 By Pepper Parr
September 12, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
At one point there were actually eleven candidates for the ward 6 Council seat – which has to be a bit depressing for incumbent Blair Lancaster.
For candidates to come out of the woodwork at this late date in the election process suggests there are a lot of people who are not happy with the representation they are getting and a number of people who think the lady can be beat.
 Ward 6 mortgage broker with experience as a youth on a Mayor’s Crime Prevention Committee Jivan Sanghera filed his nomination papers earlier this week. One of what we believe is now just nine candidates, is Jivan Sanghera, a ward 6 resident who at one point lived on the same street Lancaster lives on.
Sanghera is part of that diverse community that is beginning to become part of the larger community. He was born in Hamilton and is as Canadian as they get; refreshingly so.
Sanghera will be on the ballot. Later today Angela Morgan, Clerk for the city of Burlington and the person responsible for running the administrative side of the election, will close nominations and on Monday release a list of the people whose names will be on the ballot October 27th.
Jivan Sanghera, who has lived in Burlington since the age of six was born in Hamilton. The 37 year old mortgage broker lists the Air Park as the top priority for the ward, followed by the development of the infrastructure. He also has some strong views on the board of education, but realizes they are not a city council issue.
When 17 years old Sanghera was a member of the Mayor’s Crime Prevention committee and says “the city has been good to me and I am at that point in my life where I can participate in civic affairs.
“My goal as Councillor for Ward 6 in Burlington is to ensure that our tax dollars are spent in an efficient manner, to ensure our services are delivered as expected. The public is entitled to wait times that are hours, not months or years. We are entitled to recreational facilities for all who make up the vibrant community we live in. Ward 6 is by far one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the city, and to watch everyone interact and grow together is a beautiful picture, of not only what this city strives to be, but what this country strives to be.
“We must attract businesses, and employers who can assist in building an even better city by contributing well-paying jobs to the local economy.
“We have wonderful facilities in Arts and Culture that I believe are under-utilized. It would be my goal to open the eyes of residents to the wonderful things happening around town.
“Our medical needs are changing” said Sanghera, who wants to work with health care providers to make sure that we are treated quickly, with a standard of care that anyone would expect for their family.
Sanghera is young, exceptionally well spoken; this guy doesn’t hesitate when asked questions; certainly worth listening to. He will be a participant in the September 24th all candidate debate at Hayden High School.
“When elected you won’t wonder where I am. You will see me on the streets, in the parks, at the hockey rinks, sharing this community with you. With me as your Councillor you will be able to communicate issues as small as a full garbage can, and as large as a matter of public safety.”
“As our city continues to grow and change, we must ensure that our infrastructure can handle the additional pressure. We must ensure that our public transit system reflects the needs of commuters and casual users. It must be a real option to get around the city.”
Refreshing indeed – this young man is worth listening to. His campaign web site is HERE
 By Staff
September 11. 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Anne Marsden has submitted candidate nomination papers for the office of Mayor for the 2014 Municipal Election.
We will have more to say on this.
 By Pepper Parr
September 11, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Everyone knows what happened – a lot of rain came down and the pipes underground couldn`t handle it – which is true.
But there is more to the story than that – and understanding the more is, what will get the city and the Region to the point where they can figure out what they have to do to handle the next big storm. Everyone on this file seems to have assumed that we have not seen our last big rain storm.
City staff prepared an elaborate presentation that set out the full picture – and as ugly as it was – it is a look at what we might be facing for the next 50 years.
 Weather Network map of the part of Burlington where all the rain fell. The rain came over the city in three waves. The rainfall began to approach the city from across the lake at around 1:00 pm and was the first of what is reported to have been three different rain storms.
The 1:00 pm storm was followed by another at 4:00 pm and a final blow at 9:00 pm; the storms basically followed one another.
 The 191 mm of rain worked its way into the creeks and roared into the city – heading for a storm water system that couldn’t deal with the volume. As the rain blew in off the lake and approached the Escarpment the water made its way to the extensive creek structure that drains into Lake Ontario
Members of city council, who are all now in full election mode, tell people that we were not equipped to handle a storm of this size.
The city has creeks, storm sewers, culverts, catch basins, storm ponds, roads and swales to handle large sudden amounts of water. Unfortunately for all of us – we have let the swales and the creeks get away from their intended use and, when we needed them, – they didn`t do the job they were supposed to do for us.
Who is to blame for this – because there are a lot of people in this city who want to blame someone? Ward 5 Councillor Sharman held a meeting at the Pineland Baptist Church that he wanted to characterize as a private meeting. Sharman appears to have an understanding of what the problem was and is – but that didn`t wash all that well with the 30 some odd people who were in the church.
A decent grass roots community has evolved and they are gathering information – but don`t seem to have a sense as to what they want to do. Is there anything they can do?
Councillor Sharman commented frequently that the Region wasn`t anywhere near as forthcoming as they had to be with the homeowners – but he didn`t stress that he was running not just as a city Councillor but as a Regional Councillor as well.
 Creeks had far more vegetation than they were designed for – the Conservation Halton policy of letting the creek beds be as natural as possible – may have been a mistake. Those tree limbs got pushed and began to form dams that prevented the water from flowing into the lake. Water takes the path of least resistance – which turned out to be the streets of the city. To his credit Sharman did manage to get the Region to agree to do a detailed study of the storm water problem at a July meeting of the Region; little did he know then that his ward was to be deluged with rain fall less than three weeks later.
 Contractors were brought in to clear the debris from the badly damaged creeks. Watch for this expense to get reflected in the budget that gets put forward in the New Year, Sharman doesn`t have the political touch that Councillor Jack Dennison has and struggles with many of his constituents. Some of those constituents are flaming mad – one walks about with a thick file of papers urging people to think in terms of a class action suit.
These people are hurting – the financial burden to most of them is exceptionally difficult – and their homes cannot be sold. No one is going to want to live in those communities for some time.
How the city manages this crisis seems odd at times. City hall is focused on the infrastructure – they don’t seem to have anything for the citizens. Any help a citizen is going to get will come from their member of council.
What the city has done is outsourced the raising of funds to help people get at least some of the financial support many of them are going to need. The Burlington Community Foundation has taken on the task of raising funds that they hope will be matched by the province on a two for one basis under a provincial program called ODRAP –Ontario Disaster Relief and Assistance Program.
No one is certain just what the status of that application for help is at this point in time. When the BCF announced how they were going to manage the distribution of funds Mayor Goldring mentioned that this might take a long time – which doesn’t create much comfort or assurance for the people who need help.
The BCF has said they will begin to issue grants of up to $1000 for those people who are desperate and need some cash to cover the daily necessities. They are going to distribute funds even though they don`t know when or even if the province is going to match what the community raises on that two for one program.
Burlington is about to see just how slowly provincial bureaucrats move.
The city did see how fast people can get things done when they are committed, focused and motivated. The Samaritan’s Purse was in the city repairing homes the day after the storm.
 This is what Burlington looked like in the late 1990’s. Trees weren’t all that big and there were few swimming pools.  Same streetscape as above – see all those swimming pools – what did they do to the natural flow of rain water. We know now what they did. During the briefing given at Council on Monday, city staff explained that the problem lies with changes that were made in the Ontario building code and how storm water pipes and sewage pipes were put in place.
Homes built prior to 1968 had to meet a code that called for pipes being put in one way – homes built after 1969 called for a different set up.
Much of the problem rests on weeping tiles and downspouts and where the water that passes through these two parts of a house actually goes.
City staff talked of the “new norm” and how we can prepare for that change. That new norm has been around for more than a decade – In Peterborough there was 193mm of rain on July 15th, 2004. Hamilton got 110mm on July 26th of 2009. Thunder Bay got 91 mm on May 28, 2012.
Peterborough didn’t get a dime from the provincial government – which does not bode well for Burlington’s chances of getting all that much from the provinces ODRAP program. Not much has been heard from MP Ted McMeekin who represents Flamborough just to the west of us. No one is sure that he is at his desk all that much.
