 By Ray Rivers
November 14th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
“The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.” (Greta Thunberg)
For a minority government to survive it will need support from one or more of the other parties – each has their own priorities.
For the NDP, Greens and BQ a top priority is for the federal government to do more about reducing Canada’s carbon footprint. And that is exactly the opposite of what the opposition Tories are looking for.
Canada’s environmental performance among G7 nations has been graded a big fat failure. Along with the USA and Japan, we would push the world’s thermometer up 4 C, almost three times the Paris agreement goal of 1.5 C.
 Canada is the fourth largest oil producer in the world and fourth largest oil exporter. Alberta is the largest source of Canada’s carbon emissions. And despite all the noise about how the oil industry is dying, Canada is the fourth largest oil producer in the world and fourth largest oil exporter, even without any more pipelines. In fact Canada exports even more oil than we use domestically.
 Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. And while investment in new oil development has petered-off since the oil price crash back in 2015, Alberta is still the wealthiest province in the federation with the highest per capita incomes. So when Jason Kenney says that the rest of Canada doesn’t understand the west, he means that we don’t get that he wants even more… money. He’ll tell you that Alberta’s oil contributes to our high standard of living, and he’s right though that would be less the case were he to be successful in dismantling Canada’s income equalization program.
On that note, it wasn’t even ‘Albert’s oil’ before the federal government deeded natural resources to the prairie province in the 1930’s. Not that we should expect a thank you, but recall how former premier Lougheed beat up Justin’s father when he introduced a plan to share those national resources for the benefit of the rest of the country, and wean us off foreign oil in the process. The irony clearly escapes Albertans when they demand more pipelines, because Pierre’s government would have built them all under that program.
And today, there is monumental disconnect in vision between the oil producing provinces and the rest of us Canadians. After all, two thirds of us voted for a political party whose main policy was to reduce Canada’s carbon footprint, not increase it.
 An unhealthy similarity to the southern United States. So using the ‘best defence is an offence’ argument, Mr. Kenney and Mr. Moe have declared a kind of civil war. Yes, their demand for the provincial right to unimpeded oil patch development has an unhealthy similarity to the southern US states once demanding their right to maintain slavery.
How is a prime minister supposed to govern a nation so badly divided? Mr. Scheer has counseled appeasement. Cancel the carbon tax and ram through pipelines everywhere to allow the western provinces to reinvigorate investment in the oil sector. That is exactly what he would have tried to do had he been elected.
But that will not fly with the rest of the country, especially not in Quebec or B.C. which are opposed to more pipelines and have their own carbon pricing systems in place. Mr. Moe left his meeting with Trudeau complaining that Justin wasn’t listening. But it’s not so much about listening as about the message.
 Catherine McKenna: Minister of the Environment. So when Trudeau fashions his new Cabinet he will need to make reconciling those western secessionist voters a priority. At a minimum that will require some fresh faces in the key area of national dispute, climate change. Catherine McKenna has been a great voice for the fight against climate change, leading the introduction of some 50 measures to reduce Canada’s carbon footprint, including the carbon tax.
McKenna has been passionate, and even combative, on the environment in dealing with premiers like Mr. Ford. And In return she has been ridiculed by the ultra-right media and been the victim of personal threats to herself and her family. It would be a surprise were she to stay in that portfolio when the PM announces his new cabinet next week. But second guessing the making of a Cabinet is a fool’s game – only the PM knows.
 Chrystia Freeland – kept the NAFTA negotiations on the table and moving. Though there is brilliant and talented Chrystia Freeland. She’s this rock star and skilled negotiator who kept the NAFTA file together, despite an unpredictable US President Trump. An Alberta native herself, she is also a Rhodes scholar and former writer with a number of journals including the business oriented Economist. She is also widely admired by most Canadians, some even suggesting she should be our next PM.
Changing the channel in the oil patch provinces would be a challenge deserving of her skills. It is a tall order and failure is not an option. History will show that it was mainly Pierre Trudeau who kept Quebec in Canada during those early seventies. And now it’s up to his son to make sure we shore up the west.
 Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Greta– Climate Standoff – No Help From Quebec –
Emissions by Province – Oil Industry –
 By Pepper Parr
November 14th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
In September we saw a new organizational design which, according to the City Manager, positions the City to meet its strategic goals over the balance of this term of Council and beyond.
The initial change also signaled the City’s continued attention to the customer experience; one of those changes was the creation of a new Customer Experience Manager-Business Development.
 The first time the Gazette worked with City Clerk Angela Morgan was when she signed the documents confirming the results of the 2010 municipal election. The big news is that Angela Morgan has been named Executive Lead-Customer Service; she will also continue in her role as City Clerk until a new person is hired. There will be eyebrows raised on that decision.
The intention is to strengthen the customer experience. Council’s approval of the new organizational structure and strategy was to provide an excellent end-to-end experience for the City’s customers. Among the key responsibilities of the Executive Lead-Customer Experience will be to develop and implement an updated customer experience strategy, including the full implementation of an advanced Customer Relationship Management software, and establishing service standards through a “Customer Experience Commitment” for each department/service area.
“Our new strategy to meet our customers needs will also mean establishing a new Service Burlington customer service centre on the main floor lobby of City Hall for customer interactions; and establishing a physical “one window” for development customers as result of Red Tape Red Carpet also on the main floor lobby of City Hall.”
Highlights of the organizational design changes include:
 Angela Morgan at a city council meeting in 2019 • Angela Morgan will fill the Executive Lead-Customer Service; she will also continue in her role as City Clerk until a new person is hired.
• A public recruitment process will begin in the near future for a new City Clerk
• A new Manager of Customer Experience will be created
• The new positions will be managed within the existing staff complement
 Mayor Marianne Meed Ward Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, who has had more than her share of unacceptable customer service experiences with the Clerk said: “These changes are part of the City of Burlington’s continued evolution to a more customer-centric organization, and set us up to better deliver on our Vision to Focus 4-year plan. I look forward to seeing the positive impact this new structure will have on our goal to consistently provide exceptional customer service to the community.”
Tim Commisso, City Manager added to that saying: “Moving forward with this new structure allows the City to provide a more robust, coordinated and seamless customer experience to our residents and businesses. Customer experience to me means the experience our customers have during all points of contact with the City.
“From walking through the door to a welcoming environment, to receiving service at the counter, to going online and seamlessly accessing an online service. Our residents and businesses expect fast and convenient service and cities always have to evolve to meet those needs.”
Perhaps the desk with the word SECURITY glaring at anyone who walks into city hall will get a heave–ho as well.
 By Pepper Parr
November 13th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
It is a continuing process – no sooner have you elected one level of government than you have to consider who you want to lead you at another level.
The provincial Liberals who were almost wiped off the map in the provincial election of June 2018 are now in the process of determining who the next leader of that political party will be.
At this point there are five people running for that job.
