 We have asked Burlington residents that we know and have communicated with in our seven years of operation what they think the new city council needs to do in its first 100 days.
They get sworn in on December 3rd – tell us what you think has to be done in that first 100 days to set a new path and get out of the rut many feel the city is in.
There are a lot of people unhappy with transit; unhappy with the thinking that is coming out of the Planning department and worried about annual tax increases of around 4%
We asked the people we knew, they aren’t all friends of the Gazette, what they thought could be done and should be done.
By Jim Young
November 15th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The first thing Burlington has to do is to breathe. Everybody just take a deep breath. We have voted to change council in a massive way that has replaced not only most of the Councillors, but hopefully has transformed the viewpoints and attitudes that previously prevailed. We, and they, now need a little time to digest this.
If I have learned only one thing in my years of committee involvement and delegation at City Hall; it is that municipal politics move slowly and when we consider the importance of city actions and decisions that is probably a good thing. So where is the need to rush?
On October 23rd, we awoke to a new mayor, five brand new city and regional Councillors and one returned incumbent. Our new mayor is smart, savvy and brings eight years’ experience on council to her new role. But, with the utmost respect and support for her, she needs time to adjust to her new role which I have no doubt she will accomplish.
Our new Councillors need time to get their feet under the table, understand their new roles and some of the procedures and protocols of the job. Even the returning Councillor Sharman may need time to adjust to a new and very different council in which he may now find his views in the minority.
Individually we may have voted for or against them but they are now our democratically elected City Council and, as such, deserve our backing and support, at least until we get an honest and reasonable opportunity to judge them in action. Let us not rush to criticize or condemn.
City staff also need time to adjust to their new reality too. If our new Councillors hold true to their promises of change, this will create a seismic shift in many of the directions they have been following up until now.
Like a large ship, any city needs time to change course. This is not a time for recriminations or wholesale staff changes. We need an orderly transition to the new citizen/city paradigm we have been promised.
 Regional Councillors displaying the new 2 gallon blue boxes. They have one more meeting as a Regional government before their term of office ends. Perhaps more important than the first 100 days of the new council are the few remaining days of the outgoing council. Until the new Councillors officially take their seats on December 3rd, we are at the mercy of outgoing City Councillors who also double as Regional Councillors. This leaves them with a major say in the Regional Adoption of the New Official Plan which the majority of them favoured but was the main reason so many of them are no longer city Councillors.
We must demand that they accept that the people have spoken finally and emphatically against the adoption of The New Official Plan and conduct themselves accordingly. For them to vote at the Region to adopt the Plan, while perfectly legal, would be morally repugnant and an act of unparalleled vindictiveness on their part.
The outgoing Regional Council should must defer to the clearly voted wishes of the people of Burlington. They have spoken and deserve that the outgoing council take the high road on this matter.
Meantime let us not rush to oppose our new batch of city Councillors or demand immediate answers to long term issues but support them in their transition and give them the opportunity to live up to their promises.
We elected them, let them prove themselves worthy. In order to do that they need and deserve a little breathing room.
 By Staff
November 14th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
In the blink of an eye, any impaired driver can ruin lives forever. Horrific and heartbreaking headlines of impaired driving aftermath never seem to end, and it affects us all. Worst of all, it is completely preventable. Crime Stoppers can help.
With the recent legalization of cannabis in Canada, the potential for drug impairment on our roads, trails, and waterways may increase – driving high is no different from driving drunk or driving under the influence of other drugs. Impaired is impaired.
 According to Halton Police, there have been 500 impaired driving arrests in Halton Region so far this year. That number will, unfortunately, only increase as we head into the busy holiday season.
If you suspect an impaired driver on the road, please call 9-1-1 to report it directly and immediately to police.
So how can Crime Stoppers help? If you know of, or suspect, an habitual impaired driver (whether alcohol, cannabis, or other drugs) and wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers. So far this year, impaired driving tips to Halton Crime Stoppers have resulted in license suspensions, criminal charges, vehicle impoundments, and several other Highway Traffic Act offences. Those tips directly helped improve the safety of our roads and communities, and they may have prevented the next horrific and heartbreaking headline.
David Wood, director of Halton Crime Stoppers, said this is just one opportunity for the community and Crime Stoppers to drive community safety in Halton.
“Our mission is to reduce crime in Halton Region through community education and engagement in partnership with the public, the police, and the media and by providing citizens the ability to provide information with guaranteed anonymity to deter and solve crime, with rewards offered for tips that lead to an arrest,” Wood said.
“We appreciate the impaired driving tips we receive from the public and are proud that these tips can and do directly translate into effective action by Halton Police to get impaired drivers off our roads”.
Wood said Crime Stoppers is a citizen-run charitable organization that has helped police maintain Halton as one of the safest regions in Canada. “Our board routinely authorizes reward payments for anonymous tips that solve or deter crime,” Wood added. “We want the public to know that Crime Stoppers operates 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, so people in the community can anonymously provide information that police may need to solve and deter crime. Callers are never asked to identify themselves and never have to testify in court because their anonymity is guaranteed.”
