 By Pepper Parr
June 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
A number of months ago we did a piece on what the city needs in the way of solid candidates for the six council seats. We said then that serving the public was good for ones career. Many corporations want people, who have served at the municipal level, because they have an understanding of the process.
 Rob Narejko fits a large part of the bill we put forward. That does not mean Narejko will be a star candidate – the election process will tell the public, what this man is made of and if he can stay the course and undergo the kind of scrutiny every person who wants to serve the public should undergo.
Who is Robert Narejko? The latest candidate for ward 6, where there are now seven candidates seeking the seat currently held by Blair Lancaster.
Narejko has lived in Burlington, in the same house, for the past 26 years. He likes being close to the GO station and having access to the QEW, 403 and 407. Narejko adds that he likes being a short ride away from our unique rural areas and the green spaces that surround Burlington. His home is in ward six; something that cannot be said for all the nominated candidates.
Narejko met his wife in high school – they have two children – a boy 19 – a girl 16. He has worked in Information technology for the past 30 years both as an entrepreneur and in the large corporate sector.
He has worked with Royal Bank, IBM and PricewaterhouseCoopers , always in the field of information technology, usually on large projects with multi-million dollar budgets and large teams of people assigned to a project, where he was responsible for creating and then managing both the strategic and tactical plans.
His citizen involvement has been mostly with the cycling world. Narejko is an ardent cyclist, who can be found frequently racing up Walkers Line. He also plays fast pitch baseball.
He was Chair of the City’s Cycling Committee, Chair of the inaugural Car Free Sunday events and Race Director of the 2011 Canadian Road Cycling Championships.
Narejko was nominated for Burlington’s Best – Community Service Award 2012.
What makes Narejko different?
He wants city hall to be more accountable. He was a key part of the team involved in bringing pre-Olympic trial bike racing to Burlington. The project failed – Narejko believes city hall just couldn’t make something that should have happened – actually happen.
He doesn’t understand why it took close to a year to complete a neighbourhood study.
Narejko wants to work to ensure Burlington has an increased presence at Regional Council.
Narejko wants people to feel they are getting value for their tax dollars; he adds to that – timely responses. When people go to the building permit counter, he wants them to leave with a document, that sets out every step that has to be taken and probable time lines as well as the name and telephone number of who to talk to if there are problems.
For Narejko – this is aligning words and deeds.
He also wants to see recorded votes for everything at council meetings. There is very simple technology that will let council members press a button to record a vote.
Why is he running for public office?
Narejko believes the City needs to be accountable for results to the people and there needs to be a sense of urgency, when city staff respond to people’s questions. The status quo of 12 month time lines is not acceptable in business and is not acceptable in the Public Sector.
“When the City is accountable to the people, it will attract business. Businesses will want to work with a City that wants to work with them, and when business moves in, it means economic activity, bringing in more job opportunities, which will reinvigorate Burlington”, said Narejko.
 Narejko points out that he has worked with many people at city hall over the years and has the utmost respect for them as people and professionals. The problem is the system they are working within. They work within a system that stifles initiative and independent thought. There is no incentive to be a high performing, customer centered employee.
Creating a strategy is very important as it defines your direction and provides guidelines for making decisions. Creating a strategic plan would take up to 2 months in the private sector – Burlington needed 12 months to create its Strategic Plan. For Narejko that just isn’t acceptable.
“It has taken more than 12 months to re-organize the Burlington Economic Development Corporation. Economic development is key to the future of Burlington and we needed a year to re-organize the people who are going to make that happen” asks Narejko.
 For Narejko it is all about community, streets where the road is shared Narejko points out that if you want to hold a new event in Burlington that brings in tourist dollars and drives the local economy by creating jobs, filling hotel rooms and restaurants, you need to have it registered 18 months in advance – whether it is a simple street party or a major national event. In Calgary you only need three months to register an event
In Toronto they can register a street festival with an on line application.
Narejko says he has seen staff at city hall create amazing plans, that work in record time, when they are enabled.
What will Narejko do for you?
He says he will ensure you get value for your tax dollar from the City and Region; make City Hall easier to do business with and get the results you need faster. He says he will work to implement efficiencies and compare our expenses to bench marks with comparable cities.
Narejko wants to engage citizens in meaningful discussions where there are transparent communications – no smoke blowing.
While not yet elected, Narejko has already determined what he wants to get done in his first year: instill a sense of urgency in making decisions, create a plan to handle the intensification of ‘Places to Grow’ without alienating current home owners and represent Burlington better at the Regional level.
This sounds like a driven man. Narejko points to his role models as examples on how one can get things done. Colin Powell, former Secretary of State (USA) and Chair, Joint Chiefs of Staff (US) is seen by Narejko as a thoughtful, inclusive, decisive, strong communicator . Sam Mercanti is another role model. The CEO CARSTAR Canada is a disciplined visionary and a lifelong learner. Narejko adds to these two – his parents who were caring , frugal and supportive.
Rob Narejko doesn’t walk on water – but he has an agenda. He likes the look of the chair the Mayor sits in and believes his skills, his experience and his focus will serve the city well. His plan is to get four years’ experience as a member of council, and then go for the brass ring.
This is a candidate that needs to be looked at very carefully. Does he have the right stuff? The pedigree looks pretty good, but the proof is always in the eating, isn’t it?
It will be interesting to see how Narejko goes up against Vanessa Warren, Jennifer Hlusko, two nominated candidates and incumbent Blair Lancaster.
Narejko’s web site: www.electrobn.com
Related article: Serving as a city Councillor
 By Pepper Parr
June 26, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Henry Schilthuis got his turn to tell the public what the Brant Street Pier settlement was all about. His picture was a little different than that of the Mayor and interim city manager Pat Moyle, who was acting as a spokesperson for the city.
“Quite frankly” said Schilthuis, in a prepared statement “ we believe this process could have and should have been avoided. We did what we had to do to protect our company, and feel vindicated in all we have done to achieve the settlement. We wish the people of Burlington much enjoyment of their waterfront.”
 Henry Schilthuis works from a nondescript office in Ancaster continuing the hard work, honest delivery approach of the 60 year old family firm. There were numerous occasions, when the dispute could have been settled. Former Mayor Jackson never liked the pier – it was a former Mayor Rob MacIsaac initiative, and anything that had MacIsaac’s finger prints on it, was not something Jackson could digest. He advised newly installed Mayor Goldring to tear the thing down in 2010
The settlement is complex, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who the winner was in all this.
The city sued HSS for $10 million – they didn’t see a dime of that money – despite the Mayor assuring the public on several occasions that the city was going to get back every penny. There were a number of council members, who were adamant throughout the past three years, that the city had a strong case and would prevail.
Councillors Craven, Taylor and Dennison who were at the table, when the pier idea was first proposed, didn’t say all that much in public during the 2011 and 2012 council meetings. There were a number, far too many, closed sessions during which council and its legal advisers had long conversations behind closed doors.
 It was a much more professional team on the city side, when the second attempt to build the pier started. Nothing was left to chance and the hard questions were asked every step of the way. Here city manager Scott Stewart and Craig Stevens meet with the steel beam fabricators to ensure that the job gets done right. When the Post made a Freedom of Information request the city objected, but quickly saw the stupidity behind that move and relented – letting the public know, that they had spent $1.3 million on legal fees to date.
The city recovered $1.5 million and is going to be allowed to keep $500,000 in hold back funds it has. This is all the city will see from the three law suits it filed. They sought $10 million from AECOM their project managers; they sought $10 million from HSS and they sought $3.5 million from Zurich Insurance, the HSS bonding company.
The pool of funds set up to make payments, appears to have gone to just the city and HSS. The total amount the city will see is $2 million, while HSS will see $2.4 million, which is made up of the $1.75 million cash payment and a total of $650,000 that will be paid to HSS by other parties.
Besides the $1.75 million it will be paid, HSS will be given an additional $650,000 – for a total net benefit of $2.4 million for HSS.
“I am proud” said Schilthuis, “ of this entrepreneurial and family owned company. Our concerns about the challenges facing the pier guided us in our actions. We maintained our position with dignity and grace – simply because it was the right thing to do. The result of this settlement is proof of this.”
“I want to thank all of our staff and our community. You stuck with us the entire time despite the stress and burden of this onerous ordeal. We have remained true to our values as a 60 year old company and that makes it all worth it.”
A proud man who stuck to his principles and did what he believed to be right and feels the settlement supports his decision to walk off a project, that could not be built with the plans he was given.
The current city council might look to the way Schilthuis handled himself, throughout what he called a “long and arduous ordeal”. City staff had no problem working with Henry Schilthuis – it was the politicians that made a mess of this one. Hopefully council members will reflect on how this worked out and be honest with themselves – this was not their finest hour.
 The pier in December 2011 stripped of all the steel Schilthuis installed – with nothing but the caissons in place. The trestle to the right of the pier was used for construction equipment to lay down the new beams. During the summer when people talk about how they want to vote come October – they might be persistent and consistent in asking the incumbents, what went wrong.
The $6 million plus that was spent would have done a lot for our transit system and road maintenance work, that we are so far behind on. Hold their feet to the flames.
By Pepper Parr
June 24, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The full story on the Brant Street Pier settlement is going to come out in bits and pieces. Yesterday the city of Burlington got its story out. The announced that they were awarded $1.5 million from a pool of funds and got to keep an additional $500,000 they had on hand as a hold back from a company; they weren’t prepared to say who the hold-back belonged to.
