 By Pepper Parr
October 29th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
 The land between Lakeshore Road and Old Lakeshore Road has been referred to as the football every since we started publishing. Why would the city want to name is the peanut? Is it a football or a peanut?
What most people know as the “football” was referred to as the peanut by Director of Planning Heather MacDonald at one of the Action Plan sessions last week.
 Is it a football ….  …or a peanut? It is probably the most significant piece of developable land left in the downtown core.
In time it might equal Spencer Smith Park in importance to the look, feel and public open space in the city.
Right now there are developers crawling all over the land with proposal for developments that will rise more than 25 storeys.
The Carriage Gate Group subsidiary Lakeshore Old Burlington gave a presentation to a very small group at a public meeting recently. No one has yet to explain why that meeting was so poorly promoted.
 Not much of that quaint, walk-able community in this 3d model of what the CORE Development group want to dump into the ‘football’. The CORE Development group gave the public a good look at what they have in mind for the properties to the west of the Burlington Old LAkeshore proposal.
They will be making the required Statutory presentation to city council on November 5th at city hall
 Lakeshore Mixed use precinct – on the north and south side of Lakeshore from Locust to Martha. Each property will have its own rules put in place. During the two Action Plan workshops the city held for residents some people wanted to know why the “football” and the Lakeshore Precinct were not included in the public think sessions.
They were told by the Director of Planning, Heather MacDonald that those precincts were to be the subject of separate studies once the revisions to the adopted but not yet approved Official Plan are in place.
One can sympathize with the workload the Planning department faces but the “football” and what has been defined as the Lakeshore precinct are just as important as the look and feel of Brant Street if not more so.
What makes Burlington the city it is – is the lake.
 At the eastern edge of the football – the tower will become the gateway to the downtown core.  This structure is to the immediate west of the latest Carriage Gate Development.
The millions spent on the Pier; the millions spent on getting public access to the lake at the foot of the Bridgewater development and public access to the lake through that development will be for naught if there are no rules that apply to the football and the Lakeshore precinct.
At this point there are two mammoth development applications for the “football” on the table
Let us not repeat the terrible mistake with that Anchor Hub – the label that got stuck on a tiny bus terminal.
Related news stories:
The stunning development planned for the “football”
Can high rise development be brought to an end?
 By Pepper Parr
October 29, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Yet another survey.
City of Burlington looking for feedback on Recreation Services Department’s priorities
This began with the creation of a “Draft Framework for Community Recreation in the City of Burlington.”
The draft framework will be the guiding document used by the Recreation Services Department (formerly the Parks and Recreation Department) in determining how tax dollars are invested in future programming, facility development and partnerships.
 Splash pads and pools are vital for many parents – are there enough of them? The framework will provide clarity, transparency and consistency in how we allocate resources for recreational services. This will lead to more efficient processes such as the facility allocation including scheduling of ice, pool, gym and sport field time.
Before the framework can be finalized, the City is looking for input on where the Recreation Services Department’s priorities should be.
As for that “draft” – wasn’t included. We have asked for a copy.
The online survey can be found at getinvolvedburlington.ca/recservices and will be open until Nov. 12, 2019.
Results of this survey will be shared with Council in an upcoming report in December.
The survey is quite short – not complex.
Chris Glenn, Director of Recreation Services explains: “We want to ensure we’re offering the type of programs and services that benefit the population at large. It’s good to check-in with our residents to make sure we’re focusing on the right areas of recreation. Your input is important to shape our Framework for Recreation for our City.”
Survey Link
 By Staff
October 28th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
We knew this was coming – that doesn’t make it any easier to cope with.
The intersection of Lakeshore Road and Brant Street is going to be a bit of a dog’s breakfast for the next couple of days.
The time frame is: October. 28th, today through to November 1, and then from the 4th to the 8th, 2019
Weather will determine just how long the roads will be closed
Brant Street will be fully closed at Lakeshore Road. There will be a road closure sign at Elgin Street and Pine Street with local access to businesses and residential buildings.
Lakeshore Road at Brant Street – Nov. 4 – 8
Lakeshore Road at Brant Street will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
This work is highly weather dependent, so dates will be changed if needed.
Full emergency access will be provided.
 By Pepper Parr
October 28th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
There are mobility hubs
There are anchor hubs
There are MTSA’s – Major Transit Station Areas
There are urban growth centers.
They are all tied together but not all that well understood.
 We know it as the bus terminal – the bureaucrats call it an Anchor Hub; a developer saw it as a great stroke of luck.  A bus terminal made the height of this development possible. One of them, the Anchor hub that had been proposed for what most people know as the bus terminal on John Street, put the city in a position where they could not deny a developer the right to put up a building – which really screwed up the plans the city had for property on Lakeshore Road close to where it meets up with Old Lakeshore Road. The developer used the existence of an Anchor hub as justification for the high rise.
The Anchor hub is basically a small bus depot that at one point was to be torn down.
 Three of the five towers that make up the Paradigm development on the north side of Fairview right next to the GO Station. The Mobility Hubs are clustered around the GO stations where the developers have bought up as much of the and as possible. The Molinaro Group was ahead of the development crowd when they broke ground for the Paradigm development – five towers snuggled up beside the Burlington GO station.