The city activated its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at 9:00pm on August 4th. Roads and Parks Maintenance people responded to 103 calls and the city called former city general manager Kim Phillips, who had retired a month earlier, back to city hall to help out. Both the city manager and the Mayor were out of the city and didn’t get back until the following day.
 The colours tell the story. The older sub-divisions adhered to a different building code. There is a direct correlation between the older subdivisions and the flooding. Scott Stewart, City general manager for Development and Infrastructure, was left to handle everything on his own. Interim city manager Pat Moyle referred to Stewart as the “man of action” which he certainly was on this occasion. Stewart lost out to Jeff Fielding when Burlington went looking for a new city manger three years ago. Fielding thought the grass was greener in Calgary and he departed in month 26 of a 60 month contract. Many thought Stewart should have been made at least interim city manager then but because the Kim Phillips retirement was in the works, Council decided to bring in someone to oversee projects and add some stability to the senior management level.
 The 407 – engineered not that long ago – wasn’t able to handle the water that flowed into it. The water roared down the creeks – and found that the 407 was a barrier. Stewart will in all likelihood apply for the job again when it is opened up – that will happen once the municipal election is a done deal. If Stewart doesn’t get the nod this time around – heck he might join Fielding in Calgary; the two of them worked very well in Burlington.
While city hall is doing as much as it can to take care of the infrastructure – much of the problem lays in the way we have managed that infrastructure. The creeks are the responsibility of the Conservation Authority that has a policy of letting the creeks be as natural as possible. That meant they didn’t get all that much done to them in terms of maintenance – which resulted in tree limbs being left in the creeks. Those tree limbs became dams which resulted in serious damage because the water flowing into the creeks couldn’t flow properly. That water backed up and flooded into streets.
 Downspouts that have been set up so that they drain into the storm water system added to the problem. The spouts could not handle the amount of water that was landing on roofs.
The Red Cross was out on the street going door to door 36 hours after the scope of the flood was evident; they made 10,970 calls and did 1,532 assessments and determined that 501 homes will require some form of financial aid. They reported that 271 home had partial or no insurance.
The average cost of restoring homes was set at $18,000 – if you can find a contractor. City general manager Scott Stewart commented that the market for contractors is “red hot” right now.
Red hot is a phrase that some 24 homes in this city will not be using – there are that many homes in one part of the city that may not have furnaces in place before December 1.
Earlier this week Calgary had its first snowfall.
Hard times may be ahead for some of our neighbours.
By Pepper Parr
September 10, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Peter Rusin met with Clerk Angela Morgan this afternoon and paid the fee to file papers that would see his name on the ballot on October 27th as a candidate for the office of Mayor.
 Rusin preparing his nomination papers. Rusin had to scoot to the second floor a couple of times to clear things with the Committee of Adjustment, where he is a backup member.
With the papers signed and a map of the city under his arm and a voters list and the election rules in hand Rusin was ready to hit the streets – right?
Not quite. After getting the paper work done Rusin told the Gazette that he would be meeting with his team and would make a statement before the weekend.
 Rusin at city hall – a place he expects to spend much of his time at – he said he believes he can maintain some of his work in the real estate business as well as serve as Mayor. In the few minutes we had with the candidate we learned that he wants to see changes made at many levels. “There is no vision for this city” said Rusin. “We need to bring new jobs and we need to bring new ideas to the council table”, he added.
“The Mayor has a lot of explaining to do” said Rusin “and I am looking forward to asking questions on behalf of the people of this city.
And for the moment – that was it. Rusin did say that he told his wife he was going to run two weeks ago – so this wasn’t an idea he came up with while reading his morning newspaper over a cup of coffee.
Rusin is the father of three children; he is in the real estate business and does a fair amount of work in the expropriation field, where he represents government agencies.
He is listed as an agent with Royal Lepage.
Peter Rusin has 47 days to tell his story.
It didn’t take long for others to form opinions. “He can’t win. Started too late, people don’t know him and residents won’t elect someone perceived to be too close to major development interests. The perception that he is will not help him.”
We can expect others to make similar comments – but until we flesh out just who Peter Rusin is and how he would lead this city – perhaps we should listen to what the man has to say.
In the next few weeks we will learn how popular or appreciated Mayor Rick Goldring is and if people are content with the leadership he has shown.
Some might feel this election is the Mayor’s to lose. Asking Rusin what he would do needs to go along with asking what Mayor Goldring has done.
With two candidates in the race Burlington will be given the opportunity to hear Goldring defend his record. He hasn’t had to do that up until now.
By Sta ff
September 10, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Police in Burlington are seeing an increase in daytime residential break and enters where culprits have gained entry through rear unlocked doors and opened windows where the screens have been cut. These entries have not been limited to main floor windows.
The residences being targeted typically back onto a green space or park while the homeowner is absent between mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
Culprit(s) are rummaging through the master bedrooms in search of valuable jewelry before exiting typically out the back of the residence.
Homeowners are encouraged to ensure their doors and windows are securely locked when they are absent from their homes. They should avoid leaving items accessible that could be used by the culprit(s) to climb onto a low roof in order to gain entry through a second floor window.
Police are vigorously investigating these break-ins and encouraging citizens to immediately report any suspicious people and/or vehicles which they observe in their neighbourhood throughout the day.
Anyone with information that would assist investigators identify the person(s) responsible are asked to call the D/Cst. Scott French of the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau – Residential Crime Team at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2363 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes).
By Pepper Parr
September 10, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There is an unconfirmed report of a second candidate for the office of Mayor in the October 27th municipal election.
 Mayor Rick Goldring to be challenged for the office of Mayor in October election. We received an email at 7:50 pm – we were out imbibing with a candidate after taking in a community meeting in ward 5 – and came home to read the following:
Dear Mr. Parr, I would like you to know that I will be registering tomorrow to run for Mayor.
If you are interested, I can meet with you later this week for an interview, but, tomorrow I would be quite happy to offer you a photo-op at city hall.
We recognized the name but were not able to confirm with the sender that the information was valid.
We can tell you that the candidate – male, works in the real estate field and has some pretty strong views on economic development and the way our justice system handles crime.
If the information is correct Mayor Goldring will face a challenger with the capacity to finance a campaign with significant support from the real estate and development communities as well as the financial sector
By Pepper Parr
September 9, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
One of the interesting things about Burlington is the way some people dig in, spend their time and often quite a bit of their money working to save something they think worthwhile or preventing something they think is bad for their community.
The group that has – so far at least – stopped the development of a Niagara to GTA highway that would have slashed through the a large part of the Escarpment is one example; the Friends of Freeman Station – the people that managed to do the work the city couldn’t or wouldn’t do to save the then derelict station from the bureaucrats that were trying to sell it for kindling, is another.
PERL (Protecting Escarpment and Rural Land)managed, after years of work and tens of thousands of dollars their lawyer, we expect, is still waiting to receive, is yet another example of people who do the hard grinding work – with nothing in return other than the satisfaction of knowing they are doing the right thing.
PERL is the organization that prevent the Nelson Quarry from getting a permit to extend the work they were doing. Their story is one of the environmental hall marks of the province that has yet to be fully appreciated.
The most recent “grass roots” organization to bloom is the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition – that has been fighting hard to insert some common sense and respect for individual property rights into the discussion. It was only when a Lowville resident sent the Gazette some information (he doesn’t want his name published for fear that he will be sued) that the story about the fill being dumped on the Air Park property began to be told.
 Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition meets with Air Park owner Vince Rossi who agrees to take every thing they asked for “under advisement”. It went no further than that – then he started suing. RBGC has been delegating very effectively and this time, at least for now, it has the city working with them.
Monday evening Roger Goulet delegated to the city’s Development and Infrastructure Standing Committee.
“The Burlington Airport owner is claiming” said Roger Goulet Executive Director PERL “ that there are no safety issues with their imported fill, and that the fill is not adversely impacting the groundwater.”
Goulet went on to say: “Mr. Rossi claims that a number of Ministry and governmental Reports support his groundwater and fill claims.”
“That is a misrepresentation, and draws a conclusion on the imported fill quality not supported by fill test data.
