 By Staff
May 24, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
City of Burlington loses the Appeal case that the Air Park made to the Ontario Court of Appeals. The matter of what the city will now do with its requirement that the Air Park file a site plan is is something the city is going to have to think through.
The Appeal was made by the Air Park. This is the first of numerous court cases that the city has lost in this matter.
 What does it mean and what, if anything, will the city do next?
One council member is reported to have said that if the city loses the Appeal they will not attempt to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.
 By Staff
May 24th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
There will be something in the way of a lasting memory of the graceful, natural looking Gazebo that once rested in a small dip of land at the beginning of the Naval Promenade in Spence Smith Park.
 A view of Burlington that is no more – two majestic willow trees were cut down and the gazebo razed for something more accessible. The two willow trees that were planted there more than seventy years ago by the man who the park was eventually named after were deemed to be unsafe and were cut down in 2016.
All was not lost – several hundred saplings were taken and the thick tree trunks were cut into smaller pieces, planed and then kiln dried and are now ready for use by people who like and know how to work with wood.
Starting in June, the city will offer wood chunks for creating artwork and for souvenirs, saplings for planting and wood boards to be finished into furniture or art objects.
Saplings: The city grew more than 200 cuttings from the willow trees in a greenhouse this past fall and winter. The young trees will be ready in early June for people who are interested in growing a piece of history on their own properties. Weeping willows are very large trees and don’t suit everyone’s property and preferences. Please carefully follow the city’s instructions on where and how to plant them.
A limited number of saplings is available at:
Branches of Burlington Public Library, starting June 6
Ireland House Museum, starting June 6
Lions Park, 471 Pearl St., June 9 from 5 to 8:30 p.m. during Chat and Chew in Ward 2
 Trunks of the weeping willow trees taken out of Spencer Smith Park are cut to plank length sizes, planed and then kiln dried. wood will be available in June. Wood chunks: Great for artwork or small pieces of furniture, wood chunks are available for pickup in the parking lot of the Burlington Lions Club at 471 Pearl St. from June 9 at 5 p.m. until June 11 at 5 p.m.
Wood boards: Local companies Arborwood Tree Service Inc. and Exotic Woods donated their services to prepare wood from the willow trees for future use. They planed, milled and then kiln-dried the wood from six large logs to make boards that can form a table, chairs or other furniture.
More information will soon be available about how to apply for those pieces of wood.
Tribute in Spencer Smith Park: The city is working with Halton Region to plan a lasting tribute to the willow trees in Spencer Smith Park. Stay tuned for more details.
For more information, visit www.burlington.ca/willowtrees. For questions about the wood, please email communications@burlington.ca.
 By Staff
May 24th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
On Tuesday May 23rd, officers from the Services three District Response Units teamed up for a third time this year in order to focus on a variety of traffic complaints throughout the City of Burlington. A large number of traffic complaints received by police relate to drivers exceeding the posted speed limits.
Project Safe Commute was developed in response to concerns expressed by Halton residents about aggressive driving, particularly during the morning and afternoon commutes. The first phase of the initiative was completed in Milton and Halton Hills in late March, while the second phase took place in Oakville in April.
 Police targeting cars exceeding the speed limits. Officers targeted those driving behaviours that place road users at the greatest risk namely distracted driving, aggressive driving and driving while impaired by either drug or alcohol.
Officers dedicated a combined total of 98 hours of enforcement to 15 identified high traffic complaint areas within Burlington. As a result of police presence at these various locations, police arrested two impaired drivers, impounded two vehicles for 7 days, took out of service three commercial motor vehicles due to violations, issued over 28 warnings to drivers and handed out 138 Provincial Offence Notices to drivers.
The charges ranged from distracted driving, speeding, stop sign and red light infractions, license suspensions, and impaired operation of a motor vehicle.
 Sgt. Jared McLeod of the 3 District Response Unit commented, “Drivers need to remember that their actions behind the wheel may have consequences on others. Several drivers stopped for speeding were doing 40km over the posted limit. Speeds like this, can escalate the chances of a serious motor vehicle collision. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility. We all play a role in changing driver behaviour to ensure safer roads for all.”
Halton Police would like to remind drivers that community safety is a shared responsibility and that each individual driver plays a key role in ensuring that their next commute is a Safe Commute.
Project Safe Commute and others are part of the Service’s broader Community First policing philosophy that focuses on incorporating the four pillars of (community) safety and well-being into service priorities: Emergency Response, Risk Intervention, Prevention, and Social Development.
If any citizen would like to report a traffic concern they can do so by visiting our website and submitting an online traffic complaint,
https://www.haltonpolice.ca/services/reporting/trafficcomplaints.php
 By Pepper Parr
May 24th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Steve Armstrong is an engineer by training working in the field of software development.
He hasn’t gotten much of his day job work done recently – he has become consumed by the machinations and the flow of information that has taken place during the public discussion of whether or not high schools in Burlington should be closed and if so, which schools and for what reasons.
 Steve Armstrong Last week Armstrong and Denise Davy met with “policy advisors at the Ministry of Education and had a good discussion with a few people. Afterwards we also met up with couple of NDP MPPs, Monique Taylor (Critic, Accessibility and Persons with Disabilities and Critic, Children and Youth Services) and Peggy Sattler (education critic).
Monique and Peggy both suggested keeping the heat up on our MPP, Eleanor McMahon.
Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon and Minister of Education Mitzie Hunter have been closely following this process and apparently have had meetings with a number of Board people.
Armstrong said he was told “the province won’t intervene at this time because a decision hasn’t been made, and they want to respect the process”, BUT they do agree it’s better for everyone involved if the correct decision gets made in the first place. Since that lies with the Trustees at this point we need to keep informing them of facts in play.
“What I would like to see is Eleanor and Mitzie facilitating a meeting with the Trustees to allow some reasoned voices to talk to gaps in the process. Perhaps this could be the PARC members in direct dialogue with the Trustees but either way the Ministry resonated with my concern about a lack of meaningful engagement.”
Armstrong reflects the widely held public view that the first Public meeting in December did not fulfill its goal but rather made things worse….”it was a live survey with poor questions and allowed no dialogue with attendees.”
The PARC meetings went from a focus on decisions about what options to remove early on to finally talking about creative ideas at the last meeting…completely backwards.
 Steve Armstrong with Cheryl DeLught Armstrong maintains that Director of Education Stuart Miller had told students that PARC members would be engaging with them. But that morphed into a survey which PARC members were denied participation in setting up questions that we might want.”
Armstrong adds that “staff were left out of this important process, and although apparently a heavily redacted set of comments have been made available to Trustees that was done after the PARC was disbanded so there was no chance of building on their input.
Armstrong said there has been no meaningful engagement with the city.
He adds that the second and third Public meetings were constructed differently than what the PAR committee had been told would happen.
 Functional breakouts (Finance, Building services etc) in which all Options where present didn’t meet the needs of the parents. “We were told it would be a short presentation up front followed by stations focused on individual options to be interactively discussed with the public.
