 By Staff
November 9th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington has received a generous donation of $10,000 from Union Gas to purchase and plant trees in the area of Upper Middle and Havendale Roads.
 Mark Egbedeyi-Emmanuel, Hamilton-Halton District Manager, Union Gas; Mayor-Elect Marianne Meed Ward; Barbara Rabicki, Manager of Forestry, City of Burlington. The donation will go towards a variety of trees to ensure biodiversity in the area.
The question we had was: why?
The trees within Burlington’s urban forest provide a wide range of environmental, economic and social benefits, including improved air quality, reduced storm-water runoff, energy savings, noise reduction, natural bird and wildlife habitats, higher property values and overall beautification of city streets and parks.
We know that. We also know that Burlington’s tree canopy is far below the generally accepted 30% coverage level.
In a news feature being developed by the Gazette we will report on some disturbing numbers that have been gathered by environmentalist Jim Feilders.
 The site that National Homes wants to develop. Havendale is the northern boundary – the planned location for the Union Gas tree donation. The Brant Street Havendale part of the city is the site of a large residential development that is stalled at this point.
 National Homes has proposed a development that would have 233 townhouses built on the site. The city’s forestry operations includes the oversight of tree protection and preservation initiatives, tree protection standards, pests and disease control and tree planting. City staff also offer tree care tips for the public on this website.
 By Pepper Parr
November 6th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
For the 60% of the people in Burlington who didn’t vote – a message. Elections matter!
For the 60% that didn’t vote in the provincial election – a message. Elections matter!
What difference would it have made to me some will ask?
For those people who have to work at the minimum wage level here is how it matters.
The Liberal government that was in office (By the way they deserved to lose) had a program that increased that minimum wage to $14 an hour last January and had planned on an increase to $15 an hour this January.
The government you elected four months ago cancelled that program.
Assume that the person being paid the minimum wage was working 35 hours a week and assume that they worked for 50 weeks in the year they would have received $1750 more in 2019.
That’s not an in-substantial amount for people who earn a minimum wage.
When Doug Ford was running for Premier of the province he didn’t tell anyone he planned on scaling back that planned increase. We suspect that very few minimum wage people thought anything about it.
The point is – who governs us as a society matters.
Parents might want to mention that to the children that are still living at home because they can’t afford to rent a place they can afford. For many of them they will never be able to buy a home.
Things were different for their grandparents – they probably voted.
The drive in the United States today will be to get people out to vote in what is going to be one of the most important elections to take place in the United States in decades.
What does that mean for Canada, Ontario or Burlington? We won’t know until the election results are in. If nothing changes – you can be assured of one thing – none of it will be good for us.
Elections matter!
How we got to this point as a society is troubling – the answer to that question is you just didn’t give a damn.
 Salt with Pepper are the opinions, reflections, observations and musings of the publisher of the Gazette, an on-line newspaper that is in its 8th year of as a news source in Burlington and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
 By Staff
November 6th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Living and playing in Burlington.
The Parks and Recreation people have announced that Winter registration for Adult programs begins Saturday, November 17th at 9 a.m.
 The online Live & Play Guide allows you to view and share program information as well as register directly from any computer or mobile device. Click for the catalogue.
When December arrives that means the Santa Claus Parade. The 53rd Santa Claus parade on Sunday, December 2nd from 2-4 p.m. The parade rolls down Guelph Line then along New Street on to James and winds around city hall.
 The Santa Claus parade has taken place for more than 52 years in Burlington. Organized by a citizens group that works out of the city’s Festivals and Events office it is the premier holiday event in the city. The day after the parade a new city council will be sworn at the Performing Arts Centre. Is the new council Santa’s gift to the city?
We have all kinds of fun floats and best of all you will see Santa on his sleigh at the end. Remember he is always watching to see if you are naughty or nice. Learn more: burlington.ca/parade.
Recreation Fee Assistance
 If you need assistance in paying some of the event fees funding can be made available to individuals or families who need help paying for City of Burlington recreational programs. Fee Assistance can be applied towards registered and drop-in programs, passes and memberships. Learn more: burlington.ca/feeassistance.
Looking for a place to hold an event?
If you are looking for a place to hold a party or get together you might want to consider using one of the city facilities. 35% Off Ice, Gyms, Auditoriums and Community Rooms from December 1st to January 6th 2019. Terms and Conditions apply. Learn more: burlington.ca/rentals.
Neighbourhood Community Matching Fund – up to $10,000 in funding available.
An opportunity you might want to look into is the Neighbourhood Community Matching Fund that was created to inspire Burlington residents to actively champion for small projects in their neighbourhoods. Up to $10,000 in funding is available to support community projects when matched with an equivalent contribution. Deadline for application is Feb. 28, 2019. Learn more: burlington.ca/matchingfund.
 By Staff
November 5th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
This is not good news – at least not for the city.
 The ADI Development Group can now proceed with the construction of the 26 floor tower they want to put up at the corner of Martha and Lakeshore Road.
The Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT) dismissed the city’s request to review decision the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) made on 374 and 380 Martha St.
