 By Pepper Parr
August 30th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It’s a story that isn’t going to go away and the telephone election polling being done doesn’t appear to be stopping.
Campaign Research appears to have revised the questions they are asking the people they call in Burlington which suggests that the client is still intent on attempting to collect some information and at the same time using historical information out of context to hammer the reputation Mayoralty candidate Marianne Meed Ward’s reputation,
Meed Ward worked for a number of years as a columnist for the Toronto Sun. Anyone who wants to put a specific spin on what another person who writes for the public won’t find it difficult to do a really good smear job on them. Columnists have opinions – that’s why they are hired. Some are provocative, others entertaining. We all have our favourites.
I usually can’t wait to read what Maureen Dowd has to say in the New York Times and there is certainly a colourful background story on her.
 There is a lot of money riding on this development. They want what the guy across the street has in terms of height. This rendering is on Brant from the Queen’s Head looking north. What Burlington is seeing is this – significant financial interests don’t like the impact Meed Ward is having on the rate and kind of development the city is experiencing.
Meed Ward, often described as a populist (I’ve never understood what’s wrong with being a populist) can be very blunt and direct. She has an agenda – as a politician she is supposed to have an agenda.
For some politicians their agenda is for the ward they represent. Meed Ward has always seen the city and the Region as her agenda and a city that meets the needs of the people who live here as she understands them.
She is described as well as “divisive” – that she isn’t a team player. She has chosen not to work with the current political team at city hall because she thinks they are dead wrong and she has a level of support that suggests she just might be right.
That she has the support of a large sector of the city impacts what the developers are going to get away with. Development is now all about money.
There was a time when developers cared about the communities they were building – that day has come and gone. It is now about how much you can make and keep.
The number of new developers who are new to Burlington is significant. They see a market in which they can get just about anything they want – and they are either buying up properties or getting options to buy.
Residents see opportunities to make a bundle on selling their homes – everyone wins.
Meed Ward sees it differently.
 Quiet streets with good homes – the Burlington many people want to defend and they believe Meed Ward is the person who will deliver for them. She believes that the city is where people live and the quality of life they have experienced can continue as long as there is some level of control over the growth that is taking place.
There are numbers being put out saying that the city has to grow by a certain number of homes and jobs – it doesn’t look as if anyone knows what the 30+ development applications that are said to be working their way through the Planning department will amount to.
Which brings us back to the telephone survey that has been taking place and is still underway.
Someone wants to know just where the political support is in this city. There are three serious candidates (the fourth needs to get another hobby). Each offers very clear choices.
 Meed Ward has always been a different campaign. She ruffles the feathers of her colleagues on city council; asks more questions than all the others combined and truly believes that the people she represent deserve a better form of local government. The Meed Ward choice threatens the interests of people with a lot of money who don’t want to lose the opportunities they see in Burlington.
So they do some research and in the process do whatever they can to besmirch the reputation of one of the candidates by bringing up stuff she wrote more than a decade ago and then putting it in a different context.
It’s sort of like asking a man if he is still beating his wife. The answer to the question isn’t the issue – it is the question that is all wrong.
That’s what applies to what it taking place now and people in Burlington need to see the situation for what it is.
This business about being divisive is just another way of saying Meed Ward asks questions that make me uncomfortable – and that she does. That’s what her job is and she appears to be doing it quite well – too well for some people.
 Mayor Rick Goldring being interviewed by CBC The CBC radio office in Hamilton has done a good job of digging out a large part of the story. (We would love to have the resources they have.) They got a statement from the Mayor – he appears to have chosen not to release a statement to all media. Goldring, who is running for re-election against Meed Ward, said he had nothing to do with the poll. “It was definitely not me. It’s certainly not my style.”
In the CBC report Councillor Marianne Meed Ward says she first received word from residents on Sunday afternoon she was being mentioned in a telephone survey conducted by Toronto-based consulting firm Campaign Research — which counts controversial conservative political strategist Nick Kouvalis as one of its heads.
Meed Ward called the statements made about her “untrue, inflammatory and defamatory.” Campaign Research denies that. “This is heinous and it needs to stop,” Meed Ward said.
 Jim Young at a transit meeting. Burlington resident Jim Young told said he received a call Monday afternoon. “It started off like a fairly regular political poll, he said, “consisting of rating candidates on a scale of one to 10, and indicating how certain he was that he would support a particular candidate.”
Young said that he planned to vote for Meed Ward and then the tone of the questions the person was asking changed.
“At that point, the questions became very strange,” Young said. The woman conducting the poll said she was going to give several statements about Meed Ward, and instructed Young to indicate on a scale of one to 10 how likely he was to change his vote because of them.
The questions asked, which don’t deserve repeating, were in Jim Young’s words “seemed like character assassination.”
Young wanted to complain about the questions being asked and was told that the survey was being done by Campaign Research and was offered a telephone number in case he wanted to complain.
Young said he called the number, and got an automated recording for Campaign Research.
Campaign Research denies survey was defamatory
In an email, Campaign Research Principal Richard Ciano said the company will not “disclose, discuss, confirm, or deny the existence of any matter relating to who its clients are, or may be, or any work Campaign Research Inc. may perform on behalf of its clients unless specifically required to do so by law, or unless specifically directed to do so by our clients.”
 Nick Kouvalis, a campaign strategist with a reputation os his own that he uses to drum up business from people who want deep background on public office candidates. Legal counsel for Campaign Research said, “We vehemently contest your characterization of the subject statements as ‘defamatory’.”
He also said the poll was conducted for “another market research firm, whose identity we cannot disclose due to confidentiality.”
A bunch of guys just taking care of business – see them for what they are.
Salt with Pepper are the opinions, reflections, observations and musings of the Gazette publisher
 By Greg Woodruff
August 30th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
In 2014 I was going around saying Burlington’s transit strategy is no more complicated than “Walk, Bike or stay home.” I figured that would make others explain what the transit strategy actually was. No luck on that count 4 years later we have – absolutely nothing. The upside is the website didn’t need any adjusting for the 2018 campaign. The downside being I live here.
The transit strategy when it finally arrives I suspect it will be full of city math. Where 2+2 doesn’t equal 4, because 2 of those people will stay home for no explicable reason.
I once said to a City staff member at a meeting that; “There is no realistic way you can get 100,000 more people into Burlington.” I fear they took the comment as a dare because. The “Grow Bold” plan puts at least 100,000 people in Burlington.