 Mitzie Hunter, former Wynne government Cabinet Minister re-elected in June of 2018. Kate Graham, a candidate for a seat in the legislature during the 2018 election. She did not win the seat but wants to be selected by the party membership as their leader.
Alvin Tedjo, also a candidate in the June 2018 election – he was defeated.
 Steven Del Duca, a member of the Wynne government Cabinet. Del Luca was not re-elected in June 2018. Mitzie Hunter, a member of the Wynne government cabinet is after the job. She was re-elected in the June 2018 election.
Michael Coteau was re-elected as a member of the legislature in June 2018. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Wynne government.
Steven Del Duca was a member of the Wynne government cabinet who was not re-elected in June of 2018
Alvin Tedjo is the focus of this story. He ran in Oakville North Burlington and was soundly defeated by the Conservative candidate – she got almost twice the number of votes as Tedjo.
That has not deterred him from wanting to lead the Liberal Party.
 Home for the Tedjo family is Burlington. He is the father of three children who are all attending Catholic schools. Alvin and his wife are both practicing Catholics who believe that the two educational organizations should be merged.
His plan is to create one English language school board and one French language school board.
“For students, this change means the convenience of attending their closest school, less time on the bus and access to an optional religious curriculum. For teachers and early childhood educators, it means smaller class sizes, availability of more resources and the freedom to teach in any publicly funded school,” said Tedjo.
Charles Pascal, a former Ontario Deputy Minister of Education and professor at OISE*/University of Toronto has previously said, “When it comes to publicly funded education in Ontario, it’s time to let go of our “separate ways” so we can come together. Providing Catholic education with public money is an anachronism waiting to be brought to an end by a courageous Queen’s Park legislature.”
From a fiscal standpoint, Tedjo argues that his plan to merge the school boards will result in substantial savings to the province. This figure is an estimated $1.6B dollars per year that would be reinvested back into public education for ongoing improvement.
“Quebec, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador have already done this. It’s time for Ontario to make a change and stop spending precious education dollars to maintain twice as many school boards as we actually need,” said Tedjo.
“Under the current system, the government is quite literally wasting billions of dollars to keep children apart. I firmly believe that a better solution is to have all of our kids – Catholic and non-Catholic – Learning Together,” said Tedjo.
 The Tedjo family grew to three children in four years, which meant that they had two of them in childcare at a time for four consecutive years. Tedjo wants to see massive changes to our child care system.
He tells the story of how when he and his wife Rebecca started having children they worried about things most first-time parents worry about: are we ready, will we be good parents, how are we going to survive?
“We also knew that we had to try and get a spot at a daycare as soon as possible, enough friends and family had told us that. Living in Toronto at the time we went on the city’s waitlist. We eventually gave up and found a different solution that made sense. We did eventually get a call back, only it was two years later while we were expecting our second child.
The Tedjo family grew to three children in four years, which meant that we had two of them in childcare at a time for four consecutive years. “Between our reduced income during parental leave, and the cost of childcare at $17,000 per child ($34,000 per year), those years were tough. We calculated that we were better off financially with Rebecca going back to work as a registered nurse full-time than we would be if she stayed home, but not by much.”
We only stopped paying for daycare last year when our youngest started full-day kindergarten, and we couldn’t help but feel like it was a bit late for the government to start supporting children, where childcare before that magic age of four cost us as much as sending an 18-year old off to college or university.
Tedjo claims that childcare has become so unaffordable that 80 per cent of Ontario families with children under four years old cannot afford the cost of licensed child care. He adds that there are only enough licensed spaces to accommodate 23 per cent of kids under the age of four. This is just not good enough. Many families are paying mortgage-level fees to access licensed childcare, and many more families can’t afford childcare at all.
The solution to this problem is right in front of us. High-quality universal licenced childcare can support better education outcomes for school aged children, improve social cohesion, take pressure off the family budget, and above all else, boost Ontario’s economy by giving families, and particularly women, the option of returning to the workplace sooner, leading to increased economic productivity as well as additional tax revenues for the government.
 Tedjo: The solution to the child care problem is right in front of us. The plan will take time — it’s a big project with no quick fix. After the review, we will start to deliver universal childcare in phases. As we implement phase 1 and build out the capacity to support and provide preschool aged children with childcare, we will work with our partners on expanding universal childcare to toddlers (age 1 ½–2 ½ years old).
In the short term, this expansion will require investments. In the long run, increased employment for parents, particularly for mothers, will contribute to the growth of Ontario’s economy. The taxes associated with their spending power, improved educational outcomes for children, and decreased costs to social programs will provide a return that makes this plan an economic winner, as well as the right thing to do.
The consensus among experts and economists is that for every dollar invested in quality early childhood education, there is a $2.40 return to the economy.
A study by Deloitte estimates that by addressing the wage gap, Ontario government revenues from personal and sales tax could increase by $2.6 billion. The same study also estimates that government spending on social assistance, tax credits, and child benefits could decrease by $103 million, due to the projected increase in families’ income.
Electoral reform is a big issue for Tedjo as well but he wasn’t prepared to talk about that at this point.
Transit has to be changed radically if we are going to get people out of their cars. Policy position on this objective are to follow.
Tedjo plans to implement the Basic Income pilot program that was in place when the Liberal government was defeated.
Tedjo believes our social safety net; ensuring our elderly don’t live in poverty, and making sure our children have the basic necessities of life, is something Canadians are proud of. This is where the Universal Basic Income (UBI) comes in.
Fighting poverty isn’t a partisan issue, at least it shouldn’t be. And it’s not an idea owned by progressives either. There have been nearly 500 studies on basic income, including pilots in Ontario and around the world.
Ontario’s Universal Basic Income would add over $10 billion to Ontario’s economy, create up to 80,000 jobs, and save the Ontario government hundreds of millions of dollars in administration costs and red tape. UBI grows the economy and unlocks opportunity for those stuck in the poverty cycle.
 The early end of the pilot Basic Income Guarantee program in Ontario was ended months after the Ford government took office. This basic income would replace programs more difficult and expensive to administer, like Ontario Works and ODSP, while retaining additional benefits and supports for people with disabilities. This brings dignity to our system, so people don’t need to justify the need for food, clothing, or shelter every two weeks.
The benefits of a universal basic income are well established. It provides a safety net for workers who lost their jobs that is less expensive to administer and easier to access than our current system.
And, like every other politician, Climate Change is right up there at the top for Tedjo. He would bring an immediate end to all the time and money he thinks is being wasted on court battels and go along with what the federal government Climate Change policy. Tedjo did not say if he would create model for Ontario. “It is too early to make that decision” he said.
In the game of politics endorsements can mean something – but not always. Frequently a candidate can get an endorsement from someone who is either a member of the legislature or planning on running and would like to be considered for a Cabinet position.
