Government All « Burlington Gazette - Local News, Politics, Community

IKEA move in jeopardy? Getting all the paper work done is going to be a challenge. Is the province cooperating?

October 3, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. It is going to be a scramble to get all the paper work done in time for IKEA to meet some deadlines that are out there.

The first hard date is October 21^st when the Development and Infrastructure Committee will go over a report that covers details that have to be approved at that Committee level. It is vital that the report staff produces be approved at that Committee meeting.

Red line at the op is the railway line – that isn’t going to move. Dark line on the right is the creek that has to be dealt with and Conservation Halton isn’t making that easy. Lot of room for the interchange upgrades that are going to be needed to handle the volume of traffic.

The schedule is now so tight that council members will move from meeting as a Standing Committee on the evening of the 21^st into meeting as a city council to pass the zoning by-law change IKEA needs to build its new office/retail operation on the site.

There is a mandatory 20 day comment period when a change is made in a zoning by-law.

While everyone waits out that 20 day period, documents from Conservation Halton have to be signed. Conservation is involved because there is a creek running along the east side of the property.

But that isn’t the only issue that has to be resolved and, longer term, it isn’t the toughest one. The intersection at Walkers Line is reaching capacity. Changing the configuration of an intersection like Walkers Line is no small matter.

Currently located on Plains Road in Aldershot IKEA has wanted to move for some time and committed to staying in Burlington – why not this is a great market and IKEA is a top tourist draw for the city. Then the complications set in and the project is getting close to needing life support.

IKEA has been toiling away since before March of 2011 on plans to move their operation from Aldershot to a piece of land on the North Service Road just west of Walkers Line where there are multiple problems that someone didn’t see coming their way.

IKEA made a corporate decision to move and put together an agreement with Hopewell, the company that owns the land on the North Service Road.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see immediately that the North Service Road could not handle the traffic that would be created with an IKEA on the Hopewell property.

Widening the North Service Road would be necessary but there were problems there because North Service is cheek by jowl with the QEW which itself is going to be widened in the not too distant future.

A walk along North Service between Guelph Line and Walkers Line suggests that property could be bought to widen the road but there is at least one large structure that is going to have a road very close to it when widening takes place..

Add to that the Creek that winds its way down the east side of the property and dips under the QEW and is governed by Conservation Halton rules and you get a sense of what IKEA is up against.

Did the planners that IKEA engaged not do their homework? Did they not make themselves aware of all the problems they would incur? When they first talked to Burlington’s planners did the Planning department not brief them?

The IKEA development is the first initiative seen in what the city calls one of its prime development areas. This one is called the Prosperity Corridor and covers both sides of the QEW from Appleby on the east to Brant on the west with the focus at this point on the Guelph Line – Walkers Line stretch.

City hall is realizing that a change made to Walkers Line and the QEW ripples through to the other major intersections. City hall has also learned that you just don’t come along with a development application and expect the province to take a serious interest in what you want to do.

The province takes a much longer term approach and the next time the Burlington intersections along the QEW come up for a hard close look with a cheque book in their hand is 2016 – and that’s when they begin looking at what might be needed.

IKEA wants to be OPEN in its new location the spring of 2015 with shovels in the ground before the end of this year if they can get the paper work out of the way.

North Service Road looking west: There is room to widen the road; not sure how Leon’s will feel about giving up some frontage so people can get to IKEA.

Report providing information regarding 3455 North Service Road (IKEA Properties Limited) (PB-82-13) (Referred to the October 21, 2013 Development & Infrastructure meeting)

The city has growth plans that cannot be met without significant development in the Prosperity Corridor

The Walkers Line /QEW upgrades are critical

Land west of Walkers Line has been purchased for the development of 300,000 sq/ft of industrial office space. It is not clear at this point if this is ‘new development’ and what stage it is at.

IKEA alone accounts for half of the new Industrial Commercial construction forecast for 2013 – thus if the deal in the works now doesn’t close before the end of the year – there goes the forecast and up go residential taxes – unless the finance people raid some of those fat reserve funds the city has tucked way.

One of the city’s top tourist destinations is going to move to the property on the left. Widening this road to three lanes isn’t going to handle the traffic – and left hand turns are going to be terrible. Lots of work to be done on this file – and the clock is ticking.

Making the North Service Road work as a development site is not going to be easy and the city knows now that it needs partners from the private sector as well as more from the Region and the province.

Problem is the province doesn’t think the city needs the kind of help it is talking about.

The agreements that are being readied for signature have IKEA paying all the short term costs – these will get spelled out in the report that wasn’t tabled last night.

The city and the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will pay all the costs for the long term – which refers to the cost of reconfiguring Walkers Line and the North Service Road.

This would seem like one of those situations where Burlington General Manager Scott Stewart needs to get all the players in the same room at the same time and give them a solid dose of his “tough love”. He once took on a group of soccer Moms and if a deal can be worked out with that crowd, IKEA should be a cake walk.

But it doesn’t look like that today – does it?

Friday is not a casual dress day for city’s legal department. Airpark court case to be heard Friday.

October 3^rd, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. If you want to talk to people in the city’s legal department this week – do it today, because most of the brains in that department will be in Milton on Friday, sitting in a Courtroom hearing an application that has been made by both the city and the Burlington Executive Airpark over who gets to call the shots when it comes to changing the way land is used.

What was thought to be a sleepy little airport became a massive problem for the city

The city creates by-laws and believes everyone has to abide by the bylaws in place. The Airpark argues that they don’t have to follow the city’s bylaws because they are regulated by the federal Department of Transportation.

The airport began making massive changes to their site about five years ago. The city, the Region and Conservation Halton didn’t pay much attention to what was being done at what had been a sleepy little rural airport. They understood that the airpark came under federal jurisdiction and were content to leave it at that.

When it became evident that the airpark was being upgraded significantly the city asked then ordered the airpark management to apply for the necessary permits.

Nope said the airpark people. There was some back and forth – the city sued them, they sued the city and it became evident that there were serious differences of opinion over how the laws the airpark were relying upon were to be interpreted.

So, back in late August, lawyers for both the city and the Airpark met in a Courtroom and agreed this had to be resolved and set October 4^th as the day a judge would listen to arguments on arcane points of law. Both the city and the airpark brought in big legal guns and for the past seven weeks have been doing their “examination for discovery”, which is that period of time when they get to ask all kinds of questions.

Each side then prepares its brief and files it with the Court.

Someone in the Court house decides which judge is going to hear the arguments and at just after 10:00 am a bailiff will call out All Rise, the Judge will enter and the game begins.

There will not be any witnesses, there won’t be any television type court room drama; just some very smart lawyers arguing important differences on what was meant when a federal law was written and how that law impacts on a different level of government.

North Burlington residents have taken it in the ear over this issue – they have put up with trucks driving up and down the roads hauling landfill. When they found out how much fill was being taken onto the airpark site they were alarmed and made their concerns known to city hall and the regional government.

Delegations were made at both city hall and the Region during which it became evident that Burlington didn’t know what was going on and the Region didn’t appear to be at all concerned. Some in Milton kind of like the idea of an airport being close to their part of the Region.

The residents were having none of it. They formed an interest group and showed up everywhere they could to press their point. Both the Region and the city got the message.

How does this kind of site alteration take place without a permit? If you’re an airpark and federally regulated – this is what you can get away with. The space atop that hill is where a helicopter landing is going to be located.

It quickly became very clear that the airpark people were not going to budge so the city sued. That got us to the point where everyone is before a judge who will hear an application for an interpretation of just what the law means. These are called judicial interpretations.

Each side, the city and the Airpark were originally given two hours to give their interpretation of what the federal law means. When all the talking is done, the judge tells them that the decision will be reserved and in a couple of months (this won’t be a case that is decided upon in a couple of weeks) a decision will be handed down and both sides will read that decision very, very carefully.

And then you can bet the wine allowance that the side most unhappy with the decision will appeal. There is the possibility that this case will go from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.

In the meantime the Airpark development plans are frozen and that suites residents on Appleby Line and Bell School Line just fine.

One small question: Why did the city’s Community Services Committee go into Closed session to discuss a Confidential Legal department September 18^th report regarding the Burlington Executive Airport? Were the city’s lawyers seeking direction? Was there a glitch in the case law they were relying upon to make their case. It just seemed a little odd that there would be a Confidential report that close to the hearing date.

Councillors forgot how to play nice – behave like a couple of alley cats.