Realty time. All these high-rise buildings sit atop massive parking lots – all these people are bringing cars. Maybe they are not bringing two cars like traditional suburbs, but they still bring cars. How if
100,000 plus people are coming are we not going to cross the James Ridge
50,000 car doomsday line? The math just doesn’t add up.
Never fear though this problem will be solved by the “New Burlingtonian” who for some reason buys a car but never uses it. Yes, they made sure to get a parking space and bought the car, but it never goes anywhere. Existing residents will find hours of new time for walking, biking and bussing.
As you can imagine, running for office, you end up talking to a lot of people. I’ve never run into one person who is planning to modify there life to fit this new paradigm; Not one.
So the manifestation of everyone going about their busy lives; getting groceries, getting the kids to soccer, visiting friends or going to work – is that the road system will keep becoming an ever greater waste of time.
Don’t worry say transit experts; at some point, driving will waste so much time – people will give up on it. They drive less – fewer cars on road – problem solved. The math is solved not by making the numbers add up, but by changing the definition of two. Changing how much and how people are expected to travel.
This as far as I can see has not worked anywhere on the planet. What you discover is that those people who bought parking spaces and cars – use them. Though the road system gets ever more painful – it’s not more painful than trying to walk home with a case of canned tomatoes.
I might have to modify my line for the 2018 campaign to: “Walk, Bike, stay home or waste incredible amounts of time and gas”.
Related new article:
Transportation study: A draft is sitting on a desk somewhere in city hall.
 Greg Woodruff is a candidate for Mayor in Burlington. He ran as a candidate for Chair of the Halton Regional Council. Woodruff lives in Aldershot.
 By Staff
August 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has been made aware of a fraudulent telephone call being made to a resident which appear to be coming from the Service’s non-emergency telephone number (905-825-4777).
 This is known as spoofing, a caller on Canadian telephone systems can easily make a call appear from any number. Fraudsters will do this in order to hide the true origin of the call.
At this time, we are aware of only one incident in the last week of the Service’s non-emergency telephone number being used for fraudulent representation. The caller purported to be “police” to the person receiving the call and advised that a relative had been arrested. The caller stated that funds were required to be paid so that the relative could be released from custody. The person receiving the call was then requested to deposit funds into a Bitcoin ATM.
Please note that there are NO circumstances in which you will be legitimately contacted by the Halton Regional Police Service with an originating number displaying on your caller i.d. as 905-825-4777.
Outgoing calls from HRPS landline telephones will never be displayed as 905-825-4777.
This spoofing activity does not represent a data breach, nor does it represent a records information breach. Any and all personal information on file with our Service is secure, and the protection of this information remains our highest priority.
No police service in Canada will ever request an individual to deposit funds using Bitcoin or any money transfer service to secure the release of anyone.
If You Receive a Call Identifying as 905-825-4777:
Do not provide information to anyone contacting you from caller i.d. 905-825-4777.
Take steps to verify anything you have been told by the caller, including finding relevant phone numbers yourself to make call backs on.
Be aware that there are a number of popular scams that are currently utilizing caller id scamming.
Please do your part in sharing this message with your friends and family and help us to create more awareness of this type of fraud.
 By Staff
August 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
City hall is telling citizens that over the next 25 years, Burlington is going to grow in its urban areas.
“With 193,000 people expected to live in Burlington by 2031, the city is planning for future population growth including how people will move through the city.
“Over the last 30 years, Burlington’s transportation network has accommodated growth by building more roadways. This strategy is no longer sustainable. The city does not have the space to build new roadways and the financial cost to maintain a larger network of roads is significant.
“A 21st century city is built around a different transportation model, one designed to provide people of all ages and abilities with more travel choices for things like walking, cycling and transit.
“Go Bold is Burlington’s Transportation Plan. The plan is built around eight new directions for the City of Burlington. When implemented, these directions will result in a new era of transportation.
In a Transportation study that seems to be talking ages to make it to a city council Sanding Committee the department explains that eight New Directions are being worked on.
The study will provide a wide range of options for getting around regardless of age, means or ability, including walking, cycling, public transit and automobiles
Uses compact modes of travel like buses, bicycles and walking to efficiently move larger number of people
Is well connected to transportation systems in surrounding regions
Offers fast, reliable and more frequent transit
Features improved facilities and safety for cyclists and pedestrians
Fully Align Land Use and Transportation
Ensure all land use and transportation decisions made at City Hall, from policy-making to budgeting, are integrated and support walking, biking, transit.
 There was a time when Lakeshore was known as Water Street and traffic was a little slower. But Burlington isn’t a sleepy little town anymore – traffic has to be controlled. Rethink Streets
Creating more travel options for the community means thinking differently about how our city streets look and function. One of the ways to allow for more travel choice is to create complete streets. These are streets that are designed to be safe, comfortable and efficient for people of every age and ability including pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and drivers. They also easily connect people to the places they live, work and play.
In rural areas we, envision the potential for rural roads to serve more than just automobiles, but instead as key pieces of infrastructure that improve community interconnectivity and social interaction.
Reprioritize Mobility Choices
Reprioritize decision making at City Hall to support the creation of new facilities for walking, biking, transit that can compete with the automobile.
 New Street when the Road Diet was thought to be a good idea.  No New Street Capacity
Land use intensification with further auto-oriented design will only result in continued auto-dependency, expensive infrastructure and overall traffic failure. Understanding that as the city grows, expanded mobility will be achieved by investing in walking, biking, and transit instead of building new roadways.
  Make Walking More Enjoyable
Walking is the foundation of the transportation system. Design streets that are safe, vibrant, active and easy to navigate.
  Make Biking More Enjoyable
Design streets with biking infrastructure that provides a safe, well connected system throughout the city. In the rural areas, encourage development of biking opportunities over time with infrastructure where strategically appropriate.
  Make Public Transit Enjoyable
Implement significant and strategic improvements to transit in order to improve experience and increase ridership. The result is a transit network that offers quick, reliable and more frequent transit service.
 Vito Tolone – Director of Transportation  “Walk the Talk” in the Follow Through
Dedicate energy and attention to ensuring the actions identified in GoBold are implemented. Align decision making and budgeting to support the new mobility hierarchy.
Phony baloney according to ward 2 city council candidate Lisa Kearns. She explained to a small audience last week that the problem with all these studies is that they are never related to each other.
Her example was the traffic study done for the now approved development on the NE corner of Brant and James, directly across from city hall makes no mention of the traffic study done for the development Reserve Properties wants to put up on the SE corner of that intersection.
 Lisa Kearns before she announced her decision to run for the ward 2 city council seat. According to Kearns it makes no sense to look at the traffic projection studies independently.
