Public safety threat made realted to Hayden Recreational Centre and Hayden high school. Social media run amok.

News 100 redBy Staff

June 6th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

On Monday June 4, 2018 and Tuesday June 5, 2018, the Halton Regional Police Service investigated two false reports of threatening incidents in the City of Burlington.

Both incidents involved the Dr. Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School and the Haber Recreation Centre. Both of these facilities are attached in the same building complex located at 3040 Tim Dobbie Drive, Burlington, Ontario.

Alton has a spanking new high school with air conditioned classrooms; the envy of every high school student in the city. The school is part of a complex that includes a library and a recreational centre.

Hayden Recreational Centre

On Monday June 4, 2018, some unsubstantiated rumours began to be put forward that there was a threat of someone attending the school with a gun the following day. The school received calls from concerned parents as the rumours were apparently on a social media site. A citizen contacted a media outlet about these rumours.

School officials investigated the rumours in conjunction with the Halton Regional Police Service. The rumours involved a specific named person and the investigation concluded that this information was false and vexatious. The school sent a message out to parents, guardians and students advising them of the investigation and providing them information that there was no evidence of any kind of an actual threat was made. School activities were not impacted due to these rumours.

On Tuesday June 5, 2018, at approximately 8:00 pm, staff at the Haber Recreation Centre received an anonymous telephone call. The caller eluded that about an hour later there was going to be a bomb threat at the centre. The recreation centre is comprised of a library and a hall and staff elected to have the premise evacuated under an abundance of caution.

The Halton Regional Police Service attended and conducted a thorough search of the centre and found no threat or cause for any concern. The recreation centre was closed to the public for about 2.5 hours and then reopened for public use.

Nothing anywhere near something like this in any part of Burlington. Alton has charted new territory in the way neighbourhoods are developed. This set of buildings will house a Recreation Centre, a high school and a public library with a large series of parks right across the road.

Frank J. Hayden Secondary School when it was under construction

In both investigated incidents the vague threats were deemed to be false and vexatious in nature, clearly intended to cause alarm to members of the public. At this time it is not clear if one or more persons are responsible for both of these incidents.

School officials and the police want to reiterate to students, parents and guardians that there is no cause for any concern for students attending school on Wednesday June 6, 2018.

Anyone with information on these crimes is encouraged to contact the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2316.

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.

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The Waterfront hotel property is going to be re-developed - what will the public end up with?

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

June 6, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

As the members of city council get ready to put their re-election campaigns into full throttle once the direction of the province is determined on Thursday the Planning department picks up where they left off on the redevelopment of the waterfront site at Lakeshore Road and the foot of Brant Street.

Waterfront hotel with pier at footThe Waterfront Hotel planning study will guide the property owner in the redevelopment of this site. Located next to two of Burlington’s most significant landmarks, Spencer Smith Park and the Brant Street Pier, input from residents is needed to ensure the new development reflects a high quality of urban design that enhances the community’s access to the waterfront and the downtown

The planning staff has asked council to “endorse the key policy directions”. Those directions are set out below:

Despite extensive engagement opportunities, a clear consensus on direction has not yet been achieved, as such staff have built upon the above consultation work done through three community workshops (a total of six sessions), the Planning and Development Committee held on November 28, 2017, and significant contributions from the Vrancor Group and the Plan B Citizen Group, and created key policy directions to move forward.

Waterfront concept 1

Concept 1 – the buildings are much closer to Lakeshore and the height will disturb a lot of people.

 

 

The key policy directions for the Waterfront Hotel site are intended to align with the vision statement, accommodate an iconic landmark building, and reinforce the site’s unique location as a major gateway to the waterfront.

Waterfront - Concept 2

Concept 2 shift everything to the right creating a much more open approach to The Pier.

The key policy directions have been organized around the study’s three frameworks and guiding design principles of Land Use and Built Form, Public Realm, and Mobility and Access, as follows:

Land Use and Built Form

1) Create building frontages along Lakeshore Road and Elizabeth Street with building placement that establishes a defining street wall and frames the street zone.

2) Provide active uses at grade along Lakeshore Road and Elizabeth Street.

3) Achieve active and animated edges adjacent to Spencer Smith Park, with a requirement for retail and service commercial uses at grade:

a. Built form next to the south property line shall activate and animate this edge, respect the existing grade, and be scaled to the waterfront trail with higher levels stepping back as necessary.
b. Built form next to the west property line shall activate and animate this edge, respect the existing grade, and be scaled to Spencer Smith Park with higher levels stepping back as necessary.

4) Require a minimum of two uses within buildings and where feasible, encourage three uses.

5) Establish an iconic landmark building on the site subject to the following:

a. A new public, pedestrian space is provided at the foot of Brant Street where public views to the Lake and Pier are enhanced;

b. The iconic landmark building must contain a destination use or function;

c. The iconic landmark building shall enhance the City of Burlington’s image/identity.

PLAN B

Plan B is a citizens initiative – a small group who lived in the downtown core didn’t like the way the city was handling public participation – they came up with ideas of their own that have shifted some of the thinking being done by the planners.

6) Require design excellence in all matters of architecture, landscape architecture, sustainable and urban design and require that all public and private development proposals on or adjacent to the site be evaluated/reviewed by the Burlington Urban Design Advisory Panel.

Public Realm

7) Protect public view corridors to Lake Ontario from Brant and Elizabeth Streets, and where possible John Street.

8) Enhance the Brant Street view corridor to frame views to the Brant Street Pier, and require a significant building setback from the west property line.

9) Create new and enhanced publicly accessible green/open space, which would include new north-south pedestrian connections between Lakeshore Road and Spencer Smith Park (mid-block and along the site’s edges).

10) Minimize changes to the existing grade along the southern edge of the site and enhance the interface with Spencer Smith Park.

11) Integrate a public washroom within the future redevelopment; with an entrance that is accessible, highly visible and within close proximity to Spencer Smith Park.

12) Identify opportunities for the placement of public art on and adjacent to the site.
Mobility and Access

13) Vehicle access shall be from Elizabeth Street.

14) Vehicle access from Brant Street will be closed and converted to a pedestrian orientated gateway to the waterfront.

15) All required on-site parking shall be provided underground (parking structures shall not be visible from the public streets and park).

16) Require Transportation Demand Management (TDM) and mitigation measures:

a. Examine the feasibility of introducing a future bike rental/share hub at this location.

421 James street rendering

The battle over what happens opposite city hall is basically over. Can Spencer Smith Park and the way the development impacts that space be any different?

The Staff report asked that staff be directed “to develop a revised work plan for the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study and report back to Council in Q1 2019 to outline the overall time, resources, communication and public engagement approaches required to address any changes to the study’s overall scope of work.”

The battle over this one is going to be as contentious as that over the high rise towers that are planned for Brant Street opposite city hall.

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Thefts from cars increasing - police ask residents to lock their vehicles.