“Instead they skipped the presentation and went with functional breakouts (Finance, Building services etc) in which all options where present. Overall it lead to a lack of cohesion.”
Armstrong reports that the Ministry was also concerned when it learned that not all Trustees have visited the schools in play. “I’m lead to believe” said Armstrong “that there has been discussion with the four Burlington Trustees and the Ministry/MPP but think all 11 need to be reminded of their duties and expectations with regard to engagement.”
It is time for the trustees to step up to the plate and be responsible and accountable to the people that elected them. At the last Information session of the Board we had a trustee with two schools that are in play, with one threatened with closure asking questions of Board staff about a school that wasn’t even in her ward.
Another trustee was in the que for asking questions and when it came to her turn she had forgotten what her question was.
 Amy Collard eye-balling Stuart Miller This is irresponsible behavior from people who are desperately needed to act on behalf of their constituents and not be so cozy with the Director of Education. He is accountable to them, something that Stuart Miller fully understands and will respond to – the trustees have to set the bar – they have yet to do so.
The exception is Ward 5 trustee Amy Collard – she has been relentless with not only Miller but every other staff member she has put questions to.
The other trustees can learn about what it means to hold staff accountable.
The Board will continue the meeting that was recessed last week on Wednesday (tomorrow) at 6:00 pm. The meeting will be live webcast. Steve Armstrong thinks he just might drop in.
By Pepper Parr
May 23rd, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
We published a statement about meetings Director of Education Stuart Miller was said to have had with Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon.
No such meetings took place.
Miller did have conversations with McMahon, by telephone and they lasted a five or so minutes. McMahon had questions about the process.
We have already apologized to Director Miller and will make our apologies to MPP Eleanor McMahon. There were extenuating circumstances – it was a long holiday weekend and people were not available. That doesn’t excuse the error we made.
The information we were given was false, and known to be false by people working to keep Bateman open. One, a former journalist, knows better than to make comments that she knew or should have known were false.
The other person the information came from was described in the article as a less than reliable source.
Stuart Miller said he and his staff changed their recommendation when they learned the full Central high school story and that their information came from the information that came out during the PARC process and documentation the Central parents made available to the board.
The Central enrollment, while not as high as the Board would like it to be, is understood to be stable.
“To close Central and have 600 students on buses every day would seriously jeopardize the educational experience these students would have and add close to $500,000 a year to transportation costs that they board already knows are going to increase” said Miller
“Closing central would not have done anything to enhance the educational experience.”
The projected Central enrollment was seen as stable. “And we did not make any allowance for whatever intensification might do for either Central or Aldershot: said Miller.
“We changed the recommendation when we learned the full Central high school story.”
By Pepper Parr
May 23rd, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
In 1972
Paul Henderson scores the “goal of the century”
The World Hockey Association begins
Global Television begins broadcasting in Ontario
Heritage Canada is established
Lester B. Pearson dies.
Average Cost of new house $27,550.00
Average Income per year $11,800.00
Average Monthly Rent $165.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 55 cents
Richard Nixon announces he will resign
In 1972 the province of Ontario issued a license to remove shale for brick making from lands in the western part of the city
The Tyandaga Environmental Coalition Inc. (TEC) is a group of concerned residents opposed to a planned expansion of that quarry for the purpose of shale extraction.
 The Tyendaga community and its neighbour – three quarry sites. The TEC has been slugging this one out for a number of years. They incorporated as a not for profit, created a web site, put up an on-line petition – 1,850 to date and now they get ready for another community meeting at which the brick making company will explain what they plan to do next.
That next is expected to be the cutting down of something between 6,000 and 10,000 trees on the 34 acre property.
While TEC does its best to prevent the mining of shale for brick making – which will require the cutting down of at least 6000 tress Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven Congratulates and thanks IKEA and “Tree Canada” for their recent initiative in Kerns Park where over 60 IKEA volunteers planted about 300 new trees in the park.
The irony is painful.
TEC made the comment that: “In the light of your support for the “Tree Canada” project we would also respectfully point out that just as important as the planting of saplings (for the future generation) is the saving of those trees that have already been planted and have survived all the elements both man-made and natural – trees that are now enormous contributors to our clean air, healthy lifestyle (for the current generation), and our overall well-being.
The TEC people say the “… need, at a minimum, to have the MNRF decision (to issue the original quarry license) to be re-evaluated in the light of the ‘HERE and NOW – 2016’. We appreciate that the MNRF does not have a history of reviewing their decisions but in this case we believe that the area under question has undergone such a dramatic change in the last FORTY-FOUR YEARS with the enormous growth in industry, schools, residences, traffic, etc. that it would warrant an exception to their rule.
They add that “There is also reason to believe that there are endangered species that were not identified in the original quarry request. Essentially, Forterra has become an urban quarry in a pristine area of Burlington.
 As many as 9000 tress will be cut down so that the shale can be mined for brick making. Meridian Brick (formerly Forterra Brick) plans to clear-cut approximately 40 acres of prime forest to expand its commercial shale quarrying operations (the east cell) beside the residential Tyandaga neighbourhood in Burlington, Ontario.
TEC urges the Honourable Kathryn McGarry (Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry), and, the Honourable Glen Murray (Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change), to revoke Meridian Brick’s permission to quarry their east cell.
By revoking the permission to quarry this land, the government would demonstrate strong leadership in correcting planning oversights that were made decades ago, long before an understanding of fair and just environmental principles emerged in Ontario law and before the possible health hazards associated with quarry operations were fully appreciated.
Cancelling the 44-year old “sleeper” permission to quarry land held by Meridian Brick would save an important and healthy forest, protect habitat for all species, flora and fauna – including those that are at-risk and endangered and help protect Ontario’s watershed and residents’ health.
TEC is fighting an uphill battle.
In an Information document made prepared for members of council and made available to the public the city’s view point is set out. Brick making is a big industry in Burlington.
The Information document explains that: “There is considerable background relating to the quarry including but not limited to the relationship to the nearby Tyandaga subdivision, land use planning matters and details regarding the quarry licence and operation. To this end, this document will serve as a background paper that offers a summary of the key facts.”
Three areas in North Aldershot are licenced for shale extraction under the Aggregates Resource Act (ARA) – West, Centre and East. The Aldershot Quarry has been in operation since the 1920’s and was first licenced under the Pits and Quarries Control Act in 1972 and then subsequently under the ARA in June, 1990.
Under the Aggregate Resources Act, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry:
Oversees the rules governing aggregate management
Inspects aggregate operations and responds to complaints
Enforces compliance
Ensures rehabilitation is carried out on sites
Extraction operations are governed by a site plan approved as part of a licence that was finalized in 2010 under the Aggregates Resources Act.
The quarries are designated as Mineral Resource Extraction in the Burlington Official Plan and zoned MRNA (Mineral Resource North Aldershot).
Licenced extraction areas are protected by the Provincial Policy Statement and are permitted to continue without the need for an Official Plan or Zoning By-law amendment or development permit.