“Environment Canada has told us that they have not issued any report on the Burlington Airpark, contrary to statements made by Mr. Rossi.”
 “The Region of Halton has confirmed to us that they never created or issued a report on fill or groundwater quality, contrary to statements made by Mr. Rossi.”
“The Ministry of the Environment Climate Change unit (MOECC) comment on the Pinchin reports states that “there is no groundwater impact “at this time””. Be aware that the monitoring wells are at the Airpark property boundary. If any contaminants of concern exist, it could be years, even decades, for these contaminants to migrate through the fill, to the monitoring wells.
“A negative test result on groundwater does not necessarily prove that the imported fill itself is “clean” of contaminants. Groundwater quality is an indicator of contamination.’
“ The only way to conclusively know whether the imported fill meets “clean fill” guidelines, is to sample and test the imported fill itself” added Goulet.
“Only by doing comprehensive sampling and testing of the fill can we answer the concerns on possible fill contamination, once and for all.”
“Why hasn’t this been done?” he asked
“Why isn’t the MOECC ordering that fill testing be done?
 Historically – this is an important picture. On the left at the rear is Burlington staff lawyer Blake Hurlet, in front of him is lawyer Ian Blue who argued the city’s Air Park case at both Superior Court and at the Apellate Court – he won both times. Hurley was the person who supported Blue on the city side. The big guy in the suit is Scott Stewart, General manager who led the city in its battle with the air park. In the rear is Vanessa Warren, the woman who pulled together the community coalition to fight for the north Burlington residents. The three men are, form the right,. Monte Dennis, Ken Woodruff and Roger Goulet. Dennis and Warren were sued by the Air Park for remarks they made that were published in the Burlington Gazette. The Gazette was also sued. None of the lawsuits have gotten to a court room yet. “Why isn’t the City of Burlington requiring that fill testing be done? After all, the ‘Site Alteration and Fill Bylaw’ requires that imported fill be certified as meeting the clean fill guidelines.”
“In recent MOECC correspondence, they state that fill quality is within the City’s jurisdiction.”
“Once we have representative data on the imported fill quality, the experts can do a complete ecological risk assessment. Without it, the risk assessment is effectively meaningless, with respect to health or environmental effects.”
“If unacceptable risks are found, a remediation plan can be developed to appropriately deal with the affected area(s).”
“If no unacceptable risks are found, then we can focus on correcting the adverse negative impacts on neighbouring properties and surrounding environment.”
“The damage done must be made right, and measures taken to prevent further negative impacts.”
“With regards to off-site adverse impacts, the MOECC has a clear mandate.”
“Why then is the MOECC not acting to order corrective and preventative actions?”
“The Airpark neighbours have rights too. One of these rights is not to suffer damages as a result of others.”
“Lastly,” said Goulet, “PERL and RBGC support a stronger ‘Site Alteration and Fill’ Bylaw. The abundance of excess fills across the HGTA needs to be regulated at the Municipal and Provincial levels.”
“The quality and quantity of excess unwanted fills must be controlled, especially for contaminated fills and soils.”
“Site alteration must be regulated.”
“The consequences of no clear regulatory regime resulted in the Burlington Airpark landfill.”
“The City Site Alteration and Fill Bylaw must apply to all imported fills, including for airparks and quarries.”
“The Nelson Aggregate quarry has imported tens of thousands of truckloads of fill into a below-the-water-table open pit mine. The imported fill is in direct contact with the groundwater aquifer.”
“The Provincial Ministry of Natural Resources would claim that quarries are in their exclusive jurisdiction. Where have we heard that before?”
“Do we have to fight every jurisdiction to protect our local health and environment? We hope not.”
Mr. Goulet – you are probably going to have that fight as well.
The Air Park has made a practice of putting out statements that are partly true – they use portions of documents that support their position – the rest – they just ignore. And when someone calls them to account – they sue.
Monte Dennis, a north Burlington resident, wrote a response to a Letter to the Editor by Rossi that was published in the Hamilton Spectator. He has been sued for writing that response to the original letter. The Spectator wasn’t sued for publishing the Dennis letter.
 Vanessa Warren – delegating in the past. This time she isn’t releasing her comments to media – they are on the city webcast. There was a second delegation. Vanessa Warren, one of the best delegators we have seen in some time – stood at the podium and delivered her message – which we, unfortunately, at this time cannot pass along to you.
We asked Ms Warren if she would send us a copy of her delegation “I have to get ‘legal’ to say OK first. No one has covered my “expletive” yet.
And that is what this situation has come to. A man, who owns a company that operates an Air Park has sued private citizens for doing what any citizen should be permitted – nay expected to do – which is comment on public matters, has managed to cow an intelligent woman, who is now reluctant to make a copy of remarks she made in a public meeting for fear that her legal quagmire will get worse than it already is.
Vanessa Warren is a candidate for the ward 6 council seat. Should she be elected – would she sit there mute whenever Air Park matters are being discussed?
This is all so disturbing and sad.
Links to previous articles:
Air park sues
Fill being trucked into Air Park – still
 By Pepper Parr
September 9, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
City council returned from its summer hiatus. They did gather in a hurried meeting on August 14 to ask the province to declare the city a disaster area – that hasn’t happened yet, but other than that these guys have been on holiday since July 14th.
Council used the day portion of their Monday meeting to explain what happened on August 4th. It’s an interesting story – they explained how we really had three storms, one almost right on top of the other. Then city staff explained all the steps that are being taken – by others – to help the victims.
 There may be people in this city who will not have furnaces that work by December. And there are victims – this city is going to have people who may not have furnaces in their homes by December. These are real crises – but the public isn’t hearing too much about them. Partly because some of the people don’t want to talk; they don’t want the public to know how bad their personal situation is. What that does, unfortunately, is stop the flow of donations.
People react when their emotions are touched. If the story is not told – people are not moved to help. We are in that very painful place where “pride goeth before the fall”.
Much of this council meeting was devoted to Vince Rossi and the Air Park problem. Rossi’s name didn’t get mentioned that often but everyone knew that the revised site plan bylaw is focused on what the city is going to have to do with that site.
All the court cases; there were two of them – the city won both, made it clear that the city has both the right and the responsibility to enforce its bylaws on Air Park property. However the city has been holding back – waiting for the date after which the Air Park loses the right to Appeal the decision of the Appellate Court to the Supreme Court of Canada.
 Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster at the Air Park. Until very recently she has been a bit of an apologist for the Air Park – now has nine people running for her seat. While Mr. Rossi has said that he will not be appealing to the Supreme Court the relationship between the city and the Air Park is so bad – the city just doesn’t trust the guy nor do any of the residents – that not much gets done. Ward 6 council member Blair Lancaster has, until recently been a major apologist for the Air Park – she has moved away from that position quite a bit – that would happen when you have nine people running against you for your council seat.
There was a report from planner Mike Crough on the Freedom of Information issues. He has been beavering away for more than a year trying to get information from the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) on tests that were done on the Air Park property. The MOE does not have permission from one of the participants – their privacy rights will be eroded if the information is released.
No one is saying that the person refusing to give permission to release the reports is the Air Park but everyone believes that it is the Air Park doing the refusing.
Then there is the noise and nuisance bylaw that the Air Park is having its way with. Trucks are on the site as early as 5:30 am when they are not supposed to be operating before 7:00 am.
King Paving is currently doing some work widening the main north south runway. The city would love to know why this is being done; but the runway is part of the aeronautics and that is something the city has no input on.
Then there is the testing of the soil that was dumped on the property
What Vince Rossi has failed to understand is this – you can’t beat city hall. You can diddle them, you can jerk them around; but when it comes down to the short strokes – city hall holds all the cards that matter.
It is clear to even those people with white canes that the Air Park is going to have to get a site plan alteration permit – and that is not going to be easy.
 Vince Rossi, president of Burlington Executive Airpark Inc., at a meeting with members of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition that took place in a barn a couple of hundred yards from the end of his largest runway. Vince Rossi has shown that cooperation, collaboration and working with the community are not part of his skill set. He is going to do it his way. The problem with that approach is that with a $4.5 million mortgage on the property, Mr. Rossi is going to need to sell a lot of airplane fuel to service that mortgage – or he has to develop the property. In order to develop anything on that 200 + acres he is going to need help. And that will call for collaboration, cooperation and working with community.