 Adi Developments Station West in the early development stage. Councillor Kelvin Galbraith has a number of major developments taking place in the western end of the ward that will increase GO train traffic. The Aldershot GO station area has a very large two stage ADI development underway.
Nothing in the works yet for the Mobility hub that will be part of the Appleby GO station.
There isn’t all that much controversy around the Mobility hubs – although Dr. Shie would like to see the eastern edge of the Burlington GO hub moved to the east – to the other side of Guelph line so that it includes the property at Guelph and Harvester Road.
 The boundaries of the Urban Growth Centre that the province required every municipality to have. Many now believe that the location chosen and the boundaries put in place need to be changed. The Urban Growth Centre is something the city had to create. That was a provincial requirement. The city had to have one – but it had some influence on where it would be located and what the boundaries are. The current UGC boundary is a little too far to the south for many people.
It was created in 2006 – many think both the location and the boundary lines were a mistake. Members of the current council have come to believe that the location of the current UGC can be moved and the boundary changed.
You had to have one but you get to determine where it will be located.
The Anchor isn’t a gotta have. The story we got from Councillor Lisa Kearns is that the city will get rid of the Anchor Hub (bus station) just as soon as the Interim Control Bylaw is lifted – which is expected to happen in March of 2020.
 Burlington MPP Jane McKenna stuck her head in the door, didn’t like the look of the meeting and left. Getting the location and boundary of the Urban Growth Centre is not as easy. Kearns told the Gazette that the members of the provincial government: Jane McKenna, Burlington and Effie Triantafilopoulos, Oakville North Burlington will be drawn into the discussions.
Triantafilopoulos understands the complexity of the issue and is for the most part approachable and works at having good, strong working relationships with her peers.
Many residents have not had the same experience with McKenna.
It will be interesting to see how this work out. We weren’t able to get much in the way of a sense as to how long this will take from Councillor Kearns.
By Staff
October 28th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
It is there for the whole family to enjoy.
The Joseph Brant Museum and the playable pinball exhibition is on display until January 12.
 A totally different look at the world of Pinball machines – now on at the Joseph Brant Museum. The exhibition is included in the price of Museum admission, and features rock-themed, playable pinball machines alongside merchandise and artifacts related to artists and bands.
Regular Museum Hours
Monday / Closed
Tuesday / 10:00am-4:00pm
Wednesday / 10:00am-4:00pm
Thursday / 10:00am-7:00pm
Friday / 10:00am-4:00pm
Saturday / 12:00pm-4:00pm
Sunday/ 12:00pm-4:00pm
Evenings and other times by appointment
Adults: $10.00, Seniors-students: $8.00
Children: $6.00; 3 to 12 free.
$30. Family, which is defined as up to 2 adults/seniors and up to 4 children.
Other than a little landscaping to be completed it looks as if the construction is completed. Now to see what the inside of the place looks like.
By Staff
October 28th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
 Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns. Part of getting elected for Lisa Kearns was a promise to maintain a Registry of the people who visited her and wanted to talk about city business.
She laid down some rules:
You will need to register if you are meeting to discuss:
a decision or matter that is going to Committee/Council
information that intends to advance the business of the City
a matter to which you may receive any form of remuneration or benefit.
Please be advised this is a voluntary business meeting registry to support the transparency, accountability and integrity of the government decision-making process, and to promote open dialogue between the many stakeholders that complement our community.
And who has had the pleasure of her company and what did they talk about?
It’s all laid out in the Registry.
Kearns by the way is the only member of Council who set up a Registry. While what happens at the ward level is important – what happens in the Mayor’s office is much more important. No Registry there. Why?
 Who asked for what and when? An election promise that was kept!
 By Pepper Parr
October 28th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
Update:
In the closing sentence of this article we said: “They wonder why Burlington could not find a decent Catholic candidate to represent them..
The they was the Catholic community. Several readers questioned the Catholic reference, informing us that the candidate didn’t have to be a Catholic and that is correct. What we were saying is that many in the Catholic community in Burlington wanted someone to represent their views in the House of Commons. The Conservative party leadership appeared to like the look of Jane Michael. Many Catholics in Burlington didn’t. And many who were not Catholic were terrified that Michael would get the traditional Conservative vote and take the seat. Sanity prevailed.
It is just a little after the votes were counted and the riding of Burlington re-elected Karina Gould that the Gazette was finally able to communicate with a second person who was able to confirm what we were given by a Burlington resident on the way Elizabeth Jane Michael was named as the Conservative Party candidate.
We wanted someone to corroborate what we had learned – but were not able to do so before the election.
Our source wrote the following. We have been able to confirm that the writer is real but for personal job related reasons we cannot reveal the names of either source.
“I could easily add to all the ‘unusable’ dirt I hear you have been receiving about Jane Michael, but I’m not going to do that now.
