the audience got to see what they felt on an issue by issue basis.
Immigration was the base of a question from a young man who asked why a close friend had been waiting more than 11 years to get landed status. Mike Wallace did his best to explain what the issues work – but his colleagues were not buying it. It was almost a pile on.
Both Shabaz and Gould explained that if their parents had been in a Canada that has a Bill C 24 when they came to Canada– they would have been described as citizens with “second-class status”
 The boundaries for the federal constituency were changed – not by much but they were changed Bill C 24 is seen as a controversial piece of legislation that recently came into effect, allowing the government to revoke Canadian citizenship from dual citizens who are convicted of terrorism, high treason and several other serious offences.
As a result of the new provisions that came into effect a few months ago, many people warn that dual citizens, including those who were born in Canada, now have “second-class status” and that their Canadian citizenship can be “stripped arbitrarily.”
Added to that mix was the amount of information the government now collects on people. Both Shabaz and Clement felt this was a very serious problem. “No government should have that amount of information on any citizen” he said. The only person at the table who wasn’t comfortable with collecting of the data was Wallace – he seemed to buy into the government policy that this was necessary to catch the terrorists. Shabaz, Damoff, Gould and Clement saw this as fear mongering and believed that this approach to problem resolution was hurting the country.
 Karina Gould listens to a senior who had decided to take part in the Youth led event. Gould wanted to know “what has happened to Canada on the world stage” the reputation the country had twenty years ago is not the reputation we have today. The admiration and respect we used to have is no longer there, said Gould.
Damoff set out the environment, the economy, health issues and changing behavior as the issues that she wanted to hear about from people,
Clement wanted lower taxes “leave more money in my pocket” was his war cry.
Wallace, understanding what he has in the way of a political base, brought up the Old Age Supplement – he wanted to see the formula used to increase that monthly payment to seniors given an index that was considerably different than that used for the consumer price index.
His comments were well out of the ball park and Stephanie Bye shut him down pretty quickly.
 Richia Burke explains to members of 3Things for Burlington how she expects the meeting to go – and hands out the work assignments. The event was run by 3Things for Burlington, a youth group formed by Community Development Halton – they were great but no one said a word about that organization which is often struggling for funding to stay alive.
 By Staff
eptember 1, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Performing Arts Centre is going to be one of the stops for the World Premiere Tour of the unique classical ballet Sleeping Beauty.
The performance will take place October 2, 2015 at 8:00 pm.
Dance Critic Gary Smith will give a pre-show talk, in addition to a post-show chat with the artists.
 Sleeping Beauty, Performance, Act I Sleeping Beauty is one of the world‘s most famous classical ballets and holds a place in the repertoire of virtually every major company.
This major new ballet tells the enchanting story of Aurora and her prince complete with its inherently magical qualities and dazzling choreography. The fairy tale about a young woman placed under a spell to sleep for a hundred years only to be awakened by a kiss is an easily accessible story. It appeals to a child’s imagination and holds a special place in the hearts of adults.
 Superb performances of Sleeping Beauty are going to take place on the stage at the Performing Arts Centre – October 2 The underlying theme is the tug between the forces of good (the Lilac Fairy) and evil (Carabosse), serving as an important thread to the plot. Told in three acts, the ballet benefits from the character development and technical expertise for which Canada’s Ballet Jörgen is known.
Artistic Director and award-winning choreographer Bengt Jörgen focuses on the magical elements and the interpretation of the ballet as a nature allegory: The young woman represents nature, the wicked fairy is winter, who deadens life with pricks of frost until a young man, spring, cuts away the brambles to allow the sun to awaken sleeping nature. Sleeping Beauty by Canada’s Ballet Jörgen draws on the traditional choreography by Marius Petipa to spin a tale of nature and love that will inspire young and old alike.
 Sleeping Beauty has a very large cast – it is a traditional ballet that has been done as a Walt Disney film and is a favorite with young people and adults that appreciate the richness of the story and the strength of the dancers. The delightful story will be danced to the original 1890 score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set to a libretto based on Charles Perrault’s story La Belle au bois dormant. In ensemble with stunning costumes and captivating lighting design, Sleeping Beauty by Canada‘s Ballet Jörgen is guaranteed to provide an evening of entertaining and inspiring live performance.
If you want your children to have some understanding of what great ballet is – this is the event to take them to – the Walt Disney movie version always does well – real dancers with fabulous choreography is one of those things every child should have an opportunity to see.
Tickets can be purchased online www.burlingtonpac.ca, by phone 905-681-6000 or in person at the Box Office located at 440 Locust Street.
