 By Staff
April 3rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
And now there are four.
Burlington will have a Liberal, a Progressive Conservative, a New Democrat and a Green Party candidate running for the Burlington seat..
Eleanor McMahon is seeking re-election as a Liberal for a second term. Jane McKenna will be the Progressive Conservative candidate, trying to regain the seat she lost to McMahon in 2015
The New Democrats have said they will have a candidate but have yet to announce who that candidate will be.
Vince Fiorito candidate for the Green party in the last federal election has decided to run in the provincial election June 7th.
Burlingtonians fall into one of three seats in the provincial Legislature. Milton that covers part of rural Burlington; Oakville Burlington North which covers parts of the eastern part of Burlington and parts of north Oakville.
A map of the Burlington riding is set out below.
 Vince Fiorito- Green candidate for Burlington. Fiorito is a 55 years old Burlington resident who grew up in Thunder Bay.
His 20 year career with Transport Canada (later NavCanada) had him posted in Nunavit for a number of years. He later taught and wrote policy on Navigational Aids, Telecommunications and Computer Systems related to Canada’s Air Navigation System. Fiorito was the youngest Director of Transport Canada’s National Technical Training Program.
In 2000, Vince became a Senior IT Consultant for Hewlett Packard in Mississauga. In 2007, Vince started a successful small business, Fiorito Learning Solutions Inc., and worked internationally as an early Cloud Computing pioneer.
 Fiorito was named as a Watershed Steward by the Halton Conservation Authority He retired in 2015 and has devoted himself to community volunteerism, environmental and political activism.
Fiorito founded the Friends of Sheldon Creek stewardship group. He is an amateur photographer, botanist, ecologist, arborist and restorer of natural habitat.
When elected, Vince will represent his constituents first and the Green Party second.
 The Gazette readership survey will close April 6th. 
 By Pepper Parr
April 3rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Transit is an issue that Burlington city council has difficulty with. It wasn’t always that way. Doug Brown, the best informed Burlington citizen when it comes to transit, will tell you of the time that bus service to the one GO station Burlington had was free. It was something city hall bragged about. It was so popular that the city eventually put a price on the service and that changed the usage.
 Doug Brown, one of the Bfast founders is getting ready for the 4th Annual Transit Forum. If you get Doug going on transit, and that isn’t very hard to do, he will tell you of the days when the city’s transit service was something to be proud of.
Gary Scobie is another Burlington resident who, not unlike Doug Brown, does his homework and asks questions and digs away until he gets answers,
Scobie delegated to city Council in March to talk about transit the plans to turn a very small parking lot between Brant and John Street that has a small transit terminal siting at the edge of the lot that has been under a construction upgrade doe a number of months.
The parking lot will have fewer spaces than it had previously and it will be one of the links in what the city will come to know as the Elgin promenade that will cut right across the city and allow people to walk or ride a bike on a safe path that will be illuminated and have plenty of places where you can sit and just relax.
That promenade and transit use and the mobility hubs the city is working on as the place in the city where development is expected to take place all come together.
The city Council meeting last March was the occasion where Scobie set out to explain to the city that a mistake had been made by the province and that the city was making a decision based on the mistake. He wanted city Council to see the error.
Scobie said:
I live in Ward 3 and my Burlington includes the downtown.
I did some further research on the Downtown Mobility Hub and found out this mobility hub is based on a clerical error. Well, I may be exaggerating a bit. If you check out the screen image of the Metrolinx December 2015 Profile, note that the second paragraph begins “Downtown Burlington is identified as an Anchor Hub in the GTHA and includes the Burlington GO Station on the Lakeshore West Line.
 Gary Scobie That last phrase confused and disturbed me. How could one Mobility Hub (a junior partner Anchor Hub) include another Mobility Hub (the Burlington GO Station) that is over 2 kilometres away?
Their 800 metre catchment areas don’t even touch. I could find no other pair of Metrolinx Mobility Hubs that are close to each other in municipalities outside Toronto (ie. Hamilton, Newmarket and Mississauga) that claimed one Mobility Hub included the other one of the pair.
I contacted Metrolinx and asked “Is this a mistake?” My contact felt it must be and someone must have accidentally done a cut-and-paste error and inserted it by mistake over two years ago. Funny, no one caught it until I mentioned it. Was it a mistake, or done with some purpose in mind? The phrase did not appear in the 2012 version of the Profile.
It took about three weeks for a full Metrolinx investigation to report back to me that yes indeed it was a mistake, but that it shouldn’t change the Mobility Hub’s legitimacy.
I beg to differ – our Downtown Mobility Hub does not have Rapid transit and barely integrates with Regional Express Rail. The Bus Kiosk on John Street can barely hold 20 people, let alone an actual bus. Attaching the GO Station to it might have given it, in some eyes, the only chance at legitimacy it could ever have.
A week ago, I requested that Metrolinx do three things:
1. Notify the City that no, the Downtown Anchor Mobility Hub does not include the GO Station,
2. Remove the offending text from the 2015 Profile and
3. Make sure it doesn’t reappear in the 2018 version coming out soon.
No response yet, but I understand these things take time. I’ll wait patiently.
