 By Staff
May 11th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service has created a web dedicated to information on drugs appearing on the streets of the Region.
AddictionaryHalton.com is a new online resource, provided by the Halton Police Drug, Gun & Gang Unit, aimed at helping to educate parents, guardians and Halton’s youth about the dangers of drug, substance abuse and criminal activity connected to illicit drugs.
In this resource you will find a listing of street drugs that have been found in Halton, current drug trends, community resources to help with addiction and video stories about drugs and the recovery process.
Visit AddictionaryHalton.com’s blog to learn about recent drug seizures made by Drug, Gun & Gang Unit. The blog will also post warnings to the public regarding dangerous drugs circulating in the community along with merging drug trends.
Anyone wanting more information about street drugs, addiction and recovery options, please visit: www.addictionaryhalton.com or follow us on Twitter at: @HRPSRID.
If you live in and around the Halton Region then this site is for you.
 When marijuana is made legal – what will that do to the police statistics? Marihuana continues to be the main controlled substance seized by the Halton Regional Police. Cocaine is once again the second most common drug seized in Halton. There has been an increased in prescription drugs, including opioids and benzodiazapines. Crystal methamphetamine seizures are a concern as the Halton Police Drug Unit continues to see an increase throughout the region.
 By Pepper Parr
May 11th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
We hear the news
We see the pictures of the devastation with street after street not much more than a pile of ashes.
We wonder what it must have been like as those people drove down that highway with flames licking the side of the road and flaming embers landing on the road in front of their vehicles.
More than 2000 homes – gone.
 Fire approaches a street that has been evacuated. Burlington has a large swath of rural land were the bush is thick. How would this city handle a serious forest fire?
We asked Fire Chief Tony Bavota what the protocol was and where did he turn to should his crews be unable to handle a blaze.
“I have ten trucks that are on standby day and night and if I need to I can ramp up to 18 in a very short period of time.
“How short Chief” we asked – “I’m talking hours” he replied.
There are also reciprocal agreements between all the municipalities in the Region. We can be in touch with one another in minutes.
When it became evident how bad the situation was in Calgary the Ontario Fire Marshal was in touch with the Fire Marshall in Alberta to offer assistance.
 Devastation left once fire has passed through a community. It is much the same in the Region of Halton – when we have a serious situation the Regional Fire Coordinator makes the call. Burlington’s Bavoda is the co-ordinator at this point in time.
He drives around with what amounts to a small communications station in the trunk of hi vehicle and can set up a command station almost anywhere.
There is back up all the way up the bureaucratic food chain explained Bavota with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) there to help.
If we needed aircraft to drop water – we work with the MNR people who know where the flight people are.
In Burlington there are bylaws that determine where fires can be lit. The Chief can cancel any permit given to someone to do a local fire burn.
The Chief has direct contacts with all the people that matter – he is either aware personally of a situation or has people who keep him informed as to how dry it is in the forested part of the city. What the water situation is in the creeks.
 Fire chief Tony Bavota handing out cards with direct line telephone numbers and ensuring that people got the help they needed. Bavota said he wasn’t going to worry about lines of authority – if they need help – Bavota did everything he could to get it to them during the ice storm. “All the fire burning permits go through the fire department and one of our inspectors goes out to the location to advise the person who wants to do a controlled burn and tells them what they have to have on hand”, said Bavota
The Fire Chief can override any permit that has been given out “I’ve done that in the past” he said.
 So far this year there have been a few grass fires – nothing serious but when we get those kinds of calls we need to move quickly – winds shift and you’d be amazed at how fast a flame will race across an open space and suddenly light up a stand of trees.
As we saw from the Alberta situation – fires take on a life of their own – and they become very difficult to stop. Fire marshals in Alberta are still investigating the source of the blaze
 By Staff
May 11th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Our colleagues at CATCH (Citizens at City Hall) published a piece on a meeting where the provincial Minister of the Environment and Climate Change spoke of the impact climate change is having on us – Now. Burlington understands what he is talking about – he drives the point even further than the August 2014 flood did,
Ontario’s minister of the environment and climate change had some blunt advice when he spoke at the climate resilient cities conference in Hamilton recently. Glenn Murray offered detailed evidence that climate change already threatens our food and water security and it’s going to get much worse.
While he declared that “there’s nothing that Hamilton lacks to be the kick-ass city in Canada”, the former mayor of Winnipeg made clear that “fundamental transformation” in our urban form is required including intensification and no more suburban sprawl.
“I want to take you to the context of where I think we as a group of leaders have to understand and what the dynamics are,” he began. “And I will just offer the proposition that the two biggest crises that we face on the adaptation and resilience side are food security and water security.”