There is a report on traffic impacts attached to every application – the problem is that the cumulative impact of the developments never appears in the reports and so far the public hasn’t seen anything from the Transportation department on just what that cumulative impact is going to look like.
The people who live in the downtown core don’t need a study to know what the impact is going to be – they experience it every time they drive in the downtown core.
Using her whimsical, straight to the point style Lisa Kearns got it right: phony baloney indeed.
 By Staff
August 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The road closure for culvert replacement work near 6097 Cedar Springs Rd., which is north of Britannia Road and south of Grand Blvd, has been extended until Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018.
School buses and emergency vehicles are the only traffic that will have access to this area.
For more information, including contact information, please visit the project page.
 By Staff
August 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Somebody did it and it wasn’t the Rotarians.
Someone decided to commission an election survey that was focused on residents of ward 2
Organizing a survey done by telephone is both expensive and time consuming.
The objective has to be determined – is the survey intended to gather real information or is it being done to sow discord and confusion.?
 One the objective is determined the strategy has to be determined and then put in place.
The questions that will be asked have to be written and re-written,
Telephone callers then have to be trained.
And then the last minute decision to proceed made.
This took at least two weeks to complete.
The public may never know who commissioned the survey and we will probably never know who paid for it. Short of a Judge ordering Campaign Research to divulge the name of the client we are never going to know. Unless of course a disgruntled employee decides to give the Gazette a call we will never know.
The two stark questions are who – and why?
It was certainly politically motivated.
Ward 2 residents were targeted.
Whoever made the decision to do the telephone survey certainly didn’t understand the people in ward 2 who are Mayoralty candidate Marianne Meed Ward supporters.
 The Med Ward campaign has people who are holding private Meet the Candidate events throughout the city. This is a very tight group of people. A tribe for certain and passionate about their candidate who they believe can get the city and its planning goals on a different track which they believe is the right track.
The motivating forces behind Meed Ward are very intense.
 Rick Goldring announced his campaign office location with some falir – being next to a Tim Hortons seemed like a good idea. The FRank’s Magic Crop across the street is closed – so that won’t influence the campaign. As soon as it is legal the Goldring campaign will add the words For Mayor to the sign which is at the plaza on Guelph Line just north of New Street.. The driving force behind Mayor Goldring is his wanting a chance to complete the job he started. Part of his campaign statement is: Clean Up, which he believes he did in his first term of office; Set Up which Goldring believes he did in his second term of office. He wants a third term to implement what he got done in his first two terms.
Goldring brought his former Chief of Staff into the campaign as a strategic advisor. Frank McKeown is understood to be the person who write the several good petition papers in Goldring’s first campaign in 2010
There are a lot of people in the city who don’t want the Goldring Set Up implemented.
 Mike Wallace announcing his plans to run for Mayor. Mike Wallace believes that he can do the job that has to be done better. Wallace describes himself as a pragmatist. He has a well organized campaign that is drawing upon the solid Tory community that held power in Burlington for decades.
Greg Woodruff, the fourth candidate for Mayor is on the sidelines telling people that they all have it wrong and that he has an approach that will solve all the problems.
So – who commissioned the election survey?
You can be pretty sure that none of the candidates did anything directly. If, and this is a big if, a candidate for Mayor did this they had someone else acting on their behalf.
Would Goldring benefit from this really stupid political tactic?
Does Mike Wallace want the job so badly that he will go to any lengths to get it.
Did Meed Ward commission the survey knowing that it would create major dissension in the downtown core and within her tribe and motivate them to work even harder?
There are financial interests that stand to benefit significantly if Meed Ward is kept out of office.
The $50,000 such an election survey would cost is peanuts to the development interests.
It would take a developer who doesn’t really know the city and its people all that well to do something like this.
Or it would take a developer that is a bit of a rogue who wants to disrupt – that has happened before.
The blow-back to the survey has been so intense that anyone trying something like this again is perhaps remote.
Someone ordered that the survey be done and someone paid the invoice.
And it wasn’t the Rotarians.
What we know for certain is that an organization that has staff who have done work like this before took on the assignment. No shame in that office.
 By Staff
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The following document was sent to media by the Marianne for Mayor Campaign
Deep pockets and dirty politics by a Toronto firm, Campaign Research, are attempting to influence the outcome of the Burlington mayor’s race and must stop.
In the last few days, Burlington residents have reported to our campaign that they received an extremely disturbing telephone “election survey” containing divisive and false statements attributed to me about domestic violence, the hijab, unemployment and more.
According to a number of residents who received the call and contacted us, residents are initially asked a series of questions, including “Do you support change ?” “Rate all 4 candidates on a scale of 1 to 10”. “Rate the following issues 1 to 10.”
Residents are then asked about several issues including downtown development and attracting business.
Then the questions change dramatically and are targeted exclusively on one mayoral candidate, Marianne Meed Ward. Residents are asked to rate their support for “statements she has made” on a scale of 1 to 10.
According to one of the residents who got this call, “There followed several outrageous allegations about what they claimed are statements by Marianne” including about abused women, the hijab, unemployment, capitalism, and development.
“I found the questions so ridiculous I stopped the interviewer and asked her if she was serious. The interviewer agreed the questions seemed outrageous but that her job is to ask and not analyse them,” stated the resident.
No questions are asked about any other candidate for mayor.
The caller gave the resident a phone number linked to Campaign Research, a Toronto firm run by Nick Kouvalis, Richard Ciano and Eli Youfest.
https://www.campaignresearch.ca/our-team
This firm has been rebuked for their behaviour in a previous election (federal) by the Market Research and Intelligence Agency, which said their tactics “caused the Canadian public to lose confidence in marketing research” and have “tarnished” the profession.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/11/28/tory_pollster_rebuked_for_misleading_campaign_against_mp_irwin_cotler.html
This survey may also violate campaign finance rules. Only registered candidates and registered Third Party Advertisers are permitted to spend money to influence the outcome of an election. There are no Third Party Advertisers registered with the City of Burlington.
The firm says it aims to “shape public perceptions”, and has been contracted by someone with deep pockets who is clearly attempting to influence the Burlington mayor’s race against one candidate, and only one candidate, Marianne Meed Ward.
“Anonymous deep pockets are clearly trying to influence the outcome of the Burlington mayor’s race with lies and inflammatory statements. We don’t yet know who is behind this, but ask ‘Who benefits?’ and that’s where we’ll find our answer,” said mayoral candidate Marianne Meed Ward.
