 By Staff
April 27, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
There are parents that believe bribing your child to do something is easier than direction and discipline.
The city may be listening to these people.
Burlington and Healthy Kids Community Challenge have partnered with Metrolinx to encourage local teachers and students to register their schools for Bike to School Week, taking place from May 30 to June 6.
 There wasn’t enough room for all the bikes at this school. “We know from Halton Region’s Active Transportation and Health report that close to 40 per cent of Halton residents aged 12 and older were largely inactive during their leisure time over a one-year period between 2013 and 2014,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “We want to help change that figure, and cycling is a great way to get active and improve our health while seeing Burlington from a different perspective on two wheels.”
The province came to the realization that there were too many kids focused on either their cell phone or their tablet and the waist measurement were beginning to climb.
They came up with a program that funnelled money into communities to get kids off their duffs and get more exercise
Burlington is a city that has traffic jams in front of some schools and reported fisticuffs at others over the stopping of cars that were dropping kids of at schools.
In Burlington the delivery of the Healthy Kids program got passed along to Community Development Halton which has done a remarkable job of getting into communities, especially those with a lot of financially disadvantaged children, and creating after school and evening events.
 Brant Street where the Regional Police use bicycles on a regular basis as part of the way they do their work. Are there any other civic employees using bicycles? The model has been taken up by a number of other communications – even though city council had some difficulty fully buying into it.
The Healthy Kids Challenge is tying into the Bike to School Week event. Schools that register for Bike to School Week by May 6 will be entered into a draw for a chance to win one of 20 bike racks, provided by Healthy Kids Community Challenge Burlington and the city, for their school.
In addition, schools that sign up to participate before the close of registration on June 1 will be entered into a draw to win a Can-Bike rodeo for their school in the 2016-17 school year.
 By Pepper Parr
April 27, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
They are taking the show on the road – now that they are the proud owners of a Ford van. The Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) can expand its reach into the Halton community thanks to a three-year, $225,200 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF). The grant has provided the capital to purchase a van for community outreach and other projects.
 The van will let the AGB staff take pieces from the various collections into the community; especially schools and seniors homes. The AGB van was unveiled on Wednesday at a media event with local MPP Eleanor McMahon, who has been an advocate for arts and culture in our community, and Bill Allison, an OTF volunteer. Also in attendance were Robert Steven, President and CEO, and Anne Swarbrick, Foundation Chair.
We wondered if AGB president Robert Steven or Foundation president Anne Swarbrick would be given the keys and be tooting about town – nope – the insurance contract allows just six drivers – and the top dogs don’t count.
“The Art Gallery of Burlington is an absolute gem in our city, and one of my favourite attractions in Burlington,” said Eleanor McMahon, MPP for Burlington who tried her hand on one of the looms the weavers guild has some time ago – McMahon won’t be giving classes – not for a while.
 Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon did most of the talking at the van presentation. She almost suggested she would be quite happy taking art lessons at the AGB – on a full time basis Ms McMahon? She is a fan of the AGB though and was able to help them stick handle their funding application. “This Ontario Trillium Foundation grant will provide people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to visit a chance to connect with the AGB and our city’s vibrant arts community, as well as support aspiring artists and museum workers beginning their careers.”
Along with the van, the grant is also helping with two special projects focused on different areas of outreach within the community, including Art-On-the-Go, an initiative to bring arts education directly to schools, seniors’ homes, and community festivals.
 Bill Allison, an Ontario Trillium Foundation volunteer with more than nine years of service presented a plaque – the check arrived several months ago.. Funds are also being used for the Artistic and Gallery Experience Mentoring Program, which provides opportunities for high school students interested in a career in the arts to be mentored directly by artist educators and other art specialists.
 The Ontario Trillium Foundation is the leading grant making foundation in Canada. Most of their funding comes from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. You may not win with you Loto 6/49 – but the community does well with the Trillium Grants.
By Staff
April 27, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
 Less than two weeks to use these guys. You might want to do a selfie with on of them There will be 77 of them on the streets and another 25 located in city parking lots – they are there to collect parking money from you.
There will be two at Spencer’s waterfront (one for the east lot and one for the west lot) and another at the municipal garage located on Locust St.
Here is a map of the parking lots throughout the city.
 The meters will be spaced out on the streets – requiring a short short walk to the meter. They are being installed around the city now and will be operational on May 12th, when the city is going to do a formal launch.
 This is the face of the machine that will collect your parking fee. It doesn’t talk to you – but it does tell the enforcement officers that you are in a parking spot. Powered by a solar cell on the top. The parking meters, manufactured in France are part of a contract the city has with Precise ParkLink, a leader in the Canadian parking industry; they’ve been around for twenty-five years.