Crime 100By Staff

June 6th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The Regional police are dealing with a number of thefts from cars in the city – many of the cars were parked unlocked in driveways

On June 4th 2018 shortly before 11:00 PM, police responded to the area of Flemish Drive and Artreva Crescent in Burlington after several area residents reported seeing three young males entering unlocked cars. Officer responded and during a search of the area, located the three youths who ran away on foot upon seeing police.

One of the youths, a 17-year-old from Burlington who cannot be named due to his age was arrested after a brief foot chase. He was found to have numerous items in his possession that is believed to have been stolen from vehicles such as gift cards, sunglasses, Samsung tablet, change, US currency, jewellery and identification. Investigators have identified four victims so far.

The arrested youth was later released on a promise to appear in Milton Youth Court on June 21st 2018 charged with theft under $5000, possession of property obtained by crime, possession of a controlled substance (marihuana) and fail to comply with disposition.

theft from cars - June 5-18

Thieves appear to drive from location to location looking for unlocked vehicles.

Overnight Sunday June 3rd to Monday June 4th 2018, there were numerous vehicles broken into on Deerhurst Drive and Sheldon Park Drive.

Some vehicles were unlocked while others had windows smashed.
Video surveillance from one of the thefts showed three persons believed to be males arriving in a light coloured SUV with their faces concealed.

The males are seen exiting the vehicle. One male remains with the vehicle, a second stands at the end of the driveway while the third proceeds up the driveway and breaks into the parked vehicles.

Overnight Monday June 4th to Tuesday June 5th 2018, there were numerous vehicles broken into on Imperial Way and Corporate Drive. In several of these theft, windows were pried right out of the vehicles or smashed.

Police are continuing to investigate these crimes and are urging Burlington residents to remain vigilant by keeping watch for suspicious vehicles and/or persons in their neighbourhoods and to report it immediately to police.

Investigators are asking anyone with surveillance video in the affected areas that have not yet spoke to police to contact the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2316 if the suspects are captured on video.

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

Police are reminding the public of the following prevention tips:

• Ensure your unattended vehicle(s) are kept locked/secure
• Never leave personal identification or valuables in your vehicle
• Park in a well-lit and attended areas whenever possible
• Never leave spare keys in your vehicle
• If you have to leave valuables in your vehicle, lock them in your trunk. Don’t tempt thieves by leaving packages or purses in plain view or on the seat.
• Remove garage door openers, GPS navigation and cell phone devices & power cords from your vehicle or at the least, removed from view
• Consider installing CCTV / Surveillance cameras which can capture the crime and aid in suspect identification
• Ensure their homes and garages are locked when absent from the home or turning in for the night.
• REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY TO POLICE IMMEDIATELY

graphic03

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Major redevelopment proposal for the east end of the city submitted to Planning department.

News 100 blueBy Staff

June 6th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

A development proposal has been submitted to the Planning department for a massive development in the east end of the city in ward 5

Rendering

The proposed development is to be done in five phases. Expected to go before city council early in 2019.

Planned as a five phase development that will turn a dreary plaza into a major development, the proposal will have a range of building forms and heights ranging from 1, 4, 6, 10, 11 and 18 storeys.

Area impacted

Location and size of the proposed development.

The plan is for 900 residential units and 11,955 metres of retail space and 2.700 square metres of office space.

The majority of the parking will be underground

The site has quite a history – different development ideas have been proposed – but nothing was ever filed with the Planning department.

Now there is a proposal that the planners will evaluate and prepare a report for city council.

More on the background at a later date.

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Andrea Horwath visits the Burlington NDP office.

News 100 yellowBy Pepper Parr

June 5th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

This article has been slightly revised.

It wasn’t a stop in the original plan for the campaign.

Burlington wasn’t seen as a major opportunity for the New Democrats in this provincial election. The party had a base in the 20% range and never got above that count.

2018 had two things that were different – the NDP was doing much better across the province and Burlington had a much better candidate.

Andrea in a crowd

Andrea Horwath – she wades into a crowd and touches people – they love it.

That’s what brought the Horwath “A Change for the Better” bus rolling into the Mountainside office late in the day.

Andrea finger on cheek

Andrea Horwath – animating a small crowd outside the Burlington NDP office.

Andrea Horwath is on the short side – sharp eyes that hold their gaze with no problem wading into a crowd. She doesn’t need a lectern or a sign in front of her.

She delivers the message, is very friendly with people – she doesn’t just come across as sincere – she is. Some stuff can be faked – this wasn’t fake.

She isn’t the kind of speaker that you would call an orator. She just tells you what she thinks. Asked during the media scrum what the first thing she was going to do if she found herself having the Office of the Premier? Find out where the washroom is was the reply. And it wasn’t a smart ass answer.

Has she begun to think about how she would form a Cabinet? No decisions have been made but there have been conversations.

Intensification is a big Burlington issue: what does Horwath think about regional growth? It has to be sustainable and we have to ensure that the services we have now are kept in place and improved upon.

The decisions being made in the United States and the tariff talk that is taking place are top of mind for Horwath – what is this going to do to our steel industry.

Her opponent – and there is now just the one – has more than enough of his own problems to deal with said Horwath – police investigations, law suits involving family members. “If Doug Ford is being sued by his sister-in-law for failing to give her what she thinks she is due how can we depend on him to take care of the people of Ontario? was the question Horwath had.

In the final days of an election campaign everyone is in scramble mode – reaching out for every possible vote.

McMahon with 2014 numbers

The data in the graph is from the 2014 election.

Burlington’s MPP Eleanor McMahon published a call for canvassers to keep at it – used a graph showing just how far ahead the Liberals were – in 2014. 2018 is a much different situation.

Tedjo talking

Alvin Tedjo – Liberal candidate in Oakville North Burlington

Premier Wynn is going to be in Burlington on Friday but she is not scheduled to drop by the McMahon office on Fairview – instead she will be calling on Alvin Tedjo’s office on Appleby Line where a combination of a politically attractive candidate and weak PC candidate plus a New Democrat who isn’t much more than a place holder. Nice but not a contender this time around.

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Green Party candidate Fiorito explains the damage done by voting strategically.

News 100 greenBy Staff

June 5th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

What happens when the fringe becomes part of the Mainstream political culture?

The Green Party has been advocating for the environment the day it was formed.

At the recent Canadian Federation of University Women Green candidate Vince Fiorito gave then a stark lesson.

Vince smiling - head cocked

Vince Fiorito – environmentalist and Burlington Green Party candidate

“We talk about the economy, our health and the environment and sometimes rank them with the environment being the last of the three”, said Fiorito.

“Without an environment that can sustain is – there is no health and there are no jobs.”

Put the environment first urges Fiorito – and start doing so soon – we may not have all that much time left before the environment gives up on us.

Vince Fiorito is an environmentalist first – who aspires to be a politician. He has been around Green Party politics for several elections. Ran in Burlington in 2014 then spent most of his time in Guelph where the Greens were certain they would take that seat. They didn’t.

This time around Fiorito is just as certain that the Greens are finally going to have a seat in the provincial legislature – and he might be right. The Guelph seat should go to the Greens but with the fear surrounding Doug Ford people are voting strategically and that rubs the wrong way with Vince Fiorito.