Cine Starz Upper Canada Place
460 Brant Street
WWW CINESTARZ.CA
SHOWTIMES September 4 to 10 , 2015
SINISTER 2 14A
Fri to Thur 1:20 3:30 5:20 7:15 9:10
AMERICAN ULTRA 18A
Fri to Thur 1:35 5:40 7:30 9:20
FANTASTIC FOUR PG
Fri to Thur 11:30 1:30 3:15 5:30
JURASSIC WORLD PG
Fri to Thur 11:10 1:00 3:20 5:10 7:00 9:15
VACATION 14A
Fri to Thur 11:20 1:30 3:15 5:10 7:30
SOUTHPAW 14A
Fri to Thur 11:15 7:20 9:30
INSIDE OUT G
Fri to Thur 11:15 1:15 3:15 5:15 7:15
PAPER TOWNS PG
Fri to Thur 11:00 3:30 9:30
AMY 14A
Fri to Thur 9:15
 By Staff
August 31, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Do you remember the s l o w dances?
Sure you do – and Kyle Tonkens, a local installation artist would like you to experience those wonderful evening dances once again.
 Your invitation. On Thursday, September 10, between 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm., Tomkins is inviting you have one of those slow dances as the sun sets in the west. The event features a real-time two hour sunset, where there will be live music, refreshments, and of course wonderful works of art on display.
I wonder if they will play Red Sails in the Sunset – that one always worked for me.
The event takes place at the The Art Gallery of Burlington on Lakeshore Road.
 It was vision and cultural courage that got this piece of art outside the Art Gallery of Burlington – plus the desire of a man to make a statement of his devotion to his wife. It will be held in the RBC Community room where a glorious sunset will be projected on the south wall of the community room. For those who want the real thing in the way of a sunset – they will be able to dance outside close to the Rebbecca – one mans statement of his love for his wife.
The sunset that will be projected was filmed at Princess Point – a part of the Cootes Paradise where the view of sunsets is incredible.
Admission is free.
By Staff
August 31, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
There is going to be a Town Hall meeting on transit issues on Tuesday September 1st at the Royal Botanical Gardens starting at 6:00 pm through to 7:30 pm.
 The event is being hosted by Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon and Hon Ted McMeekin, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs.
Ontario Transportation Minister Steven De Duca is the featured guest.
Not a lot of information in the meeting notice we were sent other than to say they will be speaking about transit issues and answering questions.
 Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon and Hon Ted McMeekin, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs are hosting the Transit Town Hall meeting. Transit is a major issue for Burlington as it grapples with the intensification that is to take place and an ever more crowed QEW.
GO transit is a provincial service that is critical to Burlington.
There was no sense that a major announcement is to be made – but there is a federal election and the Premier of the province has gotten behind federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau who recently announced a policy that will pump millions into public infrastructure.
The event is for anyone who wants to be at the RBG – the Gazette will report on the meeting.
By Staff
August 26, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
You might not be able to get a hot dog at Easterbooks on Thursday but you will be able to watch a film crew set up for the shoot they will be doing on Thursday, August 27th at Easterbrooks Restaurant at 694 Spring Gardens Rd.
 The location scouts wanted a place for a television segment that was going back to the past – Easterbrook’s certainly meets that criteria Halton Regional Police Service will manage short road closures of two to five minutes for filming.
Preparation takes place during the day – 7 am to 7 pm
With filming starting at 7 pm am running through to 2 am
Wrap up will be done on Friday, Aug. 28 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The television segment has to do with going back into the past – that helps understand why they chose Easterbrooks,
Pam Brooks, who works at the Spring Garden Road location said the television show is about a time capsule and a bunch of scientists that want to stop a plague that is taking over the world and another bunch of people who don’t want the plague to end.
12 MONKEYS is a character-driven science fiction thriller about one man’s desperate attempt to save mankind using a dangerous and untested method of time travel. The small screen version of 12 MONKEYS will star Aaron Stanford (Nikita), Amanda Schull (Suits), Kirk Acevedo (Fringe) and Noah Bean (Nikita).
A portion of the location filming will be at EASTERBROOKS, mostly exterior scenes with 1 interior scene.
 A blast from the past – the fifties style at Easterbrook’s was just what the television location scouts wanted. “About twenty guys showed up a few weeks ago and looked the place over and decided we were what they wanted” said Brooks.
The production company GEP 12 Monkey Industries is located in Toronto. One of the production crew is a Burlington resident.
Segments of the television show can be found on Youtube.
