The Joseph Brant Hospital tag team paid a courtesy call on Council earlier this week and chit chatted about how things were coming along on the construction site; updated council on where things were with the community portion of the $120 million we have to come up with to get that refurbished hospital, large parts of which will be brand spanking new, top the point where people can use the place.
Annissa Hilborn and Eric Vandewall, she of the Hospital Foundation and he of the hospital itself, also left the city with a document that set out when and how much of the $60 million city taxpayers have been putting into a reserve fund for that rainy day when the hospital comes looking for a cheque.
The purpose of the meeting was to approve the amendments to the City’s Contribution Milestones and authorize the Mayor and Clerk to execute the amending agreement.
Most recent rendering of the Joseph Brant Hospital showing the bridge from the garage.
In July of 2012, Council approved a Contribution Agreement that had the city contributing $60 million towards the purchase of eligible equipment costs.
At the time there was a bit of a squabble on how the city was going to give money to the hospital. They, the hospital, wanted the city to pay for building the parking garage which Councillor Taylor objected to – unless the city was going to get the parking revenue. That idea didn’t fly.
They eventually settled on the city agreeing to pick up the tab for up to $60 million in equipment costs.
The initial cash flow from the hospital represented the their preliminary estimate of the equipment needs and cash flow requirements over the life of the JBH Redevelopment Project prior to the award of the construction Contract to Ellis Don Infrastructure JBH Inc.
The revised schedule is now reflective of the equipment purchases required to align with the construction schedule of Ellis Don Infrastructure JBH Inc. which includes the opening of the new tower in 2017. The equipment requirements for the hospital fiscal years 2015/16 have decreased by $10.1 million. In 2016/17, the equipment requirements have increased by $22 million from the original contribution agreement. These changes are consistent with the construction project schedule and the requirement to acquire furniture, fixtures and equipment and install the same prior to the opening of the new tower in 2017.
The new tower will include a new Emergency department, three medical/surgical floors, a new ICU, new OR’s and day surgery and ambulatory care including a new Ophthalmology Clinic.
The comparison of the Revised Contribution Milestones is provided below:
2016 is going to be a crunch year – the hospital wants a lot of the money then – and we don’t have it – so we borrow – hoping that interest rates remain low.
The change in the cash flow advances the amount of debt required, but given the current favourable interest rates, the revised cash flow reduces the total levy and the length of time for the dedicated hospital levy from $62.1 million (19 years) to $59.5 million over 17 years.
The original cash flow is set out below
The revised cash flow means the city doesn’t have to borrow quite as much as it would have under the original flow.
The Contribution Agreement requires that JBH provide a Milestone Notice to the city at least three months in advance of each contribution date. This is critical in 2016 as this is the largest payment requiring a significant amount of debentures through the Region of Halton.
Each notice must contain:
• A statement confirming the application of all installments previously provided by the city to eligible costs • A statement confirming the amount contributed by the Foundation to Local Share Plan Costs at that time (the agreement stipulates that the cumulative city contribution is not to exceed the amount contributed by the Foundation) • A statement confirming the application of any unused funds from any prior city installment together with interest earned • Any unused funds together with interest earned shall be used on account of the next city installment.
The city’s $60 million contribution is made up of cash payments totaling $24.1 M and debentures of $35.9 M. Debt repayment (principal and interest) amounts to $41.52 M (10 year debt at 1.951% for the 2015 issue and an assumed 3% for the 2016 debt issue). All cash and debt repayment is funded by the dedicated tax levy for the hospital.
What if the transit drivers decide they want to force their issues and walk off the job Monday morning – the 13th
Transit people will tell you that once a bus rider leaves it takes a long, long time to get them back.
Mayor explains using the bus schedule on his cell phone
Riders are forced to find some other way to get around – and they often like what they find – even if it costs more and they stay with it for some time.
There is a break in the trust that existed between the transit drivers and those who use the buses.
People who depended on transit had their lives significantly disruptedand they don’t see their transit driver as the friendly person who they met and chatted with every day.
There is a disintegration in public trust – something that is hard to quantify or measure but it is certainly there.
Burlington is not a transit friendly city. There are people who will be delighted when the bus no longer drives by their house making more noise than they want to put up with.
Those same people don’t like the noise the garbage truck makes but they put up with it because they want their garbage removed.
They are not transit users and they resent the amount of their tax dollars that are used to support transit – they see transit that is something for people of limited means – and they don’t see Burlington as a city of limited means.
This attitude is part of a particular demographic – it isn’t seen in the younger people – they adapt more easily and tend to have a different take on the damage that cars do to the environment.
It will be interesting to see what the transit workers decide to do and how city council reacts.
Mayor thinking through a problem – transit is going to occupy some of his thinking this weekend.
The Burlington Performing Arts Centre has issued a new call for applications to audition for talent Showcase spots that will be part of the 2015/2016 season
The Performing Arts Centre has initiated a Community Engagement program that will introduce amateur performers to theatre patrons.