 Glen Murray – Minister of the Environment and Climate Change He pointed to a Toronto storm three years ago that dumped a month’s rain in one hour and tore out 80 metres of GO train track “that cost us $600 million which could basically pay for half of [Hamilton’s] LRT.” And he cited “false springs” that wiped out the local apple crop in 2012. He also explained the link of many extreme weather events to the melting arctic ice cap and its effect on the polar vortex.
“The jet stream has slowed down by about 20 percent which means that the periods which are wet last longer, the periods which are dry last longer and that causes us to have so many droughts as we saw in the prairies, fires, invasions of species – the beetles that are destroying our forests,” Minister Murray explained. “And then we have moisture levels on the prairies that we haven’t seen since the last ice age – and if we didn’t have the modern irrigation we have now we probably would be courting if not in the dust bowl, and for the first time Calgary and Regina had air quality warnings because of the level of smoke from fires on the prairies.”
 The cost of repairing GO train tracks when Toronto experienced flooding would have paid for half of the LRT coming to Hamilton. He spoke a week before a tinder dry forest and 32C temperatures helped fuel the catastrophic fire in Fort McMurray despite its near sub-arctic location at the same latitude as the northern tip of Ontario and lower Hudson’s Bay.
Murray reminded his audience that last year’s “disruptive spring” experiences included four to five metres of snow “on the streets of Halifax and St John’s” in the last week of April and asked what that would have done in Hamilton. “No one had much of a garden in Atlantic Canada last year. That was also the summer that we had fires on the Prairies the soft fruit crop blossomed in January in BC and died.”
Focusing particularly on food security, the Minister argued that the jet stream destabilization has “had some very bad impacts on our ability to produce food” and warned that “if you want to destabilize a government, all you have to do as a society is just have a food or water shortage for any period of time.”
As an example, he pointed to the extreme drought in the Middle East in 2006-2011 where there was “an 80 percent food crop loss in northern Syria and the fertile crescent about 1.6 million people lost their farms and became the underclass in Damascas, which was according to the Pentagon a swift threat multiplier in the destabilization of the region and the on-going war and then the insertion of terrorism.” Murray noted that “ISIS is hanging onto the three largest irrigation dams … so they’re obviously sophisticated in assessing the power of control of water.”
 Fields of California broccoli – 95% of ours comes from here. Bringing this closer to home, the Minister detailed the development of the California drought where “80 percent of water use is for agriculture” and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has found the description of extreme drought no longer adequate and has introduced “exceptional drought” into its terminology.
“You see the blood red stain in the middle of California ,” he said pointing to one of his slides. “That’s a piece of real estate that’s very important to your life and to my life because we import $4 billion worth of food as a northern community.”
California, he explained, provides “95 percent of all US broccoli, 92 percent of strawberries, 91% of grapes, 90 percent of tomatoes, 84 percent of all lettuce” and similar percentages to Ontario. While noting that almost all of this is grown in that blood red stained area, Murray warned he “could keep going with all the other things your mother told you to eat lots of when you were growing up.”
A particular “perversity” in the California situation is that nut and pistachio growers are “have now bought surplus drilling equipment from Alberta” and are “going down 2000 feet into the aquifers of California leading to collapse, whereas the vegetable farmers can only afford equipment that goes down about 200 feet.”
 Burlington resident weren’t comfortable with a five storey project in the downtown core – developer cut it back to four. This is an absurdity,” Murray declared. Murray also explained that the climate change we’re already seeing is certain to get significantly worse because carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for 40 to 250 years.
“So looking back right now we are experiencing the full force of carbon dioxide levels from 1916, in the middle of the First World War, and we’re just now experiencing the initial impacts of carbon dioxide from 1976 when I graduated from high school.”
He underlined that “sobering” thought by noting that “the rapid explosion of the suburbs in the fifties – the great low density carbon intensive neighbourhoods – all the weight of all of that activity and change in urban form has not yet impacted.”
 Burlington Hydro loaned electric BMW’s to city council members top record their driving habits – when will the wave of buying electric cars hit us? Murray connected this to the province’s commitment to rapid transit by inviting the audience to look at the Yonge subway line in Toronto from the vantage point of the top of the CN tower. “You can clearly see where it is because at every subway stop there are spikes of large commercial and residential buildings all the way up to York,” he said.
He compared that to the Bloor line where city councillors and their residents fight intensification. “There’s a fight over a four-storey building in Etobicoke – they’re fighting it because it’s ‘too intense’. This is the absurdity,” Murray declared.
He didn’t suggest this might happen along Hamilton’s LRT line, but the link was obvious, and he underlined it by the results of a mapping study of taxes versus density that confirmed “all the neighbourhoods who use a lot of infrastructure for a very small tax base are well dispersed suburbs, big box formula subdivisions, and Hamilton.”
