There are some incredibly stupid parents out there.
Changing them is difficult; fortunately there are services that can work with negligent parents.
The public is one of the defences the children of negligent parents can rely on.
A 38 year old Halton Region mother of three is under investigation following an incident in a store parking lot early Wednesday evening.
Officers were called to the parking lot around 6:45 p.m. in response to a citizen’s complaint that three children were in a car in an “expectant Mother” parking space. The car was parked in full sunlight and had its engine turned off. Four windows were open only approximately 3 inches each. The car was locked and the alarm had been activated.
Officers attended and persuaded the oldest child to open the door so that officers could check on them and get some fresh air flowing through the car. The children, aged between 4 and 12 years old, appeared hot, and the youngest appeared to be sleeping yet perspiring profusely. As a precaution, the officers summoned an ambulance to the scene. The children were checked by paramedics and appeared to be suffering no ill effects from the heat.
About 11 minutes after the initial call, the mother returned to the vehicle. She had a conversation with the officers and provided her excuse as to why she left her three children in a locked car, with no air conditioning, in 32 degree Celsius ambient heat.
Police will be reviewing video surveillance footage of the parking area to determine how many minutes, in excess of the known 11 minutes, that the children were subjected to these conditions. Officers will then determine what charges could and may be laid.
Halton Regional Police would like to remind people that leaving children or pets inside a motor vehicle is not only gravely dangerous, but unlawful as well. The interior temperature of a standard automobile in 32C weather can increase to 42C in 10 minutes, 48C in 20 minutes and 51C in 30 minutes. Having windows cracked open just a few inches has minimal to no affect on the increase in interior temperatures. Children have been known to succumb to heat stroke inside cars where the outside temperature is only 21C.
Those people who want to fix my roof and those that want to pave my driveway are going to have to find another way to get my attention – the city has come up with a way for me to report signs that I don’t like so they can deal with them.
They call these nuisance signs, the things that are attached to street light poles or put in the ground at stop signs.
The city has added a new service request to its online customer service application (www.burlington.ca/servicerequests) that makes it easier for residents to report sightings of nuisance signs.
“Nuisance signs are the advertisements and portable directional signs often placed on street lamps and at traffic poles at major intersections and boulevards,” said Tracey Burrows, the city’s manager of bylaw enforcement, licensing and animal services. “The addition of this new service request will provide residents with a quick and easy way to inform the city about advertising signs that are creating clutter and impacting sightlines, posing traffic and pedestrian safety hazards.”
Once submitted, reports of nuisance signs are reviewed by city staff and signs that are not permitted will be removed. Residents can upload a picture with their report and use the interactive map to follow the progress of their request and see where other reports have been made in the city.
Residents can already use www.burlington.ca/servicerequests to report potholes, broken traffic signs, traffic signals and street lights, graffiti and coyote sightings. The reporting app can be downloaded directly to an iPhone or Android from www.burlington.ca/servicerequests.
“We anticipate this new service request will help city staff track the locations of nuisance signs across the city and also save time locating the signs,” said Burrows. “Residents can upload a picture of the nuisance signs right in their report so city staff know exactly where the signs are located and what they look like.”
The online customer service application (www.burlington.ca/servicerequests) was introduced in 2014 as part of the city’s increasing focus on online customer service through the e-Government program.
“More than two-thirds of residents and 70 per cent of businesses surveyed said they prefer to carry out interactions and transactions with the city online,” said Deb Caughlin, manager of Service Burlington. “The city is listening and responding to these needs by continuing to expand the online customer service application.”
Ontario is providing $175 million in 2016–17 to hospitals across the province — an increase of $50 million over last year’s funding — to keep them in a state of good repair so patients can continue to receive high-quality care in a safe and healthy environment.
Burlington’s Joseph Brant Hospital will receive $400,525 of the $175 million the province is giving hospitals across the province.
An architects rendering of the new entrance to the Joseph Brant Hospital which will now face the lake. The entrance will be off Lakeshore Road with the new parking lot just to the west of the hospital.
The funds came through the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund (HIRF) and was an increase of $50 million over last year’s funding for all the hospitals.
HIRF funding to support crucial infrastructure projects to extend the useful life or improve the quality of their facilities. Projects may include upgrades or replacements to roofs, windows, HVAC systems, fire alarms and back-up generators.
The Joseph Brant Hospital is in the middle of a renovate/rebuild of its facilities which they expect to complete in 2018.
JBH president Eric Vandewall
Eric Vandewall, President and CEO of Joseph Brant Hospital said: “As we undergo the largest transformation in our hospital’s history, including a brand new seven-storey patient tower, it’s critical that we ensure all areas of our hospital are kept in excellent condition. This additional funding will ensure that patients receive the modern and efficient health care services they need and deserve in a setting that is safe, clean and in good repair.”
Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport
Burlington MPP, Eleanor McMahon, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport said: “ The expansion of Joseph Brant Hospital represents a true partnership between our government, the City of Burlington and our generous citizens. Working together we are investing in a hospital which will offer the best in patient care and one which will attract people and investment to our community. ”
The error in the map – blame the city – not the Gazette has been corrected.
Notice of Temporary Road Closure – Prospect Street at Drury Lane, Monday, Aug. 15, 2016 to Friday, Oct. 21, 2016
Prospect Street from Joyce Street to Ashley Avenue and Drury Lane from Sharron Street to Fairview Street will be closed Monday, Aug. 15, 2016 to Friday, Oct. 21, 2016 to reconstruct and install new water mains and sanitary sewers.
Local access to homes and business will be maintained. Please refer to the map for vehicle and transit detours.
For more information, please contact Bob Jurk at 905-335-7600, ext. 7682 or bob.jurk@burlington.ca.
A video has been posted that shows waste garbage near a storm water grate at the Brant Street Beach, near the Brant Street Pier.
Burlington singer Sarah Harmer and producer Brett Rogers met with Mayor Rick Goldring, Regional officials and Marianne Meed Ward, the city Councillor for the downtown core of the city.
In a media release the city said:
Sarah Harmer, Rogers, Mayor Rick Goldring, Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward and city staff responsible for storm water management and communication were joined at City Hall by Halton Regional staff responsible for drinking water and public health, including testing beaches for swimming safety.
The meeting follows the posting of a video by Rogers that shows garbage near a storm water grate at the Brant Street Beach, near the Brant Street Pier.
“We had a good discussion today with Brett, Sarah and staff,” said Mayor Goldring. “As a result of today’s meeting, city and regional staff are working to further quantify elements that impact storm water management and beach water quality in Burlington in order to determine next steps. We know Lake Ontario is a tremendous asset to our community.”