This is part of the Centre’s Community Engagement initiative. They want to involve local amateur talent in Burlington and surrounding areas to showcase prior to a selection of events in the Main Theatre throughout the 2015/2016 Season.
These showcases are to complement the show in Main Theatre. For example if the event in the Main Theatre is a dance event then the group that will be chosen to Showcase their talent the lobby will be dance.
If the Main stage has song then the group – or a single person – will be a singer.
The objective is to have what is being showcased compliment what is taking place on the Main theatre stage.
There is a small honorarium for the Lobby Showcases and artists will get an opportunity to market their brand at that time, while reaching a new audience. The artists may also be added to the City of Burlington’s Artists database, with their permission. The honorarium was a change from the original announcement
The selected performers will get one of eight Lobby Showcase spots available throughout the 2015/2016 Presenting Season and they, as well as others selected, may also get a chance to be featured in the Culture Days celebrations, September 25 to 27, 2015.
The Centre’s goal is to provide these local acts with greater exposure – to introduce the artists to the Centre;s patrons, and a wider audience – encouraging local artists on their way to becoming better known in the community.
If the Burlington Teen Tour Band can do their thing in the lobby of the Performing Arts Centre – imagine what a smaller group could do?
We are looking for singer/songwriters, dancers, singers (pop, jazz, blues, folk, classical), bands or combos, instrumentalists and soloists (classical, jazz, etc.), performance art and comedy. Please submit the following by email to: BPACAuditions@burlington.ca
Include photos, a short biography and background information, a description of the act or performer, any links to YouTube videos if available, and contact information.
Dateline for submissions is July 24, 2015.
There are limited spots available so only the acts or artists selected will be contacted with an audition date and time. Auditions will take place on September 19 and 20, from 10am to 5pm.
Any further inquiries may be made to Community Engagement Manager, Costin Manu, at costin.manu@burlington.ca
A tentative settlement was reached today between the City of Burlington and the members of CUPE Local 2723, representing Burlington Transit workers.
The union will be holding a ratification meeting on July 12. Both parties have been ordered by the conciliator to respect a full blackout on any details of the settlement until the day of ratification. Both parties fully recommend the tentative deal.
The city has known for some time that there were going to be problems with the transit union; a tentative deal, which was recommended by the union negotiators to the membership, was nevertheless turned down by the membership.
There is something the transit workers are really unhappy with. Was the city able to sweeten the deal enough for the membership to accept? We will know Sunday evening
The union has informed the city that if the tentative settlement is rejected by the union members, a transit strike would start effective 12:01 a.m. on Monday, July 13.
That’s cutting it close.
City staff are concerned that a lengthy strike will drive people away from transit – and it takes a long long time to win them back. Critical; time for transit in Burlington
The community is encouraged to consider alternative arrangements for transportation in the event of a strike.
Traffic alerts –Maplewood Drive and Plains Road West have trouble spots.
Maplewood Drive will be temporarily closed from Brant Street to Robinson Street from July 2 to July 9, 2015 for the installation of a sanitary sewer.
The northbound lane of Plains Road West between Hillsdale Avenue and York Boulevard will have a temporary lane closure for work to rehabilitate a bridge.
The lane restriction is in place from July 7 to Oct. 30, 2015.
Access to buildings along this section of Plains Road West will be maintained at all times.
It’s pretty clear now that the house William Ghent lived in as a farmer is going to meet the nudge of a wrecking ball.
The last genuine farm house in the downtown core – can any of it be salvaged?
The Development and Infrastructure Standing Committee decided not to go along with a staff report that advised the city not to issue a demolition permit.
The goose was cooked” when Jim Clemens said during his delegation that he would be very hard pressed to find a strong reason for keeping the structure.
Heritage Advisory Chair Jim Clemens didn’t see enough in the Ghent – Brant property to designate it – without the designation the city has to issue a demolition permit if one is sought.
Clemens did say that he hoped a way could be found to save parts of the structure – perhaps the façade of the building and include that in whatever gets built on the lot at the corner of Ghent and Brant Street along with the property to the south of it.
Tony Millington, the private planner on the file said that the owners of the property had not yet decided what they were going to build but that they expected to come back and ask for zoning to build at least an eight storey structure.
The city’s planning department still harbours hopes that something can be saved – the structure is the very last farm house in the downtown core.
While Ghent was the owner of the property when it was divided into eight 5 acres parcels – that would qualify him as one of the city’s earliest developers – he really didn’t live in the house all that long.
The property will soon be in the hands of a developer – all they have to do is convince council to give them the zoning and density they want and that corner of the city will be like most of the other – plain, bland and uninspiring.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
There are two classical Renaissance style structures on Yonge Street in Toronto that were basically abandoned years ago. Both were banks.
Abandoned bank on Yonge Street in Toronto found a new life – as the lobby to a high rise condominium. Imagine this as the front door to your home.
A developer came up with a way to use one of the abandoned banks as the entrance to a high rise condominium that would be built behind and above the old bank.
The pictures tell the story.