REVISED

There were errors in some of the data and facts in the original version which had to be confirmed. That took longer than expected. with the facts confirmed we can now re-publish this piece originally published September 25th,

October 3, 2103

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. Burlington has held City Council meetings that were done in less than half an hour. In and out, which is the way Mayor Goldring likes to see things happen.

In Burlington, Council members like to say that all the heavy lifting gets done at the committee level but the decisions is made at a Council meeting.

Monday night they held a Council meeting and they certainly made decisions that will impact this city for some time.

The first development this city has seen for some time will get the approval it needs – once some of the paper work is cleaned up. The Mayor got the unanimous vote he felt he needed with the Beachway Park as it now heads to the Region for a decision.

The environmentalists got left on hold with their ask for something in the way of a private tree bylaw.

There were far more delegations than usual at a Council meeting and yes, the Marsden’s made their regular delegation on the matter of accessibility.

The tension between Councillors Meed Ward and Craven is close to measurable, Neither has ever been a fan of the other and on Monday evening the feelings got spilled onto the horseshoe of the Council chamber

And we saw some pretty nasty back and forth between the Council members for Wards 1 and 2. Rick Craven and Marianne Meed Ward had at it for a minute or two and the public saw the acrimony that exists between those two. Synonyms for acrimony are bitterness, animosity, spitefulness, asperity and spite which Councillor Craven has had for Meed Ward almost since the day she became a member of Council.

The two have significantly different operating styles and Craven seems to be unable to control his dislike for Meed Ward. Last night he opened up and Meed Ward gave back as good as she got. The two sit beside each other which makes for some awkwardness.

The harsh words came out during the debate on the Beachway Park which happens to be in Ward 1 where Councillor Craven is not exactly supporting the wishes of the people who own property in the area. Craven appears to want city hall to stick to a plan that is decades old and is no longer a reflection on how parks are developed.

He gets apoplectic over what he believes are encroachments and changes to property that have been made without the required permits. Craven just does not want those people in that park and has done as much as he can to ensure the houses get purchased and torn down.

Councillor Meed Ward on the other hand is a very strong advocate of a community within the park and she makes no pretence about how she feels. For Craven this is messing around in his ward – Meed Ward feels she is the Councillor for the Ward 2 but responsible for the sane development of the city which is more than Craven can stomach – Monday evening he did the equivalent of an upchuck and let it all come out.

Craven caught the attention of the Mayor who was chairing the meeting and said he had two comments he wanted to make about the presentation Councillor Meed Ward had made about section 37 agreements. ‘We heard yet again said Craven for the 3^rd , 4^th and maybe 5^th time how section 37 agreements work. That is not what we heard from Meed Ward this evening and I don’t understand why Meed Ward doesn’t get it.

The Mayor then spoke about the problem the city had with this file and the need to get a better grip on just how social housing needs were going to be met. Mayor Goldring seldom speaks extemporaneously but rather reads from notes which results explanations that are a bit stilted. The information is in there – the passion and commitment don’t seem to come through – it’s just not something this man does all that well.

Councillor Meed Ward sits looking a little glum before she responds to Councillor Craven’s personal attached and asks that he stick to the issue and stop belittling residents, delegations and her as a council member.

Meed Ward puts up her hand to speak and she lets fly. Councillor Craven she said “I am going to ask you to stick to the issues – stick to the point. You have a habit of making it personal. You’ve done that to residents, you’ve done that to delegations and you’ve done it to me.”

“Stick to the issue. Tell me we don’t need affordable housing when I think we do.”

Mayor Goldring, looking for a way to take some of the tension out of the air asked that council members keep the tone civil.

Councillor Craven asked for the floor again and commented that it “was the member for Ward 2 who raised the issue of the Official Plan and that in Ward 1 there were two affordable housing projects.”

The public is now seeing some of the nastiness that has been behind the scenes with this council. It is close to impossible for most of the members of this council to say anything positive or nice about Marianne Meed Ward – but she has a following and they expect her to be Mayor of this city some day.

Hopefully she learns how Section 37 of the Planning Act works or the province gets rid of it before Meed Ward places the chain of office around her neck.

That will be a very, very hard day for Rick Craven.

Come on, come all – war chest needs to be built up.

October 3, 2013

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON. If you wondered whether or not there would be a provincial election in the Spring look no further than Jane McKenna’s invitation to spend some time with her WHEN

Electronic invitation from the office of Jane McKenna – she wants you to attend her fund-raiser.

The Gazette has yet to see a single press release from the office of Burlington’s representative at Queen’s Park but when it comes to a fund-raiser the invitations go out to everyone.

The word would have gone out within the Tory caucus at Queen’s Park – start raising funds, there is going to be an election and McKenna is going to need a substantial war chest to win next time out.

The province might well see a provincial election before it experiences the scheduled municipal election in October 27th of 2014.

Burlington takes a big step to fully recognizing its role in the War of 1812. Took long enough.

October 2, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. It was a bright sunny day, one of those last reprieves summer sometimes gives while suggesting there is an Indian summer still ahead of us before the harvest season is over.

The bikes were out on the trails along the edge of the lake, Doors Open, the event that has historic and interesting places opening their doors for people to walk through and look around.

Rick Wilson, back to camera with War of 1812 enactor Robert Williamson talking over details of the desperate battles that played themselves out off the shores of Burlington 200 years ago.

A small group of people, some dressed up as re-enactors, were gathered on the promenade jutting out from the Naval Walk at the western end of Spencer Smith Park.

A classic photo-op that is drenched in Burlington history. The design of a plaque that will be installed on the Naval Walk commemorating a battle that was later seen as the turning point in the War of 1812. That stony stretch of beach in the background is where the Brant Inn was located. It was the jumpingest place in town in its day. People traveled from across Ontario and the United States by train t hear the great bands of the time.

The 50 square yard space was just drenched with history. Looking to the west is Burlington’s Bay, the entrance to one of the most industrial harbours in the country where tons of ore is brought in to fire the furnaces of the steel plants. A couple of yards from where an interpretive plaque that tells the story of a War of 1812 battle that took place out on that lake – out there in front of us is a stretch of stony beach that was once the location of the Brant Inn. It was a place that put Burlington on the map for many. In those days Burlington was a “jumping” town.

On this Saturday morning – exactly 200 years ago an event called the Burlington Races took place. The name come from a magazine article published 100 years ago that mis-represented what was happening with ships under full sail firing their cannons at each other was really all about.

It was a war that taught the Americans that Canada could perhaps be invaded but could not be conquered.

If the lakes were won said the better history books of the time, the war of 1812 was won. The British brought superior seamanship and better ships to the battle. The commanding officers of each fleet both held flag rank – Commodores both.

Burlington`s Mayor and the council member for the ward took part in the unveiling of a design that replicated the plaque that will eventually be put in place.

A great painting, full of dash and energy but the scene it depicts never took place. The artists didn’t know that when the work was done.

To commemorate the event and give it a level of legitimacy there were War of 1812 enactors on hand; Commodore Yeo of the British Navy and a British Royal Navy captain circa 1810 played by Gill Bibby.

Yeo was represented by Robert Williamson a Canadian Navy Commander who served as a Reserve officer, one time Commanding officer of HMCS Star in Hamilton. Williamson was a high school history and geography teacher.

Rick Wilson was the Burlington resident who used the research done by others to advocate for the removal of a plaque at the Burlington Heights in Hamilton which has been proven to be historically incorrect.

Robert Williamson was doing research on the Scourge and the Hamilton, simple merchant ships that were pressed into service for the American Navy just prior to the War of 1812. They went down in a gale and now lay at the bottom of Lake Ontario.

It was while doing this research on the Hamilton and the Scourge that Williamson accidently came across the existence of the log of HMS Wolfe which revealed facts that no one knew about. In is correspondence with Burlington Heritage Planner Jenna Paluto, Williamson set out the bigger picture:

“After the American naval victory on Lake Erie by Commodore Perry on September 10, 1813, a powerful United States fleet comprising ten ships under the command of Commodore Isaac Chauncey appeared off York (Toronto) on the morning of September 28, 1813. Their objective was to complete the American bid to gain control of the Great Lakes or at least create a diversion allowing the shipment of American troops from the Niagara frontier to the St. Lawrence River for an attack on Montreal.

“The smaller British fleet of six vessels, commanded by Commodore Sir James Yeo, was in the harbour but on the approach of the enemy, set sail to attack. After a sharp engagement the British flagship, HMS Wolfe, having suffered sail damage limiting her maneuverability, led the British squadron to a convenient anchorage in view of the present day City of Burlington. Commodore Yeo then had his squadron anchor close in shore with springs (heavy ropes) on the (anchor) cables allowing his ships to pivot and present powerful broadsides from a strong compact defensive unit that could not be enveloped from behind. The American fleet, having suffered battle damage as well, recognized the strong British position and withdrew to the protection of Fort Niagara, leaving the Royal Navy to quickly repair the sails and mast of their flagship, but still firmly in control of the lake.