Several of the smarter business minds in this city have come to the conclusion that new leadership of the Air Park corporation is going to be needed. “Vince can’t pull this off – he has pissed off too many people; someone is going to have to take him out.” said a very reliable source
Vince Rossi wasn’t the only person who was vying to buy the Air Park from the Kovachuck family. There may be a situation where one of those past bidders will re-enter the arena. This issue is far from over.
The last thing city council did Monday night was go into closed session to discuss a confidential legal report on – wait for it – the Air Park.
By Staff
September 5, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON.
It has been one of those summers – floods, awkward weather, there were a couple of good weekends but the environment on the whole has not been good to us.
 Blue green algae tends to float near the surface and wave action brings it close to shore. Its colour makes it very easy to identify. Exposure to the algae causes skin irritation. Add to the woes is the news from the Halton Region’s Health Department advising residents to avoid swimming and wading in the waters at Beachway Park and LaSalle Park in Burlington because blue-green algae (BGA) have been identified at these locations. Residents are also advised not to eat fish caught in these areas and not to let pets play in or drink the water.
Halton’s drinking water is not affected and continues to be safe.
“Some blue-green algae have the potential to produce toxins or skin irritants,” explained Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton Region Medical Officer of Health. “Adverse health effects from the algae can be caused by drinking BGA-contaminated water. Additionally, skin irritation and itching can result from skin contact with BGA-contaminated water.”
As a precaution, signs have been posted to warn beach users.
If you have been swimming or wading in these waters and feel unwell, please visit your physician or walk-in clinic.
 By Pepper Parr
September 5, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
She has been around politics most of her life.
She loves the process and believes fervently that the democratic process and the parliamentary tradition are what bring prosperity and opportunity to the individual. Elected to the House of Commons in 1993 Paddy Torsney is now the Permanent Observer at the United Nations for the International Parliamentary Union.
The organization is based in Geneva but Torsney runs their show at the United Nations and now lives in New York where she is – “adjusting”.
“I can walk to work which is nice. But New York is different.”
 Paddy Torsney has been on the front line of every progressive issue involving people and their rights. Her job is one of persuasion. Working to get changes made within parliamentary democracies.
“We hold hearings and invite people to attend. Our objectives are to bring about changes in those countries that have policies and practices that are not in keeping with human rights taken for granted in the Western world. Frequently” said Torsney “a country will take a position on an issue but they fail to follow up with legislative changes and they don’t make provision for the changes in their budgets.” Talk, as Torsney knows all too well is cheap
The Ninth Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, takes place this weekend in Geneva.
The Meeting will be held under the overall theme of the “Economic empowerment of women” and will examine how women Speakers should take the lead in working towards that goal. Important questions will be explored such as: how to build a social, cultural and legal environment that is conducive to the economic empowerment of women? Among the leading questions to be discussed are: How to ensure that national budgets and policies take into account women’s needs? How to facilitate women taking a leading role on this?
The meetings of women Speakers of Parliament aim at providing women in the highest decision making positions of parliament a regular forum and opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences on gender issues which are of interest to their national and international agendas.
Paddy Torsney is right in there using her skills and her experience to lead, advise and support the people on the front lines of social change. Her appointment is for two years and that has in the past been extended. Torsney’s predecessor held the job for seven years.
 Torsney served as the Burlington chair of the United Way drive in 2012/13. Here she meets with Brian Ferguson, who went on to serve as the UW chair for Burlington the following year. Paddy returns to Burlington frequently. She decided to maintain her home here; life in New York keeps her busy as well. “I bought a series of concert tickets and you would be surprised at the number of people who drift through New York and give me a call.
The IPU has four Standing Committees; Peace and International Security, Sustainable Development; Finance and Trade; Democracy and Human Rights and United Nations Affairs.
Torsney works at the United Nations with a staff of six most of her time with four or five trips to Geneva where the 50 IPU are headquartered.
One of the issues the IPU is working on is girls that are put into child marriages. “These things happen in many countries in large measure because the laws in those countries permit this to happen. The IPU works at getting discussion going with these countries and working to bring about a change in their laws.” It is a long slow process most of the time but the IPU, which has been around for a long time, understands this process all too well. Formed on June 30th, 1889 by a group of parliamentarians meeting in Paris, they created what is now known as the Inter Parliamentary Union. There are now 47,000 parliamentarians attached to the IPU. At one point Paddy Torsney was the Canadian representative on the IPU.
“We work closely with a lot of the Non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) who are on the ground in a way we can’t be” said Torsney
As for Paddy and New York – “well the rents are high and there is so much to choose from in this city. Torsney has had to re-orient herself and get used to the way the United Nations works – which is a lot different that the House of Commons in Ottawa where she served for seven years as an elected representative.
She was born Patricia Ann Torsney, in Burlington, Ontario and grew up to become a politician.
Torsney was educated at McGill University, a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1985. From 1985 to 1989, she worked as a special assistant to the office of David Peterson, the Liberal Premier of Ontario. Torsney then worked as a Senior Consultant to the firm of Hill and Knowlton from 1989 to 1993.
Torsney was first elected to parliament in the election of 1993, defeating her closest opponent, Progressive Conservative Mike Kuegle, by almost 10,000 votes. The Progressive Conservatives had previously held the riding since 1972.
 Torsney is one of the more fashionably dressed woman in Burlington – the opportunities to shop in New York will be absolutely delicious for her. The PCs under Jean Charest targeted Burlington in the 1997 election, but Torsney again defeated Kuegle by just over 3,500 votes. She won an easier victory in the 2000 election, against a more divided opposition.
The newly formed Conservative Party of Canada made a strong bid for the riding in the 2004 election, running local Councillor Mike Wallace against Torsney. Most observers believed that Torsney would lose. However, a last-minute resurgence in Liberal support resulted in a 4,000-vote victory. In the 2006 election, she again faced off against Wallace, losing to him by 2,570 votes. In the 2008 election Torsney lost to Wallace by 9,027 votes.
Torsney was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment from 1998 to 2000. On July 20, 2004, she was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation.
In 2002, Torsney chaired a committee which recommended several changes to Canada’s drug laws, including the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana.
Torsney was the President of Canadian group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and has worked for the worldwide abolition of land mines. She is also a former board member of UNICEF Canada.
In 2007, Liberal Party of Canada Leader, Stéphane Dion, appointed Torsney as Deputy Principal Secretary in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition. She resigned from the position in April 2008.
Is political life over for Torsney – the job she has now means no political involvement – but it doesn’t stop her from holding the annual breakfast she has held for 20 years – a time when she invites young women from Burlington schools to a breakfast where a speaker talks about the role women have played and can continue to play in public life.
This year one can expect Karina Gould to be on hand for that breakfast – she attended one of those breakfasts when she was 15 years old – today she is the federal Liberal candidate for Burlington.
 By Staff
September 5, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Two of Halton Region’s popular fall waste diversion events are fast approaching. The fall Compost Giveaway event will take place on Saturday, September 13 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Halton Waste Management Site (HWMS) located at 5400 Regional Road 25 in Milton.
Halton Region will also be hosting the remaining two Special Waste Drop-Off Days on Saturday, September 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Sheridan College in Oakville and on Saturday, October 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Mohawk Raceway in Campbellville.
 Composting – best way to get a garden to really produce – and this time it is free. To ensure a healthy garden, a blend of 60 per cent topsoil and 40 per cent compost should be used. Compost Giveaway Event
During the one day fall Compost Giveaway event, Halton Region will offer compost to residents free of charge. Residents must bring their own bags or containers (maximum seven garbage bags or equivalent per household) and a shovel in order to bag their own compost. To ensure a healthy garden, a blend of 60 per cent topsoil and 40 per cent compost should be used.