Wood said Crime Stoppers is only successful because people make the effort to call the tip line to provide information that can help solve crime and keep our keep our communities safe.
 Detective Constable Jodi Richmond, Coordinator, Crime Stoppers of Halton Tips can be submitted Halton Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or by visiting www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
For more information, please contact:
Contact: Detective Constable Jodi Richmond
Coordinator
Crime Stoppers of Halton
By Pepper Parr
November 14th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
There were more than 1000 people wanting to know more.
They filled the auditorium, then they filled the cafeteria and then they asked some people to move to the library where briefings were being given on the iStem program that will be offered to the September 2019 grade 9 class at Aldershot high school.
 This is the crowd in the cafeteria – there were even more people in the auditorium and more in the library. The program was one of the outcomes of the Program Accommodation Review that took place in 2016 that closed two of the city’s seven high schools.
Aldershot was spared in part because the original recommendation was to close Central high school.
In 2016 the debate was about closing schools. The Board of Education was close to desperate in wanting to get some good news out.
The idea of doing something special, something almost radically different got put on the table by a trustee and staff took to the idea.
 Superintendent Terri Blackwell and Director of Education Stuart Miller- delighted with the turn out. Director of Education Stuart Miller handed the task of overseeing the closure of the two high schools, Lester B. Pearson and Bateman high school, to Superintendent Terri Blackwell who ran with it.
She researched, pulled together a rather impressive group of advisers from the academic community and came back with a report that didn’t require a lot of additional funding and was academically sound.
The trustees bought in and Blackwell was in business; creating a new program that said to students: We won’t ask what you want to be…We will ask: What problem do you want to solve?
It was a challenge that brought out, perhaps the largest crowd Aldershot high school has ever seen.
 Students filling in the application forms for the iStem program. People were filling in applications on the spot.
The Board of Education got far more people than they expected. They ran out of brochures and Superintendents who were explaining the course content had voices that began to fail them.
Superintendent Julie Hunt-Gibbons said she didn’t expect to have a voice she would be able to use the next day as she answered detailed questions.
The audience she was talking to had a hunger for something different for their children. Hunt-Gibbons stressed that while Stem – Science, technology, engineering and mathematics were core, English, history and French also mattered.
The program starts with grade 9 students.
 Kerry Sagar, lead instructor for the iStem program at Aldershot high school. Board staff wore white lab coats and actually scurried from place to place in the school. They were pumped, excited about the program that was being offered, and just a little stunned at the number of people who kept streaming through the doors of the school.
Miller told the audience that the world we live in needs innovation and ingenuity and schools needed to teach differently so that students could go out into a world much different than the one their parents took part in.
The iStem program is, in part, a program in which students will learn how to learn.
Learning by rote and memorizing will not be as important; students would learn by doing.
 iStem Curriculum for grades 9 and 10  iStem curriculum for grades 11 and 12 The Board at this point has no idea how many people will actually apply. Their initial enrollment projection was pretty low – they hoped there would be at least one full grade 9 class. If the size of the audience and the questions they asked are any indication – there could be three different grade 9 classes at Aldershot in September of 2019.
The board has said there will be no caps on the size of the program.
There is a lot more to tell about this program.
The iStem program is set to run in the western end of the Region – this will end up being offered in Milton and Oakville.
Miller said the program could become a model for the way students are taught. He could be right.
 By Staff
November 14th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police along with other area police services were experiencing a rash of roof-top commercial break and enters into various retail businesses.
Since October 4th 2018, there have been 13 reported entries or attempted entries between Halton, Peel, York, Waterloo and Hamilton.
 Investigators from the involved police services have been working closely and sharing information which ultimately led to the identification of three persons responsible for many of these entries.
On November 12th 2018, Halton Regional Police investigators arrested three men and executed three search warrants on homes and a rental car that resulted in the seizure of stolen property, break and enter tools and a large quantity of cash.
The investigation is ongoing to determine if others persons are involved and/or if additional charges are to be laid.
Armend HYSENI (25-yrs) of Hamilton and Flamur HAZIRI (30-yrs) of Kitchener are both charged with six counts of break and enter while Milaim BRANTON (34-yrs) of Hamilton is charged with six counts of break and enter and one count of possession of break-in instruments.
All three men were released on a Promise to Appear with an Undertaking and will appear in Milton Court on December 12th 2018.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Clay Gillis the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau – Commercial Crime Team at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2307.
Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See Something? Hear Something? Know Something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca .
By Staff
November 13th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
City of Burlington wants you to volunteer for a board or committee
Burlington is accepting volunteer applications for some of the city’s committees and boards. Volunteering your time on a committee or board is a great way to make a difference and provide community feedback.
Applications for local boards and committees are available online, at City Hall and city facilities and can be submitted until Friday, Nov. 23, 2018.
For more information about citizen committees or to apply for a volunteer position, contact the Clerks Department at 905-335-7600, ext. 7481 or visit burlington.ca/citizens. New opportunities will be posted in 2019.
 Danielle Manton, Burlington Manager of Election and Committee Services Danielle Manton, Manager of Election and Committee Services said: ““Getting involved with a board or committee is a great way to get involved and provide insight that will go to staff, Mayor and City Councillors.