Hugh Segal, an intellectual giant within the Progressive Conservative movement, has endorsed Alvin Tedjo. Segal, the former senator and chief of staff to Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Premier Bill Davis, has fought for a universal basic income in Canada for over 40 years. THAT is an endorsement well worth having and speaks volumes about what Tedjo is setting out to do.
Tedjo wants change at just about every level. Not change for the sake of change but change to bring about a society that meets the needs of everyday people.
The Liberal government that was defeated in June of 2018 was not in touch with what people needed and not keeping in touch cost xxx
 Tedjo: “People are feeling uncertain about their future. For many, the cost of living is going up, but their salary isn’t keeping pace. We also face a rapidly changing economy where artificial intelligence, automation entrepreneurship and clean technology will be increasingly important. Tedjo believes that “People are feeling uncertain about their future. For many, the cost of living is going up, but their salary isn’t keeping pace. We also face a rapidly changing economy where artificial intelligence, automation entrepreneurship and clean technology will be increasingly important. Even so, the current government is making short-sighted decisions to cut the programs that will help us prepare for what’s coming.”
The Liberal Party will choose a new leader in March of 2020. Then they have to rebuild and put their vision out there and prepare for the 2022 provincial election. The Doug Ford government isn’t all that popular today but they have shown some capacity to change.
Three years in the world of politics is the equivalent to a century. Alvin Tedjo is the local lad who is after the brass ring – we shall watch his progress.
 By Staff
November 12th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Each year the Halton District School Board holds a meeting to which community organizations and members of the public are invited to discuss potential planning and partnership opportunities.
Partnership opportunities in existing schools and co-build opportunities in proposed new schools, as well as a new Board Administrative Centre, will be discussed at the J.W. Singleton Education Centre, 2050 Guelph Line, Burlington on December 11th at 7:00 pm
Potential partners are requested to bring relevant planning information such as population projections, growth plans, community needs, land use and greenspace/park requirements to the meeting.
The big one on this list is the critical need for a new administrative building on the Upper Middle Road – Guelph Line site. The existing structure is bursting at the seams. Much of the senior staff has to located at the Gary Allan High School on New Street which results in hours of wasted time in travel between the two locations.
A number of the trustees were hoping that any new administrative building would be located closer to the center of the Region; that probably won’t happen because the Board currently owns the land on which the administrative building is located where there is a lot of space for a new building.
 The Board owns the land right up to the NW intersection of Upper Middle and Guelph line. There is some background information, policy and the procedures the Boards are required to follow.
You will find that HERE
The key contact at the Board of Education is Domenico Renzella, Senior Manager, Planning. 905-335-3663 | Toll-free 1-877-618-3456
Related news stories:
New Admin building will cost $23 million.
Not all trustees like the idea of a new Admin building in Burlington.
By Staff
November 12th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Leaf collection has been suspended until the snow has been cleared.
Schedule adjustments, if any, will be posted on the city web site and in the Gazette
Clearing the snow of the streets has those heavy trucks pushing a snow plow.
 Depending on the need heavy duty trucks can be used to plow snow. The city’s snow fighting team was ready for the forecasted early blast of winter and snow. Once that snow is no longer an issue and the temperatures warm up to seasonal norms the leaves will get any attention they need.
The forecast was for 15 cm of snow for Burlington. It came in at closer to 20+; as a result, the City is declaring a significant snow event as of 6 p.m. this evening. All parking exemptions are cancelled and there is no on-street parking after 6 p.m. tonight and until the city declares the significant snow event has ended.
Many of the leaves on the streets might get taken up with the snow – a possible savings for the leaf collection budget.
 Now it is used for leaf collection. Residents wanting to remove their leaves can either use them as mulch on their lawn or garden or bag them for Halton Region’s yard waste pick-up.
During the winter season, the City of Burlington maintains 1,900 lane kilometres of roads and 850 kilometres of sidewalks.
• If a snow event is announced, all parking exemptions are cancelled and there is no on-street parking until the snow event has been cancelled.
‘• Do not leave vehicles parked over the sidewalk while in your driveway as this can prevent the sidewalk plow from completing its work.
• Do not shovel, plow or blow snow from residential or commercial properties onto the road. This poses a hazard to motorists and is prohibited by the Ontario Highway Traffic Act and City bylaw.
• Snow plows need room to clear the ice and snow. Please stay back 70 feet as sand and salt may be dropping from the trucks. This also gives you room to stop safely.
• Give snow plows plenty of space at intersections. The snow plow may need two or more lanes to turn or to get through the intersection. If a snow plow is waiting to turn left at an intersection, do not pull up and stop underneath or in front of the wing plow (the plow attached to the right side of the truck). Your vehicle could be struck by the plow when the truck pulls forward.
Mark Adam, Manager of Road Operations said: “Snow removal will always take priority over loose leaf removal. When the snow comes, all available resources are focused on making the roads and sidewalks safe. The cold weather is expected to last several days. We will be watching the weather and will announce when the loose leaf collection will resume.”
By Staff
November 11th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton District School Board (HDSB) is asking students, families, staff and the community to share views and identify areas of focus for the Board’s next Multi-Year Plan 2020-2024.
 Opportunities to provide input include community roundtable discussions, focus group sessions, and online surveys, available from Nov. 4 to Dec. 2, 2019.
The Multi-Year Plan (MYP) is the roadmap that informs the Board’s decisions and allocation of resources, while guiding collective actions for ongoing improvement over the next four years. It sets the direction to ensure the Board’s efforts support all students, staff and families across the HDSB.
The current MYP 2016-2020 can be found here.
All parents/guardians, staff, students and community members are invited to complete a survey to assess the Board’s current MYP and provide input on areas of priority in the next MYP. The surveys are open from Nov. 4 – Dec. 2, 2019.
All parents/guardians, staff, students and community members are invited to discuss and provide face-to-face input on the development of the Board’s next MYP at two community roundtable discussions held in the north and south areas of Halton.
Two separate identical sessions will be held from 7 – 9 p.m. on the following dates:
• Monday, Nov. 18: Milton Staff Learning Centre (215 Ontario St S, Milton) – Register here
• Thursday, Nov. 21: Garth Webb Secondary School (2820 West Oak Trails Blvd, Oakville) –
Register here
 Director of Education Stuart Miller “The Multi-Year Plan is strengthened by the experience and input of students, staff, families and community members,” says Stuart Miller, Director of Education for the Halton District School Board. “Your voice is critical to getting the plan right and setting the direction for the HDSB. We look forward to your participation in helping to shape the next four years in the Halton District School Board.”
Consultations will take place until December 2, 2019. The feedback and insights received from stakeholders through the online surveys, community roundtable discussions and other forums will inform the development of the new MYP over the next three to four months. The MYP 2020-2024 will take effect in September 2020.
 By Staff
November 11th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
High school information nights are scheduled during the month of November to provide an opportunity for students, parents and guardians to learn about Grade 9 programs, services for students and diploma requirements.
Each high school in the Halton District School Board will host an information evening. Families should attend the information night at the school designated for their community.
