Students protesting the closing of an environmental school at Bronte Creek.

“The clearly visible impacts of climate change are accelerating and are threatening to disrupt the lives of billions of people around the world. Notably the lives and livelihoods of younger generations are at stake. Acting now with better education can have a major impact a few years down the road, when young people come of age and can make the decisions that shape society” – Climate Education Initiatives Pick up Pace. United Nations Climate Change article, May 2, 2019

News 100 greenBy Staff

May 30th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Youth are aware of this and are demanding change. They want action to prevent irreversible destruction of our planet and to ensure a future for themselves and their descendants. Across the world, environmental skills and awareness are needed to bring about this change.

At the same time, 12% of Canadian children ages 9-19 are affected by mood and anxiety disorders. Less than 20 per cent of these children will receive appropriate treatment. Children and teens with mental illness symptoms are at much higher risk of experiencing mental illness as adults.

BCP planting trees

Students on a school environmental project – planting trees.

There is a large body of both experimental and observational evidence supporting the beneficial impact of the natural environment on mental well-being. Studies indicate that connection to nature is significantly related to lower levels of overall, state cognitive and trait cognitive anxiety.

Imagine if these two critical issues of our time, environmental stewardship and mental health, could be simultaneously addressed.

We don’t have to imagine. A school that can achieve this already exists. For 35 years, a school in Halton Region has been offering experiential environmental leadership high school education programs for grades 9-10 (Trailhead) and 11-12 (The Bronte Creek Project) including a Specialist High Skills Major in the Environment. These programs are offered to all students in the region who are interested in the environment and take place in a natural setting which promotes social and mental well-being. A highly dedicated staff imparts academic excellence and develops environmental expertise in their students.

Testimonials over the long years of their existence attest to the success of these programs. This is best conveyed through the words of the students themselves:

BCP student“Being at BCP (The Bronte Creek Project) so far has changed my life and will continue to. I love it so much, it is so healthy being out in nature all day, and for people with anxiety, it is really beneficial. Being in BCP gives you a new perspective on life, how it is changing and how it will continue to change if we can’t do something about climate change.” – Current BCP student

“Although it was 23 years ago, the BCP remains … the greatest experience of my entire life … I wanted my own kids to take this program.” – BCP student from 1996 class

The Halton District School Board is now ending these programs as a cost-cutting move.

These programs are a vital solution and there is no alternative in the school system. They should be the model for education that produces healthier and better adjusted adults to guide our society through the challenges and uncertain times ahead.

For the sake of our future, for our children’s future, the decision to end these programs is unacceptable and must be reversed.

Our goal is to obtain as many signatures as possible in a short period of time, before June 19th 2019.

Please use the #KeepBCPandTrailheadRunning when sharing or discussing this campaign on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Sarah Judd signed this petition

Jessica Kennedy signed 2 hours ago

Lisa Richardson signed 2 hours ago

1,835 have signed. Let’s get to 2,500!

You too can sign the petition – CLICK here.

Return to the Front page

Charges Laid in Kijiji Fraud Investigation: the diamonds were real enough - the certified cheque wasn't.

Crime 100By Staff

May 30th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The Halton Regional Police Service’s Regional Fraud Unit has charged one person in connection with a series of thefts involving the use of the popular online advertising service “Kijiji” to target victims. The thefts occurred between October 2018 and February 2019.

HRPS crestThe suspect would seek out victims online who were selling diamond rings or loose diamonds and would engage them in conversations over email and text. The suspect purported himself to be an employee of Morgan Stanley and used several different aliases (Rich Thompson, Alex Stanford, Cameron Woods and Albert August) to conceal his true identity. The suspect would arrange to meet his victims in public locations (GO Stations, Hotels, etc.) to ensure the exchange was “safe”. Upon meeting his victims, the suspect would surrender a certified cheque in exchange for the diamond and leave the area using public transit (usually a GO Train). Each certified cheque the suspect passed was determined to be fraudulent resulting in the victims losing over $25,000 collectively.

diamondsAn investigation was started by the Regional Fraud Card Team in partnership with GO Transit Safety and Security Division, and the suspect was identified as Michael Morris (30) from Whitby. On May 2, 2019 with the assistance of the Durham Regional Police Tactical Support Unit, a criminal code search warrant was executed at the residence of Morris in Whitby. At the time of the search, Morris was not located inside the residence and an arrest warrant was issued.

On May 29, 2019 with the assistance of the Provincial ROPE squad and Halton Police’s Risk Mitigation Team, Morris was arrested without incident leaving a residence in City of Toronto.

Morris has been charged with the following offences:

– Four counts of fraud over $5000
– Four counts of using a forged document
– Two counts of personation with intent
– One count of possession of counterfeit money

The accused was held for bail.

Police believe there may be other occurrences involving the accused and are asking anyone with information regarding similar incidents to contact Detective Constable Mike Tidball of the Regional Fraud Card Team at 905 825-4747, ext. 8743.

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.

People charged with a criminal offence are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

.

Return to the Front page

Civic Action Lab draws solid participation from the community - good ideas came out of it - now we wait for the Staff report.

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

May 30th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

They spent two days on the task – held three public meetings at which the turnout was more than respectable – to answer one question:
How might we enhance the way Citizen Advisory Committees engage with Council?

It is a question that lurked in the background during the October election. Those people that take an active interest in what’s going on in the city were not happy with the way city council at the time was listening to them and they wanted a change.

They got a change – a new council, except for one holdover and a new Mayor.

Dwyer-Tanner-preg lady

A combination of a staff member and citizens doing the thinking – produced the base information from which a Staff recommendation will emerge.

The city has had Advisory Committees for years. The challenge, and the struggle, for staff at city hall was to find qualified people who had the interest, the experience by way of background and the time to take part.

The Gazette has asked a number of staff people which Advisory committee really worked well. All had to pause and think about it – and everyone we spoke to agree that Heritage Advisory was doing a great job.

Many added that Sustainability was also doing a good job but that the job they were being asked to do was to big – the scope of their mandate was just too wide.

There was once Transit Advisory Committee that was a disaster – it just didn’t work and the Waterfront Advisory Committee had a chair that didn’t know what the job was – his years as a leading practitioner in law resulted in a mind that couldn’t see very far beyond a tightly written legal brief. That committee met a sundown date. There are plans to revise that one and to create a new transit advisory committee.

Change agent Stephanie von

Ideas were put forward, debated and revised.

Outside the strictures of city hall there are a couple of committees that work very well – Bfast is seen as being the best of them.

The Direction given to the Clerk’s office was to:

Conduct an overall review of citizen advisory committees, including consultation with the public and citizen advisory committee members, and report back to council with recommendations and options for any changes to improve effectiveness by Q2 2019.

Changing the structure of the Advisory committees in place was the issue and what about 100 people spent two and a half hours on at three session this week. The participants were grouped at tables of three to five with a city hall staffer in place to help them work through the tasks they were given.

The session we observed was a group of people working through the agenda and having fun.

Rick Boersma Juice

Rick Boersma was the facilitator who took the participants through each of the several steps needed to get from the early investigation to their best idea.

Rick Boersma, the lead facilitator who worked for Juice Inc. (a different corporate name) a company out of Guelph, made sure that each step of a process happened on time.  Each group began by investigating the root causes of the problem they wanted to resolve; the do some Brain Storming to come up with ideas, then choosing the best of the ideas and be able to put forward a well articulated proposal that met the criteria.

The group we watched did some investigating on what the root causes behind the issue were and added some analysis before they did some brain storming and played a quick hand of Brain Poker that told the group what kind of a thinker each participant was. It’s was a short game worth playing.

With the Brainstorming done the group had to choose the best idea had and ensure that it met three criteria:

How desirable it was for the participant
How feasible it was.
How viable it was.

With that done they then had to write an articulated proposal.

It was really interesting to watch run of the mill people digging away and tossing out ideas. One table we watched closely included a pregnant mother, a young woman who could have been in high school student and an adult male with a doctorate in Medieval studies and a staff member who has an irrepressible level of energy.

LAdy with post it -

Narrowing the ideas and ensuring they met the criteria needed to defend them before the decision makers.