“Fear of a PC boogieman to encourage strategic voting is a tactic used by the Green Party’s rivals to steal votes from us. The fact is, strategic voting almost always backfires.

“Fear of Harper and strategic voting, handed Trudeau Liberals a majority government in 2015. If more people had voted for their values rather against who they hated, its likely Trudeau would have only won a minority government, our electoral system would be reformed and I would not be planning to go to BC to get arrested at a pipeline protest.

“Strategic voting and fear of Tim Hudak in 2014 is why GPO leader Mike Schreiner didn’t win in Guelph and was blocked from the televised “All Leaders” Debates.

“I doubt Green Party supporters who voted strategically against the Green party in 2014 and 2015, wanted electoral reform to be shelved, the federal government to spend billions on a pipeline across BC and to silence the Green Party’s voice. Yet these are the consequence of past Green Party supporter strategic voting.

Sheldon Creek - vince in high water

Fiorito cleaning up a ravine in Burlington.

“Isn’t it about time, Green Party supporters stopped voting out of fear and hate and started voting based on our shared values? The lesser of two evils is still evil

“Latest polls indicate the NDP and PCs are tied, with the Liberals and Greens in 3rd and 4th. That means the PC’s have nearly no chance of winning a majority government. Most likely we are headed towards an unstable minority government, with the Liberals and/or the Greens holding the balance of power. Likely this government is not going to last. I predict we will be in another provincial election within six months. Anyone who wants to vote Green can safely do so in this election, without fear that they will help the PC’s win a majority government.

Mike portrait small Green party

Green Party Ontario leader Mike Schreiner

“Have you ever once heard anyone advocating voting Green strategically? Since GPO leader Mike Schreiner in Guelph is winning, you’d think the strategic vote in that riding would be to vote Green. Why is strategic voting always at the expense of the Green party? When have either of these parties ever conceded that you shouldn’t vote for their candidate because it might help elect the PC candidate?

“Every vote is worth $2 and change per year under the new Ontario election law. If you vote Green, you help fund the Green Party. If you vote for someone else, then you help fund our political rivals.

“The main parties could have reformed our electoral system to make every vote count a long time ago. But they won’t do it, because strategic voting helps them at the expense of the Green Party. Isn’t that a good reason for Green Party supporters to not NOT to vote for them? If you want our electoral system to be reformed, then you MUST punish parties that encourage strategic voting and vote for someone else.

“Anyone who claims you should never vote Green, because it always helps the PCs are either being manipulative, or they have been manipulated. Unless you actually know it’s a close race between PC candidate and another party candidate IN YOUR RIDING, then you can’t know what is the best way to vote strategically IN YOUR RIDING against the PC candidate. What the polls say provincially is not an accurate indicator of how you should vote strategically IN YOUR RIDING.”

Vince Fitorio

Vince Fiorito – Watershed Steward.

With Vince Fiorito you always know where he stands.

“Climate change and a biodiversity crisis threaten to leave future generations a resource depleted dying planet. Time for action on these problems is running out. Voting for business as usual will lead to catastrophe. If NOW isn’t the right time to vote Green, then when would that time be?

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Libertarian candidate sets out what he stands for - looking for your support.

News 100 blueBy Staff

June 5th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

They get referred to as “fringe” candidates. They aren’t part of the mainstream political parties – but they often have a well thought out point of view and a different approach to how society should – could work.
They often bring ideas that work their way into mainstream thinking. The fringes do include some whacko candidates. Jim Gilchrist isn’t one of those. His philosophy is that of a Libertarian.

He is the Libertarian Party candidate for the riding of Burlington Ontario

Libertarianism is a collection of political philosophies and movements that uphold liberty as a core principle. Libertarians seek to maximize political freedom and autonomy, emphasizing freedom of choice, voluntary association and individual judgment.

What is most important to Gilchrist:

Jim_Gilchrist_Super_Portrait

Jim Gilchrist – Libertarian.

Encouraging more political awareness and involvement, especially in young Ontarians
Reducing the provincial debt for future generations
Ensuring governmental accountability and fiscal responsibility
Increasing government efficiency and rationalizing services
Re-establishing Ontario as an attractive business environment
Stimulating business growth, investment and job creation
Providing an energy policy with reasonable costs for families and businesses
Offering more choice and greater access to healthcare
Enabling greater parental choice and input for quality education
Maintaining a transparent democratic process

About Jim:
• a resident of downtown Burlington since 1989
• married to my wife Nancy for 28 years
• have two grown sons
• owned and operated Career Advancement Employment Services Inc. for over 20 years
• expertise in ‘people performance’ solutions to both organizations and individuals
• graduate of the University of Waterloo with a joint honours Bachelors of Environmental Studies and Political Science degree (B.E.S.)
• completed coursework related to management decision-making and urban development in the Masters of Environmental Studies and Masters of Business Administration programs at York University
• Past Director, Burlington Youth Soccer Club Board of Directors (BYSC)
• Past coach, Burlington Lions Optimist Minor Hockey Association (BLOMHA)
• Past Treasurer, Healey Lake Property Owners Association, (HLPOA)

Contact Information

Telephone: (905) 681-8240
Email: JimGLibertarian@gmail.com
Webpage: https://www.jimgbetterrepresentation.ca
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JimGLibertarian
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JimGilchristLibertarian

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Suspected car thief arrested - police looking for a second suspect.

Crime 100By Staff

June 5th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

On June 4th 2018 shortly after 10:50 PM, police were alerted to an attempted vehicle theft at the Holiday Inn located at 3063 South Service Road in Burlington.

Police responded to the area and determined that the ignition to a Chevrolet Suburban had been damaged and property had been stolen from inside.

Officers checking the area observed a suspicious vehicle exiting the Quality Inn at 955 Walkers Line in Burlington. This vehicle was determined to be an Oldsmobile Alero reported stolen to the Brantford Police Service earlier in the day. An attempt to stop this vehicle resulted in a suspect apprehension pursuit which was discontinued for public safety reasons as the vehicle entered onto eastbound the Q.E.W.

Cst Mitchell with police dog Juno being trained. Another police dog, Storm, was used in the drug raid in east end Burlington.

Cst Mitchell with police dog Juno being trained.

The same stolen vehicle was soon located unoccupied in the parking lot of the Quality Inn located at 754 Bronte Road in Oakville. After a thorough search of the area by officers from Burlington, Oakville and Police Canine a suspect was arrested.

Thomas David Ryder BOMBERRY (29-yrs) of Oshweken was held for bail charged with the following offences:

• Theft of motor vehicle
• Theft under $5000
• Mischief under $5000
• Possession of property obtained by crime under $5000
• Flight while pursued by peace officer
• Fail to comply with probation

Police are seeking a second male suspect, (no descriptors available at this time) who is believed to have stolen a black Chevrolet Silverado 3500 with licence plate AV22010 from the Oakville Quality Inn parking lot.

Anyone with information on these crimes is encouraged to contact the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2316.

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 .