 Residents attending this year’s fall event are again encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item or cash donation, which will be distributed to Halton area food banks. During the spring Compost Giveaway in May, 3,440 residents picked up approximately 1,500 tonnes of compost created from all of the leaves, brush, tree and garden trimmings collected curbside and dropped off at the HWMS. Residents also donated $7,720 and 4,400 kilograms of food to local food banks as part of the event.
Special Waste Drop-off Days
To make the recycling of household hazardous waste and electronic waste more convenient for residents, Halton Region holds seven Special Waste Drop-off Days throughout the year, free of charge. At the remaining two upcoming events held on September 27 and October 25, residents are welcome to drop-off acceptable items such as: pesticides, paint, motor oil, antifreeze, propane tanks, computers, stereos, TVs, DVD players and VCRs. Special Waste Drop-off Days are for Halton residents only. No commercial waste is accepted. For the complete list of acceptable and unacceptable items please visit www.halton.ca/waste.
Residents who are unable to attend the Special Waste Drop-off Days may drop off acceptable hazardous waste (20 litres per trip, no commercial materials) and electronic items free of charge at the HWMS, 5400 Regional Road 25, Milton, Monday to Saturday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
By Pepper Parr
September 4, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The election for the ward 4 city council seat took on a bit of a different twist when Dan Davidson announced that he was going to withdraw from the race and support Carol Gottlob.
Alexandra Kubrik has said she too would be withdrawing from the race. Several months ago John Sweeney also said he would not leave his name on the ballot and has since withdrawn. Steve Kempf is not expected to remain on the ballot.
 Carol Gottlob, English as a Second Language teacher, first time candidate for public office. That makes ward 4 a two man race (sorry about that Ms Gottlob) with a long term incumbent who knows everything there is to know about how city hall runs. Jack Dennison can certainly get things done.
The issue for many is Dennison’s inability to differentiate between his personal interest and his responsibility to serve as both a steward and a protector of the rules, procedures and bylaws of the city of which he is a council member. During the four years I have observed Jack Dennison I’ve come to the conclusion that he sees the two as much the same.
In his withdrawal statement Dan Davidson said: I would like to make an important announcement in the race for the Ward 4 Burlington City Councillor position. I have decided to withdraw my candidacy for Ward 4 because I have been unable to transition from my current role and responsibilities on a major Government of Canada assignment.
Over the last number of weeks it has become very clear to me that my platform and that of Carol’s are almost identical. I put my full support behind Carol Gottlob in her candidacy for Ward 4.
I feel that it is critical that the people of Ward 4 have a change in leadership that will take them in the direction that community residents would like to go. Someone who deeply listens to residents, who will preserve our communities, who will enhance our recreation, and who will develop Burlington in an evolutionary manner for the years to come.
I believe that Carol has this vision, and is an excellent alternative to the incumbent.
Carol Gottlob’ s challenge now is to take that endorsement along with the support she currently has and build it quickly, very quickly and get her name out in front of people. Her campaign needs a lot of organization but first time candidates have come up the inside before.
It is too early to tell if Gottlob is a real campaigner. She presents well, come across as very decent, likable and prepared to listen and represent the interest of her community. At least now she doesn’t have to fight for votes that three other people wanted.
 Jack Dennison, ward 4 Councillor for more than 20 years. Dennison has his supporters – it would be stretching things a bit to talk of them as a solid core. The 2010 election was no cake walk for Dennison. If the Roseland Community Organization quietly asks its members to support Gottlob she will take everything south of New Street; Dennison certainly isn’t going to take that part of town.
The real challenge for Gottlob is the stretches of the city between New and Prospect and then between Mainway and Upper Middle Road.
The people south of New Street know what the issue is – those north of New Street are not impacted by the application to sever his Lakeshore Road property to the Committee of Adjustment and, having failed at that level, appealed their decision to the OMB.
It is unfortunate that the OMB hearing on the Committee of Adjustment appeal is not going to be heard before the election. After more than one adjournment the OMB hearing is now scheduled for some time in December.
By Staff
September 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
She was an older person. The criminal took a total of $150,000 from the woman’s bank account through a series of transactions over a period of time.
Halton Police need the public’s assistance to identify this criminal.
Between June 11th and July 2nd, 2014, the elderly victim was contacted by unknown persons whom she believed to be family members, asking for a loan.
This unknown person arranged for the elderly victim to be picked up by an alleged taxi driver who subsequently transported the victim to her financial institution and assisted the victim in the transfer of funds.
On three occasions, this “taxi driver” transported the victim to her bank and facilitated the transfers, totaling $150,000.00.
Police are requesting the public assistance in identifying this unknown suspect.
Suspect description:
Male, White
40-50 years
Tall/large build
Long straight hair (just past shoulders)
Clean shaven (possible chin growth)
Sideburns
On all occasions, suspect wore knee length shorts, t shirt, black zip up vest, white runners.
Please contact D/Cst Nada JOVIC at 905 825-4747 ext 2344 for any information relating to this occurrence/suspect.
 By Staff
September 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The Burlington Community Foundation released the different aid packages that will be available and the processes they expect to follow. The information was released at a media event at Central Arena Wednesday morning.
What types of funds are available to victims?
The BCF Flood Disaster Relief Committee has identified two types of financial assistance for flood victims:
1. Advance funds to help with costs associated with emergency living expenses
2. Assistance for Losses and Damages for more complex requirements
What are the details of the Advance funds?
Advance funds of up to $1,000 will be made available to victims who have no insurance coverage for emergency additional living expenses. Eligible costs are: evacuation costs, accommodation and meals, and essential clothing.
How do I make an Advance funds claim?
Applicants are asked to complete an Advance Funds Claims Package that includes filling out a form, attaching receipts, and providing all requested information. The package must be submitted to the BCF Flood Disaster Relief Committee at Burlington Community Foundation, 3380 South Service Road, Unit 107, Burlington, Ontario, L7N 3J5 by October 4, 2014.
 The form can be found at www.burlingtonfoundation.org or residents can call 905 639 0744 ext.223 to arrange for an Advance Claims Package to be mailed, picked up or delivered. Our Committee is committed to assisting people in completing the form to expedite the claims process if that is requested.
Advance funding is being made available through generous community donations received from Burlington friends, neighbours, businesses and organizations.
How long will it take to receive Advance funding?
The Committee will work quickly to ensure these funds begin to be disbursed as rapidly as possible, and plans to start approving funds by September 15, 2014.
What are the details of the Assistance for Losses and Damages funding?
The Assistance for Losses and Damages funding is designed to assist victims in greatest need with more extensive losses and damages, and who were either uninsured or underinsured for their building and/or contents. Homeowners and tenants, small businesses, non-profit organizations and farms can apply. Applicants will be required to fill out a more complete form that will be made available at www.burlingtonfoundation.org by September 30th. At that time, more information outlining what expenses are eligible will also be provided.
How much money will victims receive?
The amount of funding provided depends on two variables – how much money is raised in the community during our fundraising campaign and whether the City of Burlington’s application to the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) for 2 to 1 funding is approved.
It is important to note that throughout our fundraising campaign the City and our MPPs will be communicating with the province on the status of the ODRAP application.
The Committee will review status of the 100 day community fundraising campaign on October 4th, at which time they expect to be in a position to determine how much funding is currently available to provide some further financial assistance to those in greatest need. Victims will be asked to submit an Application for Assistance for Losses and Damages funding with a specified deadline date provided. This process is more complete and will take more time. It requires the services of an insurance adjuster who will assist in determining the level of damage and relief. The claims process will adhere to ODRAP guidelines to ensure our process meets ODRAP’s terms and conditions.
How will the BCF Flood Disaster Relief Committee determine eligibility for Assistance for Losses and Damages funding?
The Committee will work to provide some financial assistance to victims in greatest need and will work closely with the insurance adjuster to determine and communicate the process, timelines for review and decisions on funds provided.
Who is the insurance adjuster?
Following ODRAP guidelines, the Committee is currently requesting three quotes from reputable and qualified insurance adjusting companies. We expect to make a decision by September 30th.
How often will the Committee communicate to flood victims, and the community at-large, to provide updates and new information?