Did every group come up with boffo ideas? No, but there was nothing that was embarrassing – everything that was put up on the wall had merit.

One group however did catch the spirit of what we think the public and many of the staff were hoping would come forward. Their solution consisted of a circle – with three lines coming out of it with a letter beside each line: A, B, C

A: Redevelop the application process.
B: Develop technical and communications tools for the Advisory committee.
C: Create a fluid cycle between staff, the committees and council.

Another idea that did qualify as boffo was having a Workshop event for Council where every Advisory committee met annually with council to talk about what was working for them.

Group 7 blonde lady

Weighing an idea, ensuring it met the criteria and then getting buy in from the rest of the group.

Many feel that the application process is suspect – has too much council control and not a true reflection of the citizens in the city. Some saw sitting on an Advisory committee as the beginning of a political career while others just liked to be around the people who make decisions but bring little to the table in terms of skills and experience.

Danielle Manton

Danielle Manton, Manager of Committee & Election Services

Danielle Manton, Manager of Committee & Election Services, said there would be a Staff report to Council by September and she committed to ensuring that those who took part in the Civic Action Labs got copies as early as possible.

From where we were sitting to looked as if the participants got a lot out of it – staff seemed really pleased – there were several that put a lot of themselves into the process of drawing ideas and thoughts out of the participants.

The report gets tabled in September – let’s see what they come up with.

Return to the Front page

Parts of the Beachway, LaSalle Park and Paletta are closed due to high water levels.

News 100 redBy Staff

May 30th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Paletta walkway 2

Pathways in Paletta Park are being eroded.

It isn’t just the ball parks that are having water problems: The Beachway, LaSalle Park and parts of Paletta are closed due to high water levels.

The Burlington Beach Regional Waterfront Park—the Beachway—is closed until further notice due to high water levels. The closure includes all beach rentals and services.

Paletta shoreline

Shoreline in the Beachway is being ereoded.

The closure takes place to protect public safety and will remain until the lake-level goes down. There is significant sand erosion and debris at the shoreline.

At this time, the playground, concessions, washrooms, parking and the recreational trail will remain open.

The lake-level is approaching the recorded all-time high of 2017, and it is anticipated to continue to rise.

City staff will be removing the floating public docks at LaSalle Park. A contracted crane service will be performing the dock removals which is tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 31. The public boat launch will stay open and the docks will be re-installed once the lake-level has returned to normal.

LaSalle barrier

Washouts along with Groyne Trail at LaSalle Park

LaSalle Park, west and south of the Sailing Club, the stone dust trail has been closed due to  The pedestrian bridge on the Groyne Trail has been locked closed and barricades are in place.

LaSalle to docks

Docks at LaSalle will be taken out of the water until levels fall.

Trail access at Paletta Park remains closed along the east side of the park, as well as a section of trail on the west side of Shoreacres Creek at the waterfront, where shoreline erosion has occurred.

Murray Cameron, Manager of Parks Operations explains that rain has raised Lake Ontario water levels; everyone is being asked to stay away from the beach until the water is low enough for us to at least get a clean-up crew in place.

-30-

Return to the Front page

Burlingtonians invited to cheer the Toronto Raptors in Civic Square as they make a run for the NBA championship

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

May 29th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

For a city that basically drove the amateur baseball team out of town and into the welcoming arms of the city of Welland – hearing that the Mayor is agog at the plans to cheer on the Toronto Raptors as they begin their run for the NBA championship.

Herd batter

Amateur baseball team in a league with a 100 year history wasn’t able to get the support it needed from the city – they moved to Welland.

The Burlington HERD just couldn’t make it work with what they saw as a dismal level of support from the city.

Folks are invited to Civic Square for a free viewing party for Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals.

The public space on the south side of City Hall by Brant Street will come alive as residents are invited to join in the fun and together watch the Toronto Raptors take on the Golden State Warriors for Game 1 Thursday, May 30.

Viewing party for Game 1 starts at 8:30 p.m. The City will also host a Game 2 viewing at ‘Burlassic Park’ on Sunday, June 2 starting at 7:30 p.m. Game viewings will be held rain or shine.

Civic Square Dec 2018

Civic Square to be turned into an outdoor theatre with big screens and perhaps pop corn – while the city cheers on the Raptors as they make a run for the NBA championship.

Mayor Meed Ward thinks this is “awesome! Thank you to our amazing city staff who was able to pull this together in such a very short time. The Toronto Raptors playing in it’s first-ever NBA Finals is our generation’s moment. It’s Canada’s moment. I’m so glad we’re able to bring this free, all ages, national celebration to our city.

Bringing our community together to celebrate sports, arts and culture is just as important as the other things we do at the City of Burlington. Very exciting.”

Raptors

Raptors in six?

Councillor Rory Nisan maintains: “The entire country is on board for the Raptors drive to the championship with over three million Canadians watching the team win the conference finals. There are a lot of fans in our city so I knew we had to do our own Jurassic Park to show the team we’re behind them and to make the most of our first finals appearance. Raps in six.”

Return to the Front page

Footnotes are the Main Event for a few minutes as they are inducted into the Performing Arts Centre Hall of Fame.

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

May 29th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

At the 2019/2020 Season Launch Tuesday evening the Burlington Performing Arts Centre inducted the Burlington Footnotes Senior Performing Troupe into the Hall of Fame.

Footnotes on stage 2

Footnotes on stage

Since its inception in 1995, the organization has grown from six to more than 100 members. These swingin’ seasoned adults prove that it’s great to have life experience as they celebrate the art of staying young. They have danced their way into the hearts of countless audiences.

Their annual show, Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance, is performed three times over two days each June, and always sells out becoming a fast-favourite with BPAC audiences and local tour operators who bring bus loads of visitors to Burlington annually.

In addition to being audience favorites. The Burlington Footnotes Senior Performing Troupe Inc have been recognized and endorsed by many of Burlington’s elected officials over the years.

fOOTNOTES LOGOEstablished in 2013, the Hall of Fame recognizes people or organizations that have made significant contributions to the performing arts in Burlington. This year, BPAC is proud to celebrate the accomplishments of the Burlington Footnotes Senior Performing Troupe.

The Footnotes is an enthusiastic troupe of senior dance performers who demonstrate various dance styles: tap, jazz, ballet, clogging, hip-hop, and musical theatre. Their group also includes musicians and singers. They represented Burlington twice as the City’s Golden Age Ambassadors, performing in our twin city of Itabashi, Japan.

 

Return to the Front page

Performing Arts Centre program for the 2019-2020 season has several greats + a lot of local talent.

News 100 yellowBy Pepper Parr

May 29th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

They drift into the Performing Arts Centre as couples, sometimes as small groups and mill around the large open room chatting with neighbours, catching up with friends they haven’t seen in a while.

The evening is part of an annual event – the launch of a new season at the Performing Arts Centre. By the end of the evening those same people line up at the ticket office to purchase their tickets for future events. That line this year appeared to be quite a bit longer than it was last year.

Tammy Fox, Executive Director of the Performing Arts Centre, announced that there were seventy productions that was a balance of local talent mixed in with some international caliber talent.

The season will feature more local artists presented on the Main Stage and in the Community Studio Theatre than ever before.

Dreamboats

The Dreamboats – Rock and Roll the way you remember it.

Some of the local talent featured this season includes: Tom Wilson and his literary recital Beautiful Scars and Burlington’s own Symphony on the Bay with the JUNO-nominated Sultans of String, fronted by local musician Chris McKhool.

Ancaster resident Jayne Eastwood hits the Main Stage in October with her comedic super-group Women Fully Clothed and on Halloween you can shake your Hot Patootie with Tim Park and friends for his Rocky Horror ‘Acoustic’ Show. November sees the next big thing in Country Music, Oakville native Vanessa Marie Carter, hit the stage with local singer Evan Farrell. The Gazette reporter didn’t realize he was sitting beside Vanessa’a mother until he asked – her prolonged applause gave her away; the applause was justly earned.

Steven Paige

Steven Paige – once with the Barenaked Ladies will be on the Performing Arts Centre Stage.

Former Barenaked Ladies front-man Steven Paige takes the stage with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.

It is an impressive line up.