 This site rendering of the upgrade being done to the downtown parking lot between Brant and John Streets tells a lot more than you might expect. Running through the middle is part of the Elgin promenade pathway – one of the smarter things the city has done I am still waiting in anticipation to see the coming transit plan that will have to show a dedicated light rail transit line going up John Street and then bulldozed through residential neighbourhoods to the GO Station, or else the subway that will take the same route underground. Nothing short of this will legitimize the Downtown Mobility Hub.
The Urban Growth Centre and Mobility Hub designations that Council accepted in 2006 are now leading to uncontrollable intensification and height in the downtown. They contain no height limits. The OMB acceptance of the 26 storey condo at 374 Martha Street has set a precedent that will only be used again and again by developers to gain further height along Lakeshore Road and up Brant and adjacent streets.
Council’s enthusiastic acceptance of a 23 storey condo across from our City Hall, beyond its own planned height, leaves us embarrassingly with little chance of appeal of the OMB decision.
The developers’ lawyers know this and so should we. We have no case under these current designations.
 Is it a parking lot that has been given an upgrade or is it an anchor that is part of a Mobility Hub? Our only option now to exert any future control of height and density downtown is to ask the Province to remove these designations from the downtown and place them at the three GO Stations, living up to our commitment for 2031 and coming 2041 growth targets.
Last time I made this request, I was met with stony silence. One of you on Council must bring back Councillor Meed Ward’s motion to save our downtown, not from gentle change, but from this massive change that is coming.
 The readership survey will close April 6th The practice at city Council is for a delegator to stay at the podium to answer questions that any Councillor might have. Scobie has done this before and in the past he has given the members of Council a good run for their money.
There were questions – one from Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward and two from Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison. Scobie added in a comment he made several days after his delegation that his “new information was not what the broad Council wanted to hear. They embrace the over-intensification of the downtown instead of questioning it. They don’t want to hear of getting us out from under the Province’s mandate. It remains their best and only excuse.”
Gary Scobie and Doug Brown are long time residents of Burlington who have been tireless advocates for sensible growth and a city council that hears what the voters have to say.
 By Staff
April 2, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Take that! said the Premier of the province.
New York State passed a “Buy American” law and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne was having none of it. In a statement released earlier today she said:
“I have consistently supported open and competitive procurement because it helps create good jobs on both sides of the border, but it has to be a two-way street. When Ontario workers and businesses are threatened by protectionist U.S. actions I have no choice but to respond. I will not let New York, or any other state, tilt the field in their favour without taking appropriate action.
 Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne shows off a pair of boxing gloves. Ready to take on the State of New York and Texas if she has to – part of the warm up for the battle with Doug Ford? Last month Ontario passed the Fairness in Procurement Act, 2018, so that the province would have the ability to respond to unfair “Buy American” practices by U.S. states, including those which took effect in New York State yesterday. And yesterday, Ontario created a new regulation under the Act to respond proportionately, just as we said we would do if New York refused to back down.
New York’s “Buy American” legislation gives American workers and businesses an unfair advantage by requiring the use of American-made iron in certain government surface road and bridge construction projects.
In response, effective April 1, 2018, Ontario is restricting its government entities from entering into certain procurement contracts with suppliers from New York State, including provisions that restrict suppliers’ use of structural iron from New York State.
 Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne: Does anyone really want to go up against this lady? “We are levelling the playing field. But it remains my hope” said the Premier, “that New York and other jurisdictions that might consider “Buy American” laws will abandon their protectionist approach. The best outcome is open procurement on both sides of the border. Should New York agree to repeal its “Buy American” restrictions against Ontario, we would immediately repeal our regulations against New York as well.”
The Premier added: “Ontario and the U.S. both benefit from a strong, balanced economic relationship, which has historically included open procurement. That’s what makes us more competitive and creates the greatest number of opportunities for people on both sides of the border. It is why we worked so hard to prevent New York State from going down this protectionist path, and why we were very clear with them that if they did not treat Ontario businesses fairly, there would be consequences.
“In Texas, Ontario’s advocacy efforts are ongoing and we are hopeful for a positive outcome. Ontario has not yet created a regulation in response to the Texas “Buy American” legislation because we are of the position that the Texas rules do not apply to Canada. A review of this position is being pursued and Ontario will not respond further until that review is complete.
“At this time of economic uncertainty, Ontario workers and businesses need to know that I am their number-one advocate. Through successful engagement with U.S. states, I am reinforcing our existing partnerships and forging new ones to create more opportunities for people on both sides of the border. I will continue to strongly advocate for fair, open and balanced procurement practices, but my top priority remains defending Ontario workers and businesses. In the face of unfair U.S. actions, I will stand up for the people of Ontario in every way possible — every time.”
The Premier is taking on Texas and the state of New York – when the writ is issued making the provincial election official – she will take on Doug Ford too.
Should be quite a battle.
 By Staff
March 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The headline read: Want to know everything Google knows about you?
It was part of a Saturday morning CBC radio program Day 6. Incredible, frightful and not really a damn thing you can do about it.
They know it all – and they will sell it to anyone who will pay the price. That includes political organizations; national brand advertisers and literally every police or security authority out there.
We have set out a transcription of the conversation that is to be broadcast.