Dates and locations for each information night are set out below:
Aldershot High School
November 28, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.
Burlington Central High School
November 14, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.
Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School
November 14, 2019 – from 6:00 pm – 9:00 p.m.
M.M. Robinson High School
November 14, 2019 from 7:00 p.m to 8:30 p.m., (includes a French Program info session)
Nelson High School
November 20, 2019, from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m
 Remembered, respected
The memorial was put in place after WWI when the citizens of Burlington wanted to do something to remember the fallen. It was paid for by citizens and then turned over to the city to maintain.
The bronze plaque on the front was put in place to commemorate those lost in WW II – beneath that plaque are the following words:
“To teach that he who serves is lost,
To bear in silence, though our hearts may bleed,
To spend ourselves, and never count the cost,
For others greater need.”
 By Pepper Parr
November 8th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
During a walking tour led by staff from the Planning department one of the group asked what was happening to the Bridgewater development.
The small crowd of 40 people were at the foot of Elizabeth Street at Lakeshore; it was evident there wasn’t anything going on at the site.
The planners leading the tour said “you can get an update on the city web site.
The Gazette had been told earlier in October that there had been an HVAC worked strike which slowed things down and also that the hotel operation that was going to go into the north west building had asked for a design change with the windows.
We went to the city web site and copied the information posted there on what the current schedule is supposed to be.
Then we arranged for a photograph to be taken from the condo directly across the street.
 The opening between where the hotel is to be on the right and the 22 story tower on the left is the passageway that will allow the public to walk through to the lake. The data provided and the picture don’t appear to tell the same story.
Construction lives by the weather – and is managed by people who understand the demands of the markets.
The path to the public area is said to be ready in October – it is now November. The pictures were taken on the 5th of November.
People who bought into the development and sold their homes expecting the builder to meet the schedule are more than disappointed.
 It was supposed to be a dream development – for early buyers iit has turned into a nightmare. When approved the development was referred to as The Legacy building. It was at one point going to soar 30 storeys into the sky. The hotel was going to be ready for the 2015 Pan Am Games.
 The Riviera motel was torn down to make way for the Bridgewater. There were issues before New Horizons took over the construction of the development site which at one point was home for a small motel.
At this rate the Adi brothers will have the Nautique built and occupied before people will be able to walk though the dream that the Bridgewater was supposed to be.
By Pepper Parr
November 8th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
When I first heard the word POPS at a Standing Committee this week, I thought the speaker was talking about a pop up stand or an event that takes place for a short period of time – like a couple of hours.
 The 27 storey tower seen from Old Lakeshore Road. The view to the lake would be unobstructed. City council was listening to the Statutory presentation being made by the Urban Design Group on behalf of CORE developments who are proposing a 27 storey tower with a heritage building kept on the site that is in the “football” opposite the bottom of Martha Street..
One of the features of the development is a piece of property on the west side that was described as a POPS which stands for Privately Owned Public Space.
 The space shown as green would be private property that the public could use. The called it POPS The developers plan was to open up the space to the public who would be able to walk around and enjoy the ambience.
The POPS space lined up with the foot of Martha Street and would allow a clean line of sight from Lakeshore at Martha through to the lake.
No mention was made of Emmas Back Porch sitting in the south side of Old Lakeshore Road.
Park space in that part of the city is going to be limited. Spencer Park is in the area but it is a bit of a walk.
Every development has to provide the city with 5% of the land as park dedicated land. Developers can choose to give cash in lieu of the land.
The cash that is given goes into the Park Reserve fund and can be used elsewhere.
 The POPS looking north to Martha  The POPS looking south to the lake. Mayor Marianne Meed Ward saw what looked like a bit of an opportunity to apply some leverage to a development that no one seems to want; she asked how much area would the POPS take up – would it amount to 5% of the overall land.
Turns out the 5% Park dedication would equal just 15% of the POPS space. The Mayor might not give up on that angle.
 If you were standing on Martha Street, half a block up from LAkeshore Road – this is what your view would look like. There are several concerns with the POPS concept. The owners of the development will eventually be the condominium corporation that takes over once the development is completed and at least one very vocal condominium resident pointed out that a public space is 24/7; condominium owners would really have no privacy.
With ownership of the property comes the right to do whatever they want with it as long as they stay within the rules. And that might well be the end of the “public space” part of the POPS.
 By Staff
November 8th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
In October 2019, members of the Halton Police Service – Human Trafficking Unit initiated an investigation pertaining to Jumanne Salmon (36) of Pickering, who is alleged to have been involved in human trafficking.
 Salmon is alleged to have forced, exploited and transported the female victim (adult) from hotel to hotel to work in the sex trade across several jurisdictions including Burlington, Mississauga, Brampton, and Kitchener. The offences are alleged to have occurred between the years 2012 to 2017.
At the time of the investigation, investigators learned that Salmon was already in custody at the Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre for an unrelated matter. The Halton Regional Police Service obtained a Judge’s Order to have Salmon brought to the Ontario Court of Justice, Milton, in order to answer to the following charges:
• Trafficking in Persons
• Receive Material Benefit from trafficking in persons
• Exercise Control over a prostitute
• Living off the avails of prostitution
• Procuring – Exercise control, direction or influence
• Receive a material benefit from sexual services
• Assault
• Uttering threats to cause death
Anyone with questions or information about these events is asked to contact Det. Dan Ciardullo of the Human Trafficking Unit at 905 825-4747 ext. 4973.
Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See Something? Hear Something? Know Something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
 By Staff
November 9th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
During the past two week our political columnist Ray Rivers has written about the way we elect our federal politicians.
The current system is called First Past The Post (FPTP) It’s pretty simple, the political party that wins the most seats gets to form the government. If no one political party has 50% of the seats in the House of Commons they do get a chance to meet and see if they can create a majority with the support of a different political party.
You know when they don’t have the support from another political party when there is a confidence vote. These are votes that have to do with money bills – the budget being the biggest one.
When the government cannot get the confidence of the House – the government falls and under normal circumstances an election takes place.
The Governor General can ask another political party to see if they can form a government. In theory at least.
Dave Meslin, the author of Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up believes that Canada has it all wrong – he believes there is a way to elect Members of Parliament that allows everyone to be fairly represented based on the number of seats won. He has put together an informative series of graphics.
Here’s how Canadians actually voted at the ballot box:
 And here’s how that same chart looks, if we add all the registered voters who decided to NOT participate at all.
 One third of all registered voters decided not to vote. Canada’s ridiculous voting system gives us a lot of reasons to not participate:
Dozens of “safe seats” that never change.
Hundreds of candidates who “win” with less than 50% of the vote.
Endless chatter about “strategic voting” and “vote splitting”
Fake majority governments, that don’t actually represent a majority of voters.
Hostile and polarized election campaigns.
Larger parties getting more seats than they actually earned.
Smaller parties getting less seats than they actually earned.