 

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Copp to produce and direct Macbeth at the Rock Garden in August.

News 100 yellowBy Staff

June 5th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

For the third consecutive year, local director Trevor Copp (Artistic Director, Tottering Biped Theatre) and the Shakespeare at the Rock ensemble create their boldest interpretation yet on a Shakespeare classic – Shakespeare’s classic story of fate and vengeance is re-imagined as a conspiracy story thriller.

Macbeth logoMacbeth’s pact with unseen forces to become a tyrant King unfolds with consequences beyond his darkest imaginings. This highly physical interpretation is performed outdoors at the stunning grounds of RBG’s Rock Garden and features outstanding emerging talent.

Rock Garden sign

Royal Botanical Garden’s Rock Garden, 680 Plains Rd. W., Burlington, ON

Set at the magnificent Rock Garden at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Shakespeare at the Rock began with a simple idea: that audiences and emerging artists alike need not quench their creative thirsts in Toronto or elsewhere; that beautiful and captivating work is done right here in our own backyard; that local artists can stay local and still be paid for their work.

Merchant - plays antonio

Antonia from the Merchant of Venice.

Past productions have proven highly successful: standing room only evenings among fragrant gardens with a cast comprised of many recent graduates from McMaster, Brock, Waterloo, and Sheridan Theatre programs.
Returning to tell this season’s tale of conspiracy are the ever-talented Shawn DeSouza-Coelho, Michael Hannigan, Jesse Horvath, Jamie Kasiama, Zach Parsons, Claudia Spadafora, and Alma Sarai. In addition, this year’s ensemble welcomes newcomer, Brooklyn Olinyk

Macbeth
August 13-17, 20-24, 27-31.
Monday – Friday, 7:00PM (No Saturday shows.)

The Royal Botanical Garden’s Rock Garden, 680 Plains Rd. W., Burlington, ON

www.rbg.ca/shakespeare for tickets.

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Doug Ford: He lacks the education, experience, integrity and acumen to lead this province into better days. And he has the track record to prove it.

Rivers 100x100By Ray Rivers

June 5th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

I have a friend who claims that he learned everything he knows from watching cops and robbers on the big screen and his giant home TV. He was raised on Al Capone, Billy the Kid, and Bonnie and Clyde. And later he fell in love with the Sopranos. There was something about drugs and labour unions and waste management that were compelling and telling. So what about the politicians wanting your vote come June 7?

richard-nixon-soulmates-r

Former US president Richard Nixon – forgot to turn the tape recorder off.

My friend’s political heroes are the anti-christ, the ones with the chutzpah to pretend they’re there for the every person but are really there for themselves. They’ve never seen a law they weren’t afraid to break or ignore. Richard Nixon is a favourite, and of course Donald Trump, our own Brian Mulroney with his Karl Heinz dealings… and Rob Ford of course. So how, I asked, do the candidates for Ontario’s highest office rate?

Andrea thumb up

Horwath: she doesn’t look like she’d ever use a bat except to play ball.

Andrea Horwath gets D minus. Running neck-in-neck for first place in the upcoming election she hails direct from Ontario’s crime capital, Hamilton. She was a student of labour policy before becoming a Hamilton councillor and chairing a city solid waste management committee, which sounds kind of suspicious, though nobody has seen a baseball bat in her locker. Perhaps that’s because she leads a pro-union labour party, or perhaps because she doesn’t look like she’d ever use a bat except to play ball.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne speaks at the hearings into the gas plant cancellations at Queen's Park in Toronto on December 3, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne speaks at the hearings into the gas plant cancellations at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

Kathleen Wynne gets a D. She is more of a historical character at this point having announced that she is giving up the race to lead the province. But even though she is the fifth longest serving premier she has failed in all that time to have engaged in any notable criminal wrong-doing. There must have been an opportunity when she saved the horse racing industry from her predecessor’s knife – but nothing.

Oh sure she has a book-keeping disagreement with the provincial auditor general on a couple of issues, and one of her staff had been falsely accused of political bribery in a by-election – proven to be sour grapes. And she must have been at the Cabinet table when Dalton McGuinty decided to play politics with electricity file. But there is no smoking gun of corruption, no payola, nor any blood on her hands.

Her biggest crime is in the debt load she leaves future generations, two thirds of which represents investment in new transportation – an investment they will also inherit. And of course this is money we largely owe ourselves. It would be a more serious issue were the economy, the strongest it’s been in thirty years, unable to accommodate financing this investment and not spooking the bond raters.

Doug Ford gets an A +. His drug dealing days as reported by the Globe and Mail go pretty far back. And who didn’t do something stupid, criminal, dangerous and mind blowing when they were young? And who wouldn’t break the municipal code of conduct once elected to city council, according to the city’s integrity commissioner. Is it really a conflict of interest to help your friends to the taxpayers money just because they‘re also your clients.

Ford Doug

Has a close family member who was a mayor of a big city until he had to go into rehab for addiction to crack cocaine and booze.

I mean who among us doesn’t have a close family member who was a mayor of a big city until he had to go into rehab for addiction to crack cocaine and booze. And why should Doug take the blame for being his brother’s keeper? Except he was in so many ways. They were close, coaching him, occupying the mayor’s office when Rob was off on a binge, and being there in times of family crisis, which usually involved illegal drugs and sometimes even a hand gun.

The Fords were a close family so it’s all a bit of shock that Doug is being sued by Rob’s widow. She claims that Doug effectively stole her inheritance and that of her children – Rob’s 20% share in Deco labels, the company his father had started. Doug and his brother Randy had taken the shares in trust, breached that trust, and squandered the money on losing business ventures and fat salaries and bonuses for themselves – or something like that.

But the bottom line is the bottom line according to Rob Ford’s widow in her claim against Doug and his brother Randy. “Breach of trust, conspiracy and “negligent mismanagement” of the family business, Deco Labels, in the Superior Court statement of claim that seeks damages of more than $16 million” (Toronto Sun).

“Neither Doug Ford nor Randy Ford have the education and business ability to justify their employment as senior officers of Deco,” she (Renata Ford) alleges, adding that they carried out numerous “ill-advised acquisitions” of businesses and assets in New Jersey, Chicago and Ohio.” (Toronto Star).

Doug Ford says help is on the way – he claims he is going to turn this province around. But with a near full employment economy the question is whether Ontario’s economic progress can be sustained under a premier with such an unfortunate business record. Kathleen Wynne may not connect well with Ontario voters but she has helped us live in good times and perhaps at the end of the day we’ll judge that she may have been premature taking herself out of the race.

Doug Ford finger pointing

And he has the record to prove it.

My dystopia-loving friend may be cheering for Doug Ford, but we voters in this province need to have a sober second thought before we head into the ballot booth. Mr. Ford is ill equipped for the job of premier. He lacks the education, experience, integrity and acumen to lead this province into better days. And he has the track record to prove it.

Rivers hand to faceRay 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:

Doug At Deco –   Councillor Doug –   Wiki on Deco

More Deco –   Law Suit –   More Law Suit

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Advance voting up 18.8% over the 2014 total - suggests a heavy turnout on Thursday.