“Control of Lake Ontario was essential to the British for the defense of Upper Canada (Ontario). By preserving a formidable presence on the lake, the British squadron was able to capture Fort Oswego in May 1814 and transferred General Drummond with 400 British reinforcements and supplies to the Niagara frontier in July to defeat the United States Army at Lundys Lane, the last invasion of Canada.”

It was that superb seamanship by a British naval officer off what Williamson believes was Bronte Creek that sent the Americans back to their home port.

Magazine writers who paid more attention to imaginative thinking than to historical fact

Williamson set out to correct the record which he did with a number of excellent papers.

Rick Wilson, the citizen who agitated and advocated for a correction to a grievous historical error.

Rick Wilson, a history buff, got hold of the information and began to agitate for a change that would correct the historical errors.

Wilson knocked on any door he could find – meeting with Burlington’s MP Mike Wallace who, while intrigued, had to back away because the plaques were a provincial responsibility. Wilson was able to get exactly nowhere with the office of Jane McKenna but he persevered and with the help of the Heritage Advisory Committee the city took on the task of creating a plaque.

Former economic development honcho suggest potential council candidates Stop, Look and Listen

October 2, 2013

By Don Baxter

BURLINGTON, ON. Hopefully Burlington Council members had a chance to recharge their batteries over the summer, and they are now fully engage with Burlington and Halton business. But at this point in a 4 year term, elected officials begin to think about whether they should run again. For those of us longer in the tooth and with more gray hair, this period is comparable to Pierre Trudeau’s infamous walk-in-the-snow. But our elected officials will thankfully have better weather for their walk. Perhaps they should walk out to the end of the pier, look out, see that we have a second pier, and think of Burlington from pier to shining pier. This takes vision – think of a tree-lined boardwalk running the entire length, full of residents, tourists, joggers, cyclists, hospital workers, and patients out for a pleasant walk. Do you have vision or is your eye sight too weak? And surely, you see past the bureaucratic response and understand the tourism and human value of leaving locks on the pier.

That’s my point – the vision thing. Burlington is experiencing its own version of a spring awakening – new community groups are forming, like my neighbourhood – the Roseland Community Organization, or the beach residents, Roseland Heights Community Association, St. Luke’s precinct, the airport, Burlington Green – to name a few. Why is this happening? In an established community, which Burlington is becoming, providing good leadership and good governance is complex – a kind of a Rubric’s Cube. It means citizens and community groups will become increasingly involved in every decision you make. If you do not have vision and a strong sense of community values then you will just be oiling the squeaky wheels – and in terms of dealing with change, this short-term approach will lead to a downward spiral for our community.

But a Council who temporarily closes a road to allow salamanders safe crossing, who doesn’t even entertain the idea of a casino operation, or who didn’t take the easy way out and abandon the Pier, cannot be considered weak. In these instances, there was and is a clear sense of the community values, and when leadership and vision blend, good decision-making follows.

Community values are more than individual property rights. Developers moving into a neighbourhood do not see the property they have purchased as a home but rather a business opportunity to be exploited. The precious qualities of an existing neighbourhood that have been built through good stewardship over time,conveniently add to profitability of the developers short-term business proposition. They may live in the home for tax avoidance or warranty reasons, but they do not have long-term perspective for building or adding to the sense of community. Rather, they only see short-term business prospects. Trees or heritage on your property are an asset as long as they do not get in the way of their building envelope or planned pool and Jacuzzi.

They do not see either trees or heritage, for example, as a community asset because they cannot accept long-term community values getting in the way of their construction schedule. Their quick solution clear-cut the trees or heritage house, go for your permit, make a lot construction noise and dust, and plant a few shrubs.

Getting back to my fundamental argument, a good Council recognizes and acts upon community values, not the business values of these pick-up truck companies cashing in on something they did not build. I hasten to add, Burlington has its share of great developers who are good community builders. They recognize the value of community, and you see their names on every wall of dedication where good deeds are done in Burlington.

Get my point? In the municipal environment, community values drive good government, not vested corporate interest. This sounds odd from a fellow who used to run economic development for both the City of Burlington and Metropolitan Toronto but my concepts for neighbourhood preservation are not anti-growth for the City, not at all. Direct corporate interests to where they belong – into intensification and commercial/industrial corridors. The risk proposition for developers who want to move into established neighbourhoods is going up quickly, and flash mobs may become regular features at Committee of Adjustment hearings for severances and variances.

The pier those without vision or imagination might want to walk out on.

So Councillors or prospective Councillors, when you take your walk to the end of the pier – STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN. If you don’t hear anything over the squeaky wheels and the vested interests demanding their property rights over community interests, extend your walk. But if you have vision and a sense of value for established communities, downtown and waterfront regeneration, a protected escarpment, strong arts and culture, tree canopy protection, design-intense development solutions, neighbourhood protection and ongoing infrastructure renewal, then stay put. You can probably run a balanced government responsive to citizens and communities, not just a wanna-be-business on behalf of taxpayers.

You don’t have to be loveable to be leaders in Burlington, just sensible, and clearly, not self-serving.

Bronte Creek in Lowville Park is a fish sanctuary – poaching is however taking place. Get you cell phone cameras out.

October 2, 2013

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON There are Lowville residents who are very upset about what they understand to be illegal fishing in the Bronte Creek that runs through Lowville Park.

Salmon spawning started last week and it is reported that there are people fishing in the Creek

At least one person was seen walking from the creek early in the morning with bags of fish since this is the best run in years and people are just scooping them out of the water. The salmon are exhausted so it’s easy pickings.

Salmon swimming in Bronte Creek – fish run is very strong this year.

A valid Ontario Fishing License is required for those 18 years of age and over and Ontario Fishing regulations apply.

The Conservation Halton web site says:

Special regulations, including permanent sanctuaries, seasonal sanctuaries and extended fall seasons apply to various sections of the lower reaches of Bronte Creek.

But then say absolutely nothing about the specifics of the sanctuaries and what regulations apply.

Not very helpful.

However, the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources was much more forthcoming.

Bronte Creek – as it winds through Lowville Park in City of Burlington – is a fish sanctuary

No fishing allowed from Jan 1-Fri before 4th sat in April and from Oct 1-Dec 31.

Even if it wasn’t a sanctuary the season for trout and salmon closed almost everywhere on September 30.

The MNR Enforcement officers are aware the situation in Lowville and are looking into it.

To report a natural resources violation, call 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free any time or contact your local MNR office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). If someone has photos of natural resource violation being committed they should mention that when they contact the TIPS line and keep the photos in case of further investigation. We discourage anyone from putting themselves at risk to get such photos.

Three alarm blaze on Michael – damage limited to garage and basement – no personal injury.

Three alarm blaze at Michael Street residence.

October 2, 2013

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON. It didn’t look like a bad fire but it brought three trucks to the Michael Street residence Tuesday evening where the fire was limited to the garage area of a two-story home that had experienced a fire about ten years ago when it had a different owner.

There were no personal injuries.

The fire was persistent however and fire fighters kept applying water to an area.

Fire appeared to be limited to the garage area of the two storey house where fire fighters returned several times with hoses.

No report on the extent of the damage to the structure. Power was cut off but there did not appear to be any damage to the structure other than a lot of water that would have flown down to the basement.

Remember the Happy Gang? “We’re happy, we’re healthy – the heck with being wealthy.” Well we are certainly wealthy.

October 1, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. It wasn’t hard to figure out what the major message was behind the 2013 version of Burlington’s Vital Signs report is: there are many in the community who just don’t have enough – and it isn’t just the “poor” people that are going without.

The Burlington Community Foundation, around since 1999, released, along with 26 other communities across Canada, a report that touched all the usual bases and added in a significant push on the pressing needs for better access to mental health services.

The Vital Signs report is data driven and uses graphics very effectively to make the point. The cartoon cover page is Burlington: there’s the gazebo (I met my wife for the first time there) there’s Pepperwoods, there is Benny’s and the gas station. The drawings are all in colour and attractive in their own way. Cute – it isn’t until you get to the second page that the point is made. Well – compare the two versions and you know in an instant what the report wants to talk about.

The report is the second published by the Community Foundation. The 2013 report covers eleven key areas of focus, including physical and mental wellness, poverty, youth, and seniors.