There are also many international superstars including the return of favourites: The Nutcracker, The Andy Kim Christmas, April Wine, and Burton Cummings. Tiffany, Mary Wilson of The Supremes, Sesame Street Live, and Charo! Are also being welcomed to the Performing Arts Centre.

Two annual festivals – the free Burlington Downtown Jazz Festival in August and The Cultural Diversity Festival programmed in tandem with Ontario Culture Days in the fall.

The 2019/2020 season showcases international and homegrown talent in every genre including music, dance, theatre, comedy, illusion and family entertainment.

Ticket purchases are limited to BPAC members until June 5th when they go on sale to the public.

There were a couple of presentations that had people sitting up in their seats: The Dreamboats were stunning – the energy and the music – pure Rock and Roll. This will be a sold out event.

There appeared to be more in the way of Family entertainment and material for children. It seemed as if there was less in the way of Classical music.

The Jazz offerings – wonderful describes them best.

Tammy Fox hands-out-768x578

Tammy Fox pulled it all together – 70 Performances for the 2019 – 2020 Performing Arts season season that cover the entertainment interests of just about everyone.

BPAC pricing is ALL-IN and includes all taxes and fees: what you see, is what you pay! BPAC Members have exclusive access to buy tickets for one week before the public sale on June 5. Enjoy the perks of membership while supporting BPAC.

Tammy Fox deserves kudos for putting together a balanced, interesting program with several delightful surprises – not an easy task.

Return to the Front page

Karina Gould: both empathetic and personable with a good sense of humour; a person who doesn’t take herself too seriously.

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

May  28th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

“What happened” we asked.

Wallace and Gould

Accepting congratulations from Mike Wallace the night she was elected MP for Burlington.

“You got elected and then had a child and now you are heading into an election that looks as if it is going to be a lot different than the one in 2015.”

It had been some time since the Gazette was able to sit down with Burlington MP Karina Gould who serves as the Minister for Democratic Institutions.

She has been a busy woman. Her role as a Cabinet Minister keeps her in the public eye and we wanted to talk to her about how, as a rookie MP, she ended up in Cabinet.

We also wanted to know what she had done for Burlington during this term of office.

I said “I don’t want to talk about the election – that will come later when the Writ is dropped.

brant-museum-rendering

It was federal money that made the transformation of the Museum possible.

With that Gould launched into what she had done – a huge sum of money for the Joseph Brant Museum; without the federal money there would not have been the transformed Museum that is expected to be open in July.

Her role as a Cabinet Minister resulted in the federal gas tax contribution to the municipal sector being doubled.

She has played a significant role in the creation of the national housing policy; secured a $14 million loan for a Burlington corporation that has already paid dividends for the local economy.

“Will we see a Pharmacare program in the near future?” we asked. Yes – but Gould was unable to say exactly when.

Gould has delivered on waste water projects; delivered on funding for Royal Botanical Gardens.

She played a major role in the creation of the Innovation Superclusters that was launched in May of 2017

“I was able to get many of the details on that project nailed down before I had to head to the hospital to give birth: said Gould.

The Superclusters are a new and uniquely Canadian initiative. The federal government works industry through a business-led partnership model—to align the efforts of diverse industries, researchers and intermediary institutions, and build deep, ecosystem-level advantages in regions across Canada.

Thordon_CEO_and_Chair_with_Minister_Gould + bearing

MP Gould gets out into the community, listens and responds. Here she is listening to what the Thordon Group is doing to create better propeller shafts for ships.

One of the clusters is located in Hamilton and is expected to have a significant impact on the Burlington economy.

With Climate Change now part of everyday life, flooding is something Burlington knows a lot about. Federal programs to prepare as much as we can for the damage weather will do.

Child care support is top of mind for Gould who explains that decisions made during the Paul Martin days put that program back more than a decade. $7 billion has been earmarked for a program that has had a bumpy ride.

The challenges with the Indigenous community that are in the news every day were closer to home for Gould. “There isn’t a day when I am in Burlington that the issue of what we are doing for the Indigenous community doesn’t come up. There were 85 boil water advisory lifted in the recent past.” Gould will tell you that requiring First Nations communities to have to boil the water they drink is a national shame.

With the interview about to end Gould said: “I know you didn’t want to talk about the election today but I do” and she launched into what the issues are likely to be.

She then talked about how she ended up being made a Cabinet Minister.

Elected as the MP for Burlington in October of 2015 she served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie and was then in January of 2017 appointed Minister of Democratic Institutions.

Bandits - Gould opening pitch

She got the ball across the plate – but wasn’t able to keep the baseball team in town – they didn’t ask her for any help.

A student at M.M. Robinson, Gould attended McGill University and then the University of Oxford. She then worked as a trade and investment specialist for the Mexican Trade Commission, a consultant for the Migration and Development Program at the Organization of American States, and spent a year volunteering at an orphanage in Mexico.

Karina_Gould_ on the telephone

Cabinet ministry means a lot of reading. Gould at one of her desks in Ottawa.

Between December 2015 and January 2017, she served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, before her appointment in January 2017 as Canada’s Minister of Democratic Institutions.

Gould was an active participant in Liberal Caucus meetings. She worked hard at networking and was vocal on a lot of issues. “Someone somewhere recognized whatever I have in the way of ability and made me a Parliamentary Secretary”.

When it became evident that the person serving as Minister for Democratic Institutions needed to be replaced Gould was given the job.
It turned out to be a lot more controversial than anyone expected. The role social media has come to play in elections around the world has resulted in Gould taking on some of the biggest corporations in the world: Google, Facebook, & Twitter have all felt the sting of Gould’s words. She doesn’t believe they are doing what should be done to ensure that elections are fair and not meddled with by outside interests.

Expect to hear much more from Gould on this file.

She recently held a Town Talk meeting at Nuvo One where two specialists on what is ethical and what isn’t, when it comes to social media, debated with a respectably sized audience.

While Gould wanted to talk about the election she didn’t want to say very much about her election plans or her election team. How many of the 2015 team will she have with her?

For the most part her profile in Burlington is as good as it gets. She has delivered.

In hindsight, the election of Karina Gould to the House of Commons was probably the beginning of the change in the kind of political representation Burlington was going to have. Will that change hold in the fall election?

The problem with elections is that there are national issues that at times sweep away outstanding local members. The Prime Minister isn’t the man we saw in 2015 – he is likely to be the issue. And if that proves to be the case – can Gould hold the Burlington seat on the strength of what she has done and her strength of character.

Gould In the House while Obama speaks

One of her favourite photographs – listening to Obama address the House of Commons

Karina Gould is not some dewy eyed woman with a good education who has gotten lucky. She has grown into a smart, sensitive, widely aware of the issues, woman who has found her footing. She is both empathetic and personable with a good sense of humour; a person who doesn’t take herself too seriously.

Lest one get the impression that Gould walks on water the way she handled the change in the Liberal government changed its mind on the first past the post system we have for determining who will sit in the House of Commons.

There were many who wanted the federal government to take a much deeper look at ranked balloting – but the government took the position that the public will for ranked balloting was just not there and ditched the program.

That policy shift got lost when Gould found herself saddled with managing the issue of social media misusing the internet to interfere with clean, clear honest elections.

Gould chose to be a true Liberal and stick to the party line on the SNC Lavalin bribery matter that is scheduled to end up in a court room at some point.  Two fellow Cabinet Ministers chose to take a different stand and oppose the Prime Minister.  That is not a position Gould is ever likely to find herself in – unless there is a clear need for a change in the leadership.

Would she ever be a possible leadership candidate?  The woman, born in 1987, is not yet 40 – anything is possible.  So far she has shown that she can take the heat.

Her immediate task is to hold her seat even if the Liberal Party doesn’t form the next government.

Return to the Front page

Gypsy moth aerial spraying to take place tomorrow - Wednesday

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

May 28th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 29th, the City of Burlington will be using a low-flying helicopter to apply a bio-pesticide over four wooded areas to control gypsy moth populations. This pest causes significant defoliation and potential long-term impact to the City’s urban forest.