“You don’t have to be an expert in any of the committee topics; you just need to have an interest in helping your city.”
Several citizens have suggested there might be a better way for citizens to involve themselves in the decisions that get made. Having a seat at the table where the decisions are made is one approach that has been suggested.
A number of people don’t think Advisory Committees have any clout, especially if they are members of Council on the committee who tend to guide and determine the direction a discussion can go.
Burlington isn’t yet at the point where citizens can speak their minds freely without a local Councillor directing the conversation.
The new city council might be different – that remains to be seen.
Application form is available.
 We have asked Burlington residents that we know and have communicated with in our seven years of operation what they think the new city council needs to do in its first 100 days.
They get sworn in on December 3rd – tell us what you think has to be done in that first 100 days to set a new path and get out of the rut many feel the city is in.
There are a lot of people unhappy with transit; unhappy with the thinking that is coming out of the Planning department and worried about annual tax increases of around 4%
We asked the people we knew, they aren’t all friends of the Gazette, what they thought could be done and should be done.
Krista Richards doesn’t see much that she likes at city hall.
By Krista Richards
November 13th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
This election we almost got a full clean sweep of council. That is a huge message for this new council.
 Lori Jivan, Acting coordinator of budget and policy patiently leads people through an explanation of the budget and the workbook the city created. Hitting the ground running is an understatement. The most obvious thing to deal with is the new budget. And more to it, how the City treats the taxpayers and Citizens of Burlington with how they spend our money.
In the past 4 years, City Hall including past council, spent money recklessly on “nice to haves”, 3rd party contractors, and consultants that even a high schooler could see was a waste of money. Meanwhile Mr. and Mrs John Q Taxpayer had City Staffers (NOT ALL OF THEM), ignoring emails, phone calls, lying to residents, and giving favors to their friends. And yet, no transit plan (8 years that has been talked about), infracture is horrible, the OP, etc etc etc. This HAS TO STOP.
The most direct way, to start to right the ship…… control the money! Control departmental spending, 3rd party contractors rebilling for the same job 3 times because they messed up. Stop hiring consultants who are friends of a friend. These few examples of reckless spending, goes hand in hand with the Citizens of Burlington being treated like persons of servitude. There is a great deal of money that could easily be trimmed from the budget with no loss of service. In some respect, services could be increased if someone actually put some effort into their department(s).
 City manager James Ridge City Staff at all levels should be put on notice by this new Council that they are there to serve to Citizens and not the other way around. New Council should be going through old budgets NOW line by line, and not just trust the staffers on what they say. There is a lot of smoke in those lines. While doing so, this will send a clear message for the City Manager and staff to wake up and do their jobs, if not a lot of dead weight, bad attitude paycheck collectors needs to leave. Making room for people honestly get what public service means and want to do it well.
The Citizens of Burlington voted for change. We need fiscal, ethical and moral responsibility at City Hall. If this new council accomplishes this very thing, it wont be easy but they will be well on their way to doing exactly what we elected them to do.
 By Staff
November 13th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Performing Arts Centre (BPAC) presents a unique and moving evening with a Canadian rock legend: Carl Dixon will perform on Thursday, November 22 in the Community Studio Theatre.
Carl will share songs from his incredible career with April Wine, The Guess Who and Coney Hatch along with stories about his time on the road with them and his recovery from a major car accident in 2008.
 Dixon is one of Canada’s stellar rock musicians. His first international record deal came with Coney Hatch in the 1980s. Big tours, radio hits, MTV, and “the big time” all came with that. Carl then went on to perform with some of Canada’s most iconic bands. Two different hitches as lead singer of The Guess Who bookended a four-year stint playing with April Wine.
In 2008 Carl’s life was nearly cut short. He barely survived a shocking head on car accident in Australia while on a break from touring with The Guess Who. Despite over 50 injuries, titanium implants and traumatic brain injury Carl sings and plays with more heart than ever.
His remarkable comeback and adjustment to life post-accident has seen Carl become an inspirational speaker to corporations across Canada and the USA.
In 2016, for two special shows, he attained his post-accident goal of rejoining The Guess Who. He is rightly described as a man of titanium, rock and soul.
He shares his gripping and amusing stories from a life on the road in a unique evening of music, song and stories.
Tickets available at the BPAC Box office
 By Staff
November 13th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Culturally Burlington is making the rankings.
 Culture Days— a national, non-profit organization celebrating arts and culture has ranked Burlington’s 2018 Culture Days weekend seventh overall and third among cities with a population between 50,000-500,000.
The celebrations feature local creative organizations, venues, professionals and businesses that host free events throughout the weekend for the community. Independent Burlington artists, the Arts and Culture Council of Burlington, the Art Gallery of Burlington, the Burlington Performing Arts Centre, Burlington Public Library, Museums of Burlington and Tourism Burlington were all involved.
 Some 2.5 million attendees took part in thousands of free activities and performances hosted by artists, cultural organizations and municipalities in 800 communities across Canada.
Beefing up local cultural events is a plus – let’s just hope we don’t get carried away with that ranking stuff – it tends to blow up on you – remember when everyone a city hall drank the Kool Aid with that our being the #1 Best City?