The OMB released a decision on Feb. 13, 2018, regarding the development application that allows 26 storeys. The city filed a Section 43 review request to the Executive Chair of the OMB in March 2018.
The city requested the review on the assertion that there were four errors made by the OMB: Incorrect Application of the Growth Plan, Improper Regard for Council Decisions and Materials, Improper Exclusion of Evidence and Unreasonable Findings with Respect to Tower Separation.
In making its decision, the LPAT member, Paul Muldoon concluded that the city failed to raise a “convincing and compelling” case that any one of the listed errors or grounds cited in its Rules to grant a review was applicable.
By Pepper Parr
November 5th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The bigger picture.
Mayor Elect Marianne Meed Ward has been meeting with the newly elected Council members to hear what they would like to achieve in the next four years and at the same time organizing her own agenda and figuring out what has to be done and when.
She will have to decide who is going to work with her when she becomes Mayor, she has that figured out; then she has to get the council ready to tackle the budget and help her colleagues make city council work.
Those are the local issues.
She has to then think through what she wants to have in the way of a relationship with the provincial government that she doesn’t share a political philosophy with nor does she have the same political temperament.
Getting some changes in the Places to Grow program and a strong relationship with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and reaching out to other municipal Mayors are just the beginning.
A much bigger issue is: Will there be a Burlington come 2022 when this council will return to the electors for a second mandate? Burlington was incorporated as a village in 1872, and erected into a town in 1915 and became a city in 1974.
When current Mayor Rick Goldring met with the Ministry during the municipal election, along with several other Mayors wanting to begin a discussion about Places to Grow, Goldring went rogue and mentioned to the Minister that he had his eye on Waterdown and wanted to talk about an annexation.
Goldring didn’t inform Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger what he had in mind.
Eisenberger, who did get himself re-elected, was pretty direct when he said he thought the idea was a flyer crafted on the back of a napkin.
 The province has changed the make-up of several Regional governments. In that announcement Doug Ford said:
“For too long (Toronto) city council has failed to act on the key issues facing Toronto. Less Councillors will mean a more efficient government, and more action on key issues like transit, housing and infrastructure,” Ford said in his statement released earlier.
“I promised to reduce the size and cost of government, and end the culture of waste and mismanagement. More politicians are not the answer. These changes will dramatically improve the decision making process, and help restore accountability and trust in local governments.”
“The Better Local Government Act introduces a number of changes, such as:
“Changes to the Municipal Elections Act to have elections for regional chairs in York, Peek, Niagara, and Muskoka Regions are reversed back to the system they were prior to 2016: when they were appointed by sitting councillors. Regional elections in Halton, Durham and Waterloo remain.”
It had become clear to those who followed these things that there is more in the way of change coming for municipal governments – look what Ford did to Toronto.
 Looking at municipal government from a Halton perspective one could wonder what might be in the works for Halton; will the province use a shotgun approach that could blow apart local government as we know it today?
The Region of Halton was created in January of 1974, prior to that it was Halton County, one of the oldest in the province was created in 1816.
Creating the Region of Halton was controversial at the time. Local politicians at the time had to fight to keep Burlington out of Hamilton.
Dis-membering Halton and adding Oakville and Burlington to Hamilton and adding Milton and Halton Hills to Peel would fit in with the kind of thinking we are seeing coming out of Queen’s Park these days.
 When Dundas was rolled into Hamilton the locals came up with a defence strategy that didn’t work but there are still these small signs placed in some local windows with T- shorts bearing the words on sale in stores on Kings Street.
What would Burlington do?
Burlington has always been a bedroom community for Hamilton; Oakville has been the place for the moneyed set who didn’t want to live in Forest Hill or Rosedale.
 What would any of these changes mean to the average Burlingtonian – we would still be called Burlington but the shots would no longer be called from a city hall on Brant Street. Would there even be a city hall on Brant Street?
Something to think about. The Mayor elect has a lot more than local issues on the desk she will sit behind on the 8th floor of city hall.
 By Staff
November 3rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service Set to Launch 2018 Crime Prevention Week – Help Us Help You
The Halton Regional Police Service will be kicking off Ontario’s annual Crime Prevention Week, which runs between November 4 and 10, 2018. The week-long promotion of crime prevention is supported by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP), the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, and all police services across Ontario.
 Halton Regional Police Senior Command cutting a celebratory cake during the opening of the new police HQ. From the left are: Roger Wilkie and Deputy Chief of District Operations Nishan Duraiappah, Deputy Chief Regional operations and Chief Stephen Tanner. Police Chief Stephen Tanner said: “We know from experience that crime prevention works. When police partner with community agencies and engage with their residents to stop crime in its tracks, everyone wins.
“We are proud that Halton Region has maintained the lowest crime severity index in Canada for 13 straight years. But the bolstering of community safety and well-being takes hard work and collaboration.
“That’s why the Halton Regional Police Service is proud to partner with government, community leaders, young people, and businesses to prevent crime throughout our community.”
By Pepper Parr
November 3rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 Of the five new members of Council perhaps one has attended a Regional Council meeting. The process of installing a new city council is taking place. The five newcomers to council will be at the Regional government offices learning more about what their role is at that level.