 It is between Ireland-based data consultant and web developer Dylan Curran and Day 6 host Brent Bambury, who is interviewing Curran, who explains, step by step, how anyone can check what information Google has on them — from where they’ve travelled to their political views and even which stickers they’ve used online.
The broadcast of course doesn’t have any visuals. Those can be seen at this link:
You can follow Curran on Twitter at: @iamdylancurran
It’s no secret that Facebook and Google collect data from people who use their services. But Curran was shocked by just how much he found about himself on Google.
He talks with Day 6 host Brent Bambury about why companies like Google store so much personal data, and what it could mean for the future.
 Brent Bambury: What prompted you to look into how much data Google has collected about you?
Dylan Curran:I was on Twitter one Saturday, a little bit hungover — I have a life — and this person had essentially posted a thread, which was very similar to mine, but all they were going through was the Facebook data rather than the Google data as well. They showed that Facebook was storing your phone text messages or phone call records, and these collections are external to Facebook so they were storing things that they didn’t need to store. And then after seeing that, and seeing the shock that so many people were experiencing, I decided to go in and do a little bit of investigation myself and compile it into something that people could easily read.
Brent Bambury So what other types of information were you able to find out had been collected about you online?
Dylan Curran: Oh God, so much. Number one was that they were storing Google incognito history. So if you were using private browsing, where they don’t track your data, they did actually store it. So, say your wife wouldn’t be able to see what you are doing in Google incognito, but Google will. And number two, they were mapping out your location every time you turned on your phone. So if your location setting is turned on, Google will log your location every time you turn on your phone. They store that and then they’ll basically put it into a big database and you can go onto maps.google.com/timeline and see where you’ve been for the last four or five years.
Brent Bambury At the end of six hours how many gigs of information did you have that Google had on you?
 Dylan Curran: We don’t have the lady’s name. Dylan Curran: Facebook has 600 megabytes and Google had 5.5 gigabytes — which, for context, is about three million more documents.
Brent Bambury Now, if Google is storing that amount of data for every person who uses a Google product or a Google app, that’s a lot of raw data. How is it all stored?
Dylan Curran: I did an estimation where around 2.2 billion people — 70 per cent of the internet— use Google, and this is conjecture, but I would say [they are storing] on average maybe one gigabyte per person. So if they have 2.2 billion gigabytes, that’s 2.2 exabytes. That’s three per cent of the world’s online storage.
Just try and keep in mind that everything you do online does leave a footprint and it will be kept forever.
Brent Bambury How much does it cost to store three per cent of the world’s online information?
Dylan Curran: Because of economies of scale, it’s quite easy for them to store. Google makes on average $12 per person for their information, and the cost of storing it, I would say, is less than a fraction of a cent.
Brent Bambury You said that Google’s making $12 per person through our data. How did they monetize it into a profit?
Dylan Curran: What they essentially do is they take your information and then they build an advertising profile based on you. Advertisers pay to use that advertising profile to target you with the products and services that they want to sell you.
Brent Bambury People were shocked by the amount of information that you uncovered that Google had on you. What are the implications of all of this, of these private companies having so much data about so many people?
Dylan Curran: My problem really is that we don’t know the implications. So I have no doubt that Google, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, etc., aren’t doing anything too nefarious with the data. I don’t think that’s what’s happening. It’s just that they are cataloguing all of this information. So if Google has information on a third of the population on the planet, down to everything they’ve done for the last 10 years, that does have a lot of negative connotations for the future. Especially in an ever-changing world. I do strongly believe that it’s safer just to not have that kind of potential bomb available. I think it can be a little less extensive.
Brent Bambury: But there doesn’t seem to be a clear way of opting out. I mean, even if people change their privacy settings, is there any way of escaping having your data collected by Facebook or Google?
Dylan Curran: No, that’s the thing. These are free services, and I don’t have any problem morally or ethically with them collecting information in return for using the service. They’re companies and they’re trying to make money. What the issue is, really, is that they’re just collecting too much. They’re going too far.
What people can do is just be a little bit careful online. I’m not suggesting to delete Facebook or delete Google or anything like that. Just try and keep in mind that everything you do online does leave a footprint and it will be kept forever.
 The transcript has a note saying: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The full Day 6 broadcast can be heard on CBC Saturday morning at 10 am and then found on the CBC archives.
Fascinating!
By Pepper Parr
March 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
If it’s Saturday and you have at some point told friends that you favour a particular political party – you just might find yourself out on the street with a clipboard in hand knocking on doors and trying to identify the vote for the candidate of your choice.
 The guy in the upper right is the campaign manager for a died in the wool Liberal running for city council. PC candidate Jane McKenna lower left. Jane McKenna is out with her team, Eleanor McMahon meets with her team in a coffee shop before they head out to a neighbourhood to canvas.
There might by an NDP candidate – we just haven’t heard of one yet.
 Liberals with the lawn signs. The election is June 7th – and this time there is a stark clear choice: Doug Ford has a strong deliberate message – “massive” tax increases – unspeakable amount of waste of tax payer’s money; Kathleen Wynne is prepared to borrow and spend millions to prepare the province for tomorrow.
Listen to the debates; question everything you hear and then vote following you head and not your heart.
By Staff
March 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
This is funny – were it not so sad.