He ended with advice to individual Hamiltonians: “Drive less, get an electric vehicle, congratulations on getting a rapid transit line in Hamilton and please use it. Or walk, it’s a beautiful city to walk in.”
By Staff
May 11, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Real-time bus departure times are now available by calling 905-639-0550, transit’s new Integrated Voice Response (IVR) system.
 Director of Transit Mike Spicer, on the left, getting a briefing from City Manager James Ridge at a Bfast transit conference. Customers can either enter in the bus stop I.D. number shown on all stop signs across the city or search by a route number.
In June, real-time information will also be made available online which will feature a new mobile friendly website offering trip-planning, next bus arrival, closest stop as well as news and alerts to help keep you informed.
Is the rumour of a possible fare hike needed to cover these new toys?
 By Pepper Parr
May 11, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
We know where she sits in the House of Commons and we know she is there – as long as one subscribes to Tweets –
We know she speaks in the House of Commons because we can follow her speeches – but we are pressed to know what she is doing in the community because we seldom hear from her office
For the record – here is Liberal MP’s tweet traffic for the past few days along with comments she made on International trade.
 Karina Gould being congratulated by Mayor Goldring on the eve of he election win. Goldring had spent the evening in Conservative Mike Wallace’s campaign office until he had to go to the Gould victory party and congratulate her.  Karina Gould Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.
Canada’s economic growth as a trading nation is directly linked to international trade. The government strongly supports free trade as a way to open markets to Canadian goods and services, grow Canadian businesses, and create good-paying middle-class jobs.
The scope of the trans-Pacific partnership (TPP) is significant. To re-state the oft-quoted figures, the TPP encompasses 800 million people in 12 countries with a combined GDP of $28 trillion U.S., covering nearly 40% of the world’s economy. It is also an agreement that was negotiated by the previous government.
Our pledge to Canadians is to ensure they are fully consulted on the outcomes of the TPP. Our job is to carefully review the text and continue to consult with Canadians. The government wants to ensure that Canadians can have a good look at the TPP and that they can ask questions and express their views on whether the agreement is in the best interests of Canadians.”
Can’t wait to learn when Gould is going to meet with Burlington business people on just what the TPP trade agreement will mean to Canada and how it might impact local business people that deal in international trade.
Gould proved to be a very strong campaigner – she was unrelenting during the election and used more than a year to build inroads into the community and took the seat from Mike Wallace. Many said that Gould didn’t win because she was the better candidate – they attributed her win to the close to total collapse of the NDP vote.
It is clear now that the public bought into what Justin Trudeau was saying and that they had has enough of Stephen Harper. Gould had convinced enough people that she was worth more than a chance.
The task now for Gould is to consolidate the win and build strong relationships with the community. We’ve not seen all that much of her since the New Years levee.
She was seen at the photo op when the Art Gallery of Burlington took possession of a van for their Road Show initiatives.
Gould will be the focus for a Chamber of Commerce BBQ event in July where members can rub shoulders with MP who is also the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development.
 By Staff
May 10th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Hayley Marie Remple is on the road – last concert tour before I get hitched” was the way she put the trip that is going to bring her to Burlington for a two concert program and a Master Class for flute players.
 Hailey Marie mixes narrative with visual presentation and the smooth sound of her flute as she tells the story of the composers who basically shaped much of the classical music we have today.
A graduate of both McGill and Yale – she has played on the stage of Carnegie Hall on two occasions – no small feat. Speaking of feet – she apparently plays barefoot.
This artist is on a five province tour – returns to Winnipeg for her nuptials.
Hayley Marie is a romantic who sees music as a way to tell a story – the sound if of course critical – but this isn’t a lady who stands up – plays and then sits down.
She talks and will tell you far more than you ever thought you wanted to know about some of the great composers.
May 12th at the Performing Arts Centre. 7:30 pm
This artist will play the work of Debussy, Ravel, Saint Saens,Faure, Wido rand Satie who were composing during the period Hayley Marie focuses on.
She has researched both the time frame she has chosen to focus on and the lives of the composers and tells the people who follow her all kinds of delightful gossip that she calls her Two Minute Talks
A Hayley Marie Remple Two Minute Talk
Previous articles:
An Evening in Paris
Someone is going to go to Paris
 By Staff
May 10th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It’s your money they are going to spend – and your safety that motivates what the police do each and every day.
The Halton Regional Police Service, in partnership with the Halton Regional Police Services Board, has embarked upon a process to develop a new Business Plan to replace the existing document, which expires at the end of 2016.