In the week ahead they will be introduced to city staff- meeting the city manager, deputy manager, the clerks and department Directors.
They will probably park their cars in the Lotus street garage and cast a covetous eye on the parking spaces right outside city hall that will be theirs on December 3rd.
 The 2019 budget will be a challenge for the new members of the incoming council. According to one source they have yet to be given copies of the budget they are going to have to review and make decisions on – the decision they make will give the citizens of the city some sense as to what this council is going to be able to do.
Everyone says the 4% tax increase every year for the past seven years can’t continue – but continue it has. The only time the 2010 and 2014 council ever brought in a budget well below that close to 4% number was in 2011 when it was a 0% increase over the previous year. So it can be done.
As these new members of council learn their jobs the process of healing the rifts with the people that lost in the election has t begin. Traditionally the losers make a courtesy call on the winner, shake their hand, wish them well and head home to lick their wounds.
 Mike Wallace congratulating Karina Gould on winning the 2014 federal election. Mike Wallace had the graciousness to pay a courtesy call on Karina Gould when she took the federal seat from him in 2014.
Neither Wallace nor Rick Goldring visited the Polish hall where Mayor Elect Meed Ward was celebrating with her supporters.
Really poor form – both men were capable of better.
The hard feelings have to be set aside. Ideally, both men, when called upon, can provide some counsel.
The job of setting policy for the city gets debated at the Standing Committee level and then decided by council.
Committee structure:
The city currently has five formal committees of council. They are:
Audit Committee
Committee of the Whole
Committee of the Whole – Budget
Committee of the Whole – Workshop
Planning and Development Committee
A member of Council is going to have to chair each committee, manage the agenda and keep the meeting moving smoothly.
Of the people just elected there are three that have some capacity to do this kind of job. Rory Nisan, Lisa Kearns and to some degree Kelvin Galbraith. The others are going to have to watch carefully and learn quickly.
 Kelvin Galbraith, Ward 1  Lisa Kearns, ward 2  Rory Nisan, ward 3 Angelo Bentivegna, and Shawna Stolte have a lot of growing to do.
Marianne Meed Ward and Paul Sharman are going to have to carry a lot of the freight during the next 18 months.
Sharman will have to handle the budget and Meed Ward will carry Planning and Development and hope that Lisa Kearns and Rory Nisan are up to doing some of the Committee of the Whole work.
 Returning council member for ward 5 Paul Sharman will have to head up the Budget committee. He will also have to work on how he wants to relate to the new Mayor.  Mayor Elect Meed Ward has her work cut out for her. She has wanted the job for more than a decade – now that she has it – can she make it work? A lot of people are depending on her. Nisan certainly has the background; his experience as a federal government bureaucrat where he served as part of Canada’s diplomatic corps, should serve him well. However, the world of managing and trying to meet competing interests is far different than dealing with bureaucrats from other countries.
Kearns is said to have solid experience in the commercial world; many are waiting to see that experience in action.
Mistakes will be made – and the public will have to cut them some slack.
 By Pepper Parr
November 3rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON’
What are the issues for this new council going to be?
 We know what the developer wants to build; shovels will go into the ground just as soon as the building permit is issued. There are some, downtowners for the most part, who wonder if the Carriage Gate development, that has now been named The Gallery is really a done deal. We were asked: “Is there nothing that can be done to stop that development?”
 Sales office is open. Has a building permit been issued?
If not then city council can, if they choose to – un-delegated the authority on this project that they gave the Director of Planning.
That has been done before.
There was a project that then Director of Planning Bruce Krushelnicki asked city council to take back from him- and he was duly un-delegated.
The project was given back to Krushelnicki later.
The point is that city council can un-delegate and this might be one of those projects that should be treated this way.
We asked Mayor Elect Marianne Meed Ward:
Would you consider un-delegating the authority the Director of Planning has over that project and bringing it back to council where they will manage the project?
Meed Ward responded with:
“City council by majority vote can un-delegate the site plan from staff back to council for a final decision.
“This does not stop the project or slow it down.
“It allows council and community input into site plan details (including layout, entrances, landscaping and so forth).
“I’m open to un-delegating the site plan.”
 By Ray Rivers
November 3rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The roots of America’s current border issues go all the way back to the 1823 Monroe doctrine when America announced that it had replaced Europe as the colonial master of Latin America. There is no reason to believe Monroe had anything in mind but self-interest, particularly when it came to America’s commercial interests. And those interests were not in the best interests of what were to become America’s banana republics. And now, as Fidel Castro once said – the hens have come back to roost.