Application of the pesticide will be completed between 5 and 7:30 a.m. and is expected to take 5-10 minutes for each park.
The areas include:

• Forestvale/Kerncliff Park
• LaSalle Park
• Lowville Park
• Mountainside Park

aerial spraying gypsy moth

Said to be safe – the aerial spraying is necessary to caterpillars from eating leaves off trees.

Updates will be posted on the City’s Twitter and Facebook accounts @CityBurlington and online at burlington.ca/gypsymoth.
The City’s contractor will be applying a Class 11 biopesticide, Foray 48B, REGISTRATION NO. 24977 PEST CONTROL PRODUCTS ACT, with active ingredient Bacillus thuringiensis ‘kurstaki’.

About the Biological Pesticide
Bacillus thuringiensis ‘kurstaki’ (Btk) is a soil-borne bacterium that is applied to the leaves of affected trees while caterpillars are in their early stages of development. Once ingested, the bacterium disrupts the caterpillars’ digestive system with cessation of eating within 24-48 hours. Within days, caterpillars that have ingested Btk will succumb to its effects.

Btk does not have any negative effects to humans, birds or bees. Btk will affect other caterpillar species (known as non-target species). Due to its low residual nature and the narrow spray window of pest development, the non-target impact is expected to be low.

Individuals who have concerns should take reasonable precautions to avoid exposure during a spray program in the same way they would avoid pollen or other airborne materials during days when air quality advisories are issued. Residents can also reduce exposure by staying indoors with windows and doors shut during the spray period if spraying is taking place in their area, although this is not required by health officials.

As part of Burlington’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, Forestry staff assess sites annually across the city and conduct egg mass surveys to determine areas that have exceeded an action threshold, whereby natural processes can no longer maintain pest population levels on their own. Although healthy trees can generally withstand defoliation several years in a row, trees which are already in distress from problems such as acute drought, compacted soils, diseases or other pests, may decline and die. Generally, healthy trees which are defoliated in spring, will leaf out again by mid-summer. Gypsy moth populations tend to be cyclical, with peaks every 8-12 years, followed by dramatic population decline of the pest.

The City of Burlington conducted a similar program in 2008.

For questions or concerns, please contact Brianna Thornborrow, Supervisor of Forest Planning and Health at brianna.thornborrow@burlington.ca or 905-333-6166, ext. 6145.

Steve Robinson, Manager of Urban Forestry explained that “Taking action now means protecting our trees both in the short-term and for the long-term. We are working with all authorities including emergency services, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to ensure a safe, fast and coordinated application to minimize disruption and maximize effectiveness.”

Return to the Front page

Ghent street parking - changes in the wind.

notices100x100By Staff

May 28th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

First – the bad news – the paid on-street parking on Ghent become unavailable May 29th.

The good news – on Wednesday, July 31st on street parking becomes available again – and there will be more of it.

The construction work is creating more parking in this area.

The city thanks you for your patience and cooperation.

Return to the Front page

Mary Lou Tanner named to College of Fellows by Canadian Institute of Planners

News 100 blueBy Staff

May 29th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Burlington’s Deputy City Manager Mary Lou Tanner has been named a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP).

mary-lou-tanner-city-hs

Deputy City Manager Mary Lou Tanner

According to the CIP, “Fellowship is a special status for Members developed by the Canadian Institute of Planners that recognizes excellence, identifies prominent role models, promotes advances in planning practice and draws leaders to the forefront of planning in Canada.”

In order to be nominated to become a Fellow, another member of CIP in good standing must submit an application to the Fellows Selection Jury; with the CIP Board of Directors making the final approval.

The induction to the College of Fellows will occur formally during CIPs national planning conference taking place in Ottawa on July 4, 2019.

The remarks accompanying the nomination said: “Amongst Mary Lou’s remarkable strengths is her extraordinary ability to manage sensitive consultations and her outstanding capacity for consensus-building.

“This was demonstrated repeatedly through her work helping communities navigate such complex issues as intensification, urban sprawl, congestion, affordable housing, environmental protection, and economic development.”

 

Return to the Front page

3,306 traffic charges and warnings related to all forms of driving offences were laid during the holiday weekend. Up 23% over previous year.

News 100 blueBy Staff

May 28th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Another report card – we didn’t do all that well in the 2019 Canada Road Safety Week Enforcement initiative. Infractions were xx% higher than in the previous year.

During the week of May 14 -20, the Halton Regional Police Service conducted heightened traffic enforcement on area roadways. Officers focused on what has become known as the ‘Big 3’ road safety issues:

Cell phone while driving

call 9-1-1 for an immediate police response when you see this kind of behavior. Don’t call while YOU are driving.

aggressive driving,
distracted driving
and impaired operation – by alcohol and/or drug.

During Canada Road Safety Week CRSW, which included the Victoria Day Long Weekend, Halton Regional Police Service officers laid a total of 3,306 non-criminal charges and warnings related to all forms of driving offences.

Charges included:

1. Speeding, Careless Driving and Stunt Driving (1,599 charges);

2. Sign and traffic light-related offences (473 charges);

3. Documentary infractions-licencing and insurance (456 charges); and

4. Cell phone- electronic devices (129 charges).

The total number of charges laid represents a 23 per cent increase over the number of charges laid during the 2018 CRSW campaign.

Halton officers also intercepted and criminally charged 13 impaired drivers during the campaign for excess blood alcohol, commonly referred to as ‘80mgs or over’. An additional 8 drivers were suspended following roadside breath alcohol testing for registering ‘warn range’ breath alcohol readings.

The Regional Police Service is “grateful” for the vast majority of citizens and area motorists who remain committed to road safety across the region.

If you observe a vehicle being operated in a manner which places you or anyone else in danger, please call 9-1-1 for an immediate police response.

Return to the Front page

Mayor more than happy to share our best practices with the Province.

News 100 redBy Staff

May 28th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The following Statement was issued by the Mayor of Burlington.

Today I am pleased to acknowledge the Provincial government’s announcement that they will be cancelling the recently announced retroactive in-year cuts to municipalities and maintaining the pre-budget funding levels for public health, child care and ground ambulance.

Ontario’s big-city mayors met in Guelph on Friday (May 24) at a meeting of LUMCO (Large Urban Mayors Caucus of Ontario) along with Mayor John Tory of Toronto, to discuss a joint strategy to respond to the previously announced Provincial budget cuts and downloading on municipalities, after our budgets had already been passed. We were grateful to have the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, The Honourable Steve Clark, also join us for part of that meeting.

He heard our concerns and took our unanimously passed joint statement back to the Premier. The key messages from the mayors meeting as LUMCO were:

• We want to be at the table with the Province to work together to address their fiscal challenges in ways that minimize impacts on our residents.

• If the Province does not change course, or even delay implementation until 2020 so that we can adjust for our next budget cycle, municipalities will be forced to consider tax increases, service cuts, or raiding reserves.

Mayor Meed Ward and Premier - Dec 2018

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward with Premier Doug Ford.

On behalf of the City of Burlington, I commend Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Minister Steve Clark for listening to the concerns raised by mayors on behalf of our residents across the province.

The cuts, as originally announced, were poised to hurt local communities and put cities’ finances at risk. They were also made without prior consultation with municipal leaders, leaving no time to plan for what was coming and leaving a collaboration gap between our two levels of government. Today’s news shows what can be accomplished when different levels of government listen to one another and work together.

But we are not out of the woods yet.

The delay in these cuts is helpful, but some of these cuts continue to be inappropriate to download to the municipal tax base. The Province cannot balance its own books on the backs of municipal property taxes, especially when they will negatively impact front-line services. Municipalities only receive 9 cents on every tax dollar collected by our governments. We will only make substantial fiscal progress by ensuring savings are found by the levels of government that spend the most (federal and provincial). We encourage the Province to look at their own administrative efficiencies rather than cutting front line services delivered at the municipal level.

On a related note, the Province has asked municipalities to help find additional savings and efficiencies, recently announcing an “Audit and Accountability Fund” to support line-by-line third-party reviews of their operations.

Meed ward looking askance

Mayor Meed Ward advises that “we are not out of the woods yet”.

My fellow LUMCO Mayors and I are fully supportive of balancing our budgets, reviewing all expenditures to look for efficiencies, and supporting the Province in reducing their deficit and debt.