“The line you have about Burlington conservatives not being able to understand how Jane Michael became the Conservative candidate is certainly true. The information I have will shed some light on this and explain why CPC chose Jane Michael to be Burlington’s candidate. This is just me putting the threads together. Jane Michael’s Campaign Manager is Paul Marai. Their history goes way back. They served eight years together as trustees on the HCDSB. Marai also has a big connection to the Conservatives.
“Here are a few of bits of info:
Elizabeth Jane Michael was sanctioned by the HCDSB in May of 2018 for ‘violating code of conduct’ at an in-camera meeting.
“In a news report in another publication HDCSB Anthony Quinn said: “The reprimand may not seem like much, but it’s the strongest sanction available to the board under the legislation.”
 Paul Marai was Michael’s Campaign Manager. He is also the Director of Digital operations for RMG – The Responsive Marketing Group Inc “At the board’s public meeting May 15, 2018, vice-chair Paul Marai read a motion announcing the sanction and stating the penalty: Michael is barred from attending two board meetings, removed from her position on the discipline committee and excluded from the search for a new director of education “from the beginning to the end of the hiring process.”
“Michael had the highest trustee expenses while with HCDSB. Many other controversies.
“Michael’s Campaign Manager, was Paul Marai who is a Digital Director of RMG – The Responsive Marketing Group Inc. This company does work for political parties, and election work from federal to municipal. One service they provide is robo calling.
“In RMG marketing material RMG is described as an industry leader for over 20 years. “Responsive Marketing Group is Canada’s preeminent integrated political marketing services company. We bring together decades of experience in voter contact, fundraising, and cutting edge data science to offer unparalleled audience insight and engagement services.”
“RMG does work for the Conservative Party of Canada and has done work in the Burlington and neighbouring ridings for years provincially and federally. Paul Marai, through the company RMG, has a connection to Andrew Scheer’s campaign team and Conservative party staff.
“Marai was helping Jane when she tried to win the PC nomination in 2016.
“This ‘Michael to Marai to Scheer/Hamish Marshall connection’ is why Burlington conservatives ended up with Jane Michael.” Hamish Marshall was Andrew Scheer’s campaign manager.”
Our source adds that “there is certainly nothing wrong with all these connections.” She felt the public had a right to know.
Our first source gave us basically the same information.
The Conservative Party liked the strong Catholic anti abortion position Michael had taken and were prepared to go to some lengths to get her there.
But there was just too much that didn’t smell right and the voters of Burlington decided to stay with the incumbent. Many strong Conservative Catholic voters in Burlington spoke to the Gazette saying that they couldn’t stomach the candidate they were told they had to take.
They wonder why Burlington could not find a decent Catholic candidate to represent them.
They are out there.
Related news stories:
Gazette hacked.
Pepper Parr is the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
 By Pepper Parr
October 25th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
 Each municipality will continue to be an independent municipality. Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr is delighted with the announcement made by Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing that the idea of doing anything with the way Regional governments are organized is off the table.
The announcement of the walk back by the Minister was made at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Fall Policy Forum.
Carr said he wanted to “thank Premier Ford and Minister Clark for recognizing that Halton Region is a safe community, with low taxes, the highest credit rating and where 97 per cent of residents are satisfied with the quality of Halton Region services.”
“We appreciate the Minister’s recognition that municipalities are best positioned to determine what works for their communities and for not imposing a top down approach.”
Carr added that thanks were due too, to residents who participated in this consultation process through their letters, delegations and submissions.
The We Love Burlington advocacy group was ecstatic saying “Minister Clark acknowledged the message of many of the delegations, including WeLoveBurlington’s, that “municipalities are the level of government closest to the people, [that] every community is different – one size doesn’t fit all”. His announcement is a victory for responsible and responsive government at the municipal level. It is a recognition that local voice matters and that all levels of government must align and work collaboratively in order to best serve the citizen.
“Take a bow people – you made this happen.”
Related news story:
Minister backs away from the idea of municipal amalgamations.
By Staff
October 25th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
 Conservation Halton advises that an incoming weather system from the Gulf of Mexico is forecasted to bring a significant accumulation of rainfall this weekend, beginning late in the evening on Saturday and lasting into the overnight period and until mid-day Sunday.
Rainfall amounts of approximately 30 to 50 mm are anticipated for our immediate area.
 The forecasted precipitation will result in increased water levels and flows within our rivers and streams over the next several days. The combination of slippery and unstable banks and cool water temperatures will create hazardous conditions close to any river, stream or other water bodies.
Widespread flooding is not anticipated. Our reservoirs are at our seasonal holding levels and have storage capacity available. However, fast flowing water and flooding of low lying areas and natural floodplains may be expected. Localized flooding may occur where leaf litter blocks storm sewers. Municipalities, emergency services and individual landowners in flood-prone areas should be on the alert.
Conservation Halton is asking all residents and children to keep a safe distance from all watercourses and structures such as bridges, culverts and dams. Elevated water levels, fast flowing water, and slippery conditions along stream banks continue to make these locations extremely dangerous. Please alert children in your care of these imminent dangers.
Conservation Halton will continue to monitor stream flow and weather conditions and will issue further messages as necessary. This Flood Outlook Statement will be in effect through Tuesday October 29th, 2019.