“We won’t stop until we expose the cowards who contracted Campaign Research to carry out this dirty tactic and stop them both in their tracks. Both the company and the client are complicit in this.
“We will do everything we can to ensure this election is decided on what is best for Burlington based on platform, policies and track record. Lies, personal attacks and defamation have no place in our city or in this election, and do nothing to help make our community better.”
The Marianne for Mayor Campaign has contacted Campaign Research and spoken directly to Eli Youfest, and left messages and emails for the other two principals, Nick Kouvalis and Richard Ciano to demand that this stop immediately.
We are filing a complaint against Campaign Research with the Market Research and Intelligence Agency and filing complaints with municipal and provincial election authorities, as this activity violates not only basic decency but potentially Third Party Advertising rules.
Residents and other campaigns can take the following steps:
1. Should you receive a call, document the nature of the questions, and the phone number.
2. File a formal complaint with the Market Research and Intelligence Agency against Campaign Research. https://mria-arim.ca
3. File a formal complaint to Campaign Research. https://www.campaignresearch.ca
4. Ask the other mayoral candidates if they know who is behind this, and to commit to finding and exposing who has paid for this telephone call.
5. Should this not be linked to a candidate’s campaign, file a formal complaint of a violation of Third
Party Advertising by an unregistered entity with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing ( https://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page219.aspx ) MMHA contact: ( https://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page7030.aspx ) and the City of Burlington ( Elections@burlington.ca )
Media contact:
Marianne Meed Ward is available for telephone or on-camera interviews:
Marianne Meed Ward
Marianne4Mayor@gmail.com
905.335.1899
We also have a resident who received the call and is willing to speak to the media. Contact us for details.
By Staff
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The following statement was released this afternoon by the Campaign to Elect Mike Wallace for Mayor.
My team and I have learned that a telephone campaign is underway targeting Burlington voters concerning the upcoming municipal election. It is focused on Marianne Meed Ward, one of my fellow candidates for Mayor. I wish to assure the voters in Burlington that neither I nor any member of my team is involved in this quite negative campaign tactic.
The coming election is an important opportunity for the people of Burlington to choose the leader they want for our city. Negative campaign tactics, such as what is known as “push-polling” should not be used by any candidate nor their supporters. Each candidate has their own bona fides, platform, experience, and values to offer you. Each, quite different. The choice is yours to make. Do not let the negative tactics of some influence your decision.
By Staff
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
On Tuesday August 28th, 2018 the Halton Regional Police Service responded to a report of a serious injury collision, involving a single motor vehicle near the intersection of North Shore Boulevard and Eagle Drive in the City of Burlington.
At approximately 12:21am, a 31 year old male resident of Tory Hill fell from a moving 2015 Nissan Rogue while it was traveling westbound on North Shore Boulevard. The 28 year old male resident of Hamilton who was driving was uninjured in the incident. Early medically assessments deemed the male to possibly be suffering from serious injuries at which point he was transported to Hamilton General Hospital.
Due to the nature of the injuries, the Halton Regional Police Collision Reconstruction Unit responded to assist in the investigation. The male is currently listed in serious but stable condition. The scene was held for approximately 4 hours for the at-scene collision investigation.
Witnesses to the collision are asked to call the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 905 825-4747 extension 5065 or 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
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
We are heading into the last long weekend before we get into the fall season – the unofficial end of summer.
What will be open and what will be closed.
Most administrative offices will be closed Monday, Sept. 3, 2018 for Labour Day weekend. For a complete listing of hours of operation, phone numbers for city facilities and available services, please visit burlington.ca. For information about what to do in Burlington on Labour Day weekend, please visit burlington.ca/calendar and tourismburlington.com.
The city’s administrative services will be closed Monday, Sept. 3, 2018.
 Lowville Park – one of the really nice places to rest and relax – the kids will love Bronte Creek. Parks and Recreation Programs and Facilities – Hours vary.
Activities and customer service hours at city pools, arenas and community centres will vary over the holiday weekend. For program times, please visit burlington.ca/play. For customer service hours, please visit burlington.ca/servicehours.
Burlington Transit and Handi-Van
On Monday, Sept. 3, Burlington Transit will operate a holiday service and the downtown Transit Terminal and Handi-Van Dispatch will be closed.
 Handi-van schedule limited on the weekend. Regular service resumes Tuesday, Sept. 4. The administration offices are closed Monday, Sept. 3 and will reopen Tuesday, Sept. 4. For real-time schedule information, please call 905-639-0550 or visit www.burlingtontransit.ca.
Roads, Parks and Forestry
Closed Monday, Sept. 3. Only emergency services will be provided.
Animal Shelter and Control
Closed Monday, Sept. 3. Open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For more information or to report an animal control-related emergency, call 905-335-3030 or visit www.burlington.ca/animal.
Halton Court Services
Provincial Offences Courts in Milton and Burlington will be closed Monday, Sept. 3.
 This isn’t something you are going to have to do on the long weekend. Parking
Free parking is available in the downtown core, on the street, municipal lots and the parking garage on weekends and holidays.
NOTE: The Waterfront parking lots (east and west) do not provide free parking on statutory holidays.
Do you have family and friends visiting for the holiday weekend? A reminder that there is no parking on city streets overnight between 1 and 6 a.m. Exemptions to allow overnight parking on city streets may be obtained by calling 905-335-7844 or visiting www.burlington.ca/parking.
By Pepper Parr
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Is poverty an issue in Burlington? Ask the people who work at the Food Bank in this city.
The wealth in Burlington is thick – but there are too many people who have to go without.
 These are bins of food that were donated during the annual Giving Back event that takes place in Burlington. It all goes to food banks in the community. A measure of just how much food is needed by people who live below the poverty line. How does the problem of poverty get any attention when the focus is on the 20 + storey condominiums that are going to be built in the downtown core – unless of course the bottom falls out of the real estate market and then even more people will be living below the poverty line.
The Region has a group of people who think about poverty – where it is and how it can be eradicated.
With the new provincial government and the approach it is taking to those who are not able to do as well as many – poverty within the community is going to have to be handled by the communities.
For the past seven years the Halton Poverty Roundtable has been a community leader in connecting, educating and acting on issues related to poverty in Halton.
Their vision is: No Neighbour In Need. The organizational mission is: Mobilizing Community Will to Eliminate Poverty in Halton
They want to shift the conversation in Halton towards acknowledgment that poverty exists in our community, increasing education and awareness of poverty and then creating opportunity for community action.
