During a media event earlier today Detective Sergeant Dave Costantini , 1 District Criminal Investigations Bureau explained how some pervasive criminal activity is costing all of us a small fortune – $5 billion which is the value of the goods stolen through cargo theft.
So far this year there have been 1336 cargo thefts in the country with 90% of them taking place in the GTA.
This is how the news story makes it to the evenng news. From the left: D/Sgt Dave Constantini, D/Cst Jodi Richmond, the CN truck driver, Deputy Chief Carol Crowe, Doug Maybee of Crime Stoppers and Steve Kee, Insurance Bureau of Canada
The media event was to create awareness of Cargo Theft – a crime which affects everyone.
The event was a joint Regional Police – Crime Stoppers event.
Crime Stoppers operations across Canada have undertaken numerous campaigns to combat various crimes including human trafficking, potential terrorist activity, targeting international fugitives and identifying criminal who damage the environment.
Commercial crime detectives who took part in the media event explained that cargo theft is a very organized criminal activity.
The actual stealing of the trucks is just the start. “There are occasions when the thieves will steal a truck load of a product that they have already sold to someone.
The tractor-trailer, loaned to Crime Stoppers for the media event is the typical size thieves will steal. The new Regional Police headquarters can be seen in the background.
On other occasions a truck will be stolen and driven to a location and left for a few days while any search for the truck cools off.
The thieves will return – move the cargo from the stolen truck onto another truck – sometimes several small trucks and get taken to whoever has agreed to buy the stolen goods.
It is a very organized theft – there are numerous people involved starting with the drivers trhat steal the trucks to the people who move the goods in the truck through commercial networks.
At the end of the chain is a consumer who buys something that might have been stolen.
Criminals are drawn to cargo crime because of the perceived low risk and high reward. However, profits from cargo theft fuel a wide array of criminal activity including incidents of homicide.
Halton Regional Police Service Deputy Chief Carol Crowe reading some of the numbers related to Cargo theft
The trucking industry transports 90 percent of food products and consumer goods that Canadian’s require. We certainly know that – we have to jockey with those trucks on the major highways every day.
Crime Stoppers programs allow members of the public who may be reluctant to get involved directly with police to give any information anonymously via the tip line.
The program also discourages criminals from committing crimes because they never know who may be watching and ready to call the anonymous tip line.
Crime Stoppers Halton has played a part in 18,251 arrests. Property worth $2,734,747 has been recovered. Drugs worth $18,098,333 have been seized
Canada’s first Crime Stoppers program was set up in Calgary, Alberta in 1982. A year later Hamilton was the first city to establish a Crime Stoppers program in Ontario.
A former Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner, Thomas O’Grady, said Crime Stoppers is ranked with fingerprints and DNA as the top three innovations in modern day policing.
The Halton Regional Police, Fraud Unit has warmed local area merchants of a recent surge in counterfeit Canadian currency that has been circulating in the region.
The police have taken eleven counterfeit currency reports in the last two weeks all involving the same counterfeit $100 dollar Canadian bills of the new polymer design.
Police report that phony $100 bills are being circulated in the area.
Local merchants are cautioned to be extra vigilant when accepting $100 dollar bills especially when being used for small purchases that would maximize the amount of change given.
Multiple suspects have been described as passing the bills and police suspect that an outside group came to the region with the sole purpose of attempting to pass the bills.
Anyone who may have witnessed or has information about a crime in Halton Region are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers “See something, Hear something, Say something” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), through the web at https://www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
Do we have any idea what the downtown part of the city is going to look like when all the tall buildings are up?
City council appears to have decided that we are going up – higher.
There is a lot of opposition to that direction – they citizens will work it out as they figure out what they want, what they don’t want and the direction they want to see their city develop.
The Gazette has published a lot of graphics; we have shown computer simulations and architectural renderings. It’s a little different when there is a photograph that has some scale to it – trees that we have walked by many many times on Lakeshore Road are seen beside the fourth and fifth levels of the Bridgewater development.
The view is from a little to the east of Brant Street. They development of the hotel which is the first structure you will see is currently at the fourth floor level. The 22 storey condo will be a little west. The view when thew development is complete will be a lot different than what the public is used to now.
The decision to have a building that would rise to 22 storey’s was made back in 1995 when Walter Mulkewich was Mayor. There was a point at which that structure was going to rise to 30 storeys. At the time it was referred to as a “legacy” project – Burlington’s statement to the world that it had arrived.
The Berkeley on the east side of John Street is selling very well. The development is being built in three phases: the condo at the south end, north of that a parking garage and north of that at Caroline a proposed medical building. The three buildings take up about half of the block from James Street to Caroline.
The structure going up on John Street is are seen beside a house that many people are familiar with. The Gazette is not suggesting that something is right or wrong – our role is to document up and set out for the record what has taken place.