Burlington had over 50 cultural activities registered for the Culture Days weekend this year.
 By Pepper Parr
November 12th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Revised: The Gazette frequently tapes interviews – we should have done that this time. Tammy Fox was very gentle with us when she pointed out that we had mixed up some of the facts. If she handles all the problems she faces the way she handled us – the Performing Arts Centre is in very good hands.
Tammy Fox, the Executive Director of the Performing Arts Centre was born in Lindsay, Ontario, close to a rural community that was certainly small town – went to elementary school in Coburg Ontario.
After graduating from the University of Windsor where she focused her studies on psychology and creative arts she spent the next 12 years in theatre administration and management, first at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre and later managing Peterborough’s Showplace Performance Centre.
 Tammy Fox – she went to “the dark side” of the theatre world for a period of time. In 2006 she moved to Toronto, taking over the role of Executive Director at ShakespeareWorks, which gave her the opportunity to work with Canadian theatre luminaries RH Thomson and Christopher Newton.
And then Tammy Fox went to what she called “the dark side” of the theatre world.
She formed the Fox Entertainment Agency on her own in 2008. Her husband took it over (after the roster had been reduced dramatically to accommodate his busy schedule as a professional musician) once Tammy joined BPAC in 2017.
Fox Entertainment Agency wqs a full-service interdisciplinary performing arts booking agency which specialized in professional touring theatrical productions, while also representing a select roster of musical artists who are especially suited for soft seat venues.
Her focus at the Agency was to create an artist/audience exchange in which it is recognized that all parties involved are focused on the same goal – to experience and share the wealth of performing arts talent that this country has to offer.
The mission at Fox included
connecting its roster of artists with diverse audiences
supporting and developing the careers of its roster of artists nationally and internationally
obtaining quality performance opportunities for its artists in performing arts centres, festivals and non-traditional venues
managing tours on behalf of its artists, from promoting, booking and routing to post-performance follow-up
fostering and sustaining meaningful long-term relationships with presenters and arts creators
assisting presenters to develop new audiences and enrich the experiences of current audiences.
 Tammy Fox has been on the job for 18 months. If you replaced the word artists with the word audiences in that list you had a woman with a set of skills that were a large part of what the Burlington Performing Arts Centre was looking for when they had to find their fourth Executive Director in a seven year time frame.
Fox was at Ontario Contact, the provincial booking conference, held that year in Peterborough, her old venue Showplace Performance Centre, where she bumped into Brian McCurdy. A combination of nostalgia of being in her former theatre, combined with the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of a man she admired greatly, that drew her to the Performing Arts Centre.
McCurdy, who told her that Burlington was looking for a new Executive Director, had served as the Executive Director for two terms; he was loved and adored but having tasted a bit of retirement, he became partial to making that his full time occupation.
Tammy Fox has been on the job for 18 months. The trick for her was to come up with programming that will draw audiences that more than cover the cost of bringing in the entertainment and have funds left over to encourage the growth of local talent and give them a place to perform.
She is now developing a program that tries to meet the interests of as many people as possible. “You can’t keep everyone happy all the time” she commented during an exclusive interview with the Gazette.
 Performing Arts Centre Executive Director Tammy Fox – an actor at heart. Fox sees her role as being responsible for part of the “cultural diet’ for the city.
The Family Series, Classical Matinees, Holiday programming and the ever-popular Classic Albums Live concerts add protein to the cultural diet.
There are the young audiences that have to be introduced to theatre and grown. The BPAC people have a strong working relationship with the Board of Education that sees a lineup of school buses outside the Elgin street location frequently.
Some of the local productions are superb – as good as you are going to get in Toronto. They usually take place in the Community Studio Theatre and at times draw audiences of less than 50 people. Is the turnout due to the content or poor promotion? Perhaps a bit of both. The work done by Trevor Copp and the Form Community Dance Theatre are drama and dance at its most progressive and moving. The hope is that Tammy Fox won’t give up on this kind of work.
Fox is proud of the “golden ticket” program that assists people with limited means to attend theatre productions.
She is even prouder of the Festival of Trees fundraiser that she developed for ACCOB – Arts and Culture Council of Burlington, to give raise funds to local artists to use the Community Studio Theatre.
BPAC has a stable audience, much of it from the downtown core where people can walk to the theatre.
 Here is the Burlington Teen Tour Band opening up the Performing Arts Centre. The Performing Arts Centre is “home base” to the Burlington Teen Tour Band
The big name headliners are important – Buffy St. Marie and the Bare Naked Ladies do well. Others are a tough sell and at times Fox has to settle for a production that is available and she has a time slot to fill.
Early in her career Fox talks of a lesson she learned. A community group rented a venue for a performance of Oklahoma that did astounding well – they sold out the 650 available seats. That led Fox thinking that the community wanted more of this type of program. What Fox learned was that a community audience isn’t necessarily a theatre audience.
 Later this month Royal Wood returns to Burlington. He was the first performer to take to the stage and eight years later he is back. During that first event there were two older woman who walked out of the performance – they didn’t see Royal Wood as what the Performing Arts Centre was built to present.