The classical structure was saved – lending much more comfortable street scape and a lobby that is to die for.
Does Burlington have a developer with some imagination and the ability to take a risk and include the farmhouse in whatever they decide to build – and get a little extra density for their efforts?
That farmhouse could be changed into a general store, a drug store, even a coffee shop that would enhanced the property and keep some of the city’s heritage.
It can be done.
A stretch of anything but contemporary looking homes in the Beach of eastern Toronto
There is a stretch of Toronto along the lakeshore in the east end where the road bends and becomes Woodbine Avenue. Years ago a racetrack was on that property.
A developer bought the land and developed a nice sub-division – not unlike our Alton Village. They were nice enough.
Buyers had a choice between plain bland brick and colourful semi-detached homes – the colourful homes sold for a premium.
The developer was getting on in years and decided he wanted to do something different so he built a stretch of the development that were significantly different than the rest – they were brightly painted and just different – and they ended up selling at a premium price.
The public will buy different – if the developers don’t come forward with different ideas – there are people in the planning department that can help them,
Let’s see what the end resolution is with the property at Ghent and Brant.
The unions in this city seem to be on a bit of a roll – while the city’s outside workers settled – the transit drivers have yet to accept the city’s latest offer.
The 33 front-line workers who maintain the Royal Botanical Gardens gardens, grounds and buildings, are facing the harsh reality of falling behind as their wages have not kept pace with inflation in decades.
The union points to the pride of the RBG being an ‘ecological jewel’ and a living paradise for locals and visitors to escape to, the workers who maintain the place are not happy campers
“While RBG’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) saw his salary increase by 40 thousand dollars from 2006 to 2014, the workers who tend to the ecological jewel received 0 per cent for 8 of the past 20 years,” said Sandra Walker, president of CUPE 5167, representing RBG workers.
Thirty three grounds workers make all this happen – they’d like to see the same increase in their pay cheque that the CEO got.
“While they love the gardens, our members have truly fallen behind in ‘paradise’ because at the end of the day they have to feed their families and not just admire the beauty of RBG.”
Over the years, the workers were forced to accept none to very minimal wage increases to keep the RBG operating financially. As a result of their sacrifices to keep RBG afloat, the workers’ wages have fallen behind drastically and they are now attempting to address the wage issue in this round of bargaining talks. Their last contract expired on January 15, 2015.
Both the union and management are scheduled to return to bargaining talks on July 14 with the help of a provincial conciliator. The workers voted unanimously, a 100% mandate, to secure a fair contract that corrects the wage gap, including job action if necessary.
“According to the CEO, last year was a positive year for the RBG, with a new five-year strategic plan that aims to position the RBG as a global leader in the next decade,” said Walker. “Our members support this plan and they’ve worked hard to help RBG turn the corner, and it is now time for management to help workers with real wage increases.”
To highlight the economic challenges faced by the workers, they will hold a ‘Still Falling Behind in Paradise’ rally on Wednesday, July 8 at 5:00 p.m. outside of the RBG entrance at 680 Plains Road West in Burlington.
When negotiating the idea is for each side to determine what they can give and what they just cannot give up or absolutely have to have.
The transit workers do not appear to have learned or understood that fundamental rule.
The transit terminal is open now – can the city and the transit union find a way to keep it open and avert a strike?
One of their issues is for those over 65 to be able to have access to the same range of benefits that those under 65 have, which is apparently not the case now – even though that right is said to be written into the existing collective agreement.
A reliable source reports that there is a benefit the transit workers have which they are not using – the city would like the union to exchange some of that benefit in exchange for the paying full benefits to those over 65.
The union leadership is reported to have recommended to their membership that they accept the offer the city has made – the membership said no – and everyone is now back at the negotiating table.
At a transit workshop several months ago dozens of people spoke of the high regard they had for transit drivers; young people spoke of occasions when a driver turned a blind eye to the person not having the full fare; adults told of drivers that would let them off a bus closer to their homes in the evening.
A reputation for courtesy and service was witnessed – that is not something one would want to lose.
Some union members feel they have the city between a rock and a hard place given the current city council schedule and the oncoming summer vacation.
Time to do some real negotiating and time for the union membership to do a fast reality check.
Koogle Theatre Company will be holding auditions on Sunday August 9 for local dancers!
A Koogle Theatre event that took place in Central Park – they will be taking part in Culture Days in September
They are looking for dancers of all ages for the Culture Days event on Sept 27,
Contact info@koogletheatre.com if interested.
Rehearsals will be on Sundays in August and Sept.
Culture Days, which take place in late September have grown to become almost the major growth event that involves people in the city and the thousands that visit Burlington.
If you like the idea of running for public office and ending up with a decent pension there is an opportunity for someone in Burlington to join Eleanor McMahon at Queen’s Park.
The government of Ontario decided some time ago that the boundaries for the constituencies in Ontario would be the same as those of the federal government.
The federal government added a new riding for Burlington which means that in the fullness of time there will be a new riding for Burlington.