Forterra Brick owns and operates the three clay brick plants and four shale quarries within the City. Forterra Brick (under various previous names and ownership) has owned and operated brick plants and quarries in Burlington since 1956.
Forterra Brick manufactures an estimated 55% of the clay brick produced in Canada and 45% of that is made in Burlington.
Currently the Aldershot plant uses shale from the west quarry and the Burlington plant (Dundas Street) uses shale from the centre quarry. The west quarry is reported to have approximately 3-5 years of shale reserves while the centre quarry has approximately 6-8 years of reserves. Times depend on demand for brick.
Both the west quarry and centre quarry were mined by National Sewer Pipe dating back to 1929. Hanson Brick has operated in both quarries since the late 1990’s. Until 2005, operations in the centre quarry were periodic and since then, the operations have been continuous. There has also been limited excavation in the east quarry. The West quarry is still operational, but with limited life.
 Three quarry sites This is a shale quarry site which produces Queenston shale for brick making. Queenston shale is the only type of shale used for brick making in Ontario today. Much of Ontario’s remaining Queenston shale is no longer accessible due to urban development in southern Ontario.
Shale extraction does not involve explosives. It’s a mechanical process where the topsoil and vegetation is stripped away (using bulldozers and tree chippers) and the underlying clay is left to weather. As the quarry deepens, piles of weathered shale are excavated by front end loaders and trucked away.
The excavated material from the Aldershot quarries is trucked away to the Aldershot brick plant south of the west quarry and to the Burlington quarry located on Dundas Street, east of Appleby Line.
The material is transported using the North Service Road with approximately 110 truckloads per week. The quarry does not operate on weekends.
The site plans for the approved licence show three operational cells (quarries). In the near future, operations at the site will open a new cell within the existing approved licence area – known as the east cell (quarry). This is not a new licence area or a licence expansion. The remainder of the quarry is active and quarry operations were found to be in compliance when inspected by the Ministry in 2015.
East Quarry: In 2015, the City was notified by Forterra of its intention to start preparing the east quarry for extraction.
The east quarry is 16.4 hectares in size and approximately 10.8 hectares will be disturbed.
Clearing the land is the first step in preparing for shale extraction. Tree clearing was scheduled for the winter of 2016-2017 for the east quarry; however, a mitigation plan for endangered species is required which may delay the timing of the tree clearing.
Quarry Rehabilitation: The entire east quarry will be rehabilitated in accordance with the Greenbelt Plan to 100% forest cover. The rehabilitation requirements of the Greenbelt Plan were incorporated into the site plan finalized in 2010 under the Aggregates Resources Act.
Westhaven Drive Subdivision: Houses on Westhaven Drive were constructed well after the quarry property had been licenced for aggregate extraction.
On May 12, 1997, City Council approved the Westhaven Drive subdivision, adjacent to the east quarry.
The application was appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board by residents on Forestvale Drive and it was approved with some minor amendments on May 25, 1998.
At the time the subdivision application was made in 1995, Dust Assessment and Noise Control studies were submitted to the city for the future east quarry to demonstrate compatibility.
These studies were reviewed and approved by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy who stated in a letter dated, October 24, 1996 that it “is satisfied that the land use compatibility issues raised earlier have been addressed.”
All purchasers are informed of the following warning clause registered on title:
“The purchaser acknowledges the presence of a future extractive industrial land use to the west and that extraction may take place during the daytime only.”
The Tyandaga Environmental Coalition Inc. (“TEC”) has been formed to represent a number of families residing adjacent to the proposed quarry. The TEC did contact the city to request confirmation that certain OMB Minutes of Settlement conditions were fulfilled relating to a site plan, noise and dust matters. The city confirmed that the conditions had been cleared by staff.
Neighbourhood Meeting: On September 22, 2015, at the request of Councillor Craven, Forterra held an information session with local residents to explain their plans and to answer questions. At the meeting, the neighbours were invited to form a committee that could meet with Forterra Brick to discuss the concerns of the neighbourhood. The September 22nd meeting was attended by Councillor Craven, approximately 50 members of the public and planning staff. An optional tour of the west quarry took place prior to the meeting and was attended by approximately 9 residents.
Ministerial Review: The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry was asked to comment on a request for a ministerial review of the licence granted to Forterra Brick and we are advised by Eleanor McMahon, MPP that there is no process under the ARA for a ministerial review of an approved licence.
Regular inspections of an operating quarry are conducted by the Ministry and the Forterra quarry operations were found to be in compliance when inspected by the Ministry in 2015.
Forterra Brick is holding a meeting for anyone who wants to talk to them Thursday evening at the Crossroads Centre on the 1259 North Service Road just west of Kerns Road.
The overriding question for the community and city hall is this; which is more important mining shale to make bricks or the 6000 – 9000 trees that will have to be cut down to mine that shale.
Think climate change as you muse about this one.
 By Staff
May 23, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
The Canada 150 Mosaic project brings together 150 communities and thousands of participants to create community murals that celebrate Canada’s unique history and culture. Burlington’s mural will be made of 400 tiles.
 This work is not part of the Burlington effort – it was in the painting room where people could get some ideas. During the weekend literally hundreds of young people and their parents were at the Art Gallery taking part in what is going to be a national visual celebration of our 150 years as a nation.
Burlington residents were invited to paint their own tile that will become part of the mural.
When there is an open event that focuses on young people we get to see the Art Gallery at its best. The regular high brow art shows are fine – we do get to see some exceptionally good work.
What the kids bring is energy, enthusiasm and awe.
 Leslie Page runs the Children’s program at the Art Gallery The art program for the younger set is guided by Leslie Page who was swamped with the turnout on Monday afternoon when she had to tell some people that the gallery was going to close soon – they could take one of the 400 blank tiles home, paint it and bring it back.
It was that kind of day.
 It was a “master piece as far as this young boy was concerned – the girl wasn’t as certain. Everyone was welcome – they weren’t expected to be an artist to participate. The limited number of mural tiles were handed out on a first come, first served basis.
There was a painting set up at the Burlington Mall; the Gazette covered the event Monday afternoon at the Art Gallery
The finished product will be unveiled on Saturday, July 1, 2017 at the Burlington Music Centre on New Street at 10:00 am
 Burlington’s contribution to the 150 different murals that are being created to celebrate our sesquicentennial The Canada 150 Mosaic project is led by internationally recognized artists Lewis Lavoie, Paul Lavoie and Phil Alain. It is a mammoth undertaking.
On July 1st, Canada will turn 150 years old. It is a country that has welcomed the world through its borders.
To celebrate this birthday, the Mural Mosaic team is launching a bold undertaking. Over a two year span, the trio plan to create a mural including all provinces and territories, over 80,000 paintings and 150 individual murals that when united will form one gigantic mural mosaic. The mural, if ever connected would be over 365 meters wide (4 football fields) x 2.5 meters high (8 feet).