 It was a unique design, it was going to put the city on the map – all it did was keep everyone in a room with their lawyers. With those numbers on the table, the city declared victory and said it was time to move on. “The city has $500 million in capital projects going on and from time to time some of those projects don’t work out” said the Mayor. The pier was one of those projects that didn’t work out and the public is apparently going to be expected to suck it up and accept the fact that the pier has cost twice the original price.
Later this week Harm Schilthuis and Sons Ltd., (HSS) will tell its side of the story in a press release.
The Gazette can tell you now that HSS will be given $1.75 million cash from the pool of funds that was created plus an additional $650,000 which will be funds other parties have to pay them.
In an early version of this article there was a typo showing the amount as $65,000. The correct amount is $650,000
This settlement is not yet final; two of the nine parties had to get approval from their boards. While these two parties were not named – it seems pretty clear that they are the ones who have had to contribute the bulks of the funds to the pool.
That pool will pay out $1.5 million to the city of Burlington and $1.75 million to HSS which brings the pool total to $3.25 million – so far
Henry Schilthuis, president of HSS said he is “satisfied with the settlements. The city of Burlington sued HSS and AECOM for a total of $10 million each and sued Zurich Insurance for $3.5 million – they didn’t get any of that money – all they got was a sum to cover their legal fees.” Schilthuis never felt the city had a case – but it took more than four years of grinding legal work to make that point.
There was a point at which Schilthuis wasn’t sure he could keep the company alive. Tens of thousands was owed to his sub contractors but they stood by the firm and agreed to wait. The wait has proven worthwhile
It is a real stretch for the city to claim that it “won”. One has to wonder just how gullible this council thinks its voters are.
HSS was given more than enough to cover their legal fees and the additional engineering costs that were incurred when they tried to come up with a solution to the engineering problems.
The amounts they will get allows them to pay the sub-contractors who stood by the company while the city was hammering HSS financially.
During the city’s media briefing on Monday, much was made of the “shuttle diplomacy” that former city manager Jeff Fielding used to try and broker a deal.
Before the examinations for discovery took place Fielding got approval from the Mayor to broker a deal said Schilthuis and “we arrived at a figure we could live with” said Schilthuis. But when fielding took it back to Council – council turned it down.
Fielding made another attempt at brokering a deal – but HSS didn’t like the look of the numbers the second time around. They had a better picture as to who did what when as a result of the examinations for discovery and took a pass on the offering Fielding made.
The final settlement documents will get prepared and signed, cheques will get sent out and bills paid and everyone will move on.
At some point the city and Schilthuis will have to figure out what they want to do with the steel, beams that were taken out of the pier, that is now sitting in the HSS work yard in Ancaster. Schilthuis sold the property and is moving to a new location in Caledonia and the steel will have to be removed
By Pepper Parr
June 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
In the world of politics what matters most is the spin that can be put on news that is not all that good. And in the world of politics there is a lot of news that is not that good.
 Steel beams are swung into place during the second round of pier construction. The city of Burlington held a media briefing this morning in which they announced that they had settled their disputes with the people they were suing over the delays in the construction of the Brant Street Pier. They made it sound like a victory.
Interim city manager Pat Moyle explained that a pool of funds had been created and that the city was given $1.5 million from that pool of funds to cover their legal costs.
The mediated settlement, which has yet to be ratified, also said the city did not have to return $500,000 in a holdback they had on hand.
What the public has yet to learn is:
Who put money into the pool of funds? The city said they didn’t put in any money.
Who were they holding back money from? The city wouldn’t say.
All we got was an explanation as to what the city got – not a word about what they didn’t get which was the several million they had sued HSS for when they walked off the job when the determined the pier could not be built with the plans they were given.
After issuing the writs the city was given an alternative proposal from Zurich Insurance to complete the building of the pier for an increased amount. The exact amount the insurance company wanted to complete the job was never very clear.
The idea of creating a pool of funds into which different companies would contribute and then see them distributed to the damaged parties is both creative and unique. Of interest to the citizens of Burlington who have had to pay more than $6 million to Graham Infrastructure to strip away steel and put in new steel and pour new cents to complete the deck of the pier which opened officially just over a year ago.
The city is positioning this as a win – and to some degree it is. They could have gotten whacked by the original contractor for the losses he experienced.
What the public does not know yet is who had to put money into the pool of funds and how much did the different parties put in.
And then – who was that money distributed to?
Let’s look at the parties to the dispute: There were nine of them.
Harm Schilthuis and Sons Limited sued the City of Burlington
City of Burlington sued Zurich Insurance Company (Bonding Company for HSS)
City of Burlington who sued HSS, EFCO, Aecom, Lombard, PV &V, Craneway (Insurance Claim)
City of Burlington sued Aecom
HSS sued Lombard, PV &V, City, Craneway (Insurance Claim)
Out of this crowd who is likely to have gotten money from the pool of funds that was created? We know that the city got $1.5 million to cover their legal costs.
While there has not been a public statement sources indicate that Harm Schilthuis and Sons Limited did not contribute to the pool of funds and an unauthorized spokesperson said “Henry was happy” Henry Schilthuis is the president of HSS.
 Re bar in place ready for the concrete pour around the node that is now the observation platform. City skyline in the background That leaves a bunch of insurance companies and AECOM.
We expect to know in the near future what Harm Schilthuis and Sons Limited was paid out of the pool of funds.
City Council was given a full briefing and “approved a settlement related to the Brant Street Pier that totals $2 million for the City of Burlington and more than pays for the city’s legal costs.” That’s a pretty positive spin. No mention of the millions they sued HSS for because he quit the job he felt couldn’t be built with the plans he was given.
The plans came from Totten Sims Hubicki, (TSH) the architects of the pier who were bought out by AECOM.
“The job of the mediator was to try and facilitate a settlement between the parties, whom I believe all came to table with a willingness to resolve their differences,” said Interim City Manager Pat Moyle.
“The settlement” explained Moyle “is still subject to the final approval of two of the parties’ boards, which the city expects will take place within 10 days from the date of settlement and execution of final releases. There is also a confidentiality agreement related to some of the terms.”
That gag order may prevent the public from ever knowing how much money went into the pool – not that knowing would make all that much difference. What we now know for certain is that the city didn’t recover a dime of the cost for the second contractor.
 Did the city’s reputation take a hit during the pier construction fiasco? We made headlines that was certain. Now we have a pier – it is heavily used and was it worth the price? Another condition that was released was this statement: “No contribution in any form to the settlement shall be deemed an admission of liability, and any such liability is denied.”
What the city has also not released is the amount they paid Morrison Hershfield for the quality assurance work and the amount paid the second project manager METTKO for the work they did to ensure they work was properly done the second time around.
The total cost of the Brant Street Pier construction is $14.4 million. (it is actually quite a bit higher than that). The Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Program funded $4.4 million of this amount while Halton Region provided $2.5 million.
Does the settlement remove the pier as an election issue? Let’s see what unfolds in the next few days.
When asked what went wrong with the project Mayor Goldring said “there are some projects that just don’t work out”.
City staff on the legal and financial side did a very good job. Treasurer Joan Ford took part in the negotiations; if there is anyone who know what the numbers were – it was Ms Ford.
Former city manager Jeff Fielding was thanked for the “shuttle diplomacy” he did trying to get a deal from HSS. That didn’t work.
Getting your legal fees paid and then told to go home isn’t much of a victory – not after turning down an opportunity in 2011 to have the pier built for a lot less than the $6million plus we had to pay Graham Infrastructure and then turning down an opportunity in 2013 to settle.
 A lot of steel, a lot of concrete – did the public get value for the money that was spent. And are there lessons to be learned – and will anyone be held accountable? What appears to be clear – though not certain yet, is that there was a problem with the design which moves the liability to AECOM and the TSH firm they purchased.
When some of the other parties make public statements the picture will become clearer. The city did the right thing strategically and politically by putting out a statement and putting the needed spin on their story.
The fact is – we paid for the pier twice.
By Pepper Parr
June 23, 2104
BURLINGTON, ON.
REVISED
The quickie version of the city’s media briefing on the legal settlement related to the costs of building the Brant Street Pier is that the city say they will not have to pay as much as a dine.
 Mayor takes the position that the pier is now bought and paid for. No more special meetings of council, no more legal fees. The end of a project that has plagued the city since the day the crane toppled. They in fact did quite a bit better – they are going to pocket $1.5 million and hang on to $500,000 that was in a “holdback” account.
What the city did not get was as much as a dime of the $6,429,700 it paid Graham Infrastructure to complete the construction of the pier.
Many on council thought the original contractor should have paid the city for walking off the job when he claimed he could not build the pier with the plans he was given.
That position appears to have been validated – but there are still a lot of details that have yet to be made known – there are some we will probably never know.
The deal is still provisional in that there are two of the nine parties that have to get approval from their boards of directors.
The pier problems have always been complex. From the concept during the Rob MacIsaac era to the Goldring era the project has gone through far too many ups and downs and the full story has not been told and it looks as if there are parts that the public will never get to hear.
The city always took the position that it did nothing wrong and that would seem to be borne out by the details we have to date on the settlement.