A natural beach created when land jutting out into the lake was formed – some think the “mini-beach should have a boat dock dropped into place. You can see where the water discharge pipe is located on the right hand side.
“The small beach at Spencer Smith Park is well-loved and well-used,” said Councillor Meed Ward. “I’m grateful to Brett and Sarah for raising awareness about water quality and how we handle storm water, especially as more development occurs, and we lose green space.
There are lots of options for us, including low-impact development, green infrastructure and storm water utilities. I’m committed to exploring those.”
That water run off pipe is what results in part of the problem with the small beach at the foot of Brant Street. That plus the geese that foul the water. There is always a sign on this beach that tells you if the water is safe.
From the left: City Councillor Marianne Meed Ward, Sarah Harmer, Brett Rogers and Allan Magi, Executive Director of Capital works for the city. Harmer is casting a wary eye on what Magi is explaining – and well she should.
The five next steps before the group meets in September are:
• Halton Region health staff will connect with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to determine if it is possible to do any testing of the outfall and, if possible, would testing be meaningful.
• The City of Burlington will research end-of-pipe technologies that could be possible for the storm water outlet at Brant Street Beach. Staff will also check in with the city’s roads and parks maintenance department to learn about current geese management practices.
• The City of Burlington will connect with other agencies, including Conservation Halton and Halton Region, and compile a list of current education programs related to storm water and beaches, also researching best practices for communicating.
• The City of Burlington will look at the signs created in the past year featuring halton.ca/beaches, which are posted at both Burlington Beach and Brant Street Beach. The city will look at possible additional signage related to animals on Burlington’s beaches.
• Mayor Goldring is hosting a follow-up meeting with Rogers and Harmer, Councillor Meed Ward and staff in mid-September to report back on the findings and determine possible next steps.
The Beach Brett Rogers was using was one of the bonuses that came with the $14 million pier. Sand began to form on the west side of the pier and that spot where the Naval Promenade begins yards away from the Waterfront Hotel.
When the city realized the formation of sand was going to continue they built a small walkway to the edge of the water. The location is now used by children who want to be near the water. Some small craft beach their boars there from time to time.
The testing of water quality is a Regional government responsibility. At one time the Region would issue regular water quality reports but they stopped doing that at the end of the 2015 summer season.
Brett Rogers is a producer and adventurer and co-creator of the History Channel’s 7 Days in Hell.
Sarah Harmer is the founder of PERL – Protecting Escarpment Rural Lands and a well-known singer who has won numerous awards. She was a significant witness during the Tribunal that eventually decided not to issue a permit to the Nelson Aggregate company that wanted to expand the quarry in north Burlington.
The discharge pipe has been in place for years; it was the keen eye of Brett Rogers that saw the scope of the problem.
On a web site of his own Brett Rogers gives what he calls “his rant”. It follows:
Brett Rogers – a guy who loves what he is doing.
On Saturday I went paddle boarding at my local launch point at Spencer Smith Park, in Burlington. You could make a good argument that between Spencer Smith Park and the Skyway bridge is some of the best recreational shoreline on Lake Ontario. Spencer Smith hosts some pretty awesome festivals like the Sound of Music and Rib Fest, while Burlington Beach is honestly one of the best places to swim, anywhere. Over the last four years I have spent a lot of my leisure time paddling my standup paddle board here. I love this place so much.
I’ve always had a close relationship with fresh water and I like to think that I’ve done a good job at respecting and celebrating water too. One of my News Years resolutions this year was to be a better fresh water advocate. The truth is, yeah I’ve done a good job at being a fresh water advocate over the past decade but I have not done a great job, and in this world, there are only great efforts and shitty efforts. Trust me in that I do not want to be a shitty fresh water advocate, which means I either up my game, or I shut up. And if you know me, I rarely shut up so I decided to up my game.
A big part of upping my game has been about reconnecting with an old mentor of mine, Mark Mattson. Mark is my Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. I worked for him for 9 months, 9 years ago. Looking back now, man was that an awesome job. Over the past handful of months I have really taken every opportunity of free time to help promote the work Mark is doing. A big part of that has been collecting Watermarks and exploring Burlington Bay in Annie, my York Boat. Since I’ve spent so much time with Mark lately, I’ve also learned a ton about Lake Ontario – some things that are truly out of this world cool and something, well, they just pissed me off.
Take Saturday for example. On that day I went paddle boarding with one of my best buddies. It was a wicked 3 hours on the lake. We launched and pulled out at this tiny little beach (maybe the smallest sandy beach on all of the Great Lakes) at Spencer Smith Park. As we paddled back in I noticed this huge culvert pipe between the beach and the pier. Now last year, I would had not even paid attention to such a feature, but this year I am like an eagle on the water, constantly on the lookout for a target – pollution. I notice this pipe and I think to myself, ‘I bet this dam thing is dumping storm water into my lake!’.
I guess the Lake Ontario gods had the same thought because last night, which was Sunday night, I wake up at 3 am to a huge thunder and lightning storm. I shut the windows and I can feel the mist of the rain blowing through the screen. It’s raining hard. The first thing that comes to my mind is that dam pipe! So I get out of bed, grab my video camera and drive 20 minutes down to the Lake. I have to investigate.
I love my home. I am proud of it. Both in terms of my roots in the country where I live and as a citizen of the City of Burlington. I’ve traveled a bunch and I do believe that this city is one of the best cities in all the world to live in. It’s not to big, not to small and with two totally awesome natural features that I am so proud of – the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario. Plus Burlington really does has a nice downtown which we should all be proud about. But man… was I pissed off this morning. I mean, I was mad. How the hell can a great medium size City like Burlington be cutting corners like this and pull off this type of cronyism?
To deal with my anger (and utter disappointment) I felt I needed to pull some of those images and make this short video – if only for my mental well being but hopefully, to bring about change. Here’s the thing. As a Canadian, and as a member of the Burlington community, I really have no business worrying about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest when there is bull shit going on right here in my home town. Yes there are horrible things going on all over the world, but who am I to become engaged in ‘those’ issues when my own city and municipality are dumping pollution into the one of the greatest lakes on Earth, and the drinking water source for 9 million people! I don’t even drink from Lake Ontario, I am on a well, but I am still angry!
Motis, a Canadian action sports company, will be leading skateboard and longboard building workshops across Ontario at Lee Valley Tool stores.
Participants will get a hands-on education by using saws, sanders and drills to create their own skateboard or long board, which they will take home with them.
Ward Councillor Blair Lancaster and Mayor Rick Goldring put their political reputations on the line and stand on skate boards. Is there one foot on the ground there? Don’t expect t see these two at the skate board workshop.