A regular Gazette reader got a notice from city hall advising her that a revised draft Official Plan was now available – and that copies were available at the library.
 Our citizen skipped along to the library to review a copy.
We will let her tell you what happened when she go to the library:
Yesterday I received an email from the City telling me that the Revised New Official Plan was available for residents to see. I understood this to be that I could get a copy of the revisions, at any City Library, City Hall, etc.
Today when I as at Burlington Central Library, I was told that there was one (1) copy that I could look at and I would have to provide I.D. Why would anyone need to provide identification to look at this document? Are printed copies available?
Now that is citizen engagement!
There was a time when city hall at least talked about citizen engagement. They created a xxx
In 2010 the then Mayor, Cam Jackson set up a task force to report on how well city hall was engaging with its citizens. The report, Shape Burlington, was written by the late John Boich and former Mayor Walter Mulkewich; – read the report for that full story.
Relevant background links:
A Charter Action Team was created to put the Community Engagement Plan into action.
Shape Burlington
 By Pepper Parr
March 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette is now in its seventh year of publication.
We first hit the streets, via the Internet, in October of 2010 – that was an election year.
For a short period of time we were known as Our Burlington – I didn’t choose the name.
The paper came out of a friendship with the late John Boich who was working with a number of people on creating a better way to deliver local news. In the early stages the people behind that initiative were thinking in terms of getting low frequency radio license – that wasn’t something I was interested in.
The Shape Burlington report had just been published – Boich and former Mayor Walter Mulkewich were the authors of hat report which, in part said:
Engagement: Transform the City Hall culture to promote active citizenship and civic engagement
Promoting active citizen engagement and meaningful public dialogue requires a culture shift at City Hall. A crucial first step is the development an Engagement Charter – a plain language policy document developed with public involvement that incorporates benchmarks and accountabilities, and describes the value, purpose and opportunities for citizens to influence city policies.
The charter would explain how to navigate City Hall and its services. It should stipulate best practices for various kinds of public consultation and affirm the city’s commitment to inform citizens and respond to their ideas and contributions. t would address the question of reaching out to a diverse population.
The charter would incorporate an early notification system to provide citizens and groups information about meetings, events and issues, and to allow reasonable amounts of time to understand, discuss and develop positions before decisions are made.
I managed to convince Boich that a newspaper on line was the route to go – the Executive Director of the non-profit he had set up wasn’t a newspaper person. Boich asked me if I would put together a business plan –
I did – and he said – great – make it happen.
And that was how Our Burlington came to be.
I soon realized that “Our Burlington” was not a fit name for a newspaper and chose the name Gazette for two reasons: Burlington once had a print newspaper called the Gazette and the first photograph I had published as a boy 12 was on the front page of the Montreal Gazette – I also delivered that newspaper as a boy.
When I started the Burlington Gazette I was pretty sure the editorial model I had in mind would work – but it needed to be tried to be certain. The model works.
We have had our ups and downs but the readership growth has been consistent; not massive but consistently incremental.
So who reads the Gazette?
As many readers know we are in the midst of running a readership survey. The practice going forward will be to do a new survey every month – shorter next time; three maybe four questions.
Here is what we can tell you about when the Gazette is read:
Just over 40% of our readers are daily readers. We notice that during the winter a decent number of “snowbirders” read us from the United States – we don’t know which state they are reading from – just US of A.
There is more in the way of readership from Hamilton and Toronto than we expected.
 The data show in the graph above is “raw” in that we don’t tell you which ward those readers live in. we will include that data in the full report which we will publish when the survey is closed. We wanted the survey open for at least 15 days. The Sunday readership is always quite high and we want to keep it open beyond the Easter holiday.
Related news stories:
The Shape Report
The city’s Community Engagement Charter
Why the Gazette?
 By Pepper Parr
March 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Our relationship with the city administration is not all that good.
The city has a Senior Manager, Government Relations & Strategic Communications who wrote us recently saying:
“… Yet again you have written another article which is completely false and damaging to Planning staff’s reputation.
You are blatantly accusing city staff of lying and making things up about developments in the city. The rendering in question was developed for the city by an outside consulting firm at the request of Council who wanted to know what different sites could develop as. There was discussion of this at committee around the public sidewalk width/heritage building trade-offs and the like.
The owners of the property were and are well aware of the renderings and have not raised any issues with the city. Anything else you say to the contrary is not true or accurate.
This is an article that we demand in the strongest terms be taken down; leaving it up will continue to do damage to the city’s reputation because according to the article we are making things up and telling lies.
This continues a pattern of known false articles you have written about the city.
Some facts: We did publish an article about a rendering of a building on a site on the north east corner of Brant and Lakeshore Road.
We talked directly to two of the principles who said they were unaware of the rendering and did not give anyone permission to have a rendering done. They weren’t asked for permission.
We did not identify the principles – developers don’t like to find themselves in messy situations with anyone at city hall – it just isn’t good for business.
We did not say that anyone at city hall was lying. We made reference to the President of the United States and the number lies he tells and wondered if that habit had migrated north.
There is nothing the Gazette can do to improve the city’s reputation. They own it and what they do with it is up to them.