And because it is a new seat the candidates will not have to run against an incumbent – once those people get into office they never seem to know that it is time to leave; it becomes very difficult to vote them out due to their high name recognition.
So – if a career as an elected official interests you – watch how things play out in the new Oakville North Burlington riding, then join the political party you think can take the seat provincially and you might be on your way to getting your picture in the paper regularly and maybe even making a difference for the community.
Expect to see another office like this open at some point in the not too distant future – it will cater to the people on the east side of the city and some in Oakville.
Don’t worry too much about your political convictions – they don’t matter all that much these days; promises are made that everyone knows are never going to be kept.
The provincial government introduced Election Reform legislation to Ensure Fair Representation which will increase the number of Ontario ridings to 122
Ontario is proposing changes to the provincial election system that would ensure Ontarians are represented fairly in the legislature.
Premier will follow the practice of having the same constituency boundaries as federal ridings – which will mean one more for Burlington.
Premier Kathleen Wynne announced that the government will introduce an election reform bill. If passed, the Electoral Boundaries Act, 2015 would increase the number of provincial ridings in southern Ontario from 96 to 111 for the election scheduled in 2018. This would align with the new federal boundaries, and would better reflect population shifts and increases. Most new ridings would be in areas that have seen substantial population growth, such as Toronto, Peel, York, Durham and Ottawa.
The 11 ridings in northern Ontario would stay the same to ensure that northern communities continue to have effective representation in the legislature.
Adjusting Ontario’s electoral boundaries was recommended by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). The government is also committed to addressing other recommendations from the CEO, and will be moving ahead with additional items this fall, including:
• Moving the fixed election date from fall to spring to help avoid overlap with federal and municipal elections;
• Engaging more young people with the voting process through provisional registration for 16- and 17-year-olds. The minimum voting age would remain 18;
• Strengthening rules on election-related third-party advertising.
Enhancing the fairness and integrity of the election system is part of the government’s plan to build a fairer and more inclusive Ontario.
The telephones will jangle this morning – because there is a crunch coming on the transit union’s membership decision to turn down the city’s most recent offer.
Dean Manville, a CUPE negotiator brought in to oversee the talks with the city is trying to get the Ministry of Labour conciliator back into the city to take part in the next round of talks. Both the union and the city have said publicly that they want to continue negotiations.
The union has committed to giving the city 72 hours’ notice should they decide to with draw their services.
Here is where the rubber hits the road.
Mayor might have to call a Special meeting of Council during the summer if an agreement can’t be reached with the transit workers.
Council will meet this evening as a Standing Committee – and while the transit negotiations are not on the agenda there is nothing preventing anyone from asking to speak and nothing preventing the Mayor from speaking on the issue.
Whatever agreement is reached has to be ratified by Council. The offer that was put on the table was agreed upon by the city at a Special city council meeting June 30th – that offer was turned down so whatever the city decides to offer, if anything, will have to be ratified again.
The next city council meeting is July 15th – then they are off for the summer.
The tone from the union people the Gazette has talked to is not to let this situation simmer for the summer.
If the union tells the city they are withdrawing their services in 72 hours – expect the Mayor to call another Special meeting – we can see some vacation schedules being changed.
In a surprisingly short media release the city announced that Burlington Transit workers, represented by CUPE Local 2723, Sunday night turned down a negotiated settlement reached by the union and the City of Burlington on June 30 and recommended to the members.
Transit wil continue to operate while both sides return to the bargaining table.
Negotiations will continue, said the city and transit services will operate as usual at this time.
In its statement the union said:
“Our members have spoken and indicated the contract offer before them did not go far enough to address their concerns,” said Dean Mainville, CUPE national representative for CUPE 2723. “We are calling on the city to resume discussions with us and explore ways to overcome this impasse.”
“We have reached out to management and asked them to return to bargaining in an effort to work out an agreement that will be acceptable to members, and prevent a service disruption that will affect transit users,” added Mainville.
CUPE 2723 represents 130 transit workers, including drivers and mechanics.
On its website the city said: “We hope the union does not choose to withdraw its services, but if they do initiate a strike, we intend to do the best we can to meet our obligations to the residents of the city and our other non-striking employees.
During a strike, unionized staff will picket in certain locations near city facilities. It is legal to picket and to attempt to persuade third parties to support a strike.
It is also legal for non-striking employees and customers to cross a picket line, to report to work or conduct business with the city.
The rights of both parties should be respected. In a strike situation, local police work with the striking workers to determine a reasonable arrangement that allows the striking workers to temporarily delay the entry of vehicles. We anticipate responsible, respectful behaviour from members of CUPE Local 2723.
Should you attempt to come to a city building and you are unreasonably delayed or prevented from conducting city business as a result of picket line activity, please speak with one of the city’s picket line monitors (wearing an orange vest) or call Service Burlington at 905-335-7803.
It was just over a month ago when we reported that two city employees were struck by a car on Walkers Line while they were planting spring flowers and shrubs on the medians.
The police haven’t reported if charges were laid against the driver of the vehicle but we can say with some certainty that the city hasn’t done all it could to ensure the safety of these workers.