The headline we used on a story published yesterday – Final phase of the Brant Street Pier saga about to unfold – it will be painful. The city chose to focus on the getting funds to pay legal fees – not a word about the $6 million it had to pay a different contractor to complete the pier
We will follow up with a more detailed story.
 By Pepper Parr
June 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
City hall has taken to using the old journalism approach: the 5 w’s – Who, what, when, where why to what they tell the public.
 How these seven men and woman “square the circle” and tell the public what it is going to take to finally settle the legal problems related to the construction of the Brant Street pier. Ballooning from more than $7 million to something considerably beyond $14 million can never be justified – but it is something they are going to have to live with. About time. We learned Friday that there was going to be a Special Council meeting at which they would immediately go into a closed session so the city’s solicitor could brief them on what had taken place during three days of mediation.
The city lawyers have always been cautious with information. For years they told the public they could not release any data on how much they had paid the lawyers representing the city. Few understood how that could do any harm but the lawyers held to that position until the Post filed a Freedom of Information requesting asking just how much had been spent on lawyers. The city resisted for a bit but then came to the conclusion that they were going to have to say what the number was – more than $1.3 million.
At this point one would be really hard pressed to see any damage done to the city’s legal position with that number public.
Late Sunday evening the city advised media that there would be a briefing at noon on Monday during which interim city manager Pat Moyle would speak. The purpose of the briefing: “To provide openness and transparency regarding Brant Street Pier legal matters.”
While mediation is a closed process to allow everyone to put their position before everyone else with a mediator looking for a way to pull together an agreement everyone can live with and avoid a lengthy, costly trial, we can tell you this:
There is a deal – but it has yet to be ratified. Mediation went on very long on the first day – well into the evening without much headway. Sometime on Thursday there was a breakthrough and the mediator was able to send everyone back to the offices with instructions to make the deal real by getting the approvals needed.
It was close to impossible to get anyone to say anything during the weekend. Phone calls weren’t returned, “can’t say anything now but give me a call Tuesday” was the response most of the time.
Was it a good idea? With at least two city council candidates that we know of having never walked on the pier it is difficult to see what it was that moved former Mayor Rob MacIsaac to push so hard for the structure. There is a deal but no one is going to be completely happy and it looks as if the city is going to have to bite an expensive bullet. It will be interesting to hear how those council members with rock hard positions a year ago back down and explain themselves.
There were opportunities at several points to settle with the contractor but this council said no. In the next few days this same council is going to have to say yes.
 By Pepper Parr
June 22, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
When people hear what is happening it sounds like the kind of thing you hear about in some banana republic where the roots of a democracy have yet to firmly plant themselves.
A community faces a major issue with a large piece of property where they believe the owner of the property is breaking all the rules. They form an organization and take their case to city council. They contact local media and the story begins to unfold.
The community group delegates to both city council and Regional Council and in both instances make a strong case. The city does a little digging and quickly realizes there is a problem and begins to organize.
They find that the property owner is not cooperating and after a lot of huffing and puffing both sides end up in a court room.
 Placing this large hulking piece of equipment less than 20 yards from a property line is outright harassment. The landfill had already been placed on the property. The physical harassment has now been taken to a judicial level. The city wins its case. Justice John Murray finds that the Burlington Air Park must comply with the city’s site plan by law.
The Burlington Air Park decides to appeal the Justice Murray decision. The appeal court makes up its mind in less than half a day. The air park must comply.
Prior to the appeal, the Burlington Air Park serves Notices of Libel on two citizens and the Burlington Gazette. A Notice of Libel calls for the person that wrote something to retract what they wrote and apologize. Neither the Gazette or the two citizens, Monte Dennis and Vanessa Warren felt there was anything to apologize for.
Prior to the appeal court hearing all three: the Gazette, Dennis and Warren were served with Statements of Claim asking for $100,000 in exemplary damages.
Readers of the Gazette will know what we wrote. Key the words air park into the search engine on our web site and the more than 20 articles will appear.
Monte Dennis wrote a response to a Letter to the Editor that appeared in the Hamilton Spectator. This was a citizen doing what every citizen has a right to do. We note that the Burlington Air Park chose not to include the Hamilton Spectator in the claim for damages. Vanessa Warren wrote the following comment in the Gazette:
The Kovachik family opened the airpark in 1962, and for 44 years operated in harmony with its neighbours and its rural surroundings . You are not allowed to capitalize on that history. The history that you ‘re accountable for is amounting to an environmental disaster in our pristine protected countryside, and you may not manipulate that truth unchallenged anymore.
This is not an airpark improvement issue. This is a landfill issue, a water protection issue, a storm water management issue, a truck entrance and road use issue, and a property destruction and flooding issue.
Are we to celebrate that you ‘ve spent money to improve your for-profi t business? Who doesn ‘t do that? You say you ‘ve spent 4 million in improvements , but what about the income you ‘ve made from charging for untold hundreds of thousands of tons of unregulated fill? What about the protected watercourse you ‘ve destroyed? What about the regionally significant woodlot you gutted? The cost to the environment, the community and the City for your ‘improvements ‘ has been too high to bear.
Ask your immediate neighbours – none of whom have “recently purchased their homes” – bow things have improved for them? Flooded fields are unfarmable. Backyards and septic beds are underwater from silted run off. Sight lines and property enjoyment are destroyed. Anxiety about well water safety is high, and you will not permit the MOE to release on-site testing data. Writing that you ‘ve “always respected your neighbours .. .” is more than untrue; it’s cruel.
There are no unsubstantiated claims. Terrapex Environmental found unacceptably high levels of contaminants like hydrocarbons and heavy metals in the paltry 52 soil reports you were able to provide. Off-site water testing may be fine to date (again, where’s the data?), but how long might it tale for those contaminants to leach into wells?
The City of Burlington legally won the right to impose it’s Site Alteration Bylaw on airpark property , and yet you still will not comply. The community would truly love to know that your property is NOT full of contaminated fill – why don’t you give us the verified, third-party data to prove it?
We are all so weary of your attempts to manipulate . Standing up to you and stopping the trucks was never political, it was ethical, and you have no ethical credibility left.
Vanessa Warren
 Vanessa Warren, founder of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition chose to run for public office and represent ward 6 because she felt the community was not being well served by the incumbent. The owner of the land park is now uses the courts to silence her. What makes the claim against Vanessa Warren so serious is that she is a nominated candidate for the ward 6 council seat where the air park is located. One could take from the Burlington Air Park legal action that they do not want to see Vanessa Warren on city council.
In an Open Letter to city council the group that has been leading the fight against the air park, the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition (RBGC) asked that the city “defend public engagement and public advocacy – the cornerstones of our democratic system – from the Burlington Airpark’s SLAPP suit, so that this type of legal coercion does not silence the citizens of Burlington.”
Prior to the provincial election there was a bill on the order paper calling for laws that would prevent what is being called Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP). It was a private members bill brought forward by the New Democratic Party that got all party approval but that bill died on the order paper when the election was called.
The RBGC hopes it can persuade the provincial government to pick up the bill and make it a priority. They would be delighted if the province moved real quick and then made any legislation retroactive.
The issue is serious, very serious. When people with significant funding at their disposal decide to use the power of a law suit to silence people who care about their community and are prepared to speak out publicly the courts should not be the place where these public issues get worked through.
The Burlington Air Park has paid more than $62,000 in court ordered costs – so the judiciary is doing its part.
What is profoundly disappointing is that the public has yet to hear anything from the Mayor of Burlington or the Regional Chair Gary Carr. These two men lead public opinion and they have in the past put their views forward on important issues. When the Mayor saw for the first time the damage done to the Sheldon property on Appleby Line by the air park landfill he was reported to have said he was appalled.
Disappointing too is the reaction from the private pilots who are seeing the airport they have used for years put at risk. The Gazette has talked to a number of these pilots – not one is prepared to say a word publicly. One exception is Andrew Forber who has commented on several occasions at some length.
Having people fear making public comments is a very unhealthy situation for any democratic society.
Much of the history of the struggle between good and evil is explained by philosopher Edmund Burke’s observation. Time and again those who profess to be good seem to clearly outnumber those who are evil, yet those who are evil seem to prevail far too often. Seldom is it the numbers that determine the outcome, but whether those who claim to be good men are willing to stand up and fight for what they know to be right.
City staff battle with the air park on an almost daily basis over the illegal use of gateways to the air park property and access to the site. Staff are focused and well led and they persevere – but we are hearing nothing from the people who are in a position to mold public opinion. Taking the position that they cannot comment on an ongoing court case is hiding behind skirts
The people of Burlington need to hear from the good people.
 By Staff
June 22, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Burlington Liberals are in a twitter. Their newly elected MPP will be on a CFRB broadcast on Sunday and they are making it sound like this is close to the second coming.
 With a Cabinet to be sworn in on Tuesday, the Liberal folk are looking for any sign that Premier Wynne will let one slip telegraphing to the listening audience that Eleanor McMahon is headed for the Cabinet.
The Premier and McMahon will be part of “The Province” at 1pm Sunday.
You can catch the broadcast on NewsTalk 1010 (CFRB) at 1pm Sunday. You can also listen online at https://www.newstalk1010.com/
By Pepper Parr
June 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It started on Wednesday – It was to be the first day of a three day mediation marathon that on occasion started at 7:00 am and went on into the early evening.