What we do know is that a number of people do not feel the city administration is hearing what they have to say. The Gazette offers a forum where people can comment on news stories we write.
The piece we wrote on the architectural rendering can be found HERE
There are times when we make mistakes. We correct those mistakes. There are no mistakes in the article.
What the comments made by the Senior Manager, Government Relations & Strategic Communications reveal is that we have an administration that bullies, threatens and cajoles. The City Manager did just that with ECoB when they threatened them with legal action.
Engaged Citizens of Burlington (ECoB) To Whom it May Concern:
 James Ridge – Burlington City Manager On your website, in the area of letter writing campaign, you set out questions to be asked of the letter recipients. Among them is:
How can staff in the planning department be pushing these amendments when they know that they are not following The Professional Code of Practice of the Ontario Planners Institute which requires members to serve the public “to provide full, clear and accurate information on planning matters to decision makers and members of the public”?
This directly alleges that City staff have committed professional misconduct, and is categorically untrue. Staff have met or exceeded all requirements of their professional codes of practice, and have far exceeded the requirements of the planning act and other legislation in terms of consultation and provision of information. The fact you don’t like their recommendations does not mean they have acted unprofessionally.
I would like an immediate removal of these comments from your site, and an apology, or I will take all necessary steps to hold you accountable for these defamatory comments.
James Ridge City Manager
ECoB took the comments off their web site but took a pass on the opportunity to apologize.
There are times when the public makes mistakes and elects a city council that has a tin ear. That kind of mistake can be corrected during a municipal election.
Salt with Pepper is a column reflecting the opinions, musings and reflections of the Publisher of the Gazette.
By Staff
March 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
A settlement agreement has been approved by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) for the development proposal at 4853 Thomas Alton Blvd.
In December 2016, city staff recommended approval of an Official Plan and Zoning ByLaw Amendment to permit a residential development by Adi Development Group at 4853 Thomas Alton Blvd. City Council refused the application which resulted in an appeal to the OMB.
During the OMB process, city staff sought and received direction from Burlington City Council to enter into settlement discussions with Adi Development Group.
 Decent changes made to the Alton Village development – will it make all that much difference to the look and feel of the community? City staff worked within the settlement parameters approved by Council and subsequently reached an agreement that would:
• Reduce the height of the two towers from 19 storeys to 17 storeys;
• Reduce the total number of units from 612 to 601, thereby reducing the density of the site;
• Replace two rows of stacked townhouse blocks with two mid-rise, six storey apartment blocks, resulting in a reduced building footprint on the site;
• Increase the size of the publicly accessible park on the site from 2,064 square metres to 2,481 square metres;
• Keep the 21 standard townhouse units on the west side of the site adjacent to existing townhouse development.
The agreement also included Section 37 benefits consisting of $60,000 for improvements to Doug Wright Park and public access over the park on the site by way of an easement registered on the title to the property.
Burlington wasn’t as fortunate with the ADI development at Lakeshore and Martha where 26 storeys were approved by the OMB. The city is seeking a review of that decision.
 Shovel are in the ground. The ADI West Station development has shovels in the ground.
 The eastern part of a large development is partially occupied. Adi is currently the most active residential developer in the city. Their Lynx development on Dundas next to Bronte Creek has residents in some of the units.
By Staff
March 28, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Ministry of Seniors’ Affairs selected the City of Burlington to receive the Age-Friendly Community Recognition Award which was presented last Monday.
 Pictured above (l-r): City staff Mandy Newnham and Rob Axiak; BSAC members Sheila Burton and Jim Thurston. The award recognizes communities and municipalities that are working to meet the needs of Ontario’s growing older adult population by creating enabling environments that encourage social connections and ability to age well.
In July 2017 Council adopted the Burlington Active Aging Plan as a living document intended to evolve with the community and to provide actionable changes to improve the lives of Older Adults within Burlington.
The nomination for the recognition award was submitted by the city’s Burlington Seniors Advisory Committee.
 Mayor Rick Goldring with the Hon. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. In February of 2017 Mayor Rick Goldring welcomed the Hon. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, to the Art Gallery of Burlington for a roundtable discussion on seniors’ housing needs in Burlington. Dowdeswell wanted to learn more about issues, ideas and initiatives of importance to the people of Burlington.
The Roundtable included representatives from Joseph Brant Hospital, the Burlington Seniors’ Advisory Committee; Halton Region’s social services, planning and health senior managers; Habitat for Humanity; private developers; seniors’ housing specialists; and City of Burlington senior managers.
Each of the 15 representatives was asked to consider and comment on the following two questions:
1. What are the current housing opportunities for seniors who want, or need, to find a new home in Burlington?
2. As the number of seniors continues to increase in our city, where should we place our focus in providing new housing opportunities to allow seniors to continue living in Burlington?
The outcome of the visit was the creation of a Task Force that was to be a one year initiative starting in May 2017 and led by the Office of the Mayor.
To date there hasn’t been a single word from the Office of the Mayor on the Task force he created.
Related article:
Mayor creates a Task Force.
 By Staff
March 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Mayor Goldring is holding another of his Inspire Burlington series late in April.
Goldring has invited Glen Murray, Executive Director of the Pembina Institute, and former Minister of the Environment and Climate Change for Ontario to speak on transit-supportive development that works to create multi-modal, and sustainable cities.