![Call Number: Graff 4195 Author: Triplett, Frank. Title: Conquering the wilderness, or, New pictorial history of the life and times of the pioneer heroes and heroines of America ... / by Colonel Frank Triplett ... ; with 200 portraits from life, and ... engravings from designs by Nast, Darley, and other eminent artists. Published: New York ; St. Louis : N.D. Thompson & Company, 1883. Physical Description: xxxix, [2], 17-716 p. : ill., ports. ; 24 cm. Contents: pt. 1. From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi -- pt. 2. The plains -- pt. 3. The Pacific slope. Subject (LCSH): Indians of North America --Wars. Indian captivities. Frontier and pioneer life. Pioneers. Other Name: Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902. Darley, Felix Octavius Carr, 1822-1888. Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana (Newberry Library) References: Graff coll. 4195 Frontispiece "The March of Destiny" shot with digital NikonD100 camera](https://www.burlingtongazette.ca/wp-content/uploads/Manifest-Destiny-1024x720.jpg) The March of Destiny The accounting of US transgressions against its neighbours is overwhelming. The declaration of Manifest Destiny justified the theft of Mexican territory. Washington engineered carving Panama and its canal out of Colombia. The CIA organized numerous government coups and the military invasions in Cuba, Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Grenada. Even today US troops are stationed in Honduras, ostensibly to support the Honduran government, but primarily to secure US banana and coffee interests in that country, something it has done for over a century.
One could argue that America’s actions with its backdoor neighbours were not unlike those of the Soviets following the second world war. Except that the Soviets didn’t just invade and pillage, they actually made an effort to improve the social and economic conditions of their satellites. Notwithstanding the loss of freedom and the inherent faults of the communist system, the Soviets were benevolent colonialists at least from that perspective. And, of course, the fight against communism served as justification for America’s role as enforcer in Latin America.
Former GW Bush era Secretary of State, Colin Powell, labelled it the ‘Pottery Barn rule’ – if you break it you’ve bought it. And central America in particular is one broken basket case of poverty and violence, thanks largely to US commercial and foreign policies. And so, for the masses of Central American pilgrims and their families, forced from their homes by poverty, political oppression and violence, it is a matter of just coming home to Uncle Sam.
 Immigrants heading for the US border -1000 km away the caravan has become a political issue The most desperate of these people come from the nations which make up the so-called northern triangle, composed of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. With a population approximating that of Canada, these three states harbour some 50,000 violent gang members. Honduras has been called the most dangerous place in the world. And they are all dirt poor.
Migration, people leaving or forced out of their homes and looking for a better life, is not a new thing, and it is only news because the US president thinks it makes good politics. But it’s not a simple case of we and they. 60% of Mexicans have relatives already living in the US, and over 15% of those who were born in the Caribbean or Central America now live in the USA.
Trump’s dystopian wall and his army on the border is a false god and a stop-gap at best. Walls will not keep the starving Latin American hordes out any more than China’s wall held back the Mongolian hordes, or the Mediterranean has served to ward off desperate migrants leaving Africa for a better life. If you want secure borders you need to help those nations you border enjoy their own security – economic, political and social.
The history of the planet is replete with case studies of migration and migrants moving on in search of a better life. And Immigration is the story of America, despite the inevitable xenophobia and even outright racism that is too often its companion. So you better get used to it America. This latest caravan is a harbinger of migrations yet to come as humanity continues to do what it is doing to prepare for its own extinction. Greater poverty and starvation, and political and criminal oppression are the future for this planet… unless…
There are half a billion people in the Asia-Pacific region alone who now go hungry every day. It should be no surprise that we are incredibly over-populated and still growing, even as our ability to feed ourselves is ever diminishing. We have wiped out 60% of all animal species since 1970. Scientists claim there is only two years for us to to put an end to the loss of the earth’s biodiversity, and twelve years to stop our accelerating rate of climate changing emissions. Just read the newspaper and you’ll soon become your own Dr. Death on this stuff.
 Amazon forest And the response of our global leaders? The American president is a climate denier who is terminating all efforts to deal with climate change and the environment in general. Brazil has elected a new leader who wants to convert the rest of the Amazon forest, the lungs of the earth, into high methane emitting cattle ranching. Germany is helping Russia build a new pipeline so it can burn even more natural gas.
Our greenish PM is promoting new pipelines to spur even more oil and gas extraction. And our new Ontario premier has just shut down all climate change programs, is attempting to kill a national carbon tax and has even threatened to get rid of the environmental Greenbelt. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how this movie is going to end.
American has never acknowledged its role as an imperial power, and the American people I know don’t consider themselves colonialists. Perhaps that is the reason it is so bad at this colonial stuff. So perhaps it should stop pretending. Aren’t we all Americans?
 Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Caravan – African Migration – Nicaragua –
Birth Rate – Trump Rolls Back – Understanding Migration –
By Staff
November 2nd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON’
 In the Halton District School Board, the entry point for the French Immersion program is Grade 2. In the Grade 2 French Immersion program, 100% of the instructional day will be taught in French.
A series of community information evenings are scheduled to help address any questions parents/guardians may have before registering their Grade 1 child(ren) for the French Immersion program. The following sessions will be held:
Registration for the French Immersion program is open to all Grade 1 students and will begin on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. The deadline for submitting your registration form is Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019 at 4 p.m.
No registrations will be accepted after this date.
By Staff
November 2nd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service provides Police Record Checks to all residents of the Region of Halton, for volunteer or employment purposes. This service is most efficiently obtained ONLINE or you may attend one of our five police facilities.
On November 1, 2018, the Police Record Checks Reform Act will come into force, ensuring a clear, consistent and comprehensive set of standards to govern how police record checks are conducted and disclosed in Ontario.