Burlington will be working with Precise ParkLink in updating the city’s parking system to include Pay by License Plate and Cell Phone Parking technology.
There are four rate zones throughout the city. You will use the zone number clearly marked on the meter when you use your cell phone to pay for parking.
Here is how the two technologies involved work:
 Instructions to register are printed on the front of the machine – probably better to register on-line. You can to that today. Pay by Cell is a convenient way to pay for parking but a person has to sign up and create an account using a valid credit card
Precise ParkLink is a PCI Level One credit card processor (means they can be trusted) so your credit card and license plate information is secure. Here is a link to understand how secure payments work.
The contract with Precise ParkLink is for five years – to date the city has invested approximately $500,000 in new pay stations.
It’s really easy to register for Pay by Cell.
People can go on line and register their license plate and provide their credit card data at www.telepark.ca today if they want. You won’t be able to actually pay for parking until the launch on May 12th.
The best part of Pay by Cell is that once the account is set up a parker starts their parking session by entering the zone they are parking in – in order to stop the charges to your credit card you have to use your cell phone to tell the service that you are no longer in the parking spot – you can’t just drive away.
To register your TelePark cell phone parking account please visit (www.telepark.ca/en/).
To pay by license plate all you do is walk up to the parking meter, enter the license plate and pay. The digital screen on the parking meter will prompt the parker through the process.
 Pretty simple. That doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be any complaints. There are also written instructions on the parking meter. Helpful hint: Remember your license plate – you need it to use the service. – WE SUGGEST YOU USE YOUR CELL & TAKE & STORE A PICTURE OF THE LICENSE PLATES REGISTERED!
The City’s Parking Enforcement unit will receive REAL TIME information about your parking session. They will see that you have paid for your parking and they will know that parking for the vehicle with the license plate keyed in has paid for the parking. They will also know when the parking is going to expire.
 They aren’t quite as tall as they appear – and it will take a little bit to get used to them. 77 of them are going up – replacing 300 of the older meters. Enforcement officers will still patrol – all they have to do is enter the licence plate number into their hand held unit which gives instant responses to validate parking payment and/or permit.
The city has a three hour maximum parking by law on city streets with parking meters, so you will have to move you Garage, surface lots, On Street spaces, and Waterfront (Spencer Smith) lots vehicle to another zone after three hours.
The four zones are the garage on Locust, surface lots, On Street spaces, and the Waterfront (Spencer Smith) lots. Each parking meter has its zone clearly marked. It is going to take a little getting used to – wait for the complaints to come in.
By Staff
April 26, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Reproduced from, CATCH (Citizens at City Hall), a Hamilton based group that uses transcripts and/or public documents to highlight information about Hamilton civic affairs that is not generally available in the mass media. Detailed reports of City Hall meetings can be reviewed at hamiltoncatch.org.
In the wake of more record-smashing global temperatures, the mayors of Burlington and Hamilton got an opportunity to speak last week at a McMaster-organized conference on climate change. The two cities that straddle the western end of the lake appear to have quite different approaches to what is increasingly being described as a planetary emergency.
Last month was by far the hottest March in global records. It was the eleventh consecutive month to break records and was the ninth consecutive one to break them by record amounts, almost guaranteeing that 2016 will be the hottest year yet despite the records set in both 2015 and 2014. This year has already seen the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in both the northern and southern hemisphere, the earliest melting of Greenland’s ice sheet, and is a “reminder of how perilously close we are now to a permanent crossing into the global-warming danger zone” says famed climate researcher Michael Mann.
Visible local impacts include produce prices affected by California’s severe drought and severe rain storms that have flooded hundreds of homes in both Hamilton and Burlington. Both were referenced by Mayor Rick Goldring at the April 19 symposium on Low Carbon Climate Resilient Cities, but neither topic was included in the remarks delivered by Councillor Jason Farr on behalf of Mayor Eisenberger (who skipped the conference to receive a bike lane cheque from the provincial transportation minister).
Farr mentioned Hamilton’s use of natural gas buses but not the LRT. Improving transit was referenced by Goldring a half dozen times who highlighted “the need to invest in city building in order to create a more sustainable transit system as well as support cycling and walkability.” HSR ridership per capita far exceeds Burlington’s but neither city has achieved anything like the growth seen in other Ontario municipalities.
On the protection of foodlands, Goldring noted that his city has run out of room for more residential sprawl development because “fifty percent of our land in Burlington is Greenbelt and we want to keep it that way.” He said he had “not met anybody in recent years that suggests we do anything different than preserve” those lands. Farr didn’t mention Hamilton’s current efforts to convince the province to unprotect some Greenbelt lands to accommodate developer pressures even though unlike its cross-bay neighbour Hamilton still has thousands of acres of so-called white-belt rural lands that are neither urbanized nor protected by current Greenbelt legislation.