Cine Starz Upper Canada Place
460 Brant Street
WWW CINESTARZ.CA
SHOWTIMES August 28 to Sep 3 , 2015
FANTASTIC FOUR PG
Fri to Thur 11:15A 1:10 3:10 5:10 7:10 9:10
JURASSIC WORLD PG
Fri to Thur 11:00 1:10 3:15 5:30 7:20 9:35
VACATION 14A
Fri to Thur 11:00 1:20 5:20 7:45 9:40
SOUTHPAW 14A
Fri to Thur 11:10 1:25 5:15 7:15 9:30
INSIDE OUT G
Fri to Thur 11:10 1:00 3:30 5:25 7:20
IRRATIONAL MAN 14A
Fri to Thur 3:40 5:30
PAPER TOWNS PG
Fri to Thur 11:00 1:00 7:30
SPY 14A
Fri to Thur 3:00 9:15
AMY 14A
Fri to Thur 3:00 9:30
 By Pepper Parr
August 24, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
City council has decided that the completion of the Official Plan Review (OPR) will not get done until the Strategic Plan has been completed – the rub with that decision is that at the rate the Strategic Plan is going it may not be seen until sometime in 2016.
Council has some critical issues it must make decisions on – the budget has to get done, there are some key hiring decisions to be made and the significant seven that lead the city have to decide if they are going to manage to get along any better now that they have all had a vacation. Don’t bet on the latter.
The Committee of the Whole, which is the Standing Committee that is shepherding the Strategic Plan to its completion, isn’t going to meet until sometime in the middle of October – and the amount of data that the consultants hired to help with the creation of the plan are going to dump on the table could choke a horse.
The amount of research is staggering. We will get into that in a paragraph or two – what is disturbing is that when Council approved the research assignment the man charged with the responsibility of bringing jobs to the city wasn’t in the room.
 Frank McKeown, on the left explains a concept to Councillor Paul Sharman during the creation of the Strategic Plan in 2011. Frank McKeown, executive director of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation, (EDC) didn’t learn of the meeting date until a few days before it was to take place and he didn’t have a copy of the agenda – he had no idea how much research work the city had asked for. A lot of what was being asked for had already been done by McKeon and his organization.
McKeown intends to eventually scrub the data he has collected and post it on the EDC web site for anyone to see and use. Any self-respecting economic development department would do that. Quite why Burlington has hired someone to ask all these questions boggles the mind a bit – don’t we already have that information?
The left pocket clearly wasn’t talking to the right pocket – odd because everyone at city hall knows who McKeown is and have a high regard for the quality of his thinking and the manner in which he closes files and gets things done.
McKeown was the Mayor’s Chief of Staff for two years. He threw in that towel when he found that city hall wasn’t the kind of place where a lot of real work got done. Not because of the people doing the work – it was a leadership issue for McKeown – there wasn’t all that much of it.
There are several who are asking if all this work being done to put a Strategic Plan in place makes any sense. Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven thinks that what was created in 2011 is just fine – he’d go with that – but his view apparently isn’t shared by the rest of council.
 Councillors Meed Ward and Taylor tend to ask a lot of questions and are open to making the process more open. Taylor once threatened to walk out of Council and talk publicly about a report the majority of Council wanted to keep confidential. Councillor Meed Ward finds herself asking if the Strategic Plan needs just a refresh or does the city need a full reboot on what they created in 2011.
The ward two councilor was in an auto accident and was not able to take part in a number of standing committee meetings – including two that were critical – the first look at the draft of a Master Transportation Plan and the meeting at which the KPMG Strategic Plan assignment was threshed out and agreed upon.
The auto accident resulted in some serious concussion damage from which Meed Ward says she is recovering nicely and expects to be in fine form when Council resumes its work in September.
The research assignment sets out five major hypothesis: one labelled Economic, then 2 – Land Use Planning and the Built Environment, 3 – Demographics, Growth and Health, 4 – City Operations, Governance and Powers and 5 – Culture
A Primary hypothesis is examined along with several subsidiary hypothesis and the question the researchers would focus on. There were some pretty heavy duty questions asked.
Two concerns jump out: why is this level of work being done at this stage – should have been done at least six months ago – and when you look at the questions one is moved to ask: Don’t we already know the answers to these questions.
The KPMG approach argues that 1 – Trade-offs shape strategy, 2 – Strategy involves choosing among incompatible alternatives, each of which is attractive, 3 – Failure to choose puts the organization in a situation of becoming “stuck in the middle” and 4 – Straddling problems stymie the success of a clear strategy.