This is the view of the east side of the Bridgewater development where the 22 storey condominium will rise. It will be quite a bit higher than the condo on the right side of this photograph and will dwarf everything that is currently on Old Lakeshore Road.
We would have loved to have been around when the decision was made to proceed with what is now the Bridgewater project.
There seems to be a bit of a turf war (no pun intended) with the Burlington Youth Soccer Club on one side and the Burlington Soccer League (BSL), Burlington Women’s Recreational Soccer League (BWRSL), Burlington Old Timers Soccer Club (BOTSC), and Burlington Ladies Soccer League (BLSL) on the other.
Adult soccer players feel they are not getting their share of time in the soccer domes – have formed a consortium and are taking a petition to city council.
Burlington adult soccer communities claim they have been displaced by the inaction of the city which they claim has allowed the Burlington Youth Soccer Club (BYSC) — without external input or approval — to deny long-standing dome users their rightful place in the City-owned and tax-payer financed domes while leaving the public facility largely empty.
In a petition the BSL, the BWRSL, the BOTSC and the BLSL are circulating, they maintain that: “After contributing initial funding for development and rental fees for 15+ years the during which the groups have contributed well in excess of $600,000 to the Sherwood Forest Park Domes they are being kept out as of this fall.
Apparently “No negotiations were offered by the City or BYSC and no conversations toward working together have taken place. Instead the adult soccer clubs have had their programming replaced — and in some cases duplicated — by the BYSC in an effort to create a monopoly for soccer in Burlington.
This forces residents to pay higher fees for fewer games at a lower quality or to travel outside of the City in which their tax dollars helped to fund this soccer facility.
The petition is on line – look at the facts, talk to those adults who play soccer and then consider making your voice heard.
The Burlington Youth Soccer Club has become quite a bit more aggressive in their marketing and promotion efforts and while they are the largest soccer organization in the city there has always been considerable animosity between this very large club and the smaller groups.
We recall a meeting a number of years ago (2011) at city hall during which a number of woman with babies in their arms or in strollers massed in the council chamber to make their point. Council backed down and the issue was resolved. Link to that story set out below.
There is something that isn’t right with the way things get managed within the Parks and Recreation department. Currently the seniors that used to have a considerable amount of influence with the way things were run at the Seniors’ Centre found themselves locked out of the office they were using and told to find accommodation somewhere else – the city took over much of the programming the seniors were doing. They formed their own organization and are offering some interesting and innovative programs.
Now the adult soccer groups seem to find that they too are not part of the “collaborative” process that the city administrators like to brag about.
The adult groups are asking city Councillors to intervene. They don’t want to mess with the Mother’s
A number of years ago the people at the Parks and Recreation learned about an approach to community organizing they thought could benefit the people of the city.
Denise Beard, Manager of Community Development Services
Denise Beard, Manager of Community Development Services heard Jim Diers speaking at an event and thought his approach made a lot of sense.
Diers was brought in – spoke to several groups and was taken on by the Parks and Recreation people to advise and consult.
Jim Diers
The Parks and Recreation people didn’t buy into everything Diers suggested but they did take to the idea of working with neighbourhood groups and providing funds to develop neighbourhood initiatives.
The program is working and is being used again in 2018.
The program – Neighbourhood Community Matching Fund, is now accepting applications – the deadline for submissions is Feb. 26, 2018.
Designed to inspire residents to lead neighbourhood and community projects, the Fund provides up to $5,000 to support projects led by local groups, like the group of students from Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School who painted a beautiful 700 square-foot mural in Norton Park, which was unveiled on Oct. 24, 2017.
An information session will be held on Nov. 22, 2017, from 7 to 9 p.m., in room 247 of Burlington City Hall, 426 Brant St. Anyone interested in applying for funds is encouraged to attend the presentation, speak with staff and network with other grant applicants or past recipients.
This bunch decided the ball park next to their school needed an upgrade – they took their ideas to city hall and were awarded a matching grant.
How the Fund works
The Community Matching Fund program provides up to $5,000 in city funding to support neighbourhood and community group-led projects in Burlington. Approved projects receive up to 50 per cent of the funding from the city. The neighbourhood or community group will match this funding with an equal contribution made up of any combination of volunteer hours, donated services, donated materials and supplies or other funds raised, such as cash donations.
You live in a nice part of town. The homes are in the million dollar price range. Traffic is just local – the view out over the lake is pleasant.
Life is good – the neighbours get along with each other quite well.
The Tyandaga West Subdivision was registered in 1999. The original developer ran into problems and sold their interest to another developer who completed the project.
The development is very close to a quarry that mines shale for the manufacturing of brick. The brick company has gone through a number of mergers and acquisitions and is now known as Meridian Brick. The corporate organization has had a license from the province to quarry for shale since 1972.
Aldershot has been home to brick manufacturing sine the 1900’s.