 Two local artists look over the hundreds of tiles painted to make up the mural: Donna Grandin and Dominique Prevost seem to approve. The mural will represent a cultural mosaic, a time capsule, a visual portrayal of history, an art masterpiece from the soul of the nation. An art piece that fifty years from now, may inspire another generation, who will in turn be able to celebrate through the mural, and maybe take it upon themselves to add to this memory
Like the first settlers to come to the country, this project is full of ambition, adventure and the desire to trail blaze into new exciting frontiers. It will also face great challenges and obstacles. But, if history proves itself correctly, the trio of art explorers, Lewis Lavoie, Paul Lavoie and Phil Alain will find their way and en route will meet up with like-minded art explorers and something remarkable will be born.
 Every tile was an individual effort – this artist is thinking through what she wants to say with her tile. Each province and territory will have only 5-15 individual communities who will be selected to represent the province and the nation. Each community will host an event inviting participants from far and wide from their region to participate and create their own community mural, which will then connect to the nation.
Upon the completion of the entire Canada 150 Mosaic, each community mural will reside in the town or city where it was created as a reminder of the 150th anniversary, and the pride of the community and the nation.
By Pepper Parr
May 23th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
There were errors in an earlier version of this article. Corrections have been made. A link to the circumstances that led to the errors appears at the end of this article. The Gazette regrets its mistakes.
Some of the back channel meetings that are reported to have taken place are beginning to come to the surface.
Ontario’s Minister of Education Mitzi Hunter has managed to make time for two lengthy meetings with delegations from Burlington.
 Denise Davy Denise Davy and Steve Armstrong met with the Ministry officials last including two policy advisors last week and a representative from the office of Burlington MP Eleanor McMahon. That meeting lasted about an hour.
Cheryl deLught and Steve Armstrong Davy works with the Bateman parents, Armstrong was a member of the Program Accommodation Review (PAR) Committee representing Pearson high school.
Closing both schools is part of the revised recommendation Director of Education Stuart Miller sent to the trustees.
More than 50 people delegated to the trustees earlier in the month. The trustees are now in the “information” stage – the last step before they meet June 7th to make their decision. The information session, a meeting where the trustees get to ask questions of the Director and his staff took place last week; that meeting was recessed until Wednesday of this week. They were not able to complete their questions before 11:30 pm when everyone just wanted to go home.
The final decision is made by the 11 trustees.
Among the issues discussed at the meeting with Davy and Armstrong and the Minister of Education was a reported request for a “cleaner, scandal free process”. Both parents wanted to get the Bateman and Pearson arguments before the Minister of Education and point out to her that they felt the whole PAR process was flawed.
Flawed it may be – but the decision making power is with the elected trustees and that process has to follow its natural course.
It is clear now that the trustees are struggling with the recommendation that was sent to them by the Director of Education.
Where things get interesting is with the meetings that took place in March when Central high school parents trooped to Queen’s Park and demonstrated in front of the Legislature.
 Marianne Meed Ward at a Queen’s Park media event with Leader of the Opposition Patrick Brown Brown. Meed Ward then held a press conference with leader of the Opposition standing beside her while she complained about the flawed PAR process.
Meed Ward then had a lengthy meeting (reported to have lasted two and a half hours) with the Minister of Education and Burlington MP Eleanor McMahon.
Managing to get two Ministers into the room for a lengthy meeting is not easily achieved.
 Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon. When the Director of Education changed his recommendation – he hasn’t given a reason for the recommendation change – the Bateman parents began to mobilize and tell their story.
The obvious argument for closing Bateman is that it is 1.9 km from Nelson. There is much more to the Bateman story than its distance from Nelson.
Many had serious concerns over the appointment of Meed Ward to the PARC. If the expectation was that she would deliver for the Central high school parents, she appears to have done so.
Many Bateman parents refer to a comment from a Central parent who said: “We continue to believe that Central is not the problem; the problem lies in the southeast end of the city where Nelson and Bateman have significantly overlapping catchments, 1.9 kilometres apart on the same street, and Bateman has declining enrolment….”
One of the reasons for the PAR being held was that there were too many empty seats in six of the seven high schools – with the seventh, Hayden high school, operating at 130% + capacity.
Many argue that the building of Hayden is the reason the problem of all those empty seats exist.
The decision to build Hayden was made in 2008 when Peggy Russell, a perennial NDP candidate, was a Halton District school Board trustee.
 Peggy Russell former NDP candidate and a Halton District School Board trustee – she served as vice chair for a period of time. Russell, who says she was never a push over for Staff, said she felt a need to speak out, saying “you know there is a great deal more to this whole picture than meets the eye and staff are not the ones you should be looking at here, nor should they be vilified in this manner, the individuals who set all this in motion should not be allowed to become a Hero in this whole debacle, it is really very simple.”
The Gazette was not able to actually speak to Ms Russel – the communication was via email.
Did Miller meet with MPP McMahon? He did not. As the MPP McMahon would want a briefing from the Director of Education.
 Stuart Miller during a Q&A that took place on-line. Did McMahon influence Miller so much that he changed his recommendation? She did not.
Miller has said in the past that the recommendation to close some of the high schools in Burlington should have been made years ago – today he certainly wishes that had been done.
Has Meed Ward delivered for the central parents? – most certainly. Has that accomplishment hurt her desire to become the Mayor of Burlington? – only time will tell.
The issue right now is ensuring that the 11 trustees have all the information they need and that they have the wisdom to decide what is best for the city of Burlington.
Related article link
Gazette erred.
By Staff
May 22nd, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Jeremy Skinner, a Ward 5 resident with three students enrolled at Robert Bateman delegated to the Halton District school Board trustees and set out before them what his view of the issue before them was: “The challenge before us is how to maintain student equity in the delivery of programs and opportunities when student enrollments change.”
 Jeremy Skinner “I believe that the question before us is whether we have sufficient capacity amongst MM Robinson and Dr. Frank J. Hayden to permit the closure of Lester B. Pearson and whether we have sufficient capacity below the QEW to close Robert Bateman?”
Skinner said he felt “obligated to suggest that we “punt” by partitioning some or all remaining Secondary Schools to include students in Grade 7 and 8 like Aldershot and Burlington Central. This will have a positive affect on each Secondary School’s utilization rate which will buy us sufficient time to validate what our ultimate Elementary & Secondary School Network should look like and how best to transition to it.”
The benefits doing this include:
protects capital and staff investments which have already been made at Robert Bateman and Lester B Pearson.
provides flexibility in the board’s capacity response to spikes in future enrollments in Burlington North by enabling three Secondary Schools to respond.
Benefits Grade 7 & 8 students through exposure to a wider range of programs and opportunities such as the technical trades at an earlier grade.
Implications:
Current elementary school catchment boundaries will need to be reassessed and redrawn as required.
Current secondary school catchment boundaries will need to be reassessed and redrawn as required.
Elementary schools may result in underutilization and thus may have to close.
Skinner added that “In the case of Lester B Pearson, I believe that the short-term risk for closure is too high because too much is dependent upon redirecting student enrollments associated with Dr. Frank J. Hayden to other Burlington-North Secondary Schools. I believe that this risk could be mitigated through Trustee led community discussions to seek agreements for student enrollment to Burlington-North Secondary Schools.”