These one-day workshops will run from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Participants will use templates to draw out their unique shape on a pre-pressed Canadian maple blank, and then use a band-saw to cut out their board.
They will then router and sand their board and will drill out holes. In the afternoon, participants will create their own custom artwork. With the use of a vinyl cutter, participants will create stencils to spray paint custom images onto their deck. Grip tape will be applied to the top. Trucks, wheels, bearings and hardware are not included in the workshop fee, but participants are encouraged to bring their own so they can complete their new boards by the end of the day.
These are the guys that can get something out of the workshops being offered at Lee Valley Tools on Thursday.
When? Thursday, August 11 at the Lee Valley location in the Plaza east of Guelph Line, immediately south of Mainway.
The city’s Fall and Winter 2016/2017 Live and Play Guide, featuring listings for recreation, sport and culture programs, will be available in city facilities and online at www.burlington.ca/play on Thursday, Aug. 11.
Registration begins on Saturday, Aug. 20 for adults over 19, adults over 55 and those looking to sign up for fitness classes.
Registration for all other programs starts at 11 a.m.
Kids + water = fun and noise – all part of the summer season.
“We’re not ready to say goodbye to the summer weather just yet, but we are looking ahead to the fall and winter months and all the fun opportunities for play that the cooler weather brings,” said Chris Glenn, the city’s director of parks and recreation. “The online guide is an easy and convenient way for residents to search and sign up for their favourite activities and recreation programs.”
The city’s popular Yoga in the Park program is featured on the cover of the fall/winter guide. The free yoga classes run every Sunday from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in a different city park each week starting Sept. 11. Each session features a different, certified volunteer yoga instructor. Participants are asked to wear comfortable clothing and bring a yoga mat, a towel, and water. All levels are welcome.
Hundreds of families use Burlington parks and beaches.
The City of Burlington offers a variety of registered and drop-in programs for all ages and abilities throughout the city. Hard copies of the guide are available at City Hall, 426 Brant St., Burlington Public Library branches or any city recreation centre.
To receive future copies of the online guide by email, subscribe to the Live and Play e-newsletter at www.burlington.ca/enews.
For details on how to register for fall/winter programs and events, see page three of the guide or visit www.burlington.ca/play.
There is nothing conventional in the race for the US White House this year. The chief contenders are anything but conventional.
One is exceptionally qualified, and the other not at all, so the choice should be easy. But none of that seems to matter to an electorate tired of the ordinary and mundane and looking for something new, fresh and exciting.
Not unlike the bi-polar school teacher in the 1977 movie version of the book “Looking for Mr. Goodbar”, there is a new fascination with someone who isn’t part of one’s conventional experience – a new exciting high to be achieved by toying with the prospect of danger – the fantasy and the reality. Which brings us to Donald Trump, a man who has shown no comprehension of the job before him, though if nothing else he is exciting.
As outgoing president Obama made emphatic, there is no better qualified candidate than Hillary Clinton. And if qualification and experience were all that mattered there would be no contest, and the tired but somewhat boring and compromised Hillary would be the shoo-in victor on election day. After all, she is running against a man with a dubious record in his business ventures and one who has never even run for public office – let alone the highest office in the land, in all his seventy years.
But America is a divided people, red and blue states that rarely change their colour, beset with long suffering prejudices on all sides. Despite electing a black president two terms in a row, America is still conflicted with racism. It is a violent place with more guns per capita and greater incarceration than any other.
Despite having the most super rich, the US is only 44th in health care efficiency, 24th in literacy, 14th in education, and arguably has the second highest level of social ignorance among developed nations. Surprisingly at least one survey tags the USA at 46th in press freedom.
And if Trump’s plan to make America great again included dealing with those issues – every thinking American should consider voting for him. But it doesn’t. There is nothing of such to be seen in all his diatribe on America First and making it great again, nothing about introducing gun control, promoting economic and social justice, and furthering education and awareness. Hillary’s plan comes closer to those goals, in fact.
Donald Trump cleaned-up in the Republican nomination race by simply being himself. His victory was more of a fluke than a deliberate strategy. He just plumbed for and echoed the deepest, darkest recesses of the worst of America, and spewed racism, homophobia and insults as no American politician had done before. The more outlandish his comments, the more he gained notoriety and support among disciples who mistook his words of prejudice for plain-speaking. He was/is different and exciting. But what makes him dangerous is his lack of detail – what he actually would do.
Once he scored the candidacy of his party one would have expected a whole new playbook, more befitting of a presidential candidate in the big arena. But Trump doesn’t have one. He has nothing to offer but his swagger, a revisionist unfunny Roger Dangerfield for our times. Whether that will continue to propel him is the big question. Hillary has not been able to cripple the significant public support he continues to garner. And so, like other irrational outcomes of public will, such as Rob Ford’s election and Brexit, Trump should not be discounted.
An interesting aspect of this race is the Russian card. Putin has confessed admiration for Trump and vice-versa. Trump’s campaign manager is pro-Putin, having advised the ousted pro-Russian Ukrainian leader, and the Donald’s musing about NATO and Crimea should be unsettling to an America once ready to nuke the Russkies to smithereens, and likewise. But Trump is the inveterate teflon-man and even flirting with Putin has not bothered his core followers, including many veterans and those raised during the cold war.
As the election gets nearer and Trump continues to poll well, Americans will need to ask themselves some hard questions. The first being how badly do they want the kind of change Trump is promising – isolation and a radical shifting of alliances. Do they really want to give him a carte blanche to reverse the past half century of American foreign policy?
Going to bed with Putin might be an exciting idea.
But where will this dangerous fantasy lead? Is Putin really Mr. Goodbar?
Editor’s note:
The conventions are over and the general election has officially begun. In the primaries, Bernie Sanders received 1,846 pledged delegates, 46% of the total. Hillary Clinton received 2,205 pledged delegates, 54%. She received 602 superdelegates. Sanders received 48 superdelegates.
The Democratic party, based on these numbers, is not as united as they would have us believe. These are very dangerous times for the United States. Rivers will write next on what he thinks Canada can and should do to protect its interests.
Ray Rivers is an economist and author who writes weekly on federal and provincial issues, applying his 25 years of involvement with federal and provincial ministries. Rivers’ involvement in city matters led to his appointment as founding chair of Burlington’s Sustainable Development Committee. He was also a candidate in the 1995 provincial election
Brant Street, Hemmingway Drive and Upper Middle Road, August to December, 2016
The Region of Halton is installing and replacing water mains on Brant Street, Upper Middle Road and Hemmingway Drive from August to December 2016.