“This year’s report again emphasizes that Burlington is a city of contrasts. We are a prosperous community, with higher than average levels of income and education, with remarkable environmental features such as our escarpment and waterfront. Yet, there are people struggling in our community, in ways that are often unseen, as we drive and walk through our neighbourhoods”, said Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) President and CEO, Colleen Mulholland.

Who are the people that collect all the data and tie the different strands that are woven into the tapestry that is our city?

Established in 1999 as a centre for philanthropy, Burlington Community Foundation is a local knowledge broker and one of the most reliable partners in the non-profit sector. They collaborate with donors to build endowments, give grants and connect leadership. Responsive to their donors, the grant making experts help people give, build legacies, address vital community needs and support areas of personal interest. The Foundation helps people, agencies and corporations improve the city’s vitality.

Cover: 2013 Vital Signs report commissioned by the Burlington Community Foundation.

Take away the good stuff, the nice stuff and the picture is that of a different Burlington – not one we all get to see.

The report argues that “connections are critical to community vitality” but how do you do that? You’ve heard it before and with a municipal election just over a year away you will hear it again from every one of the rascals running for office: – Burlington is ranked as the top mid-sized city in which to live in Canada.

We drive – everywhere, in part because local transit has yet to develop to the point where it serves the community as well as it is going to have to. Biggest reason – we like our cars.

And we drive our cars – to everything. 79% of Ontarian’s commute to work by car, truck or van. That number is 86% for Burlington where we have an excellent, frequent train service that has three stops in the city with plenty of parking – free.

We vote – in the last federal election 66.5 of us voted while the Ontario average was 61.5%. Didn’t do much for us in terms of the quality of our elected members though did it?

We have one of the best educated populations in the province.

We are a well-educated community – check out the charts.

Burlington is doing better at both the number of people with jobs and the number that are unemployed. But there are other indicators that reveal serious problems.

Our people are employed – they need to be – our housing is amongst the most expensive in the province and rental accommodation is not easy to come by.

Median household income levels are 24% higher in Burlington than the provincial average but according to Statistics Canada, almost 1 in 10 youth under 18 lived in a low-income household.

In 2012, 36% of all items circulated by Burlington public libraries were in the child or youth category. Attendance at children and youth programs at Burlington libraries was 35,195.

Overall, the age profile of Burlington is getting older and more so than the Ontario average – in 2011, there were 29,720 seniors 65 years of age or older living in Burlington, comprising 16.9% of the population vs. 14.6% in Ontario.

Young people in Burlington are preforming well in school compared to the Ontario average but there are some opportunities for improving the lives and outcomes for our youth, starting as early as kindergarten. Some issues we need to tackle as a community are obesity, bullying and mental health.

Burlington residents are better educated than the population of Ontario and Canada. 67% of Burlington adults 25 years of age and over have completed some form of post-secondary education, compared with 60% of the population of Ontario.

Among Burlingtonians 25–64 years of age, 95% have completed high school – this is a big positive change in a 10 year period: in 2001, 79% had completed high school.

In 2011, there were 143,510 people 15 years of age or older in Burlington. Within this age range, 93,030 people were employed and 5,755 were unemployed for a total labour force of 98,785.

Burlington has stronger employment statistics than Ontario as a whole. The employment rate among people 15–64 years of age was 65%, compared to 60% for Ontario. Burlington’s unemployment rate was 6%, compared to 8% for Ontario.

For the past 10 years, the rate of unemployment in Burlington has been consistently lower than elsewhere in Ontario and in other communities across Canada.

Here are some quick facts about jobs and businesses in Burlington, according to the Halton Region 2012 Employment Survey, released in June 2013:

The City of Burlington has 4,638 businesses providing 74,216 full and part-time jobs.

While Burlington accounts for 35% of the 15–64 year olds living in Halton Region, jobs in Burlington accounted for nearly 40% of Halton’s total employment.

Approximately 80% of jobs were in the service-based sector – the leading ones being the retail trade, professional, scientific and technical services, and health care and social assistance.

Can we blame the air quality problems on Hamilton?

Air quality good – but could be better

Burlington has good air quality, compared to downtown Hamilton. Hamilton has more poor to moderate air quality days (22%) than does Burlington (16%).

However, Burlington’s location in southern Ontario – in Canada’s manufacturing heartland and downwind from the industrial centre of the U.S. – increases the number of poor to moderate air quality days relative to more northern parts of Ontario and cities in other parts of Canada. For example, in each of Sudbury and Ottawa only 8% of the days in 2012 had poor to moderate air quality compared to 16% in Burlington.

Price increases are great if you own property – tough market to get into for first time buyers.

The average price of a home in Burlington in the first half of 2013 was $486,669 – up 7% from 2012.

Similar increases were seen in the neighbouring cities of Hamilton (+6%) and Oakville (+7%), with Burlington housing costs continuing to be intermediate between these two cities

Burlington’s rental market is tight – far too tight. The city thought it had a hope recently with close to 100 affordable units coming on line – but that one got away on us.

People looking to rent – particularly those with more modest incomes – can find it difficult to find affordable rental housing in Burlington. In fall 2012, Burlington’s rental vacancy rate was 1.3%. For reference, a vacancy rate of 3% is considered necessary for adequate competition and supply. By comparison, Hamilton’s vacancy rate was 4.2%, and in Ontario as a whole it was 2.5%.

In 2011, Halton had a higher percentage of households (4.6%) on waiting lists for affordable, rent geared-to-income housing than was the case for Ontario as whole (3.2%). Further, the demand for this housing greatly exceeds the supply, as only 0.5% of Halton households were living in affordable, rent- geared-to-income housing in 2011.

In Halton, between 2010 and 2011 there was a 47% increase in households waiting for rent-geared-to-income housing. Families with children are the hardest hit.

The kids think they are getting the exercise they need – caution, this is “self-reported” data.

Residents of Halton are more likely to rate their overall health as “very good” or “excellent” (72%) compared with Ontario residents as a whole (61%). Moreover, positive health ratings increased from 2011 (66%) to 2012 (72%).

Over 75,000 Burlington residents 18 years of age and older are overweight or obese based on their self-reported height and weight. That’s just over half of the adult population who have an increased risk of certain health problems, including Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, gallbladder disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and certain cancers.

Mental health is now at least being talked about – it isn’t something we hide the way we used to – that was an improvement for the better. Now we have to address the problem and it is not going to be cheap.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information tracks the performance of over 600 health care facilities across Canada on a variety of indicators of effectiveness of treatment, patient safety, appropriateness of treatment, and accessibility. JBH is either at or better than the Canadian average on all of the indicators.

Seniors need different services. The city currently has one Seniors’ Centre and at least five high schools. Will we need additional Seniors’ Centers that can be converted to high schools 30 years down the road? There are some significant problems to need solutions and we don’t have a lot of time to find the answers.

Canada’s age profile is getting older, and this trend will continue for several decades into the future. For example, the proportion of people 65+ years of age in Ontario is expected to grow from 14.6% of the population in 2011 to over 23% by the year 2036.

Burlington’s age profile has historically been older than that of Ontario as a whole, and the difference has been increasing over time. As of 2011, 16.9% of Burlington’s population was 65 years of age or older, compared to 14.6% of Ontario’s population.

Burlington has more of the Region’s senior population – do we have well thought out plans to meet their needs?

Based on Statistics Canada measures of low-income from the 2006 census, 5.6% of Burlington seniors have low-income after tax. However, the prevalence of low-income is particularly acute among female seniors in Burlington: this prevalence is higher than the Ontario average, and higher than other Halton region communities.

In 2006, about 1,800 senior households in Burlington spent 30% or more of their total household income before tax on mortgages, electricity, heat and municipal services. Of these, almost 500 spent 50% or more of their income on housing, which leaves very little money for food, medications, or other necessities.

In the Age-Friendly Communities Forum: A Seniors’ Perspective – an initiative of the Elder Services Advisory Council In Halton Region – the Burlington participants identified a need for affordable housing as one of the top 3 issues for seniors in Burlington, and noted that “some people are moving out of the community as they cannot afford to live here.”

We love the place.

Burlington residents tend to see the quality of life in the city as improving: 27% said the quality of life in Burlington has improved over the past two years, compared to only 11% who said it has declined.

Survey respondents were asked which factors had the greatest impact on quality of life in their city. What set Burlington residents apart particularly was the importance of a low crime rate, and a strong sense of community.