 Most of the roads Burlington wants to develop its intensification on lead to Hamilton. In the same direction, Goldring’s talk centred on Burlington’s plans for intensification, another topic not addressed by Farr. After starting with the declaration that “Hamilton takes the threat of global warming and climate change very seriously,” the councillor primarily listed actions already taken such as greening the city’s fleet, introducing SoBi bikes, capturing landfill and sewage methane and endorsing a climate change action charter.
“We are a poster child for David Crombie’s recent report on how municipalities in southern Ontario should be evolving and we’re embracing that opportunity,” declared Goldring, pointing to praise for Burlington’s new strategic plan from renowned urban planner Brent Toderian who recently visited the city.
“It’s not a tweak of the way the city’s built; it’s a rethink,” said Toderian about the city’s intensification plans. “It changes not only the direction of the city, the vision of the city, but also the makeup and attitudes and culture of city hall.”
 Former Toronto Mayor David Crombie attend a Waterfront Advisory committee meeting with Mayor Goldring during his first term. Crombie chaired the advisory panel on the review of provincial land use plans now underway including the Greenbelt rules and the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Its executive summary argued that cities “must curb sprawl and build more compact communities in order to support transit, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect valuable farmland.” It also called for “applying more aggressive intensification and density targets” and “accelerating progress to improve and extend transit and active transportation infrastructure.”
Farr explained he had to rush off for planning committee deliberations on building a parking garage right across the street from the new McMaster health centre at the corner of Bay and Main. “We’re going to solve that issue for not only the doctors, the patients and those who wish to drive, but also make better use of this parkade than surface parking lots,” he promised.
Goldring ended his presentation with the declaration that “we’re very proud to be building a great city and not a sprawling suburb and right now is a game changing moment in our history and we want to do it right.”
 By Pepper Parr
April 26th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Our waterfront is used by thousands of people – on really nice weather days there are close to people traffic jams.
The city makes great use of the space for festivals – these are organized events that are for the most part free but they don’t reflect much of the colour or culture of the city.
 Great audience – but a passive audience. The Sound of Music draws thousand who are passive attendees – they listen to the music. Those on the stage are, for the most part people from out of town who are here to advance their music profile and provide what is basically free entertainment.
Rib Fest draws thousands who sit and eat and listen some music.
 The sand castle competition was popular but the city cut the program – it won’t be held this year. The Children’s Festival has events that children take part in but there isn’t any animating of the space by the children.
Surely there is room for events that are small in nature that give groups or collectives an opportunity to express their creativity.
A pop up play, a scavenger hunt for kids; wouldn’t it be something to see the gymnasts doing their routines in Spencer Smith Park?
There was a time when the eastern end of the Beachway was home to Joseph Brant – what must that part of the city been like in Brant’s time?
How would one express that dramatically? Great opportunity for the Museum people to do something at Brant’s house; they already do wonderful work at Ireland House where some of the most creative small community events take place.
Something to think about.
Toronto has created an Animating Our Waterfront, which is a pilot program that will provide funding to individuals, organizations, collectives and groups to support free arts and cultural programming in selected parks and public spaces developed by Waterfront Toronto over the last decade.
 The Cirque – one of the No Vacancy programs that took place in the Village square knew how to animate their event. All it takes is some imagination and and a little Chutzpah The objective of this program is to host arts and cultural programming that celebrate these new public spaces and invite Torontonians and visitors to enjoy them. For the purposes of this program, “arts and cultural programming” includes the presentation of dance, music, theatre, visual arts, performance, literary and media arts, community- engaged artwork, cultural celebration, and any combination of the above. They are looking for projects that include themes like place-making, civic engagement, education, health and wellness, and environmental issues are encouraged.
Why couldn’t Burlington do something like this?
The Love My Hood funding might be one of the ways to help pay for things like this.
 By Pepper Parr
April 26, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The city’s Sustainable Development Advisory committee is getting out into the community and showing citizens what sustainability is like at the ground level.
The advisory committee often gets bogged down in writing reports and commenting on projects the city has sent them for review.
They produce an impressive annual report which unfortunately didn’t get much attention after it was submitted – copies are sent to the library and that’s about all the coverage the document gets.
The SDC, acronym for the Sustainable Development Committee are getting out into the community and sponsoring a Jane’s Walk through Spencer Smith park and the Beachway early in May – the 8th
 The Spencer Smith Park we know today – pictures of what it used to look like are in the background articles. The story of how the city recovered land along the edge of the lake and created one of the more impressive parks in the province – giving people wonderful access to the lake is one of Burlington’s crown jewels.