The City of Burlington completed a line-by-line review as part of our 2019 budget process, as we do every year. Unlike the federal and provincial governments, municipalities cannot run a deficit. We must not only balance our books annually, but also share them transparently with our constituents.

As a result of our line-by-line review, our approved 2019 budget saw an initial reduction of $1.15M, with City Council trimming an additional $1.6M while still investing in our infrastructure, local transit, tree planting and community services. The end result was our ability to pass the lowest tax increase at the city level in eight years. We would be more than happy to share our best practices with the Province.

Even with all these savings already found, we are always willing to have an independent review of our books to verify what we already know.

More detail on our commitment to finding efficiencies and managing our budget effectively can be found on my blog at mariannemeedward.ca/finding-municipal-budget-efficiencies.

While we welcome today’s announcement, changes in other pieces of legislation will negatively affect our ability to be financially sustainable and provide for community services. Bill 108 includes proposed changes that would hurt cities’ ability to provide parkland, community facilities and adequate public engagement to inform the planning of our neighborhoods. Changes to Development Charges, paid by developers to offset the cost of growth, could put parkland and community centres in jeopardy. The changes will mean either a reduction in community services or an increase in property tax to cover the shortfall. These changes do nothing to reduce provincial costs but do increase the costs to municipalities at a time we are all trying to find efficiencies.

Additionally, a return to the old OMB (Ontario Municipal Board) rules for planning appeals means that planning matters will once again be taken out of the hands of local municipal councils. There is no evidence to support that these changes would actually increase the supply of affordable housing.

Furthermore, reverting to the old rules will add costs and time to planning approvals and require municipalities to spend more in legal fees defending our planning decisions. Again, these changes do nothing to reduce provincial costs but do increase the costs to municipalities at a time we are all trying to find efficiencies.

MMW-arms-out-thank-you-2-300x198

Mayor offers to share Burlington budget practices with the province.

We are heartened by the willingness of the Province to listen to municipalities and reverse course, and we look forward to additional conversations on the outstanding matters that have yet to be addressed by today’s announcement that create costs without benefits to municipalities and our residents.

Return to the Front page

The Red Carpet: What was both surprising and disturbing was that the people making some of these comments were the very people hired to run the city.

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

May 27th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Receiving line tight crop

Marianne Meed Ward at the State of the City address to the Chamber of Commerce.

One of the promises Mayor Marianne Meed Ward made to the Chamber of Commerce when she delivered her State of the City address to them was to improve the way business was done in the city.

She created a Red Carpet Red Tape initiative that was going out into the commercial sector to ask questions and to listen. She brought Kelvin Galbraith, the Councillor with the best small business experience in as her co-chair and they have been listening.

For reasons known only to the Mayor the listening sessions have been closed to media – all we have to work with are the statements she releases. There is a lot of information in them.

The first session took place at the Waterfront Hotel where issues that were to become a theme as the Red Carpet Red Tape (RCRT) wagon rolled along.

Parking, getting paperwork and approvals through city hall and finding talent that could be employed and able to find affordable accommodation were mentioned at every session.

We have lifted portions of the reports the Mayor released and put them within quotation marks.

Small business types wanted “Access to qualified young labour. Factors that play a significant role in that challenge are a) the high price of living in Burlington and b) the difficulty in commuting here by anything other than a personal automobile, which many don’t have.

“Trying to recruit skilled employees from surrounding trade schools/colleges/universities is difficult when they find out how expensive starter townhomes or condos are here. With the often bus-train-bus experience most would have to partake in should they decide to commute from a neighboring community with potentially more affordable real estate options, the length of time of the commute becomes too prohibitive. Bottom line: more needs to be done to allow young people to live and/or work here, whether it’s through more affordable housing options or better/faster transit options.

Home church for Wendy HAger is Glad Tidings on Guelph Line.

Is an $800 Engineering report necessary for signageÉ

“Red Tape. Many examples were given of challenges before a business could open, and the labyrinth of approvals and expenses that came along the way. Reference was made to needing engineering approvals on storefront signage (a reasonable request to ensure they’re safe and won’t fall on anyone) but there was a lack of understanding of whether the $800 engineering fee was reasonable, or whether more could be done to educate new business owners about alternative options that may be more affordable. Other examples were given about starting down one path of approval, only to be told later in the process that additional items were needed and additional expenses would have to be incurred that they had not budgeted for.

“Answers given by City Staff were referenced as sometimes being inconsistent with one another, leading to confusion. Overall, many spoke about a lack of support through the process. Those who had been around for 20+ years made reference to having strong and experienced mentors and using their own hard work and ability to pull in experts to advise them on things from accounting to networking and beyond.

The downtown merchants have used special shopping bag promotions in the past. Last summer we all got to see BDBA General Manager Brian Dean in shorts that must have been on sale somewhere.

BDBA General Manager Brian Dean working a crown during a downtown festive event,.

“Some attendees had no idea if they belonged to their local BIA (or whether they even could), and most did not know about support that could be provided to them through partner organizations like the BEDC. Many wished they could give advice to new businesses setting up shop and better inform them of whether the location they are choosing is appropriate for their business model to help them avoid failure, and whether landlords and real estate agents can better help facilitate that evaluation for likelier long-term success.

“Bottom line:” posited the Mayor, “Can a smarter welcome package be created for those exploring starting a new small business in Burlington – one that outlines all the steps needed before opening, the demographics of different neighborhoods, and clearly directs people to the other resources available to help them get there? Can our staff be well-trained to provide a supportive and welcoming “red carpet” experience when new businesses reach out to start the process?

Babes at parking meters

Parking meters are a challenge at several levels.

“Parking. While this is more of an issue for small business owners south of the QEW, such as in Aldershot or Downtown Burlington, it is a known challenge and source of frustration. When discussing Free Parking in December…business owners referenced abuse by people who already have parking passes elsewhere like their condos (but find street parking more convenient), and those who are employees of local businesses and drive to work that month since they can now get free parking. Neither option helps paying customers find additional spots.

It was generally felt that there were too many confusing rules around parking in general (paid during the day but not after 6, but free in December, but still no parking anywhere for longer than 3 hours although there are some lots with exceptions to that, etc…). Bottom line: we need to think about the initiatives we are implementing around parking and whether they are supporting the goal they were intended to support.

The large manufacturers had their own issues.

The Permit process – flaws and delays
Dealing with the MTO – lack of accountability to timelines, unwilling to conduct site visits
City is too slow to react
City staff have a lack of knowledge behind the scenes/of private sector and are unresponsive
Staff are inconsistent in their application of policy
Fees are inconsistent
Turnover of City staff
Sense of confrontation with City staff – rational conversation is difficult
Lack of common sense and practicality in processes
Commercial/employment zoning needs
Regional transit connectivity and transportation/traffic overall
Lack of land availability / larger space for manufacturing
Sign bylaws are too restrictive
Access to high tech talent / post-secondary / new fields & areas of study
Site visits are needed to understand practical issues
Tough finding the right department at the City
Incremental feedback on multiple submissions
Need clear timelines / business timelines
Ineffective communications
Lack of incentives if not manufacturing
Skilled and non-skilled labour/talent

There were issues that were positive; The Mayor referred to them as “issues that were already working from their point of view.

Leader CENTRE

Recent immigrant, on the left, receiving a certificate after completing a course at The Centre.

New council = progressive thinking
The Red Tape Red Carpet Task Force – appreciate the City is listening and willing to change
BEDC support, networking events and TechPlace
Employee retention and recruitment
Recent immigrants in the area provide a great talent pool
Success in exporting / export funding was helpful (got cut thought)
Location: close to highways, the border, and Go train
Innovation through partnerships
Growth of manufacturing locally
Rotational Engineer program uses fresh grads to fill roles
Product development support funding (SRED, IRAP)
Access to a huge market next door (Toronto)
Engineering staff at the City of Burlington are constant, fair, good to deal with, consistent

The Mayor added that the “wealth of knowledge and experience in the room put forward the following ideas about what can change and improve:

Work hard to create a customer service culture at City Hall. Start at the top and trickle down. Help everyone feel good at the end of the day for what they did and how they did it.