Skinner then enlarged his field of view and said: “We need to consider the City of Burlington’s revised Official Plan, currently in draft, which identifies 8 major areas of intensification. They are:
 The city’s latest approach to directing growth. the Downtown Core and related Downtown Mobility Hub;
Uptown Centre located at Appleby and Upper-Middle Road;
Mobility Hubs which surround the Aldershot, Burlington and Appleby GO stations;
The Fairview St. Corridor, and
Most major plazas
The intent is to provide for mixed-use of residential, retail and commercial development of these lands. This will likely take the form of:
relocating the bulk of ground level parking underground or into multilevel purpose built parking towers;
locating retail and/or commercial on the ground and lower floors which comprise the podium of mid-height and high-height residential buildings; and
integrating townhomes and/or stacked townhomes.
An illustration as to what is envisioned, can be found on the east side of Appleby Line from Corporate Dr. to Iron Stone Drive, just below Upper-Middle Rd. Please note that most of these areas of intensification are in South-Burlington. Regardless as to location, they must be considered in future Long Term Program Accommodation (LTPA) plans.
 Appleby Line from Corporate Dr. to Iron Stone Drive, just below Upper-Middle Rd Given the information above, Skinner “questions as to whether we will have sufficient capacity in South Burlington in the longer term to warrant the closure of Robert Bateman which is best positioned to serve the proposed Appleby GO Mobility Centre.
He suggests “Partitioning Secondary Schools permits us to restore some of the Secondary School catchments back to what they were prior to the erection of Frank J. Hayden which covers North-East Burlington. Then we would adjust each Secondary School catchment to accommodate our best forecast of student enrollments from new residential neighbourhoods.
 Should the Boar of Trustees go along with what the Director of Education has recommended Bateman high school would be closed, demolished and the programs they deliver would be distributed to other high schools. “Regardless as to which, if any, Burlington Secondary Schools are to close, I believe we are dependent upon HDSB to ensure that current students who are most vulnerable to change and those who seek a career based upon Technical Trade Skills.
“Accommodation of these students and their programs will require significant investments to any Secondary School which is to receive them.
 Many of the programs currently offered at Bateman high school would be transferred to Nelson high school. New facilities would have to be built – at a cost of $12 million “I seek clarification for the statement made that “ Nelson will need to add technical shops and special need facilities to accommodate students transitioning from Robert Bateman.”
Skinner concedes that “that we have some uncomfortable decisions to make. The decision to even contemplate the closure of one or more secondary schools has a significant impact to the community fabric.”
By Staff
May 19th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
As part of Canada’s 150 celebration, the City of Burlington is calling upon its residents to submit photos that capture Burlington’s iconic landmarks, including the beautiful lakefront and escarpment.
 Residents are asked to submit their photos on Instagram and Twitter by including the hashtag: #BurlON150.
The submission period will run until Monday, June 19, 2017.
Selected photos will be published across social media (on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Credit will be given to the photo via username or full name, if available).
Visit burlington.ca/BurlON150 – for more information where you will learn that photos must be in a ‘square’ format (1080 by 1080 px if editing in Photoshop prior to submission).
Then the zinger – By submitting a photo, you release all ownership interest, right, copyright you have to the photo(s). Credit will be given to the photo via username or full name (if available).
The artists in town aren’t going to like this one bit.
The Mayor reminds us that “We know Burlington is a top place to live for many reasons, chief among them is its natural beauty and countless amenities and events. We’re asking residents to showcase Burlington for all to see.”
By Staff
May 19th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Each year when the Performing Arts centre announces their program Brian McCurdy gets to have his picture taken with another accomplished woman in the field of the performing arts.
 Tammy Fox,incoming executive director of the Performing Arts Centre. This year Brian welcomed Tammy Fox into the job he has done so well in the past and keeps trying to retire from.
Ms Fox is the incoming Executive Director
The two of them announced the 2017/2018 line-up at The Centre’s annual season launch. “The seventh season will bring the best in Canadian and international performing arts to Burlington while engaging the community with meaningful and inspiring experiences.” said Tammy Fox.
 Buffy Sainte-Marie There is a decided Canadian spin on the program with Canadian icons Buffy Sainte-Marie, Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Cochrane with Red Rider, the Cowboy Junkies, Kim Mitchell, Michael Kaeshammer and Jann Arden scheduled to be on the stage.
The celebration kicks off on September 30 with returning Canadian favourites Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy.
The Barenaked Ladies bring their sold out Canada 1 Five 0 concert on October 26.
Shaun Majumder and An Evening with Cathy Jones & Mary Walsh bring world-renowned Canuck comedy to the stage.
Unique Canadian stories come to life in Fixt Point Theatre’s A Tale of a Town-Canada and Canadian science journalist Alanna Mitchell explores the global ocean crisis in her play Sea Sick.
The 2017/2018 Season also brings some Hollywood to the shores of Lake Ontario. Roseanne Barr and Louie Anderson bring their Emmy Award winning comedy and Olivia Newton-John, Amy Sky and Beth Nielson Chapman explore grief and gratitude in LIV ON.
 The Tartan Terror From North America, The Centre goes global, stopping in India with the spectacle A Passage to Bollywood, a tumble to China with The Peking Acrobats and a skip to the Highlands, via Burlington, Ontario, with The Tartan Terrors.
The Holidays are an enchanting time for all ages at The Centre. The Ennis Sisters host an afternoon of yuletide cheer, and the Men of the Deeps bring a down home Cape Breton Christmas to the Main Stage.
 The Canadian Brass Canadian Brass is nearly synonymous with Christmas while The Nutcracker and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol are quickly becoming a tradition at The Centre.
Getting tickets to these events goes like this:
The Season Launch attendees who could have been at the event Wednesday evening included – Sponsors, Donors, Media, Series Patrons (patrons who have purchased 4 or more shows to our previous Presenting Season), and Members.
Membership has 4 levels ($75, $200, $500, $1000).
Those who are in attendance were able to purchase their tickets last night – and there is usually a long line at the box office.
Sales the the public begins May 24, 11am Online and Noon by phone/in person.
 By Ray Rivers
May 19, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Rona Ambrose has been a credible, if not admirable, leader of Canada’s official opposition. Indeed, she has grown from her disappointing early tenure as Harper’s first environment minister. But then Harper promoted her, so she must have exceeded his expectations, doing what the boss wanted all his appointees in that job to do – reduce the role of the ministry in protecting the environment.
 Rona Ambrose, current interim Conservative leader leaving politics heading for a US Think Tank And she’s smart enough to understand that the voters won’t stand for the kind of nastiness, as she has put it, which had characterized the Harper years. So it is unfortunate that after thirteen years in the saddle she will be changing horses, vacating her parliamentary seat and heading for more lucrative work south of the border. Or a better metaphor, she’ll be leaving the daily fish bowl in Ottawa for one of those lucrative beltway political shark tanks.