When a crane on the pier site toppled and revealed serious imperfections with the steel being used every one of the cross beans had to be stripped leaving just the steel that formed the lazy S curve that was to make the pier distinct. The only distinct thing about the pier is its costs and the bad taste it has left in the mouths f the people who have to pay the bill.
 When a crane on the pier site toppled and revealed serious imperfections with the steel being used everyone of the corss beans had to be stripped leaving just the steel that formed the lazy S curve that was to make the pier distinct. The only distinct thing about the pier is its costs and the bad taste it has left in the mouths f the people who have to pay the bill. There were between 20and 30 people in the room at times arguing over who owes what to who on the pier construction problems. But for a time all the horses were not in the starting gate and there appeared to be some confusion as to whether or not one of the key players – AECOM – was going to show up and take part in what was scheduled as a three day event to attempt to settle the several million dollar difference of opinion on who owed who what.
While Burlingtonians and the people who visit the city do enjoy the pier – it isn’t fully paid for yet. What was put to the public as a close to $7 million project ballooned to more than $14 million and could go considerable higher when the court cases get worked out.
The city has been in litigation with Harm Schilthuis and Sons Limited (HSS), the original contractor, Zurich Insurance Company (Bonding Company for HSS), Aecom, Lombard, PV &V, Craneway (Insurance Claim)
The mediation ended on Friday. There has not been an announcement as to whether or not the parties were able to come to an agreement.
How will this city council react to whatever news the city solicitor is going to give them Monday on the outcome of the court ordered mediation over the law suits on the costs of the pier? And will council be open, honest and up front with their constituents and tell them the truth, the whole and nothing but the truth. The seven of them will be asking you to re-elect them in October.
 How will this city council react to whatever news the city solicitor is going to give them Monday on the outcome of the court ordered mediation over the law suits on the costs of the pier? And will council be open, honest and up front with their constituents and tell them the truth, the whole and and nothing bt the truth. The seven of them will be asking you to re-elect them in October.. What we do know is that a Special meeting of city council has been called for Monday, June 23rd at 10:30 an when the city’s solicitor will speak to council in a closed session on the Brant Street Pier litigation.
So – something has happened and council is to get a briefing.
here are two possible directions: Mediation was successful and the city has settled with the other parties or mediation failed and the case will then go to trial.
Mediation is a way to keep differences out of a court room. People involved in legal disputes – and in the pier situation there are five law suits – are required to at least attempt to mediate that dispute. It is useful to look at who is suing who:
Harm Schilthuis and Sons Limited (HSS) vs. City of Burlington
City of Burlington vs. Zurich Insurance Company (Bonding Company for HSS)
City of Burlington vs. HSS, EFCO, Aecom, Lombard, PV &V, Craneway (Insurance Claim)
City of Burlington vs. Aecom
HSS vs. Lombard, PV &V, City, Craneway (Insurance Claim)
What is instructive here is that HSS, the original contractor, is suing their insurance company and their insurance broker. You sue when you believe the service you bought was not delivered. HSS is also suing the city of Burlington – they believed they delivered and that the city has not paid for what was delivered.
The city is suing Zurich insurance – this is the company that provided the performance bond for the construction company – HSS. Early in this term of council the insurance company, Zurich, offered the city an alternative construction solution which the city turned down.
If mediation was successful and the parties came to an agreement council may be asked to approve the settlement. Frequently in such settlements one of the conditions is a “confidentiality agreement” often referred to as a gag order. No one is allowed to say anything other than that a settlement was reached.
The city sent more than $1 million on legal fees and didn’t want the public to know until the Post filed a Freedom of Information request which the city at first decided to argue against but saw the error of that idea and held a press conference in January at which they had then city manager Jeff Fielding tell the public that $1,349,952 $1. had been spent to date on just the legal fees. The city would get a rebate on the tax portion of that bill – but a million dollars is still a million dollars.
While no one on city council will admit it today – there was more than one occasion when the city had an opportunity to settle the dispute for a lot less than it is going to cost. Exactly how much the cost will amount to may be known on Monday – in a perfect world council would have the courage of their convictions to tell the public just what that costs is – but we should not hold our breath.
While the pier problems didn’t originate with this council – all that started when Rob MacIsaac became Mayor and wanted a grand legacy project that would put Burlington on the map. And it certainly did that. Things began to go wrong when a crane that was doing work on the pier toppled over.
The contractor at the time HSS and the insurance underwriters took a closer look at the steel that was being used – and there were problems with the product. At first a few beams were to be taken out and then a few more and before the public knew the structure had been stripped of much the steel and the original contractor was of the site.
The city re-tendered the project, a new contractor was brought in along with dozens of inspectors who checked every foot of the steel that was being fabricated to ensure that nothing went wrong the second time around.
The pier officially opened last June.
It was a grand day. The turnout wasn’t terrific but it was a lively crowd with cup cakes for everyone. some key people were not on hand. Former Mayors Rob MacIsaac and Cam Jackson took passes – MacIsaac had a convocation. There was one person who had more reason than anyone else to be out on that Pier that morning – Henry Schilthuis, a proud man who is close to fierce when it comes to defending his reputation and the man who did the original work but had to walk off the site when he realized it could not be built using the original plans. On Monday city council will learn if Schilthuis was right and if they are going to be able to settle with Schilthuis or if there is going to be a trial. A closing note in a story that may not be over yet. Earlier in the week I had occasion to be having coffee with two people who were both candidates for council in the October municipal election. It was a fine late Spring day and after coffee the two council wanna be’s decided to take a stroll towards the pier. Neither had been out on the pier before, which stunned this reporter.
Is the pier an unpopular place? Is it a $20 million dollar mistake? While the city uses a figure of $14 million + as the cost of the pier – the mediation is going to move that number very very close to $20 million.
The question the Gazette has is this: Will the public ever be given a full detailed accounting as just what Rob MacIsaac’s dream has cost the city?
 By Pepper Parr
June 20, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It takes time to get anything done when the wheels of justice are required to move. The making of a judicial system is not a simple or easy process. It is based on years of precedent and the need to adhere to changes in social mores. And they don’t always get it right the first time. It took the city of Burlington a bit of time to get a grip in just what was going on when local residents reports hundreds of trucks rumbling along the northern part of Appleby Line filled with earth that was being dumped on the air park property. Was this a land fill site many wondered.
The air park was seen by almost everyone as a sleepy little rural airport, owned by a local family. But it got sold for a reported $3.1 million to Vince Rossi who had some very big ideas and what he thought was a shield that would protect him from such meddlesome things as municipal bylaws. It was an air park declared Mr. Rossi and regulated by the federal government and anyone at the municipal or Regional government s could basically take a hike and keep out of Rossi’s business.
 This photograph depicts a seminal point in the evolution of public engagement for the city of Burlington. City general manager Scott Stewart talks to members of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition, two of whom are bing sued for $100,000 bu the Burlington Air Park. Top the left at the rear is Blake Hurley, city lawyer who handled the city side of the two air park court cases. Seated on the left is the lawyer the city hired to argue the court cases and advise the city. Rossi got away with that kind of behaviour for quite some time – but there was a higher quality of civic government at city hall and they wanted to take a look at that “federally regulated” argument – and they found that it really didn’t hold all that much water.
Orders to cease and desist and all the options available to the city were used but when it became very clear that the air park was going to stick to its federally regulated position – off to a court room they all went. The city won the first round – Justice John Murray said the air park had to adhere to the city’s site plan by law.
It took the air park legal counsel less than five days to file an appeal of the Murray decision. The decision of the Appeal Court was even swifter – three hours after proceedings had begun the three Justice appeal panel said the Justice Murray was right – the air park has to comply with the city site plan by law. At some point in the very near future – the city will begin to press its case and demand that the air park present a site plan for work that has been going on for more than five years.
The Region recently hired AMEC, the former Phillips Environmental, to do an assessment of the storm water systems at the air park. Apparently AMEC had some difficulty getting on the site, but we have not been able to confirm that. The heavy rains of a few weeks ago saw small rivers of water running south along Appleby Line that did enough damage to require the Region to come in and repair the road shoulders. The Region now wants to be assured that storm water from the site can be effectively handled.
The local residents want to know ho is going to pay for the road repairs The Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition, the organization the air park lawyers call an “unincorporated collection of citizens” has gone public again and asked the city to re-double their efforts and begin ensuring that the soil on that 200 acre air park property be fully and properly inspected – and no more of this fighting tooth and nail to get inspection reports that the air park appears to want kept secret.
In an Open Letter to Mayor Goldring and Regional Chair Gary Carr, Vanessa Warren, a candidate for the ward 6 seat, home to the air park, said the following:
On behalf of the residents of rural north Burlington, the members of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition and I would like to congratulate you on your enormous victory at the Ontario Court of Appeal. Thank you and City Staff for all your work and leadership on this precedent-setting case. Because of your commitment to protect our rural north and its protected countryside, the City of Burlington now stands as an example to other Ontario communities dealing with airpark fill operations.
The summary nature of the Appeal Court’s dismissal was, for our community, both gladdening and concerning. Gladdening because the City was so clearly vindicated and can now proceed to test and control fill quality on Airpark property through its Site Alteration bylaw, protecting our lands and water table from environmental damage. Concerning because it affirmed our beliefs that the Burlington Airpark and its legal team are unreasonably litigious. Our community continues to be under serious threat from the Burlington Airpark, this time through the use of Ontario’s onerous defamation laws against local advocates.