The Board and the Chief of Police are seeking input from a range of stakeholders and would like to extend an invitation to the citizens and business owners of Halton to participate in public meetings during the upcoming weeks. The details of the four meetings are as follows:
Milton: Tuesday May 24th (7.00 – 9.00pm)
Milton Town Hall, Milton Room – 150 Mary Street
Oakville: Wednesday May 25th (7.00 – 9.00pm)
Oakville Town Hall, Oakville/Trafalgar Room – 1225 Trafalgar Road
Halton Hills: Wednesday June 8th (7.00 – 9.00pm)
Mold-Masters SportsPlex – Gordon Alcott Heritage Hall – 221 Guelph Street, Georgetown
Burlington: Tuesday June 14th (7.00 – 9.00pm)
Burlington Seniors Centre– Multipurpose Room – 2285 New Street
Members of the public are invited to attend any of the above meetings to hear about the Halton Regional Police Service and the development of a new Business Plan. A facilitated discussion will be conducted with the goal of identifying issues and themes that should be addressed within the new Plan.
Additional information can be found on the Halton Regional Police Service Website at https://www.haltonpolice.ca/2017_CBP/index.php.
People wishing to attend the public meetings are invited to RSVP Mr. Keith Moore, Senior Planner, at keith.moore@haltonpolice.ca
 By Staff
May 10th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Handi-van phone disruption Wednesday May 18
Customers please note that the phone line to contact Handi-van dispatch (905) 639-5158 will be temporarily out of service on Wednesday May 18 until approximately 8:30 a.m. for scheduled upgrades.
For any urgent needs during this time please call (905) 335-7869 ext. 6602. This line will only be serviced during the phone disruption period.
By Pepper Parr
May 10th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Well – it is official – with more people than is usually required to get a car out of a ditch, the $500,000 parking meter system went into use officially on Monday.
 Looks like half of the Transportation department + a good portion of the city’s communications team was needed to launch the new parking meters. It took three different Requests for Proposals to get this project to the finish line. Luigi Lato , Chief Operating Officer, Precise ParkLink said he was honoured to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony, expressing that he is “overjoyed with the city’s excitement to introduce Precise ParkLink’s Pay-By-Plate parking technology. The residents will enjoy the upgraded parking system which brings Burlington on par with other global cities that use the Parkeon Pay-By-Plate parking meters and TelePark Pay-By-Cell option”.
So much for that!
The system is being paid for with funds that were in a reserve fund that is the levy the city places on commercial establishments in the downtown core. Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward explained that the taxpayers were not the people paying for the system.
The difference for regular parking is – making sure you remember the license number of the car you are parking.
You can use cash or credit card. You will also be able to use your cell phone to pay for your parking. Referred to as TelePark, it is a service that you have to register for – something you do one line. W will explain this in more detail in a follow up article.
During the launch ceremonies IT staff did say there were some hiccup getting the back end of the system to work – it has to interact with the credit card organizations on a network that has the highest possible security.
 Expect to see people with PAYBYPL8 walking the downtown core looking for perplexed citizens wanting to pay for their parking. They are Parking Ambassadors – there to help! The city will go into a full court press media mode explaining how the system works and will have people on the street – they are being called “Parking Ambassadors” walking around the downtown core to answer questions.
An additional feature is the ability of commercial operations to pay for the parking of their customers should they choose to do so. The take up on that opportunity doesn’t look all that promising at this point but as Mary Shepherd explained “these things take time for people to understand and then implement.”
 Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward handling the cash part of the old parking meter with Downtown Business Association president Brian Dean. He is the one who is going to have to herd his members into taking on the feature that will let his members pay for client parking. Good luck Brian. The public hasn’t been jumping for joy. Michael Jones points out that these machines are in Hamilton and are not very user friendly – also if you have leftover time on your ticket you can’t share that with anyone. He adds: “ say goodbye to the great feeling of pulling up and seeing 20 minutes left on the previous parker’s meter …felt like winning a mini lottery”.
Some of the posts that held the old parking meters are being re-purposed and will become bicycle racks.
 By Staff
May 9th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Halton District School Board’s annual Inside and Out Conference will take place on Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at Country Heritage Park, 8560 Tremaine Rd., Milton.
Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m., with the conference concluding at 2 p.m.
 The Regional police have been very supportive and proactive in the way they work with the LGBT community. It’s the rest of the community that has to get onside. The conference, titled, Inside and Out – What Are Your Colours? is in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity and the Positive Space Network of Halton. These organizations work to eliminate bullying, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination in schools and youth communities.
The goal of the all-day conference is to provide a forum for students and staff, through various workshops, to discuss how they can make their schools more welcoming and inclusive for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and two spirit individuals.
The conference will also celebrate equity and diversity in the Halton District School Board. It is being organized by the Safe and Inclusive Schools Team and staff and students at Acton High School and McKenzie-Smith Bennett Public School, including their Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) groups.