 The talk will take place at the Royal Botanical Gardens April 25th at 7:30 p.m in the main auditorium; admission is FREE and all are welcome.
The talk takes place a couple of days after the Bfast 4th annual Forum of transit – might be some interesting questions that can come out of the Form for Mr. Murray
By Staff
March 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Electricity Distributors Association has recognized Burlington Hydro from among its provincial utility peers as a leader in both Conservation Leadership and Public Relations Excellence from the Association that represents Ontario’s electricity distributors, the Electricity Distributors Association (EDA). The awards were presented in Toronto at the EDA annual meeting on Monday night.
 Burlington Hydro keeps the lights on, runs the system efficiently. The EDA’s Conservation Leadership Excellence Award, sponsored by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), recognized Burlington Hydro’s enhancements to its conservation outreach program – ‘The Power to Conserve’.
From the delivery of Save on Energy conservation programs, to the collaborative efforts to develop new programs and recognize customer participation, conservation activities at Burlington Hydro have taken a creative new approach to encouraging participation across all customer sectors.
Burlington Hydro’s e-billing campaign – Plant-a-Tree in a Community Park – was also recognized for Public Relations Excellence. Each time a customer registered for paperless e-billing over the one year campaign, a $5 donation was made by Burlington Hydro to the City of Burlington to plant a mix of native tree species in the community’s Nelson Park. The program delivered a positive environmental message, while providing tangible benefits to the community by enhancing the City’s green spaces for many years to come.
 Burlington Hydro CEO Gerry Smallegame and COO Dan Guatto explaining just when they hoped to have the power running again during a December ice storm. “Burlington Hydro is focused on growing and conducting its business in ways that consistently deliver customer value and provide benefit to the community,” says Gerry Smallegange, President and CEO, Burlington Hydro Inc. “Our talented and dedicated employees continue to fuel the success of our company and are the driving force behind delivering meaningful and award-winning customer initiatives. We’re extremely pleased to be recognized for our efforts by our industry peers.”
Burlington Hydro Inc. is an energy services company in the power distribution business. Serving approximately 67,000 residential and commercial customers, Burlington Hydro and its employees are committed to delivering safe, efficient and reliable electricity to the City of Burlington. The company is wholly owned by the City of Burlington.
 By Staff
March 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Two solid days of students and their instruments learning a new piece of music and then coming together as a massed band to perform what they have learned.
The event is part of what the Halton District School Board calls a Band Extravaganza taking place in Burlington Tuesday and Wednesday.
 The students paid close attention tot he instructions they were being given. Listening to the students as they warm up with their instruments and get instructions on instrument specific clinics from instructors that were donated by Long and McQuade.
 There was this beautiful deep sound that just enveloped the room. Then the other instruments joined in. Being in a room with 15 to 40 students who are being directed by an experienced musician learning to get the best sound possible from the instrument is quite an experience. The rooms were on the small side where the sound bounced off the walls.
 Boys being boys – talking up what they were being taught? Students start each day with a concert by the Halton Junior Jazz Band. Afterwards, students go to breakout clinics specific to their instrument. Later they convene for a massed band rehearsal, with guest conductors on both days.
 Concentration and getting it just right. The board has commissioned two original concert band compositions for the event: The Call to Adventure by composer David Marlatt, and The Conquest by Ryan Meeboer, a teacher at Alexander’s Public School in Burlington.
The pieces will be directed by the composers and played for the first time by Halton students.
Rebecca MacRae, the board’s instructional program leader (the arts, K-12) is overseeing the event.
By Pepper Parr
March 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
What we pay our civil servants and what they deliver in the way of service and leadership is of concern to every taxpayer.
The public has direct input on who serves as members of Council – they get to bring in new people or turf those that have not met the standard the public expected. Public service can at time be brutal.
Council cannot get rid of a Staff member. They can go into a closed session and discuss concerns they have with a staff member and they could direct a city manager to get rid of a staff member because city managers serve at the will of Council
Burlington has asked one city manager to look for another place to work – which usually means buying out he contract they have with the city.
Burlington has gone thought Roman Martiuk , Jeff Fielding and Pat Moyle who was an interim city manager – holding the fort until a permanent city manager is hired.
James Ridge became city manager in 2015
Jeff Fielding was an exceptional city manager but he got an opportunity to serve in Calgary with one of the best Mayor’s in the country and he took it.
Roman Martiuk was brought in to get costs under control. He and Mayor Goldring didn’t see things the same way. At the time the Mayor told the Gazette that the decision to par ways was for the most part his alone. At the time many thought that his then Chief of Staff, Frank McKeown, was the man behind that decision.
Burlington was at one point very fortunate to be able to pull a city manager from the ranks of staff. Tim Dobbie served as city manager while Rob MacIsaac was Mayor – those two were almost a wrestling tag team. They worked together very effectively.
 Cam Jackson: Election night 2010 When MacIsaac moved on Cam Jackson, a former MPP, ran for Mayor and Dobbie decided the grass was indeed greener in that other field. He now works as a much in demand consultant to other municipalities.
When a city manager is hired the amount he or she is paid is negotiated.