Their counsel, Brian Rogers, a leading libel lawyer and member of the Attorney General’s Anti-SLAPP Advisory Panel, intends to defend them on the basis this lawsuit is no more than a SLAPP suit (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation). In short, it is another legal action, without merit, brought to intimidate, silence and exhaust – both emotionally and financially – its opponents.
 The north Burlington citizen’s fight to defend their rights and their property was seen important enough bu the CBC National News to be given some coverage. So, while we are elated with the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal today, and grateful for the City’s commitment to environmental protection, we need your support now more than ever. We need to defend public engagement and public advocacy – the cornerstones of our democratic system – from the Burlington Airpark’s SLAPP suit, so that this type of legal coercion does not silence the citizens of Burlington.
 Councillors Paul Sharman and Blair Lancaster, both serving their first term on city council were both members of the committee that wrote the Shape Burlington report, the document that marked the beginning of significant community participation. Unfortunately, neither Sharman or Lancaster have been strong advocates for community involvement and while there is an Engagement Charter it is a document that doesn’t get much use. Expecting Burlington to defend public engagement is a bit of a stretch. The city has yet to truly put its engagement charter into the hands of the public. But a public plea is better than nothing – at some point Burlington will get a city council that is attentive and responsive to it electors. We just aren’t there yet.
By Pepper Parr
June 20, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The jockey of course passed it on to the horse –and the horse told me.
This is that kind of a story because people want to spread the news around – but they don’t want to be the source.
We had occasion to talk to a Cabinet Minister from the region who assured us that this person (deliberately not using gender here) was back in the Cabinet of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne – but the member of the legislature wouldn’t say which portfolio – other than the person was very happy with what they had been given.
 Is this what Cabinet material looks like? word was the McMahon should not be counted out. We were discussing matters related to an issue germane to Burlington – the air park – what else – and mention was made of what role newly elected Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahan might play in the resolving of this issue.
We opined that while Ms McMahon has that incredible political pedigree with a Rolodex that is to die for, the fact is she doesn’t have any parliamentary experience and we don’t know if she will step up to and actually get over the bar. Her predecessor Jane McKenna certainly didn’t manage to make it.
Being a member of the legislature means being more than a pretty face – there is a thrust and cut to politics that is seen in the legislature. Is McMahon made of the “right stuff” and can she do it?
“I wouldn’t write her off quite that quickly” responded my contact. That got me sitting up in my chair real fast. Was I being telegraphed something? The Cabinet Minister I was talking to would be involved in the discussions as to who could and who should be in the Cabinet.
I pointed out that the area already had a Cabinet Minister in Ancaster – Dundas – Flamborough – Westdale and another in Oakville where Kevin Flynn serves as Minister of Labour. Would the Halton area qualify for three Cabinet posts? “The issue is not where the person comes from; the issue is what they bring to the table and the Premier has very high hopes for Eleanor McMahon. Remember the Premier recruited McMahon personally”, explained my source.
The Cabinet gets sworn in on Tuesday – we will be watching that broadcast quite a bit more closely. If anyone happens to see Eleanor out shopping for a new smartly cut suit – let us know. That would be a positive sign for sure.
 Premier Kathleen Wynne, Centre, knows how to wear an apron – we don’t know if she can bake an apple pie. we will know on Tuesday if she has chosen Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon to be part of her cabinet. The Premier visited Burlington a number of times before the election was called and took part in several election events as well. During my first introduction to the Premier, during RibFest last summer when she was flipping racks of ribs along with Mayor Goldring and then chit chatting with people wearing a Rotary Rib Fest apron, I asked if she did much baking. She assured me she did and I wondered aloud if that was true. “Well I was baking pies just the other day” said the Premier and I suggested the next time she was in town she might bring me an apple she had made.
She promised she would do just that. I’ve not seen that apple pie yet – but if the Premier appoints Eleanor McMahon to her Cabinet all of Burlington will send her several bushels of some of the best apples the region grows.
 By Ray Rivers
June 20, 2104
BURLINGTON, ON.
It has taken him six years to finally announce his first concrete action to combat global climate change and it’s still only a little – and a little late. US President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency has imposed a 30% carbon emission reduction limit on US coal-powered electricity plants by 2030. That will mean scrapping some of the older plants and conversion of many others to natural gas. In addition to the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction benefits, this will also mean 6600 fewer premature deaths and 150,000 fewer asthma cases, they estimate.
By comparison, Ontario which historically burned coal for up to a quarter of its electrical needs, including at the largest coal-fired plant of its time, had completely shut down and banned coal burning earlier this year. Ontario’s courageous action is Canada’s single most significant greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction ever.
 Smokes stacks like this one dotted the province of Ontario. The government put an end to coal fired electrical generation plants – and we all breath easier now. The federal government had never really been supportive and had refused to help Ontario with costs of this shift away from coal. Nevertheless, Mr. Harper was only too proud to point out that Canada was already ahead of the US in cleaning up its coal-burning emissions, when Obama challenged him to follow the US regulatory lead. Canada’s share of emissions from coal burning are now only about a third of the equivalent in the US. But unlike the US, our overall GHG emissions are heading skywards making a mockery of Canada’s official reduction targets.
In any case, Obama wasn’t talking about coal, when he challenged our PM, he was referring to our oil sands. The oil industry claims they can now extract a barrel of oil from the sand without having to burn another full barrel in the process, but mining the tar sands is still the most inefficient and environmentally destructive resource extraction anywhere.
So Obama had the Keystone XL pipeline clearly in his sights. Approving Keystone would just enable further expansion of the oil sands, something US environmentalists have been decrying. And since American dependence on Canadian oil is declining thanks to horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the US, that Keystone project is looking less and less likely everyday.
Harper and Obama are on different wavelengths. That became clear as our leader joined with the new Australian PM, recently, promising to thwart carbon pricing and other global attempts to mitigate the effects of climate change, and to oppose efforts such as Obama’s press for climate change through forums like the G20. Why should we expect dinosaurs to care about fossil fuels?
And Canada isn’t about to be lectured by a lame-duck president. Mr. Harper has another plan to get the bitumen out of Alberta and into Chinese and other export markets – its called the Northern Gateway project. Northern Gateway is a pipeline from the tar sands across fragile B.C. terrain, over a thousand kilometres, and to the environmentally sensitive Pacific coast at Kitimat B.C. Northern Gateway was Harper’s baby form its inception, and just this week he employed the pretense of an energy board review before approving its construction, as everyone was fully predicting he would.
Many Canadians are still unsure about what this means, but not the opposition parties which are united in promising to stop this risky business. Some pundits think this project could become the PM’s final undoing, since he may lose the crucial support of B.C. voters in next year’s federal election.
The B.C. aboriginal communities, over whose land the pipeline will cross and whose fisheries on the coast would be devastated by the inevitable oil spill, are also unified in their opposition. And the B.C. government still has conditions and concerns ranging from its desire for compensation to better environmental safeguards, before it consents. The province does not want to end up saddled with the clean-up costs of any spills.
B.C. residents take their environmental stewardship seriously. For example, B.C. and Quebec are the only Canadian provinces with carbon taxes to reduce fossil fuel burning and GHG emissions. And the B.C. economy depends heavily on tourism and its fisheries, both of which are threatened by this project. How is it fair that Alberta gets the royalties while B.C. gets the risk?
 All he costs related to the transportation of oil through a pipeline have to be taken into account – is that happening? Early cost estimates of the project which would move the half-million or so barrels of diluted bitumen a day through the Northern Gateway and onto foreign tankers could easily approach twenty billion dollars. Even if the proponent is in the private sector, there are always federal and provincial subsidies and all the ancillary costs attached to these kinds of mega projects. One could buy a lot of renewable energy infrastructure for that kind of money. And damage to the environment from a leak or shipping accident would be… well… just priceless.
Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province. He developed the current policy process for the Ontario Liberal Party.
Background links:
Ontario Coal Phase-Out Obama’s Plan Implications for Canada Canada’s Response US Health Benefits Northern Gateway
Canada-Australia Coalition Oil Sands Emissions – B.C. Carbon Tax
 By Pepper Parr
June 19, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There will be phone calls from the city clerk’s office later today or early Friday when a surprising nomination in one of the city’s six wards gets filed. It will be a courtesy call advising a council member that there is now another candidate in the race.
 A new name will file nomination papers for one of the six wards later today or on Friday. This one should be a fun race. Should the new candidate win – it will certainly change the tone of this city council. A young at heart and very fit citizen with a strong business background and a number of years of community service experience will fill in the forms and pay the $100 fee and be in the race for a seat that some think can’t be won – but after watching 70 years of Tory blue ink slide of the Burlington map anything is possible.
It doesn’t look as if there is going to be a candidate to run against the Mayor; there are now more than six running against incumbent Blair Lancaster in ward 6.
Jack Dennison is back as a candidate in ward 4 – we will have something to say at a later date on the way his Ontario Municipal Board hearing has been handled.
By Pepper Parr
June 18, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
A more than 70 year run came to an end when Burlington elected Liberal Eleanor McMahon as their MPP. It was a solid win and part of a Liberal red sweep through much of the region.
Halton went Liberal after 19 years of Tory blue.
It was clear that the people of the province in general weren’t buying the Progressive Conservative line that the province had to cut like crazy to get the deficit in line and that 1 million jobs were going to suddenly appear.