When Fox came aboard she had to work with a program that was already in place – some scheduling is done years ahead of time.
In May of 2019 she will present the 2019-2020 program that will be all hers. Her focus is to come up with more ways to engage the community, bring in productions that appeal to the various audiences she needs to serve.
Coming up with programs that appeals to families with several children is a challenge; “I need to come up with something a family can afford” she said – The Nutcracker Suite is part of that offering – but she wants more.
Expect to see more on Truth and Reconciliation.
The biggest part of the job is to shape the program offering that meets the pure entertainment needs and desires of the public and at the same time offer content and experiences that grow the cultural appetites.
 Finding the vision and then creating a mission her Board will live with. This isn’t something that is easily done. It takes time to formulate a vision based on what you ave learned about a community and turn that vision into a mission and convince a Board to support you – hoping that along the way the budget gives you the room to do that.
Where are the gaps in the program?
Is there more the Performing Arts Centre can do to improve that “cultural diet” Fox will tell you that there has to be some broccoli in that diet; some protein as well.
Is a tighter relationship with Sound of Music possible? Peter W. Van Dyk, an insurance executive sits on the BPAC Board. His father is co-executive director of Sound of Music Festival. Fox has been working on that connection and trying to work with them. she hopes that something can happen happen in 2019.
 Ilene Elkaim, vice chair, then chair then vice chair again – the other part of the BPAC Board tag team.  Rick Burgess – Chair – then vice chair and chair again – part of a BPAC Board tag team. A number of people wonder why the Chairmanship of the BPAC Board looks a little like a wrestling tag team with Rick Burgess and Ilene Elkaim taking turns at the head of the Board room table.
The theatre is operated as a separate legal entity; the building is owned by the city and the city has representation on the Board. The organization doesn’t hold annual public meetings – the Art Gallery does – if you look hard enough you will find financial statement. Use https://burlingtonpac.ca/annual-reports/
Could some of the incredibly good work that comes out of the Hamilton Fringe be imported to Burlington ?
Running a “performing theatre” is a challenge; the operation is not a production theatre. The city pumps more than half a million dollars into the Centre and adds a small amount to the ticket price for the capital fund needed to keep the facility modern.
The search for funding sources, looking at what the federal and provincial governments can provide is part of the Executive Director’s job. Provincial funds are likely to be smaller with the Ford government in place.
There was a time when the theatre was dark far too often. Fox reports they “We are only dark for seven days during the Festive Season. It will be even less than that in 2019.
The Festival of Trees which runs from November 23rd to December 20th gets people into the building which has one of the biggest bars in the city.
Fox adds that “We had quite a bit of use last summer. Student Theatre is in the venue for the entire month of July. In August BPAC presents the free Jazz on the Plaza series, and this year Lights Up! Theatre Co sold out a run of Run For Your Wife. Next August we will be extending that with a community theatre festival.
The concerns city council used to have are far less then they were three years ago.
Fox works with what she has to keep most of the people happy. One thing that did stun us was that Fox wasn’t aware of Hamilton’s James Street Crawl.
 Now in its eighth year of operation under four Executive Directors – is the public getting value for the $500,000 plus annual subsidy?
 We have asked Burlington residents that we know and have communicated with in our seven years of operation what they think the new city council needs to do in its first 100 days.
The Councillors gets sworn in on December 3rd – what has to be done in that first 100 days to set a new path and get out of the rut many feel the city is in ?
There are a lot of people unhappy with transit; even unhappy with the thinking that is coming out of the Planning department.
We asked the people we knew, they aren’t all friends of the Gazette, what they thought could be done and should be done.
By Penny Hersh
November 12th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 The residents voted in a new council with the mandate for change. Will it be what residents expect in what they perceive as a reasonable time frame? That is yet to be determined.
In response to this request and because Engaged Citizens of Burlington – ECoB feels that resident involvement is essential I asked the seniors who attend the current events class I am a part of for their input.
In no particular order this is what was expressed.
– Get control over development.
– Culture change at City Hall – Council needs to direct staff, not the other way around.
– Council needs to stop depending solely on Staff Reports.
– Council needs to work with the Provincial Government – Regarding” Places to Grow” and the demands put on Municipalities to reach the mandated target set out for them.
– Council Meetings should take place throughout the City not only at City Hall. Parking is a problem downtown, and if the meetings take place during the day there is a parking fee.
COMMUNICATION:
– Town Hall Meetings – to explain in “layman’s language” what is happening. Telling people to go to the City’s website is not the answer.
– Newsletters from Councillors that do more than just detail events happening in their wards. High praise for Marianne Meed Ward’s “ A Better Burlington”.
– City needs to hire a Public Relations firm to make Municipal Politics “resident friendly”.
 Together we can make a greater change in the culture at City Hall, and never again have to wait for an election to make our voices heard. The change Burlington needs requires commitment from City Hall and the citizens of Burlington alike, and it needs to start now. Together we can make a greater change in the culture at City Hall, and never again have to wait for an election to make our voices heard.
To be part of this change ECoB is asking residents to participate in the resident ward level committees that are being formed. More information can be found on our website Engagedburlington.ca To sign up email us at info@engagedburlington.ca and make your ward level committee a success.