In a survey of Burlington residents, 76% said culture is “essential” or “highly important” in their daily lives. There are many types of cultural experiences. For Burlington residents, the top 6 are festivals (86%), museum & local history (81%), art galleries (78%), going to the theatre (75%), public art (69%) and family heritage & traditions (69%).

Benefits to Burlington from community cultural organizations include:

624,000+ visits to local festivals, events, productions and exhibitions

89,000+ hours of cultural programming offered to all ages

Burlington residents spend 37% of their cultural time in Burlington, and the remaining time in other cities such as Toronto and Hamilton.

These numbers are the reality for many. A person cannot live on the minimum wage – it has to be close to doubled – and that’s not something a municipality can do.

Ontario has a legally mandated minimum wage of $10.25 an hour. However, a person working full-time at the minimum wage rate will be living in poverty, as they will earn less than Statistics Canada’s Low Income Cut-off.

The concept of a “living wage” is motivated by the following question: What does a family working full-time (37.5 hours a week, year-round) need to earn in order to pay for the necessities of life, to enjoy a decent quality of life, and to be able to participate fully in the economic, political, social and cultural life of the community?

The answer to this question depends on family composition and on where you live. Community Development Halton has tackled this question for the Halton Region, including Burlington.

What is included in a living wage, and what is excluded? “A living wage isn’t extravagant. It doesn’t allow families to save for retirement, to save for their children’s education or to service their debt. But it does reflect the cost of affording the basics of life – something the minimum wage doesn’t do,” states the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Community Development Halton considered three types of Halton households: a family of 4 (two parents, two children – a boy age 10, and a girl age 14), a single-parent family (mother age 30 and a boy age 3), and a single person (male age 32). In each household, each adult is working full- time, year-round. The calculation of living wage reflects the typical costs in Halton, as well as taxes and benefits.

The number of youth have grown since 2006 but the senior population has grown more.

The number of youth in Burlington has increased since 2006, but at a slower rate than older age groups. As a result, the overall age profile of Burlington is getting older.

Burlington is an affluent community, but not everyone is well off. In the 2006 census, 7% of all residents lived in low income households. However, this was greater for youth under 18, where 9% – almost one in 10 youth – lived in a low income household.

This is what students have said they did in terms of getting the physical education they need for balanced growth.

According to the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, youth 12–17 years of age require at least 60-minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity activity per day.

In the Halton Youth Survey, two–thirds of Burlington Grade 7s claimed to meet the 60-minute-per-day guideline, but only just over half of Grade 10s claimed to meet the guideline.

Girls in the Halton region were much less likely than boys to report meeting the physical activity guideline, with only four in ten Grade 10 girls meeting the guideline.

This is not a healthy number. Why in a community where genuine financial need is not pervasive?

The Halton Youth Survey, conducted by the Halton Our Kids Network, developed an indicator of involvement in criminal activity based on four self- report questions asking about vandalism, carrying a weapon, selling drugs, and group or gang involvement, and these define what is meant here by “criminal activity”. Note that because this is based on self-report, it includes not only youth accused of crime but also youth who “got away with it”.

Our girls are at very serious risk: do we understand why and do we have programs to help them deal with the depression they are experiencing?

One in five people in Ontario experiences a mental health problem or illness. Because mental illness can affect people in all walks of life, this is as important an issue in comparatively affluent communities like Burlington as it is in other less affluent communities. When you take into account family members and friends, almost everyone is affected in some way.

Mental illness affects people at all life-stages. However, one of the most significant characteristics of the onset of mental health problems is that, unlike many other illnesses, they are more likely to first emerge and affect people early in their lives.

According to a Mental Health Commission of Canada report, the potential negative effects of mental illness on the lives and prospects of young people are considerable:

“Mental disorders are the most common medical conditions causing disability in young people. Most mental disorders begin before age twenty- five and tend to be chronic, with substantial negative short and long-term outcomes. They are associated with poor academic and occupational success, economic burden, personal, interpersonal and family difficulties, increased risk for many physical illnesses and shorter life expectancy.”

Early detection and treatment of mental health problems is vital for the young people in our community and for the future health of our city.

Access to youth mental health services is not what it needs to be

Only one-third of those who need mental health services in Canada actually receive them.

71% of family physicians ranked access to psychiatrists in Ontario as fair to poor.

While mental illnesses constitute more than 15% of the burden of disease in Canada, these illnesses receive only 5.5% of health care dollars.

ROCK reports that due to mental health funding gaps, as of March 2013, youth and families were waiting for just over 1,000 various services they offer. Wait times for these services range from months up to 2 years.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people in Canada. One of the most important causes of youth suicide is mental illness – most often depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and substance abuse.

The effects of youth suicide go beyond the deceased, impacting those who survive their death – their parents, friends, peers, and communities.

Do our students feel their schools are safe?

A survey conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health found that in response to the question, “In the last 12 months, did you ever seriously consider attempting suicide?”, 7% of Ontario Grade 7s and 12% of Grade 12s answered “yes.”

The Halton Youth Survey asked a somewhat different version of the question, focusing on teens who “sometimes, often or always” had thoughts of suicide in the past 12 months. While the question is somewhat different the results are similar: one in twenty (5%) Grade 7s in Burlington had thoughts about suicide in the past 12 months, increasing to over one in ten (13%) by Grade 10.

Depression is a mood disorder characterized by intense negative emotions and feelings, that negatively impact on people’s lives leading to social, educational, personal and family difficulties.

The Halton Youth Survey created an indicator of being at risk for depression, based on a person saying they “always” or “often” had experienced the following four emotional states in the past week: feeling sad, lonely, depressed, or like crying.

The percentage of Burlington students at risk for depression increases from Grade 7 to Grade 10, and by Grade 10, one in 10 teens are at risk for depression.

This increase in risk for depression from Grade 7 to Grade 10 is occurring primarily among girls. By Grade 10, one in seven girls is at risk for depression.

In the qualitative research project, Halton Youth Voice Road Show (2011), participants suggested the following causes for depression in youth:

Being bullied, which was seen to lead not only to depression but also suicide

Different social groups within a school bullying one another

The fact that sometimes youth were just mean to each other

Technology, since youth don’t actually need to connect to each other on a personal level any more

Images and expectations portrayed in the media

The pursuit of material possessions, with participants saying that it would be better if youth just spent time hanging out instead of shopping

Stress

Not having friends

Being pressured to do drugs

Youth mental health trends at Joseph Brant Hospital

Trips to the hospital emergency department because of a mental health issue represent the tip of the iceberg for youth mental health and substance abuse issues in Burlington. Emergency department visits can occur when mental health or substance abuse issues are undiagnosed, or are untreated, or treatment is not working. Youth visits to the JBH emergency department because of mental health or substance abuse problems show:

Emergency department visits for mental health or substance abuse issues spikes upwards for youth 18–24 years of age.

The annual number of youth under 25 years of age going to JBH emergency because of mental health or substance abuse issues has increased 30% over the last 3 years.

The rate of increase has been even higher among the subset of youth under 18 years of age – showing an increase in emergency visits of 43% over the past 3 years.

JBH operates the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Consultation Clinic, which provides support to children/youth under the age of 18 years. The case load for the Clinic increased by 16% from 2010–11 to 2011–12, and the average wait time for assessment increased by 31%, to 47 days.

The Community Foundation serves us all well – now the community has to look at the data, talk about it and figure out where we can shore up the weak spots and ensure that we continue to do what we have done well.

Collen Mulholland plans to hold a Roundtable on Mental Health early in 2014. How about ensuring that every grade 10 student in the Board of Education’s high schools be given a copy and make it the focus of a civics class.

Parts of King Road closed for 8 weeks while last phase of grade separation is done; fish are using the aqueduct built for them.

September 30^th, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON Santa Claus just might be able to get to some of the homes in Aldershot if he wants to use the King Road grade separation. The tunnel underneath the railway tracks was pushed through last thanksgiving – a task that was seen as a major engineering feat when it was done. Getting a creek re-routed and set up so that it would run over the underpass – as an aqueduct – is now operational. All that’s left to get done is for the road underneath the railway tracks to be built and King Road re-aligned. THAT is going to take eight weeks.

That road, King Road, to the right of the tunnel will soon be gone forever and you will actually be able to drive beneath those railway tracks.

The grade separation project is in what city hall calls the final phase that will see total completion anticipated for June 2014

What the city calls the FINAL road closure starts October 15th at 10am, lasting for 8 weeks, to facilitate the move of the road through the underpass. The October road closure will have pedestrian access maintained. At the completion of the road closure you will be able to drive under the railway tracks. Expect to see every politician in the Region and perhaps even the Premier, who seems to like Burlington, either peddling bicycles under the railway tracks in a flotilla of convertible cars driving through the newly paved road. And I suppose the Burlington Teen Tour Band will be out with the flags flying.