New street got a new layer of asphalt after a full month of dust and traffic delays while water maims and sewage pipes were upgraded.
New Street from Guelph Line east to Martha had water mains replaced in July – the dust was terrible – and traffic delays were annoying. They did lay down a new layer of asphalt – nice road now.
Contract Number: W-2898B-16
Scheduled Start Date: August 2016 Scheduled Completion Date: December 2016
In 2016, the city chose to discontinue the sand castles content event in the Beachway that they had been hosting since 2008.
Some of the sand castles done in 2015 were very complex.
The event, which had a following of its own, was initially created to bring both awareness and visitors to the Burlington beach. This highly successful, award-winning event has done just that. Now the city is looking for a new a host in the community.
The city has received an event application to host a similar event on the beach for 2017. The organizer noted that they did not feel that they had sufficient time to plan the event for 2016.
Clearly a labour of love.
So – it looks as if there will be a sand castle event on the Beachway in 2017.
Not having the event this year was perhaps a piece of good planning luck – with Lakeshore shut down completely while the road is being rebuilt and raised by about as much as a metre in some place – traffic could not have gotten to the Beachway very easily. The map below show how messy traffic is down there.
It would not have been easy to reach the Beachway Park this year if there had been a sand castle contest.
It was a small, dignified ceremony on a lovely sunny summer afternoon at HMCS Star aboard the retired Tribal Class destroyer HMCS Haida.
There Colonel Roger Vandomm, of the French Consulate pinned a medal on the chest of Bill McConnell. The media release had Bill down as William (Bill) Basil McConnell RN (retd)
HMS Ramillies firing all four 16 inch guns
While aboard the British Battleship HMS Ramillies, Bill, as what we would call an electrician today, climbed up into the Aloft Directory of the ship to fix an electrical fitting when the four 16 inch guns of the battleship roared.
Bill was not able to put his hands over his ears because, as he put it, “you can’t cover both ears, hold the ladder and your tool kit at the same time”. He was instantly deafened, completely in on ear and seriously in the other.
Battleships were huge ships and carried four 16 inch guns that sometimes were fired so often that the paint burned off the barrels. We rattle off that phrase “16 inch guns” quickly when we are talking about a big bullet that measures more than a foot wide.
The roar of the shell coming out of a barrel, four of them at the same time, pushes that battle ship sideways.
The guns had huge range and required a crew of gunners, fitters and electrical types to maintain it. Bill was one of the electrical type, known then as an electrical artificers,
Bill joined the navy at the age of 11. He was at the Royal Hospital School, which was part of the British Navy at the time. It was basically a boarding school where the students wore uniforms. The students got seven weeks of vacation each year. Bill’s father was a Gunnery Chief Petty Officer, these were tough men.
Bill served on a number of ships – the one that he served on the longest was HMS Ramillies, a First World War battleship that was deemed to be good enough to put to sea.
The electrical types were seen as better educated than other ratings – thus when it was clear there was going to be a war in 1938, Bill found himself doing paperwork related to reserve naval types being called up. It was a situation where 15 year old boys were doing the paper work that brought men, some 60 years of age, back into the service.
HMS Ramillies was part of the naval support on DDay. She was tasked with taking out German guns at Benneville shown on the far right. They needed just 80 minutes to destroy most of the German guns
Ramillies was part of the D Day landing in June of 1944. She was to use her big guns to take out a German battery with six 6” guns at Beneville, France to the east end of Sword Beach. The Ramillies took out four of those gun batteries in 80 minutes. The British shells coming in meant the Germans had to do their best to return fire and were not able to train their guns on the troops landing on the beaches.
It was during this battle that Bill had to go aloft to the Aloft Director to repair some electrical equipment. The Aloft Director is the station high up on the ship that was used for observation.
The Allied landings on the Beaches of Normandy France were ferocious battles; thousands of men were lost. It was however the battle that turned the tide and the beginning of the Liberation of France.
Legion d’Honneur awarded by the President of the republic of France.
On the 70th Anniversary of the war ending the French government decided to make anyone who was involved in the landings a member of the Legion d’Honneur – the Legion of Honour.
During the ceremony on Sunday Colonel Vandomm read a document that said: “By order of the President of the Republic of France, you have been awarded the rank of Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour.
Chief Petty Officer William Basil McConnell being awarded the French Legion of Honour by Colonel Roger Vandomm. The smile of appreciation on the Colonel’s face told the story.
“This distinction, the highest national order of France, illustrates the profound gratitude France would like to express to you in recognition of your personal involvement of the liberation of our country during World War II.”
Bill kept his eyes closed for much of the presentation – no doubt recalling the roar of those guns and the huge risk he was under.
While the guns were blazing three torpedoes sped past the battleship – two on one side, one on the other.
Bill stayed in the Navy after the war and left in 1953 after fifteen years of service.
His skills were quickly put to use as he worked for the next sixteen years in the development, installation and acceptance testing of guns and missile controls.
While on a vacation to Canada he found a job working on the “Sea Sparrow” missile control systems for the Canadian DDH280 destroyers.
Bill moved from working on ships to becoming part of the team that established sites, did equipment installation, commissioning and acceptance trials for the Anik geostationary satellite TV receive and telephone transreceiver stations in the far north and the Maritimes.
In 1977Bill joined the Canadian Department of Communications doing sub contract work for the Hermes satellite operations group,
In 1986 he was part of the Canadian Astronautics organization that designed and assembled high gain extendable array antennas.
After overseeing the construction of three satellite receiving stations in Goose Bay, Labrador, Churchill and Edmonton Bill returned to retirement.
He spent several years travelling and then spent eight years in a French Canadian farming village.
He moved to Burlington in 2008 to be nearer his only Canadian relative.
Bill McConnell, speaking to an audience after being made a Knight of the French Legion of Honour. He was aboard HMCS Haida in Hamilton. Burlington MP Karina Gould and Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring took part in th ceremony.
As a 93 year old Royal Navy retired Chief Petty Officer, William Basil McConnell climbed the steps of the gangway to board HMCS Haida where he was made a Knight of the French Legion of Honour.
A long way from his experience as an 11 years old Electrical Artificer.
The woman who badgered a Cabinet Minister to ensure that Burlington residents had access to ODRAP – Ontario Disaster Relief funds – announced Friday that Ontario is investing $237,000 in a pilot project that will help Burlington homeowners reduce the risk of basement flooding from severe weather events associated with climate change.
Eleanor McMahon was a backbencher MPP when the flood hit the city in 2014; today she is a member of the provincial Cabinet responsible for Tourism, Culture and Sport
Burlington’s MPP, Cabinet Minister Eleanor McMahon announcing the Home Adaptation Assessment Program program.