The people on West Haven, which run west off Kerns Road, are not opposed to the manufacturing of brick – but they do wonder if a quarry that was approved forty years ago is appropriate in what is now a built up neighbourhood.
For the most part the residents were really aware of the brick making operation – until they were told that the mining for shale was going to take place less than 100 yards from their homes,
All was well until the neighbourhood got a letter from the brick manufacturer that they were going to begin mining for shale in the eastern section of the property. There are three sections that are marked for shale mining with a hydro line running through the property.
When the community got the letters they met, organized and started to make their views and concerns known to their elected officials and to the brick company.
The residents got even less than lip service from the politicians – “they have a license” said both the Mayor and the ward Councillor Rick Craven.
Indeed they do said the residents – it was issued in 1972 and a lot of things have changed since then. In a very smart piece of community organizing they pointed out just how much things have changed in the 40 plus years since the license was issued.
The community reached out to the Mayor and the ward Councillor as well as the MPP and Cabinet Minister Eleanor. In a prepared statement TEC said:
“Ms McMahon (local MPP) and members of her local team were made aware of the health and ecological concerns of the community with respect to the proposed quarry extension in September 2015.
“Since that time there have been ongoing discussions and meetings, and specific requests from TEC of Ms McMahon’s office. TEC had requested her to take the lead in organizing meetings for TEC, with the MOECC and MNRF and to assist TEC in a process to obtain a Ministerial Zoning Order that would enable a review of the quarry to be conducted. Ms. McMahon has voiced TEC ‘s concerns and objections to Meridian’s plans but to date the group are unaware if she has facilitated a meeting with the various ministers as there has been minimal communication although that has requested many times.
“In May 2017, her office acknowledged that Meridian does have to carry out endangered species studies. To date Meridian nor Minister McMahon have provided any information with respect to the studies.”
You can see where that’s going.
At this point – the community and the corporation are each holding their own meetings.
The West Haven residents incorporated a not for profit with the name Tyandaga Environmental Coalition (TEC) was the kind of community that could raise funds quite easily – they asked residents to pony up $500 per household. That gave TEC a war chest and they hired one of the better (perhaps the best) environmental lawyers – David Donnelly, one of the lawyers on the winning side of the fight to block the expansion of a quarry in the Escarpment.
David Donnelly, environmental lawyer representing TEC
Donnelly is a bit of a “pit bull” – he is a tough cookie and not shy about stepping into a battle for the environment. He looks for solutions that will keep everyone happy.
The TEC people are vigilant – they recently spotted some equipment that was working the property. Hiding in some bushes a resident filmed the work crew – listen to what was recorded on a cell phone.
Note the graphic that set out the sound that the residents will hear every day that the mine is being quarried for shale.
The illustration sets out what the residents are going to have to deal with. 102 decibels is louder than a food blender (80 db) on a kitchen counter.
Is the city going to allow that much noise?
There is a solution that is being put forward by the TEC people. Their counsel David Donnelly, in conservation with Mayoralty candidate Mike Wallace on Cogeco’s The Issue with Mark Carr sets out one approcach but as Donnelly points out “there is no point going to city hall if they don’t want to listen.”
Why is it that a private yacht club at LaSalle Park can usurp the public access to this waterfront by placing their docks and pier anchors on publicly owned property?
There is no longer any room to park cars creating a traffic nightmare, fish for those who enjoy this or observe/photograph the multitude of waterfront fowl from the east side of the pier. Furthermore, it is an eye sore.
LaSalle Park – bring about a boat on its way to the water.
Did this private yacht club get permission from the city to do this?
Did this private yacht club pay the city for utilizing the public pier for storage?
Who is going to pay for the damage to the inter-locking brick and asphalt……tax-payers?
The response from John Birch, the LaSalle Park Marina Association President was pretty direct:
We are well past the time when this kind of narrative about being a ‘private club’ being simply an honest mistake.
In our opinion, it is a dystopic and amoral Trumpian disinformation trick with the statement untruthfully trying to load and prejudice the public narrative. Sadly, it is the world we live in now. However, the statement is entirely misleading and factually untrue.
The facts are:
LaSalle Park Marina Association is a registered not-for-profit corporation administrating for free the City of Burlington’s Open Public Marina. The City owns the asset LaSalle Park Marina, LPMA paid for it.
Again, LaSalle Park Marina is the City of Burlington’s Open Public Marina.
LaSalle Park Marina doesn’t store boats, the Burlington Sailing & Boating Club.
The facts are:
LPMA is permitted, per our Joint Venture Agreement with City of Bburlington (CoB) ; and CoB’s lease with HPA, to store LaSalle Park Marina’s docks onshore atop LaSalle Pier where sited. Has been thus for 37 years.
In addition, some floating Wavebreak Modules are ashore with City permission for LPMA to again repair these modules, which any lay person can clearly see plainly are damaged.