The Halton Regional Police Service offers three types of Police Record Checks for the members of the public who reside in the Halton Region. If you are unsure as to which Record Check you need to complete, please see our website.
• Criminal Record Check – Learn more or apply online now.
• Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check – Learn more or apply online now.
• Vulnerable Sector Check – Learn more or apply online now.
The Impact on Youth Record Checks
These standards also include how police services release Police Record Checks containing youth records to applicants. Up until now, police services have released a Police Record Check containing youth records directly to the applicant who then provides the Police Record Check to the organization or volunteer agency. The federal and provincial government has found this approach to be contrary to the Federal Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).
 As of November 1, 2018, youth can only apply for a Police Record Check if:
A. The youth is applying for purposes of employment or volunteering directly with:
• the Government of Canada;
• the Government of a province; or
• a Municipality;
OR
B. The youth requires their own youth records for their own personal information (Privacy Request).
The Halton Regional Police Service will only provide Police Record Checks to applicants under the age of 18 for government positions.
What does this mean for Non-Government Agencies and Youth Seeking to work or volunteer at these organizations?
Effective November 1, 2018, non-government agencies are not authorized to receive any youth Police Record Check results. Similarly, youth are no longer required to undertake a Police Record Check for volunteer or paid employment with these agencies. To require applicants to apply and pay for a Police Record Check when no results will be released is not in the best interest of the applicants, the police service or the community.
Non-government agencies will now have to proceed with alternative application steps, such as interviews and references for youths, and not rely on, either in part or solely, a Police Record Check, as they may have in the past.
For more information about Police Record Checks, please visit our website:
You are also invited to contact our office directly with your inquiries:
Information and Records Services
2485 North Service Road West
Oakville, ON L6M 0Y3
P: 905-825-4777 ext. 4712
 By Staff
November 2nd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Museums Burlington have added to their Speaker Series and will feature Stephanie Finn, the curator, event planner, and one-woman-show behind Burlington MADE, a growing series of modern, highly curated shopping events featuring local artists, makers, and food entrepreneurs.
 She’ll be discussing how she left a cushy corporate marketing job and got her start in the craft industry in 2014, selling natural skincare products that she developed for her infant son’s sensitive skin, and then moved on to planning one-day events that celebrate craft and build community here in Burlington.
The next Speaker Series event with Stephanie Finn, Founder/Director of Stephanie Street Events, Burlington MADE, and Stephanie Street Soap & Skincare will take place on November 8th at Ireland House
 Stephanie Finn Stephanie is the curator, event planner, and one-woman-show behind Burlington MADE, a growing series of modern, highly curated shopping events featuring local artists, makers, and food entrepreneurs. She’ll be discussing how she left a cushy corporate marketing job and got her start in the craft industry in 2014, selling natural skincare products that she developed for her infant son’s sensitive skin, and then moved on to planning one-day events that celebrate craft and build community here in Burlington.
Participants will learn how Stephanie formulates her skincare recipes, and have the opportunity to make and take home a container of lip balm.
Tickets are $20.00 each, include a glass of wine and your take away lip balm. For more information, call 905-332-9888 or email museuminfo@burlington.ca.
This is a licensed event, minors must be accompanied by an adult.
 By Staff
November 2, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Civic Chorale is a mixed-voice community choir formed in 1994 through the collaboration of founder Dr. Gary Fisher and Mary Jane Price, former organist and music director at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church, Burlington, Ontario.
They rehearse on Tuesday evenings, 7:15-9:30, and perform at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church in Burlington, at 622 Guelph Line.
The next performance, their fall concert will take place on Saturday, November 17th at 7:30 pm at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church, celebrating the Armistice of WW I with Handel’s “Utrecht Te Deum”, Parry’s “My Soul There Is a Country”, the Mozart “Requiem” and the premiere of a newly commissioned work by Mark Sirett set with the words from Lester Pearson’s Nobel Peace Prize speech of 1957.
 “Many choral works celebrate victories,” comments the Singers’ director, Dr. Gary Fisher, “but very few celebrate peace – living together respectfully without the winners punishing the losers. The BCCS decided to celebrate their 25th anniversary by addressing that lack.”
Grants from the Hamilton Community Foundation and the City of Burlington Arts and Culture Fund allowed the Singers to commission “Faith in Peace,” an anthem from noted Canadian composer Mark Sirett.
Choir member Janet Gadeski wove the text from snippets of speeches by Canadian diplomat, parliamentarian and future Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, given when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957.
“Sirett has created a powerful, evocative work,” Fisher enthuses. “It portrays Pearson’s grief when, during the Second World War, he saw the devastation of a bombed London neighborhood where nothing remained standing except a plaque in honour of the local men who had died during the First World War. Yet Pearson never lost his faith in humanity’s potential to live in peace. The grants we received for this project have helped to create a work that could be performed all over Canada to lift up the importance of peace.”
Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s “Utrecht Te Deum” complete the program. Displays by Burlington historian Ed Keenleyside, author of “We Were Just Doing Our Bit,” will show the impact of the First World War on Burlington.
The BCC will be joined by soloists and chamber players with accompanist Jennifer Goodine.