In her announcement McMahon said: “Ontario’s people and businesses are already feeling the effects of climate change. It has damaged the environment and has caused extreme weather events such as flooding, which can damage basements and homes and increase insurance rates.
“After experiencing substantial residential flooding in August 2014, Burlington was selected as the ideal location to run the first large-scale basement-flood risk reduction program. Developed by the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, the Home Adaptation Assessment Program will:
Assess the vulnerability of 4,000 Burlington-area homes to flood damage Make recommendations to help homeowners avoid costly damage from extreme weather Collect the data needed to inform potential expansion of the program to communities across the province.
This kind of flooding hit both the residential and the commercial community.
Lessons learned from the pilot program in Burlington will inform a broader roll-out of the program across Ontario. The joint pilot is between the provincial government, Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, City of Burlington and participating homeowners who will be asked to pay a small fee for the inspection work done on their homes.
City Council has approved contributing an additional $50,000 the first year with opportunities to reassess in 2017.
The program, Home Adaptation Assessment Program (HAAP) will announce the names of the designated neighbourhoods and registration details this fall.
Basements throughout the city were cleared of wet soggy warped property and sent to the dump.
The media release added that: “Over the past decade, an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme rainfall events, aging municipal infrastructure and inadequate flood protection measures at the household level have all contributed to significant increases is basement flood damage costs across Canada. More specifically, property and casualty insurance claims have more than doubled in the past decade, with basement flooding being a central cause.”
That statement makes it sound as if the home owners were the ones to blame for problems with down spouts and letting the natural swales between houses build up.
A large part of the problem was with storm sewers that could not handle the huge and sudden flow of water. Home owners just did not know what they were supposed to do. The fire department puts out a regular flow of fire safety information – the same needed to be done about climate change.
The city knows now of a number of homes that cannot remain where they are in a specific flood plain; the information is in a city report but those specific home owners have not been informed.
The Home Adaptation Assessment Program (HAAP) is a basement-flood risk-reduction program. The program integrates international best practices for household flood prevention with input from homeowners and municipal engineers.
One-on-one support is available to individual households through a Home Adaptation Assessment. For a small fee, a trained HAAP assessor will take homeowners through a 50-point examination of potential water entry into the home and help develop a prioritized action plan to reduce risk. A customer help-line, follow-up surveys and seasonal maintenance reminders provide additional support to homeowners. HAAP’s approach is developed in consultation with local government, conservation authorities and community groups, ensuring that HAAP enhances and is complementary to existing flood-risk-mitigation programs.
Dumpster bins were in the driveways of hundreds of home in the city in August of 2014
The first large-scale phase of the development of HAAP will be carried out in Burlington where 4,000 home assessments in designated neighbourhoods will be completed by the end of 2017, with the first 500 to be completed in this year. These will be carefully selected to be representative of neighbourhoods across Ontario (based on home size and age, age and type of municipal infrastructure and past experience with flood risk). Lessons learned from HAAP delivery in Burlington will inform a broader roll-out of the program across Ontario.
The 2014 flood played no favourites. Both the Mayor and the federal member of parliament at the time had their basements flooded.
Most of us experience reasonably good health – but we all know someone whose health is not good. We hope for the best for them.
When I was a boy, just after the war (the Second World War) polio was the scourge. Dr Jonas Salk had not come up with his polio vaccine yet. Wheel chairs, braces, iron lungs were part of the news stories before the vaccine was discovered.
My Mom was a cook at a YMCA camp; she took me and my brother and sister with her every summer.
In the summer of 1946 I became ill and a smart former army nurse said: This boy just might have contracted polio. She was a tough lady and insisted that I be driven to the local train station where they stopped a freight train with fresh fruit on it and got me into Montreal where I was transferred to the Montreal Children’s Hospital where a spinal tap was done.
I can still hear myself screaming away when the stuck that needle in me. But it worked – the doctors knew what they were doing because research was being done on polio and I benefited from that research.
I was days away from becoming a cripple that would have either a brace on my legs or have to live out of a wheel chair. I still shudder when I am near a person who has to wear a brace and I hear it snap into place.
It was medical research that kept me out of a wheel chair. I have a little difficulty touching my toes but other than that I am reasonably well; at one point was a long distance runner.
Medical research matters – and now those of us who live in Burlington are going to be given a chance to support cancer research.
The man who will entertain us on the 20th of August is dying of an incurable brain cancer. He will be on the stage giving it everything he has.
Gord Downie, lead singer of the Tragically Hip, giving it everything he has. The Hips final concert on their Farewell Tour that will take place in Kingston is to be simulcast to the stage set up in Spencer Smith Park
We have an opportunity to give as well.
Go without something and put as much as you can into one of the two opportunities that have been set up.
This city raised just shy of $1 million two years ago for flood victims. The needed 100 days to make that happen. We have about 15 days – we can raise a lot of money in that time frame.
Don’t let Gord Downie down.
The huge screens will be set up on a stage immediately to the west of the Naval memorial – the event starts at 8:30 – this is a rain or shine evening – bring a blanket or a chair. There will not be any alcohol available at this event nor will there be any sponsorship announcements.
Just the best the Tragically Hip has always done – being broadcast across the nation.
To donate to the Canadian Cancer Society (Halton Chapter) click HERE or visit https://bit.ly/2azm5AN
To donate to the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation click HEREor visit https://bit.ly/2auf6Yc
A pensive Gord Downie will entertain tens of thousands in a CBC broadcast of the final concert of the Farewell tour on August 20th.
If you want to keep up to the second on how the arrangements for the concert on the 20th are rolling out follow the #HipatSpencerSmith
The Air Park has taken on a legal life of its own that just may see Court cases that make their way to the Supreme Court of Canada – the issue is that significant to the municipal sector.
The judiciary and economic development are tied together, not always in the nicest or the most comfortable manner. One tends to bump into the other when interpretations of a bylaw or a regulation is needed. That bumping into each other has kept the city’s legal department busy
Trucks dumped tonnes of land fill on the air park site without having a site alteration plan approved by the city.
There are people in Burlington who see very significant merit in their being a small well run airport in the rural part of the city.
Fill from the Air Park tumbles down a slope and rests against the property line fence of the Cousin’s farm on Appleby Line. Water run off has flooded parts of the farm.
Most of the residents in north Burlington don’t have a problem with the air park – they do have a problem with what the owner of the property wants to do with the almost 200 acres of land that had 500,000 tonnes of land fill dumped on it without permission or acceptable testing by the municipal government.