The Roundtable has organized an event for Oakville and Burlington municipal candidates to learn just how deep the issue of poverty is. The event is being labelled The Poverty Primer. They will have panel presentations from local organizations to provide information about the reality of poverty in Halton; they are hoping to get a poverty pledge from the candidates that show up – all have been invited.
We will let you know who shows up.
By Staff
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It must have looked like a posse – police officers on the hunt for the bad guys. The managed to round up quite a few “cowboys” who won’t be on the roads for a few days at least.
On Friday August 24th, Halton Police were joined by a total of twenty officers made up from Peel Police, York Police, Toronto Police, the OPP and the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. The officers were divided equally amongst the three Halton police districts to patrol in partnership with Halton officers to combat street racing and aggressive driving.
 This was the fourth such collaborative effort to take place in the GTA this year by officers who work on Project E.R.A.S.E. (which aims to Eradicate Racing Activity on Streets Everywhere). Previously, Halton Officers have supported York, Peel and the OPP by assisting them in similar projects in their jurisdictions.
Officers were supported by staff from the respective District Response Units whose job it is to target aggressive driving within the City of Burlington, Town of Oakville, Town of Milton and the Town of Halton Hills.
Throughout the evening’s patrol in excess of 160 driving charges were laid, which included:
• 2 vehicles seized for stunt driving
• 2 drivers suspended for 7 days
• 1 driver arrested and charged for impaired operation
• 82 Speeding charges
• 8 distraction charges (holding/using a cell phone)
• 53 equipment charges
• 1 seatbelt charge
• 17 warnings issued
As with impaired drivers, it is important that our communities feel confident to call the police and report illegal racing and dangerous operation of motor vehicles when they observe it. Each year a number of tragic incidents occur in the GTA where people lose their lives while engaging in illegal racing activities on public streets. Our message will remain, “If you want to race, take it to the track.”
The Halton Regional Police Service remains committed to road safety through prevention, education and enforcement initiatives.
Members of the public are reminded that driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol is a crime in progress and to call 9-1-1 immediately to report a suspected impaired driver.
The Service’s Twitter and Facebook accounts should not be used for this purpose as they are not monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
 By Stephen White
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Community Engagement Charter is not the Ten Commandments, and the last time I checked James Ridge was not Moses. Uttering a collection of sanctimonious pronouncements and expecting that suddenly things will change for the better or be done differently is not only naive but is foolhardy and absurd in the extreme.
Real engagement is not about a slick website with colourful pictures, or pretty PowerPoint presentations, or holding public meetings feigning interest while citizens rail on about the latest development proposal desecrating neighbourhoods. It is about real communication based on a respect for and an appreciation of the benefits that come from joint problem-solving, articulation of divergent viewpoints, and the search for viable solutions. Most importantly, it is a dialogue and sharing amongst equals.
 Citizens at a budget meeting, reviewing a budget that has already been decided on. White wants that to change to a process that involves public input before the budget is cast in stone. What we have in Burlington is a power imbalance that works for the benefit of a few against the interests of many. We have a Mayor who has really proven powerless to lead over the past four years, and who keeps trying to appease everyone with platitudes but really ends up pleasing no one. We have a Council who, despite multiple appeals and admonitions to the contrary over the past two years. has pushed their bloody-minded OP and Mobility Hubs agenda over the objections and against the wishes of residents.
All of this has played out against a backdrop of the business community, supported by the Chamber of Commerce and developers, who keep telling us, figuratively at least, to just shut up and drink the Kool-Aid, and whose grandiose promises extolling the virtues of development are over hyped while the negative externalities (e.g. traffic congestion, too few parking spaces, lack of green spaces, etc.) are dramatically under-reported. And watching it all from the sidelines are municipal public servants whose contribution to this circus performance is to continually prattle on about how we all need to “Grow Bold” and “intensify” while producing copious amounts of communications drivel intended to mollify an increasingly militant and wearisome public, all done in the name of “engagement”.
We can change our Mayor, and we change our Council, but those actions, in and of themselves, will not yield change post October 22nd. What we really need to change is the process and the players who manage it.
 Citizens gather for a public meeting on what should be done with private homes in the Beachway. Their views were not included in the final decision. The Region will buy every house when it comes on the market. Consultation and dialogue needs to occur from the outset, not as an afterthought. We need dedicated resources at City Hall, not aligned with developers, who will aid citizens and support neighbourhoods when mounting objections to development proposals. We need City Hall support to create and sustain neighbourhood and ratepayers’ associations as a non-elected counter-veiling force to challenge developers and as a conduit to meaningful citizen engagement.
We need advisory panels whose members are reflective of the community, and not populated with special interest advocates. We need to build in the concept of engagement and communication into every business process that is conducted municipally, and not just some pious Engagement Charter that gets framed and hung on a wall somewhere and is essentially meaningless.
 Members of ChAT – the Charter Action Team responsible for ensuring that the Engagement Charter is actually complied with. Those who manage the process need to be evaluated and held accountable on how well they actually do it.
And finally, we need to open up a serious discussion around the continued employment of several municipal public servants whose past derisive comments and behaviour don’t exactly connote with the concept of “engagement”.
Related news story.
The Engagement Charter.
The Shape Burlington Report
Stephen White is a Burlington resident who lives on the east side of the city. He comments from time to time on how well the city is run.
By Pepper Parr
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
I was having a cool one in the Slye Fox late yesterday afternoon when a Gazette reader asked me if I had seen the trashy “polling” telephone calls that were being made to people in Burlington about candidates running in ward 2.
I hadn’t. I’m not a huge fan of Facebook – does more harm than good is my view.
I did have a look at Meed Ward’s Facebook page and yup- the trashy crap has already started.
 Marianne Meed Ward Meed Ward reported that “A resident has just informed me of an extremely disturbing and defamatory phone “opinion poll” that they received which contained appalling and false statements about me concerning domestic violence, unemployment and school closures, and possible more.
“I’m certain the other candidates would join me in stating this is unacceptable and must stop. If you receive such a phone call, please ask who is behind it, take the phone number and we will get to the bottom of this and stop it. This election is about what is best for Burlington, based on policies, platform and track record.
Make your decisions for all candidates in this election on that basis. Lies, personal attacks and defamation have no place and do nothing to help make our city better.”
We don’t have to succumb to gutter politics.
The Gazette is currently investigating a comment that was sent to us about Meed Ward. There isn’t a word of truth in the comment. We are in the process of determining just who the sender is and when we have positive identification we will take appropriate action.
Meed Ward sent out an update on survey being done.