 Spencer Smith Few know who Spencer Smith was and what he means to the city. Mark Gillies, one of the Gazette’s from time to time contributors, did an excellent profile of Spencer Smith – there is a link to that profile below.
It will be interesting to hear what the Jane’s Walk guide has to say about the way the waterfront was developed to what it is today.
The walk will move into the Beachway – a part of the city with a rich, colourful and controversial history. It was never a “tony” part of town – it had a railway line running through it and at one point it had its own small newspaper.
It was once a robust community with hundreds of homes that were on leased land that the city eventually took ownership of – the leases were brought to an end and the homes got to meet a wrecking ball.
 Beachway homes – they never want to leave – will they eventually be forced out? There are still some 25+ homes in the Beachway – occupied by people who have been there for generations and want to remain in the community. Other residents are hanging in looking for a better offer from the Region which has a mandate to buy every property on what they call a willing buyer – willing seller basis.
While this war of attrition goes on between the region and the residents the Region’s planners are working up plans for a massive series of parks that will – if it ever comes to pass – will be the envy of communities across the province.
 The remake of the Beachway community is massive in both concept and scale – it will be decades in the making and what the planners are thinking today might be quite different than the end result. The pier is a pimple when compared to the park plans. Most people in Burlington have no idea what the Region has planned for them – after the first announcement when the early thinking was made public, the Region went to ground – not a word from them in the recent past.
Will the Jane’s Walk shed any light on what is being done? Not likely.
Jane’s Walks were created to remember Jane Jacobs, an American who moved to Toronto in the xxx and became part of a group of activists who wanted to see better development in that city with more citizen input.
Hopefully the SDC will be true to her principles.
  Jacob’s, who would have turned 100 years old this year, upended the fields of city planning and architecture with her 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. She was described as the most influential urban thinker of all time. Jacobs once said: “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody”?
The walk will begin at 1 pm – gather at the Compass in the park.
Background:
Spencer Smith – Part 1 by Mark Gillies
Spencer Smith – Part 2 by Mark Gillies
The struggle over the Beachway homes
The plans to turn the Beachway into a park.
 By Pepper Parr
April 26, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
 The man in the green T shirt on the left is a member of the provincial government who was in town a few wars ago to announce funding for BG to plant tree seedlings in the Beachway. The announcement was made a number of years ago – the province created a Great Lakes Guardian Community Fund that funnelled money into the city via BurlingtonGreen to plant seedlings in the Beachway area where the environmentally sensitive sand dunes need plants and tress to anchor the sand.
The BG people were given $12,960 by the province for the planning, creation of three new signs, supplies, plant and tree stock
After a very successful Clean Up event last weekend – 11,000 plus people took part – Burlington Green is holding a Green Up event – collaborating with Halton Region, Conservation Halton and the city.
 Seedlings planted in 2015 in the Beachway – what will they look like in 20 years? Hundreds of seedlings will be planted and invasive species of flora will be pulled out and trashed. The Region, Conservation and city work with Burlington Green to determine the location of all the plantings and interpretive signs.
The Clean Up involved thousands – the Green Up is limited to just 100 volunteers. The planting of the seedlings is city building at its most fundamental level – the plants that are pushed into the ground are going to be there hundreds of years from now. It will be a warm, welcome experience for the 100 volunteers to walk through the Beachway in 20 years and see their trees growing.
The Region is beavering away on a plan to totally revise the Beachway from the community it now is to a rather spectacular park. The planting of trees now is all part of the evolution of that community.
The Green Up event takes place on Saturday May 28 – runs from 8:45 to 12:45 with refreshments being served.
 The sands on Beachway do shift. Much of the Beachway is a dune, the only one in the Region and very environmentally sensitive. The sands in th area actually shift over time.
 BurlingtonGreen members water plants and shrubs they planted along the Beachway Park two years ago. Volunteers will be in the area late in May to continue this work If you want to be part of this event – go on line and register – there is room for just 100 people – they will be city building for that half day.
BG volunteers have been doing this work since 2013. This year they will be planting native trees and plants.
Register HERE.
 Ward 3 is a mix of suburban and rural – everything south of Dundas is easy to serve – it is the rural parts of the ward that are both demanding and hard to serve. By Pepper Parr
April 26th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Way back in 2010 two of the people who now sit on city council got themselves involved in the Shape Burlington committee, a group appointed by then mayor Cam Jackson to prepare a report on how well city hall was engaging the citizens of the city.
There was a lot of chatter at that time about city hall’s inability to hear what citizens were saying.