By Staff
November 12th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has a new tool to help identify suspects of retail thefts occurring in the Region. The HRPS is the first service in Ontario to leverage a website dubbed ‘Retail C.O.P.’ (Cameras on Patrol).
Images of suspects in retail thefts are uploaded to the secure site, along with brief suspect descriptions.
 Retail security cameras capture the data – police can analyze and frequently identify suspects. These images are typically gathered from retail store surveillance cameras. Loss prevention officers are then provided access to the website in hopes of helping to identify suspects. Any tips are sent to the HRPS Retail Theft Unit for investigation.
To date, the HRPS has invited and trained more than one hundred loss prevention officers from across Ontario to take part in the program.
This program provides retailers, security, loss prevention and law enforcement agencies opportunities to identify offenders and through education, reduce and prevent organized retail crime, and prosecute identified offenders.
How is it working so far? “Fantastic” said Inspector Bob Gourley, 3 District Operations. “. By tapping into the knowledge and experience of the loss prevention officers on the ground in stores across Halton we are taking advantage of a previously underutilized resource.”
 Security cameras capture some of the thefts – the information is shared with retail security people who can aid the police in arrests. Retail theft costs Canadians $4 billion every year, with costs being passed on to consumers. This year to date, there have been more than one thousand occurrences of retail theft reported to police in Halton.
We asked Burlington residents that we know and have communicated with in our seven years of operation what they think the city needs to go in its first 100 days.
The new city council gets sworn in on December 3rd – what has to be done in that first 100 days to set a new path and get out of the rut many feel the city is in?
There are a lot of people unhappy with transit; unhappy with the thinking that is coming out of the Planning department.
Here is what Kevin Rutherford thought could be done and should be done.
By Kevin Rutherford
November 12th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
1. Perform audits of planning staff and City manager to evaluate the performance of previous planning recommendations. Staff recommendations are wildly different depending on the planner on file, they need to reign this in and provide a consistent message and approach. Performance should also be evaluated based on the time spent reviewing applications and whether they completed the recommendation within the 120 day window, failure to do so allowed the National Homes Developer on Brant Ave to file an appeal and with the Georgina Court Development it forced council to make a decision in haste because of fear of litigation from the developer because they were at roughly 390 days.
2. Come up with a plan on engaging residents more in development plans, and earlier in the game, and treat residents with respect when they are engaged. Current meetings are essentially about checking a box in the process rather than actually engaging with residents.
 3. Scrap or re-visit the City-wide parking review. They are reducing the parking spaces required for developments creating massive parking issues. The reality is that adult children are living at home longer so more spaces are needed, not less. The justification for their plan is that they want to eliminate cars from the roads and force people to take transit etc… I am sorry I manage rail/transit engineering projects and Burlington needs massive investment before any of their objectives will ever work and in the meantime residents will continue to struggle. In areas of the city where they are exploring street parking permits is just a cash grab and not proper planning.
4. Educate planning staff on the current OP, PPS, Places to grow act etc… They are submitting recommendations that do not comply either due to incompetence or insufficient education. I agree they need to try to ensure they meet the conditions of these plans/policy, they do not seem to understand the basic principles. Even when mistakes are found, they still defend their decisions and fight, forcing developers or residents to file LPAT appeals.
Keith Rutherford is a Senior Project Manager, managing Rail & Transit engineering projects. He is also the individual leading the LPAT appeal for the Georgina Court (Upper Middle Enclave) residents. He reports that “We just received responses from the City staff on our appeal synopsis and record that we submitted and they are still digging in and standing their ground essentially “sucking and blowing” in their response on the issue items.
 By Staff
November 11, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
This might interest some people.
Ken Gass, the Artistic Director of the Canadian Rep Theatre, will be doing a 90 minute workshop during which he will explore the key principles of acting & performance.
 If you have you ever thought that you could be an actor, participate in a practical hands-on workshop and discussion on the principles of professional performance.
The afternoon will include improvisation and other key exercises in a workshop that promises to be both entertaining for the newly initiated and challenging for those with more experience.
Takes place at the Performing Arts Centre in the Community Studio Theatre on November 17th at 3:00 pm
Click to reserve a place for yourself.
 By Staff
November 11th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 A number of Remembrance Day services will be taking place in downtown Burlington on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018. Several bus routes will be altered.
The following road closures will be in place:
• Brant Street will be closed from Elgin Street to Victoria Avenue between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
• James Street will be closed from John Street to Brant Street between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
• Ontario Street will be closed from Locust Street to Brant Street between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
• Baldwin Street will be closed from Brant Street between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
A number of Remembrance Day services are taking place in downtown Burlington.
9 a.m.
Sunrise Remembrance Day Service
This 30-minute ceremony takes place at the Naval Ships Memorial Monument in Spencer Smith Park.
Spencer Smith Park
10:30 a.m.
Remembrance Day Parade
The parade starts at Central Public School.
Brant to Elgin Street, Elgin to Locus Street, Locust to Ontario Street
11 a.m.
Remembrance Day Service
This 45 to 60 minute ceremony is held at the Cenotaph, on the north side of City Hall.