The project seems to be talking forever – heck they shut down the rail line LAST Thanksgiving and dug the tunnel under the railway line in three days – so someone knew what a day’s work was.

It was a mammoth project, seen as a major engineering feat by many and the core work got done over a three day weekend almost a year ago. Progress has been slow since then – expected to open before Christmas.

The reconstruction of King Road from Plains Road to south of Highway 403 has also been completed, with the exception of the road at the tracks, which will be relocated to the underpass during the October road closure.

The opening up of the King Road underpass has the potential to draw significant commercial development. King Road before the work on the underpass began.

The North section is now paved with traffic markings, and has had sidewalks and curbs installed. The creek is now flowing through the channel and over the creek bridge.

The overall scope of work to construct the road through the underpass is to add the asphalt and granular road bases and place concrete curb & gutter and sidewalks within the roadway underpass.

FULL road closures will be in place from October 15, for 8 weeks. King Road will signed as closed, local access for businesses and residents will be maintained. This closure is intended to reduce through traffic.

Access to home and business during normal construction hours (Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) may at times be difficult. Additionally, driveways will be temporarily closed when work is being carried out in the immediate vicinity. Either the inspector or the contractor will notify you of access interruptions prior to the closure.

For day-to-day construction inquiries: Jason Forde at 905-335-7600 ext. 7421

When the work is completed will the city see the development of new business opportunities on the northern part of King Road where there is a considerable amount of prime commercial land on the west side?

Will there be some additions to the commercial business on King Road south of the railway crossing? The whole purpose of the grade separation was to limit the number of times traffic was halted due to rail traffic. The GO train increase in their schedule to half hour service would have made it all but impossible to rely on that Road for transportation to the numerous businesses north of the rail crossing.

Aldershot now has a road with no stoppage due to rail traffic. Will that result in business development? The city could certainly use the tax revenue that comes from the commercial sector.

Transparency and the free flow of information, searching for what you want at city hall: why is the search box gone?

September 30, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. Where is the search tool on the city’s web site?

There are loads of data at city hall but if you don’t know exactly what it is you are looking for you could be out of luck. There used to be a search box you could type words into and various documents would come up. It wasn’t a particularly fine tune search tool but it did at least let you get in and rummage around

Can you see a search box on the HOME page of the city’s web site? There used to be one. What happened?

That search feature wasn’t in place early on the morning of September 30, 2013.

Did someone lose it or is the upgrade of the way the city is going to provide information at the point where it got taken out for a short period of time?

Or has the city decided to take away that feature?

Torontonian arrested in Burlington for human trafficking and procuring for the purposes of prostitution.

September 27, 2013

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON. Halton Regional Police responded to an assault call at a Motel in the City of Burlington where a female victim reported to police that she had been assaulted by a Brondon Curtis HENRY (28 years of age). The victim suffered minor injuries to her face, for which she received medical treatment.

Further investigation revealed that HENRY had been forcing the victim to provide sexual services (prostitution) for which he was financially benefiting.

Brandon Curtis HENRY a Toronto resident has been charged with the following criminal offences:

Assault (two counts)

Human Trafficking

Benefiting From Trafficking a Person

Exploitation For The Purpose of Trafficking a Person

Procuring To Become a Prostitute

HENRY was held for a bail hearing and will appear in court on September 28th 2013 in the City of Hamilton.

Thursday was not a good day for Beachway Park residents. Major battle ahead keeping homes in the park.

September 27^th, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. Thursday was not a good day for the residents in the Beachway Park. The Regions Waterfront Beachway Park Advisory Committee that is made up of regional Councillors and citizens met and supported a decision to buy up every house they can and demolish them for park space. If there was an upside to their decision it was that any buying would be done on a willing buyer, willing seller basis – which means no expropriation.

The Regional Advisory Committee is reported to have vote 9-3 for the recommendations with Councillor Sharman one of the three that voted against the recommendation. The two Burlington citizen members of the Advisory Committee are not identified on the Region’s web site. Councillor Craven voted for the recommendation.

The recommendation was for the Advisory Committee to support the long-term strategic vision for the acquisition of all private property in the park.

The difficulty with this recommendation is that when Burlington was debating this issue it couldn’t find any record of a long-term vision. There were certainly studies in the files, some that go back as far as the mid 80’s but nothing in the way of a policy statement saying all the homes were to be bought should they become available.

A Regional Comprehensive Report identified two clusters of homes in the Beachway Park – some want every one of them bull-dozed into the ground and make available for parking spaces. The housing clusters in place now are shown in red.

While the report from the Advisory is just a recommendation it is nevertheless significant. Many feel it is an indication of the direction the Regional Council is likely to go when it comes to a final decision.

The Advisory recommendation will go to the Regional Committee that handles this file. They will vote on the matter and send their decision along to Regional Council where a final decision gets made.

Recently Conservation Halton, which is responsible for the environmental aspects of the park chose not to recommend that any land be bought. While the decision at Conservation Halton was a tie vote – and therefore is seen as lost.

The Region’s Planning Department recently published a Comprehensive Report which didn’t get much in the way of positive reaction from anyone in Burlington and was seen as a somewhat biased document that chose to highlight issues the Region saw as important but ignore for the most part the local issues and the value of community in a park setting.

The Region’s report covered flooding issues in a way that was significantly different from the recollection of people who lived in the Beachway when the flooding took place. Houses were said to be at significant risk while the water sewage treatment plant which has floors beneath the land surface was not said to be at risk.

Quite why some level of government did not ask that the report be retracted was a surprise to some people.

Gary Scobie, far right, was a member of the Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory Committee which was sunset by the city last December. Scobie went on to sit on the Ad Hoc Waterfront Committee.

Gary Scobie, A Burlington resident, chose to delegate at the Advisory meeting – the only person to do so, said: “You have heard from us before and I believe you know that we support the continued existence and enhancement of the Burlington Beach residential community. We do this because we’ve studied the issue, as citizens from each ward with no financial ties to the beach area, and weighed the costs to buy out and destroy a historic community against the benefit of gaining a small amount of land to be added to the park.”

Scobie continued: “We find the case for community destruction wanting, especially because the community poses no harm to the public use of the park beach, shoreline habitat or walking path. In fact, we see the residents as unpaid custodians of the park, looking after people who need help and watching out for vandalism. Our survey completed by nearly 450 Burlington residents from all wards.”

Scobie who is a member of the Waterfront Advisory Committee, an Ad Hoc group that was formed when Burlington’s city council sunset the Advisory Committee it had.

The residents are very vocal – they think the Burlington policy is a serious mistake. They somehow have to get their voice heard at the Regional level – with the voice from the city is pretty weak.

The residents with homes in Beachway Park have a fight on their hands and they are going to have to lobby hard to get their argument in front of the members of Regional Council. It is not an impossible task and it would certainly help if the support from their city council were a little stronger.

The family in this home does not expect to be a willing seller to anyone. The city and the Region, especially the current city Councillor for the ward thinks the city and the Region can just wait them out. Lousy way to run a city.

The real hope for the community is that any property sold is to be on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, and all the residents have to do is just not sell.

There has been some chatter amongst Beachway residents about a possible class action law suit against the city and the Region for the damages suffered by the property owners over the loses they have incurred due to municipal and regional government policies that artificially depressed property prices.

Wouldn’t that be a cock fight?

Police report “minor injury” on male found on Walkers Line was “sustained during a medical event”. Case closed?

September 27, 2013

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON. There is nothing faster or more substantive than social media or a news source that uses the internet.

The Burlington Gazette picked up a news release from Halton Regional Police that reported a man found on Walkers Line who appeared to be seriously disoriented and injured. The individual was taken to Joseph Brant Hospital.

Are these the kind of injury that result from minor medical event?

A photograph was provided which we published. The news story was added to our Facebook page – and then it just took off. Thousand of people saw the news story and passed it on.

By mid afternoon the police had identified the individual and reported their “investigation revealed he sustained minor injury during a medical event and there is no foul play suspected.” The name of the victim was not being released.

Who is this man and what happened to him? Police asking for help to identify injured male. See update

September 27, 2013

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON. At approximately 10:10 pm Thursday, September 26th, 2013, Halton Regional Police received several calls of a man stumbling up Walkers Line in the area of Upper Middle Road.