Two of the people on that committee, Paul Sharman and Blair Lancaster went on to throw their hats into the municipal election ring and got themselves elected – then they apparently forgot much of what the Shape Burlington report was all about.
At the same time Marianne Meed Ward was delegating consistently on the problems with the way the city was developing the waterfront area. She was instrumental in creating Save our Waterfront which sort of evolved into her campaign team and she too went on to get herself elected to Council.
While Meed Ward wasn’t part of the Shape Burlington group she was the one who remembered what the report was all about and created a constituency organization that spoke for the citizens in her ward and anyone else in the city who asked for help. And for the most part Meed Ward delivers.
All this is passed along as background on how people in this city get themselves elected to city council.
Burlington currently has two members of Council who have both been on the public payroll for more than 20 ears and are showing the wear and tear of public life. In their early years what they got in the way of remuneration wasn’t all that much to talk about.
 John Taylor, Ward 3, has seldom had anyone worth more than the votes they get from family and friends run against him – other than Cory Judson, Taylor has never had to fight off a real candidate.
There appears to be an individual in ward 3 laying the ground work for a run at that seat.
When you cover municipal politics long enough you can see the potential candidates from some distance. They become active in the community and begin to groom themselves for the opportunity to run.
We saw that with both Lancaster, Sharman and Meed Ward in 2010.
In the 2014 election there were not the same calibre of candidate presenting themselves. In ward 6 there were ten people who ran for office – most were very inappropriate as candidates; they were not known and had done next to nothing in their communities. Vanessa Warren and Jennifer Hlusko were the exceptions.
In ward 3 – in 2014 – there were two candidates running against John Taylor who had little hope of gaining public office.
It looks as if it is going to be very different in 2018 – there is a gentleman who serves on a major Advisory Committee who appears to be grooming himself for that seat.
John Taylor is reported to have said to some people that he will not run again but that he will join BurlingtonGreen and become part of that committee.
Many thought ward 3 stood little chance of getting a decent member of Council when Taylor hangs up his boxing gloves.
That does not appear to be the case.
Stay tuned.
Background:
Shape Burlington Report – a seminal document.
City response to the Shape Burlington report. Long and boring; did the people who wrote the report ever read it?
 By Staff
April 25, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
On Saturday, April 16th, 2016 Halton Police, in partnership with the Halton Partners for Car Seat Safety (HPCSS), held a spot check car seat clinic in Burlington at Holy Rosary School.
A total of 113 child seats (booster seats and car seats) were inspected to see if five key safety and legal requirements were being met. Of the 74 car seats checked, 56 did not pass this ‘quick check’ inspection resulting in a 76% fail rate.
 The picture is for illustration purposes only – it is not meant to suggest that the seat is being recommended. The goal of these spot check clinics is education. Eighteen certified car seat technicians were on hand to educate and assist parents/caregivers in correcting errors once they were identified.
Research tells us that proper use of a child seat can reduce the likelihood of a child being killed or seriously injured in a crash by up to 75%. The most common errors seen at the clinic in Burlington were:
1. Child not in the proper seat for their age and/or stage
2. No tether strap attached for forward-facing car seats
3. Harness not positioned correctly over child’s shoulders and/or too loose and
4. Car seat not attached tightly to the vehicle using the Universal Anchorage System (UAS) or seat belt.
Parents and caregivers are encouraged to take the time to read and follow their child seat and vehicle instructions when installing their child seats. For further information on car seat safety dial 311 to speak with a public health nurse or visit www.haltonparents.ca or www.hpcss.ca.
 By Staff
April 25th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Aldershot Arena is closed due to unforeseen maintenance issues.
 Burlington layer and one time candidate for city council will no be using the Aldershot arena for at least a week – unforeseen circumstances have shut it down. The Arena is expected to re-open Tuesday May 3rd at 4:00pm.
The original announcement on April 22nd said the arena was expected to re-open Tuesday April 26th at 4pm.
 What was unexpected appears to have become major. The city doesn’t make any mention of what the problem is – we will look into that for you.
By Staff
April 25, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
 The sides of the new parking meters will be a bight green and have a zone number on them. This is a side view of a meter being readied for installation. The parking meters were manufactured in France. After years of delays that involved the issuing of Requests for Proposals (RFP) and then the withdrawing of the documents; after reviewing proposals and failing to make a decision Burlington is going to get parking meters that are significantly different.
The transportation department has marked out the street location for the new parking meters and will begin installing in the very near future.
Meters will be installed on streets and in the city owned parking lots.
The new meters are going to take a little getting used to – there are a lot of buttons to push.
In the days ahead the Gazette will tell you more about these devices and the difference they are going to make to how you park
There will not be a parking meter for every spot; each meter will cover about eight parking spots and accept cash, credit cards and you will be able to interact with the device from your cell phone.