The province decided to opt for hope and the belief that Kathleen Wynne could work through the problems. This despite the mistakes that can fairly be described a gargantuan under Dalton McGuinty’s leadership.
 The Liberals found a candidate with both depth and an ability to connect with people. Wynne managed to convince the voters that there was a lot of waste but that there would not be that kind of waste on her watch. She asked the people of the province to trust her and enough of them to give Wynne a majority government decided to do just that.
One of our readers had this to say about the McMahon win:
Congratulations to Eleanor McMahon. Clearly, she ran an effective campaign and I’m sure she’s was a qualified candidate. I do, however, find it extremely disheartening that Burlington residents bought into Liberal scare tactics, and were so willing to reward eleven years of cronyism, scandal, reckless spending, debt accumulation, blatant lying, shameless pandering to unions, and incompetence with their vote. The party’s victory begs the question, exactly how bad does a government’s behaviour need to be before they get the boot?
I’m curious what Wynne’s excuse will be when the books aren’t balanced by 2017/18 as promised, but I have no doubt she’ll come up with something!
A few days before the election Ms. McMahon and the Burlington Liberals tweeted out something about how they’ll be investing in local businesses and entrepreneurs. I’m still waiting for an answer regarding the specifics of how that will work. I know the Ontario Liberals will be handing out BILLIONS to Cisco and tens of millions to Open Text, but I haven’t heard one word about how Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals will help Burlington businesses succeed. I’m quite certain they won’t let them succeed TOO much, as corporate taxes are almost certain to be raised, as will personal income taxes on reasonably successful entrepreneurs.
Good luck Ms. McMahon. Your government has its work cut out for it, and we’ll be watching.
Indeed all of the province will be watching – many wish there had been better watching when Dalton McGuinty was leading that party.
Did Eleanor McMahon win – or did Jane McKenna lose and how did these two woman come to be the candidate for their political party of choice.
We are told that Kathleen Wynne recruited McMahon directly; that they lunched in Burlington and Wynne asked McMahon to accept the nomination.
The political tradition of this province has been for the local political party association to find a candidate and present that name to the party for vetting. The late John Boich spent many hours grooming Brian Heagle to become the Liberal candidate only to have Heagle decide that he was more of a blue blood than a Liberal and he went after the Tory nomination. Poor Heagle found that his blood wasn’t good enough and he couldn’t get the nod he needed from the Burlington Progressive Conservative Association.
 Karmel Sakran was selected by the Liberal riding association – not that it made a big enough difference. Boich convinced Karmel Sakran to run for office and he put up a good fight against a Tory who brought zilch to her nomination.
Jane McKenna was close to the last Tory nominated in the province in 2011 and despite no experience, other than a run against Rick Craven for the Ward 1 seat on city council – where she did very poorly, she had no experience.
 Turned out to take more than a good suit to convince the voters that you were able to do the job. She would appear at local events but never once made a delegation to city council where Councillor Craven remarked on the fact that the city had never heard from its MPP.
When Rick Wilson was doing great work to have a plaque placed on the waterfront that corrected the history surrounding what actually took place on our waterfront during the War of 1812 he found that he “blown off” by McKenna’s office when he put a call in to them for some help. At the time MP Mike Wallace was doing everything he could to get the plaque that is at Burlington Heights in Hamilton corrected but as Wallace said at the time: “it was a provincial matter and there wasn’t much I could do”.
The day the creation of the plaque was announced McKenna was on hand apologizing profusely to Wilson for the goof up at her office. Part of McKenna’s problem as an MPP was her inability to integrate into the community politically – she just didn’t have the experience and local Tory’s began to distance themselves from her.
You rarely saw Wallace and McKenna standing very close to each other when they were both at the same event.
There were serious problems with the local PC party association where it is reported the executive went through at least two changes. McKenna didn’t have good working relationships with her constituency executive. She had difficulty as well getting in on events when Cabinet ministers were in town.
 It was THE political coup of the provincial election when the Liberals managed to convince the Burlington Post to sell them a “mock” front page. Good for the revenue side of the business – but egg on the face editorially. The Post published a front page apology the following day. It happens. On one occasion when the city was officially opening the Community Garden in behind the Seniors’ Centre on New Street, McKenna wanted to be on hand and wasn’t able to get an official invite from the city. A polite call to the Mayor could have solved that problem. The Gazette wrote about the difficulty and advised McKenna on how she could have a presence at the event. At the time city hall talked the protocols they had to follow. It is an unhappy day when the political representative for a large number, probably a majority, of the people in the city cannot be at a socially and politically significant event. That was always McKenna’s dilemma.
The Burlington Progressive Conservative Association chose an unqualified person who was able to win the first time out because of the strength of the political base. The member was expected to perform and deliver for the community and that just didn’t happen.
 McMahon had a strong riding association that was able to get feet on the ground to do that vital door knocking – but the thinkers involved in the campaign all came from the Liberal party head office – Burlington was a seat they believed they could win. McMahon has a fine pedigree and her connections at the federal level are superb. She is on a first name basis with at least three former Prime Ministers and is a campaigner that connect with people easily. There is a humility to the woman who has core values that are more than admirable. There is nothing sleazy about the MPP for Burlington. Blessed with good health and a pleasant smile McMahon has leaned not to take herself too seriously.
She will use the next six months to get the feel of the provincial legislature and earn her stripes. By Spring of next year we will know if Eleanor McMahon is more than a pretty face.
Can she be the first in a 70 year line of Liberals for Burlington? Is there a Liberal sweep for Burlington at the federal level as well? Will the local Liberals manage to come up with a solid candidate on their own or will they have to rely on the party to sniff out a winner?
 By Staff
June 15, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
They are relentless.
They send the emails out by the hundreds of thousands.
Their costs are minimal.
They need one of two things – people with more greed than common sense or people who don’t fully understand internet technology and what happens when they click on a link.
This is particularly difficult for seniors who can remember the day when they had phones run by a local operator who made the connections.
 If you click on that box your problems will have just begun. It means being vigilant – if it doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t and if you don’t understand what you are being asked to do – then don’t do it. And if it sounds too good to be true – then it isn’t true.
Set out below is the most recent scam. We do not bank with CIBC. How the fraud artists got our email address is beyond me – it’s not hard to get. That address will get bundled with millions of others and sold to someone who will then use that list to send out millions of email – all they need is one and they make more money with that person than they make in a year.
Some people have been ruined because they clicked on what they saw as a great opportunity. For the fraud artist it was a great opportunity.
 By Ray Rivers
June 14, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
What a night; what an election! Ontario voters have rejected the roller coaster, recessionary, austerity program the opposition PC’s were promising. Instead we have bought into the hope, promise and reconstruction offered in the last provincial budget by Premier Kathleen Wynne. And the NDP, which had precipitated the election, ended up being marginalized.
 The promise was clear – not to see how well she delivers on that promise. PC leader Hudak also announced he was stepping down as leader, something which will be music to the ears of the growing number of Ontario conservatives who don’t share his ‘Tea Party north’ vision for this province. The Globe and Mail, which had been critical of Hudak’s ill-conceived election platform surprised many with its conditional endorsement of the PC leader (Tory minority). Reports indicate that the Editorial Board may have been coerced by the paper’s owners, apparently causing dissent among editorial board members and making a mockery of the claim of independence for ‘Canada’s so-called national newspaper’.
NDP leader Andrea Horwath needs to consider also stepping down, given her disappointing performance over the last year and during the campaign. Horwath falsely accused the Premier and her party of ‘corruption’. Then, having caused the election, she was inept at producing a credible platform of her own – leaving her fellow candidates and party supporters baffled and rebelling. What was clearly a cynical play to expand her party’s seat count failed miserably and cost us all – paying for an election we neither needed nor wanted.
By her unqualified victory last night Wynne has freed herself from the legacy of the McGuinty era scandals which had plagued her from her first day as Premier. Moreover she now has a mandate to lead the province onto the path she has promised would restore the provincial economy. And of course, she will need to grapple with the significant budgetary deficit still ahead as well as a debt-load inherited from the years past.
That will likely mean paying attention to the revenue side of the equation as well as the cost side. So Ontario residents should expect a return to a more equitable and fulsome taxation regime. The province has the most efficient (least cost) government in the country. So while she will need to consider ways to restrain the mushrooming size of government services, that alone will not be enough to remove us from the ‘have-not’ list of provinces.
There were other big changes in this election as well. Locally, Burlington, where I once ran, against the odds, finally went Liberal with Eleanor McMahon winning after 70 years of Tory dominance. Ted McMeekin, in Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough and Westdale, retained his seat and can be expected to resume duties in Premier Wynne’s new Cabinet.
Halton voters put an end to the 20 years of Ted Chudleigh’s reign as Liberal Indira Naidoo-Harris pushed him out, convincingly. Chudleigh’s ouster represents the changing demographics of one of the fastest growing communities in Canada – one that he and his friend Mayor Gordon Kranz created. Can a similar fate be in the cards for Kranz this upcoming municipal election?
Premier Wynne has been given four years to implement her program of renewal and reconstruction for Ontario. This is an heroic undertaking given the global world we live in and the lack of support from a federal government best described as anti-Ontario. To be successful the Premier will need all of our support – after all we are all in this Ontario together.
Background links:
Voters Decide Liberal Win Wynne Settles the Debate Globe Editorial Board
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province. He developed the current policy process for the Ontario Liberal Party.