Here are the seats “won” by each major party in Canada, on October 21:
 If you compare that to the ACTUAL vote we saw at the top of the page, you’ll notice a few major differences. First, the conservatives got more votes than the Liberals… but less seats.
That’s backwards.
Same goes for the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party.
The NDP got WAY more votes than the Bloc… but far less seats. Again, totally backwards.
And the Green Party, who earned almost as many votes as the Bloc, only won three seats – compared to the Bloc’s 32.
Lastly, the People’s Party didn’t win a single seat, despite having the support of hundreds of thousands of Canadians.
Proportionally, this is what Canada’s parliament should look like:
 As you can see, the Conservative party would have the most seats – since they got the most votes! Of course, that doesn’t mean that they would be able to form a government.
In Canada’s parliamentary system, a party needs to gain “confidence of the House”, meaning that they either need to win a majority of the seats or find another party to support them in the House of Commons.
With 116 seats, the Conservatives are nowhere close to a majority:
In fact, the Conservatives would have a very difficult time forming a government based on the proportional results of this election. Even if the Bloc Quebecois AND the People’s Party supported them… it still wouldn’t be enough:
The most likely scenario would be some form of coalition or agreement between the Liberal party, NDP and Greens:
 Under a proportional system, we’d also see an end to the wild distortions that paint Canada as a divided country with blue provinces and red provinces. While the seat count delivered on October 21st suggested that all Albertans voted conservative, all PEI voters are Liberals and the NDP has zero support in Quebec – the actual vote results reflect the diversity of opinions held across the country, in every province:
What that means, in terms of seat count, is that some parties earn way more seats than they actually deserve, while First-Past-the-Post robs other parties of seats they should have won. Regionally, this is what creates the myth of single-party domination within a province:
Of course, all these numbers are based on the votes cast under our current system. If we had a modern voting system (like most Western democracies), everything would change – not just the math on election night. We’d have more parties. Candidates would campaign differently. We’d likely have different leaders. We’d all be able to vote with our heart. And we’d end up with stable coalition governments that actually represent what voters asked for.
Is that too much to ask for?
Rivers and Meslin appear to agree. But, when the province of Ontario thought about doing this they held a referendum and the public just didn’t buy into the idea.
When the Liberals won a majority of the seats in 2015, Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister. Part of his campaign was a promise to change the way Members of the House of Commons get elected. He created a Ministry of Democratic Institutions that was going to change the way citizens determined who would represent them.
The first Minister, Maryam Monsef wasn’t able to get the job done. The Prime Minister appointed Burlington’s Karina Gould the Minister of Democratic Institutions. She claims to have done her best – saying that she could not get the needed agreement from the other political parties – the attempt to change the way we elect Members to the House of Commons was abandoned.
The mess that came out of the 2019 election created a lot of dissatisfaction and ended up with the government not having a single member from Alberta or Saskatchewan.
The Liberals will need the support of either the New Democrats or the BLOC to pass any bills. The BLOC could care less as to how the Liberals pass legislation – they have said they will support the Liberals as long as any legislation they put forward meets the interests and needs of Quebec.
The New Democrats have a much stronger social platform and will have a strong interest in the way Members are elected to the House.
Interesting days ahead.
The Meslin graphics are certainly instructive; worth paying attention to.
 By Pepper Parr
November 7th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Much of the public rationale for Marianne Meed Ward running in ward 2 in 2010 was that she would do everything possible to save the waterfront.
 Long time believers in saving the waterfront. Are there enough of them left to make a difference today? An organization was created – SOW – Save our Waterfront that Meed Ward rode all the way to city hall.
She was relentless with her use of social media. There were two film clips of her walking backwards along the lakeshore talking into a camera explain what she was trying to do with the waterfront and why. It was classic grass roots politics.
There are hundreds of people who still have their $10 SOW membership cards in their pockets. The organization morphed into the Meed Ward election campaign team.
In 2006 Meed Ward had run against Rick Craven in ward 1; the result of that election were not pretty. The Ward family moved from the Tyendaga community into the city core; ward 2 was a much easier win.
 Everything on the right hand side of what is Old LAkeshore Road has to be left the way it is – no development on that land. The Motel is now in the hands of the people who own the Waterfront Hotel, Emmas is on land owned by Mayrose Tyco. This is where Mayor Meed Ward is going to have to find the leverage she needs. Does she have an ace up her sleeve? Marianne has made the waterfront her issue. She fought tooth and nail to save the waterfront land between Market and St. Paul Streets – to no avail. It was sold to a property owner who saw an opportunity to acquire lakefront property for a song. The full story behind how that came about is a little clearer now that Council got a chance to hear what leading real estate agent Michael O’Sullivan told the city when delegating on another matter.
She has watched the public presentations from the CORE people and Burlington Old Lakeshore Inc., part of the Carriage Gate interests. and realized she was up against some pretty big guns.
She should be able to hold her council with her on this fight, Bentevegna might be problematic. She is going to have to work very hard to ensure that the Planning department fully understands the “will of council.
 The four eight to 15 story structures is a lousy deal for everyone. But more than that – she is going to have to come up with a strategy. At this point it looks as if she is going to hang her hat on the zoning of 8 storeys as of right with up to 15 storeys if the right benefits are made available to the community.
She is going to have to deal with the tight grip the Conservation authority has on what can and what cannot be done south of the Old Lakeshore Road.
 Conservation Halton has ruled that nothing can be built south of that dotted blue line. The buildings there now can stay, It is those buildings on the south side of Old LAkeshore that Meed Ward is going to have to find a way to leverage. What we didn’t see or even get a hint of from Meed Ward was that big, bold audacious idea that former Toronto Mayor David Crombie once told the Waterfront Advisory Committee was needed to save that piece of land.
Marianne understands the theatrics of politics. She use social media well, the ‘moth to a flame” part of her makeup will not serve her well. But these are small matters.
There is an opportunity to do something magnificent with the “football”. It will take imagination and a willingness to go for that “Hail Mary” pass, but if she can get her hands on the ball she will have created a legend for herself that can propel her some distance in the world of politics.
The 22 story Bridgewater development was done on Mayor Walter Mulkewich’s watch. It was originally going to be a 30 storey structure and be known as a legacy building.
Meed Ward can move the needle on legacy – but only if she surrounds herself with people that are imaginative, innovative and politically connected.
 Victory is sweet – living up to the promise is the hard part. Settling for 15 storeys on that patch of land will be nothing to boast about.
There is time for a better brilliant idea to come forward – just not that much.
The Meed Ward position at this point is that there is policy in place that limits what can be done with the land. The developer’s consultant said these were guidelines with little in the way of force.
Meed Ward is going to have to galvanize the people in the Planning department to put the minds of some of the young and very bright people in the building to give the city their very best.
Meed Ward’s long term political career and the soul of the city that many people want depends on it.