Merchants will be able to pay for your parking – that will be nice.
For today – here are photographs of what we have and what we are getting.
 These parking meters are being replaced in some locations by more modern meters.  This is a look at the front of the parking meter. It will take some getting used to – the sides of the meters being installed in Burlington will be green.
  By Staff
April 23, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Councillor Dennison gets his way.
 Ontario Municipal Board decision:
With respect to the severance application, the Board allows the appeal and grants provisional consent subject to the fulfillment of some conditions.
By Pepper Parr
April 23, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
This is different – an artist – an award winning artist, coming to town and doing performances at both the Art Gallery Burlington and the Performing Arts Centre and then offering to give lesson to aspiring flute players.
 Haley Marie is a woman from Winnipeg who is a flautist; a Governor General Award Winner, was awarded a full scholarship to McGill and Yale, performed with Yale orchestra has performed twice at Carnegie Hall and then when she graduated she had her own show, tours Europe, teaches in California.
 Hailey Marie – flautist. She then opened her own production company which presents classical music using film and live music. She found that audiences loved finding out the “dirt” on the composers she played so she made her performance both historical (film) and live music.
Her show “An Evening in Paris” covers a period from 1870 – 1910. Paris was not supposed to recover from the war. It is a comeback story, and everyone loves a comeback story.
It is a show that covers art, music, history.
The story of Haley Marie on itself is amazing. Paris is another story of itself.
Haley Marie will be performing at BPAC on May 12
She will b doing a private performance for AGB on the 13th and giving the Master flute class Saturday May 14, 10 – 12
There is more to tell about this event.
Click on the link to get a taste of what is coming to town.
By Staff
April 23rd, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The weather cooperated; the 11,000 people who signed up were still doing so at close to midnight on the Friday for the Saturday event during which those thousands helped Clean Up the city.
There were 181 locations where people were picking up trash recorded.
Instead of the usual gathering at city hall – people gathered at Central Park in front of the band shell where Turtle Jacks once again served burgers to the hungry environmentalists.
 The gathering after the Clean up took place in Central Park this year. smart move – plan is to hold the get together outdoors every year.  This is what a proud grandparent looks like -Councillor Paul Sharman, the only member o Councillor we say wants his granddaughter to look into the camera. The Mayor arrived later to say a few words.  Music was part of the event – look for additional performers next year. The decision to move outdoors was a welcome one. There was all kinds of room and while the crowds were not great the move was a wise one.
In time gathering outdoors on the Clean Up day will be the place to be.
 It was warm enough to be in short sleeves  BurlingtonGreen volunteer makes badges from art work created bu the kids. There were displays and activities in the library where kids could have their unique badges made and other could colour.
There was a room set up with a video and Vince Fiorito was on hand to show people how to make seed bombs.
There were fewer speeches this year – and that has to be a blessing.
Burlington has to have one of the most impressive turnouts when it comes to volunteering at this significant event – kudos to the BG board for making this happen each year.
By Staff
April 23, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Art Gallery of Burlington in collaboration with Craft Ontario, is organizing the first Canadian Craft Biennial to be held August 19 to October 29, 2017 in southern Ontario.
The deadline for submissions for this event is May 15th, 2016
The event which will take place in Toronto and Burlington on September 15 and 16, 2017
 The biennial will include a two-day conference (one day in Toronto and one day in Burlington), as well as a national exhibition, and an Ontario emerging craft maker exhibition.
The conference will be presented with multiple partners in both cities. The AGB is inviting proposals for the Biennial Conference sessions. The theme of this inaugural biennial is Can Craft? Craft Can!
The AGB is looking for a broad range of sessions engaging with contemporary craft issues and approaches. These could deal with academic, technical, historical and creative research, and community or political engagements. Within the context of Canada’s 150th anniversary, we seek to explore topics such as, but not limited to:
• Identity of Canadian craft
• Pattern as methodology
• Craft narratives
• Sustainability and sustainment
• Creative performativity
• Craft and learning
• Craft and social engagement
• The place of the amateur
• Making knowledge through tacit discourse
• Labour re-imagined
• Practice-lead research in craft
• Craft and the digital
• Indigenous perspectives on craft
• Craft curation and criticism
The hope is these sessions will also reflect the interdisciplinary concerns of our diversified Canadian craft community. Proposals for session formats include, but are not limited to panel, round-table, Pecha Kucha, Ignite and interactive sessions.
 As part of this inaugural Canadian craft biennial international ceramist, Anton Reijnders, has been invited to present recent work in a solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of Burlington, as well as to conduct a professional workshop and deliver the conference keynote address. Canadian makers and curators/writers will be given the opportunity to participate in a ten-day residency. The making residency will be centered at the Art Gallery of Burlington, while the writing residency will be under the direction of Studio Magazine.