 The city hired consultants to take a deep (which means expensive) look into five areas: The economy; Land Use Planning and the |Built environment, demographics and Growth, City operations, governance and Powers and Culture. The KPMG approach to problem solving includes:
1. Focus analysis around key hypotheses
2. Triangulate around difficult problems to identify the right strategic levers
3. Keep analytical priorities aligned with key hypotheses
4. Manage precision of analysis to account for economies of effort.
Here is the Economic: Principal Hypothesis: The City of Burlington can transform its economy.
Q: What are the principal economic trends of the City of Burlington?
Q: What are the principal economic trends in the region?
Q: What are the relative economic attributes of the City of Burlington?
Q: What are the key policy levers that can be deployed and the materiality of their effect on economic outcomes?
Subsidiary Hypothesis: The City of Burlington can repatriate jobs and careers to within the City boundaries.
Q: What is the geography of employment for residents of the city?
Q: What is the current labor force composition of the city?
Q: What are the policy levers that can change the location of careers and jobs in the context of the regional economy?
Subsidiary Hypothesis: The City of Burlington can create more good paying jobs for Burlington youth
Q: What are the policy levers that can promote jobs and careers that keep younger residents in the City of Burlington?
Q: What is the current employment profile of ‘youth’ in the City of Burlington?
Q: What is the job trajectory for GTA youth over the short, medium and long-term?
 It was about 15 months ago that rural Burlington began the discussion 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. Will this kind of data find its way into the hands of the consultants helping the city work up its Strategic Plan. Subsidiary Hypothesis: The City of Burlington can promote and integrate the rural economy within its boundaries.
Q: What are the current characteristics of the rural economy?
Q: What is the likely trajectory of the rural economy in this region in the short, medium and long-term.
Q: What are the key regional institutions that could play a role in developing the City’s regional rural economy?
Q: What are the key policy levers the can affect the rural economy?
Subsidiary Hypothesis: The City of Burlington can help create an “innovation economy”
Q: How have other municipal jurisdictions created the conditions for an innovation based economy?
Q: What are the key characteristics of an innovation based economy?
Q: What are the policy levers that Burlington can deploy to create such an economy?
Principle hypothesis: City Operations, Governance and Powers:
The City of Burlington can reform is governance, operations and increase its powers to better implement its strategic vision,
Q: What are the key areas where the City of Burlington does not have the appropriate discretion to implement policies?
Q: How does, and in which areas does provincial policy constrain the City of Burlington?
Q: How does relationship with neighboring municipalities enhance or constrain the City’s ability to deliver services for its population?
Subsidiary Hypothesis: The City can deliver services in a more efficient and effective manner.
Q: What are the current challenges of service delivery?
Q: What are the different models that could be used to administer the city and deliver services more effectively?
 A rapt audience listened to an overview of a city budget. What they did was listen to what the city had already decided to do. Is there a better way to involve the public. Subsidiary Hypothesis: The City can incorporate its citizen’s into decision making and program delivery in a more effective manner.
Q: How have other jurisdictions incorporated citizens better into government decision making and policy delivery?
Subsidiary hypothesis: The city can increase its financial capacity to deliver services invest in infrastructure or cut taxes
Q: How much of the City of Burlington’s spending is discretionary in the short, medium and long-term?
Q: What is the revenue mix of the City over the short, medium and long-term?
Q: What are the current revenue levers?
Q: Are there innovative ways to fund, finance and deliver services being deployed in other jurisdictions that could be used by the City?
Subsidiary Hypothesis: The City can find innovative ways to fund, finance and deliver infrastructure.
Q: What are the infrastructure challenge that are not matched with the correct infrastructure financing, funding, delivery and maintenance tools?
Q: What are the key infrastructure needs that are not being addressed in the short, medium and long-term?
Q: The current provincial planning regime is impeding economic growth in the province?
Q: Value can be unlocked from municipal assets to fund strategic priorities?
 A lot of research has been done on how to make culture a more vital part of the community. Research not withstanding there are still some really stupid cultural decisions being made. Principal Hypothesis: Culture – The City of Burlington can develop cultural institutions and attractions that enhance the quality of life of its citizens.
Q: What are the current cultural institutions and their level of popularity?
Q: What are the current and nascent cultural endowments of the City?
Q: What are the mechanisms through which the City can support and grow an impactful cultural community?
There are three other areas that were to be given the KPMG research treatment. McKeown will be meeting with that crew in February – expect to see some changes.
McKeown should have been in the room for that June meeting. Who slipped up on telling him about the meeting?