Change how work is assigned: Rather than having work assigned to whoever is next available, have the same person allocated to all permits for the same building so that the familiarity is there to increase speed and customer service rather than have so many different people involved each time and forcing them to start at square one and get up to speed.

Advocate and influence with other government and regulatory agencies.

Site plan vs. survey education – field trips and training

Include copyright protection (not here now)

Ombudsman backed by Council

Better performance management of City staff with KPIs attached / measurements

Consider CRM/Software solutions for better digitization/automation of processes as well as tracking

Electronic file transfers of documents submitted

Status on reports on file in less than 3-4 weeks / Customer Status reports conducted by Staff

Lunch & Learns for Developers

Exception approvals at the counter

Staff to ask the question: how can we make this work?

New City staff should have to have spent time in the industry first (externally)

Mobility hubs

Much of the longer term development will be located at the mobility hubs.

Leverage development around Go stations

List of issues that are black/white – clear & automatic (ex: building code)

Personalization of website – “what are you here for today”

Self-serve options

Overall management / admin/ project management for applications

Business concierge support

More mixed-use service available without getting in car

Better marketing and promotion of Burlington to businesses

Need tax credit advocacy with Minister of Finance

Review incentive programs to be more accessible

Incentives to hire new grads

Several of the courses given at the NAME are fully booked months in advance - the students usually know where they are going to be working before they graduate.

Several of the courses given at The Centre are fully booked months in advance – the students usually know where they are going to be working before they graduate.

Need a tech school in Halton (post-secondary)

Ontario apprenticeship: training and tax credit (needs new process released)

Increase limits on “Now Hiring” portable signs

More affordable housing (for employees)

Foreign worker depository

All day Go train (24 hours)

Transparency on timelines / status updates

Be willing to refund processing fees if deadlines aren’t met by City

“Overall”, said the Mayor, “the session on Monday provided a forum for this group of leaders to directly communicate with myself, other City leaders, and each other, helping ensure our businesses feel heard, valued and supported as critical parts of Burlington’s economic health and well-being.

Next up on the focus group list was a session with City staff and partnership organizations:

Mayor Meed Ward explained “the room was asked to identify the most common issues they hear from business owners and there was a lot of commonality: zoning, permits, signs and approvals were all identified as taking too long, requiring too many stakeholders’ involvement, and being challenging to navigate (especially for first-timers).

“Everyone agreed that working towards more of a “One-Stop Shop” would provide a better customer service experience and staffing that shop with subject matter experts who can guide people through the process, set realistic expectations, and provide all the information up front would be ideal. Having people to triage applications so they require fewer revisions would also be helpful in reducing timelines and workload on both sides of the table.

“The room noted that more could be done to get information online and searchable, letting business owners self-serve and self-educate when possible, and do things after hours when appropriate. Marketing, education, and information sharing was a common theme, whether through campaigns to educate prospective business owners on avoiding common pitfalls in the application process, or having monthly open-house sessions where business owners can meet with experts like those in the focus group room to get free advice to help them along the way.

“Looking at technology systems and platforms that enable barcoding/tracking of applications would improve speed and accountability in everyone’s view, and exploring ones that dovetail with those of partner organizations would be helpful as well.”

What was both surprising and disturbing was that the people making these comments were the very people hired to run the city. The Mayor reported that the attendees at this one included the following (the Gazette has added some comment on several):

“Ron Steiginga (by the way a very smart guy who has served the city well) “25+ years in real estate management with the City of Burlington has let him get to know most of the developers and builders in town, build relationships, and stay aware of what is available for sale. He is involved with fees (such as park dedication fees), and the purchase of parks, fire hall sites – sees his role as keeping stakeholders aware and informed of those issues and availabilities.”

“Rosalind Minaji has been in planning and development for 30 years, and a big part of her role is to help walk people through the application process, as well as ensure the city has sufficient and identified employment areas, as well as affordable housing.

Director of Finance Joan Ford does a great job of providing the data ad her department does a good job of collecting the taxes as well. It's the spending side that is causing the long term financial stress. Ms Ford doesn't do the spending.

Director of Finance Joan Ford does a great job of providing the data ad her department does a good job of collecting the taxes as well. It’s the spending side that is causing the long term financial stress. Ms Ford doesn’t do the spending.

“Joan Ford (who runs the best department in the city) has been in finance for 30 years and sees her role as ensuring fees and taxes for business owners are collected in a fair and equitable way, and being transparent to businesses on these items.

“Mary Lou Tanner has been with the City for three years and in her Deputy City Manager role for 18 months. She sees her role as creating a culture of customer service for business owners who come to the City with questions and looking for guidance with what can often feel like an overwhelming or complicated journey. She wants to ensure people feel welcome, get the answers they need, and help make processes easier and better understood.” Tanner created the Grow Bold initiative that Mayor Meed Ward had council scrap once she took office.

“Sue Connor is two years into her role, with 30 years overall in the transit industry. She knows she needs to help move employees around so that businesses have access to the people they need to make their business run.” Connor brings an incredible reputation to the task of creating a transit service that people will use – all she needs is the support of council and the funds to make it happen. If she manages to do for Burlington what she did for Brampton we will be a much different city.

“From the BEDC, Anita Cassidy’s focus is in helping create a competitive advantage here in Burlington so that businesses want to locate here, helping them find talent or space, as well as advocating for what businesses need with partner organizations like the MTO or the Region. Cassidy is waiting to be moved from acting to full bore Executive Director.

John Davidson has been at Halton Region for 13 years and mentioned the Small Business Centre that is run out of there as a good resource for business owners starting out. He sees his role as ensuring businesses don’t get stalled in their approvals/permits journey and working behind the scenes with partners like the City of Burlington and others to remove obstacles.

“Tim Commisso, in the industry for 35 years now, sees one of his priorities as helping implement more of a 1:1 personal touch for smaller businesses who don’t necessarily have the experts and resources of larger firms and developers to help navigate the system. He also expressed interest in seeking out technology that makes the process easier and more trackable, and ensuring city staff have the skills and customer service attitude to make these experiences better for businesses.” Commisso knows the Burlington file – he served as part of senior management before he was appointed city manager for Thunder Bay. He is keeping the city manager seat warm until council makes a permanent appointment – expected sometime in July.

“Brian Dean has been at the Burlington Downtown Business Association for 18 years now and sees his role as retaining and attracting businesses to this area of our City. He works to help acclimatize new businesses, give them market data to help with their business planning, and keep them engaged with their community.” Dean must have been stunned when he heard that some business people had not heard of his BIA.

Hoey retirement“Keith Hoey, outgoing President of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce (15 years now), focuses on: a) connecting people through networking and events; b) educating businesses on things like managing their books or understanding government decisions that will impact them; c) advocating with all levels of government on behalf of business owners; and d) providing discounts and savings to help businesses save money.” A Prince who has earned retirement and will be missed – those shoes are going to be hard to fill.

Magi McKeowen Lancaster look at day's poster work

Allan Magi, on the left, brings a capacity to listen and a collaborative manner to the work he does for the city.

“Allan Magi, 27 years into his tenure, oversees the building of parks, roads, and other infrastructure that needs to be in place to support the businesses in our city. He helps oversee development charges, and advocates with partner agencies to streamline and find common ground to help move things along.

Nick Anastasopoulos has been with the City for 3 years, and 20+ years in the industry. He sees his role as helping get businesses “in the ground” and up and running. He looks for efficiencies and overlap to help streamline processes, and is focused on finding ways to connect partner agencies to work faster together for businesses.

Gerry Smallegange at Hydro gets involved with new businesses and expansions as many businesses have unique or additional hydro needs when they relocate/start up here in Burlington. He sees his role as finding ways to partner with businesses before they sign leases or purchase property to advise them on what is possible and consider meetings or site visits to better equip businesses with the information they need before they sign on the dotted line, so they can avoid zoning or other problems down the road.

“Kelvin Galbraith is new to his role as Councillor but has been a small business owner for 21 years in Aldershot, and is a member of the Aldershot BIA. He sees his role as similar to the Mayor’s: see the issues and help solve the problems.

Blair Smith talking to planner Heaher MacDonald

Heather MacDonald, Director of Planning has the most difficult job – a department that has been flooded with work during a time when both the regulatory and political environment were difficult (impossible?) to cope with.