Workers planting flowers and doing maintenance work on the meridians of busy streets are not properly protected from passing traffic.
Three woman who were doing planting and cleaning up of a meridian on Brant Street just north of Caroline were at some risk from passing traffic.
There were bright red lane marking cones on the roadway and the employees were wearing brightly coloured vests – but they were at some risk.
Scan the pictures below for yourself – were those woman as safe as you would want your children to be?
If people are going to work on streets that have heavy traffic there should be people with signs ensuring that oncoming traffic is fully aware that there are people who are very close to the ground and might not be easily visible who are making our city attractive.
Hoe close to these workers is that car going to get and do the woman know the car is approaching?
Would you put your children in this kind of a working situation?
The sight of bright plants making the city look beautiful isn’t worth another person being injured. I shuddered as I took the pictures – especially of that woman who had her leg stretched to keep her balance.
How far out into the traffic lane is that left leg going to stretch? Far enough for a car to run over it?
Kind of tough when you can’t be sure that the things you left in your car while it was parked in the driveway overnight are going to be there when you get in the car the next morning. But that is what it has come to.
Halton Police constantly remind the public to lock their vehicles parked in the driveway and more importantly, to hide and secure valuables such as electronics from sight.
Sure – throw a blanket over the dash board – that will just encourage the thieves to beak the window. In their media release their police said: “Dash mounted GPS devices left in plain view resulted in vehicle windows being smashed to gain entry.”
This is a scene far too many car owners are seeing when they walk out of the house to get into the car they had parked in the driveway.
Overnight, between June 30 and July 1, 2015, several vehicle entries occurred in the Region with Oakville being hit the hardest. Thieves were checking for unlocked car doors looking for cash, GPS devices and other electronics.
The police continue to investigate vehicle entries and ask the public to make extra efforts to keep valuables safe and hidden from sight. If possible, take any valuable electronics into the home at night so not to attract wandering thieves.
Catching these thieves is not always easy – the police usually don’t have much to go on. It was that fact that brought about SCRAM.
Halton Regional Police have a Security Camera Registration and Monitoring program, ( S.C.R.A.M) a community based crime prevention opportunity and investigative tool that enlists the help of Halton residents.
S.C.R.A.M. enables community members to voluntarily identify and register their residential video surveillance equipment through a simple, secure, confidential, online form located on the Halton Regional Police Service website. https://bit.ly/11B4FNE
One camera is usually enough for decent home surveillance.
A number of people wonder just what giving police access to your home security means. You are not giving the police any access when you register – what you are doing in letting the police know that you have an electronic security system. If there is a crime near your home the police will know that you have a security camera and may ask if they can look at what was captured by your camera.
You are under no obligation to hand over anything.
When investigating a crime the police usually end up going door to door hoping that someone may have seen something – if they knew where the security cameras were they could narrow down the search area.
Door to door can be a time-consuming endeavour as it may include a 360 radius around the crime scene. Armed with the knowledge of locations of security cameras, police can better focus their investigation. This has proven helpful in many investigations where suspect vehicles or suspects themselves have been picked up on third-party camera systems. Knowing a “direction” enables investigators to focus their attention on that particular path, even at considerable distances, where perhaps another camera may be located.
Investigators have been surprised by the number of residents choosing to protect their homes and property with security cameras. Canvassing a neighbourhood is a time-consuming endeavour and the program will only be as good as the data inputted. That’s why the police want your help.
The objective of the program is primarily to build a database of camera locations in our community. Adding a security camera to your property is an excellent crime prevention tool, and is a way for you to protect your OWN property. Allowing the police quick access to potential recordings of crimes in progress is a way for citizens to help make our communities safer for everyone.
The police are No. We are asking the public to take an active part in helping make your community safer. Neighbourhood Watch was a recognized crime prevention initiative many years ago; police asked neighbours to look out for neighbours. This is the technological extension of that.
If you think this might be something you want to take part in – click on this link.
What have the aboriginal problems and grievances got to do with the schools in Burlington?
A lot more than you might imagine.
After years of neglect and basically nothing in the way of information for the public the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) issued a report that spelt out in language no one could misunderstand.
The Commission spent more than five years listening to the witness and testimony of the thousands of aboriginal people about the children who were taken from their parents and placed in residential schools.
The face bears the pain and the suffering after years in residential schools – away from your family and your culture.
So much damage – and yet many survived the residential school experience to tell their story. Our part of the Truth and Reconciliation experience is to ensure that something like this never happens again.
Of the 94 recommendations that were included in what is now known as the Truth and Reconciliation Report there are two that relate directly to what will be taking place in our schools.
Two of the recommendations were to “inform all Canadians about what happened in Indian Residential Schools in Canada. The commission would document the” history of the residential schools system and the experience of former students and the ongoing legacies within the communities”.