By Pepper Parr
October 25th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The Minister of Municipalities and Housing has said that “After careful consideration of the feedback we heard through the course of the review, our government stands firm in its commitment to partnering with municipalities without pursuing a top-down approach. We will provide municipalities with the resources to support local decision-making.”
Does that mean any amalgamation of the four municipalities in Halton is off the table? Looks that way – but let’s see how this rolls out in the months ahead.
 The We Love Burlington team made a lot of noise and were surely part of the decision the province made to pull back on the idea of amalgamation. The government added that they are putting serious dollars on the table – they are “providing up to $143 million to municipalities to help them lower costs and improve services for local residents over the long term. Funding will be available to all 444 municipalities so they can find smarter, more efficient ways to operate and focus spending on vital programs and services for Ontarians.
“Municipalities deliver a wide range of services that people rely on every day, like transit, water and wastewater, and parks and recreation.
“Municipalities are the level of government closest to the people, but every community is different – one size doesn’t fit all,” said Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “This investment in communities will support municipal transformation efforts to make sure they are delivering efficient, effective and modern services that best meet the unique needs of their residents.”
“Earlier this year, the government conducted a review of Ontario’s eight regional governments and Simcoe County. Throughout this extensive review, the government heard that local communities should decide what is best for them in terms of governance, decision-making and service delivery.”
Related news story:
What did We Love Burlington have to say?
By Pepper Parr
October 24th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The city council in place now looks at technology a lot differently than the council that served from 2010 to 2018.
That cohort was not comfortable with technology, were unable to make it work for them and didn’t know how to direct staff to make it work for the citizens.
The new council has members that know a lot more than many of the people in the IT departments. Lisa Kerns will rattle off data and phrases that most people don’t quite get. Part of it is some showing off – but she usually knows what she is talking about.
Getting information into the hands of the public, at least for those who want to know the what and why of what’s happening, is easily done if good data applications are put in place.
There is now a source of almost everything you might want to know about developments taking place in the city.
 You can adjust the size of the map.
Then by clicking on on any one of the red dots you get a short summary of who is doing the development and links to the city’s planning department which then gives you a list of all the studies that were done.
There is also a link to the developers web site.
Most of what you need is at your finger tips – no more scooting around from place to place to gather information on a single development.
A good step forward..
Try it – the Development sites is part of the Get Involved city web site.
Link:
By Pepper Parr
October 24th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The people in the planning department and those in communications were about to learn if they had put together a program that would bridge the gap between what was planned and what was actually achieved.
 Each of the yellow “notes” were an idea, a comment that would be reviewed by planning staff.  Planning staff floated through the room ready to answer questions. There were a lot of questions. It was complex.
The city has an Official Plan, it is required to have an Official Plan and it is required to update that Plan.
In 2018 the city approved an Official Plan and sent it off to the Region.
City plans have to comply with the Regional Official Plan.
That plan got called the “approved” Official Plan.
Then the city held an election and a new council was in place along with a new Mayor who believes she was elected to make some changes.
Each red dot is a development proposal – the planning department couldn’t keep up with the applications. Development applications were being submitted to the Planning department at a brutal rate. Staff could not keep up with the volume but the rules of the planning game are that anything that is submitted to the Planning department has to be considered.
The city needed to put a halt or at least slow down the rate at which development applications were being submitted.
They imposed an Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL) which put a halt to the approval of any new developments within a specific area. That area was defined as the Urban Growth Centre.
The new city council and the new Mayor then directed Staff to re-write the “approved” Official Plan and ensure that there was plenty of opportunity for public input.
 The audience was given choices that the consultants said could be revised, added to or merged with other ideas. There was nothing that couldn’t be out on the table. That is what got 75 people at an Action Plan meeting last night at the Lions Club Wednesday evening plus another 75 people for an afternoon meeting – to look at what the city had collected in the way of information and ideas at a meeting that took place in August.
 Lisa Kearns, on the left, the ward Councillor in discussion with a resident.  Couples worked diligently on the documents they were given and asked challenging questions throughout the evening. There was criteria, there were principles, there were precincts and there were ideas – they called them concepts that they wanted the public to look at, debate, discuss and provide whatever was on their minds as feedback to the planners and the consultants.
The afternoon and evening sessions of the Action Plan meetings were considerably different. The Gazette did not attend the afternoon session, which we were told worked quite well.
The people at the evening session kept going off script – they had all kinds of questions that were not directly related to what the facilitators were trying to get across.
 Planner Allison Enns with Director of Planning Heather MacDonald on the right. On two occasions the Director of Planning had to go to the front of the room and quietly explain some of the decisions that were being made.
The evening session wanted to know why the Waterfront Hotel property was not being included in the discussions –same with what has come to be known as the “football”, that property between Lakeshore Road and Old Lakeshore Road that has to 24 storeys plus application in the hands of the planners.
There were very some pretty sound reasons for not including those two pieces of land. It wasn’t at all certain that the audience understood just what those reasons were.
It was a solid two and a half hours of people who care about their city and do not want to see the downtown core become a collection of high rise towers with nothing but wind tunnels at the street level.