“Heather MacDonald is newer to the City of Burlington in her role, but has many years of experience including years at Metrolinx, the City of Brampton and the City of Mississauga. She and her team (including Rosalind and Nick) are tasked with ensuring we have buildings and businesses that are safe and of high quality, and helping people through the development process. She wants to impact the level of education and communication outward to business owners to avoid people feeling surprised down the line and ensure they have the right information – and all of it – as early in the process as possible.”

It is difficult to read the narrative on those who took part in the meeting with the complaints that were heard from the commercial sector. There is a disconnect in there somewhere.

When Meed Ward announced the RCRT initiative she said: “My goal is to find a way to help our city grow in the right way and in the right places, and to partner with my colleagues at City Hall, with residents, and with our development community to make that happen.”

The Mayor then met with the developers, using the Tech Place facility as the venue. She was probably not surprised at what she heard:

Vision lack of

Is there a vision? Is it in the minds of city council or in the approach staff take to problem solving.? Or does the public have a vision no one else shares?

The Permit process – flaws and delays
Ability to attain SPAs in a reasonable time
Dealing with the MTO – lack of accountability to timelines, lots of delays
Delays with Halton Conservation
Conflict between the different levels of government
Business mindset is lacking
Lack of accountability with the City
Too many agencies involved
Staff act like they’re afraid of losing their jobs
No incentives to reduce operational friction
Hydro
Inconsistent bylaw/zoning interpretation/zoning uncertainty
Lack of vision
Lack of control over other agencies / influence
Affordability of projects becoming unrealistic: land, construction, time all push up costs
No “leader” to manage applications
Lack of KPIs for city staff (perceived or otherwise)

Prov policy documents

Provincial policies trump everything – and they keep being changed making it difficult to do long term planning.

Provincial policies are shifting / rethinking
Lack of staff knowledge in understanding market forces
Lack of respect for landowner rights
Too in the weeds – focus on important issues
Lack of common sense being applied
Opinions can depend on mood of person who is assessing the application
Building envelopes
No severance / Niagara Escarpment Commission
Environmentals on particular corridors
All the time delays cost money
Political agendas – development applications treated politically instead of on their own merit
Time associated with the severance process (took 2 years)
Zoning inflexibility (ex: Seniors Long Term Care facility)
Timing associated with obtaining a zoning verification letter – used to be 10 days now over 5 weeks
City staff raising issues that do not apply to the application in question
Limited incentives available for developers to build sustainably, and integrate sustainable design features
Public transparency re: cost recovery/recovery funding
Compare to Brampton, where 100 units got approval in less than a year – fast process, open to discussions, and Mayor/Council wanted things to happen
Perception that plants and animals have more rights than people
Hard to get calls returned from City Hall (all departments)
Outdated city standards (ex: Parks)
Lack of downtown parking for offices, bars, restaurants and retail
Transit dead spots

After listening to the complaints and concerns the Mayor did a smooth political pivot and said: “While it took a few minutes to switch gears and focus on the positives, there are certainly reasons everyone in the room is still doing business in Burlington and we wanted to ensure we clearly understood what those are and then she listed them:

Urban design guidelines - block by block

Developers want clear instructions – and will do everything they can to find a way to make those directions work to their benefit; which is exactly what we do with our tax returns.

BEDC as a facilitator, expeditor and supporter
Great fast-track process for building permits
Experienced city staff are good to deal with
Online process that shows if a building permit is closed
Mayor seems very on board
Facilitation at this event was great – Interim City Manager was great facilitator at the table
Professional people to deal with
Sustainable design guidelines
Ability to start work early to help shorten delivery sometimes
Burlington building process is good
Councillor was helpful overriding bad staff decisions
Building department closing out an old permit +
We win most if not all appeals to OMB/LPAT
Development application website is good
Community safety – businesses with shifts / evening hours are less worried for their staff getting to/from work
Burlington’s culture, family-orientedness & energy draws people here to live and work
Access to talent, amenities and housing (high tech talent is easier than other segments though because of housing costs).

Developers do business in Burlington because it is a great market – they can build almost anything and sell it. They have chosen to focus on the high end of the market and for the most part are doing very well.

The Mayor took what she could from the meeting and closed by saying: “We finished the day by leveraging the knowledge and experience in the room to come up with solutions, ideas and changes that the City can spearhead to make things better:

service customer

The key word is service – does city hall know how to deliver it? Will the new city manager make that a key deliverable ?

Priv - public sectors

Private sector experience makes for better public sector employees.

Support a culture of service and efficiency by ensuring staff have clear KPIs and they are part of their performance reviews
Incentives for hitting KPIs and going above and beyond
Business/file liaison to track, communicate, and shepherd a file to completion in a reasonable time
Leadership needs to stand behind file planner
Encourage staff to learn more as things change to drive subject matter expertise (regulations, etc.)
Leverage better technology to streamline and automate / CRM system / Self-Serve
Customer service training / commitment to customer service
Hire more people if short-staffing is impacting speed of turnaround
Cut the timelines to match the Municipal Act
Apply a stronger sustainability lens and offer incentives
Allow multiple levels of approval to run concurrently
Seniors housing/land zoning strategy
Business advisory board
BEDC needs more influence
More advocacy/upward pressures necessary to other levels of government
Stand firm on the position of what is good for Burlington – don’t sit on hands with other agencies
Be collaborative vs combative
Site visits at properties to understand context and better apply common sense
Create more “fast track” and “premium” services – willing to pay for speed
Do more to educate the public about the benefits of growth to help those inherently resistant to change to see the positives
Make it a priority or essential that new hires in these departments have spent at least some time in the private sector on the other side of the table to provide better perspective and understanding
Next round of comments shouldn’t go back to bottom of the pile
Be ok with weighting the value of certain projects in their worth to the community (jobs for example) and be willing to prioritize those in terms of speed and attention – not every project is equal
Apply Artificial Intelligence / automated processes to remove personal opinion from the process
Shorten time frames for turnarounds of minor revisions
Fees should be payable on approval not all up front (or reimbursed when deadlines are missed)
Empower staff with more decision-making power to apply common sense
Remove height restrictions
Educate the public on good planning practices
Be more consistent – don’t change policies when Councillors change
Leverage tech being used in other municipalities (ex: Mississauga)
Focus group with staff: what are THEIR challenges to moving quickly & how can we help
Provide more info on the steps that happen in the process & why it takes so long. What is happening each day over the course of all those months (and sometimes years)?
Quick morning meeting/daily scrum (15 min) each day by team leaders to set goals with staff: what will you get off your desk today and move forward? Then hold people accountable and recognize good performance. Ask the question “What will it take to get this approved today?”

More of a culture of recognition for making things happen. Celebrate those staff.

Interesting that the city spends something in the order of $7 million a year on cultural matters: Performing Arts Centre, Art Gallery and the Museum but there wasn’t a mention of how big a driver this sector is to a local economy.

The Red Carpet is a brave initiative – one hopes that even a small percentage of what got put on the table will actually get done.  Let us leave it at that.

Related article:

Public service is noble work

Return to the Front page

Burlington Robbery: Jewel heist outside a residence

Crime 100By Staff

May 25th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Halton Regional Police are investigating a robbery in Burlington where two victims were robbed of jewellery outside their residence on Augustus Dr. in Burlington.

HRPS crestAround 11:00am Saturday morning, four males pulled up to the residence in a stolen vehicle where three got out and pepper sprayed the victims. They then stole a bag of jewellery from the vehicle occupied by the victims. The suspects fled the scene and dumped their stolen vehicle a short distance away. They were last seen fleeing the area in a small red vehicle.

A short time later there was a driving complaint on Hwy 403 where a small red vehicle with a very large rear spoiler was seen travelling at a high rate of speed. This vehicle was last seen N/B from Hwy 403 on Waterdown Rd. It has not been confirmed that this is the suspect vehicle from the robbery.