On June 2nd, the commission issued a 418 page executive summary. Their quick summary is as follows;
“ For over a century, the central goals of Canada’s Aboriginal policy were to eliminate Aboriginal governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in Canada. The establishment and operation of residential schools were a central element of this policy, which can best be described as “cultural genocide.”
Of the 94 recommendations of the commission, #62 and #63 called on school boards within Canada to develop and implement from Kindergarten to grade 12 a curriculum on Aboriginal peoples in Canadian history and the history and legacy of residential schools.
They marched in the rain to witness publicly and let the rest of the country know that serious mistakes were made.
York University Professor, Susan Dion made the point when she said: “education is the key to reconciliation because we need to know what we are reconciling about. You may not be responsible for what happened, but you are responsible for knowing the history.”
This background was the setting for a recommendation submitted to the Board of Education by trustee Ehl Harrison (Oakville) for decision on June 24th.
RECOMMENDATION brought to the Halton District School Board:
Whereas the work of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) regarding residential schools in Canada concluded its work in June 2015, resulting in 94 far reaching Calls to Action, including a number specifically focused on education;
Be it resolved that the Halton District School Board:
i) Foster and continue to develop a culture where all students gain knowledge of residential schools and their effects on Aboriginal communities of Canada and see themselves as contributors to reconciliation.
ii) Report annually on our actions.
iii) (At least) Annually during a Board meeting recognize the history of our area and give respect and honour to its First Peoples, by including in the Chair’s welcome, “We would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.”
iv) Correspond with the Ministry of Education, urging collaboration with Aboriginal communities and the Ontario Public School Board Association to include treaty education, the history and legacy of residential schools and the impact of the Indian Act in curriculum in a way that gives voice to First Peoples. Recognizing that this will take time, also requesting that the Ministry immediately provide school boards with resources to develop and share best practices that support reconciliation.
There was never any doubt that the motion would pass unanimously; it had been discussed and tweaked at previous meetings. However, prior to the vote earlier in June, the board recognized the delegation of Stephen John Paquette (birth name John Andrew Kimewon) a member of the Ojibwa tribe and a victim of the Residential School experience.
The Truth and Reconciliation Box was set out during every hearing – the image of eyes closed represented what most Canadians did – we kept our eyes closed – we did not know.
Speaking in a methodical, simple, poignant and emotional manner, he initially acknowledged not only all those in the room, but also their ancestors. The teaching of the elder’s state you not only acknowledge the people you meet, but also their ancestors and their land of origin he said. He referred to the immigrants to Turtle Island as partners that need to work together and build a relationship.
He asked that we return to the spirit of the original treaties and build respect by understanding each other. He mentioned that when his two daughters entered the Halton school system they were warmly acknowledged and he was asked to speak to students about their history.
There was no bitterness in his words, but rather an olive branch so that we could all build dual respect. The passing of the recommendation was a good start.
The title reads like something that was done in Germany during the Second World War – but this was Canada and those children were what we called “indians” then. Were learning the truth now – reconciliation will follow.
His presentation was particularly felt by this reporter: I grew up in Brantford Ontario, close to the Six Nations Reserve, and was totally unaware of the residential schools and the damage that was done to so many young people. My grandchildren will sit in classrooms where they will know what was done and hopefully ensure nothing like that every gets done again.
It is week 11 of Halton Regional Police Service, Burlington station reaching out to the public to help locate wanted persons and hold them accountable for their actions, better known as “Fugitive Friday”
There are numerous people who continue to evade the police and the court system and continue to live out in our communities while having a warrant for their arrest in place.
The Burlington Offender Management Unit will shares information on a wanted person in hopes that the public can assist in locating the individual.
In this edition of Fugitive Fridays the 3 District, Burlington Offender Management Unit is searching for Corey RODGERS 29 years old, of Hamilton, ON.
Corey RODGERS 29 years of age.
It is alleged:
– In November of 2011 the accused was in Mapleview Mall in the City of Burlington when he saw a male and female he knew inside a store – without provocation, the accused walked into the store and assaulted both the female and male by punching them in the head – The accused was arrested at the scene and released on a Promise to Appear – The accused was to attend Milton court in May of 2012 which he failed to do and a warrant was issued for his arrest
He is wanted by Halton Regional Police Service for:
Assault with a Weapon Assault – Adult Female Fail to Attend Court
RODGERS is described as 6’2”, 250lbs, hazel eyes and brown hair and spacer earrings. RODGERS has several tattoos; Right arm – full sleeve, right hand – “fast”, left hand – “live” and left forearm – “Nautical Star”. RODGERS has ties to Burlington, Hamilton and Alberta
Anyone who may have witnessed this male or has information that would assist investigators in identifying him are encouraged to contact D/C Bulbrook – Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau – Offender Management Team at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2346 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com, or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
What have we managed to do as a country in this past 148 years? Stay together is perhaps the biggest part of our success as a country.
Getting the Maritime provinces and what was then the Province of Canada to agree to form a confederation in 1867 was propelled to a considerable degree by the Civil War the Americans were fighting at the time.