There is plenty of room to park cars currently. Very few parking spots have been taken up, and the few that are is with the City’s expressed consent during the repairs.
There will be no damage to the asphalt or asphalt imprinted “interlocking brick” which is in fact molded asphalt.
The Wavebreak modules where specifically placed the way they were to minimize, as much as possible, the impact to public vista to the South from LaSalle Pier, while we do the needful repairs.
The projected repair schedule is over six weeks, from November 1, weather permitting as an arc welder is employed to repair. The mussels are vacuumed up and disposed of properly following our international Blue Flag certified environmental protocols.
The proposed Rock Habitat Safe Harbour Wavebreak will in fact solve all issues, including winter storage of docks ashore (as the docks will remain in the water year round behind the Rock Wavebreak) when built. That will greatly improve public access to all parking spots on LaSalle Pier year round, and provide substantial fish and wildlife habitat per the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s approval and directions on the EA to proceed to next steps.
We are entirely process people, and are following due process.
We keep the City informed of any material developments, pro or con, having an impact on their asset LaSalle Park Marina in a timely manner; and, as a professional courtesy copy the Ward Councillor when appropriate.
Birch is quite right – let’s stop this nattering away about the Marina being a private yacht club.
Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement regarding a low pressure system that will be moving through Southern Ontario starting tonight and extending through Sunday. Appreciable amounts of rain are likely in many areas especially Sunday and Sunday night with forecasted amounts ranging between 25 to 40 mm.
Riverine flooding is not anticipated, however potential rainfall amounts combined with saturated ground conditions may result in higher than normal water levels and flows in local streams.
Water levels in watershed creeks will rise significantly during the weekend. Caution around the edges of creeks – especially with children.
Conservation Halton is asking all residents and children to stay away from all watercourses and structures such as bridges, culverts and dams. Elevated water levels, fast flowing water, and slippery conditions along stream banks continue to make these locations extremely dangerous. Please alert children in your care of these imminent dangers.
This Watershed Conditions Statement – Water Safety will be in effect through Monday November 6, 2017. Conservation Halton will continue to monitor stream and weather conditions and will provide updates as required.
It’s a small, independent bookstore that has been in business for more than forty years and continues to draw top level authors. offers
A Different Drummer Books has put together a program that anyone interested in how authors create the books they write will be interested in attending.
Robyn Harding and Roz Nay will be in conversation with Linda Simmons on Friday November 17 – 7pm at A Different Drummer Books
Admission is free – they do want you to register.
Robyn Harding wrote The Party – a powerful novel of family tragedy and harrowing social descent. Roz Nay, wrote Our Little Secret, a stunning, taut and adroitly designed thriller.
Lynda Simmons, an accomplished novelist and creative writing instructor, will lead her fellow authors in a discussion of their books and the writer’s art.
Sounds like something worth the time
Please register at diffdrum@mac.com
Put Please reserve a place for me on November 17. in the subject line.
It has become a bit of an institution for those who appreciate the arts.
The Art in Action tour begins again this year on Saturday the 4th and continues on Sunday the 5th. 10 am to 5 pm. Each of the nine locations are usually clearly marked.
During the tour you will find yourself crossing paths with people you met earlier in the day – it’s a really pleasant way to make new friends.
Map with locations of the nine tour stops.
You will meet artists and you may find yourself buying something during the tour or you might decide when you get home that you did like the piece of art and want to make a purchase.
In the past we have had notes from people who saw something they liked and asked if we could put them in touch with the artist.
The Cat – it spoke to me. Done by Claudette Losier
I saw a postcard of a painting that I liked – the painting wasn’t part of the exhibit. I was intrigued by the work – and met the artist sometime later and asked where the original painting was – “In my house” she explained. “Would you like to buy it” The painting is now in my home – still haven’t decided how I want it framed. That cat speaks to me.
Get the cat in here.
Keeping something alive for 15 years and watching it grow is no small feat. The Art in Action people scrounge and find sponsors. For the past number of years they have awarded a scholarship to a budding student – some of whom grow to the point where they take part in the tour.
The artists are there to sell their work – but they do a lot more than that – they take the position that they want to grow the number of people who see art as an important part of their lives.
Don Graves, showing a piece of his work to an interested patron. She bought it.
Don Graves sees his role as teaching people what art can come to mean in their lives – watching him show a small painting to two women a number of years ago and letting them get comfortable with the work before they bought it – and buy it they did.
Stained glass artist Teresa Seaton at her work table.
Some of the artist’s work at their easels or tables during the tour. Teresa Seaton is often seen putting together a stained glass piece while people look on.
There are 27 artists showing at nine locations. Some new faces and some we have seen before and want to see what they have done in the past year.
More detail on the Art in Action web site Click here.