Business people, especially those in the development field, understand what they call the long game – find property that will increase in value and has significant development potential and invest in it. Developers look for that patient money; the site one which the Bridgewater condominiums are being built first came to the public eye when Mayrose Tyco assembled that land in 1985.
The air park has been around for a long time; for the past decade or more it has been a contentious operation. The owner has brought a unique business style to how he has chosen to develop the opportunity he feels the site has and in the process has alienated his neighbours and run afoul of the city and to a lesser degree the Regional government.
The development game has changed; it is a lot more collaborative and developers are learning that municipalities have strengths they have not utilized in the past.
And Burlington is beginning to realize that citizen groups do not have to be just reactive to things they do not like but can be proactive and advocate for levels of change.
In Burlington the Sustainability Advisory Committee has real clout and influence; Heritage issues were basically outsourced to the Heritage Advisory Committee who put together a program that council liked. When the outline of that program was first revealed city council came close to giving the advisory committee a standing ovation.
There is room and opportunity now for responsible citizens groups to do their homework and take well researched proposals to city council.
While it will be a bit of a challenge for this city council, the time is ripe for city councils to listen more closely to some of the ideas that are brought forward.
There are also new and more collaboratively minded city staff who are capable of listening to the people who provide the money to meet the payroll.
Municipalities are at that talking the talk when the mention transparency – citizens have chosen to believe what they said and now expect those people to walk their talk. Done properly it comes out as responsible government – on of the corner stones this province was built on.
All the key players in the Airpark dispute:
The time is not right yet to expect the kind of leadership that is needed from the elected officials; too much dead wood on the current Burlington council. But it is time and the opportunity is there for the private sector that is much more responsible than the development community has been in the past to quietly develop ideas and opportunities to advance potential
Getting any air park development in rural Burlington from economic developers is going to require more than just an initiative from the economic developers and consistent nudging from the city’s Economic Development Corporation.
The city itself has to realize the potential and want to see that potential grown and the people in rural Burlington are going to have to be a significant part of that process.
During a council chamber foyer conversation, city manager Jeff Fielding made it very clear to Glenn Grenier, second from the left that the city did not share his view that the Air Park did not have to comply with city bylaws. Grenier had positioned himself as a leading expert in aeronautical law and that the city should respect their rights. The city didn’t believe the Air Park actually had the rights they said they have; that view was upheld by both a Superior |Court judge and an Appeal Court decision. The city’s legal counsel stand to the right.
A very small percentage of the people in Burlington are fully aware of the current air park issue and the legal battle that has been going on for more than five years. The upside to that battle is that it hasn’t cost the city all that much – their legal counsel keeps winning the court cases and getting costs on a rather financially attractive basis. It isn’t a profit centre but it is a nice way to do business.
When the rural community became aware of what at was going on they did what every community does; they formed an organization – the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition, which itself is a collection of citizen interest groups – and delegated to city hall – very effectively. Monte Dennis had years of experience battling the development of the once planned airport at Pickering; he was part of that crew that did everything possible to prevent the destruction of a community when the province expropriated hundreds of acres of land for an airport development in Pickering. That was 40 years ago – the houses and community are gone – but there is no airport in Pickering.
Vanessa Warren delegated to city council on the landfill work being done at the Air Park and the impact it will have on her property – and the larger community as well.
Monte Dennis delegating before city council.
If it wasn’t Dennis delegating for the RBGC at city hall or the Region, it would be Vanessa Warren who was always exceptionally well prepared: she tended to know more than anyone else in the room.
Despite the talent within the RBGC they have yet to capture the public imagination. A large part of that is their all but total reliance on social media to get their message out.
Social media has its place but it isn’t the silver bullet that always delivers.
Going forward one can hope that the RBGC people can learn to partner or at least collaborate with the better parts of the economic development community and make the best possible use of the air park property for both the land owner and the wider community without any development distorting or damaging the community.
Few in rural Burlington have a problem with a small private aircraft air park- many very close to the air park kind of like the sound of the light air craft landing and taking off.
Vince Rossi, believed to be the sole owner of the Air Park.
There are opportunities for some “good jobs” economic development at the air park. Small engine maintenance – even possibly some mid-size aircraft maintenance. Properly managed the air park could handle much more small craft traffic.
RBGC needs to be before city council regularly, prodding and poking and providing the visionary leadership that is badly needed. They certainly have the talent and if they are consistent they should over time bring about the shift that is needed.
One wonders where the Regional government is in all this. There are dozens of municipalities that oversee the operation of small airports in their communities. Neither the chair or the region’s administration appear to have much in the way of appetite for an air park in Halton and Burlington’s city council representatives at the Region have never been able to pull together as a single cohesive voice that takes a position and makes it stick.
There is much work to be done.
Could the air park already be in play without the owner even knowing about it?
Full disclosure:Pepper Parr, publisher of the |Gazette, Monte Dennis and Vanessa were sued by the Air Park Inc for libel in 2013. The case has yet to get to trial.
If the heat doesn’t get the best of us – something else will.
We are told that a batch of mosquitoes trapped this week in Burlington have tested positive for West Nile virus (WNV).
This is the first WNV positive batch of mosquitoes collected from the city. An additional five batches of WNV positive mosquitoes were collected in Oakville. This year in Halton, there have been seven WNV positive mosquito batches to date.
“Halton is committed to being safe and healthy and reducing West Nile virus in our communities through both education and preventative programs like larviciding,” said Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton Region Medical Officer of Health. “Until the hard frosts of fall set in, Halton residents should continue to protect themselves against mosquito bites and remove mosquito breeding sites.”
Urban areas are more likely to have mosquitoes that carry WNV. The types of mosquitoes that transmit WNV to humans most commonly breed in urban areas in places that hold water such as bird baths, plant pots, old toys, and tires.
The following are steps that residents can take to protect themselves and their families from mosquitoes:
• Cover up. Wear light-coloured, long-sleeved shirts and pants with tightly-woven fabric. • Avoid being outdoors from early evening to morning when mosquitoes are most active and likely to bite, as well as at any time in shady, wooded areas. • Reduce mosquito breeding sites around your home by getting rid of all water-filled containers and objects, where possible. Change the water in bird baths at least once per week. • Use an approved insect repellent, such as one containing DEET or Icaridin. • Make sure your window and door screens are tight and without holes, cuts or other openings.
A map showing the locations of standing water sites that have had larvicide applied this year is available at halton.ca/wnv.
To report standing water at public facilities or for more information about West Nile virus, please visit halton.ca/wnv, dial 311or e-mail wnv@halton.ca.