Fathers of Confederation negotiating in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Once Confederation took place Ontario and Quebec were created and the task then was to bring in the rest of the country – everything west of Ontario
We didn’t get Newfoundland into confederation until 1948.
Then in 1995 Quebec missed leaving the confederation by less than 50,000 votes. They had failed to separate in 1980 as well. Many feel the issue of Quebec becoming a spate country is now behind us – we certainly won’t fight that battle for another twenty years. And who knows what kind of a country we will be then?
We are now an ethnically diverse country. An aggressive immigration policy has moved Canada from a French and English country to one that has people from every imaginable country.
We have in the past shown the ability to bring in tens of thousands of people who faced disasters in their own country. The “boat people” from Vietnam was perhaps one of our best moments as a compassionate caring people.
United Nations Peacekeepers were the result of a Canadian resolution at the UN. Were respected leaders then.
The creation of the United Nations Peace keepers was another proud significant time for Canadians.
We have been a country that has gone to war when we felt it necessary – and came close to fracturing the country when Quebec saw both the first and the second world wards differently than the rest of the country.
We overcame those difficulties as well.
We have not become known as a country with strong environment positions. We have failed to live up to the various accords we have signed.
Some of the dirtiest oil on the planet comes out of Alberta
We mine and ship some of the most toxic oil this planet has seen; some of that oil will in the not too distant future run through a pipeline at the top of this city.
Why Canada is not a leader in the environmentally sound refining of the tar sands oil is a national shame. It is the federal government that holds all those cards.
John Kennedy made America the world leader in space exploration when he said they would put a man on the moon in ten years. It became a mission for that country and they succeeded.
Imagine if our federal government did the same thing with the oil in Alberta? We could have billions of barrels of oil flowing out of the tar sands and into refineries and transported around the world.
There is more oil in our tar sands that there is in the ground in Saudi Arabia – we are an oil rich nation but we insist on selling dirty oil to people that need oil badly.
We have not been as judicially sound as we have been in the past. Our Supreme Court is constantly at odds with the federal government.
We have treated our aboriginal people very poorly in the past and are still doing so to this day. Changes are beginning to take place but the price aboriginal people have had to pay while the rest of us began to learn and understand how badly our governments treated these people has been very high.
To our everlasting shame – we did this to our aboriginal people – some thought we we doing the right thing. Most people didn’t even know what was being done.
Many aboriginal communities are seriously dysfunctional and we blame that dysfunction on the racist belief that these people are not ready to govern themselves. We have been wrong in the past and we are wrong now.
Some of our police forces are beginning to look a little like those south of the border. We treat our criminals so badly that they remain criminals for as long as they live. Punishment is part of behaviour change but there are limits which our federal government doesn’t appear to understand – they just keep opening up more prisons and treating those in prison in a manner that all but guarantees they will return soon after they are released.
And we spend a princely sum to keep convicts in prisons but won’t spend an amount anywhere near on a national day care program.
As a society we have yet to realize that no one was born a murderer or a bank robber – the society we are played some part of what happened to turn an innocent into as criminal.
As we move closer towards a critical election in just over 100 days this might be a good time to reflect on the Canada you want and which government you believe will get us all there.
In two years we will have been a country for 150 years – will we be different then?
When it is in their best interests, city hall knows how to move.
CUPE Local 44 (outside and arena/outdoor pool operators) completed their ratification vote at 3:00 pm on Thursday July 2nd – at 3:48 pm the city issued a media release saying they were pleased to announce that both the members of CUPE Local 44 (outside and arena/outdoor pool operators) and City Council have ratified a three-year collective agreement, which runs from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2017.
There were no mention of the details of the settlement agreement.
What the Gazette found a little confusing was how the city could accept an agreement without it being ratified by the union.
Access to meetings and critical documents is not what the public thinks it is.
That was easy – the city held a special council meeting – it didn’t advise the media of the Special Council meeting at which they were briefed on the tentative agreement that was awaiting ratification. They apparently said that if the union ratified the agreement that was tentative at that point – then it was understood that the city had agreed.
That sounded a little slick but Roy Male, the Executive Director or Human Resources emailed the Gazette saying: “We did this to be proactive to speed up the approval process to remove any uncertainty in the public’s mind about the services which may have been affected.”
Fine – but the city didn’t issue a statement after that June 30th meeting which media didn’t attend because they were not advised.
To be fair the city does put a notice of meetings in the mail slot each media has however most of us don’t trot over to city hall to see if there is any mail every couple of hours.
When the Mayor wants to call a Special Meeting of Council there is a rigid procedure he has to follow. That procedure should include an electronic noticed to the media. Given that the Mayor has a full time media person in his office he can’t say he isn’t aware of how media works.
The Mayor doesn’t talk to the Gazette anymore. A number of months the Mayor decided he didn’t like what we were saying about him and decided he wasn’t going to return our phone calls. We didn’t know this was the position the Mayor had taken until we asked why phone calls were not being returned.
That is when he told the Gazette we were not fair or balanced.
We have never had the Mayor tell us precisely what it is we were saying that was not fair and balanced.