The Committee is committed to communicating regularly to flood victims and community members. We will post updates on the BCF Flood Relief website at www.burlingtonfoundation.org every two weeks, or more frequently when important information becomes available.
By Pepper Parr
September 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
“We need money and we need it now” was the way local disaster fund chair Ron Foxcroft put it to an audience of about 50 people at the Central arena Wednesday morning.
 Front of the Burlington Community Foundation web site explains what they are all about. Foxcroft, chair of the Disaster Relief Fund that is raising the funds made it clear to anyone in the room that the only thing that mattered was raising the $2 million target. If we don’t raise those dollars there will not be any money to hand out.
 Foxcroft, who is loquacious when there is a microphone in front of him, explained just how “simply unheard of” the flood was for the city. Toronto’s flood was 100 mm, Hurricane Hazel was 121 Burlington got 191 mm of rain in a couple of hours.
Mayor Goldring said there were now 3100 homes flooded to date as well as a number of businesses.
Foxcroft has set a high bar to get over; he wants the bulk of that $2 million target on the table by October 4th. He calls it his hundred day campaign which takes him to the middle of December but the bulk of that money is needed now.
 Disaster Relief Fund chair Ron Foxcroft will drive the fund raising part of the program. Want to see the biggest part of the $2 million in the barn by October 4 – gives himself 100 days to complete the job. Foxcroft estimates that the loss on the residential side is $83 million with an additional $10 million in commercial operations.
“Something between 10% and 20% of the residential damage is uninsured –which is $8 to $16 million dollars. “We aren’t going to be able to raise that much money but the target of $2 million to be raised locally is more than do-able and Foxcroft is setting out to make it happen.
We will be knocking on some hard doors in the days ahead.
Foxcroft reported that there was now $350,000 in donations. There is still a lot of money raised by small groups that is working its way to the Disaster Fund bank account that is being managed by the United Way.
Foxcroft said that something between 400 and 500 people are going to need help; he hoped there would be enough to help all of them.
The Rotary had 60 volunteers out at Ribfest. Their official number has not been released but the number of $40,000 plus was mentioned.
Colleen Mulholland, Rick Goldring and Mike Wallace sent the $1000 Exgratia grant they received from the Region along to the disaster fund. Foxcroft passed along the $20 he won in a Tiger Cats, Argonauts bet – if that target is to be met Foxcroft is going to have to make bigger bets.
Some people found themselves wondering why nothing was happening. Foxcroft explained that he was moving quickly on the raising of funds locally. Mayor Goldring added that the Burlington applications are moving at the “speed of light” compared to what other municipalities have experienced in the past.
The Disaster Relief Committee is not just about raising money – it is about distributing funds to people who need the help.
There will be two aid packages.
One with an upper limit of $1000 to cover immediate essential such as paying for accommodation because people cannot live in their homes.
Some people lost all their clothing. This aid package is for immediate needs.
Funds for this $1000 aid package will be available as early as September 15.
 Burlington Community Foundation president Colleen Mulholland has been at the wheel of the organizational effort to get a process in place that will raise funds and then distribute those funds – soon. The second package is for those people who were uninsured or under-insured and is quite a bit more complex and will require more paper work “and it will” explained BCF president Colleen Mulholland “take more time”
“There are procedures and protocols within the ODRAP program that we are going to comply with” she said. “We are not going to get caught off side on this.”
The forms and procedures for both aid packages will be on the BCF web site.
 The level of desperation for some was evident when a man from the audience said he had no insurance – this is the fourth flood we have experienced in a year and a half. “What are we supposed to do” he said, “it makes you want to cry”.
Indeed it does – and on Wednesday morning there were no hard answers for anyone. There weren’t even promises – there were processes.
This is not going to be easy for anyone. The first part is to raise funds locally and then press the province to come through with what the existing legislation does permit. Burlington just has to convince the bureaucrats that we need their help.
The information people will need, will be on the Burlington Community web site September 4th.
By Pepper
September 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Part 3 of 3
I had occasion to take the GO train the day before Ribfest started and bumped into an old university friend who was once in the fund raising business in a big way. He got bought out by a large bank (go figure that one) and he moved on to other endeavours. I agreed not to identify the individual because he has a high public profile in the academic world.
He had some word comments on Burlington’s disaster experience. “It may be too late for Burlington to raise the funds they need” he said. The city has failed to adequately tell its story and without a story the wallets just don’t open. Giving money to people who need help is an emotional thing – raise the emotions and you raise the funds.
“And” he added “there has to be a consistent public voice. It has to be daily, the community leader – and it really doesn’t matter who that leader is – just as long as there is one the public can identify with – has to be out there daily with new information giving people the re-assurance they need.
“Focus on the activity, not on the outcomes and empower people to make decisions and say no to something they don’t feel is right” he said . “What is important in any fund raising initiative is determining who is at the table. Based on what I’ve seen there doesn’t appear to be all that much in the way of “grass roots” involvement. You seem to have all the established groups running the show” the source added. He noted that the Red Cross was in the field very quickly – but asked – where was the Salvation Army?
“There is no place for the 9-5 mind set when raising funds for disaster relief and the effort has to involve the grass roots” said this source.
The biggest task is telling the story – the people impacted have stories to tell – and those stories matter.
 Ron Foxcroft who can now walk around town with his head held high after the squeaker of a score in the annual Labour Day CFL game between Toronto and Hamilton – the Tiger cats took it by a point, tells the story of “a lady at the game, single mom, with a son in a wheel chair, Spinal Bifida since birth, handed my son Dave $10. She said, this is for the Burlington Flood Relief Victims. HOLY COW.”
Those are the stories that move people to dig deeper.
“I think Burlington’s city council is way outside their comfort zone with this one” said the former fund raiser. “My observation is that they are more involved in being self-congratulatory – how long are they going to talk about being the best mid-size city in Canada? Don’t get me wrong – Burlington is a fine city – it just doesn’t have all that much in the way of an identity which is why they need other organizations to define them.”
What has become evident to many is the lack of a Standing Committee with procedures in place ready to move in fifteen minutes into the community.
 There are people calling MPP Eleanor McMahon a “rock star” which would horrify her – but her contribution to the getting help from the province has been superb. There has been some really great efforts by some people. Burlington’s MPP, Eleanor McMahon is being referred by people as a “rock star” with her consistent performance. At times it seemed as if she was everywhere. She has been tireless in her work at the provincial level – prodding the government she is a part of to deliver for the city. Publicly McMahon uses all the right words; privately she can be very direct and tart.
McMahon has that public touch – we saw it during the provincial election that brought her to public office and we are seeing it now as she works to get people the help people need. McMahon appears to believe that government is there to help people and if she has anything to do with it – government is going to deliver.
My fund raising source says “Burlington has less than 60 days to get this done and it may already be too late to capture the public’s imagination and emotions.
Ron Foxcroft tends to concur – “We have to drive this and we don’t have a lot of time” he said. This is going to be a private sector initiative and I am confident that the people who can help in a big way – will help in a big way. Great comment, but more than 30 days after the flood there was a total in the United Way account of $150,900 – which is a long, long way from the $2 million that is said to be needed.
There was the suggestion that the fund raising arm get in touch with Fortino’s and see if they would use their cash registers as a collection point. In the past Fortino’s has been the focal point for other fund raising efforts and while those may have been corporate decisions – Fortino’s is a franchise operation where the owners have a strong local identification.
Imagine if you were to be standing there with your wallet in your hand ready to pay for the groceries and the cashier asked if you would like to put a twoonie into the Disaster Relief fund? Do you know how many people walk through those cash registers? Of course you do – you are often one of the people in line waiting to pay for the food.
That idea was floated last Wednesday – waiting to hear an announcement.
Wednesday morning there will be a media event that will focus on the fund raising part of the drive and explain the process and procedures that will be in place for those who wish to apply for financial support.
Let’s see what the province has to say to the people of Burlington.
Part 1 of 3
Part 2 of 3
By Pepper Parr
September 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Part 1 of 3 parts
The rain just poured.