 By Pepper Parr
August 24th, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
When the Arts and Cultural Collective of Burlington was created it was unique and became the place to go to if you wanted to know what was happening in the arts community which had become of age in this city. Their Facebook page became a source of information that pulled the community together – and it worked
 The Arts Collective had a presence – they were making a difference – now their Facebook page is being used to sell high end sun glasses and Point of Sale equipment for restaurants. It was refreshing – they kept the membership limited – at one point you had to be referred by an existing member to get on the list. They were effective – they convinced the city to take another look at how artists were going to be treated with their contributions to the new web site – the city wanted to use picture – not pay for them and not even give a photo credit. That got changed.
The Cultural Action Plan that was researched by Jeremy Freiburger and his team over at the Cobalt Connection was a strong starting point. The Arts Collective liked what they saw but they wanted more involvement in the detail part of the cultural plans and also in the roll out in whatever was decided upon. They also wanted the final Culture Plan to include an Arts Council that would make grants available to artists.
A couple of months ago they began talking about how many members they had – and the size of the list became more important that the quality of the content.
 The younger, feistier set knew what they needed – they had done their homework – their challenge was to find their voice and make it hard. It was a moderated information source – which meant that messages that weren’t appropriate did not get posted. The person doing the moderation must have been asleep at the switch the past couple of months – there have been advertisements for high end sun glasses and then something for travel and now someone wants to sell a Point of Sale cash register system. “Perfect for any restaurant or retail business, …” using the Collective site as the advertising vehicle
This isn’t what the Collective was created to do. When it got off the ground a couple of years ago there was all kinds of really positive energy and they came up with very good ideas. They took possession of the agenda and pushed city hall to add resources to the cultural file.
They wanted to see culture moved out of the jock mentality many people saw dominating the Parks and Recreation department and they wanted to see more dollars put into the cultural field.
The province then got into the Cultural business with the promotion of Culture Week that was a decently done during its first year.
 Civic square buzzed during Culture week last year – with the increased involvement on the part of the cultural manager Angela Paparizo we may see even more activity. There are apparently all kinds of plans for Culture Week this year but there hasn’t been much coming out of city hall yet – the individual artists are promoting the events they have taking place – there is a Ping Pong and Poetry event that will take place at the new HiVe now located on Guelph Line. Local artist Margaret Lindsay Halton is running that event.
The organizational structure of the Arts Collective has always been a little undefined – personalities and ego began to take up too much space and the purpose began to get lost.
There is still time for the Arts Collective to recover – but they don’t take too much time doing it. They could and should play an important role.
There is still some very good energy within the citizen side of the arts. The Guilds at the Art Gallery of Burlington are becoming more active – management over there is expecting the guilds to be more visible and they are living up to the expectation.
 Retiring Executive Director of the Performing Arts Centre Brian McCurdy stabilized the Centre – losing him is going to hurt for awhile. A new leader will need some time to get a sense as to how the Centre and the city work. In this photograph McCurdy is briefing the Mayor on parts of his thinking The No Vacancy people will be putting on their third event in September – this time on Old Lakeshore Road basically outside Emma’s. September 17th from 7 pm to midnight.
Last year they recorded 3500 + visitors. This year the event will be called SuperNova and they think they will double last year’s attendance. They have put on the event for two years with nowhere near the funding available to Culture Week and have in the past produced much stronger more vital programs. This year, for the first time they got some funding from the city – courtesy of Councillor Marianne Meed Ward who advocated for the small grant they got.
One of the hurdles that few people see coming is the wallop the Gazette thinks the taxpayers are going to face when the real costs of the flood are going to have on the 2016 budget. Reports that have been given to Council point out a number of close to pressing amounts that are going to have to be spent real soon.
It is going to amount to millions with an expected new line on the tax bill for the management of storm water.
The cultural file just might take a hit – more money is going to have to go into infrastructure; council has been told that transit needs a lot more attention, especially when looked at through an intensification lens and the city is still salting away money to pay for our share of the hospital redevelopment.
Some tough work ahead of this Council – which is going to be difficult because all the members of this Council don’t sing from the same page in the hymnal.
 By Staff
August 24, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Alzheimer’s Society of Hamilton and Halton in partnership with JBH will be holding monthly information sessions at Joseph Brant Hospital aimed at family caregivers learning to cope with the people who suffer from Alzheimer disease.
To register for a session please call (905) 632-3737 ext. 5689. Sessions will take place on the last Tuesday of every month, excluding May and December – in the Gordon Room of the main hospital building from 4:00 – 5:00pm.
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