 If you’re happy and you know it – clap your hands. The province of Ontario, when Bob Ray was Premier, decided they would publish a report annually setting out how much every civil servant in the province early more than $100,000 annual gets paid. It was quickly names the Sunshine list and became must reading.
The Gazette has in the past published portions of the report. Downloading the data and formatting it for publication is a time consuming task – it is one that we have decided to do during the Easter Break. There are numerous levels: City, Regional, Education and the Health Sector.
During a meeting with a regular reader earlier this week I was asked when we were going to publish the 2018 numbers and I said during the Easter Break. “You might want to do it sooner the reader suggested, there are some eye popping numbers” he said.
 James Ridge with Hamilton city manager Chris Murray come close to taking home three hundred big ones?” “Really” I responded. (In the parlance of people in those income range three hundred big one is three hundred one thousand dollar bills – before taxes of course.
It gets better the reader advised: on a value based scale, that is how much it costs each citizen, we pay our city manager far more than other cities. He put something together for us.
Here is what we were given. We checked to ensure that the gross number for James Ridge was correct.
Eye popping indeed.
 Does the amount paid to the city manager in the last fiscal year include something other than just salary?
Burlington pays it’s city manager more than the city manager of Hamilton when Hamilton has more than three times the population of Burlington.
By Staff
March 25th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
The closing of a high school is never a pleasant experience particularly when many in the community were opposed to the closing.
At the Lester B. Pearson High School they are calling the occasion a Celebration that will take place over two days: June 1 and 2, 2018
 The Pearson high school students were always an active bunch: during a teacher strike they protested the bill before the provincial legislature. The people organizing the event want to know who is interested – past and present students, alumni, and former staff are being asked to an interest survey by April 7
A full slate of engaging activities are being organized to celebrate Lester B. Pearson High School (1976-2018) on Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2, 2018. Events are planned for students, alumni and staff, both past and present, to celebrate the school’s 42-year history. Lester B. Pearson High School will close at the end of June 2018, with students moving to nearby M.M. Robinson High School.
All events will be held at Lester B. Pearson High School (1433 Headon Rd, Burlington). The two-day celebration will include a number of activities to recognize and honour accomplishments over the decades of students, staff and the wider Pearson community.
Friday, June 1, 2018 – Patriot Generation Sports Tournaments and Pep Rally with world renowned Burlington Teen Tour Band, food trucks and entertainment, play and watch ball hockey, basketball, touch football, soccer, volleyball, and enjoy socializing with longtime friends.
Saturday, June 2, 2018 – Open House with Decades Showcase, Tours and Closing Ceremony with Lester B. Pearson’s granddaughter, Patricia Pearson, and founding principal, David Katz, along with music, videos and representatives speaking about the decades. Reception to follow.
To assist with planning, everyone attending the celebrations is encouraged to complete the Lester B. Pearson Celebration: Save The Date Survey and learn more about the planned events. The survey will remain open until Saturday, April 7, 2018 and will help event organizers confirm what activities are of interest to attendees and how many people to expect.
So far, approximately 300 surveys have been completed, with more than 650 attendees expected to attend, including students and staff from the 1970s through to current day.
To learn more about the celebration activities, like and share the Celebrate Lester B. Pearson High School Facebook page, follow @CelebrateLBP on Twitter, visit www.CelebrateLBP.com or email celebrateLBP@hdsb.ca.
For additional information, contact: Loraine Fedurco, Principal, Lester B. Pearson High School: 905-335-0961
It will be an occasion filled with mixed emotions.
By Pepper Parr
March 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The transformation of the Joseph Brant Museum is well under way.
 Architectural rendering of what the new home for the Joseph Brant Museum will look like when it is completed – scheduled for late 2019 – weather permitting.  The replica of the house Joseph Brant built now sits on steel beams and pushed closer to North Shore Blvd, where it will remain until the new part of the museum is built.
In an ongoing survey we asked our readers what they thought of the decision to transform the existing museum into something that 3 times bigger; it will have 17,000 sq ft of exhibition space.
The public will not be able to tour the actual house – that is to be used for administration purposes.
Few realized it at the the time but the day of the ground breaking ceremony was the last time the public was going to be in the building. At least it was packed that day.
 The readership survey has been running for less than a week This is what some of the Gazette readers responded to the question: The decision has been made to transform and significantly enlarge the Joseph Brant Museum. Was this a good idea? City council vote to proceed with the project was not unanimous. Councillors Jack Dennison and Marianne Meed Ward were not onside for this nor was Councillor John Taylor all that enthusiastic about the plans that were put forward.
The original house was the building Joseph Brant died in – the structure on the site is a 1937 replica of the house Mohawk native Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea, built on a 1798 Crown land grant.
A man named Thomas B. McQuesten was a province of Ontario Minister who was responsible for the early version of what is now the QEW. He is said to have used highway building funds to pay for the construction of the replica. The original had been destroyed by fire.
The total project amount is approved at about $11 million, which includes a contingency fund and allows for cost increases due to a winter construction period. Funding includes:
 An indigenous dancer performs during the ground breaking for a transformed Joseph Brant Museum. Few new at the time that it was the last day the public would actually be in the house part of the museum. $3.4 million from the City of Burlington
$4.7 million from the Government of Canada
$1.5 million from the Province of Ontario
$2.5 million from the Joseph Brant Museum Foundation
The land the Museum sits on was owned by a Trust that was part of the hospital land holdings. The Museum was moved several decades ago when the hospital underwent an expansion.