By Pepper Parr
October 23rd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
This story has been revised. A reader pointed out to us that the Mayor did provide a very detailed report on her trip to France for the D Day remembrance. A link to that report is now included.
Our Mayor is in Japan.
 The mayor has gone rogue – taken to Japanese fashion. She has been there since October 15th and will return on Friday.
She is part of a delegation that is celebrating our 30th anniversary of the Twinning of Burlington with Itabashi, Japan.
Attending with the Mayor and one of her daughters. The Mayor is picking up the cost of her daughter’s travel expenses.
The city manager and at least one staff member and Ward 6 Councillor Rory Nisan is part of the delegation. Members of the Mundialization committee are also part of the delegation.
 Mayor Meed Ward marching through the streets of Itabashi, Japan with city manager Tim Commisso doing his best to keep up. Other than the recognition and the celebration of the twinning relationship there is no clearly stated reason for the trip.
There has been some discussion about possible business opportunities with different Japanese cities.
When the Mayor returns she has said she will tell us all about the trip.
When Mayor Meed Ward took part in the 75th Anniversary of the D Day landings in France the public was given a very detailed report that included how much was spent. That report can be found HERE
The Mayor did report on what she spent – the sums were reasonable and acceptable. She took one of her staff members with her and they shared a room.
There is very little in the way of news from the Mayor directly – there are a number of pictures posted on one of her social media pages.
We share those with you and wish the Mayor safe travel as she prepares to return to Burlington, ranked as Canada’s best community and best place to raise a family. It is a city where people, nature and businesses thrive.
 Mayor Marianne Meed Ward enjoying a Japanese delicacy with Councillor Nisan in the background wondering perhaps if he too will be fed.  Councillor Rory Nisan taking part in what may be a cooking class.  The Mayor is on the right. There was no detail provided on the pictures.
By Pepper Parr
October 23rd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
This article has been revised to include comments from ECoB
Last October we elected a new city council. They said they were going to make changes and that they were going to engage you in that process.
They weren’t kidding.
Two views of the downtown core: The first picture is what Burlington once was, the rendering below that is what some people want Burlington to be.
 This was the factory at the bottom of Brant street where fruit and vegetables were canned. There aren’t many people around these days who remember the pungent smell of tomatoes being boiled and canned. Below is what some citizens want.  The Waterfront Hotel site is up for re-development. There is a group of citizens who want to see a clear line from the bottom of Brant Street out into the lake with the redeveloped hotel site moves to the east. Today there are two Action Labs at which the city is going to reveal two concepts on what the city might look like in the future.
Both are taking place at the Lions Club at 1pm-3pm & 7pm-9pm.
There is also a Walking Tour – Sat. Oct 26 – 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
This is part of the Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown exercise.
Tour leaves the No Frills plaza 571 Brant St at 1:30 p.m.
1. See first-hand the areas of downtown that are being looked at as part of the re-examination of the adopted Official Plan
2. Experience what mid and tall rise buildings feel like from the street, when walking through the downtown.
The event has not been all that well promoted. ECoB, the Engaged Citizens of Burlington relased the following information earlier today.
What will happen?
- The city will show two preliminary concepts for the revised Official Plan for Downtown.
- You will be invited to provide feedback via a ‘citizen action lab’ workshop.
- Your feedback will be included in the next stage as a final plan is drawn up for consideration by Council.
The failure of the city to successfully engage with the public on the Official Plan in 2017/18 was a major reason for the creation of Engaged Citizens of Burlington and for the changes on Burlington Council last year.
Is the City Doing Engagement Right This Time?
ECoB has welcomed the improved processes that are being used for public meetings during the process of revisiting the downtown plan.
Nevertheless, we are disappointed that given a year to review the downtown OP, the city is still relying on citizens being able to attend public meetings or visiting city websites to provide comment. We believe it was essential for the city to reach out to residents who traditionally do not or cannot attend public meetings or participate in online questionnaires. A small additional budget for more vigorous public engagement would have helped the city obtain public comment that was statistically relevant and representative of the whole community.
Nevertheless, don’t miss the opportunity to have your say on the draft plans! Make sure your voice is heard!
By Pepper Parr
October 22nd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Some people made watching the election results come in an event. There were groups of Canadians around the world gathering to watch Facebook pages where the CBC was streaming the results live.
Ward 6 city councillor Bentivegna managed to coax a CBC reporter to his home where friends and family got together to eat and talk and analyze what they were seeing. There was Angelo and his family on national TV.
Each of the campaigns met once the polls closed and waited for the results.
The Karina Gould Liberals celebrated at Emma’s Back Porch.
 Political columnist Ray Rivers keeping an eye on proof reader Jan Mowbray and Publisher Pepper Parr. Photo credit: Jean Rivers The Gazette editorial team had to both watch the result play out and think how they were going to cover each of the three campaigns that were taking place in Burlington – the city is covered by three different ridings. One riding, Burlington, is just the city; Milton includes the northern part of the city while Oakville North Burlington includes both the city of Burlington and the Town of Oakville.
The television networks focus on the bigger picture, offering glimpses of what is taking place in each of the ridings.