“A further update on the “election survey” phone calls about me being conducted in Burlington. We have received multiple independent reports of both the content of the questions and the phone number. The number is linked to Campaign Research
I have contacted them to stop this immediately. If you receive this call, take note of the number and the questions and we will get to the bottom of this to stop it. Note that only candidate campaigns and registered Third Party advertisers can spend money on elections. There are no Third Party advertisers currently registered in the Burlington election.
The polling is being done by Campaign Research. Check out their web site. And Google the names of their senior people; one in particular stands out.
https://www.campaignresearch.ca/our-team
 This is the only thing that matter. People will vote for you if they believe in you. Vote for the person you believe in. These phone calls are not being made a group of Girl Guides or Boy Scouts – these calls are being done by professionals who know how to access data bases to give them the phone numbers of people who live in very specific postal codes. Getting these guys to work for you is not cheap.
One of the lead players at Campaign Research has a past history of really dirty politics. His name is out there – Google it. Nasty nasty business.
Marianne is doing the right thing. When you shine a light into the dark corners the rats and the cockroaches scurry into the darkness.
Keep those bright lights burning!
By Staff
August 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It is hardly news anymore. Excessive heat warnings from the Regional government. It is the new normal and seniors, people with breathing problems and very very young children need to take notice.
As a result of extreme heat and humidity, Environment Canada has issued a Heat Warning for Halton Region starting Monday, August 27. This warning is issued when forecast temperatures are expected to reach at least 31 degrees Celsius with overnight temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius for two days, or when a humidex of 40 or higher is expected for two days.
Beaches are an option – take sun screen.
 The city doesn’t have quite this much beach any more – weather has eroded quite a bit of it. But it is still a place to cool down. Especially at risk
• older adults (over the age of 65), infants and young children, people who work and exercise in the heat, people without adequate housing and those without air conditioning
• people who have breathing difficulties, heart problems, kidney problems or take heat-sensitive medications
Prevention tips
• stay cool
• avoid strenuous outdoor activities
• seek shade from the sun
• spend time in air-conditioned places, such as shopping malls and community centres
• drink plenty of cool liquids, especially water
• visit friends and neighbours who may be at risk and never leave people or pets in your care unattended in a car
 Mall space could be put to very good public service use. With these significant differences in weather people are going to need to find different places to get some exercise. Some malls in North America have taken to running exercise programs. There are two malls in Burlington who could put some of their space to a really good public service use.
If you or someone in your care experiences rapid breathing, headache, confusion, weakness or fainting, please seek medical attention right away.
By Pepper Parr
August 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Mike Wallace will be doing his third Facebook Live program this evening between 7:00 and 8:00 pm.
You can tune into the program and participate – you ask a question, Mike sees it on a screen – reads the question and does his best to answer it.
The second program was the one we saw – Mike was a little choppy – he didn’t seem to have that good a grip on the facts behind the question. There was no one off camera feeding him the facts and figures on the developments or issue he was being asked.
 This is the Mike Wallace tat is missing from his Let’s Talk Facebook Live program – the sense of humour seems to be missing. Mike is a good speaker – but he didn’t come across all that well on the Facebook Live. Normally you hear Mike before you see him in a room – there is that laugh, a good, strong healthy laugh from a guy who is having fun and is at ease.
The sessions last an hour and they are archived. He answered a question about the Georgian Court Estates in Aldershot (right on the border between what we see as Burlington and what most people see as Aldershot) where the intensification is going to be very significant. 275 units to something approaching 1000+.
 The Aldershot Georgian Court community is going to undergo a massive change – Wallace see it as something the city needs. The developer sees that need as an opportunity for more intensive development. More people in less space. These are low cost rental units – we describe them as “affordable”. Wallace believes there is a very serious need for housing people can afford. This doesn’t mean subsidized public housing – this is private developments that are reasonably priced; they won’t have a polished granite counter top and all the whistles and bells that go into those million dollar condos that are being built in the downtown core.
 Wallace has an idea for a second parking garage on the east side of the city. Wallace talked about parking and the need for a fact based approach to just what the parking needs are going to be going forward. He emphasized that the study that is underway now needs to be completed as soon as possible so that decisions can be made.
Wallace, in what could have been a very funny line said he did not believe ‘we are all going to be walking or cycling and added: “I am a realist”.
He said that the buildings that have been approved would be very very difficult to stop – if at all.
In events like this there are what are called ‘softball’ questions. The Randall Reef question was one of those. You get someone to phone in and ask a question that makes the person look good when they answer. It is doubtful that two in every thousand people in the city even know what and where Randal Reef is (It’s in Hamilton) Wallace deserve major credit for ensuring the federal funds got to that project – it was polluting the water in our end of Lake Ontario.
 Tonnes of toxic sludge rest on the bottom of Hamilton harbour. It is all going to be encased in concrete with parts of the are turned into park space. Randall Reef is the second largest location of pollution in the country – second only to the tar pool ponds in Nova Scotia. It is the result of decades of carcinogenics that flowed from the coke ovens that were once used to generate electricity for Hamilton. The work is one of those vital but not very glamorous expenses that governments have to undertake.
Mikes approach to communicating with people is certainly different – how effective it is going to be will be known on October 22nd – they day people vote.
In his second session he mentioned the need for more parking space and said that he has an idea for some parking space on the east side of Brant Street – he wouldn’t say where but he did say it was on private property and there would be private interests involved.
 The laugh and the Wallace sense of humour were missing. Mike is on the screen all by himself with two monitors that feed him information. Adding a staff member to appear on screen aiding with the questions would add to the quality of the show – and if Mile could let that sense of humour show – it could be a better production. Shifting the camera a bit would help as well. Mike seems to be looking down much of the time.
Wallace is doing something different and the Let’s Talk session are all archived on his web site. Certainly worth looking at – he wants to be Mayor and he just might get there.
Click along to the web site – interesting.
By Staff
August 25th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
She is 15 and her family doesn’t know where she is.
The Halton Regional Police Service are seeking the public’s assistance in locating a 15 year old female missing from the Burlington area. She was last seen on the 1st of August, 2018.
 Gitti Wayezi – 15 years old and missing. The missing female is Gitti Wayezi who is a resident of the City of Burlington. Gitti is described as female, tanned skin, 5’3, approximately 120lbs, slim build, black straight hair, brown eyes but wears blue contact lenses. She has a nose ring in both her right and left nostril as well as a piercing on her lower left lip area.