Her job as opposition leader is almost over anyway and will disappear at end of the month, once her party has chosen its new leader. Of course one could be forgiven for not knowing that a national leadership contest is underway, unless he/she is an ardent political observer, an active member of the Conservative party or a journalist. For one thing there are way too many candidates, thirteen, to seriously follow and keep track of, each with his/her own particular spin.
Then there is the thinly veiled racism that has surrounded the campaign, particularly with some ‘socially conservative’ candidates. This has had the effect of souring the entire process and reflecting unfairly on all the other contestants as a consequence. One would have hoped these prospective party leaders had learned their lesson about race-baiting from the last election.
 Kevin O’Leary tries to be Canada CEO for all of 30 seconds; chickens out. Or It could be that the star candidate, that neophyte political wannabe, Canada’s Donald Trump and self-proclaimed Mr. Wonderful, Kevin O’Leary, after trying out to be Canada CEO for all of 30 seconds, has chickened out, deserted the fold and literally left town. But our hero and super star candidate was also a first class membership recruiter, and he has asked his now disillusioned supporters to shift their allegiance to Maxime Bernier, making Max the current front runner.
Bernier is best remembered as the incompetent minister of foreign affairs who left a pile of sensitive files with a biker-chick, his gang-linked girlfriend, and had to be fired as a result. But he is a francophone which the party thinks is big plus for winning seats in Quebec. Though he has a remarkable, some would say scary, libertarian outlook on politics, threatening to destroy Canada’s agricultural supply management system, co-incidentally one on which so many Quebec farmers rely.
Bernie may be a tad extreme but is true to the conservative creed. In fact all of the candidates are preaching smaller government, promising to balance the budget and willing to cut some taxes. It’s that old fake saw about how cutting taxes for the rich will rain down riches on the poor. Since only the wealthy create jobs we need more of them to be wealthier.
All candidates want to get rid of the carbon tax, except the moderate, and maverick, Michael Chong from near-by Wellington-Halton Hills. He would cut income taxes to make the carbon one revenue neutral, à la BC. Chong, like Bernier, is a reformer though his focus is on building a better working government while Bernier sounds like he’d like to get rid of government entirely.
 Conservative MP Lisa Raitt There are only two women in the contest, and both from Ontario. Kellie Leitch has spent a lot of time and effort pitching better screening of immigrants to make sure they are Canada-ready when they get here. Her single issue is called ‘Canadian values’ though, try as she might, she is still having trouble explaining what that means. So the right-wing media assumes she’s talking-up racism and they love her – which is enough to turn most reasonable conservatives to consider anybody but Kellie.
The other female is former Labour and Transport Minister Lisa Raitt. A former Toronto Port CEO, she is one of the few candidates who actually held a senior executive position in the business world. And perhaps that explains her reasonable moderation for most things political. But being moderate doesn’t get you headlines, and to win a nomination for leader of a party now out of power – it helps if you get media attention. Raitt is the MP for Milton.
The smart money is riding with Bernier come May 27th, particularly now that he has been given a big boost by Canada’s most famous dragon. But the voting is by a mail-in preferential ballot where party members get to rank their choices in the order they would like to have them, or strategically in order to keep some other candidate from winning. So the term ‘front runner’ could well be a misnomer for this box of political chocolates.
This leadership race could be described as a crap shoot, but at least it won’t be a bun fight, since it’ll all be decided by the click of a computer key. Being number one in a poll of thirteen candidates doesn’t mean being number one after the computer does its thing, adding in all the secondary choices. And it’s entirely possible that a candidate could win the election by riding to the top as the most popular second or third choice.
Ranked ballots were used before when the party elected Stephen Harper in 2004, but it was a smaller field of candidates then. Thanks in part to Mr. O’Leary there are about a quarter of a million eligible voters, though not all will vote, especially if Kevin fans decide to sit on their hands rather than vote for Mad Max. The Liberals had almost 300,000 members/supporters on their rolls but recorded less than half that number when it came time to vote at their leadership in 2013
Interestingly, the Conservatives, who have dismissed using a ranked ballot for national elections, are perfectly comfortable with exactly that process for their own leadership contest.
 Maxime Bernier thought to be the front runner who may not have enough second choice support. Anyway, I’m betting on front-runner Bernier to bring home the prize. And if the world worked the way it was supposed to, Kellie Leitch should finish last, given her polarizing approach to politics.
While the more moderate candidates like Michael Chong or Lisa Raitt might offer the best chance for the party to appeal beyond its ideologically-driven base, that is not going to happen. Chong’s support for the carbon tax makes him a long shot. And Raitt doesn’t sound like she really wants the job, suffering from a disorganized campaign and message. And if her recent interview with National Post columnist John Ivison is to be taken seriously, like Ambrose she may also be heading for the door.
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington in 1995. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Ambrose – Candidates – Nastiness – Conservative Leadership –
Leadership Voting – Racism and the Tories – Leitch Video – Rebel News –
Pro Bernier – Not Bernier – Lisa – Lisa Could Win – Strange Campaign –
By Staff
May 18th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
The provincial government announced today the release of four significant reports that will impact the lives of everyone within the provinces border.
They are referred to as Land Use Plans.
 Does the province still want to ram a road through the Escarpment? They are changes to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan
The Golden Horseshoe plan and the Niagara Escarpment plans are the ones that impact on Burlingtonians are the latest step in the government’s reform of Ontario’s land use planning system.
The government’s announcement has these four documents solving every problem known to man – and given that they are heading into an election in 2018 they will put a significant spin on this.
 Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe The four plans work together to:
Build compact, complete communities with a diverse range of housing options that better connect transit to where people live and work
Retain and attract jobs
Support a thriving and productive agri-food sector
Strengthen protections for our natural heritage and water resource systems and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Provide public open spaces for recreation and enjoyment
Help municipalities better prepare to minimize the negative impacts from a changing climate, such as more frequent and intense storms and flooding.
These updated plans, said the provincial government, will help ensure growth in the Greater Golden Horseshoe that is sustainable by making more efficient use of land, resources and infrastructure to reduce sprawl, protect farmland, water and natural resources, and promote better-designed communities that support a high quality of life for everyone living in the region.
 Greenbelt Plan “Building complete communities and protecting the Greenbelt is part of the government’s plan to create jobs, grow our economy and help people in their everyday lives.
“The Greater Golden Horseshoe is forecasted to grow by approximately 4 million people over the next 25 years and will be home to more than 13.5 million people, working in 6.3 million jobs by 2041.
“The updated plans build on the Provincial Policy Statement to establish a unique land-use planning framework for the GGH that supports complete communities, a thriving economy, a clean and healthy environment and social equity.
“Other reforms to the land use planning system include releasing an updated 2014 Provincial Policy Statement, reforming the Planning Act and Development Charges Act through the Smart Growth for Our Communities Act and proposed reforms to the Ontario Municipal Board.
There are a lot of changes taking place and people with very significant interests are deeply involved. The objective is to ensure that the public voice is clearly hard.
 By Staff
May 18, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
The Beachway is undergoing a transition – you won’t recognize the place next time you are down that way.
While the city has closed the beaches – there isn’t all that much left of them – at least until the water levels recede the road in and out is a pleasure to drive.