The CBC decision desk announced that Justin Trudeau was going to be the Prime Minister, then added later that he would have just a minority of the votes that were Liberal – which meant cozying up with one of the other political parties.
CBC did an outstanding job on both the analysis and the graphics that were available to the viewers.
The talent gathered around the television studio was impressive. Peter Mansbidge was there sitting beside Bob Rae – both men had great insights into what had taken place in the past.
The At Issue Team was on hand with Chantel Hebert providing an inside look at might be expected from Quebec. Turned out we shouldn’t expect all that much from the BLOC party. They made it very clear they were in Ottawa to protect the interest of Quebeckers – the federation wasn’t of all that much interest to them.
The people who write for and put the Gazette together were both viewers and journalists – we were both watching, taking it all in and deciding how we wanted to cover the win in each of the three ridings that include parts of Burlington.
Earlier in the day I predicted what the election results would be. A loyal but critical Gazette reader sent me a note saying: “Remind me please in January not to follow and bet on your Super Bowl tip. One for three in your election predictions!” And that is why you never see me at a race track.
 Political columnist Ray Rivers reacting to the news that Jodi Wilson Raybould had been elected in British Columbia. Photo credit: Jean Rivers We decided to have some fun and created a Burlington Gazette Mountsberg Bureau and argued the merits of each of the wins and losses across the country as the results rolled in.
I thought the Jodi Wilson Raybould win was great; Rivers didn’t share my enthusiasm. He thought the SNC-Lavalin issue was off the table completely and on that he might be right; the BLOC doesn’t want to be part of that one. I still think the Prime Minister mis-handled that problem.
We all agreed that Prime Minister Trudeau may not have had all that much interest in changing the way the votes are counted. Jagmeet Singh is in the House ready to ensure that the change gets made.
Interesting times ahead.
 By Ray Rivers
October 22nd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
As the final results were coming to an end the CBC switched to final comments by the leaders. For a brief moment I thought CBC had picked up the feed from those horrible debates where the leaders talked all over one another. Nobody obviously had coordinated their appearance so at one point all three of these guys were on the screen at the same time and the tough decision at the CBC was who would be given voice.
 Jagmeet Singh – holds the balance of power in Ottawa. Trudeau gave a prime ministerial address about national unity, though what else could he say after the big wipe out in the west. Singh fell back on his stump speech, about this fictional kid suffering from some ailment and worrying about how his parents were going to be able to afford the drugs.
Scheer was combative, couldn’t wait for that next election and he’ll be ready – because it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you get to be PM. And being 30 plus seats behind the Liberals he knows the knives are out.
The most important take away message from Monday night is how our electoral system is failing us as a nation:
1. The BLOC had only about 1% more of the popular vote than the Green Party (7.7% vs 6.5) but won 32 seats to the Greens’ 3;
2. The NDP had more than twice the popular support across Canada than the BLOC but ended up winning 8 fewer seats;
3. The Conservatives won the popular vote yet lost the election.
 Lisa Raitt lost to a newcomer and now leaves the political arena. Our FPP system is unrepresentative and unfair. Of perhaps lesser consequence, we sadly watched knowledgeable and experienced politicians, such as Lisa Raitt and Ralph Goodale get burned just because they were running for the ‘wrong’ political party in the wrong geographic area.
Four years ago Justin Trudeau promised to change our electoral system. But the parliamentary committee he created took on a life of its own and ended up recommending a mixed member proportional (MMP) system. That is currently the most popular and workable electoral system globally, but since the electoral reform committee demanded a referendum the recommendation got shelved.
The fact is that every referendum on MMP in Canada has failed so far, largely because, like gun control and climate change, attempts at rational discussion eventually degenerates into partisan positioning. And even if the parties stopped bickering it would still take a monumental effort to educate and possibly convince Canadians to opt for this relatively more complex, though inherently more fair, electoral system.
It is no secret that Trudeau would have preferred keeping the first-past-the-post (FPP) system coupled with a preferential ballot. So it is unclear why he just didn’t implement that. After all, he had obtained a mandate for electoral change in the 2015 election. Had he brought in the new ballot it is most likely Trudeau would have won another majority in Monday’s election.
The second take-away of the election result is that these are some of the most polarizing times we’ve seen in this country. The rise in western alienation over oil has helped to spawn a renewed enthusiasm in Quebec for national sovereignty. Further, Alberta politicians have insulted Quebec over the equalization formula, using it to attempt to blackmail the province into accepting a highly unpopular pipeline.
 The pipe line that will never be – it would get western oil to eastern Canada. The west really needs to take some time to read the tea leaves. First of all, they should understand that fossil fuels have no long term future. Building a pipeline with a forty year life when almost nobody will be burning oil in twenty is a totally irrational policy. So it’s time to get on with diversification.
Trudeau undoubtedly knows that about pipelines, but he is willing to compromise his principles as the cost of governing all Canadians. Yes, that love is unrequited. In fact Trudeau is irrationally hated in the west, much as his father was. And these folks are willing to let their animosity for the Liberal party rule out any chance of being involved in decisions that will affect them. Cutting themselves out of the governing party is cutting off their noses to spite their faces.