The conference will open with guest speaker MPP Cheri DiNovo, who is an activist for the LGBTQ community, particularly transgender people. The conference will close with a slam poetry performance by Jenna Tenn-Yuk. There will also be a reading by Nik Kaur-Singh and closing comments by Sam Lambert, both former Halton District School Board students and LGBTQ+ rights advocates.
A number of community agencies will be attending the conference including Halton Public Health, SAVIS, Positive Space Network, Youth Action Committee, EGALE Canada and New Directions Ministries.
The meeting is open to anyone wishing to attend
By Staff
May 9, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazebo is going to go!
 Not certain as to when but the people who do the landscaping at Spencer Smith Park said Sunday afternoon during a Jane’s Walk that the existing Gazebo is not accessible and it doesn’t allow for much variation in terms of the way it is used.
The giant willow tree is at risk as well. The city’s arborist is keeping a close eye on that tree – things didn’t sound all that good.
The Gazebo is situated in what the land use planner called a “bowl” and there are concerns about the amount of water that settles in that part of the park.
There are some longer term plans that would have the existing Waterfront hotel torn down and three high rise structures put in place – this is longer term and few details are available.
That billowing willow tree just might be in the way of some sight lines.
By Pepper Parr
May 9th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
We goofed – we made a mistake.
 Councillor Blair Lancaster took the Mayor’s chair for a meeting of Council – her Mother appears to approve. And we need to apologize to Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster for the error.
We named her as the council member for a local business – the Boston Fish and Chip shop on Guelph line – that has run into some problems with the sign bylaw enforcement people.
 Jennifer Soukup would like someone to resolve her sign problem. Our apologies Ms Lancaster – and Happy Birthday to you on Monday – as part of our apology we will not say which birthday you are celebrating.
The Council member the fish and chip people want to talk to is John Taylor – ward 3
By Pepper Parr
May 9, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
“I am still a stage 4 lung cancer patient” explains Casey Cosgrove, “but the trials I was on at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto have come to an end”
He now returns to the Juravinski hospital in Hamilton where his treatments will continue.
 A really special team – Casey Cosgrove and his supporters. That tattoo on his right leg has been there s long it has to be refreshed – the colours are fading. “I am not cured – but the cancer has been stopped and the cancer researchers now know a lot more about my cancer and the way it works in my body. The cancer was stopped but it is now growing, that’s why I have to start a new trial.”
“The immune drugs they have used sort of trick the cancer and send it in a different direction. It’s a little like a shell game that the drugs and the cancer play inside my body.”
Casey Cosgrove has been involved in a number of cancer treatment trial programs. Some have succeed in extending the life of a patient; in other situations the cancer has outsmarted the drug.
Casey is now sharing his story to raise awareness about lung cancer and new treatment options that offers the potential for a longer and higher quality of life.
 Community support at its most precious. That team is more like an army. Lung cancer is the deadliest form of cancer worldwide, claiming more lives every year than breast, prostate and colorectal cancer combined?
In 2015, it was estimated that 26,600 Canadians would be diagnosed with this disease. Despite these staggering statistics, advances in the treatment of lung cancer have progressed slowly.
Casey was diagnosed in 2010, – he lives his life day by day. He serves as a vice president of Lung Cancer Canada, is almost a feature in the annual Burlington Terry Fox run where his team – a large number of people who do the run to support Casey Cosgrove.
 It’s a tight family that live life to the fullest – every day. Dad and daughter His children understand the story of their Dad’s health but there is nothing morbid about the life the Cosgrove family lives. They have dogs – three of them. Casey teaches leadership at the University of Guelph, his wife Bryna works as a professor at Seneca College. Both sons plays excellent hockey; his daughter is currently doing some modelling. A normal family with network that is there for him every day of the year.
Casey can remember the day he saw Terry Fox on his run 35 years ago.
Sometime later Casey had a Terry Fox tattoo put on his lower right leg. That tattoo has been there so long explained Casey that I have to go in and get it refreshed – it has begun to fade.
Casey will tell you that there is hardly a kid in this city involved in sports that I haven’ at some time coached. Call him and he says yes to every request for help. But Casey is reluctant to take on any long term commitments – he has a hankering to get into public life – if he ran in his ward he would win by a very large margin. Being able to complete a long term task is an ongoing concern – so he works on smaller projects and enjoys life with his family.
 The monument will be unveiled Sunday forenoon. The day of our conversation at the end of the pier Casey mentioned he had had that end of life conversation with his oncologist; that was a number of years ago.
Some refer to Casey at the lung cancer poster boy. Casey will look you in the eye and tell you that he is a stage four lung cancer patient who has been treated for the past six years –and he leaves it at that.