Proposals should include a 200 word description of your session theme, name(s) and contact information as well as a 3-page CV of the convener(s). If you already have in mind potential presenters for your session, please provide their names and professional affiliation.
Send your proposal to Denis Longchamps at denis@agb.life by May 15, 2016.
Selected session conveners will be notified by May 31, 2016. Proposals for papers for each session will then be circulated.
By Staff
April 23, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The annual exhibition that celebrates the Guilds at the Art Gallery of Burlington begins to day and will run through to May 22nd.
 The guilds which include the Fibre Arts Group, Burlington Fine Arts Association, Burlington Handweavers and Spinners Guild, Latow Photographers Guild, Burlington Potters’ Guild, Burlington Rug Hooking and Craft Guild,  and the Burlington Guild of Sculptors and Woodcarvers will be showing their work.
By Staff
April 22, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Aldershot Arena
Aldershot Arena is closed due to unforseen maintenance issues.
The Arena is expected to re-open Tuesday April 26th at 4pm.
By Staff
April 22, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Did you get the Missus a shiny new pick-up truck and you think she should know something about using the thing or did you get yourself a fine trailer to haul that boat – and you feel it would be useful to know more about just what you’ve gotten yourself into.
The police have an offer for you.
 Dos she look as if she needs to know more about the operation of her truck? sh can find out. The Halton Regional Police Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit is hosting a light commercial Motor Vehicle symposium as part of Police Week on May 11, 2016. This session will focus on vehicles having a registered weight of less than 11000 kg and will be particularly useful to owners of pickup trucks and trailers.
The information session will be held at Halton Police Headquarters located at 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville, Ontario. Registration will open at 6:30 PM with the information session starting at 7:00 PM running to 9:00 PM. Registration is limited to Halton residents only.
 The police want you to know as much as they can tell you about hauling a trailer with your truck. The main topics being discussed will be:
• Vehicle weights and dimensions
• Cargo Securement
• CVOR and Registration
• Annual safety
• Mechanical fitness
 Spots are limited, anyone wishing to attend is requested to RSVP to haltoncmv@gmail.com with your contact information. A confirmation email will be sent to confirm your attendance.
This is a new initiative, the response from the Community is expected to be significant. Recognizing this demand, Halton Police will endeavour to hold additional seminars in the future to accommodate area residents.
 By Staff
April 22, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Conservation Halton plans for a prescribed burn at Glenorchy Conservation Area in Oakville this Sunday, April 24 at 1 p.m.
Ecological restoration staff at Conservation Halton has been busy planning throughout the winter, for a prescribed burn at Glenorchy Conservation Area. After several weeks of monitoring the weather, conditions are favourable for the prescribed burn to take place this Sunday, April 24, 2016. The burn is planned to commence around 1 p.m. and will be completed in two to three hours.
 While it is a fire – is is completely under control – they say. A prescribed burn is a deliberately set, carefully planned and controlled low severity fire which consumes ground level fine fuels such as dried leaves, needles, and small twigs, but does not harm larger trees. The practice is a widely used and recognized scientific method of controlling out-competing and non-fire tolerant invasive species, while allowing for growth and encouraged regeneration of the naturally occurring trees like oak and hickory, grasslands, and planted seedlings. After the burn, wildflower blooms will be abundant in the summer, as well as bird and pollinator populations who will use the new habitat.
The prescribed burn at Glenorchy Conservation Area will target the control of Common Buckthorn which is found in high numbers throughout the hedgerows. This invasive non-native species is a threat to the long term ecological restoration of the oak woodland and grassland areas of Glenorchy Conservation Area as it out-competes native species for space. This is the first burn for Glenorchy Conservation Area and will be 3.2 hectares (nearly eight acres) in size.
Residents living in the area surrounding Glenorchy Conservation Area have been notified with a prescribed burn notice in the mail. If weather conditions change, the media will be alerted of the burn’s cancellation.
 The person that oversees a prescribed burn is called The Burn Boss – it is his butt that is on the line. A prescribed burn is in accordance with the Operational Prescribed Burn Plan and Master Plan for Glenorchy Conservation Area with the goal to maintain the 50 hectares of restored grassland habitat.
The new conservation area, which is not yet officially open to the public, will be closed to public access during the day of the burn. Glenorchy Conservation Area is managed by Conservation Halton and is owned by the Province of Ontario (Infrastructure Ontario).
 The new conservation area is not yet officially open to the public – the boundaries of the prescribed burn are shown in red. What is Glenorchy Conservation Area?