News 100 blueBy Staff

June 5th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

An estimated 768,895 voters participated in advance voting for the 2018 General Election. Preliminary figures show that voter turnout for advance voting was 18.8%. This is an increase from the 647,261 electors who voted at advance polls for the general election in 2014.

Ballot box - elections ontarioCanadian citizens who reside in Ontario and are at least 18 years of age on election day are eligible to vote. Ontario electors can find a list of acceptable identification documents, along with information about when and where to vote, at www.elections.on.ca .

Polls open at 9:00 am and close at 9:00 pm.

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Peter Rusin creates his own political party and runs for the Burlington seat in the Legislature.

News 100 redBy Staff

June 5th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

For a more light hearted look at who is running for office and why consider Peter Rusin, he was a candidate for mayor in 2014.

Rusin - direct into camera - hard look

Peter Rusin wants everyone to be able to enjoy the benefits of having less government imposition in their lives.

This time around Rusin is running for MPP to represent those people who are seeking an option to the current party governance structure in the province. Peter believes independent thinking and protection of rights for each individual have become suppressed by the current climate of political correctness and extreme party policy agendas. His hope is that everyone can better exercise their freedoms and be able to enjoy the benefits of having less government imposition in their lives by voting for Consensus Ontario; a form of government directed by the people and not as dictated by established party ideologues.

Peter feels that the current tax burdens, planned deficits and record levels of debt, are unjustly choking the life out of the economic health across the province, and stressing families. He wants to instill a philosophy into government and civil servant representatives that people need to be served in a humble manner, and believes that together with an empowered voter system free of traditional party affiliation, will result in a higher quality of life for all Ontarians. Peter will also bring Transparency and Accountability back to the table to ensure government is responsible and strong.

Rusin walking dog

A man and his dog.

Peter says the collapse of the provincial Liberal party in 2018 is a good thing, and that it will help to free individuals and bring back confidence to the collective spirit of a more effective democracy. The current political climate is toxic and needs a cleansing. He also wants Burlington voters to be able to set their own course addressing local issues, including making affordable housing a top priority. Peter believes the Burlington riding deserves a stronger and independent voice.

Peter is married with 3 children and is a professional commercial realtor who specializes in expropriation related matters and works on major public transportation infrastructure projects across southern Ontario and the GTHA. In his spare time Peter enjoys cruising with his dog Pepper in a two door 707 horsepower Hellcat, sending a message to all the left wing extremists that life can be more fun when freed of excessive political ideology.

Peter’s phone number is 905-599-6661 (cell)

Peter’s email is peter@peterrusin.com

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Pauline Johnson Public School to open time capsules on Friday to celebrate a 50th anniversary and the Indigenous author the school was named after.

News 100 yellowBy Pepper Parr

June 5th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

She was half white and was neglected as part of the indigenous culture that was beginning to be recognized when Margaret Atwood wrote Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature in 1972.

At its publication, Atwood said she could not find Native works. She mused, “Why did I overlook Pauline Johnson? Perhaps because, being half-white, she somehow didn’t rate as the real thing, even among Natives; although she is undergoing reclamation today.

The Pauline Johnson Public School in Burlington was opened in 1968 at a time when schools were being built to accommodate a growing population. This Friday the school will celebrate its 50th anniversary by opening two time capsules; the  25th Anniversary capsule laid down in 1993 and the Millennium Year capsule laid down in 2000.

Pauline in native dress

A successful writer and performer who was forgotten for a period of time Pauline Johnson is once again being fully recognized.

Emily Pauline Johnson (also known in Mohawk as Tekahionwake –pronounced: dageh-eeon-wageh, literally: ‘double-life’, was born in March 1861. Commonly known as Pauline Johnson, she was a Canadian writer and performer popular in the late 19th century. Johnson was notable for her poems and performances that celebrated her Aboriginal heritage; her father was a hereditary Mohawk chief of mixed ancestry. She also drew from English influences, as her mother was an English immigrant. One such poem is the frequently anthologized “The Song My Paddle Sings”.

Her poetry was published in Canada, the United States and Great Britain; she was one of a generation of widely read writers who began to define a Canadian literature. While her literary reputation declined after her death, since the later 20th century, there has been renewed interest in her life and works.

Chiefswood-300x300

Chiefswood, Johnson’s childhood home is now a National Monument in Brantford, Ontario

Pauline Johnson was born at Chiefswood, the family home built by her father in 1856 on his 225-acre estate at the Six Nations reserve outside Brantford, Ontario. She was the youngest of four children of Emily Susanna Howells Johnson (1824–1898), a native of England, and George Henry Martin Johnson (1816–1884), a Mohawk hereditary clan chief. His mother, Helen Martin, was of partial Dutch descent and born into the Wolf clan; his maternal grandmother, Catherine Rolleston, was a Dutch girl who became assimilated as Mohawk after being taken captive and adopted by a Wolf clan family.

Although both their families were opposed to Emily and George Johnson’s marriage, and the couple were concerned that their own mixed-race family would not be socially accepted, they were acknowledged as a leading Canadian family. The Johnsons enjoyed a high standard of living, and their family and home were well known. Chiefswood was visited by such intellectual and political guests as the inventor Alexander Graham Bell, painter Homer Watson, noted anthropologist Horatio Hale, and Lady and Lord Dufferin, Governor General of Canada.

performance dress

One of the native costumes Pauline Johnson wore on stage.

Emily and George Johnson encouraged their four children to respect and learn about both the Mohawk and the English aspects of their heritage. Because the children were born to a Native father, by British law they were legally considered Mohawk and wards of the British Crown. But under the Mohawk kinship system, because their mother was not Mohawk, they were not born into a tribal clan; they were excluded from important aspects of the tribe’s matrilineal culture. Their paternal grandfather John Smoke Johnson, who had been elected an honorary Pine Tree Chief, was an authority in the lives of his grandchildren. He told them many stories in the Mohawk language, which they comprehended but did not speak fluently. Pauline Johnson said that she inherited her talent for elocution from her grandfather. A sickly child, Johnson did not attend Brantford’s Mohawk Institute.

postage stamp

Postage stamp issued to honour Pauline Johnson

At the age of 14, Johnson went to Brantford Central Collegiate with her brother Allen. She graduated in 1877.

During the 1880s, Johnson wrote and performed in amateur theatre productions. She enjoyed the Canadian outdoors, where she traveled by canoe. In 1883 she published her first full-length poem, “My Little Jean”, in the New York Gems of Poetry. She began to increase the pace of her writing and publishing afterward.

Shortly after her father’s death in 1884, the family rented out Chiefswood. Pauline moved with her widowed mother and sister to a modest home in Brantford. She worked to support them all, and found that her stage performances allowed her to make a living. Johnson supported her mother until her death in 1898.

Brant was always pretty good at getting grants from the British, but this Council probably isn’t going to hear his argument.

“Ode to Brant” was written to mark the unveiling in Brantford of a statue honoring Joseph Brant.