The suspects are all described as males, wearing dark clothing with their faces covered.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Halton Regional Police at 905-825-4747 ext. 2305. 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

Return to the Front page

Public service is noble work. People might scoff at the use of that word. If a person doesn’t see the job as a noble calling – they are perhaps not in the right industry.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

May 27th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

There has been a lot of material published in the Gazette on the Red Carpet Red Tape initiative that Mayor Marianne Meed Ward brought to city hall.

The Small Business Sector, the Large Manufacturers, the Developer and Real Estate and the Rural Sector all had strong points to make and serious concerns that they wanted addressed.

In the midst of all this is a full time staff that comes to work each day

Moral at city hall cannot be very high. Staff have seen four city managers in a six year period and are now directed by an interim who had some prior experience with city hall; the planning department has seen huge changes, engineering had to deal with The Pier fiasco.

City hall - older pic

Is it the building or the people who work in it that are the problem? Something isn’t right.

Roy Male, a former Executive Director of Human Resources was an active advocate of the municipal sector as a great place to work.

But there are not that many people who will rave about the service they get from city hall. Some of the decisions are just plain stupid.

The Gazette has worked with people in a number of departments and we can say that there are some very good people toiling away on behalf of the public. We have watched a number of those people grow in their jobs, become more skilled and more mature. There are some who are not going to make the grade and there are some who found the environment was just not for them and moved on.

We talked recently to a staffer who moved from a department in city hall to a city service that had operations elsewhere.  He was a happier man and loving the job he was doing.

We talked to one planner who moved into the private sector after saying “the Mayor threw me under the bus”.

Municipalities are where we live, the quality of day to day life is determined to a large degree by the people who work for the city.

We need to be proud of them and they need to give us reason to be proud.

These are good jobs, with good pay scales and great benefits. People who work for a municipality are in place to serve the public. These are not just ordinary jobs – public service is noble work. People might scoff at the use of that word. If a person doesn’t see the job as a noble calling – they are perhaps not in the right industry.

One resident with a high profile and some valuable city hall experience gave serious thought to running for Mayor and decided the place was just too toxic and not likely to change.

Jeff Fielding did his best while he was city manager to create a different ethic and attitude.  When he got an opportunity to work for the city of Calgary which has a great civic administration and one of the best mayors in the country he couldn’t pack fast enough.  He loved the city, returns frequently to play golf with friends – he just might decide to retire in Burlington.

The most recent full time city manager once wrote staff a memo saying that he “had their backs” referring to comments made by the public during the October election.  The role of a city manager is to ensure that the people working under his direction are always accountable to the public.

The objective is to get to the point where a city hall staff member asks: What can I do for you today?

Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette.

Related article:

What has been learned so far from the Red Carpet initiative?

Return to the Front page

Just four sports fields closed.

sportsgold 100x100By Staff

May 24th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The condition of the sports fields is looking a little better.

Baseball glove and ballThe amount of rain the City has had over the past few weeks, (there was a point where more than ten sports fields were closed) the following Grass Multi-use Fields and Ball Diamonds remain closed today:

• Maple Park F1
• Orchard Community Park F1
• Pearson High School West Soccer Field
• Tom Thompson Diamond

All other fields are open.

Return to the Front page

Red Carpet Task Force named - given homework and a lot of concerns about changes needed at city hall

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

May 24th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

With the closed meetings with the special interests groups completed, Mayor Marianne Meed Ward moves to the next step in her Red Carpet Red Tape initiative that she announced when she spoke to the Chamber of Commerce in January on her State of the City address.

Mayor-Meed-Ward-and--Galbraith

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and her Red Carpet co-chair, Councillor Kelvin Galbraith

The Mayor and her co-chair, Councillor Kelvin Galbraith have chosen the people they want to work with as the wade through the xx of comments about the trials and troubles of working with city hall. There were some positive comments.

The following individuals make up the Task Force:

Candace Herod, currently Information Technology Business Manager for Craig Careers and former President of Cogent Technology for 17 years. Candace also spent time working for the City of Hamilton as Project Manager for Housing.

Shann McGrail

Shann McGrail,

Shann McGrail, currently Executive Director at Haltech Regional Innovation Centre. Shann previously spent 12 years at Microsoft Canada and has since held positions focused on developing talent and driving innovation and change in the technology industry.

Don Baxter, a local expert and consultant on economic development and planning projects. Don’s focus has been on developing corporations and projects that act as a bridge between the public and private sectors. Don was previously President & CEO of Mohawk College Enterprise Corporation and past Executive Director of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC).

Vince Molinaro

Vince Molinaro

Vince Molinaro, President of Molinaro Group, one of Burlington’s longstanding residential and commercial real estate development groups for over 50 years. Vince helps ensure the development voice is at the table as we know many of our obstacles to business growth impact and affect this group.

Maria Thornton, a local small business owner who brings the small business owner perspective to the table along with experience and expertise as a Controller, CPA and CGA. Maria’s philanthropic leadership involves being former chair of Halton Food for Thought and she is now contributing her time and skills to the Gift of Giving Back.

Jamie Tellier works for the City of Burlington as Manager of Urban Design in the Department of City Building. His tenure here at the City along with his ability to ideate in innovative ways make him a great addition to this team.

Anita Cassidy

Anita Cassidy, Acting Executive Director, Burlington Economic Development Corporation,

Anita Cassidy, Acting Executive Director, Burlington Economic Development Corporation, has been part of this journey from the start and brings a wealth of first-hand knowledge of the challenges of our local business owners to the table.
These were good choices. Having one of the better staff members from city hall on the Task Force and a responsible developer at the table will help. The addition of people with deep municipal experience will also help.

The group was presented with a summary of the feedback provided by the hundreds of business owners who attended the town hall, focus groups and 1-on-1 sessions or provided feedback via email if they were unable to attend.

Key themes were highlighted that had surfaced repeatedly, and anecdotal evidence was discussed around specific examples of challenges, obstacles, and red tape that has made it difficult for existing businesses to thrive, or new businesses to locate here in Burlington.
The Task Force identified the low-hanging fruit that could be:

A. Acted upon or influenced by the City of Burlington
B. Effected in a realistic and timely manner (ideally within my first term as Mayor)
C. Have a worthwhile and lasting impact on a meaningful number of businesses

The Task Force discussed possible solutions that were brought up at past sessions. They looked at the issues and the actions that would best solve them.

The Task Force was given the following homework:

Continue to review the list we discussed.
Think on it.
Reflect on feasibility, impact, and timing.
Expand on it.
Modify it.
Add things.
Remove things.
Do some research.
Talk to others.
Get more insights and information.

The Task Force will reconvene in two weeks to finalize the list of recommendations that we want to bring before Burlington City Council for consideration.

Shape Burlington logoWill whatever report gets put before council share the fate that the Shape Burlington Report got? For the sake of the city – we hope not.

Return to the Front page

Candidate who lost his bid to sit in the provincial Legislature wants to lead the Liberal Party.

News 100 redBy Staff

May 24th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Tedjo talking

Alvin Tedjo

Alvin Tedjo, the Liberal candidate in the provincial election for the Oakville North Burlington seat has announced that he will be running for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal party.

That organization is starting its re-build after the disastrous loss in the June election.

As the only non-former-government candidate in the race, Alvin will bring a fresh voice to the leadership contest. He’s also submitted a constitutional amendment ahead of the OLP AGM. Alvin will be discussing his vision for the party and how that relates to a vision for Ontario at the event on Sunday.

 

Related news story:

Tedjo wins nomination for Oakville Burlington North seat.

Return to the Front page

Strong public response helps police locate and arrest robbery suspect - additional charges laid.

Crime 100By Staff

May 23rd, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The Halton Regional Police Service have identified, arrested and charged a male from Burlington in connection with an armed robbery that occurred on May 16, 2019.

Robbery Suspect gasstation WalkersDuring the investigation it was determined that the same suspect had also committed offences at a local restaurant and motel.
Michael Jess (46) of Burlington has been charged with the following offences:

-Robbery with a Weapon
-Mischief Under $5000
-Fraudulently Obtain Food
-Fail to Comply Undertaking (2 Counts)

Jess was held for a bail hearing on May 21, 2019 and was remanded into custody.

The police had very good responses from many members of the public who assisted in this investigation.

People charged with a criminal offence are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Related news story:

Gas station robbery.

 

 

Return to the Front page