Next Sunday afternoon he will be part of a group that unveils a monument – a marker of the spot that Terry Fox passed when he was doing his Marathon of Hope run 35 years ago.
By Staff
May 9th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Cherubini’s Requiem and Mozart’s Solemn Vespers and Regina Coeli
May 14th
The Burlington Civic Chorale is a mixed-voice community choir formed in 1994 through the collaboration of founder Dr. Gary Fisher and Mary Jane Price, former organist and music director at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church.
They rehearse and perform at St. Christophers Anglican church in Burlington, at 622 Guelph Line.
Their repertoire encompasses classical literature from the 16th century to the present; folksongs; opera choruses and vocal jazz.
 The Burlington Civic Chorale 2015-16 is their twenty-second season! They credit grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the United Way, the Toronto Foundation, and the former Halton Healthy Foundation; our loyal patrons and members; and local businesses who support them generously.
“We couldn’t have done it without some help along the way”, said Gary Fisher.
There next performance is May 14th – features Cherubini’s Requiem and Mozart’s Solemn Vespers and Regina Coeli
Tickets: Advance $ 20 or at the door $25 – 905-577-2425
By Pepper Parr
May 6, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Revised: May 8th, 2010
Late in April Jennifer Soukup writes the Mayor. She is unhappy with what the bylaw enforcement people are doing to her.
 Jennifer Soukup expects city hall to do something about the sign bylaw – she went to the very top expecting help. His Worship doesn’t have her vote yet. Jennifer operates Boston Fish and Chips, located on Guelph Line just a bi south of Dundas. She has been there for more than six years and has a consistent walk in trade – regulars that come in because they like the prices and the service. Jennifer is chatty and remembers her customers.
Mr. Rick Goldring-
I have owned a small fish and chip shop in the Guelph line and Dundas street area for the past six and a half years. I use a sign that’s small to attract traffic. Subway has recently moved into our plaza and puts a flag out as well; and also a beauty parlour. While I was away I had the by law officer take my sign and give it to one of my girls saying the city doesn’t want there to be signs out because it looks messy. That we are able to rent signs for 45 days a year. (Three two week periods a year). What about the other 325 days? How is that acceptable?
I depend on that sign. I hire people from the community to work at my restaurant. It’s shocking to me that we have to pay to advertise for only three two week periods. A magnet sign costs three hundred dollars for 2 weeks. Ask Al at Magnet signs. His phone number is 905.332.5291. To advertise in the Burlington post is almost 800 dollars for a half page ad one advertisement. The city allows all of the franchises to advertise. Drive down Guelph line and upper middle and there’s a huge billboard for McDonald’s. All of the traffic in the summer is directed to every weekend down by the lake, billboards up for sound of music, lobster and beer fest all hung around the MM robinson school fences. So tell me how is this fair? I work ten to twelve hours a day, I pay my taxes, my business permit, and I volunteer, I help the Ronald mc Donald charity in Hamilton by doing food drives and give back to other local charities. Why am I not allowed the same as all the other franchises? It’s extremely unfair. You don’t want it to look messy huh? Well I think all the attention put towards the downtown core and “the community” looks messy. It’s a garbage excuse that’s what it is. The by law officer, even said he feels bad because he has to sit in his truck all day and take signs away from people who work really hard.
I don’t know how many more hours you’d like me to work to be able to pay for all the advertising you’d like us to be able to afford, but your suggestions are welcomed. Perhaps 24 hours a day would be good enough, I am not quite sure.
Gator Ted’s just opened a new bar and they’ve had a huge billboard up for about 4 months advertising their new restaurant Barra Fion. No one has said anything to them. Fion McCools on Appleby and upper middle has billboards out and no one says anything to them either. The list is endless and perhaps one day when all the small businesses aren’t around anymore, you can sit and reflect on why. I understand that rules are rules, but sometimes they need to be changed. Small businesses make up a lot of Burlington, and I see fewer and fewer each day. Makes me sad to work in a community where no one stands up for small businesses and signs look messy. What sort of a community are we? -Jennifer Soukup.
On May 2, 2016, at 4:23 PM, His Worship responds:
I appreciate you taking time to write and share your concerns regarding signage to promote your business. It is my understanding that somebody from our by-law enforcement staff has connected with you and provided reasonable signage suggestions to you. Could you please advise me where you are with your specific concerns? Are you comfortable with the discussion you have had with city staff?
At 7:31 PM the same day Jennifer Soukup responds – they are now on a first name basis:
A smile comes with those Fish and Chips. Hi Rick-
Thanks for writing me.
My concerns are as follows:
I’m in a plaza on Guelph line and Dundas, pretty far from the street. People drive past but don’t really see me.