Well … at least it wasn’t one of those dreaded 4-3 votes that our city council strives to avoid – it was 5-2 to approve the construction of a 23 story tower that will rise at the corner of Brant and James Street opposite city hall.
When completed it will be the tallest building in the city.
The developer had asked for 27 storeys – Planning department came back with 23 and that is where they settled.
“The future is tall buildings” said ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven who added the “citizens need to get over there concerns.”
Councillor Blair Lancaster was very impressed with the staff work – she saw all kinds of best practices. Councillor Dennison liked it – no surprise there.
Councillor Taylor said he will not support waterfront buildings but did support this one because it was not on the waterfront.
Sharman: in favour of project.
Councillor Meed Ward wanted the height limited to 17 storeys – other than the Mayor no one agreed with her.
Meed Ward was not in favour of the development. She said residents want Brant protected from tall buildings. “We must adhere to our official plan and mobility study. There is a disconnect here between staff and the public. It should be a maximum 12 stories.”
Taylor: no tall buildings on the waterfront. Will not support waterfront build but do support this one as it’s not on the waterfront.
The Mayor said the draft mobility hub plan and official plan (albeit old) should be considered and that he thought 17 stories is best. The Mayor said the city needed to protect Brant south of Caroline.
Sharman: in favour of project.
This city council has decided that they can live with what was proposed. Quite what the difference is between a 23 story structure and a 27 storey structure other than the 4 storeys escapes this writer.
The developer now needs to continue the negotiations with the city on the site plan and what there might be in the way of benefits to the city for the additional height and density.
Require the developer to put up a building that would make everyone proud.
The Mayor thought 17 floors was better and decided to vote against the staff recommendation of 23 storeys.
One observer at the meeting pointed out that the Mayor managed to wait until it was clear which direction the vote was going in and then managed to vote against the development after it was a fait accompli. “So much for his support” said the observer who added that “Marianne Meed Ward is alone on this council with regard to the tall building fight! It seems the other Councillors don’t care if it’s not in their ward.”
Lots of talk at last night’s council meeting on developing Brant street.
The thing that horrifies me is that people in support of the 23 story building or against it seem to have no idea why. Developer wants 27 stores, staff want 23 and the mayor wants 17. Average is 22.3 should we go with that? Here is how you should actually decide these things – with math.
The typical Paris apartment building – six floors – “people love them”claims Woodruff.
You never need to build buildings more than 6 floors high – ever. Skip the math if you like – down town Paris, France has a density of 210 per hectare and the buildings are limited to 6 floors – people love that place. The province requires 200 per hectare in down town Burlington. So in practice you can see an actual functional example of the density not needing to be high at all.
However for the skeptics lets go through the math and see why that is. I’m going to round these numbers for readability.
1 Hectare = 107,639 square feet 8% loss for roads/sidewalk 100,000 square feet (107,639/0.92) 50% lot coverage 50,000 square feet (100,000/2) 4/6 floors of living 200,000 square feet (50,000*4) 10% Hallway and amenity loss 180,000 square feet (200,000*0.9) Density of 200 people or jobs per hectare 900 square feet living a person. (180,000/2)
I support large flexible large family apartments so my sizes are 1 bedroom 800 and 2 bedroom 1,200 and 3 bedroom 1,600. This is 6 floor buildings with a floor of commercial at ground floor and a floor of office space and left 50% of the ground open and provided very generous apartment sizes. I still have 5,000 square feet of feet space left over assuming all 1 bed room apartments with 1 person each which is not true in practice. This means lots and lots of space to add back to open space, road/sidewalks or reduce the building to 3 floors along the street which is preferred by pedestrians.
For reference the current density of Burlington is 10 people per hectare possibly 20 per hectare in the non-green belt area. Taking the already build on area to 200 per hectare would mean 2 million people would live here. Even if Copenhagen like ‘alternative’ transportation rates – which there is no evidence at all we could get anywhere close to and have done nothing to produce – road congestion and pollution alone will have reduced this area to a terrible slum long before we get anywhere close to that. The 183 cars proposed in this development alone would stretch out more that 1km in bumper to bumper traffic. That’s half the distance from the lake to Fairview street – from one development. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Which gets back to the decision. We can have high buildings – if the local community gets so much for the building – they want it. Seems the only people who want this building are the developers, city staff and councilors that do not represent Ward 2.
So would I approve it – no. It can be limited to 6 floors (yes I know the zoning is 12 at present) or the developers can come back with a better offer that gets people who live down town on board. The principle is: We live here – we decide.
Buildings larger than 6 floors are not required by any provincial planning document. Target density numbers of 200 people per hectare (down town) and 150 (mobility hub) do not require sky scrapers.
People who tell you large buildings are needed to hit density numbers are either mis-informed or spouting gibberish.
Greg Woodruff
Greg Woodruff is an Aldershot resident who has a propensity for numbers and mathematics. He ran as a candidate for Chair of the Region of Halton in the 2014 election. He appears to be setting himself up for a run in the Mayoralty race in 2018. His views are his own and are published as part of a civic debate.