Gitti Wayezi has been known to travel throughout the Greater Toronto Area and could possibly be in the Toronto area at this time. The Halton Regional Police Service is asking the assistance of the public in locating this teen in order to check on and ensure her well-being.
Anyone with information about this missing person is asked to contact the Halton Regional Police Service Communications Bureau at 905-825-4747 or the On Duty 30 Division Staff Sergeant at 905-825-4747 ext. 2310. The Criminal Investigation Bureau contact is Detective Constable Blair Bolton at 905-825-4747 ext. 2323.
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 Pepper Parr
August 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Lisa Kearns met with her community last night – she wanted to update them on where things were with developments in the ward and talk to them about her stand on most of the problems as she sees them.
It was clear that Lisa Kearns is for development – but the right kind of development.
 Lisa Kearns talking to participants at her public meeting and handing out her T-shirts. She has taken the position that the Carriage Gate development on the north east corner of James and Brant is a done deal. Her concern now is how does the community handle that construction – how long will there be serious disruption to how people use the downtown core which she defines as from the Lakeshore Road north to Caroline.
Kearns told the meeting that the Burlington Downtown Business Association and the Burlington Economic Development Corporation are working together on a study to come up with ideas to keep the downtown core vibrant.
 The Bentley, nearing completion on John Street is the first of a three phase development. Above ground parking and a medical building on the north at Caroline are to follow. Kearns thinks this is a great development. Kearns pointed to the three phase Carriage Gate development on John Street that she thinks is great. It combines a location for new community services (in this case medical) has space for commercial tenants and will have significant above ground parking. She said she understands that 27% of the units in the Bentley are to be affordable housing. That does not appear to be the understanding of the developer.
One of the small pieces of good news is that there may be a solution to what was going to be serious traffic congestion on John Street at the downtown mobility hub with at least six transit routes going into and leaving the transit station and cars from the Revenue Properties and Carriage development emptying onto the same street.
 All those dotted lines are but routes that swing through the downtown mobility hub. Moving the transfer station north to ancempty lot at the corner of Caroline and John is said to be in the works. Kearns told her audience that it appeared the property at the corner of John and Caroline that is now an empty lot will be made the transfer point for people who want to change buses. That transferring is now done at the location of the transit terminal on John Street just north of Pine.
Sounds like a sensible decision – nothing from city hall on this yet.
Lisa Kearns: Talks like a ward Councillor Kearns looks and talks like the ward Councillor. She is in constant touch with the bureaucrats and used phrases like “I will take care of you” – “I’ve already been doing that.”
Kearns believes the downtown core – from Lakeshore to Caroline – is going to lose much of its character.
She appears to be basing her campaign on a sustainability lens – everything that gets done should be done through a sustainability lens – does what we want to do add to the sustainability of the community. Her message was that we need to re-think the way we do things.
Members of the audience were able to pick up Lisa Kearns lawn signs – and advised that they cannot be put up until September 7th.
Transportation and the study that seems to be taking forever to make it to the public drew this comment from Kearns: “Phony baloney – they don’t know what they are doing.”
That’s as blunt and direct as a candidate can be.
Expect more of that from Kearns who is going to be an interesting debater during the all candidate debates taking place for each ward.
By Pepper Parr
August 23rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Is it deliberate?
Or is it from an organization that is now so dysfunctional that the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.
We published an opinion piece by ward 2 city council candidate Roland Tanner who wrote about a meting that was very poorly promoted, pointing out that even the ward Councillor and candidate for Mayor didn’t know about it.
We did a follow up piece on how a public meeting on such a critical matter could be so poorly promoted. We kept coming across the Get Involved part of the city web site.
Those who know or should know how to communicate effectively: Back row, left Kwab Ako-Adjei, Senior Manager of Government Relations and Strategic Communications,. Bottom row, centre Donna Kell, Manager of Public Affairs and to her left city manager James Ridge. They would have signed off on the ChAT report. While we were reading up on Getting Involved we came across ChAT – an interesting group that, in their group photograph, has several city staff in the group – including Kwab Ako-Adjei, Senior Manager of Government Relations and city manager James Ridge.
In April 2013, Burlington City Council approved the first Burlington Community Engagement Charter. The Charter was created by citizens with support from staff. It is an agreement between and among Burlington City Council and the community concerning citizen engagement with City government and establishes the commitments, responsibilities and fundamental concepts of this relationship.
Ako-Adjei and Ridge surely know something about communicating.
ChAT had their most recent annual report on the web site.
Some excerpts from that document
1. Ensure notification is as widespread as possible:
a. Use communication tools that include City of Burlington website, local print media, online digital communication, direct delivery and social media.
b. Reach out to groups/individuals that may be affected by proposed developments, policies, initiatives, studies and municipal projects.
c. Create and develop partnerships that will help reach out to citizens.
d. Ensure that communication plans include early and widespread notifications.
e. Where appropriate, provide progress and/or completion notices.
2. Ensure notification is given early enough so that the citizens may be fully engaged:
a. Set up and maintain a way for citizens and groups to subscribe or sign up for early notification through email, social media or other means.
b. Advise the public of proposed developments, policies, meetings and major projects as soon as possible. For major projects and public meetings, at least two weeks notice to the public is expected. Exceptions will be made in emergency situations where less than two weeks notice will apply.
3. Support staff in providing early and widespread notification so that it becomes part of the corporate culture:
a. Provide staff training in effective public engagement practices through workshops and e-learning opportunities.
4. Collaborate with citizens and partners in empowering citizens through different means of communicating:
a. Use existing resources in the community to help to provide information as soon as possible.
b. Develop and use networks for information sharing of contacts.
5. Clearly communicate meeting dates and deadlines:
a. Schedule public meetings to take place early and with opportunities for public input into decision- making.
b. Create a central point on the City’s website where all dates are available.
c. Ensure dates are reflected on City project pages on the website.
d. Include dates in all relevant communication materials.
Is this happening?
It is so immoral for a city to publish statements like this and then fail miserably to deliver on the promise.
The people who work at city hall want to be seen as professionals – and they should be. But there is nothing professional about how that public meeting Wednesday night came into being.
Burlington once had a city manager who made mistakes – and he had the decency to apologize publicly for the mistakes he made.
And he wasn’t crass enough to define his mistakes as a “learning opportunity”.
Related opinion and news stories:
Roland Tanner opinion piece
Public meeting that failed.