The city manager was away for what was a long weekend for everyone; Pat Moyle didn’t learn about how bad things were until he went into town the following day – the Tuesday and learned that Burlington was in the middle of a disaster much bigger than the December ice storm.
He was at his cottage celebrating his Father’s the 90th birthday; within hours he was on his way back to Burlington – in a hurry.
People in Burlington were stunned. There was basically nothing in the way of communication from the city until well into Tuesday. People were talking to people; those in wards four and five had been through this before, some more than once before – but much of the rest of the city had not experienced this kind of weather.
Aldershot was basically spared while the council member for Ward 3 made the very inconsiderate remark that he had some “repeat customers”
Councillor Meed Ward – ward 2 said later that there was very little damage in her ward – which didn’t stop her from getting things going, making phone calls and looking for ways to help out.
 By the end of Tuesday it was clear that the city was in the middle of a serious disaster. CHCH television in Hamilton took up the story and there was a lot of tweeting – but if you’re not part of a tweet string – you’re out of the loop. There was no central source of information.
The Region began promoting their 311 service at which people could report the extent of the damage to their homes. This was the collecting of information – which was critical data, the city needed to quantify the damage in order to make its case for support to the province – but none of that meant all that much to the people whose basements were under water and people were still in that “stunned” stage with water as high as their knees.
By Wednesday the Red Cross had people out on the street trying to get a sense as to just how bad the damage was. Before they were done their work they had knocked on more than 10,000 doors
 The Samaritan’s Purse was first out into the community helping. They understood what disasters were all about – they came to Burlington to help. Meanwhile the Samaritan’s Purse had people in homes working at cleaning up the mess. By the end of the first week they had restored more than 35 homes.
The city held a press conference – more for TV than anything and then held a community meeting in one of the harder hit parts of town. That event was exceptionally emotional and very uncomfortable for those from the Region. Regional chair Gary Carr is reported to have not wanted to even attend the event.
Mayor Goldring was exceptional at this event. The compassion people needed was there; the mayor, who was also flooded, listened and responded in a way that few have seen in him before. Deep down he is a bit of a softy – and that was what people needed at that point.
City hall was scrambling to determine what they could do. They knew a little about the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) which has two parts; funds made available to a municipality for damage done and funds made available to individuals. Burlington put in a request for funds as a result of the December ice storm – no money from the province on that one yet.
The public part of the ODRAP program requires a municipality to create a local Disaster Relief Committee. It took Burlington close to a month to get that committee in place. The city first had to pass a motion at Council asking the province to declare the city a disaster area. That happened August 14th – ten days after the flood.
 The early objective was to tell the stories as widely pas possible using every media available. A T-shirt was as good as a television screen The province has yet to actually declare Burlington a disaster area. What was evident to thousands of people in the city, wasn’t as cut and dried (no pun intended) to the province.
Burlington had gone after the public part of the program for the winter ice storm; they have yet to see any of that money. Getting money that would go into the hands of people harmed by the disaster was something city hall was not up to speed on.
Mayor Goldring then began to reach out to community partners for the help needed. He touched the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) to take on the leadership role of creating the local Disaster Relief committee. BCF president Colleen Mulholland took the lead on that even through her own home had been badly flooded.
It took a little longer than many expected to get the basics of the Disaster Relief Committee in place and name a chair – that was supposed to happen on the 27th of August but got pushed back a day. All the public saw was a terse announcement naming Ron Foxcroft as the chair.
Foxcroft was to lead the fund raising side while former city manager Tim Dobbie was to handle the dispersement of the funds that were raised.
Goldring got on to the Burlington/Hamilton United Way and asked them to accept donations for the Disaster Relief fund. Newly appointed United Way head honcho Jeff Valentin, took on that challenge and had a portion of the United Way website set up to receive donations.
Problem was that the flood restricted itself to water and sewage – there wasn’t that much money flowing to the fund even though there were several large donations in the first few days. Newalta stepped up very quickly with $10,000 and the BCF put $15,000 of their money on the table to which CUPE added $10,000.
Before the start of the Labour Day weekend there was just over $150,000 in the account – to be fair there is thousands of dollars from different groups working its way to the account.
 A Rotarian stacks the buckets that were used during Ribfest to hustle as much as possible from a potential audience of 150,000 + Goldring then reached out to Linda Davies, president of the Lakeshore Rotary – and asked if they would use Ribfest as a fund raising event. Davies got on the telephone and within hours had a buy in from all four Burlington Rotary organizations and then displayed the plastic buckets that would be used to collect twoonies and paper money, if people were so inclined, at the Ribfest kick off.
Things were coming together very well on the fund raising side – at least the potential is there for all to see. The proof of course is in the pudding and we’ve not seen that yet.
Part 2 of 3 parts
Part 3 of 3 parts
 By Pepper Parr September 2, 2014 BURLINGTON, ON Wow! Do you know what they did over on Elwood Street last Monday?
 Glenn Nicholson, the man on Elwood who came up with the idea of holding a street event to raise some money for the local Disaster Relief fund. His team brought in more than $20,000. They raised 20 big ones – $20,000. That is a truly amazing number and one that Ron Foxcroft chair of the local Disaster Relief Committee is going to have to bust his buns to better. Foxcroft will bring in more money – he has a bigger field to work – but relatively Glenn Nicholson, the guy that got the Elwood Up the Creek event off the ground. Nicholson is the kind of leader that is quick to point out that the $20,000 number wouldn’t have happened without a lot of help – and that is certainly true . But those volunteers would not have had a chance to come forward if Glenn Nicholson had not first stepped up. Great work. Nicholson pointed out that the amount of money that gets to the Disaster fund might be a little less than $20,000. “We have a few invoices that haven’t come in yet – the insurance bill and the cost of the T-shirts.” But still – $20,000 is a lot of hot dogs.
By Pepper Parr
September 2, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
He`s running for office and tackling a major problem in ward 5 – and he`s letting people know there are solutions to the problem – but the city has to take action and do so now – to solve a serious problem.
Should James Smith take the Ward 5 seat from incumbent Paul Sharman – we now know what his first act is going to be at the first Development and Infrastructure Standing Committee meeting.
In prepared remarks Candidate for Burlington’s Ward 5 in the October 27th Municipal Election, James Smith, addressed the need for immediate solutions required for Burlington’s neighborhood’s that have ongoing flooding and sewage back-up issues.
Ward 5 candidate James Smith believes floods like this can be prevented. Smith asks and answers two questions: “How do we fix this problem?” and “How do we pay for it”?
For the first time during this devastating flood, someone has said publicly what could be done and how it would be paid for. The citizens of this city have not heard a word from city hall nor the Regional offices as to what could be done.
Smith proposes a ten point plan that puts the city to work immediately for those affected by the August 4th and previous floods. “The city”, he says “has allowed this problem to go unresolved for far too long. We need action now!”
Smith maintains part of the issue is administrative. “Some of the answers were made known to council as far back as 2007 in a report: Understanding Storm-water and Residential Flooding & Proposed Actions & Strategie s, July 2007– which has yet to be fully acted upon.”
Letting reports sit and collect dust has to end, said Smith. “As a City Council we either act, or we specifically and publicly choose to reject staff recommendations. Having problems languish is no solution. Burlington needs a protocol for not letting staff reports and recommendations sit and gather dust.”
Smith points out that in the July 2007 report there were two reasons, for basement flooding due to sewage backup, identified: downspouts and weeping tile connection to sanitary sewer lines. “These two problems should be our first priority.”
Smith’s ten points address the problem. “This council and the current Ward 5 Councillor have allowed this to be neglected.” Smith doesn’t mention the fact that the current Mayor represented ward 5 prior to 2006.
Smith addresses how we pay for these actions. “Many people have asked, as I’m presenting these ideas: How do we pay for them? Money now allocated in development accounts must be re-allocated to solve this problem and, he adds money budgeted for the roads should be spent on this urgent need.”