Found disoriented on Walkers Line close to Upper Middle Road

Police and Halton paramedics responded and located a man who was extremely disoriented, had suffered an apparent head injury and was unable to identify himself to police. The man was taken to the Joseph Brant Hospital, where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in critical condition.

Investigators are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying this man. He is described as a white male, approximately 30-36 years of age, 6’7″ tall, with short brown hair and blue eyes. He had several days growth of facial hair and has no tattoos or surgical scars. He was wearing a black Nike shirt with long sleeves, blue jeans with a belt, black socks and no shoes.

Persons with information related to this man are asked to call the Halton Regional Police Service in Burlington at 905-825-4777, extension 2310 or call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Hard, dogged work by a local history buff results in plaque to mark a major War of 1812-14 event played out on Burlington’s waterfront.

September 26, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. If there was ever an example of one man making a difference – look no further than Rick Wilson, a Burlington resident and a member of the Heritage Advisory Committee as well as a serious history buff.

This federal government plaque, erected at Burlington Heights, overlooking Burlington Bay, got it wrong and Rick Wilson wants it changed and the public record corrected.

Wilson works in the field of finance but his passion is history and when he came across what he believed to be a significant error in the way local history was being told he mobilized and did he best to right the wrong.

Those efforts will bear fruit on Saturday morning when the city unveils a plaque that tells the full and true story of an event that has come to be known as the Burlington Races, which sounds like a sporting event but there was nothing sporting about the battles between the British and the Americans on Lake

Rick Wilson isn’t certain as to exactly where Commodore Yeo situated his ship but he believes it might have been close to the foot of Brant Street. That location would certainly have given the British ships the angle and the advantage they needed to defeat the American ships and force them further west along the Lake.

Ontario, right in front of Spencer Smith Park.

The battle that will be commemorated with the plaque took place on September 28, 1813 when six-ship British flotilla out-manoeuvred a fleet of ten American warships and took anchor in a highly defensible position off the shore of modern-day Burlington. The battle was described by eye witnesses as a sort of military yacht race where the British and Americans jockeyed for superior position – hence The Burlington Races.

The battle was a turning point in the War of 1812 as the British asserted naval dominance over the Great Lakes.

Commodore Yeo’s ships never entered Burlington Bay. Records prove that the water was far too shallow of any ship to enter to Bay. The real victory for Rick Wilson will be when this plaque in Hamilton is taken down and a correct plaque put in place. For the time being the plaque in Burlington will be the one to tell the true story.

“I believe it is important to celebrate Burlington’s rich history,” says Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring. “Our city was a strategic location during the War of 1812. The Burlington area was known as a safe haven, a place of trade, a crossroads, and a resting point. Contributions by local citizens and volunteers were important and we are proud to acknowledge their efforts with this plaque.”

The plaque unveiling takes place near the west compass in Spencer Smith Park at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013 – 200 years to the day of the battle – and will feature an on-shore celebration of re-enactors in period costume.

It is rather unfortunate that city hall could not find it within themselves to recognize Wilson’s efforts. For the past three years, perhaps more Wilson has bent the ear of anyone who would listen to explain where the historians got it wrong. If anyone pulls a velvet cord to reveal the plaque that tells a magnificent story – it should be Rick Wilson.

The wording on the plaque will read as follows:

After a United States naval victory on Lake Erie by Commodore Perry on September 10, 1813, a powerful American fleet of ten ships under Commodore Isaac Chauncey appeared off York (Toronto) on the morning of September 28, 1813. Its objective was to gain control of the Great Lakes or at least create enough of a diversion to allow American troops from the Niagara frontier to slip down the St. Lawrence River to attack Montreal.

A smaller British fleet of six warships under Commodore Sir James Yeo was in the harbour and quickly set sail to attack. In a sharp engagement the British flagship, HMS Wolfe, suffered sail and mast damage. With limited manoeuvrability, the Wolfe led the British flotilla to safe anchorage in view from the shore of present-day Burlington.

Yeo anchored his squadron with springs (heavy ropes) on the (anchor) cables, close to shore and pivoted his ships to present powerful broadsides from a strong compact defensive unit that could not be flanked. The Americans recognized the stronger British position and withdrew to the protection of Fort Niagara, leaving the Royal Navy firmly in control of the lake.

By out-manoeuvring the Americans that day, Yeo saved the fleet and preserved a formidable British presence on Lake Ontario – key to the defences of Upper and Lower Canada.

Eventually, Yeo’s fleet helped capture Fort Oswego in May 1814 and also delivered General Drummond with 400 British reinforcements and supplies to the Niagara frontier in July 1814 to defeat the Americans at Lundy’s Lane, the last invasion of Canada.

At this point we don’t know where Rick Wilson will be in the civic ceremony – but we certainly know where he should be.

At some point city has to figure out what affordable housing it needs but let’s not put this on the backs of the developers.

September 24, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. Sometime in the next couple of week Nicholas Carnacelli will wander across Brant Street to city hall and sit with people in the Planning department, perhaps the Director of Planning Bruce Krushelnicki, and sign the Section 37 Agreement that he wanted.

If Carnacelli was a real sport he would invite Krushelnicki over to the restaurant on the ground floor of the building he owns that houses a decent restaurant and treat him to a decent lunch.

After more than three years of reports, teeth gnashing and hand wringing city hall staff bent to the will of a developer and did it the way he wanted. Was the developer right? Was city hall staff being led around by the nose? The real truth is in there somewhere.

The issue was all about a Section 37 Agreement – which is part of the planning act that lets a city give a developer additional height and density in a development in return for specific benefits that get given to the city. Burlington is one of the few cities in the province that use Section 37 Agreements. One of the reasons for that is we happen to have a Director of Planning who understands fully what can be done with this type of agreement.

Unfortunately, with this specific situation someone one not only dropped the ball – they lost the darn thing and now had a mess on their hands. Someone either thought or wanted affordable housing on the table when it was about parking right from the beginning in the mind of the developer and it was his money everyone was talking about.

Having the Council member who was the strongest advocate for affordable housing unable to properly understand Section 37’s and the process used to get into one of them didn’t help.

The Carriage Gate development will occupy a full city block and change significantly the streetscape for people who live on Caroline east of Brant

The city needs the development at John and Caroline and Nick Carnacelli, president of Carriage Gate, wasn’t about to put up a building filled with affordable housing that he would have to sell the Region who would then rent them out to people who qualified for affordable housing.

In order to sell units to the Region Carnacelli had to price them at a particular price point and these were not going to be units with granite counter tops and high-end appliances which is where the good margins exist

Carnacelli was never going to actually be in the affordable housing business but there were people who wanted him to price his units so they could be bought by the Region and then rented out.

Ward 2 Councillor Meed Ward argued for the need for more affordable housing – and claimed the need was rising. The idea that 73% of the units of a building were to be priced so they could be made into affordable units was a pipe dream at best and someone should have caught this one before it went as far as it did.

The development will be the biggest project the city has seen since the late 80’s.

Carnacelli wanted to put up an eight story office tower that would house medical types for the most part and have the 17 story units consisting of apartments that would be registered as condominium units. In between the two structures would be an eight story garage.

All the back and forth about the make-up of the Section 37 Agreement would have taken place between the planning department and the developer. It is clear now that there was a major disconnect between the two – this isn’t the first time a developer didn’t want to go along with what a planner hoped to see. It does appear to be the first time in Burlington where a developer has balked so publicly. According to the Director of Planning Burlington has done less than ten Section 37 Agreements.

Given the mess this agreement became perhaps the city should just get out of looking for section 37 agreements.

During the debate Monday evening all kinds of little gems of information came to the surface. According to Meed Ward the Region will pay up to $255,400 for a condominium unit that it will then make available to those needing affordable housing.

That sets a price the developer has to sell for if the units he is building are going to be sold as affordable housing. Difficult to have one price for units sold to the Region and another price sold to anyone that comes along – so you have a building full one and two bedroom units being sold for $244,500 – south of Caroline – in Burlington?

There was an audible gasp in the public seating section of council chamber when Meed Ward said the annual income level for an affordable units was $90,000 – really? And that no more than 30% of the annual income could be spent on housing. Thirty percent of that $90,000 income is $30,000 a year which works out to rent of $2500 per month – where did those numbers come from?

During the debate the Mayor and several Council members spoke of the lesson learned – weren’t they supposed to have known what the math on all this was before they made a decision back in 2010

Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward was the lead council member on this file and turned out to be the only person that voted against the staff report which was instruct the City solicitor to amend the agreement with the developer and instruct the Director of Planning request that the owner enter into the agreement.