So this may be the time for tough love to come back for Alberta and Sask. To survive as a minority government Trudeau will be forced to act on his four year old promise to end the subsidies the oil companies get. And that will mean tougher times for unsustainable petroleum operations and speed up coming to grips with the future.
 Rachel Notley, a New Democrat who lost the a renewed Conservative party in Western Canada called the United Conservative Party. Albertans still don’t get it that Liberals only agreed to allow the TMX expansion go ahead because former premier Notley imposed a carbon tax and other measures to reduce the province’s longer term climate changing emissions. Should the Liberal’s political survival depend on now cancelling that project, who would be there to represent Alberta’s interest in Cabinet?
 They bickered and did everything they could to diminish each other: Just Trudeau and Andrew Scheer. This was a difficult election. The Liberals didn’t really have a platform, running on their record, more of the same, and topping up with some new goodies. The Tories had a short list of things they would do, but then they also promised a number of cuts only at the eleventh hour – but none of that measured up to what you’d call a platform. They were convinced that attacking and smearing Trudeau’s character with lies and made up stuff was all they needed to do to win.
In the end one would have to say that climate change became the dominant issue of the election. Two thirds of all votes went to parties which were committed to take action on the climate. The carbon tax is here to stay, as is the ban on oil shipping off the northern coast of BC, and as is the new environmental approval process and a plan to become carbon neutral by 2050.
The Conservatives are a western based party, spun off largely from the former Reform party. They may offer some lip service to reducing our carbon foot print but they were not prepared to do anything serious to reduce Canada’s dependence on fossil fuels or its place in our economy. And that is the biggest reason Andrew Scheer lost.
 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:
MMP – Preferential Ballot –
By Pepper Parr
October 22nd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
When you take more than 50% of the vote from a former Cabinet Minister who has been elected in the riding three times – you have done something significant.
After that – what’s next for Adam van Koeverden?
 Turns out he has known the Prime Minister personally for more than 15 years; the two men appear to work together very well.
Koeverden has to first learn to become a Parliamentarian and to establish his own network; learn the ropes and figure out where he can shine.
 Four Olympic medals and two world championships to his credit. A successful four Olympic medal winner would make sports an obvious place to dig in.
Turns out that Koeverden has some well-developed views on housing issues and some solutions to the affordability problem the country faces.
Adam was raised in the co-op housing community; a form of housing in which you are a member of a co-op and you have the right to a residence with the understanding that you will be part of the team that maintains the property.
The residents never have any equity in the housing. The equity stays with the co-operative organization.
 Co-op housing is attractive, well built and not subject to unfair rent increases. In most co-ops there is a membership fee but that isn’t a huge amount of money – and when you leave the co-op you get your membership money back.
Co-ops have to limit their membership to a number that is a bit above the number of housing units they have. Just about every co-op in the country has a long membership waiting list.
Well managed co-ops work – the problem is that many are not that well managed.
In Canada many of the co-ops are organized by people from the same nationality. People from the Scandinavian countries have been very successful at forming co-ops and running them very effectively.
Keoverden believes that co-ops are the solution to Canada’s affordable housing crisis.
At one point CMHC Canada Mortgage and Housing pumped millions into the co-op community. They moved away from those programs about a decade ago.
Reviving this form of housing is something Adam will want to advocate. It might be something the government with a fresh mandate might adopt – it certainly has potential.
 The Co-op community is bigger than many realize. The downside is that Canadians have been raised to believe that a normal life is to get an education, marry, have children, buy a starter house, fix it up and when you need more space for more children you do an upgrade.
That was the deal in the 60’s, 70’s and the 80’s. It isn’t the deal today.
There would have to be a huge educational job to convince Canadians to give up on the idea of ever “owning” a home and instead settle for having the kind of space you need and know that your rent is not going to increase every year.
Expect to hear a lot from the Canadian Co-op Housing Federation on this issue.
 The strength of character and the discipline to win at the Olympic level will serve K well- it will pay dividends for Milton as well Whether it is sports or co-ops housing Adam Kovererden is going to have an impact . Time will tell where it is going to be.
What will all this mean for Milton? We are going to have to wait and see how Kovererden decides how best he can serve the community because once he sets his mind on something he usually succeeds – just count the medals.
Previous news stories:
It did get him elected
Background links:
For more information on co-op housing CLICK here
By Pepper Parr
October 22nd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
What does the Karina Gould win in Burlington tell us and what can we expect from her in the 24 to 36 months ahead of us before there is another federal election?
There are all kinds of problems the Liberals have with the people in Western Canada – and they will get resolved in some way – enough to keep the country together is another matter.
Let’s talk about what this election tells us about ourselves.
The 6.5% of the vote that Gareth Williams got for the Greens is more than disappointing. He got less than 5000 votes.
 Gould didn’t miss much in the way of work time while pregnant. The son became a feature on those occasions hat she took the child to work. Did Burlingtonians not care all that much about the state of the environment? Or was the concern over the threat from Jane Michael, the Conservative candidate, so strong that every progressive vote went to Gould to ensure that Michael didn’t win the seat?