Johnson promoted her identity as a Mohawk, but as an adult spent little time with people of that culture.

In 1886, Johnson was commissioned to write a poem to mark the unveiling in Brantford of a statue honoring Joseph Brant, the important Mohawk leader who was allied with the British during and after the American Revolutionary War. Her “Ode to Brant” was read at a 13 October ceremony before “the largest crowd the little city had ever seen.

The poem sparked a long article in the Toronto Globe, and increased interest in Johnson’s poetry and heritage. The Brantford businessman William F. Cockshutt read the poem at the ceremony, as Johnson was reportedly too shy.

Evening gown

Pauline Johnson used both native dress and traditional gowns in her stage performances.

Johnson retired from the stage in August 1909 and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia to continue writing. In 1911, to help support Johnson, who was ill and poor, a group of friends organized the publication of these stories under the title Legends of Vancouver. They remain classics of that city’s literature.

One of the stories was a Squamish legend of shape shifting: how a man was transformed into Siwash Rock “as an indestructible monument to Clean Fatherhood”. In another, Johnson told the history of Deadman’s Island, a small islet off Stanley Park. In a poem in the collection, she named one of her favourite areas “Lost Lagoon”, as the inlet seemed to disappear when the water emptied at low tide. The body of water has since been transformed into a permanent, fresh-water lake at Stanley Park, but it is still called “Lost Lagoon”.

native beauty

Pauline Johnson was a remarkably beautiful woman who made a lasting contribution to our understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture.

Johnson died of breast cancer in Vancouver, British Columbia on 7 March 1913. Her funeral (the largest until then in Vancouver history) was held on what would have been her 52nd birthday. Her ashes were buried near Siwash Rock in Stanley Park. In 1922 a cairn was erected at the burial site, with an inscription reading in part, “in memory of one whose life and writings were an uplift and a blessing to our nation”.

In 1961, on the centennial of her birth, Johnson was celebrated with a commemorative stamp bearing her image, “rendering her the first woman (other than the Queen), the first author, and the first aboriginal Canadian to be thus honored.

Johnson was one of the five finalists of significant women to be featured on Canadian banknotes, a contest eventually won by Viola Desmond.

Burlington’s Pauline Johnson Public School is one of four on Ontario to bear the name of this famous Canadian.

On Friday afternoon the students, staff, alumni and local dignitaries will take part in the opening of the time capsules and honouring the author. Members of the indigenous community will take part in the event.

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McKenna: She wants back in; the allure of public office is something she just cannot resist.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

June 4th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Will Burlington send Jane McKenna back to Queen’s Park or will she get there because a majority of the people who vote on Thursday want Doug Ford to lead the province?

MPP Jane McKenna with the best job she has ever had will have to seek re-election when the expected provincial election is called in the Spring.

Jane McKenna once told the Gazette hat her Father told her to have one really good suit and wear it often – that will get you the best job you will ever have.

In the event that Jane McKenna gets sworn in as a Member of the Legislature for a second time what might she do on a second occasion that she was not able to do during her first trip – she did tell the Canadian Federation of University Woman (CFUW) audience at Central High School that she was sitting as an Opposition member and wasn’t able to do very much.

Does that mean that if she sits in the Legislature as a member of an opposition the citizens of Burlington can expect another lack lustre performance?

Watching Ms McKenna for four years as a Member of the opposition we are hard pressed to recall anything she did.

mckenna-jane-new-look

McKenna speaking to the Burlington Progressive Association.

Our recollection is that she chose to become what can be best described as a Progressive Conservative power groupy. Being attached to or near people elected to office seemed to be an end in itself for Mc McKenna. We never had the impression that Ms McKenna actually knew what she was doing.

She was given different roles by then Leader of the Opposition Tim Hudak who, in the fullness of time, came to the conclusion that he could better serve in the private sector and left government to be was replaced by Patrick Brown which required Ms McKenna to re-align and attach herself to the new leader.

During the four year hiatus that Ms Mc McKenna spent outside government our understanding is that she served as a lobbyist for the nuclear power industry. It isn’t possible to confirm whether or not Mc McKenna served in that capacity – she made no mention of that work during the CFUW debate.

What we did hear from Ms McKenna was a regurgitation of the Doug Ford plan for the province. In this capacity Ms McKenna did the same sterling job she did when she explained the Tim Hudak platform promising to create a million jobs and to reduce the public service by 100,000 jobs through attrition – resulting in his math being challenged by the other parties and various analysts.

jane-mckenna-joe-dogs

McKenna at the Central High school fund raiser.

In September of 2012, after listening to McKenna address the Chamber of Commerce, the Gazette said:
“Jane McKenna is growing as a politician. A little less stridency, more reflection and over time she could become a Charlotte Whitton – all the Tories that matter in this town will remember her – and nod approvingly. Can McKenna make that transition?. It will be a challenge.”

It proved to be a challenge she was unable to overcome – but she is back. The allure of public office is something she just cannot resist.

In her first election McKenna defeated Karmel Sakran.   She was then defeated by Eleanor McMahon who she now faces in 2018 – along with a much stronger NDP candidate.

McKenna

Different times – different look. The 2018 campaign.

The two McKenna nominations had a tinge of discord about the.  The first in 2011was a 15 minute affair; the second in 2017  was mired by controversy and doubt that led a number of people to walk away from the association.

There was a time when Ontario had sound stable government led by John Robarts and Bill Davis, who might have been bland but the province prospered and there was stable government without the histrionics.

What have we done to deserve the current Progressive offering?

 

Background links:

The first nomination for Jane McKenna

The second nomination for Jane McKenna

Search boxFor a deeper look at how McKenna has served the community use the search box at the top right of the front page.

Salt with Pepper is the views, opinions and observations of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette.

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One of the best political campaigners in the city may go down to defeat on Thursday.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

June 4th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

She was chosen as the candidate for Burlington by the Premier.

McMahon - First public as Minister

Eleanor McMahon at her first public event after being appointed to Cabinet

She was made a Cabinet member in June of 2016 and served on the Treasury Board and went on to serve as the President of the Treasury Board.

She is one of the best political campaigners in the city.

She is loquacious, tries hard to be open and accessible; doesn’t always succeed.

There are many that are unhappy with the way she served; parents with children at Lester B. Pearson and Bateman high school felt she could have done much more to help them keep their schools open.

The Tyandaga Environmental Coalition felt she never fully understand what was being done to them.

On the plus side McMahon delivered in spades to the arts community and she came through for the transformation of the Brant Museum.

McMahon had an ability to connect almost immediately with the seniors’ community.

McMahon GO bilevel announcement

As a Cabinet Minister McMahon spent a lot of time delivering announcements. Building a strong base within the community got a bit lost in the photo ops.

Early in her political career she was one of those who took the Burlington case for financial support for the August 2014 flood victims to Cabinet – she wasn’t a Cabinet member at the time. The province initially said no – funding was not going to be available. McMahon, with huge gobs of support from then Minister of Housing, Ted McMeekin, Burlington got a matching funds deal with the province.