 By Pepper Parr
June 13, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Hello Burlington. An historical day for the city – you’ve elected a member of the provincial legislature from a different political party. Burlington is no longer Tory Blue. The earth did move. We know how it happened – the why might take a little bit of time to understand.
Eleanor McMahon, MPP elect for Burlington For Eleanor the world of politics wasn’t one of those “love at first sight things” She was given an opportunity to help out and found herself in a place where her mental and physical energy could be used. An Assumption High school student Eleanor went on to do an arts degree at the University of Windsor and spent a year in France doing graduate work. She has also done certificate programs at the University of Waterloo and Trent University.
Mom was a woman with a university education, far from common at that time. Her world was the laboratory where she worked at the thinking end of a microscope.
An opportunity to work in Ottawa came her way and as a shy, inquisitive 23 year old Eleanor headed for Parliament Hill and spent a number of years working with John Turner, who to this day is a close friend. McMahon worked for Jean Chretien and can recall going to more than one hockey game with the then Prime Minister.
Communications and strategy were the McMahon strengths; where she took the dictum that if you didn’t know your history you were bound to repeat it.
When McMahon was a high school student Model Parliaments were a part of the curriculum – that is probably where the high school baseball player got infected.
 Burlington can expect to hear a lot from this lady. Eleanor’s Dad served in the Canadian army taking part in several of the major campaigns in Holland and Italy. His leadership ability got him to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, the British military leadership school that trained the men and woman who won the second world war.
Dad returned to Windsor after the war and began civilian life in the automotive sector where he handled what we today call logistics. Getting parts to where they were needed involved a lot of paper shuffling during that time when carbon paper was what you used to make a copy.
He worked with Chrysler and turned down several opportunities to move from Windsor and up the management ranks. Family was the core value and having everyone at the dinner table mattered most.
When it was suggested that the McMahon dinner table might resemble the television program Blue Bloods where several generations of NYPD officers shared a Sunday meal, McMahon nodded and said – that was pretty much who we were.
Conversation with McMahon is filled with some of the Liberal political greats – she would refer to John when she talked about John Turner or Jean when she talked about Primer Minister Chretien but it was always Mr. Gray when she talked about the late Herb Gray, probably her first and most influential mentor.
McMahon spent a considerable amount of time with the United Way in Ottawa and with Petro Canada where her communications skills were valued.
 Prior to being elected McMahon was the Executive Director of Share the Road, an advocacy organization that worked towards getting bicycles and car drivers to learn to share the road She took up the challenge and was in the race. The help that was needed from the Ontario Liberal party was delivered and the local riding association under the leadership of Roland Tanner got the troops into the trenches for a short but intensive campaign. It was something to watch the way McMahon bonded with people – I knew then that the woman as a natural, I also knew that this was Burlington and there was more than 70 years of history to overcome.
Saturday after Saturday the word would go out – “we are gathering at Tim Hortons” and working a particular part of the city. On some occasions McMahon had the Premier with her. McMahon was the better campaigner.
In the closing days of the campaign the McMahon campaign pulled off a coup that few expected possible in Burlington – they managed to buy the front page of the Burlington Post. While the advertisement was identified as an “advertorial” it looked like the real thing to a lot of people. That stiffened up the race and must have generated howls of disdain from the McKenna camp. It brought a front page apology from the Post to anyone offended by the advertisement. It was a sign as well of things to come: McMahon took 43.3 % of the vote a sold 5 points more than McKenna.
McMahon now has to build a solid Liberal constituency organization and create the relationships with the various organizations that she is now in place t represent at Queen’s Park.
It might take a bit of time for McMahon to bring about the change Burlington is going to have to adjust to – she will have her plate full with Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club lunches that want to see the new member of the legislature.
Getting sworn in and learning the ropes at Queen’s Park will keep her busy during the summer and into the fall season.
Getting a grip on what the immediate, near term and long term issues are for Burlington will take time. There will be those who will want to create their own relationship with the member and determine how much influence they can have.
Eleanor McMahon knows the game of politics as well as anyone and brings an ethic and a set of personal values to public office this city has not seen in some time. She is in office for four years – time enough to show what she can do. The timber that makes up the back bone of this woman is the kind of wood cabinets are built with Not immediately – but in time Eleanor McMahon will serve as a member of cabinet. And we will be very very proud of her.
The day she stands in the legislature to give her maiden speech will be significant and filled with personal emotions. It was in that Legislature that Bill 126 “Ontario Road Safety Act” was passed. It became known as Greg’s Law, in memory of OPP Sergeant Greg Stobbart, Ms. McMahon’s husband, who was killed while on an off duty training ride on his bicycle on June 6, 2006 in Milton, Ontario just north of their home in Burlington.
 By Pepper Parr
June 12- 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The bigger picture of the Burlington Air Park Inc., appeal of a lower court decision is now becoming clearer.
There are losses and there are losses – this one was a trouncing.
In the Appeal Court process has each side giving oral arguments based on the documents that were prepared beforehand. That collection of documents is called a Factum.
The appellant, in this case the Burlington Air Park Inc., proceeds first. At any point during the oral arguments either of the three appeal court judges can intercede and ask questions.
Peter Wells spoke for more than two hours and delved into all the reasons why the lower court ruling, the one given by Justice Murray in Milton should not stand. They ranged from inter jurisdictional immunity to the argument that the court case was never about the content of the landfill – which came as a surprise to the 11 Burlingtonians in the court room.
One of the judges asked Wells if the air park could faithfully obey federal laws why could they not obey municipal laws?
Wells later said that Justice Murray misunderstood what the real issues were. Several in the court reported later they they believed this was the point at which Wells lost his case. Several of the observers felt Wells glossed over the environment issues and one appeal court judge asked Wells directly if he thought Justice Murray was wrong. Wells said he believed Justice Murray was wrong.
Prior to the hearing Burlington Air Park Inc., filed a motion to have new evidence submitted. The court accepted the new evidence and then asked Wells what any of this had to do with the Murray decision.
The new evidence was related to an action the city had brought against King Paving that was later dropped; discussions about King Paving being able to bid on future city contracts and the Pinchin Environmental report dated April 7, relating to a “groundwater monitoring program limited environmental site assessment. Terrapex is currently reviewing that report for the city. It is a very, very complex detailed report .
The judges didn’t see it as relevant.
They took another short break, returned to the courtroom and advised Mr. Wells that they were deciding to dismiss his appeal.
Ian Blue didn’t have to say a word. He didn’t have to defend his Factum. The appeal court judges didn’t see a case to be argued and everyone was dismissed. The moment the judges were out of the court room the Burlington crowd burst into spontaneous applause.
It was over
The justices also awarded the city $22,000 in costs. These court cases are fast becoming a profit centre for the city.
The city put out its press release saying the “Court of Appeal for Ontario has upheld the decision that the City of Burlington’s site alteration bylaw applies to the Burlington Executive Airport.
“The city’s bylaw is valid and binding on the Burlington Airpark and the city is able to enforce its bylaw.”
The Mayor is a happy camper: “The city has shown its commitment to the residents of Burlington in keeping the site alteration bylaw in effect, even in challenging circumstances. He congratulated city staff who persevered in doing the right thing for our residents in ensuring that fill does not continue to pile up on the site and that there are some controls in place to help our community when affected by operations such as the airpark.”
Many of those residents are wondering why the land fill was allowed on the site in the first place.
Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster, who has had her problems with the residents directly impacted by the land fill dumping, said “I am pleased for the people who live near the Burlington Airpark that this decision has been upheld by the Court of Appeal. This is an important moment for those residents, and I am hopeful that things will improve for them.”
The city will meet with legal counsel to determine next steps.
The site alteration bylaw allows the city to regulate how a piece of land can be altered, such as through filling, grading or excavation. The city is updating its site alteration bylaw, which regulates how a piece of land can be altered through filling, grading or excavation, and is hosting a public information meeting to review the new version on Thursday, June 19 from 7 to 9 p.m. at City Hall, 426 Brant St., Room 247.
The really critical question is – which version of the bylaw will be used to bring the air park to heel – and are we done with the appeals?
Barbara Sheldon, who has suffered the most damage at this point – but there are neighbouring farms that will not know for years if they will suffer damages and who knows when whatever is in that fill is going to work its way into the water table, has become the “poster girl” for the movement opposed to the air park work. She has done a CBC News interview as well as a CFRB radio interview and is seldom at a loss for words had this to say about the appeal dismissal: “The verdict of the Appellate Judges, upholding Justice Murray’s ruling that the City can enforce its site alteration by-laws, may be the first, real turning point to the restoration of the properties and lives that Rossi has willfully and deliberately damaged since he bought the Airpark.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Rossi’s proven history with this community has destroyed any possible belief from me that Mr. Rossi will ever comply with the City or respect his neighbors.
“What I do have hope for, is that the pilots will now take back their ‘club’ and restore it to the wonderful, recreational airpark that was built and operated for 60+ years by the Kovachiks’, and that it once again co-exists in harmony within the community and the City of Burlington, as it did under their ownership.”
Vince Rossi does not make himself available to the Gazette. He is currently suing this newspaper on a web site along with two north Burlington residents for damaging his reputation and has asked the court to award him $100,000 in exemplary damages.
Defences are being prepared – a court date has yet to be determined.