 By Ray Rivers
August 23rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
“Fire situation ‘speaks to the changing environment we live in and the ravages of climate change,’…From flood to fire to flood and then again to fire … and we have had two states of emergency — that’s unprecedented,” (B.C. Premier Horgan)
The US president has a couple of theories about the massive fires ravaging California. An early brain wave focused on all that water, in the rivers and streams, which the authorities allow to empty into the oceans. If only it could be used to put out the fires?
But Trump, ever the stable genius he is, has now come up with another theory. And this one helps with the defence of his trade strategy, which boils down to placing tariffs on everything that moves across the US border. In this case it’s imported Canadian softwood lumber which is the target.
You see cheap imports of Canadian lumber have deterred American home builders from using up those logs left lying on the forest floor. Why go to the pain, bother and expense of gathering those tinder-box termite-eaten and diseased log remnants nestled among the mighty redwoods, when it’s oh so cheap to buy pre-cut Canadian timber, readily trucked to your building site.
Sloppy forestry management, and not climate change, is the real culprit behind the fires, according to the Donald. Apparently tidiness in forest management is next to godliness in his good book. Who would have thought? And we in the great white north must be just as sloppy, cheap lumber of not.
 Small communities are at serious risk – with 500 + fires in one province. You see, Canada is also struggling with massive forest fires, almost everywhere. But the ones to worry about are in B.C. where over 500 wildfires were blazing simultaneously, only a few days ago. The smoke from those fires was so thick that weather offices started mapping it with radar, and airports in the interior had to be shut down. Air quality alerts are everywhere in the province, including on Vancouver Island.
B.C. Premier Horgan thinks this is the new normal, thanks to climate change. Perhaps all that smoke in the atmosphere might help block some solar radiation and moderate the greenhouse effect for at least the next year. But that nuclear winter scenario would only be temporary. In the end it will be years, maybe decades, before those fire devastated areas sprout trees and start absorbing and storing CO2… and become forest fires areas again.
It is a pity that Premier Horgan and the federal government are not also picking a convenient scapegoat to blame for Canada’s climate related events. In fact they have a prime culprit ever so close. America has been the single largest contributor to global warming in history, though China has recently assumed that title role.
But at least China has a plan. And China has already met its 2030 Paris carbon reduction target and its emissions are falling at almost seven percent a year, despite its ongoing economic development. By comparison the US has increased its emissions by 2% over the last quarter century. Not much wonder the US has decided to take itself out of the Paris climate change agreement, the only sizeable nation on earth refusing to participate in this global effort.
But it’s going to get worse stateside. Trump is cancelling Obama’s electrical sector coal rules, which would have led to the ultimate phase-out of coal power plants. The US leader is banking on the myth that something called clean coal, an oxymoron if ever there was one, will help scale back the traditional pollution associated with coal. But of course it won’t. Coal is pretty pure carbon. And its continued use will only jack up the 30% of US carbon emissions which come from producing electricity.
Another 30% or so of carbon emissions come from the transportation sector. And here the US federal government is planning to roll back California-inspired and Obama-initiated fuel economy and emission standards. Cancelling Obama’s auto rules, for example will mean that instead of 70% of light trucks being built as a hybrid or EV, there will be virtually none (1 %) by 2026. The rule change would lead to an increase in oil consumption of half a million barrels a day, every day.
This is just another challenge for Canadian authorities negotiating auto rules under NAFTA, given the integrated state of the North American industry. Improved auto efficiency would have been in the equation when we confirmed our own Paris emission reduction targets.
 Figuring out how to move from one form of fuel to another is a huge challenge – how are we doing so far? Canada has always embraced new US environmental standards for autos, though this is the first time the rules are retrograde. Perhaps it is time to revert to the old Can/US auto-trade pact which worked well for us before the Mulroney trade deal with the US. That would enable auto manufacturers to build cars here for a cleaner Canadian market as opposed to accepting relatively dirty American vehicles.
Nobody seriously believes that the US will continue forever on this mad march against science, the environment and humanity. But it is clear that the current dinosaur making America great again is a climate change denier bent on irreparably damaging the planet just to profit his fossil fuel business interests and friends.
Too often climate change has become a political football, a partisan wedge issue which swings one way or the other every time a government changes its stripes. Today the liberals are for it and the conservatives almost everywhere dismiss it, disdain it or don’t give a damn. Such is the case with the new PC government in Ontario, which has taken over the pink palace and thrown out all the old furniture, as if it were worn out and moth-eaten.
 Cap and trade is complex – but it was working. The new Ontario wants to shut it down – without offering anything to replace it. We will pay heavily as a society for this mistake. In the volatile world of gas pump pricing Ontario’s cap and trade ended up costing less than five cents a litre – less than two dollars more per fill-up for most drivers. Yet it provided new money to maintain our schools, help people insulate their homes and to buy electric vehicles to help reduce auto emissions. And most importantly, cap and trade had been a process for the ongoing mitigation of carbon emissions that cause climate change.
Blame the Liberals for failing to properly educate the public on the benefits of the program they had developed. And they clearly did fail on that account. But blame the conservatives for scrapping the program without a second thought or taking the time to understand how it worked. And pity the poor parent who has to tell their child what to expect about the future.
 The fires are disastrous enough – the smoke is going to result in major health problems. Protecting the environment is good for the economy and bad for polluters. There is more employment and potential national income from solar and wind energy than there is from coal and natural gas generation. Cleaner air means healthier people and fewer sick work days. Mitigating climate change earlier would have moderated our climate and avoided the costs we are experiencing dealing with floods and forest fires today. It’s a no-brainer.
Donald Trump has some other notions about controlling fires. For example he suggested more lives would have been saved during 9/11 had the twin towers been insulated with more asbestos. Apparently the Donald also wants to make asbestos great again. Canada, just this year, banned asbestos, including its mining, which had made us a leading exporter in years gone by.
However Trump can still buy asbestos from Russia. In fact for reasons only he and his pal Vlad might know, a picture of his smiling face adorns packages of the toxic product from the land of that toxic dictator. Still, it’ll take more than asbestos to insulate him from the heat he will be getting as the Mueller investigation uncovers more of his evil doings.
Donald Trump is s curious blend of health conscious and living on the edge. He doesn’t smoke or drink, but binges on burgers, chows down on fried chicken and quaffs gallons of diet coke every day – and has a passion for asbestos.. And he likes to bask in the White House tanning bed every morning, soaking up those death rays, before heading to the oval office to save the free world from himself.
It’s no wonder he is nonplussed about climate change.
 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. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Thirty Years Too Late – It’s Getting Hotter – Blame it on Canada –
Trump Asbestos – Vehicle Emissions and Economy – China’s Carbon Goals –
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