Cenotaph.
 Burlingtonians fill Brant Street during the Cenotaph ceremonies on Remembrance Day.
By Staff
November 10th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
This article has been revised.
Does the Councillor for a city ward have to actually live in the ward they want to represent?
Legally they don’t have to but it became pretty clear that most people thought they should live in the ward and wanted them to live in the ward.
Burlington has one Councillor who doesn’t live in the ward she was elected to represent and another who rents in the ward and spend much of his time in a condominium he owns outside the ward.
Both explained their situations during the campaign – but questions are being asked – where do you live and when do you plan to move into the ward.
 Councillor Elect Shawna Stolte Ward four Councillor Elect Shawna Stolte, writing from the lobby of a hotel in Cuba where she is on a short vacation said: “I believe my Ward 4 constituents would want me to focus on the budget and learning the job over this first year and worrying less about my real estate search.
“My situation hasn’t changed. Now that the campaign is over, looking forward to finishing my renovation and looking at selling and moving likely sometime in 2019.”
Likely and sometime in 2019 is a large stretch of time. In a recent Rocca Sisters real estate report they said that Burlington is currently a “seller’s market”. Smart people normally make hay while the sun is shining.
 Councillor Elect Rory Nisan Ward 3 Councillor Elect Rory Nisan has a slightly different situation. He has an address in ward 3 and his driver’s license has that address on it. He also has a condominium in ward 6 that he bought well before he had decided to become a candidate. That was to be his home for him and his girl-friend.
Nisan did consider running in ward 6 but his heart was in ward 3 where he was raised and grew up. He believed he could win in ward 6 but his heart was in ward 3 where he ran and won handily.
Nisan expects to make a statement soon soon – he too is planning a ten day vacation in Ireland before he gets sworn in as a city Councillor and begins work on getting the budget for the city in place.
Nisan provided the following statement:
“In fact, I live in Ward 3 and moved there from Ward 6 earlier this year.
“When I decided to run, I knew that living in the ward is important. But I bought near the peak of the market so a quick purchase wasn’t feasible financially. As a result, and for some personal reasons, I found a place to rent in rural Ward 3. I have a lease and have paid thousands of dollars in rent. That’s why my driver’s licence states that I live in Ward 3 — where else could it say?
My girlfriend lives in Ward 6. We are now happily searching for a suitable place for both of us — in Ward 3 of course.”
A candidate in the ward 3 race isn’t too happy with what she thinks she sees taking place.
 Lisa Cooper Lisa Cooper, a close to perennial candidate in ward 3, said in a comment in the Gazette that it: “Would have been nice if Rory Nisan had let us all know in Ward 3 that he didn’t actually live in our Ward.”
She added that this may be “Sour grapes on my part, maybe but I can hold my head up knowing I ran a fair and by the rules campaign, and the only money funding my effort was from my own pocket. The financials should be interesting especially the compliance audit.”
By Staff
November 10th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 At sunset on Sunday, November 11, the City of Burlington will join other local organizations, including veteran groups and churches, to mark 100 years since the World War I armistice with the ringing of 100 bells.
At 4:59 p.m. on Nov. 11, the city’s clock tower will play bells 100 times at five-second intervals – one to mark each year.
One hundred years ago, on Nov. 11, 1918, news of the end of fighting in the First World War travelled through Europe with the chime of church bells ringing out in celebration.
With a new municipal government getting ready to assume power the question is – what will they do first?
What are the big issues?
We asked the readers of the Gazette what they thought the new council should attempt to get done in its first hundred days.
Here are some of their thoughts.
By Alan Harrington
November 9th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
One Burlington issue that irks me and the community is the horrid “Welcome to Burlington” sign that greets a million drivers heading into the city on the QEW westbound.
It looks like a town that hasn’t put any effort into its brand for 30+ years.
The “O” is shaped like a sliced egg with a sulfur smell.
 The severely damaged Paletta property on the south side of the QEW at Appleby Line. And speaking of stink… what is our Councillor doing about the burned out meat factory sitting on QEW and Appleby? This neglected piece of property looks like an abandoned third-world-country war zone. It’s sat like this for a year now as of December 6th.
Does the city like the image of a city that doesn’t care how it looks to the millions of drivers that pass through each day?
Alan Harrington feels like a resident tortured in the Orchard.
With a new municipal government getting ready to assume power the question is – what will they do first?
What are the big issues?
We asked the readers of the Gazette what they thought the new council should attempt to get done in its first hundred days.
Here are some of their thoughts.
By Fred Crockett
November 9th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Residents want their municipal authority to take care of day to day services on a responsible budget, prudently set aside reserve funds for major capital works, handle emergency services, establish a reasonable planning structure, and to do so in a manner that is respectful to those residents, staff, fellow Councillors, and the broader public.
They do not want a Council that seeks to micromanage everything, and views activities as ego-boosting shenanigans so as to foster perpetual re-election. This past vote showed that some 60% of the electorate was jaundiced by the previous structure, and the rest chose to bounce most of the incumbents.