 James Smith, on the left, led the Friends of Freeman Station in saving the building from a scrap heap. He sits with the Freeman five, the people that are leading the restoration of the building on Fairview next to the fire station Smith also points out “the city presently has more than twenty million dollars budgeted for rebuilding North Service Road and the Walkers Line intersection: this money was allocated to allow for IKEA to move to the area; that move isn’t going to take place -, spend this money now helping those affected by the flood.
The following is Smith’s ten-point action plan for the city and the Region of Halton to fix the flooding problem in Burlington neighborhoods:
Smith sets out immediate plans and longer term plans. His immediate actions are:
1: The Region of Halton and the City of Burlington must implement a program, fully paid for by the Region of Halton and the city of Burlington to disconnect foundation drains (weeping tiles) from the Sanitary Sewer System in the areas most frequently experiencing the problem of sewer backup.
2: The city has to make downspout disconnection mandatory. We know the areas worst affected, get the word out, and inspect property for non-compliance. Like foundation drain connections the Region of Halton and the City of Burlington have to pay for this program.
3: Add or enlarge Storm-water capacity and catch-basins where required and retrofit sanitary sewer access points to prevent storm water from entering the Sanitary sewer system and add sewer venting where required.
4: Re-write storm water management rules; Burlington has ignored provincial norms for decades. Specifically we need to bring top of bank and setback rules to provincial standards (or exceed them), reverse the city’s preference for burying creeks and creek channelization, forbid the construction of box culvert crossings of creeks, improve debris clearing of creeks, and forbid development upon, and the destruction of swales.
5: Enact a private property tree by-law. Trees can help retain storm water, and can prevent soil erosion reducing creek flow rates and reduce the harmful effects of storms. (As part of my volunteer activity, over the years, as a member of the Conserver Society, we lobbied against a number of plans by the City of Burlington that would have allowed the destruction of wood lots, channelizing of creeks and encroachment on setbacks of watercourses. If our group had not been successful in preventing the destruction of the Sheldon Creek Wood Lot, the damage from flooding on August 4th would have been much greater in my opinion). The City and the Region needs to also set a goal of increasing the area of our Tree canopy.
 Smith and other candidates,notably Ward 4 incumbent Jack Dennison, point to the wrong way to handle storm water. Longer term solutions:
1: Evaluate and improve Burlington’s emergency response systems and protocols. The events of August 4th are at least the second time this year the city was not up to the job of emergency management. We need a best practice solution to responding to crisis, and communicating with our citizens during a crisis.
2: Set a goal to reduce the area of impermeable surface in the city and the Region. Develop planning regulations that reduce the percentage of hard surfaces in all building permit applications, require greater on-site storm water retention and promote permeable paving systems and implement their use at all City and Regional facilities.
 Smith wants the city and the regional governments to pay for disconnecting downspouts and installing backwater valves and sump pumps in some of the city’s dwellings. 3: Better fund the Regional Conservation Authority and evaluate the uploading of Storm- water management to the Region of Halton
4: Have the Region of Halton Purchase and develop a 3D modeling platform in co- operation with the Colleges and Universities in the Region. This should be an open sourced platform and either housed in a regional theatre, or, better yet, as a mobile presentation kit that can be taken to public meetings. This system should allow for producing Digital Terrain Modeling of the Region, as well as populating this platform with Utilities, Geological, Geomorphological, Roads and Building Intelligent Modelling as well as important flora.
This system could be used in the Region as a visualization tool to study a variety of topics from proposed building projects to storm water management. Tools like this are now being used by some jurisdictions in the UK and Europe. A tool like this would greatly aid in finding solutions to flooding and sewer backup. As building permits are issued, more refined topographical information needs to be included in permits to limit negative storm water impact to neighbouring properties.
5: Evaluate less costly alternatives to traditional concrete sewer pipes (ie PVC), thereby reducing costs and freeing up capital for many of the ideas outlined here
The August 4th rains are a wake-up call on climate change, said Smith. The city, he said needs to take climate change more seriously and do a better job planning for extreme weather events, especially when it comes to rezoning and storm-water management.”
 Everyone wears a smile at the signing of an agreement between the city and the Friends of Freeman Station – getting to this point was not made easy by a majority of city council. James Smith is second from the left. Smith understands there may be legislative difficulties in implementing new spending priorities in an election cycle. “I’m urging Burlington City Council to adopt my five short term actions in principle and petition the Minister of Municipal Affairs to give his approval for this spending so we can get a start before the construction season comes to an end.”
Smith adds one more comment, a plea actually for more donations to the Flood Relief. “Many people’s lives have been turned upside down. As a community we need to do the right thing and dig deep to help our neighbours. Go online to help with Burlington Flood Relief by visiting: https://www.uwaybh.ca/urgent-burlington- flood-relief/”
Smith was the chair of the Friends of Freeman Station that worked tirelessly to save the old railway station that is now being restored after being moved to a new foundation beside the Main fire hall on Fairview.
By Pepper Parr
September 1, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Communities organize themselves in various ways. Almost a month ago many of the people in Wards 4 and 5 were scrambling to save as much of their possessions when their basements were being flooded.
 The food lines wound their way back and forth on Elwood Street. The Bake Sale was a hit and the T- shirts also did very well. That little red head, with blonde Mom behind her gets the hair from a grandmother. That was a month ago and there has been a lot of anguish, despair and hard kitchen table conversations about the financial impact since then.
Many had insurance that covered their situation but just as many, perhaps more, had insurance that is proving to be inadequate. All have homes that are less today than they were August 3rd.
Each household works through its situation differently, some talk to immediate neighbours, some work with their extended families. The placement of homes in suburbs is such that community is different. People aren’t always as close. Burlington has districts, but it doesn’t have neighbourhoods with strong sense of identity.
There are few large apartment buildings where people gather in a party room.
For those in that pocket of Burlington, west of Walkers Line and north of New Street – a short, short walk to Tuck Creek that over ran its banks and did serious damage to the infrastructure – their sense of humour came to the rescue and they organized a street party.
It seemed like a good idea to Glenn Nicholson, the Elwood Street resident who came up with the idea of holding an event for his neighbours. He then watched it grow to the point where he was able to get the Burlington Teen Tour band and CHCH television coverage. Not bad for a local kid. Glenn Nicholson, an Elwood resident decided to organize an event for his neighbours. It was going to be small – just for the people on the street at first – but when the name of the event got around – the occasion grew like topsy. “I have about 35 volunteers and we expect somewhere between 1000 to 2000 people.
Nicholson did get loads of support from his ward Councillor. Jack Dennison made phone calls and got permit fees waived and someone got the Burlington Teen Tour Band out on the street for some marching band music.
We don’t know yet how much Nicholson and his volunteers managed to raise – we will report that when it is available.
 The T shirt says it all for a lot of people. They called it “Up the Creek” which reflected just how many of the people flooded felt as the struggled to save their homes with little in the way of support from the city corporately.
City hall decided to outsource the resolution to another organization and asked everyone else to take on a task while the city worked on recovering as much as it could from the province for the damage done to its infrastructure.
 Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison chats with Mayor Goldring and his wife at the Elwood Street Up the Creek event. The Mayor apparently chose not to wear one of the Up the Creek T shirts. While Calgary is a much bigger city and the flood it was hit with this year was bigger – there wasn’t a day that the citizens of Calgary did not see and hear from there Mayor. Naheed Nenshi, Calgary’s Mayor was everywhere.
Yes Calgary has better media than Burlington ; we are squeezed between Hamilton and Toronto – but a little creativity on the part of the media people at city hall could have had video done and posted on the city web site and loaded up to YouTube.
The Mayor could have gone into communities and meet with people. He did this the once – to great effect. Handling people and their issues seems to be within the Mayor’s comfort zone; certainly not the case with Gary Carr the Regional Chair.
 Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon is everywhere. She is being referred to as a “rock star” by Ron Foxcroft, chair of the Disaster Relief fund. Would it have been different were Goldring being opposed in the municipal election for the job of Mayor? Most certainly – but while it isn’t too late for someone to step forward – those who hold their breath waiting for another name to appear on the ballot are going to have health issues.
For those who felt they were left “Up the Creek” – they will work things out and come away with a different understanding as to what their municipal level of government is doing for them.
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