Milton Mayor Krantz explains to Conservation Halton how the media works.
A few weeks ago the Gazette was in Milton covering a Conservation Halton awards event and met with Gord Krantz, Mayor of Milton, who commented to John Vice, chair of the Conservation Board that he never worried about what the media said about him – he worried when the media stopped saying anything about him. Krantz has been Mayor of Milton for 25 years. Burlington’s Mayor should spend a little more time with Gord Krantz when they cross paths at Regional Council.
Burlington is not a media friendly town. City managers tend to set the tone on what comes out of city hall; each council members decides what they want in the way of a relationship with media. Some council members have particularly thin skins and don’t handle criticism all that well.
But we digress.
According to union negotiators the pressing issue for them was benefits for those workers who were over the age of 65. While the collective agreement that was in place called for the city to pay the same benefits to all employees the union was not aware that they weren’t being paid because there were no members over the age of 65.
The Outside workers ratified their agreement – union negotiators will not say if the benefits issue was resolved; they added that they do not have any workers over the age of 65.
The transit union does have workers over the age of 65 who are not getting the same benefit package as those who are under 65.
The union maintains that they were not aware that union members were being treated differently – it wasn’t until they began getting complaints from union members over 65 that the problem came to their attention.
Apparently the city instructed their benefits provider not to give the same benefits to everyone.
It is clear that there isn’t a collaborative working arrangement between the union and the city’s human resources department.
It will be interesting to see if the transit works ratify the agreement.
Another confusing point; both unions are CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) members. Why would one union – Local 44 ratify the agreement before the Local 2723 – the transit union if the matter of benefits mattered to both?
We thought solidarity was the glue that gave the union its clout.
Splash pads are guaranteed to be open for the summer – gives the kids a place to play and keep the heat off the members of council
In its media release the city said: “ Thanks to the co-operation of CUPE and our employees, it is business as usual for city services that include outdoor pools, summer ice use, all sports fields and all outdoor maintenance services.”
At the closed council meeting of June 30th the city passed a Bylaw # 71-2015 to confirm the proceedings of Special Council at its meeting held Tuesday, June 30, 2015, being read a first, second and third time.
Fine – what did the Bylaw say: Can’t tell you – it wasn’t published and you can’t get it instantly online. Here is what the city says about Access to Bylaws
“The City of Burlington provides online versions of bylaws for information and reference purposes only. Posted documents are not consolidated with all possible amending and repealing bylaws: users refer to these online documents at their own risk. For the greatest level of accuracy and reliability, please obtain a certified copy of a bylaw and its applicable amending bylaws from the Clerks department: contact Service Burlington at 905-335-7600, or email records@burlington.ca.”
This is not the mark of an open, transparent government.
Maybe I slept in a little longer than I should have this morning, after a long, fun filled Canada Day. Whatever, I wasn’t functioning all that well when putting together the pice on the newest Performing Arts Centre Community Initiative.
Performing Arts Centre comes out with an interesting Community Initiative. You’ll have to hustle to meet that deadline.
By the way the Performing Arts people are doing a better job than the city is so far in the community initiative field – but that’s another story.
We got some information on a new idea the Centre was doing and were putting the story together when we came across a part that wasn’t clear to us. Several back and forths via email (have you noticed that you never get the full answer to the question the first time?) and what was not clear was now clear and we published the piece.
The error in the headline was glaring – we got a polite email asking that we fix it – we did.
Got another call saying it wasn’t fixed – it was. I had changed the date.
Then I was told it wasn’t the date that was wrong – it was both the month and the date in the headline that was wrong.
With two corrections – both tweeted – we realized that anyone following the story would be completely confused.
So – here it is again.
The Performing Arts Centre has a really neat community initiative for growing artists called the Lobby Showcase.
By Pepper Parr
The revised schedule is now reflective of the equipment purchases required to align with the construction schedule of Ellis Don Infrastructure JBH Inc. which includes the opening of the new tower in 2017. The equipment requirements for the hospital fiscal years 2015/16 have decreased by $10.1 million. In 2016/17, the equipment requirements have increased by $22 million from the original contribution agreement. These changes are consistent with the construction project schedule and the requirement to acquire furniture, fixtures and equipment and install the same prior to the opening of the new tower in 2017.
The city has known for some time that there were going to be problems with the transit union; a tentative deal, which was recommended by the union negotiators to the membership, was nevertheless turned down by the membership.
The union points to the pride of the RBG being an ‘ecological jewel’ and a living paradise for locals and visitors to escape to, the workers who maintain the place are not happy campers
The police are No. We are asking the public to take an active part in helping make your community safer. Neighbourhood Watch was a recognized crime prevention initiative many years ago; police asked neighbours to look out for neighbours. This is the technological extension of that.
As we move closer towards a critical election in just over 100 days this might be a good time to reflect on the Canada you want and which government you believe will get us all there.
The union maintains that they were not aware that union members were being treated differently – it wasn’t until they began getting complaints from union members over 65 that the problem came to their attention.