 Council is not measured by the individual accomplishments or goals of its members, but rather by the quality of its collective judgement. Competent and properly paid staff exist to perform the necessary tasks, to provide advice to Council, and to support the policy decisions made by elected representatives.
Within its first 100 days, the new council should reinforce a meaningful code of conduct, pass a responsible budget, support a functional transit system, and revise the pending planning conundrum, all in the interests of the residents.
Fred Crockett is a Burlington based real estate broker.
By Ray Rivers
November 8th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette sent columnist Ray Rivers out on a news assignment to cover a subject dear to his heart – climate change. He did Ok.
Ontario fired the first shot. Doug Ford was clear that as soon as he became premier of all the people, all of Ontario’s climate change programs would be history. He’s not a climate change denier, though he has yet to develop an alternate plan. And killing Ontario’s cap and trade carbon pricing regime put the province in the gun sights of the federal government and its promise/threat to implement a carbon tax-and-rebate program if the provinces didn’t have one of their own by 2019.
Ford also drew first, announcing on day one that he would be taking the feds to court. They were not going to levy any kind of carbon tax-and-rebate on all his people if he could help it.
But Ford’s not the only lawman in town. So come the new year Mr. Trudeau will be implementing a carbon tax of $20 a ton on Ontario residents. That works out to a mind-boggling nickel a litre at the pumps and 3 cents or so for your gas furnace.
And we’ll all be getting something like $300 per family back through the income tax system. The idea is to gradually seduce folks into reducing their carbon footprint. Drive less, lower your thermostat or switch to Ontario’s still mostly fossil-free electricity for heating and driving, and wham bang – that $300 is mostly pure profit. That is unless Mr. Ford and his family compact of Tory premiers and federal Conservative leader Scheer can stop the feds in the courts.
But that’s not the only story. The feds have this $1.4 billion Low Carbon Leadership Fund, $400 million or so which was destined for Ontario’s government. But since Ford has cancelled everything which might qualify he’s not getting a penny. Instead the money will be given directly to various institutions in Ontario; hospitals, universities and school boards; which lost out when the Ontario Climate Change fund was burned to the ground.
 Minister McKinnon setting out what the federal government is going to do when it comes to climate change at a presentation in Milton. Federal Minster of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna came to Rockwool’s insulation manufacturing operation in Milton to announce her department’s intent on this matter. There were almost no details so it was much of a nothing announcement otherwise – announcing an intent to do something.
This was likely only meant as a shot across the bow of the good ship Ford anyway, to show them what they are missing out on by not playing nice. Ford’s finance and accounting office has already determined that killing cap and trade will cost all of his people some $3 billion. So what is another $400 million for a government which claims to be facing a $15 billion deficit?
The minister didn’t offer any hope of grants to individuals though. Something, for example, like the axed GreenON program or the formerly hugely popular electric vehicle grant (EV) program is not in the cards apparently. But who knows? She might be back with a promise to waive the HST on EVs, as we get closer to an election.
The minister said it plain: the environment should not be a partisan issue. But Mr. Ford and his fellow conservative leaders in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and now New Brunswick are making it that. And Mr. Ford is now their ringleader, thumbing his nose and giving the middle finger to our Mr. Trudeau. And then there is this lawsuit thing. Does anyone seriously expect the feds to give a grant to someone who is suing them?
 Federal Minster of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna Minister McKenna made clear that Ottawa will step in if a province is shedding its responsibility to all of its people. It’s called law and order and good government. Climate change is a very serious and dangerous global matter.
It is also a national priority since our federal government and nine provinces agreed to sign onto an international agreement only a few years ago. Mr. Ford and his like-minded fellows opposing carbon taxes may not have been at the table then, but that won’t erase the consent given by the federation to action on climate change.
We are still only seeing the early effects of global warming on this planet and Canada. As the consequences become more severe, it will be harder to pretend that ‘we’re all right jack’. Mr. Ford may think it’s good politics to hit-out at the Liberal government because it’s Liberal.
But as he’s finding out, the Federation can and will strike back.
Ray Rivers is a Gazette columnist who normally cover Queen’s Park and some federal issues related to the environment
 With a new municipal government getting ready to assume power the question is – what will they do first?
What are the big issues?
In an exclusive interview with Mayor Elect Marianne Meed Ward before the election she said that her goals were set out in her campaign platform which we pointed out was just a piece of paper.
Governing is far more fluid; one never knows what is going to crop up on any given day.
We asked the readers of the Gazette what they thought the new council should attempt to get done in its first hundred days.
Here are some of their thoughts.
By Jim Barnett
November 8th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
1. Put very tight controls on the city manager.
2. Instruct the planning department to only submit projects for consideration that meet the conditions in the current official plan.
3. Remove all references to the notion of a downtown mobility hub.
 More parking suggests Jim Barnett – where? 4. Prevent any reduction in downtown parking and increase the provisions for new construction to 25% more that is in current planning documents.
5. Before any building permits are issued in the downtown area a comprehensives transit plan with numbers be presented to and accepted by council.
6. A review of staff salaries and perks with the purpose of bring them in line with other jurisdictions.
7. Limit tax increases for the city to less than inflation.
8 integrate school land usage into the cities requirement.
|
|