Despite the hundreds of negative comments made about Michael and her decision not to take part in debates where she would have to defend her positions she did take 33% of the vote. 23,467 were prepared to accept the way Michael ran as a candidate. Proof positive that there is a solid vote that is not Liberal in Burlington. Was it a Catholic vote or a Conservative vote?
We heard from a number of strong Conservatives who were embarrassed with their candidate and deeply disturbed by the way she got the nomination in the first place.
How Burlington overcomes that divide is something Gould is going to have to work on. Good luck on that one. The responsible, decent Conservatives are going to have to find people who truly represent them if there is to be any change.
 Despite putting forward a very credible case for the Greens Gareth Williams was not able to pull in much in the way of voter support. Back to that environmental vote. Gareth Williams did a very good job of setting out the Green Party case. He just didn’t get the buy-in he deserved.
The New Democrats selected a nice lady to carry their banner. It takes more than nice to win an election.
What does Karina Gould do now?
 Karina Gould at a Parliamentary committee. We are all but guaranteed to have a lot of discussion about the way we choose who is to represent us in the House of Commons. Gould was the Minister of Democratic Institutions. Prior to her appointment the Liberals had not been able to make any progress on getting a buy-in from the other political parties and basically gave up on the idea.
Gould was brought in to ensure that the job the previous Minister, MP Maryam Monsef, wasn’t able to do didn’t get any worse than it was.
Karina Gould found herself standing before the national media in front of the doors to the House of Commons Chamber explaining that there would not be any change to the way Canadians chose their federal leaders.
Will the Prime Minister keep her in the portfolio – he should. Will she be able to craft a response to the problem and get a solid buy-in from her Cabinet colleagues? Hopefully yes for the sake of the country.
The New Democrats will work at making this their issue and pressing the Liberals to do something soon. The Liberals need at last 16 of those votes to get their Speech from the Throne and the next budget passed. Gould has her work cut out for her on this file.
 This was the last major greenfield site in Burlington – there is nothing affordable being built. There are other demanding tasks that Gould will need to focus on. Building housing that is affordable is vital. Gould can certainly support the case for building housing that people, especially younger people, can afford so they can remain in Burlington where housing is far from affordable.
Finally, Gould has some reaching out work to do. She has been very good at it. Her support for One Burlington was a good start. Helping those conservatives that need a home where their values are respected is a bigger job than Karina Gould can do – it will take time.
By Pepper Parr
October 22nd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
There is little doubt where the people of Halton sent their vote.
 Pam Damoff more than held her seat in Oakville North Burlington.  Karina Gould held her seat.  Adam van Kovererden won mote than 50% of the vote in Milton. It was a solid Liberal vote in Burlington, Oakville North Burlington and Milton where Karina Gould won the seat. Pam Damoff did much better than we expected in Oakville North Burlington and Adam van Koeverden got more than 50% of the vote to send Lisa Raitt home for a long rest.
The Liberals didn’t do quite as well nationally. They will have to work with the New Democrats who took 24 seats 7.1% of the vote if they are to succeed in keeping the confidence of the House of Commons. The country can expect another election within two years – 36 months at best.
The Liberals needed 170 seats to form a government – they won 154. They need 16 seats from somewhere. They aren’t going to get anything from the BLOC who won 32 seats in Quebec.
Where to from here? Expect the government to come though with a change in the way we choose the winners – we may have seen the last First Past the Post election in this country.
The Trans Mountain pipeline extension will get built and we should see some changes in the way health care is covered.
By Staff
October 22nd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington has a Neighbourhood Community Matching Fund (NCMF) with up to $10,000 available for each project.
The deadline for submissions is Feb. 24, 2020.
Created to inspire residents to champion community-led projects, the goal of the NCMF is to improve neighbourhoods by creating a sense of belonging and community pride, while building meaningful connections.
Burlington residents, brought together by a common goal or neighbourhood boundaries, are encouraged to submit ideas that help make our City a better place to live and play. Inspired by the unique needs of residents and community groups, projects can increase walkability, promote beautification, encourage recreational activity, build social connections and improve safety or accessibility.
Anyone interested in applying for funds is encouraged to visit burlington.ca/matchingfund to learn more about the application process, guidelines and past projects.
 Griffen Gervais, second from the left, explains to his pals what has to be done to fix up the local ball park. How the fund works
The NCMF provides up to $10,000 in city funding to support selected neighbourhood and community group led projects in Burlington. Approved projects receive up to 50 per cent of the funding for the project from the City. The neighbourhood or community group will match this funding with an equal contribution made up through any combination of volunteer hours, donated services, donated materials and supplies or other funds raised, such as cash donations.
Some very good projects have been funded using the NCMF program. There is a ball diamond that was in really rough shape next to Lakeshore Public school. Griffen Gervais and a bunch of his friends (with a lot of help from their parents) approached the city and got the funding they wanted.
 It was a pretty rough looking ball diamond – Griffen Gervais and his buddies did the work needed to get city funding. The program does work; the amount available has been increased and staff within Parks and Recreation come close to bending over backwards to make what people want to do possible.
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