By Pepper Parr
November 7th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The developer got a rough ride. It wasn’t any better than the public reception they got when they first let Burlingtonians what they had in mind.
On Tuesday they were doing the mandatory Statutory presentation – a time when Planning department staff say relatively little other than the bare bones about the project.
The Core Development Group have yet to give the project they have planned for the “football”, that oblong piece of land bound by Lakeshore Road on the north side and Old Lakeshore Road on the south side, a name.
There is the Carriage Gate Development proposed for the eastern end of the “football” that didn’t pick up a lot of support when it took their idea to the public in a very poorly attended meeting. Less than 40 people in the room.
 This is what the CORE development group is proposing; the heritage building will continue as a restaurant; traffic will flow on to Lakeshore Road the other side of this rendering. Two people from Urban Design headed up the presenting – they were professional and polished and they gave it their best shot. It didn’t appear to be enough to move this council.
Lisa Kearns, the Councillor for Ward 2 made it very clear that she would not support the development.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward reminded the meeting that she was holding the football property to no more than eight storeys – and would go up to 15 if there were significant benefits for the public – which to her way of thinking was much more land for public use.
During the presentation the architect was brought up to explain what was sustainable about the site. He said the building would be heated and cooled geothermically – the equipment would be put in by a firm they owned.
The traffic expert came up to the podium to clarify just where the cars would get out of the 27 storey building that would have four floors of underground parking. Believe it or not they plan on having traffic in and out on Lakeshore Road. Keep in mind that the Nautique development will be on the other side of the road – almost directly across from the CORE development.
When asked what would the Chrysler Carriage House be used for the meeting was told it would be commercial and that they would probably use it as a restaurant location.
 Someone has finally come up with a reason for building the Pier – it was that “iconic” location from which people could see the city skyline and point out all the tall buildings. There is a word for that kind of traffic flow – wondering what the Transportation department will have to say when the project gets to them?
Bryan Nykoliation, who was introduced as the development owner (which he isn’t) was asked by the Mayor if he would withdraw the development until such time as the city has completed the study it intends to do once the review and refinement of the adopted but not yet approved Official Plan work is completed. Nykoliation said he would not do that.
 The western edge of the development lines up with Martha Street Their design consultant said she believed the CORE group had a very strong argument justifying the location and the building her client wanted to build.
A large part of the presentation was on how the proposed development fit into that part of the Lakeshore community. The design consultants used the existence of the under construction Bridgewater project and the approved ADI Nautique development as their view on what was to come and how their development fit into the bigger picture as they saw it.
 The developer argued that they weren’t adding anything to the skyline that wasn’t already there.  The outline on the right is the ADI Nautique structure. Lakeshore Road is in the middle with Emma’s on the other side. The CORE development would block the view of Emmas. They provided illustrations showing that there project wasn’t going to be any bigger than anyone else’s. They have illustrations of view from the Pier and an illustration that purported to show that the view from Martha street looking south to the lake left people with a clear view. They didn’t include Emmas Back Porch in the illustration.
The event was one of the more boisterous Statutory meetings we have seen in some time. The developers have been meeting with the Planning department people for some time; they left the impression that the planners are comfortable with the development. Consultants get paid to do that.
 Views on what the development will look like from different locations.  The consultants took the position that there development was, to some degree, an extension of Spencer Smith Park There will be a wide public path at the edge of the lake behind the Bridgewater that leads up to Old Lakeshore Road. Making the case that it is an extension depends on what gets built on the western end of the “football”
 By Staff
November 6th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The Planning and Development service counter located on the second floor in City Hall at 426 Brant St, will be closed on Monday, Nov. 11, re-opening on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 8:30 a.m.
That is one way of slowing down the flow of development applications.
 Planning and Development is just to the right.
 By Andrew Drummond
November 6th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
 Has the Ford government learned how to govern? This past week, the Ontario government returned to the legislature after an extended five-month break. Upon their return, they prioritized Bill 124 that would cap yearly public wage increases to significantly below the rate of inflation (with exceptions for groups that typically support the Conservatives like Doctors and Police Officers). However, they also last week announced significant retreats to three previously announced policies. These retreats were unexpected, and well received, and it is worth digging into how impactful these retreats are and why the government did not maintain their initial policies. Then perhaps more importantly what this means for public action against future government policy.
In September, two senior members of the Ontario opposition shadow cabinet (Marit Stiles and Sandy Shaw) came to Burlington for a town hall on education issues. One of the things they said to the crowd in Burlington was that it was possible to fight the government on its changes. Marit offered the example of the Health and Phys-Ed curriculum as an example of where public pressure pushed the government into changing its mind about a policy supported by Conservative members. The government had made a big deal about holding back the curriculum introduced by the previous government, but after a year of protests essentially allowed that curriculum to move forward with only minor tweaks.
This week, one of their backtracks was on regional amalgamation. Last year, the Ford government made a number of aggressive unilateral overhauls to municipal governments. It cancelled the decisions of the Regions of Peel, York, Niagara, and Muskoka to have a Regional Chair position while infamously using legislation to change the ward boundaries in the City of Toronto in the middle of their municipal campaign. When in January Ford appointed an advisory committee on regional government many residents in Burlington and elsewhere were worried it would spark another round of unilateral changes, possibly including the amalgamation of Halton Region in some way.
 Public pressure worked. In response, residents across Ontario organized to oppose any forced amalgamation. In Burlington, the grassroots group “We Love Burlington – Stop Amalgamation” formed. Across Ontario similar groups formed that organized responses to the advisory committee and emailed their MPPs. In all over 8,500 submissions were received and the government announced this week that no amalgamations would be forced upon municipalities. The answer was that public pressure worked.
The second backtrack was regarding advertising for vaping products. Everyone in Ontario has seen the proliferation of vaping advertising in the past year. Last October, the Ford government passed Bill 36 which primarily dealt with regulations around cannabis products, but also included the enabling of vaping companies to actively promote their products in stores. It was a reversal of previous Liberal policy to ban such advertisements, and was criticized by many including the Canadian Cancer Society. It was a transparent capitulation to lobbying pressure with the government absurdly claiming that
“The government is focusing on protecting young people from the potential harms of e-cigarettes and secondhand vapour. Retailers can’t sell the products to minors and they can only be promoted if the promotion complies with federal law.”
In September, CBC ran a story that outlined a story that showed just how little the provincial government was acting to restrict teens’ access to vaping. Despite hundreds of reports to local health authorities, across Durham, Toronto, and Peel only 16 fines had been levied all year. Many stores that had public reputations for selling products directly to minors had never been targeted for enforcement. Local health, already struggling under cuts to their funding didn’t have the resources to apply enforcement. The result of all of this has been a 74% increase in teen vaping over the last 12 months. Nearly 15% of teens 15-19 regularly vape, which in Burlington means approximately 780 teens have likely been newly addicted to vaping since the government allowed the increased advertising.