On Thursday, November 2, 2017, just after 9:00am, a traffic stop was initiated at Guelph Street and Mountainview Road in Halton Hills. As a result of an investigation, Glenn Cunningham (55) of Halton Hills was charged driving over 80mgs.
On Thursday, November 2, 2017, just after 10:30am, a traffic stop was initiated at Main Street East and Ontario Street in Milton. As a result of an investigation, Charles Moore (56) of Milton was charged with driving over 80mgs.
On Thursday, November 2, 2017, just before 10:30pm, witnesses reported a suspected impaired driver in Oakville. Victor Buczynski Valle (21) of Milton was charged with care or control while impaired.
The Halton Regional Police Service remains committed to road safety through prevention, education and enforcement initiatives.
“In an effort to bring more attention to the risk of driving while impaired, assist in identifying witnesses, and reduce continued offences, the Service will continue to issue a media release publishing the name, age and municipality of motorists charged with impaired driving.”
“The decision to release the names of those charged with DUI offences was not made lightly by the Halton Regional Police Service.”
While the number of charges laid nationally is getting smaller “ impaired driving still remains one of the most frequent criminal offences and is among the leading criminal causes of death in Canada. In addition, while alcohol-impaired driving is down over the past several decades, drug-impaired driving is on the rise”.
“In an effort to bring more attention to the risk of driving while impaired, assist in identifying witnesses, and reduce continued offences, the Service will continue to issue a media release publishing the name, age and municipality of motorists charged with impaired driving.”
The Police Services Act permits this disclosure for individuals charged with a Criminal Offence.
Members of the public are reminded that driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol is a crime in progress and to call 9-1-1 immediately to report a suspected impaired driver.
The Service’s Twitter and Facebook accounts should not be used for this purpose as they are not monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
First we take Alberta then we take B.C. But not likely so in Ontario, even with all the animosity being heaped on current Premier Wynne from all sides. Still, who would have thought Alberta. And now B.C., where questions about the Site C and Kinder Morgan projects are making residents wonder whether their new leader, like the one next door, will be taking no prisoners.
Rachel Notley, Premier of Alberta
Not everyone welcomes the changes Rachel Notley is delivering in that free-spirited cowboy-centric land, though most concede that after four decades of the Progressive Conservatives (PC) it was time for a change. Peter Lougheed ended almost half a century of rule by those unconventional, depression-era, and once anti-Semitic Funny Money Social Credit people in 1971. He ran such a good show over his years that a review by a panel of powerful and prominent political hacks had voted Lougheed the best Canadian provincial premier ever.
Peter Lougheed, one of the best Premier’s the province ever had.
Lougheed eventually was followed by Ralph Klein, a man loved by his electors despite his own love for the bottle and an occasional outrage. He lasted over a decade despite being ranked near the bottom of the barrel in that review of premiers, tied with his ole’ drinking buddy Mike Harris. But Klein, a former Liberal, had come into office a reformed man, determined to out-right the right wing of the Alberta PC party. He was the darling of the Fraser Institute, which cheered him on as he eliminated deficits and debt, cutting spending like a novice butcher, inadvertently removing a lot of the beef with all that fat.
His cuts to health care were massive, such that the province was faced with never before seen waiting lists for surgeries, and with the gurneys lining up on the corridors. It was a legacy of neglect on almost all fronts which would come to haunt his successors and eventually the NDP’s Notley, as she struggles to diversify the provincial economy after the last oil price shock.
Ralph Klein
King Ralph was the first Canadian premier to introduce a flat income tax, which together with reduced corporate taxes and oil royalties forced him to raid Lougheed’s cherished Alberta Heritage Trust just to pay the bills. So today, unlike other oil money endowments established in Norway and Alaska, Alberta’s trust fund is almost empty. And when that proverbial rainy day came there was almost nothing left in the kitty to help keep the lights on.
Notley has done some pretty dumb things too, reportedly dispatching civil servants to teach Albertans how to change their light bulbs and conserve energy. But her success in cooperating with the federal government landed her approvals for the pipelines the province so-badly needs to keep its oil sands extractions busy. Setting a limit on climate change emissions from the oil industry, phasing-out coal fired electricity, and introducing a carbon tax more generous that what the feds had been demanding have made her a kind of maverick in a province too often known to be a donkey on the environment.
Evacuation of Fort McMurray during fire storm
But people will remember her for her passionate response to the wildfire that ravaged Fort McMurray, the oil sands capital. Eighty thousand people were forced to flee their homes as more than 6000 square kilometres were destroyed, including half a million hectares of woodland. Costs, always suspect in something of this magnitude range into the billions, with almost $4 billion just in insurance claims. Some will call this an act of nature, but others will say I told you so. They will point to the irony of the devastating fire happening smack on the footsteps of Alberta’s immensely carbon-intensive oil sands operations, saying this is but a prime example of being hoisted with our own petard – wait for the second shoe.