Rossi said he will be meeting with his legal team to determine how to proceed with the planned expansion of the air park. He apparently expressed hopes that the city ““might be more conciliatory.” Rossi is reported to have said: “We’ve been conciliatory with the city all along up until this recent situation. It’s not like we did anything the city was not aware of.”
City general manager Scott Stewart talks to members of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition during a council meeting break. On the far right sits Monte Dennis, of of the people being sued by the air park; in the row behind sits Vanessa Warren who is also one of the defendants in the libel suit with the air park. On the left, standing is Blake Hurley, the city legal staffer who handed the air park file for the city. Seated on the left is Ian Blue the lawyer who has done some very good work for the city. Vanessa Warren, founder of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition and a candidate for the ward 6 council seat in the October municipal election, hopes that this decision will open up the blockages on getting environmentally based information from the province and that the Ministry of the Environment might soon be able to go on site and test the soil “which is the problem.”.
 Vince Rossi, president of the Burlington Executive Air Park and believed to be the sole shareholder of the private company, met with north Burlington residents. He took all the comments made “under advisement”.. Right now the city and the MOE are battling over Freedom of Information FOI requests that have been made and denied. They city is either at the mediation or adjudication level on several of these FOI requests.
Where is all this going? It probably isn’t over yet. The air park has a very significant $4.5 million investment and they aren’t just going to walk away from it.
Ideally for the community the land fill will eventually get tested – and if it found to be damaging – then it has to come out.
Who pays for that? The people who own the land. Right now Vince Rossi own the air park and no one can see his bank foreclosing on the mortgage they hold – they don’t want title to the land.
There is a 200 acre piece of prime land up there – at some point someone is going to have to come up with an idea for the property. Vince Rossi believed he had a great idea but he has not managed to sell that idea to anyone.
Don’t expect any innovative ideas from the council you are going to elect in October
 By Pepper Parr
June 12, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It was a healthy crowd. They were attentive and at Nelson High to listen to a debate between Progressive Conservative incumbent Jane McKenna, Liberal candidate Eleanor McMahon in and Janet Mowbray representing the NDP. All want to be elected as the Burlington representative in the provincial legislature.
Other than the debate sponsored by the Canadian Federation of University Women, debate this turned out to be the only opportunity to see the candidates debating
The audience was attentive with the focus on what each political party would do for the province in terms of education.
The lines between the policies were as clear as any citizen could possibly want them to be. The Progressive Conservatives were blunt – they want to see 100,000 fewer civil servants on the public payroll which meant cuts at the educational, medical and public services levels. While cutting in these sectors was to be brutal – the promise was to create 1 million new jobs in the private sector.
The issue for the PC’s was the level of debt the province is carrying. The Liberals weren’t as constrained with debt – they saw debt as what was needed to fully recover from the 2008 recession.
The differences in the political party decisions are fundamentally clear – and we don’t hear that many people talking about a “great” program from any of them.
The New Democrats are still fighting the collective agreement battle of the 2011 election – the Liberal government of the day certainly did themselves no favours when they tinkered with the teacher’s collective agreements. Liberals now argue that the number of teachers needed problem has been fixed and that jobs were not lost – which the Tories say is part of the problem. They point to declining enrollments but nothing comparable in the way of lowering of the teaching compliment.
The Liberals believe that the only way the province is going to grow the economy – we still are not fully out of the 2008 recession – is to ensure that we have the labour force with the education needed to take up the good jobs they believe will surely come if the province stays the course.
The Tory’s are obsessed with the size of the provincial deficit and are prepared to cut, slash and burn – whatever it takes to get the civil service reduced.
The Liberals argue that cutting those education, health inspector and hospital staff will significantly reduce the quality of life and the life style Ontarians have come to expect.
 If you voted the political party – these were your choices – and the differences are stark. The campaign locally has been harder fought at the door to door level than most people realize. The Association of University Woman held their debate during which it is reported McKenna did better than the Nelson High event.
The cancellation of the Chamber of Commerce breakfast (they said no enough tickets had been sold) was a blow to the community. Many suspected the Tories in this town suggested the Chamber event be cancelled – McKenna wasn’t looking all that good at public meetings.
At some point during the campaign Cam Jackson was seen going door to door with McKenna. Those must have been really old solid Tory polls.
The brilliant cover page ad the Liberals ran in the Post stunned many. It sure looked like a real front page – but it was a paid advertorial that has McMahon sweeping the election.
Then she Toronto Star report that had Burlington going Liberal after 71 years of Tory rule- that boosted moral at the Liberal campaign office on Fairview. Some may have been surprised that the Post sold their “front” page – but a buck is a buck – I guess.
There is a time when the quality of the candidate over rides the party choice – and on that level Eleanor McMahon was the most sensitive to the issues, the most persuasive with her arguments and the most able to listen.
McKenna has been backing away from cuts in the education sector. She is reported to have said the PC’s will not be cutting education spending however she did see a need for better allocation of resources in the educational sector.
Jane McKenna has served one term as the MPP for Burlington. She was a close to last minute choice for the nomination in 2011 and was surely the most surprised and delighted woman in the city when Keith Strong approached her to accept the PC nomination.
The question many have about McKenna is: What has she done for Burlington? At a city council meeting recently ward 1 councillor Rick Craven asked why they had never once seen McKenna. “We’re paying her” was Craven’s comment “she should at least appear before us.”
Where the Liberals are weakest is with the profligate spending during the McGuinty years. There was nothing wrong conceptually with Ornge except that the government forgot they were supposed to keep an eye on what their agencies do. Where was the oversight? E-health was necessary but how did the government get hornswoggled into paying the salaries they paid?
At one point during the lead up the vote it looked as if the Liberals might have squeaked through with a slim two seat majority. That would not have been because they are the best choice – they are all disappointments and the citizens of this province deserve better.
Leadership is supposed to be about hope, promise, a better day and a better society – having “chicken little” shout at me saying the sky was going to fall in was not something I needed – thank you.
When Wynne said again and again that she was sorry about the gas plant decisions during the leaders debate I didn’t feel that we were in good hands.
That the gas plants were going to be cancelled was a given – all three parties knew that -it was the way the government sent good dollars after bad out the window as they settled with the contracting companies. The public had a right to better stewardship over public funds
At the Nelson High event candidates were given four questions prepared for the candidates taking part in the Nelson High event – they were given the questions before the event which explained why all of the candidates were reading from documents in front of them
Was it a debate? Not really but it was certainly a chance to see where each candidate and their party stood on an issue.
Other than door to door visits most of the public had not had a chance to see two of the candidates. The evening at Nelson High was an opportunity to see how much Jane McKenna had grown as a member of the legislature – unfortunately she hasn’t grown in either stature or a sense as to just what being the member of the legislature for a community is all about.
McKenna did however make it very clear what the Progressive Conservatives would do and many in the room felt the shudder of the Harris days. However, there were many that recalled all too well what Bob Rae did to the province when he was the NDP Premier.
McKenna, who is usually very quick with facts and numbers, got caught up on her some of the numbers she was putting out.
The politeness and courtesy between Liberal candidate McMahon and NDP candidate Mowbray was so distinct when compared to the brashness and hard words used by McKenna. At one point Janet Mowbray had run out of time answering a question and McMahon turned to her and said – “use some of my time. It was noted as well that every candidate for the Burlington seat was female.
For those that went to the event as hard core partisans – McKenna did fine. For those who were reflective and thoughtful – they would have left the room wondering what kind of a society they want and if McMahon represented that society. The difference between McMahon and McKenna was palpable.
A speaker brought to the audience’s attention that Mowbray was once a Liberal and did not live in the riding. McMahon was quick to point out that while she lives in Burlington her residence is about six blocks outside the constituency boundaries.
The issue for the audience was those 100,000 pink slips Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak has said he is going to hand out. McKenna is quick to add that much of that reduction in people on the payroll will come through attrition.
The campaign is over, people are now making their way to the polling stations and by the end of the day we will know what we have in the way of a provincial government for the next four years.
If it turns out to be Kathleen Wynne – expect her to face two different people the next time out. Hudak’s leadership will not survive another loss – and the New Democrats will begin looking for a leader who had s a plan and a vision.
Should Tim Hudak prevail and become Premier Ontario then we have to wait and see how far he goes with his plans to significantly change the way the government provides services and support to the taxpayers and how they grow the economy of the province.
Monday of next week A Different Drummer Books and Burlington Public Library will feature a guest with both knowledge and insight on just how parliamentary democracies work.
Michael MacMillan will talk about his book: Tragedy in the Commons that documents the views of former members of parliament who speak out on Canada’s Failing Democracy. Monday June 16 7pm at the Central Library.
By Pepper Parr
June 11, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Based on an as yet verified report from the Osgoode Hall Ontario Court of Appeal, Burlington Air Park Inc., appears to have lost the second round in efforts to build an air park without having to comply with municipal rules and regulations.
A panel of three judges dismissed the appeal on the spot – which is a bit unusual. Frequently appeal courts take time to review the documents and the pleadings and then write their decision and release it at a later date.
The Burlington Air Park Inc., can seek leave to appeal the decision of the Supreme Court.
We will seek additional details on this matter and follow up.
The tide has certainly turned on this situation. The city can now begin thinking about just what it is going to require of the air park in terms of compliance with the site plan by-law. And residents who have suffered significant property value losses can begin to think in terms of damages they will want to seek.
|
|