Fortunately, the government has been able to see past its free market ideology and is starting to backtrack in order to protect teens from the dangers of vaping. The government announced this week that as of January 1, 2020 vaping products will only be legally advertised within establishments that restrict entrance to ages 19+.
The last government backtrack is actually not much of a backtrack at all.
Education Minister Lecce announced last week that government will only look to increase secondary school class sizes from 22 to 25 instead of the previously announced 28. This is a relatively transparent negotiating ploy for the government’s upcoming negotiations with both the elementary and secondary teacher federations. Unfortunately, for the government, few in the public accept that the 9% increase in class sizes is necessary and most are rightly concerned about the detrimental effect it will have on public education. Minister Lecce’s public comments that tax cuts can only be funded if education costs are cut did little to make anyone think that quality education was his top priority.
Making only half of their initially proposed cuts is not actually a solution. The beginning of the cuts came this year as secondary class sizes were raised from 22 to 22.5. This resulted in 124 teachers being cut from Halton region alone. The “walk back” from the government will result in “only” 600-700 more teachers being laid off over the next three years. While this is a backtrack from the over 1,000 that were going to be eliminated under the government’s initial plan, it will still have an incredibly damaging impact on school in our region.
But the point is that fighting the government has worked. Pressure on the education piece has made the government relent a little bit.
 Restrict teens’ access to vaping. Pressure on teenage vaping has gotten the government to do a flip-flop on their initial proposal. Pressure from local activists has made the government completely abandon its efforts to amalgamate local municipalities. The government has changed its priorities since the first year of its mandate, mainly in reaction to the plummeting polls. They are now considering walking back many other parts of their initial agenda.
The responsibility we have as residents is to keep the pressure on so that as little as possible gets cut to fund further tax cuts.
Andrew Drummond is Burlington resident who ran for the provincial seat in the last election. He works with a telecommunications firm in the private sector where hew applies his marketing skills.
By Ray Rivers
November 6th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Part Two – It’s Not a Horse Race
If not First-Past-the-Post (FPP) then what? Most parliamentary democracies around the world have evolved into some kind of proportional representation. We, in Canada, have not.
 Proportional representation could be as simple as introducing a preferential or ranked ballot, as discussed last column. Also called a single transferable vote, it pretty much ensures that the political party elected as government had been supported by the majority of voters. In our last election the Conservatives had more popular support than the Liberals. But would they have gained more seats with a preferential ballot?
There are more complicated and sophisticated forms of proportional representation and a link below provides an extensive discussion of these. New Zealand and Germany are good case examples. New Zealand, a fellow Commonwealth nation, has pioneered so much regarding democratic governance including becoming the first democracy to enfranchise women voters.
New Zealanders came to their version of proportional representation, called MMP for multi member proportional, via a series of public referendums. The first one in 1992 indicated almost 80% of the people wanted to change away from FPP. The next year a majority of voters chose MMP over the outdated FPP and a few years later it was in place.
Just to be sure people were satisfied with the change they had made, a follow-up referendum in 2011 confirmed they were on the right track and they would stick with MMP. New Zealanders get two votes at election time – one for the local candidate and one for the party they support. The party then appoints its best candidates based on the proportion of the vote they obtained. Being a 50-50% MMP there are an equal number of MPs elected by riding and appointed by the parties.
Coalitions among parties is pretty much the order of the day, though there is always the possibility of majority governments as well. Cooperation rather than conflict, though, is much more the modus operandi. That doesn’t mean parliament moves at snail pace as compromise might imply, but there should be fewer dramatic swings in policy, as we see in our system. Policies such as the long gun registry, the Northern Gateway pipeline and the non-partisan Senate would have had more consensus before implementation and more consensus before major changes.
 Lester B. Pearson was the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968, as the head of two back-to-back Liberal minority governments following elections in 1963 and 1965. For those who believe that Canada’s experience with minority government and quasi-coalitions or even rarer rare full-coalitions has been productive, MMP is the answer you’ve been waiting for. These folk would argue that our best governments have been during periods of minority, and will point to Lester Pearson as a shining example.
So what would have happened had Canada had a system of MMP instead FPP in the last election?
It’s all hypothetical, particularly since strategic voting had played such a big role in determining the final results. But assuming that voters hypothetically chose their MPs in the same manner as they did their parties, the results might look something like what we see in the table below, despite rounding errors.
 (note: includes rounding errors and excludes independent)
In this hypothetical illustration based on the last election, the Liberals would still have earned the most seats though the Conservatives would have improved their position relative to them. The NDP would have moved from fourth to third place, better representing the percentage of the vote they got. And the Greens would have remained in last place though their strength in members would have increased to better represent their popular support.
The depiction above presumes the same number of electoral districts and that the House is expanded to accommodate a doubling of members (50% MMP). Note that while today the Liberals could govern with support from either of the NDP or BQ, under our hypothetical MMP they would need the BQ plus at least one of the other parties. The Conservatives, as before, would not be able to govern without the support of at least two of the third parties or with the support of the Liberals.
Jason Kenney served in the Harper government – now he wants to form a government as Prime Minister. Mr. Trudeau is challenged to make his new minority government work with a nation more divided than we have seen in decades. While it is easy to understand Quebecers voting for a party dedicated to their interests and with a charismatic leader, what happened in the west is concerning. The Liberal shut out was deliberate and orchestrated somewhat by the Alberta premier and his Saskatchewan cohort.
Jason Kenney’s goal was to defeat Justin Trudeau and he very nearly succeeded. It was a dangerous manoeuvre for a provincial premier which exceeded anything this country has ever seen, and even over the top given the performances of former Quebec separatist leaders like Lucien Bouchard, Rene Levesque or even Jacques Parizeau.
Though the newly formed Wexit political entity, seems like an adolescent bad joke today, one should not underestimate the ability of this movement to damage the apple cart we call confederation. We could call them Canada’s tea party with their “Make Alberta Great Again” blue hats and upturned Canadian flags, but nobody should dismiss them as just a fringe movement or childish pack of whackos.
 Would this be if it was an international border ? Perhaps one day they’ll explain why it would be easier for a landlocked Alberta to build a pipeline across an international border than over a provincial boundary – and why with the highest provincial per capita incomes contributing to national equalization is so unfair. Still, without some kind of formal representation in Canada’s government, these separatist voices in the west will only become louder, angrier and nastier.
And that alone should give Mr. Trudeau cause to think about adopting some form of proportional government which would allow the Wexiters and the Greens, and even the Bloc, the scope to channel their energy in a productive way.
Part 1
Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
What Canada Can Learn – Proportional Representation – German Political System –
New Zealand System – More NZ System – WEXIT –
By Staff
November 6th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
 To support the Gift of Giving Back Food Drive, the parking lot in front of Centennial Pool is unavailable for pool customers Tuesday, Nov. 5 through Thursday, Nov. 8, 2019.
During this time all vehicles must park in the north lot behind Centennial Pool. North parking lot is only accessible from the west parking lot entrance for Robert Bateman School and by driving around the back of the school.