Notley has also pushed infrastructure development to create much needed jobs, in the process necessarily expanding the deficit beyond what her immediate predecessor, former Harper minister Jim Prentice, had been forced to reinstate. She’s been getting flack over her $15 minimum wage for 2018, not unlike the flack Ontario’s premier has been earning on that file. And her plan for farm workers’ accident compensation has got the agricultural folks all riled up, regardless that it is there to protect them from tedious and costly injury law suits.
Jason Kenney
Enter Jason Kenny and his recent accomplishment merging the PCs and Wild Rose parties under a new United Conservative banner. Kenny is much like Stephen Harper, another ex-Ontarian whom he worked for as Minister of Defence. His resume shows that, like his former boss, he is a professional politician who once headed a taxpayer lobby group. He is a social conservative, having voted in favour of limiting a woman’s right to choose and was one of those Harperites who voted against same-sex marriage – before he too saw the light. Those perspectives should do him well out on the prairie farmland, though he may need to moderate his views when he campaigns in the cities.
Although Notley had won a majority of seats in Alberta’s first past the post (FPP) system last election (54 of 79 seats) she only obtained a little over 40% of the total vote. That is still a respectable mandate for a multi-party FPP election, but it will be an uphill battle to repeat that victory. There was unusual voter anger in the last election – a sense of betrayal over an empty Heritage Fund, a tumbling economy, corruption and a stale government in disarray without any answers or vision once the price of oil went into the dumpster.
The way Alberta’s cowboy culture likes to be seen.
Memories in politics tend to be short and many of these voters have spent decades only voting PC. Like any addiction that can be a little hard to kick. So the NDP would do well to take the threat posed by new Conservative leader Kenny seriously. Winning the next election won’t be nearly as easy for Notley as the last time despite the fact that Alberta is coming back. In fact the province is on the road to restoring its position as one of Canada’s leading economic powerhouses – in part thanks to Notley’s management.
Background links: Notley After 2 years – https://globalnews.ca/news/3427870/timeline-a-look-at-rachel-notleys-2-years-as-alberta-premier/
Lougheed the Best – https://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Alberta+Peter+Lougheed+easily+tops+list+Canada+best+premiers/6562534/story.html
Klein a More Positive Obit – https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ralph-klein-70-the-man-who-ruled-alberta/article10569210/?ref=https://www.theglobeandmail.com&
More Klein – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Klein
Heritage Fund – https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/what-happened-to-albertas-cash-stash/article24191018/?ref=https://www.theglobeandmail.com&
Jason Kenny – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Kenney
A review of the 2018 proposed budgets will begin on Nov. 9 at 11 a.m.
A copy of the proposed 2018 capital budget will be available online at www.burlington.ca/budget by Nov. 6, 2017.
Meetings for the 2018 capital and operating budgets will take place on the following dates:
Members of the public who would like to speak at the Committee of the Whole – Budget meetings as a delegation can register by calling 905-335-7600, ext. 7481 or visiting burlington.ca/delegation.
The deadline to register as a delegation for the Dec. 1 Committee of the Whole capital budget meeting is Nov. 30, 2017 at noon. The deadline to register as a delegation for the Jan. 18 Committee of the Whole operating budget meeting is Jan. 17, 2018 at noon.
Quotes
Joan Ford, Director of Finance said that “Seventy eight per cent of the 2018 capital budget is focused on renewing our aging infrastructure in accordance with the Asset Management Plan. The budget also makes key investments to deliver on initiatives in the Strategic Plan.”
The 2018 Capital Budget is focused on delivering initiatives in the city’s Strategic Plan and meeting the city’s commitment to infrastructure renewal projects identified by Burlington’s Asset Management Plan. Priorities for 2018 include road and storm water infrastructure improvements.
The 2018 proposed capital budget is approximately $68.6 million, with a 10-year program of $688 million.
No mention is made in the media release as to what the city is going to do about the financial mess at Burlington Transit. We will all feel the bite on that one.
BURLINGTON, ON
This from people who claimed to be the TD Bank – anyone who opened that pdf would have invited all kinds of grief into their lives.
Whenever you see something you are not absolutely certain about – take a pass on it.
To ensure uninterrupted processing of payments after November 1st, 2017, please refer to the document available thru this communication.
For more detailed information please open the attached PDF below. You will need a password to open the secure document.
YOUR DOCUMENT PASSWORD: wbb71dx4
You are now required by law to review these document(s) immediately or your commercial banking account will be suspended until further notice due to new regulations.
We thank you for your cooperation and appreciate your business.
TD Business Banking Management, TD BANK GROUP – Web Business Banking
The biggest red flag is the sender – this email came from an offshore location.