The city needed access to a computer platform that could be used to collect donations – McMahon worked the phones and leaned on her United Way contacts to convince them to let the Burlington Foundation use the United Way computer platform to collect funds. The donations were vital if the provincial matching funds were going to be available.

That kind of back channel contact is priceless in the world of local politics. McMahon usually knew who to call and when she was confident – she would pick up the telephone.

She wasn’t always as confident as she could have been.

McMahon is fluently bilingual and had a command of indigenous languages. She was a quick study when it came to policy- but tended to get lost when it came to the mechanics of problems.

Liber

The city doesn’t have anyone near her equal as a campaigner. People took to her and believed she understood them.

When elections get tight those who have strong community support can overcome a sweep that overturns a government.  McMahon wasn’t able to get to that point during her first term – which may prove to be her only term. Politicians get returned to office when they deliver for their constituents.

Did McMahon fail to deliver? Did she have enough time to create a depth of support that was strong enough to withstand waves of discontent of a government she was part of ?

It doesn’t look as if her on the ground support is going to be there for her.

One seldom, if ever, heard McMahon take her party and the government she was part of to task. She may have done that inside Cabinet meetings – we will never know.

McMahon at BMO wondering when the provincial money is going to arrive

Few are fully aware of how big a role McMahon played in getting Burlington the funding it needed after the August 2014 flood. McMahon doing a photo op at a bank that came through with a big cheque.

To be a responsible critic one has to be both seen and heard

She was a very strong supporter of the women’s issues and inclusivity. She fully understood how the wheels of government and the arm’s length organizations worked.

She wasn’t seen as a risk taker and seldom spent the limited political capital she had fighting an unpopular issue.

She had one of those plus plus personalities but didn’t seem to be able to stretch it to cover those situations where she was in awkward or uncomfortable situations.

Single when she was elected – she lost her husband in a tragic road accident involving a driver who should never have been behind the wheel of a vehicle, McMahon had a large strong supportive family that got her through the harder days. She was the last of a seven children.  The loss of her husband marked McMahon for life and became a focal point for much of her community service.

McMahon had the capacity to meet with groups and almost instantly recognize what the need was and then pick up the phone and get something going.

Politics is often referred to as a blood sport – having ones hands on the levers of power has always been the objective. With those levers much could be achieved.

That opportunity going forward may be lost.

Salt with Pepper is the opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette.

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Andrea Horwath to visit the NDP campaign office on Tuesday - the political winds are shifting.

News 100 yellowBy Pepper Parr

June 4th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

When the wind shifts a good Captain trims the sails.

When Andrew Drummond was made the NDP candidate for Burlington his hope was to get the NDP vote back to the 20% range they have traditionally held.

Andrew wasn’t able to get a leave of absence from his full time job – so he was hot footing it at the GO stations on his way into work and doing as much as he could when he got home.

A single parent with two pre-teen children he had his hands full.

Andrew Drummond

Andrew Drummond with a supporter

He was a big step up in terms of a quality candidate – not a huge union supporter either. For him the issue is the quality of life we live. He can’t go along with people having to live on minimum wages that are only now at $14 – going to $15 next year when the Community Development Halton data is quite clear – people need $17 to live a decent life.

Last weekend Drummond got four houses in a row in the Riverside community that said they were voting for him.

The most recent poll gave the NDP 34% of the vote.

Horwath bus

Horwath campaign bus is going to roll into Burlington on Tuesday – 5:50 pm at the campaign office on Mountainside.

All that positive news was good enough to convince NDP leader Andrea Horwath to have her tour bus take a tighter left hand turn and drop by the NDP office at 2232 Mountainside – 5:50 pm on Tuesday the 5th of June.

How long has it been since an NDP leader visited Burlington?

Walter Mulkewich told the Gazette that Bob Rae visited Burlington twice in 1985 when Mulkewich was the candidate. Walter didn’t win the provincial seat in that election.

Andrew Drummond is in a much different situation – the whole province is in a different sitaution.

The NDP sails are being trimmed to catch the new winds.

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If you are running for Mayor in this town - get ready for your Smart Car Confidential with James Burchill.

council 100x100By Staff

June 4th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

James Burchill is on a tear.

He is busier than an Uber driver with his Smart Car.

He has scheduled Mike Wallace, one of the three people running for the office of Mayor, for his Smart Car Coffee Confidential for this Friday to be followed by Marianne Meed Ward who is also running for the office of Mayor. Meed Ward is to be featured on June 15th.

Link to the quick peak at Mike Wallace.

Quick peak at what you will hear from Meed Ward.

Wallace Confidenial coffee

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Lester B. Pearson high school holds its final public goodbye.

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

June 3rd, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

Revision:  We have been advised that ward 4 trustee Richelle Papin was at the Saturday afternoon event at Lester B. Pearson high school.  We didn’t see her but have been told she was there.

There is a strange feeling when you are in a room with a lot of people who know that a place that was once a large part of their lives is going to be brought to an end – their high school is being closed. The trustees they elected to office decided there was no point in keeping the school open.

LBP crest + 1st and last

At the podium on the right are current principal Loraine Fedurco and founding principal David Katz.

The Lester B. Pearson high school was holding it last public event.

During a Saturday afternoon event the schools’ first principal David Katz and its last Loraine Fedurco were on the stage convincing the large audience that it would not be forgotten.

No one knows what the long term prospects are for the building. In the immediate future the school will be used by the Catholic School Board for a short term. It will be awhile before it is declared surplus. When that decision is made the property can be sold.

Creating the Lester B. Pearson high school involved not just the school administration but the city as well.

There was space that was defined as community space and for a period of time there was community programing in place.

Designed as an Open classroom concept at a time when that was being done in Ontario high schools Pearson reverted to the standard classroom approach.

The school took on not only the name of the former Prime Minister but much of the spirit Pearson brought to his public service, quiet, with a public service orientation, was reflected in the school program.

LBP close audience

It was a quiet audience – not a word about the why and how their school was closed – just appreciation for the time they spent in classrooms

During the three hour event there wasn’t a word of anger or disappointment heard about the decision to close the school. The school board trustee who represented the school didn’t attend; she did vote not to close the school. A school board trustee, the chair of the board who attended Pearson high school did vote to close it, did attend – she was in the choir.

David Katz LBP principal

David Katz, the founding principal.

David Katz, the founding principal told the audience that the school didn’t have a football team. “That was a deliberate decision made when the school was founded in 1976.

The high school had numerous sporting successes. Known as the Pearson Patriots, the school won a Halton title in men’s hockey in 2006. The men’s basketball team has had success with back to back Halton titles in 1992 and 1993, three repetitive Halton titles from 2005–2007 and one in 1988, with three Peel-GHAC championships and subsequent appearances at the OFSAA provincial championship tournament in 1988, 1993, 2006 and 2007.