The Ascension Elementary School parking lot is not available for parking during daytime hours.
Please plan accordingly to allow extra time for parking.
The Centennial Pool parking lot will reopen for the evening of Thursday, Nov. 8, 2019
 By Gary Scobie
November 6th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Once more into the breach. While there have been some good measures this new Council has brought about in 2019, on the most important issue you face, I am feeling frustrated and disappointed.
 Keeping the historic Chrysler Carriage House and leveraging its heritage to get additional height for a development many think is taking place in the wrong part of town. I am delegating in opposition to the 27 storey mixed use condo application for 2093 etc. Old Lakeshore Road, in the middle of the
“football” between Old Lakeshore Road and Lakeshore Road. I would suggest nothing higher than mid-rise at this location and the
same goes for the site being planned next door to the east at the corner of Old Lakeshore and Lakeshore Roads. We don’t need
skyscrapers in our faces as we enter the eastern gateway to the downtown.
 There was a time when a much larger bus terminal existed 25 yards to the left of this small terminal on John Street – it was where people met. Today this tiny structure has been defined as an Anchor Hub. I am frustrated that the Interim Control Bylaw (ICB) has only four more months to run and Council still has not acted on its mandate from citizens to rid us of the Anchor Mobility Hub (AMH) and Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) designations downtown. Nor has it moved the Urban Growth Centre (UGC) to the Burlington GO Station. These requests have been there since ECoB formed.
The three un-designations would free you from having to scramble to please the Local Planning Area Tribunal (LPAT) with your refusals to bend to developer demands to build high, build dense and build expensive on small sites in our downtown.
I am disappointed that instead Council is having the Planning Department spend time and expertise teasing out designs for downtown precincts (excluding Old Lakeshore precinct I might add) to please no one except developers.
This department should be using its expertise to support you in un-designating the downtown as an over-intensification project and reclaiming your right as a Council to decide on the intensification of our downtown that was already clearly expressed in the current Official Plan (OP). I attended the final Downtown Development Lab on Saturday and the crowd was not enthusiastic about either concept and was wondering why we were doing this exercise.
I last came here in June of 2019 and advised that your first priority to stop the further proliferation of high rise buildings near our
lakeshore like this one and in our downtown like others was to get us out of the cross-hairs of the development industry by making moves that Oakville Council in its wisdom did well over ten years ago. Instead we are still seeing applications such as this one that run counter to our vision of our lakeshore re-development and give developers an easy ride at the LPAT to gain height without maximums on small sites that only add to existing congestion and ultimately result in a rebuild of our downtown in their image.
Yet we are spending time updating an Adopted OP so it might pass muster under the over-intensification mandates you continue to allow to stand. You ignore the fact that our small Bus Terminal never qualified as an Anchor Mobility Hub because it has neither rapid transit nor dedicated transit to the Burlington GO Station Gateway Mobility Hub. You appear to ignore the ability you have to revise the boundaries of the Urban Growth Centre to direct high intensification like this building being applied for to the GO Station Mobility Hubs instead of in the downtown. Meanwhile the clock continues to tick toward the end of the ICB in March 2020.
The canyon effect along Lakeshore Road predicted ten years ago by Save Our Waterfront is about to come to pass unless strong measures are taken by Council.
 The canyon effect along Lakeshore Road predicted ten years ago by Save Our Waterfront is about to come to pass. At one time, I think citizens believed that we had enough historic buildings in our downtown to forestall high rise developments everywhere. Alas, we have very few buildings designated as historic and protected. If one happens to be on a site of properties assembled by a developer, like this one with the Chrysler Carriage House, it is incorporated in a tiny corner of the new building as simply a cost of doing business and a token to those who care about history. Old buildings or interesting facades like Kelly’s Bakeshop are incorporated in the build to lower our unease that our downtown is being stolen from us, to make us feel more comfortable with the redo that is unfolding. I believe that most citizens realize that these small measures are little compensation for what is being lost in total – the vision that Council promotes of a continuing attractiveness, walk-ability and vitality of the small town feel of Burlington’s downtown.
Developers have been assembling properties for years in anticipation of the goldmine that awaited them in high rise luxury condos, with token retail and office space that is mostly unaffordable for the very people we want to stay in the downtown.
Developers want to demolish and build new. You only have to look out your window at City Hall to see the blank slate that was 421 Brant Street. That is the dream of every developer. No trees, no buildings left, just a vacant lot ready to dig down deep for dungeon parking and building footings, set to rise to new heights each time. Wind or shadow issues? We’ve got experts who will tell you all is fine. No trees that will ever live past seven years because the beds are too small and too shallow? You can plant another one in its place. It’s all going to be wonderful with well-off people moving downtown to support the businesses that might or might not be left. What’s not to like?
This type of viewpoint might work at a true mobility hub where you can actually build from scratch a complete community for rail commuters, but it just doesn’t cut it in a downtown that actually does have some buildings, both high and low, that will stay for a long time and need to be built around in a respectful manner.
Members of Council, expect to see the developer of this application at the LPAT soon. In the meantime, please get working with Metrolinx and the Province to at least give you and your citizens a chance at saving our downtown, not frozen in time, but with a reasonable intensification target of our own making.
 Gary Scobie is a Burlington resident who has in the past delegated to city council. His research has informed public opinion.
Related news and opinion content:
Is there anything that can be done to preserve the football?
Can the Mayor keep the dream alive?
By Staff
November 5th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Something went wrong somewhere and Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan finds himself in a bit of a bind.
 Traffic on the road near the school is just too fast for many Kilbride residents.  Councillor Rory Nisan – said he thought the speed reduction was a done deal. People in the Kilbride community complained about speeding along the main road in the community. Many delegated at the time and the Councillor felt there was an understanding that the speed limit would be reduced.
The Councillor checked in with the Transportation department and was told that the speed limit would be reduced. Nisan passed the word around the community – he had delivered. The rural people remember things like this.
During the Planning and Development meeting Tuesday afternoon the Councillor learned that a 40 kmh limit would not be put in place because it wasn’t warranted.
You could almost hear Councillor Nisan gulp.
Director of Transportation Vito Tolone has advised Council that the department was trying to cut down on situations where a single area had a reduced speed limit. They wanted instead to impose speed limits on areas and a collection of roads.
 Director of Transportation Vito Tolone said the speed reduction request didn’t meet the criteria. Kilbride Road was not an area that they wanted to put 40 kmh limits on. There was apparently a report setting out why the department decided not to put the limit on that road.
Nisan said he wasn’t aware of any report and he certainly didn’t see anything.
Rory Nisan is going to have to find a way to convince the Director of Transportation to change his mind or corral enough council votes to Direct the department to put in a 40 kmh limit.
Let’s see what Nisan manages to achieve.
One of the things he might want to work on is polishing up the relationships with the various departments.
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Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