Conservation Halton has partnered with the Government of Ontario to protect 263 hectares (650 acres) of environmentally sensitive land in North Oakville, and has named it Glenorchy Conservation Area. This area includes a large portion of government-owned lands known as the Oakville Land Assembly, bounded by Highway 407 to the north, Dundas Street West to the south, Bronte Road to the west, and Sixteen Mile Creek to the east. This conservation area forms an important part of the natural heritage system in Conservation Halton’s watershed.
The primary purpose of Glenorchy will be to preserve and enhance the natural heritage features of the lands such as creeks, valleys, and woodlots, and to restore some of the open area to unique habitats such as cultural meadows. Tree cover will also be increased with extensive tree planting.
What is a prescribed burn?
A prescribed burn is a controlled, deliberately set, and carefully managed low temperature fire that consumes dried leaves, small twigs and grass stems. It does not harm larger trees and is a recognized, scientific method of controlling invasive exotic shrubs and encouraging the establishment of certain natural and planted seedlings. Over the past several years at Iroquois Shoreline Woods, the Town of Oakville has conducted burns as part of the management of the oak woodland.
Why is Conservation Halton undertaking a prescribed burn in Glenorchy Conservation Area?
Native prairies and oak woodlands in our area have evolved to be fire-dependent as a result of wildfires and burning by indigenous peoples, hundreds of years ago. Natural disturbances, such as fire, rarely occur in Halton anymore, so agencies who work on restoration look to mimic these disturbances to maintain ecosystems. These burns benefit native plants and animals by removing exotic plants and grasses, by restoring wildlife habitat, and by returning essential nutrient balance to the soil.
Specific grassland communities such as prairie formerly occurred sporadically across much of southern Ontario. It is estimated that less than 3% of pre-settlement tallgrass prairie and savannah areas remain in Southern Ontario. The restoration of 50 hectares (124 acres) of grassland habitat at Glenorchy Conservation Area has reintroduced more native grassland back to the local area. Over the last four years, the open fields have been seeded with a mix of prairie grasses and wildflowers.
What about smoke coming from the burn?
Under the weather parameters required to proceed with the prescribed burn, the smoke is expected to dissipate and should not affect surrounding neighbourhoods. However, it is possible that some smoke from the prescribed burn may reach some of the residential areas near Glenorchy Conservation Area. Individuals with asthma or high sensitivity to poison ivy or smoke may wish to limit their exposure by keeping windows closed or leaving the immediate area around Glenorchy Conservation Area on the day of the burn.
Who carries out the burn?
Lands and Forests Consulting Ltd. has been retained to plan and carry out the prescribed burn with a qualified crew. Conservation Halton staff will assist with the burn, and the Oakville Fire Department will be on site in a standby capacity. The Burn Boss with Lands and Forests Consulting Ltd. has expertise in the field of prescribed burning.
How long will the burn take?
It is expected that the burn in Glenorchy Conservation Halton will take several hours to complete, but last only one day. After completion of the burn, staff will patrol the area looking for smouldering debris and ensuring it is properly extinguished.
 By Staff
April 22, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police moved in on a suspect after concluding a drug trafficking investigation that resulted in a 16-year-old male being arrested and the execution of Controlled Drugs and Substances Act search warrant at a Burlington residence.
The investigation was carried out by the Street Crime Unit (SCU) and concluded on April 20th when an arrest was made
Seized as a result of the Investigation:
• 75 grams of cocaine
• 44 grams of psilocybin
• 2 grams of marihuana
• 38 various pharmaceutical pills (Controlled Substances under Schedule III & IV of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act)
• Flick knife
• 2 BB guns
The drugs have an estimated street value of $ 8,160.00
The youth who cannot be identified was subsequently charged with the following offences:
• Trafficking a controlled substance (cocaine),
• Trafficking a controlled substance (psilocybin),
• Trafficking a controlled substance (marihuana),
• Possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) for the purpose of trafficking,
• Possession of a controlled substance (psilocybin) for the purpose of trafficking,
• Possession of a controlled substance (marihuana) for the purpose of trafficking,
• Possession of a controlled substance (Schedule IV) for the purpose of trafficking,
• Possession of a controlled substance (schedule III),
• Possession of a controlled substance (schedule IV)
• Assault with intent to resist arrest
• Possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose,
• Possession of a prohibited weapon
• Breach of recognizance (X2)
• Fail to comply with probation (X2)
 Investigators remind the public to utilize Crime Stoppers to report any illegal drug, gun or gang activity at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes)
The big question here is – how did a 16 year old – we don’t know if this person is male or female – find themselves selling drugs and carrying more than $8000 cash in their pockets. There are some parents who have some explaining to do.
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