 Hospital is on the right – nice new layer of asphalt on Lakeshore Road. The bike lanes are a very welcome addition.
By Pepper Parr
May 18th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
With two evenings of delegations behind them the 11 trustees began their own deliberations and Amy Collard headed straight for the recommendations that were put forward by Stuart Miller, Director of Education who was a bit taken aback – he thought he was there to defend his report and here was a trustee wanting to change it before the meeting had hardly started.
 Trustee Amy Collard was not happy – Director of Education Stuart Miller was not all that interested in answering her first barrage of questions – he anted to defend his report. If looks could kill! It was that kind of a night – one that began at 7:00 pm and adjourned at 11:15 after agreeing that it wasn’t going to be an adjournment but rather a recess until May 24th.
Trustee Danielli had had more than enough, Collard said she could go until 6:00 am if she had to.
There was a point in this process where the recommendation the Director put forward to close Bateman and Pearson high schools had momentum; that is no longer the case.
That doesn’t mean what Miller recommended is lost – but these trustees are asking some hard questions and they want answers.
Wednesday evening they did engage the six delegations that were heard and they had a lot of questions.
One point that was made clearer – a decision to close a school does not mean that it gets sold. In order to sell a school there has to be a vote to declare it surplus – then it can be sold. While Miller didn’t spend a lot of time on that point he did say that Boards have been known to keep a school closed but as part of the asset inventory.
That might be the angle the trustees decide they can live with.
Pearson PARC members Cheryl DeLught and Steve Armstrong were not on the demonstration line but they were very much in the public gallery Wednesday night. Armstrong has not given up on saving Pearson. Trustee Danielli asked Planning Manager Dom Renzella about the recently released 2016 Statics Canada numbers and he said that the Board doesn’t pay much attention to that data because it is a look at what has taken place – his concern was what was going to take place.
Later in the evening Renzella used Statistics Canada to support a decision made.
The trustees are finding the going quite heavy but they are clearly in for the long hall and are going to make a decision based on what they heard from the delegations and how the Director and his team of Superintendents answers the questions.
Early in this process – back in October, Bateman was a school that was not being considered for closure. That changed and the public began to see and hear the Bateman story that was unknown to most people except those directly involved.
Their was concern about how any transition might take place if the Bateman high school was closed. The trustees were told that the Board has gotten very good at transitioning students and they would do an even better job if they had to move vulnerable people from Bateman to Nelson.
This decision on school closing is far from a slam dunk – it is still very fluid.
 There was a rally outside the Board offices – bigger this time than anything else before it – maybe it was the warmer weather. This time it was just the Bateman parents; the Central parents won their case and they are staying right off the radar screen.
PARC member Marianne Meed Ward, also city council member for ward 2 put in an appearance.
Much more to report on.
 By Staff
May 18th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
The City of Burlington has closed the beach at Burlington Beach Regional Waterfront Park—the Beachway—until further notice due to high water levels.
 Significant erosion due to high water levels in Lake Ontario. Wednesday afternoon it looked like this. The closure takes place to protect public safety. There is significant sand erosion and debris at the shoreline.
 This is what the Beachway looked like in the summer of 2013. This is what climate change gets you. The playground, concessions, washrooms, parking and recreational trail will remain open.
 By Staff
May 17th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
According to the Council member for Ward 1, “About 150 people attended a recent “open house” hosted by National Homes to view the developer’s proposal for the redevelopment of the Havendale lands.
 Ward 1 residents look over the proposed development for the Havendale property on Brant just north of the EMS station. The developer is planning construction of 238 townhouses, in various forms.
The proposal (which has not been filed at City Hall) includes an extension of the road allowance from Belgrave Crt, through the new development to Brant Street.
Most people attending expressed relief that the proposal does not include high rise buildings but there were a series of questions and concerns related to traffic, drainage and parking which will ultimately need to be answered.
The Council member will “advise if and when a formal application is received at City Hall. He said his “plan to set up a small neighbourhood advisory committee to review the proposal in detail.”
The property was previously owned by the Catholic Church Diocese and was used as farm land that took off hay each year.
 By Tom Muir
May 17, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Tom Muir has been a relentless commentator who asked the hard questions and pressed even harder for answers and the information he felt the public was not getting.
Today – he writes the 11 Halton District School Board trustees outlining their role and the obligation they have to the public that elected them. Muir delegated to the Trustees last Thursday
Dear Trustees,
I have been considering the experience I observed on the evening I delegated to you and wondering how you are going to move forward in the delivery of your duties and responsibilities.
 Tom Muir Frankly, there is scarce evidence of your views or intentions in debating this report toward making decisions, and I find this troubling.
This week, May 17, as you know, there is another tabling of the Director’s final report, a formality for final decision on June 7. However, this tabling really only begins your task of, and responsibility for, a transparent and accountable decision-making process. I cannot delegate in person, so please accept this as a written delegation for the record.
This information report tabling allows for your opportunity for deep questions, analysis, and for motions and resolutions for amendments and changes to the Director recommendations.
I have troubling questions about how strong the Trustees are in decision-making in this political context, and if there are any Trustees who will say no to the Director and Board.
I have provided much information, analysis and commentary on this matter, so you should be familiar with this body of evidence, and what it says about the PAR process so far.
The Board and the Director constantly worked at obstructing my efforts to engage the process and investigate the Conditions 1 and 2 that formed the justification for the PAR.
My requests for relevant information were constantly ignored and/or refused. I was forced to go to the Office of Information to request pertinent information, and then I was subjected to more obstruction.
The information I was able to get, which I have provided to you, gives evidence-based proof that the state of utilization that the Board cites as Condition 1 was knowingly and deliberately caused by the Board.
It’s irrefutable that the declines in utilization of those schools are planned declines, the direct result of Board actions.
I’m having problems with how you are portraying the utilization of the schools, like it’s due to natural causes and demographics, and therefore that’s the problem, not the Board’s intention and action. You have been doing this for most of the time since this all started. This misrepresents the situation, and is not truthful.
As I said in my delegation of May 11, utilization in Burlington was planned and directed so as to fill a NE Burlington school (Hayden), and the evidence clearly shows that this was done by choking the life out of 4 of the 6 existing Burlington schools, with premeditation.
 Steve Armstrong graphed data showing that the changing of boundaries and limiting the feeder school is what put the Pearson high school at risk of closing. The current UTZ was planned long ago, and imposed by the Board – it didn’t just happen by itself. I have provided proof of this in the data.
But rather than getting to the bottom of how to fix the underlying causes, the Board focused on stopping release of pertinent information to me and the public, including forcing me to submit an FOI request, and even then further obstructing and refusing the release of information.
The current situation of low utilization was caused by the Board, and only by them. Refusing to be transparent and accountable for this is the big lie of the Board.
Now using this PAR, the same Board is now blaming the victims, and recommending that two of the six victims be sacrificed by closure.This recommendation by the Director came right at the start of the PAR, with no public discussion.