I’ve been putting my sign out for the last 6.5 years that I’ve owned Boston and no one has said boo to me.
Then subway moves in and gets their sign taken away from them, so they call on another company. While that other company is getting their sign taken away mine has to as well. (He can’t just leave mine).
I spoke with the by law officer and he totally understands why I’m upset.
I started my business when I was 24, and I’ve worked really long and hard to have it. Now that my sign isn’t out there it’s not as busy. That sign is a little reminder to people that I’m here. A hello! Eat fish and chips!
My other concerns are: why is the entire downtown core allowed to have sandwich signs but we are not. Why are there banners spread around the city stating lobster fest/Ribfest etc and I can’t have one measly sign out. The bylaw officer explained to me that you make special provisions for the businesses downtown and the festivals to have signs. Why? Why are they allowed but I’m not. Who cares who has signs out. More people coming into my plaza means more possible business for me. 3 people coming to subway, maybe one person would like fries etc, etc.
The bi law officer said its complaint based only, so that means they only come if someone complains. He stated I’m allowed to have a flag and gave me the measurements etc. So I ordered one. However my landlords are not okay with me having one, so total waste of money.
My landlords are totally cool with me having a sign. They are super nice people. It’s the city that takes it. It’s even on our side of the sidewalk. I am just really frustrated with this situation in its entirety, I work so hard to do what I do.
If you drive down Appleby and Dundas street or the longos plaza on walkers, everyone has a sandwich sign. So I asked the by law officer, and he said well there are only 5 of us in the whole city.
The point of the matter is- we should all be able to have them. Or we should all not be allowed to have them. The end. No exceptions.
You can change this as well. Allow everyone to have them, or stop the bylaw officers from driving up Guelph line, as they don’t seem to drive up any other street towards Dundas.
Please please please change your provisions.
I’m trying to keep a good thing going, something that I love. I’m not trying to bother anyone; just do what I do and mind my own business. I want to be successful and that sign really helps me.
I’ll even throw in some fish and chips!
Many thanks,
His Worship gets back to Jennifer at 9:09:13 PM the same day with:
Hi Jennifer,
I will be meeting with staff and I will get back to you.
The Mayor does get back to Jennifer, he visits the shop, pops in but doesn’t take her up on the free lunch. “He stayed three minutes” said Jennifer.
So far – nothing from city hall – maybe they need more time – that’s reasonable. We will watch to see how this turns out.
Question? Where was the ward Councillor in all this?
 Our interest in this situation is this – I am one of those consistent drop in for a good meal customers – she has a really neat collection of root bear soft drinks and the food portions are more than decent. We did a small article on the shop a while back – and we paid for our meal. The Boston Fish and Chip shop is one of those places that is just plain nice to go to.
We were driving north to take some pictures of a barn that is being rehabilitated for a beef operation and wanted to see how it was progressing. Lunch time and we hung a hard left at Driftwood and settled in for a good lunch and a chance to finish the Globe & Mail – when Jennifer pops out of the kitchen to tell of her visit from the Mayor.
Link to related article:
By Staff
May 6, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
For those who survived phase 1 of the New Street construction project – feel some compassion for the people who live within the phase 2 boundary.
 Local traffic has to bob and weave to get through New Street – phase 2 starts on Monday. Gary Carr, Regional Chair, owes everyone near the New street Guelph Line part of the city at least one car wash. The dust is terrible – progress they say.
Mayor Goldring was once heard to say that New Street is the one he drives along most frequently – hopefully he shares our pain.
Phase 2 of the construction project begins May 9, 2016 affecting detours on Burlington Transit routes: 4, 10, 50, 52, 300, 301 and 302.
Route 4 and the Community Connection Routes: 300, 301 and 302 will not have access to the bus stop on Teen Tour Way during this time.
 The New Street construction project is scheduled until September 2016.
During this time, Burlington Transit has had to re-route and provide new schedules for Routes 10, 11 and 20 to allow for connections at the Appleby GO Station.
Route 10 no longer becomes Route 20 at the Appleby GO Station which means a transfer is needed when going between Routes 10 and 20. The new Route 20 schedule has increased to every 15 minutes.
By Staff
May 5, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
 PAYBYPL8 – means you need to know your license number to use the new parking meters. And you will be able to pay with your credit card AND merchants will be able to pay for your parking if they want your business. Things are getting better. Ideally the city will hood the old parking meters on Monday and explain to people that the new parking meters are where your money should go.
It will take a few tries to get the hang of the things – they are different – the biggest difference is that you will need to know the license number of the car you are parking.
Let us say that again – YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW THE LICENSE PLATE NUMBER FOR THE CAR YOU ARE PARKING.