Tickets can be reserved for $20 by calling 905-577-2425.
Tickets are $25 at the door, or $20 in advance by calling 905-577-2425.
By Pepper Parr
November 1st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Kelvin Galbraith took the ward 1 city council seat by a decent margin given that there were 11 people on the ballot.
 Kelvin Galbraith – about to learn that being a member of city council is a full time – and then some job. His connections based on his leadership of the Aldershot Business Improvement Association proved to be what gave him the edge. The woman who serves as the BIA Executive Director was also a ward 1 candidate – she will now work with Galbraith to grow the commercial sector
 One of the bigger challenges coming down the pipe for the Aldershot community is the planned development on the Solid Gold property just east of Waterdown Road. He has worked at any number of small business initiatives that included power washing driveway and plowing snow.
He has owned and operated the Fitness Firm located just west of the Plains Road – Waterdown Road intersection on property that someone is going to buy and develop at some point.
Many suggested this would put Galbraith in a conflict of interest – and it will. His answer to that is – “it certainly will put me in a conflict and I will recuse myself from any council vote.”
Galbraith takes the position that just because you own a piece of property doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be running for public office. You just have to let people know the facts and be transparent.
 Is Kevin Galbraith going to succeed where retiring Council member was not able to – in getting a small supermarket into the community. The Adi group are not known for being easy to deal with. Galbraith is the kind of guy who flowered at doing door-to-door sales work. He is a consistent booster for the community: Thinks the Marina should be improved even more and that some way should be found to include a restaurant on the site. He’d like to see more in the way of restaurants in the community and like everyone else wants to know when there is going to be a supermarket in the west end of the community.
Galbraith has gone a little further than anyone else and is in conversations with the Adi people who are in the process of constructing the Station West development further up Waterdown Road. They, the Adi people see the need for a supermarket.
Galbraith, a graduate of the Business program at Brock University, wants the community to have more than just a Tim Hortons and a MacDonald’s in the way of coffee ships; “these are the only options we have at this point”.
The Fitness Firm Galbraith has owned and operated for more than 15 years has been restructured which will give him the time he is going to need to serve as a council member.
Galbraith said he would meet with constituents at his health club offices – he may find that isn’t going to make some people feel very comfortable. People feel that public business and personal commercial work should be separated.
While Galbraith has solid experience working with the commercial community in Aldershot he hasn’t seen much of city hall. This will be a new experience for him. His common sense and understanding of the street level needs of the Aldershot community should give him a bit of an edge in dealing with budgets and smaller developments.
He gets his first meeting on how the Region works when he takes part in an orientation at the Region later in November. “I’ve already gotten calls from people in Milton and I’m doing the ‘speed dating’ with my fellow Burlington council members.
He has had his first conversation with Paul Sharman, the holdover from the outgoing council.
 Where Galbraith will fit in with the crowd that has tended to focus on the downtown core is anyone’s guess – the one thing that was evident during the interview was that Kevin Galbraith is a leader – not a follow the herd type.
He got through university with a nickel of debt. He had a number of part time jobs that put beer money in his pocket and cash in the bank to pay for books and tuition.
Expect that same fiscal prudence from this man at city council.
By Pepper Parr
November 1st, 2108
BURLINGTON, ON
The first thing the members of the city council you elected a week ago are going to have to do is show the public that things are going to be different.
That the respect for each other will be there – and when it isn’t there they will make sure that those who are out of line are brought into line immediately.
If the new council is truly new – citizens will be watching for this.
Without that civility and respect for each other the city is looking at four years of chaos.
 Paul Sharman – the only council member who held his council seat. The holdover from the council that is on the way out is Paul Sharman. Many found the man to be difficult to work with and at times seemed menacing to people who were delegating before council.
The Gazette has learned from a number of sources that Sharman is now reaching out in an effort to create bridges to the new members of Council. That is a good sign.
Mayor Elect Marianne Meed Ward is going to need some of the skills Sharman has always had in matters of finance and organization. The problem is going to be the radically different ideological differences between the two.
Some will say that ideology should not be the issue – when that is precisely what the election last Monday was all about.
With a voter turnout of less than 40% – this new council is going to have to be transparent in a way that this city has never seen. They are certainly up to it and if the election promises were real – this is the kind of municipal world all of the newbies want to work in.
It is not going to be easy.
 The victory salute. Marianne Meed Ward recognizing the public that elected her at a Polish Hall event. What the Gazette is watching for is the first few steps that Meed Ward takes as Mayor. If she can be seen as moving forward on several issues within the first 30 days and pulling the whole city together there is a chance that she can actually pull this off.
Meed Ward has time working for her. She get sworn in on December 3rd and begins budget deliberations on the 10th. She then has 12 days to make announcements, take positions before they all head off for the Christmas Holidays.
She has quite a bit of political capital but it doesn’t come from a very broad base. 60% of the population didn’t vote and while Meed Ward had a very convincing win over Rick Goldring and Mike Wallace it isn’t all that wide in terms of the population.
The Gazette’s early thinking on which of the three, Meed Ward, Goldring or Wallace would best serve the interests of those that were vocal – one can only guess what the complacent 60% had in mind – was that Meed Ward was the best hope the city had.