Might be a little early to make solid plans – but you could pencil this one in as a possible – the city is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its Children’s Festival on Sunday, August 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Spencer Smith Park.
As they get a little older – they are ready for bigger challenges. This group works there way through a children’s obstacle course.
“We are hosting a huge birthday party for children of all ages to help mark this special occasion,” said Chris Glenn, the city’s director of parks and recreation. “This festival is consistently named as one of the Top 100 festivals and events in Ontario and is the perfect opportunity for families to get out, be active and enjoy some time together at Burlington’s beautiful waterfront.”
Presented by Rocca Sisters and Associates, the theme of this year’s festival is a birthday party. Children at the event can enjoy a number of activities and shows on the main stage, presented by Family Jr.:
Kids + water = fun and noise – all part of a day in the park.
• Main stage shows with Interactive DJ, Isabella Hoops, Mega Magic and Mystic Drumz • Meet the characters from Paw Patrol and Star Wars from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m • Roaming entertainment with Jungle Jack, Nick’s Juggling Family, CLaroL the CLown and stilt walkers • Face painting and balloon animals • Crafts • Inflatables • Kids’ marketplace • Play zones
Admission to this accessible event is free. Consider walking or riding a bike to the festival.
Our political correspondent, Ray Rivers, is working up a pair of articles on the United States presidential race and comparing the situation down there with how our democracy is working in Canada.
When Rivers writes, as publisher he and I trade notes and thoughts on the direction his thinking is taking. My role is to support the writer. As I was reading through my own sources I came across a book On Bullshit, by Harry G. Frankfurt, a professor of philosophy emeritus at Princeton University and recognized as one of the world’s most influential moral philosophers
Here is what he has to say on that subject:
“One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern. We have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, as Harry Frankfurt writes, “we have no theory.”
Fareed Zakaria, writing in the Washington Post said: “Frankfurt, one of the world’s most influential moral philosophers, attempts to build such a theory here. With his characteristic combination of philosophical acuity, psychological insight, and wry humor, Frankfurt proceeds by exploring how bullshit and the related concept of humbug are distinct from lying. He argues that bullshitters misrepresent themselves to their audience not as liars do, that is, by deliberately making false claims about what is true. In fact, bullshit need not be untrue at all.
“Rather, bullshitters seek to convey a certain impression of themselves without being concerned about whether anything at all is true. They quietly change the rules governing their end of the conversation so that claims about truth and falsity are irrelevant. Frankfurt concludes that although bullshit can take many innocent forms, excessive indulgence in it can eventually undermine the practitioner’s capacity to tell the truth in a way that lying does not. Liars at least acknowledge that it matters what is true. By virtue of this, Frankfurt writes, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.”
This viewpoint and the role bullshit plays in our political lives at every level is not limited to the United States.
The book was a New York Times #1 Best Seller. No bullshit!
Once you’ve taken in the Jazz event Friday evening at the Performing arts Centre, at which Brian Dean, chief honcho for the Downtown Business Association will be MC – you might want to mosey on over to the same location and try Intersection Dance.
And what, you might ask is that? Intersection Dance is an open air celebration of dance for all! Each event will be part performance and part dance lesson. Come and see incredible dance in a summer setting and learn some moves from the artists.
Saturday, August 6 from 3:00pm – 4:30pm on the Plaza at 440 Locust Street
One of the most impressive free form dancers we have seen will be leading the group through an original dance piece being created for the by Lisa Emmons, Artistic Director of Form Contemporary Dance Theatre.
You will get to see the work in progress. Lisa will be collaborating with a collective of dancers representing three communities: Burlington, Milton and Oakville. After the performance the collective will receive “notes” and invite the audience to comment or make suggestions. These ideas will be considered as the piece is finalized for performances during Culture Days in the fall.
They will certainly be animating Locust Street Saturday afternoon.
This time two years ago thousands of families in the city were scrambling to recover from a rainfall that flooded their homes while the city moved into serious damage control mode.
The rain began in the early afternoon of the August holiday, it seemed at first, like just another summer rain storm but it shut down the events at LaSalle Park where Joseph Brant Day was being celebrated.– at about 4 pm people began to realize there was a serious problem.
It was a holiday weekend and a lot of people were out of town. The Mayor was at his cottage, the acting city manager was at his cottage and out of cell phone reach. Then city general manager Scott Stewart was holding the fort and pulling in all the senior people he could find.
The data available several weeks after the storm showed just how local it was.
Tony Bavota, the fire chief, was getting reports but wasn’t experiencing as much as a drop of rain where he lived.
Underpasses were filling up with water.
Every creek in the east end of the city broke its banks pushing branches and tree stumps that became battering rams that did major damage.
The creeks on the east side of the city had burst their banks and could not manager the torrent of water that was roaring down.
Tuck Creek, Sheldon Creek along with the others in the eastern part of the had burst their banks and were doing significant damage.
There was very little in the way of media. The publisher of the Gazette was bailing water from the basement of the house he lived in.
The police at the Burlington detachment had to move all their vehicles to higher ground. Officers working at the desk had to walk on squishy floors.
The city got 191 mm of rain in just hours – most of it went looking for a place to flow – the creeks were a natural route to take.
Weeks after the event all kinds of data was available but the days of the flood and several days after that there was nothing but confusion.
Drivers found the water rising far more rapidly than they expected – many had to abandon vehicles.
The Region did move very quickly and made some short term funds available to several hundred people. The city turned to the province for help and learned about a thing called ODRAP – Ontario Disaster Relied Aid Program that called for the city to declare there was an emergency and then create a committee to raise funds locally that would be matched on a two for one basis by the province.
The program rules required the city to back away and let the local community organization handle the raising of funds.
Meanwhile the city began repairing the damage to the city infrastructure – the creeks has to be cleaned up, sidewalks that were literally lifted and moved yards down the road had to be repaired. The city was responsible for fixing the infrastructure – social services was a regional responsibility.
Retired police officer Peter Hodgson took charge of the Red Cross effort which was to look at every home in the flood area and determine the level of damage.
The Red Cross was brought in to do the immediate survey work to determine what the damage was on a house by house basis. The members of council for the east end of the city found themselves wading through basements with water up to their knees – but there wasn’t much else they could do.
The Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) was given the task of raising the funds needed and in a short 100 days raised just shy of $1 million.
There was no missing the message – the city mobilized itself very quickly to help.
There were some delicate backroom differences of opinion between the city and the province over whether or not Burlington was going to get any provincial support. Newly elected MPP Eleanor McMahon had an opportunity to deliver some choice words to her provincial government peers on what Burlington needed.