Stay tuned
 By Ray Rivers
May 6, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Does anyone remember why the Harper government decided to cancel the long form census in 2011 and replace it with a voluntary survey? It wasn’t to save money because, when adjusted for inflation, the 2011 census exercise cost more than its predecessor, the 2006 census. It wasn’t, as they argued at the time, about privacy. There had been no cases or serious complaints about census questions violating our rights to privacy. The Supreme Court had not charged the government to change how and what data it collects.
 The law requires everyone to fill in the census form sent to them. And it wasn’t to improve the quality or degree of information gathered. That is the information used by governments to influence a wide range of policy and program decisions, as well as the many private companies and organizations who had complained of the changes at the time. And those complaints were warranted, given the general conclusion that the 2011 census was largely a wasted exercise.
Doesn’t conservative have something to do with retaining tradition, and what could be more traditional and time honoured than establishing accurate census information. The first stock-taking in our nation’s history, in fact in North America, goes back to the one undertaken by the New France Intendant, Jean Talon, in 1666. As the Canadian colonies came together to form our nation, section 8 of the British North America Act required a ten-yearly census to be undertaken. So in 1871 the new confederation of four provinces conducted its first national census.
 Reproduction of the cover page from what is seen as the first census – the Domsday Book. The 1086 Domsday Book is heralded as the first census, though there are biblical era references to surveys conducted well before that time. Still, William the Conqueror’s effort to establish his rightful tax base and various property holdings across Great Britain holds its place in history and was only replicated some eight centuries later, in 1873, through the so-called Modern Domsday Book. The title itself had little to do with doom or disaster, but rather was a derivation of the old English word “doom” meaning law or judgement.
It may have been ‘Tea Party’ Ideology, a disdain for science and knowledge, or just a bone-headed mistake. One can only speculate as to why the former PM was so determined to fix something which wasn’t broken, in fact had been working well and serving us well.
 Census map with population data So one of the early actions of the new Liberal government was to give Statistics Canada the right to return to traditional data gathering with the 2016 census.
And Canadians have responded overwhelmingly, in fact overloading and crashing the census website with their enthusiasm, and their determination to be counted.
I received both the long and short form, went on line, and had them each completed on-line in a matter of a few minutes. And, as I recorded my confirmation number I couldn’t help asking myself – what was all the fuss about?
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 where he ran as a Liberal against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province. Rivers is no longer active with any political party.
Background links:
Wasted Effort Getting Less for More Canada’s Census History Canada’s Census –
The Doomsday Book
Census Web Site Response to Return of Long Form Biblical Census –
By Staff
May 5th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
What started out as “unforeseen maintenance” issue has grown into a full blown electrical upgrade that is going to shutter the Aldershot Arena until the week of May 31 as the city replaces the electrical system on site following a transformer issue.
The power was shut off on April 22 in response to a problem with a transformer that supplies Aldershot Arena. The replacement of that hydro transformer means the city needed to upgrade its electrical service to meet Burlington Hydro’s current standard.
Parks and Recreation has temporarily moved its programs, including ball hockey, lacrosse and the No Socks for Ivan program, to other sites until the arena reopens.
“We are doing our best to make sure that all activities, including lacrosse, ball hockey and the No Socks for Ivan youth drop-in, have space in other arenas or buildings,” said Chris Glenn, Director of Parks and Recreation.
“We are informing people who need to know, and we want to thank everyone for their patience as we manage this temporary closure.”
Successful Commercial Motor vehicle blitz
By Staff
May 4, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Over the course of a two day period a joint commercial motor vehicle blitz was conducted in partnership with the Halton Regional Police Service (20 and 30 Division District Response Team), Peel Regional Police Service, Guelph Police Service and the Ministry of Transportation Ontario.
 Police officer doing a safety check on a truck. The May 2nd and 3rd blitz received an overwhelming success, 91 trucks were inspected resulting in 187 charges being issued with 53 commercial vehicles being removed from the roadway for unsafe violations. 2 drivers were suspended and 5 licence plates were removed. In one circumstance officers prevented a possible critical situation when they identified one commercial vehicle that had all its lug nuts loose permitting its tire to come unfastened.
These are astounding numbers – more than half the trucks inspected were taken off the road – one had wheels that were close to falling off!
As describe by Sergeant Bistas of the Oakville DRT Team, “taking these trucks with major defects off the road makes our community a safer place to drive”.
Tougher decisions and higher fines are in order here. We share the roads with those trucks.
If any citizen would like to report a traffic concern in Burlington or Oakville they can do so by calling (905) 878 5511 or visiting our website and submitting an online traffic complaint at https://www.haltonpolice.ca/services/reporting/trafficcomplaints.php
Hoosgow: a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government
|
|