To decide the closures, the victims were pitted against one another, a process still ongoing, but it didn’t matter. After a long process the Director still wants his two victims.
His reasons are not the true context, but as they say, if repeated over and over again, people will eventually believe it.
For truth in your deliberations, you have to note each time that you discuss utilization, that the rates of UTZ are the result of a conscious decision by the Board, and implemented in their planning by building Hayden and putting 1500 students there from the other schools and their feeders, causing the planned declines in UTZ in those schools.
Now, as the result of these known consequences, they want to close schools to make it up, and that’s part of their plan too.
There is no accountability, and I think that’s part of the Trustees job to call out, but it’s not evident.
What I have seen is a general administrative failure of transparency and accountability by all the Board, and a failure to show visible oversight on the part of the Trustees.
Do you plan on doing anything to correct this misrepresenting slant, and the failure of accountability?
 Halton District school Board Director of Education Stuart Miller The Director’s report also speaks of Condition 2 for the PAR. This mentions that the PAR will address questions of equity of opportunity for students, but I see no concrete problem analysis, or details of solutions.
The report also states that “reorganization involving the school or group of schools could enhance program delivery and learning opportunities.” Please note that the Condition 2 uses the action words “could enhance”. It does not say “will” and so guarantees and specifies nothing.
There is no transparent and accountable information provided by the Board indicating any details of the delivery of this Condition 2 aspect of the PAR. There are only abstract assumptions, and ideology, that larger enrollments and schools allow for this. This assertion is disputed by education studies, and by parents and students in Burlington.
I repeat the point made about how much the financial operating savings are with closures of empty spaces. The $2 million operating cost savings is the only operating funding that is spent on maintaining empty spaces. Since there is no increase in budgets for instruction, more programming cannot come from there,
The PAR Policy statement says that; “Decisions that are made by the Board of Trustees are in the context of carrying out its primary responsibilities of fostering student achievement and well-being, and ensuring effective stewardship of school board resources.”
I remind the Trustees that you will be closely watched to see how your decisions fulfill these duties and responsibilities, in a transparent and accountable way.
 Bateman I ask you to demonstrate how closing Bateman fosters student achievement and well-being in our most vulnerable, and needing of extra support, children? After seeing some of these kids at the delegations, I don’t know how you could in good conscience close their school for so little savings and so much cost, as the most expensive option.
And show me how removing the possibility of the small school experience of Pearson, with the integrated day-care facility, fosters the same things, while providing a test of the real validity of the large school ideology currently dominating the Board planning and design.
And I look forward to you showing me how you equate the ensuring of effective stewardship of school board resources with the closing and loss of 2 of Burlington’s community schools, and the gain of practically nothing of significance in the financial and fiscal condition of the Board. The ignoring of future growth needs, and social changes, is especially reckless regarding closure induced over-utilization, and risks of pressure for renewed future schools and capital needs.
 Dr. Frank J. Hayden High School Remember again, it was the Board that created this problem in a planned, deliberate way, and this added cost of school closures in this deliberate plan, in building Hayden, must not be swept under the rug in an attempt to forget it. That is what I see happening now.
I argue that based on demonstrated benefits to student achievement, and stewardship of school board resources, now and in the foreseeable future, there is no case to close any schools. There are simply no demonstrated financial gains in closing schools, thereby destroying the community of Burlington schools, to provide any meaningful benefits. This is the truth of the matter.
Indeed, it is always in the best interest to deliver and act on the truth, because there is no telling what harm will come of leaving out these details in the future. That’s really what happened by leaving out the truth of Hayden’s impact, so please, let’s not compound that mistake by closing schools.
At bottom, we are not only dealing with numbers or dollars, but instead with children, and essentially the future of our community. This makes our decisions much more important than just taking care of business.
The trustees have within their authority the means to move boundaries, feeders, and programs in order to undo the skewed enrollment caused by building Hayden without considering the consequences.
Hayden was built and filled with students by transfers from existing schools that can just as easily be undone.
 The Halton District School Board trustees in session In conclusion, the Trustees do not have a pressing need to close schools, and it appears that on planning, financial, fiscal, risk, student benefits from demonstrated significantly enhanced academic offerings as opposed to known negative impacts, the real net economic effects looked at closely, and the impacts on the overall school community, it makes no sense.
If you happen to disagree with this assessment, it is your responsibility to demonstrate your reasons in a transparent and accountable way.
 By Pepper Parr
May 16, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
They come in at the rate of at least five a day – and they cover everything the provincial government has done or plans to do. Media releases advising of a new piece of legislation or an announcement an Minister is going to make.
They churn them out at an astounding rate – three that we got in one day – there were more.
Ministers are on the go every day of the week – they might not get a summer vacation.
The Liberals are a government with some serious problems on their hands – the best thing they have going for them is the Progressive Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party where Andrea Horwath just hasn’t caught in with the public.
 NDP leader Andrea Horwath and PC leader Patrick Brown talking in a corridor of Queen’s Park Patrick Brown, leader of the Progressive Conservatives, doesn’t get very many people excited – those with a tighter focus on their version of family values love the man and wish he would come out with stronger statements. That isn’t likely to happen – the population of the province wouldn’t go for it.
The Liberals have put out a call to begin to get ready now for the 2018 provincial election.
“In the lead up to the 2015 federal election” said a message to their members “thousands of Ontario Liberals went door-to-door in our local neighbourhoods or made phone calls to support our federal Liberal friends.
“These Days of Action are credited with laying the ground for a Liberal victory then.
 Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne listening intently. “Now, just in time for the one-year count down to the 2018 provincial election, we’re pleased to announce that the Ontario Liberal Party will be hosting our own province-wide Days of Action, starting on June 3rd.”
Ontario’s next election will be on June 7, 2018 and ballots counted electronically to shorten nail-biting waits for winners under the proposed modernization of voting laws.
Let the games begin.
 By Staff
May 16, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Yesterday City Council approved the 2017 Tax Levy Bylaw that allows the Finance department to end you a tax bill on with payment dates of June 21 and Sept. 21, 2017.
Highlights of the budget which was approved in January include:
• The 2017 budget delivers a base budget increase that continues to invest in existing services and reflects the objectives of the city’s long-term financial plan.
• The budget maintains the $4.8 million annual contribution toward the Joseph Brant Hospital reserve fund to meet the city’s $60 million commitment to the redevelopment project.
• This budget continues City Council’s commitment to a dedicated annual tax increase to address infrastructure renewal based on the city’s Asset Management Plan.
• The city’s approved operating budget of $238 million for 2017 provides a wide range of services and programs, including the maintenance of roads, community facilities, fire protection, parks and transit.
 Tax chart – breaks out what the city spends and what it collects for other levels of government. Additional service investments for 2017 include:
$254, 000 for maintaining the urban tree canopy
$200, 000 for the maintenance of sports fields
$80,000 in enhancements to washrooms in waterfront parks
$30,000 to support ongoing community events.
The budget is made up of two parts –
Capital budget
Operating budget
The city provides an infographic setting out where those tax dollars are spent.
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What does it mean and what, if anything, will the city do next?