The BCF did superb work helping people fill in the appropriate forms and convince dozens of corporations to write cheques. All but one of the major banks came through big time. A major consumer products company, who shall go nameless, couldn’t find as much as a dime for the people that clog their store regularly.
Fortinos turned their fund raising software over to the community and had their cashiers asking for donations.
One of the supermarket chains made their back end computer system available for the collection of donations.
There were hundreds of small kind acts done. One woman went door to door with green garbage bags offering to take in laundry for people who had lost their washers and driers.
One citizen found some warehouse space where donated furniture could be stored for those who would need it later.
The people of Elwood Street lined up to buy the cupcakes and the T shirts and the hot dogs to raise funds for their neighbours.
One street decided to hold what they thought was going to be a small fund raiser for a senior who needed some help – the Burlington Teen Tour Band came marching up the street the day of the event bringing tears to they eyes of man.
That small street managed to raise more in the way of real cash than one of the major service clubs. The city was experiencing its citizens coming out to help.
There wasn’t an arm that Ron Foxcroft didn’t twist to raise the close to $1 million needed in a 100 day period.
Ron Foxcroft began to look like that Energizer bunny in the battery advertisements – he was everywhere chasing cheques and badgering people to add a couple of zeros to what they were giving.
What was remarkable about this natural event was that it ruined some families and at the same time people just blocks away experienced nothing.
It was like one of those tornadoes that ripped through a street, tore out five or six houses and left everything else standing. The city had never experience anything like this before.
We learned that the downspouts that took rain from the eaves troughs were pouring water into a system of pipes that couldn’t manage the flow. We leaned that those catch basis in back yards that had been covered by grass really were an important part of storm water management.
We learned that those swales between our houses were there for a purpose.
And we learned how to pull together as a community to help each other.
After some of the finest work any community organization has done – the Burlington Community Foundation did a re-branding and took the word community out of their corporate name – go figure.
This story has been revised – the number of hotel rooms is closer to 300 + than 500 as originally reported.
Frank McKeown has got part of it figured out.
He is tasked with bringing corporations to the city that will employ people in high tech, high paying jobs – the sort of thing that L3 Wescam does on the North Service Road. Few people know they produce some of the best visual surveillance equipment in the world.
Here is how they tell just a part of their story.
WESCAM has an airborne portfolio of multi-sensor, multi-spectral systems that are deployed worldwide, at varying ranges, and with overlapping fields-of-view, creating the opportunity for uninterrupted surveillance of boarders, forward operating bases, airfields and other vital assets.
McKeown wants more of that kind of company here. But, he will tell you, “companies don’t just up and move every day of the week”.
The structure on the corner is going to be a nine storey building with 150+ rooms and convention facilities. A 2018 opening date is the plan.
He knows that Burlington has a great story to tell any organization thinking about a move – and the Burlington Economic Development Corporation does a darn good job of getting the story out – but there is only so much that can be done in terms of promotion.
McKeown will tell you that it is pretty much a belly to belly business. You need to be in front of the people who make the decisions – which isn’t easy.
Tear this one down – build a new one of at least 20 stories along with a second structure close to the water and you have a small cluster of accommodation that can attract small conventions.
But McKeown thinks he has an angle that will work for him and for the city.
The city has a stunning development going up along Lakeshore – the Bridgewater condominium with its 22 stories that will soar into the sky and will be part of a three tower complex that will include a four star Marriott hotel with several hundred rooms.
Yards to the west there are plans for a major redevelopment of the existing Waterfront Hotel. The thinking is for a two or three building project that will be oriented to the west with the view right along Spencer Smith Park’s Naval Promenade.
With two hotels that will have something in the order of 300 rooms and a Performing Arts Centre that can hold 700 people in its Main Theatre, Burlington is suddenly well positioned to become a small convention destination.
Frank McKeown, former Chief of Staff to Mayor Rick Goldring is now the Executive Director of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation.
Making this work for the city will mean a total transformation of the current Tourism office operation. More selling power on the team – and then getting out there and learning who is holding their convention when and making a pitch for their business.
Burlington has a very unique story to tell and a lovely setting.
A great locale for small convention events – has the Performing Arts Centre team begun to think how they will work with the Tourism office and the two new hotels we will have within five years?
That Marriott hotel isn’t open yet but it isn’t too early to start pitching for that convention business. Is there anyone in the Tourism office talking to the hotel people and planning on how that convention business can be brought to town?
McKeown will be away for some holiday – and he is said to be taking up Wednesday golf in a serious way. Great business gets done on golf courses.
We will wait to hear what the Tourism office has in terms of a work plan for the balance of 2016 and 2017.
By Staff
Officers were called to the parking lot around 6:45 p.m. in response to a citizen’s complaint that three children were in a car in an “expectant Mother” parking space. The car was parked in full sunlight and had its engine turned off. Four windows were open only approximately 3 inches each. The car was locked and the alarm had been activated.
The city has added a new service request to its online customer service application (www.burlington.ca/servicerequests) that makes it easier for residents to report sightings of nuisance signs.
By Staff
Local access to homes and business will be maintained. Please refer to the map for vehicle and transit detours.
As outgoing president Obama made emphatic, there is no better qualified candidate than Hillary Clinton. And if qualification and experience were all that mattered there would be no contest, and the tired but somewhat boring and compromised Hillary would be the shoo-in victor on election day. After all, she is running against a man with a dubious record in his business ventures and one who has never even run for public office – let alone the highest office in the land, in all his seventy years.
Donald Trump cleaned-up in the Republican nomination race by simply being himself. His victory was more of a fluke than a deliberate strategy. He just plumbed for and echoed the deepest, darkest recesses of the worst of America, and spewed racism, homophobia and insults as no American politician had done before. The more outlandish his comments, the more he gained notoriety and support among disciples who mistook his words of prejudice for plain-speaking. He was/is different and exciting. But what makes him dangerous is his lack of detail – what he actually would do.
“Halton is committed to being safe and healthy and reducing West Nile virus in our communities through both education and preventative programs like larviciding,” said Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton Region Medical Officer of Health. “Until the hard frosts of fall set in, Halton residents should continue to protect themselves against mosquito bites and remove mosquito breeding sites.”
When Rivers writes, as publisher he and I trade notes and thoughts on the direction his thinking is taking. My role is to support the writer. As I was reading through my own sources I came across a book On Bullshit, by Harry G. Frankfurt, a professor of philosophy emeritus at Princeton University and recognized as one of the world’s most influential moral philosophers
One of the most impressive free form dancers we have seen will be leading the group through an original dance piece being created for the by Lisa Emmons, Artistic Director of Form Contemporary Dance Theatre.