The rugby team had OFSAA appearances numerous times for both senior girls and boys. In 2009 the Junior Boys Basketball Team won the Halton Boys Regional Basketball Championship. In 2011, the Senior Girls soccer team won the Halton Girls Championship and placed third at the 2011 OFSAA Championships. The Junior Girls Volleyball also won their championship in the same year. Also the Sr. Boys Rugby Team went to OFSAA for a 2nd year in a row and getting their first OFSAA win in a friendly match. In 2012, the Senior Boys Basketball, Senior Boys Volleyball, and Varsity Boys Rugby won championships in their respective sports.

In 2002 the men’s baseball team won Pearson’s only OFSAA triple A championship at Skydome in Toronto.

With the opening of Dr. Frank Hayden high school to the north in 2013 Pearson’s population dropped to 300+ students. The elementary schools that fed Pearson were re-directed to the new high school which meant the end for Pearson. Starved of students the school had to be closed.

Blackwell +

On the right, school board Superintendent Terri Blackwell chats with parents. Scot Lambert is on the far left.

Founded in 1976, the school is named after former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. It was one of the first “Action” High Schools in the province; a concept that didn’t take. Pearson was intended to be open concept – that too didn’t hold.

The school wasn’t big enough to have an auditorium or a cafeteria – it did have a Cafetorium

The school also had a triple sized gymnasium, with one intended for community use.

There was a self-contained community nursery.

There was a horseback riding club, a Tai Chi club and a social justice group.

Pearson was a high school built for a bungalow community in a Burlington that was expanding north of the Queen Elizabeth highway that bisects the city.

Grad with dredlocks

The graduates went off in their different directions to be who they wanted to be.

It was always intended to be a small high school – a much larger high school was a 15 minute walk to the west which is where the former Pearson students will attend in the fall of 2018.

Much of what teachers did at Pearson was experimental, new ideas and a different approach to integrating school and community.

The school was a brave, bold innovative idea that the decision makers gave up on.

Looking over the year book

Looking over the year book – is that us?

Mom showing her class

Mom showing her husband and children her graduating class picture.

What it did have was a strong school spirit, something that still exists. There are parents that believe the fight to keep the school open is not over yet – they are looking for a way to elect trustees that will make a different decision.

The school also produced graduates that have gone on to make consistent contributions to what is a fine community.

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Jane McKenna could be heading back to Queen's Park.

Newsflash 100By Staff

June 3rd, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

The Gazette has been asked to publish the following statement:  This poll was produced by Mainstreet Research as part of it’s Daily Tracking of voter intentions.

A trusted source that should know tells us that in Burlington the poll numbers look like this:

“My information is that in Burlington Andrew Drummond is 7.4 % points behind Jane McKenna. (PC – 41.8, NDP 34.4, Lib 18.5, Green 2.9, other 2.4)”

With just three days left 7 + points is a big hurdle to get over.

The New Democrats have traditionally held between 14 to 19% of the vote. A rise to 34+% is an incredible number.

The bottom of the Liberal vote will have to fall out if the NDP is to take the seat or a lot of Progressive Conservatives will decide Doug Ford is more than they can stomach and hold their noses when the mark their ballots.

The opportunity to form a government might be too much for the PC adherents to take a pass on. Before this is over Cam Jackson will begin to look pretty good.

Eleanor McMahon could follow Kathleen Wynne’s example and admit that all is lost and throw her support behind Andrew Drummond.

It has been a crazy election. Just look at the polling results.

Poll tracker June 3-18

CBC Poll tracker is an aggregate of all publicly available polling data to follow the trends of the June 7th election.

 

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Preparing for what will be a defining provincial election; what the candidates are saying.

News 100 blueBy Staff

June 3rd, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

It is an election that is going to define the province for at least a decade.

How is it playing out in Burlington where there are three constituencies. Some north Burlington residents, particularly those in Lowville and Kilbride, are in the Milton provincial electoral district, while some living in the northeastern area of the city will be in the new Oakville North-Burlington riding.

In Burlington there are 5 candidates; Liberal Eleanor McMahon, PC Jane McKenna, NDP Andrew Drummond, Green Party Vince Fiorito, and Libertarian Jim Gilchrist

In Oakville Burlington North there are six candidates: Frank DeLuca, Trillium Party; Charles Zach, Libertarian Party; Marianne Workman, Green Party; Saima Zaidi, NDP and Alvin Tedjo, Liberal. The riding was created by the province in 2015

In Milton, which covers the northern part of the city there are  four candidates: Brendan Smyth -NDP, Indira Naidoo-Harris -Liberal, Eleanor Hayward -Green and Parm Gill- PC

The NDP are in a place they have never been in before in Burlington – 2nd

They sent the following out to their supporters and media.

E-5. FIVE DAYS LEFT. So many contacts made, so many people who have expressed support for us. I have been working on NDP campaigns since 1999, and I have never felt like this. We were joking on Wednesday as we canvassed the area around Longmoor that this must be what it feels like to canvass in Hamilton. You can really feel that the people of this city are behind us and believe that we can win.

Drummon in campagn office

NDP candidate Andrew Drummond

And then beyond that, the Liberals essentially conceding the election here gives us an unprecedented opportunity. We were already in at least second place because of the work that we have done, but this really gives us a chance to get over the hump and win this riding.

I again want to thank everyone for everything that they have done for this campaign. I have had a ton of people support me at the doors. I have had so many of you show up to help make phone calls. So many people who generously donated to the campaign. So many of you who helped put up signs. So many of you who came and knocked on doors with me. It has all been very appreciated, and it is because of all of you that we are as close as we are in Burlington.

We are so close to an NDP win in Burlington. Please join me for any time that you can in the next 3 days of the campaign. Even a single hour is appreciated tremendously. We have to do everything we can to get out our message.
Sincerely, Andrew Drummond

The Liberals see the campaign a little bit differently.

Eleanor McMahon sent the following to her supporters and the media:

Courage comes in all shapes and sizes, and we need the greatest courage when things aren’t going how we hoped. Today Premier Kathleen Wynne showed us the courage, character and fundamental decency that Ontario Liberals know make her such a wonderful leader for our province and party.

McMahon with Wynne

Eleanor McMahon with Premier Kathleen Wynne

Today our leader acknowledged that, sadly, after 15 years of incredible progress by Liberal governments and thousands of achievements of which we can be justly proud, she will not be leading us as Ontario’s premier after Thursday’s election.

That’s democracy, and we shall respect and honour the decision of Ontarians, whatever it may be.

What does this mean in Burlington? We can still stop Doug Ford in Burlington
The battle for Burlington is far from over.
1. We know that most Burlingtonians always vote against the Conservative choice.
2. We know the NDP can’t win here.
3. We know only the Ontario Liberals can beat the PCs in Burlington.
4. We know most Burlingtonians don’t want Doug.

We must do everything we can locally to stop a Doug Ford majority.

Eleanor McMahon

Effie signWhere are the Progressive Conservatives in all this? Nothing from the Jane McKenna campaign. But we did get a short video clip on the Oakville Burlington North campaign where Progressive Conservative candidate Effie Triantafilopoulos made an astonishing statement.

In her own words in a public setting Triantafilopoulos said.

graphic01

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