Her thumping the incumbent the way she did suggests that those who were focused and engaged felt she was the person to go with.
Thus we watch closely and carefully how Marianne Meed Ward re-directs the city she chose to live in 18 years ago.
In an exclusive interview with Meed Ward before the ballot were cast she told the Gazette her role models were Hazel McCallion and Bernie Saunders.
If she can focus on the best of both of them and convince her Council to follow her – it just might work.
It is the best hope we have.
Meed Ward is now meeting with the newly elected members of council to get to know them, hear what they hope to achieve during the next four years and answer the questions they have.
One newbie got a call from a constituent about a road problem; he thought about passing it along to the retiring member of council but decided it was his job to do even though he had yet to be sworn in.
He puts out a call to Meed Ward – what do I do? Problem solved.
One of the comments Meed Ward made before she was elected was that if she was elected she wanted to find a way to teach new council members how to deal with staff at city hall.
Who they are, what they do and perhaps how they can best be approached?
The public has now adjusted to the fact that there are going to be changes. People who once had influence at city hall are realizing that the phone calls they used to be able to make to a member of council or the Mayor will not be the same.
 Angelo Bentivegna has delegated to city council and knows most of the staff members – he now has to decide what his approach to serving the public is going to be and can he reach the people who were die-hard supporters of the Council member he replaced. Five of the members of council have no experience dealing with public issues. They each face a steep learning curve; some will do well quite quickly, some will struggle and some may fail and find themselves wondering if they made a poor career choice.
At this point each of the five new members are figuring out how they want to communicate with the people that elected them. Those that voted – and realize that 60% of the people eligible to vote didn’t do so, are, we think, are expecting these new council members to be communicating with them the day after they were elected.
Given the heavy use they all made of Facebook and Twitter and, assuming they kept the names of the people they communicated with, one would think they could have something up in the way of a communications vehicle and a strategy.
Shawna Stolte, who took ward four from a long long term incumbent, found that she really liked talking to people on their doorstep. You can’t cover the 20,000 plus people she now represents walking door to door.
Another newbie thought he would be able to see people in the office of the health club he operates – shades of the Jack Dennison approach; used to be that when you wanted to see Dennison you had to hoof it over to his health club.
Some are suggesting that we need to give these five new members of council time to adjust – the problem with that approach is the issues the public have don’t wait.
Most of these people ran on a campaign that included better engagement. The proof as they say is in the pudding.
How are they doing so far?
Salt with Pepper are the opinions, reflections, observations and musings of the publisher of the Gazette, an on-line newspaper that is in its 8th year of as a news source in Burlington and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Pepper Parr
November 1, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
A project that was one of the really positive parts of the PAR that closed two of Burlington’s seven high schools was the decision to create a new program that would be located at the Aldershot High school.
It went through a number of names and took a little time to put together the team that was going to create a new, and some thought radical change in high school programs.
 Terri Blackwell, Superintendent of Education for the Halton Board. The project was handed off to Terri Blackwell, Superintendent of Education for the Halton Board is referred to as iStem which is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — in an interdisciplinary and applied approach.
The Halton District School Board is holding an I-STEM Open House for students, families and community members to learn about a new regional program for secondary students. The four-year program, located at Aldershot School, will begin in September 2019 with students entering Grade 9.
Available to students in Halton and beyond, the I-STEM program will enable students to develop innovation skills related to engineering design and design thinking, entrepreneurial thinking skills, and global competencies. Community and post-secondary partnerships will provide enhanced learning opportunities for students.
The I-STEM Open House will be held on Tuesday, November 13th from 7 – 8:30 p.m. at Aldershot School (50 Fairwood Place W, Burlington).
 At the I-STEM Open House, students and parents will learn about the:
• four-year program and I-STEM certificate
• unique opportunities within and outside the school
• application process (the application deadline is January 19, 2019 for students interested in entering the program in September 2019)
The I-STEM program has been developed in collaboration with innovators, educators, industry leaders and community members. I-STEM Program Development and Advisory Partners include: McMaster University, Mohawk College, Canada 2067, Let’s Talk Science, Engineers of Tomorrow, Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), TechLink, and I-THINK.
To learn more about the I-STEM program, visit www.hdsb.ca (Search “I-STEM”) or email I-STEM@hdsb.ca. Follow the I-STEM program on Twitter at @ISTEM_hdsb.
 By Staff
November 1st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Twin Flames will return to the Community Studio Theatre for a concert on Friday, November 9 followed by an Indigenous Music & Culture Workshop on Saturday, November 10.
 Twin Flames on stage Twin Flames is a multi award-winning husband and wife duo that combines two accomplished and very unique singer-songwriters Chelsey June, an Algonquin Cree Métis Woman from Ottawa, and Jaaji, an Inuk Mohawk man from Nunavik and Kahnawake. Together they take audiences on a musical journey across Canada and the Arctic.
Twin Flames push the boundaries of contemporary folk, with Indigenous, Inuit stories and traditional styles that incorporate both Western and traditional instruments, with songs written in Inuktitut, English and French. They were awarded Best Folk Album and Best Duo for their Album Signal Fire at the Native American Music Awards on October 12.