A transformed Museum is being built – the public now needs to get behind the idea and ensure that there are high quality programs and that the Museum is professionally run.
By Staff
March 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Joseph Brant Hospital will be getting $11.2 million in new provincial government funding that will be added to Joseph Brant Hospital’s budget for 2018/19.
 Burlington MP Eleanor McMahon is also the chair of the Treasury Board. Members of the provincial legislature have been fanning out across the province making funding announcements on increases in funding for hospitals. Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon was at Joseph Brant Hospital yesterday to outline how this major increase in hospital funding will provide better access to care, reduce wait times, address capacity issues and better meet the needs of Burlington’s changing population.
This overall increase of 4.6 per cent across the province is on top of the 3.2 per cent provided last year — allowing hospitals to invest with more precision in the care and supports that address the specific needs of their patients and community.
McMahon said “Patients and families across Ontario will also directly benefit from this increased funding with the expansion of essential services to reduce wait times and priority procedures such as cardiac care, critical care, chemotherapy, treatment for strokes, hip and knee replacements, and medical imaging.”
McMahon added in her media release that the is responding to rapid economic change by bringing in a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25, and 65 or over, through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.
By Staff
March 23, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 Earlier in the week we published a snippet from a drive the Mayor took in James Burchill’s Smart car that gave us a peak at what the Mayor sounds like when he isn’t being serious and Mayoral wearing his Chain of Office.
The full interview is HERE for your viewing pleasure.
By Staff
March 23, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
 The Gazette has been publishing since September of 2010 Every publisher wants to know – who reads what we write; where do they live, what do they like and what do we know about the demographics of our readers.
We have done readership surveys in the past: there were some surprises. We found that the readership was spread pretty even across the city – except for ward 6.
When the survey was being done the issue of the Air Park and the tonnes of land fill being dumped on the property without the proper papers – at least the ones city hall felt the property owner should have obtained – was a major story. The stories got significant readership in the other five wards – but was much lower than we expected in ward 6.
 Tonnes of landfill from locations that were never entirely clear was dumped on the Air Park property. It took more than one court case to resolve that issue. The current survey has been running for just a few days – far too early to tell us very much – but there are trends and in the public opinion polling business it doesn’t take thousands of responses to see a trend.
 The decision has been made to transform and significantly enlarge the Joseph Brant Museum. Was this a good idea? While the views on the overhaul being done to the Joseph Brant Museum are far from valid – here is what we halve at this point.
We are going to run the survey for a couple of week.
You can only do the survey once. If you try to do it twice the software tells you that the survey has already been done.
Privacy is a big big issue these days.
All we get to know about you personally is your gender, the ward you live in.
We will publish an in depth article when they survey is closed.
Click on the box to the right – take part and tell us what you think.
 By Staff
March 22, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Dating back to October 2017, a group of four individuals have been targeting various retail stores in Burlington, Oakville, Hamilton and the surrounding area. These individuals would enter the store and select various items that typically consisted of small appliances, perfumes and clothing. They would then run out of the store past the employees without paying for the merchandise. In some cases, multiple offenders would work in teams to distract the employees or act as the lookout in the parking lot.
Investigators from the Burlington Street Crime Unit have worked with area Loss Prevention Officers and were able to identify one of the suspects. Through further police investigation, the other three male suspects were positively identified along with two residences where stolen property was being stored.
On March 20th 2018, the investigation into this organized group concluded with the arrests of four males and the execution of three search warrants. Search warrants were executed at residences in Mount Hope and Stoney Creek. A third search warrant was executed on a vehicle. As a result, police seized a significant quantity of property, valued at over $17,000 that is believed to have been stolen during retail thefts. Police have also seized a 2009 Hyundai Elantra as offence related property.
 Property the police have valued at over $17,000 which they believe was stolen during retail thefts. The following individuals were arrested and charged:
Angelo GRACI (56 years) of Mount Hope
• Theft under $5000 (12 counts)
• Trafficking in stolen property (two counts)
• Participating in a criminal organization
• Possession of stolen property for the purpose of trafficking over $5000
Miklos SZEDLAR (26 years) of Stoney Creek
• Theft under $5000 (16 counts)
• Trafficking in stolen property
• Participating in a criminal organization
• Possession of property obtained by crime
Angelo MILLER (26 years) of Mount Hope
• Theft under $5000 (11 counts)
• Trafficking in stolen property (two counts)
• Participating in a criminal organization
• Possession of property obtained by crime
• Fail to comply with probation (7 counts)
• Fail to comply with recognizance
Blue LUCAS (29 years) of Hamilton
• Theft under $5000 (nine counts)
• Trafficking in stolen property (two counts)
• Participating in a criminal organization
• Possession of property obtained by crime
• Fail to comply with recognizance
Anyone who may have additional information can contact Halton Regional Police Service Detective Dwayne Perron at 905-825-4747 ext 2342. Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stopper’s “See Something? Hear something? Know something? Contact Crime Stopper’s “at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
|
|