The locale for this story is not Burlington – but it raises serious concerns over the number of fire arms in a residence – even if it was semi-rural.
On Oct 31st, 2017 between 6 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. a break in occurred at a Milton home in a semi-rural area on Trafalgar Road. (The exact location of the incident is not being released) It is not known how the entry to the home was gained.
Inside the residence, a door to a gun storage room was kicked in and several gun lockers were pried open. Seven handguns and an unknown amount of ammunition were stolen. The firearms and ammunition were safely stored. The persons responsible are believed to have fled in a vehicle due to the semi-rural location of the incident.
There is no suspect information and Halton Police are requesting the public’s assistance. If you have any information that could assist in this investigation please contact Detective Bob Lester of the 1 District Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905 825-4747 ext. 2455 or Crime Stoppers (See Something, Hear Something, Say Something) at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca or by texting “Tip201″with your message to 274637 (crimes).
Seven hand guns in a residence raises eye brows and serious worry in the minds of police. Who ever did this break in knew the hand guns were there and would appear to have known that the house was unoccupied at the time of the break in. An unknown amount of ammunition for those hand guns was also stolen.
This is the kind of problem our Mayor likes to have. Listen in.
Moses Znaimer was invited to present his “New Vision on Aging” that is to take place on November 7 at the Performing Arts Centre
“The response for this event has been amazing, and we have completely “sold out”. Our wait list for tickets currently sits at 80 requests.
“If you have registered but are unable to attend, we ask that you kindly cancel your ticket or contact mayor@burlington.ca This will enable staff to release tickets to those on the wait list.”
When the project was first brought to the public the project could have been five storeys – the developer decided to go with four storeys.
Will adding two additional storeys make a big difference to the look of the community?
The development was sold out before a sales office was opened. It was going to be a very high end building with every imaginable amenity,
They had to tear down the Melodia restaurant that was never able to make a go of it.
Then the contractors started digging.
The design of the site went through a number of changes. In the very early stage the developer wasn’t able to acquire the restaurant site – when that changed the development changed significantly – it got bigger – now it is going to get higher.
That is when the problems started – there was water where water wasn’t expected and it took a considerable amount of time to figure out what the source was and how to stem the flow.
That problems seems to have been resolved – the cost certainly put a dent in the profitability of the proposed building.
The developer is now asking the city’s Planning department to add two additional storeys to the approved four levels.
Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward has said that at this stage she “open to considering the request” for a little more height in that part of the city, which is a block away from the proposed 27 storey structure that Carriage Gate wants to build opposite city hall.
The builders for the Saxony 4-storey condominium at Locust and Elgin have filed an application to permit two additional storeys on the project. The application has not been approved. Staff are reviewing materials submitted by the applicant and will ultimately make a recommendation to city council to approve, refuse or modify the application. Council will ultimately vote on the request.
Meed Ward plans on holding a neighbourhood meeting to seek public input on the request.
Mark Hefferton at mark.hefferton@burlington.ca has been assigned to the file
By Staff
Canada’s first Crime Stoppers program was set up in Calgary, Alberta in 1982. A year later Hamilton was the first city to establish a Crime Stoppers program in Ontario.
The people on West Haven, which run west off Kerns Road, are not opposed to the manufacturing of brick – but they do wonder if a quarry that was approved forty years ago is appropriate in what is now a built up neighbourhood.
The residents got even less than lip service from the politicians – “they have a license” said both the Mayor and the ward Councillor Rick Craven.
The West Haven residents incorporated a not for profit with the name Tyandaga Environmental Coalition (TEC) was the kind of community that could raise funds quite easily – they asked residents to pony up $500 per household. That gave TEC a war chest and they hired one of the better (perhaps the best) environmental lawyers – David Donnelly, one of the lawyers on the winning side of the fight to block the expansion of a quarry in the Escarpment.
The facts are:
Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement regarding a low pressure system that will be moving through Southern Ontario starting tonight and extending through Sunday. Appreciable amounts of rain are likely in many areas especially Sunday and Sunday night with forecasted amounts ranging between 25 to 40 mm.
Robyn Harding wrote The Party – a powerful novel of family tragedy and harrowing social descent. Roz Nay, wrote Our Little Secret, a stunning, taut and adroitly designed thriller.
The 2018 Capital Budget is focused on delivering initiatives in the city’s Strategic Plan and meeting the city’s commitment to infrastructure renewal projects identified by Burlington’s Asset Management Plan. Priorities for 2018 include road and storm water infrastructure improvements.
On Oct 31st, 2017 between 6 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. a break in occurred at a Milton home in a semi-rural area on Trafalgar Road. (The exact location of the incident is not being released) It is not known how the entry to the home was gained.
“The response for this event has been amazing, and we have completely “sold out”. Our wait list for tickets currently sits at 80 requests.