 Chelsey June, an Algonquin Cree Métis They will be facilitating an Indigenous Music & Culture Workshop on Saturday, November 10 at 1pm in the BPAC Community Studio Theatre to further their goal of introducing people from around the world to their beautiful cultures, harmonies and powerful songwriting.
The workshop is free of charge and is part of BPAC’s overall commitment to supporting the education and advocacy of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
Twin Flames – Concert
Friday, November 9 at 7:30pm in the Community Studio Theatre
Indigenous Music & Culture Workshop with Twin Flames
Saturday, November 10 at 1pm in the Community Studio Theatre
Register at Burlingtonpac.ca/events/twin-flames/
By Staff
November 1sty, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It gets dark earlier, more of a chill in the air and Halloween is behind us.
 Will the same Sentry’s be set up on Lakeshore Road this year? FEstival lights will be put in Place November 13th and 14th. That means we now move into the Festive Season – which means the lights will be going up along the Lakeshore Road side of Spencer Smith Park.
 One of the many volunteers who show up every year to install the lights in Spencer Smith Park. A lot of people are doing a lot of work to have everything ready for installation on November 13th and 14th.
Watch for it.
By Staff
October 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service provides Police Record Checks to all residents of the Region of Halton, for volunteer or employment purposes. This service is most efficiently obtained ONLINE or you may attend one of our five police facilities.
 On November 1, 2018, the Police Record Checks Reform Act will come into force, ensuring a clear, consistent and comprehensive set of standards to govern how police record checks are conducted and disclosed in Ontario.
The Halton Regional Police Service offers three types of Police Record Checks for the members of the public who reside in the Halton Region. If you are unsure as to which Record Check you need to complete, please see our website.
• Criminal Record Check – Learn more or apply online now.
• Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check – Learn more or apply online now.
• Vulnerable Sector Check – Learn more or apply online now.
The Impact on Youth Record Checks
These standards also include how police services release Police Record Checks containing youth records to applicants. Up until now, police services have released a Police Record Check containing youth records directly to the applicant who then provides the Police Record Check to the organization or volunteer agency. The federal and provincial government has found this approach to be contrary to the Federal Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).
As of November 1, 2018, youth can only apply for a Police Record Check if:
A. The youth is applying for purposes of employment or volunteering directly with:
• the Government of Canada;
• the Government of a province; or
• a Municipality;
OR
B. The youth requires their own youth records for their own personal information (Privacy Request).
The Halton Regional Police Service will only provide Police Record Checks to applicants under the age of 18 for government positions.
What does this mean for Non-Government Agencies and Youth Seeking to work or volunteer at these organizations?
Effective November 1, 2018, non-government agencies are not authorized to receive any youth Police Record Check results. Similarly, youth are no longer required to undertake a Police Record Check for volunteer or paid employment with these agencies.
To require applicants to apply and pay for a Police Record Check when no results will be released is not in the best interest of the applicants, the police service or the community.
Non-government agencies will now have to proceed with alternative application steps, such as interviews and references for youths, and not rely on, either in part or solely, a Police Record Check, as they may have in the past.
If you have to be finger-printed you need to make an appointment and provide some very specific information. Here is the link for more information on that service.
For more information about Police Record Checks, please visit our website: https://www.haltonpolice.ca/about/courtsrecords/policerecordchecks.php.
You are also invited to contact our office directly with your inquiries:
Information and Records Services
2485 North Service Road West
Oakville, ON L6M 0Y3
P: 905-825-4777 ext. 4712
By Staff
November 1st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
A new development will be going before the public before the planners at city hall see anything – is this the way development applications are going to be handled going forward?
A development taking place in ward 2 is going to be presented to the public BEFORE it is presented to the Planning department.
That is new; the ward 2 Councillor and Mayor Elect Marianne Meed Ward explains “This is a pre-consultation with the community prior to submitting an application, so we will all see the information at the public meeting.
This approach to development was unheard of with the council that was first elected in 2010.
The development will be presented to the public at a meeting to take place at the Lions Hall on November 19th, at 6:30 pm.
 The development is yards away from a controversial 18 storey development.
Councillor Elect Lisa Kearns published a note telling her “constituents” that she would be attending the meeting to represent their interests.
Kearns gets to represent the good people of Ward 2 sometime during the evening of December 3rd once she has been sworn in.
 Adi’s Nautique development is stuck at the Administrative Review level. Martha Street is undergoing a massive change. The Nautique, an ADI development that is stalled in an Administrative Review Tribunal hearing is planned for where Martha meets Lakeshore Road.
The Mattamy development for the corner of James and Martha is working its way through the planning process.
The Mattamy development was for 18 fkloors at one point – then got taken down a notch to 17 storeys which is what the city was prepared to approve on Brant Street.
The Adi development is for 24 storeys and almost across the street is the 22 storey Bridgewater development that is well underway; the full height has already been reached.
 Mattamy wants to put up a 17 storey tower right across the street from the proposed 11 story building the public get to know more about later in the month.
|
|