Can you imagine, a condominium unit south of Caroline being sold for that sum. Carriage Gate will sell its units for whatever the market will bear. The units that are to affordable would be condominium units bought by the Region and then rented out to those who met the affordable housing income levels.

This intersection will become the northern anchor for a block long project that will put a medical office building and a 17 storey condominium tower and an eight story parking garage into a part of the city that has been two storey buildings for decades. Change never comes easily to any community – how will Burlington handle this change?

The developer chose not to sign the Section 37 Agreement that required him to price 70% + of his units at the $255,400 level to meet the WHAT. The planners rethought the situation, wrote up a second report and asked Council to amend the original agreement, which was never signed. The planners were satisfied, the majority of Council was satisfied.

Carnacelli will sign the new agreement, the planning department will recommend that the zoning be changed which council do and the developer can get on with putting up the first significant development the city has seen since the 80’s.

There were some who felt the changes the developer wanted meant the project was now a completely different project and should be started all over. Doing something like that would have sent the file to the Ontario Municipal Board where this developer has won the last two cases that he took there.

Meed Ward did her best to bring about a change. She failed, but she will be back, hopefully with a clearer understanding of how Section 37 agreements really works.

Another problem to deal with while raising children who are on the internet more than you would like them to be.

September 25, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. It has come to this: we now have a Cyber Tip Awareness Day when we focus on the sexual exploitation that is perpetrated against our children when they use the internet.

There is some help in understanding how the pedophiles lure your child.

Cybertip.ca is Canada’s national tip line for reporting the online sexual exploitation of children. Since its inception in September 2002, it has responded to more than 94,000 child sexual exploitation reports. In Halton, ten such tips have been investigated since 2012.

Last year, on the 10th anniversary of Cybertip.ca, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection announced the inaugural Awareness Day to focus on this critical service for reporting the online sexual exploitation of children and for obtaining important educational material.

What is sextexting and how do you prevent your children from getting involved?

On September 26th police services hope to raise the awareness of the web site where people can report their concerns about a child being sexually exploited and encourage them to access ‘cybertip.ca’ for a new educational booklet entitled, ‘Parenting Tweens and Teens in a Digital World’.

The web site is worth a few minutes of your time.

The Halton Regional Police Service is a member of the Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet.

Are we really selling dirty oil to the rest of the world? And if we are – why? Can’t we clean it up?

September 25th, 2013

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. Do you have the feeling I get when I hear people talk about the “dirty oil” that is sent around the world from Alberta. Are we sending the world dirty oil? Why are we doing that?

Isn’t Canada the country that brought about the Peace keepers – those United Nations guys with the blue helmets?

Aren’t we the people who said no to having American nuclear bombs in Canada?

Didn’t we take a pass on sending troops to Iran?

And if we’re selling “dirty oil” –why is it dirty?

If there is such a huge profit in the oil sands in Alberta why aren’t we using a part of those profits to do research on ways to make the oil cleaner?

I thought we were the good guys – not like those guys south of us. We were the country that has state medical coverage while the American are still trying to make that happen.

We are the country where everyone doesn’t have a gun in there house and for the most part we are a gun free society.

We are the country that did away with capital punishment. We don’t have to kill people to punish them.

My sense of being a Canadian is diminished when I read that we are shipping dirty oil. I don’t understand why we are not spending large sums of money on finding ways to clean up that oil and spare our environment the harm dirty oil does.

I feel ashamed that we are fighting decent people in the United States who don’t want our dirty oil working its way through oil pipes in their fields. They tell me its good business. Really?

We Canadians have one of the best educational systems in the world. We’ve invented some pretty good things. Our banking system is the envy of the world – yeah some of those banking fees are a little on the outrageous side.

And the cell phone fees are out of whack – but the phone service we have is one of the best in the world. Almost every time a space ship goes up – it has one of those Canada Arms on it – we did that!

But the dirty oil thing – can’t we do something about that. Do we really have to sell a product that does a lot of harm to both people and the environment.

Remember that lottery advertisement line: “Home James, Home” Today one has to add “in less than an hour please”.

September 24, 2013

By Ray Rivers

BURLINGTON, ON. “Toronto is a great place to live, if only you could manage to get to work” – so says the Toronto Board of Trade. Commute times in the greater Toronto area were the longest of 19 major cities in a recent survey. It takes the average commuter 80 minutes round-trip, a full 24 minutes longer than it would in Los Angeles, the very birthplace of urban sprawl.

Ray Rivers, the Gazette’s political columnist with Premier Kathleen Wynne and MPP Kevin Flynn on the left and Dr. Eric Hoskins on the right – all at the recent Roundtable held in Burlington.

So Ontario’s Premier Wynne has made it a priority for her government to improve the lot of commuters by building transit. “It is a matter of social justice, I want to improve people’s lives by allowing commuters to spend more quality time with family and friends,” she emphasized in an exclusive interview last Friday. Ms. Wynne had earlier test-ridden the new half-hour GO train service, en route to a meeting with the Burlington Chamber of Commerce. Flanked by her Minister of Economic Development, Dr. Eric Hoskins, and the Parliamentary Assistant for Transportation, Kevin Flynn, Kathleen Wynne shared some thoughts on this topic with me.

Premier Wynne believes that this level of traffic eats away at the time people deserve to have with their families and that the time spent in cars is damaging the provincial economy. Is GO the answer – and will we go along with that kind of a solution?

The Premier’s goals are straight forward: invest in people; provide much-needed infrastructure; and improve business opportunities that will result in job creation. But she has her work cut out for her. We know that most of Ontario’s urban areas are poorly configured for efficient public transit. Three generations of urban sprawl have made public transit costly to deliver and inconvenient to ride – so the result is gridlock. And yes, the Greenbelt, introduced by her predecessor, was intended to curb urban sprawl, but the benefits of that initiative will not be seen for another generation – until after all the approved developments in the queue have seen their day.

Back in 1990 former Premier David Peterson, another Liberal, had proposed an ambitious $6.2 billion expansion of public transit for Toronto. Then he lost the next election to the NDP, who cherry-picked elements of that plan. The NDP lost the next election which resulted in a virtual cessation of transit progress under Mike Harris. Even when the Liberals did return to power, progress was slow as the Toronto kept changing its mind between subways and light-rail and subways again – making sustainable funding difficult.

The Province can’t really afford to do much in the way of funding these days. Ontario has been bleeding red ink since the 2008 recession and is now carrying a staggering quarter trillion dollar debt-load on its books. Metrolinx, the organization tasked with creating some order to the provinces transit mess, is saying they need $2 billion a year for needed transit expansion,and they are probably right.

This is clearly not working?

That money is not likely to flow from the business community; having lowered corporate taxes earlier, it is unlikely the province will raise them again. One of Wynne’s priorities is to promote business development, not scare it away with higher taxes. Wynne talked about bringing more jobs out to the suburbs, places like Burlington, so fewer folks need to be on that long daily commute. There are fewer businesses paying taxes these days as we become more reliant on imports.

Is this a better option? Can we rely on the public sector to deliver consistently reliable service that works within the reasonable budgets they are given?

Worse still, if we are to believe one think-tank, the left-leaning Centre for Policy Alternatives, we should expect an even greater decline in our industrial base following conclusion of the planned Canada-EU trade agreement.

Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Harper government’s economic blueprint, has committed $14 billion for infrastructure renewal. Premier Wynne hosted the Council of the Federation meeting last July and there was unanimous agreement for “continuing the conversation” about infrastructure – which really means they want access to that fund. Ontario, with a third of Canada’s population might reasonably expect about five or six billion dollars of that commitment – enough to make a really good start on adding public transit. And, as if on cue, the federal government has just announced over half a billion dollars for the Scarborough subway extension.

Aside from the auto companies Mr. Harper hasn’t shown much interest in helping Canada’s industrial heartland move forward. In fact, there hasn’t been a PM in recent memory with so much interest in selling off the nation’s natural resources and so little interest in protecting home-grown manufacturing and services. Ontario was once the mighty province that led the nation in economic prosperity, yet today it has slipped to the status of a ‘have-not’ province. It would be such a shame if the province ended up becoming another rust belt jurisdiction like Michigan or Ohio, and Toronto another bankrupt city like Detroit.

Ray Rivers, born in Ontario earned an economics degree at the University of Western Ontario and a Master’s degree in economics at the University of Ottawa. His 25 year stint with the federal government included time with Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Agriculture and the Post office. Rivers is active in his community; has run for municipal and provincial office and held executive positions with Liberal Party riding associations. He developed the current policy process for the Ontario Liberal Party.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: