By Staff

July 11th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

In his heart Paul Sharman is a private sector advocate; he is of the belief that the private sector has always been a better producer of results that the public sector.

He chafes at the process many city issues get put through when the direction comes from the bureaucrats.

An opportunity to put forward a private sector approach to a city issue popped up in his ward when Endress + Hauser (EH) Canada Ltd., a world leader in high technology process control systems decided to increase their Burlington operation from 27,000 sq. ft to 46,000 sq. ft, expandable to 55,000 sq. ft. The new building is planned to be state of the art, LEED GOLD level, Net Zero Energy and Net Zero Carbon.

The scheduled development goals are ambitious as EH wish to be “in the ground” by October 2019 to install geothermal infrastructure.

“This schedule” may be achievable said Sharman, “ if City processes are adapted to accommodate and process applications within the speed of business.”

In a memo to his colleagues Sharman advised that: “City staff are currently working with a company in Ward 5, Endress + Hauser (EH) Canada Ltd., one of several corporations who have successfully implemented Project Management, Lean Management and integrated process management/value chains and aligned performance measurement.

Several of their staff are Black Belt Six Sigma qualified and members of their senior management team are Green Belt Six Sigma.

It is proposed that the EH application be engaged by the City of Burlington as a prototyping initiative to learn from EH about how to successfully implement leading practice Project Management, Lean Management with integrated process management/value chains and aligned performance measurement.

What this means is that city Council is being asked to let the private sector into the kitchen while city chefs put together a meal.

Sharman loved the idea and said he “wished to put forth the following staff direction:

“Direct the City Manager, Director of City Building and staff to engage with Endress + Hauser on their application to develop land on International Boulevard taking advantage of their Project Management, Lean Management with integrated process management/value chains and aligned performance measurement expertise in order to enhance City Planning and Development Application approval processes and achieve the applicants desired construction timeline.”

Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns was excited – mention Sigma 6 and green belts and you’ve got her attention.

The city manager didn’t seem quite as excited as he watched two people from E&H take Council and some staff through a presentation that had more energy than circus performers and more than enough corporate gobbledygook to require a different dictionary. City manager Tim Commisso said he would be happy to have a discussion.

Sharman commented that “you improve processes by actually managing them” and managing the process of what E&H is all about. They are intense, direct and they will be all over the planning staff.

The tag team from E&H were impressive. While one member was talking the other was scanning the faces of the audience to see who was paying close attention and who wasn’t. They were good – and in the corporate world they would be welcomed with open arms.

City hall is not the corporate world. When the people from E&H start working with people in the City Building department (that’s what they are calling the Planning department these days) the clashing of cultures will be painful.

Tony Varga, the lead presenter for the delegation said that a first step is to identify the “Apostles” in the planning department

E&H is hoping they can get the planners to move with a level of dispatch they need to get shovels in the ground by October of this year – yes this year.

To be fair, E&H was able to get the purchase of the land they are going to build on in close to record time; the BEDC was able to help them get around most of the obstacles.

The Gazette will be watching this one carefully – perhaps a real change in the culture at city hall will be seen, experienced and made permanent.

If that does happen – the young people who work as planners will want to come to Burlington – too many of them have left for what they hoped were greener pastures.

Promise is the word that will carry this one forward. Proof will be in the pudding.

The formal application will be given to the Planning department on Friday.

By Staff

July 11, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Beginning Thursday, July 11, 2019, a portion of Brock Avenue, between Ontario Street and the entrance to the Brock Avenue parking lot, will be closed for a period of two years to allow for the construction of a development at 490-492 Brock Ave.

In accordance with to the City’s Delegated Authority ByLaw 99-2012, a full road closure request longer than five days requires Council approval. The Brock Avenue road closure was approved by Burlington City Council at the Nov. 12, 2018 meeting of Council in report TS-15-18.

During the construction:

• Pedestrian access to the sidewalk on the west side of Brock Avenue will be closed
• The sidewalk on the south side of Ontario Street will remain open with a covered pedestrian walkway
• The entrance to the parking lot on Brock Avenue will remain open at all times.

There are no residential accesses within the proposed closure limits.

By Staff

July 10th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette sponsored a motion at Regional Council asking that the province abolish the current Local Planning Act Tribunal – Ontario Municipal Board process that reviews development decisions made by city councils.

The motion had an amendment from Councillor Nisan that was seen as friendly and was included.

Meed Ward argued that it would take a movement to bring about a change at the provincial level and she saw the motion as the beginning of that movement.

It was passed unanimously at the Region.

By Staff

June 8th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Mayor Meed Ward issued a statement earlier today pointing to factual inaccuracies in published by Burlington’s MPP Jane McKenna and published in the Burlington Post and, in a slightly different version on the We Love Burlington Facebook page.

In her statement the Mayor said:

Democracy is the foundation of our country, and accurate information is a key pillar of it.

It’s therefore essential that our residents and local elected representatives have the facts when commenting on community matters and advocating to Queen’s Park on our behalf.

To that end, I’m writing to correct factual inaccuracies in an advertorial by Burlington Member of Parliament Jane McKenna, titled “Setting the Record Straight on Bill 108,” published in the Burlington Post newspaper on June 20 — and a slightly different version of the article posted on the local group WeLoveBurlington Facebook page (June 17) and to the MPP’s website (June 19).

I have also requested a meeting with MPP McKenna and Oakville North-Burlington MPP Effie Triantafilopoulos to ensure they both have accurate information, to best represent our interests at Queen’s Park as our elected representatives.

Here are the facts:

Bill 108 makes changes to 13 pieces of legislation. It was introduced in May and received Royal Assent in June — and much of the concerns raised by mayors and their residents across the province were ignored. The Region of Halton and the City of Burlington both passed resolutions detailing the problems with Bill 108 in advance of passage. You can read those here: https://bit.ly/COBResolutionBill108 and https://bit.ly/HaltonRegionResolutionBill108. Many other municipalities have also passed resolutions expressing their concerns with the legislation.

Two key changes are in the areas of development charges and the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).

Development charges are intended to ensure growth pays for growth. It doesn’t now — paying roughly 80% of the costs of growth, while taxpayers pick up the remaining 20%, for everything from community

centres to parks and transit. The changes in Bill 108 will make that worse as certain items we used to be able to collect for have been removed from the development charges and are now included in a new “community benefits” formula that is to be determined. However, that new formula has a “cap.”

If the actual costs of growth are higher, taxpayers will again have to pay the difference.

There are certainly challenges with the current development charges system and related to that is the determination of Section 37 benefits, which are cash or in-kind payments for things such as park amenities or parking — these are negotiated for extra height and density.

As noted in the MPP’s article, I have long been a critic of Section 37 benefits. However, Bill 108 does nothing to make this system better and for the reasons I noted above, it will, in fact, make it less likely that growth will end up paying for growth.

You, the taxpayer, will get the bill. Further, there is no guarantee that the savings to developers from reduced contributions to the costs of growth will, in fact, be passed on to homebuyers.

The second change is to LPAT. The previous provincial government worked extensively with the development industry, municipal governments and citizens to reform the powers of the former Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) to overrule local planning decisions and speed up the process of approvals so that housing could get to market faster and cheaper. Bill 108 essentially reverts the LPAT back to the older OMB rules where, once again, there will be extensive hearings with lawyers and witnesses that start from the beginning of the planning process and redo all the planning analyses completed by municipal governments and their trained and knowledgeable staff.

This will add more time and more costs to the delivery of housing — the exact opposite of the stated intent of Bill 108.

It is clear that as long as the tribunal exists (in whatever form), not only will housing be more expensive and slower to market, but democratic decisions will be overruled by an unelected body. Ontario is the only province in Canada with such a tribunal — and communities across the country are successfully being built without one. It is time to eliminate the LPAT entirely, and I will be introducing a motion to Halton Regional Council on July 10.

Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT)

NOTICE OF MOTION

TO BE CONSIDERED:                Council Meeting – July 10, 2019

MOVED BY:                                Mayor Marianne Meed Ward

SECONDED BY:                         Mayor Rick Bonnette

WHEREAS The Government of Ontario, on June 6, 2019, passed the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019, (Bill 108); and

WHEREAS the changes to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), contained in Bill 108 will give LPAT the authority to make final planning decisions based on a subjective “best planning outcome” approach rather than compliance with municipal and provincially approved official plans and consistency with provincial plans and policy; and

WHEREAS Bill 108 restricts third party appeals of plans of subdivision only to the applicant, municipality, Minister, public body or prescribed list of persons; and

WHEREAS Bill 108 takes local planning decision-making out of the hands of democratically elected municipal councils and puts it into the hands of a non-elected, unaccountable tribunal; and

WHEREAS the LPAT adds cost and delays delivery of affordable housing by expensive, time consuming hearings, contrary to the intent of the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019; and

WHEREAS Regional and City Councils have spent millions defending provincially approved plans at the OMB/LPAT, including more than $5 million over the last three years;

WHEREAS the reverting back to de novo hearings adds delays and costs to the housing delivery, as planning decisions start from scratch requiring lawyers, experts and witnesses, repeating the planning analysis already done by local councils;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

THAT in the short term, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing immediately restore the amendments to the Planning Act that mandated the evaluation of appeals on a consistency and conformity with Provincial policies and plans basis;

THAT in the long-term the Government of Ontario eliminate the LPAT entirely, as an antiquated body that slows delivery and adds costs to housing supply via expensive and drawn out tribunal hearings;

 AND THAT this resolution be forwarded to the Premier, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Halton’s Members of Provincial Parliament, Leaders of the New Democratic, Liberal and Green parties; the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario, Mayors and Regional Chairs of Ontario and Halton’s local municipalities.

Finally, some facts regarding Burlington’s Official Plan (OP). As required by legislation, the City’s OP is regularly updated, including an extensive update in 2008 to incorporate the intensification measures proposed by the Province in its Places to Grow Act.

Burlington was allocated a population of 185,000 by 2031. As of the 2016 census, we were at 183,000. With known and approved developments underway and recently completed, we have already reached our population target — 12 years early.

Further, there are specific density targets that are required in certain areas of the city. Downtown Burlington is designated as an Urban Growth Centre, with a density of 200 people or jobs per hectare by 2031.

According to multiple analyses by staff, we are well on track to meeting and surpassing that density. The most recent was included in the staff report for the 421 Brant Street development, which calculates the current density at 174 people or jobs. It also states that we are well-positioned to meet or exceed the density following the existing Official Plan provisions.

I have gone into more depth and details about how the changes Bill 108 will affect Burlington residents in previous posts on my website, mariannemeedward.ca.

It is critical for residents to have accurate information, and especially for our local representatives, to have the facts of Burlington’s situation and fully understand our concerns so they can best represent our interests to the Premier and Cabinet. We will be scheduling meetings to ensure that correct information is circulated to the public and will be circulating this information publicly, as well as to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Premier.

Burlington’s Mayor along with a Staff member spent five days representing the city during the 75 th Anniversary of the D Day landings on Juno Beach in France. This is her story of what was a life changing experience for her.  It is also her first full public report on the trip that will be part of the Standing Committee meeting on Monday

By Marianne Meed Ward

July 7th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

On June 3rd I travelled to Normandy, France as part of a delegation of people from our great city to help commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day on Juno Beach. As most of you know, D-Day was a seminal moment in the liberation of Europe during WWII and a turning point in the war. Thousands of young men and women volunteered (that’s right: volunteered!) to fight overseas, some only in their teens. Many of them did not return home to their families.

Their sacrifices were not in vain, as they did their job and pushed inland despite many human losses to defeat German forces hill by hill, house by house, and town by town. It was the start of the end of the war, and the world owes them an immeasurable debt of gratitude we can never repay.

Many people don’t realize the strong connection Burlington has to the events of that day and the battles that followed. We have a few legendary D-Day veterans still living in our fine city who were there on June 6th, 1944, such as Jim Warford and Gordon Schottlander.

We also have an amazing group of residents who brought the Juno Beach Centre Museum to life, led by D-Day veteran and Burlington resident Garth Webb. It didn’t sit right with him that other countries had a museum remembering the sacrifices their soldiers made to secure our freedoms, but Canada did not.

Story has it that the idea for the Juno Beach Centre Association was hatched in a basement on Woodward Avenue, then shared with the world. Garth had to fight for the Centre too. The first town in France wanted it to be part cultural centre, part museum. Then permission was withdrawn altogether.

Undeterred, Garth moved down the coast to Courseulles-Sur-Mer. The mayor there fought local opposition to establish the centre on a favourite local camping spot.

Then Garth, his family and many local residents spent another few years raising the funds to build the Centre, which was designed by local Burlington firm Chamberlain Architects.

The Juno Beach Centre is Canada’s only museum in France that tells the story of what our soldiers did for their country and for the world in WWII. The centre is Burlington’s gift to our country’s memory of D- Day.

Garth’s son, Don Cooper, who is now the President of the Juno Beach Centre Association, has taken the torch and continues to make it a place our whole country can be proud of. The Centre’s team is full of supporters from Burlington, whether they’re students spending time there as tour guides for the summer, or local Director Pam Calvert, who first opened my eyes to this amazing connection we have when she reached out to meet with me this past February.

My family has lived in Burlington for 19 years but didn’t know this story. We wondered how many other residents also didn’t know? Pam and I then conceived of an idea that day in my office to tell the story of Burlington’s contribution to D-Day, and the Juno Beach Centre.

Our Juno75 event on May 6th of this year was the result. It was a sold-out night at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre and showed the dedication our residents still have to remembering the young men and women who made so many sacrifices for our freedoms.

You can read more about that special night and watch the event in its entirety via this link.

When I learned our Burlington Teen Tour Band and local residents were travelling to Juno Beach for the 75th Anniversary, I knew I needed to accompany them and represent our city and our city’s contribution to this national memorial and day of remembrance.

JUNE 5:

The day after we landed, I was able to tour the museum as part of a private delegation that included all the Canadian veterans who’d been able to make the trip.

In a ceremony before the tour, it was particularly moving to see Frank Godon from Manitoba, the grown son of Francis Godon, a Métis veteran from the Winnipeg Royal Rifles, presenting his dad’s uniform to the Museum along with the last letter he’d written home still in his pocket.

Our tour of the Centre started in a dark room shaped like the landing craft that ferried the soldiers to land, some to their last day. A movie played on screens on three sides of us, surrounded by images of waves and the sounds of gunfire, to simulate what it must have been like to arrive on those shores and hear the words “down doors.”

It was incredibly moving, and it was just a simulation. We can never fully understand what it must have been like – the terror, the uncertainty of what they were facing, and not knowing if they’d ever come home.

Some were pulled under by the weight of their bags or the depth of the water and never came up. Some were shot and killed as soon as the doors opened. Others had to swim past the lifeless bodies of their friends who’d been alive only moments before.

14,000 Canadian soldiers stormed the beaches that day. 359 were killed along with many more in the days that followed.

The Juno Beach Centre Museum tells their story.

It is full of history and memorabilia from the battle on Juno Beach and the months of battles that followed. It’s an immersive and moving experience and one I will never forget. While it’s an ocean away, it is absolutely worth the trip and I recommend it to any school group, lover of history, and all Canadians who want to know more about why and how we enjoy the freedoms we have today.

It is a powerful testament to what can be accomplished when people from different countries and walks of life all work together for a common goal. It seems that every day we are faced with another reason to remain vigilant in the fight for peace around the world.

The recent anti-Semitic hate crimes in Burlington are a frightening and sickening reminder that we can never rest in the fight for justice, equality and freedom.

Museums like the Juno Beach Centre are an essential part of the history we need to help us avoid past mistakes and build a better future.

The museum also has a rotating exhibit. When we were there it was dedicated to the contributions women made to the War effort, at home and on the field of battle. I wept as I read letters between mothers and their sons, some just 18, the same age as my own son and daughter.

The next scheduled exhibit will remember the Holocaust.

Later that evening I was honoured to attend the Juno Beach Centre Foundation’s fundraising gala, the first of its kind. The Centre receives some government assistance but relies heavily on personal donations. I am committed to telling the story of the Juno Beach Centre and encouraging our citizens to give generously to ensure its ongoing success.

One of the fundraising initiatives is the buying of a “brick” on the concrete remembrance pillars at the Centre. The City of Burlington has a brick, as do a number of other cities, schools and businesses.  Residents can also purchase a brick in the name of a soldier or otherwise. You can find out more at this link here.

During the gala I had an opportunity to present the Canadian Peace Flag to Mayor Frederic Pouille of Courseulles-sur-Mer, the town that welcomed Garth Webb and his museum with open arms.

Each Peace Flag is flown on Parliament Hill for one day and there is a long list of requests to receive one. Given the importance of the Juno Beach Centre, and in honour of the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, we were able to secure a peace flag for the town of Courseulles-sur-Mer.

I was pleased to offer Mayor Pouille this flag as a gift to symbolize the friendship between our two cities and signify the start of an even deeper relationship going forward. He returned the favour by offering me the medallion of Courseulles-sur-Mer, which I will proudly display in my office at City Hall.

The entire community welcomed us with open arms and treated us like royalty. They truly appreciate the contribution Canada made to liberating France, the role that our Burlington veterans played in those battles and in securing the Centre so that we will always remember.

The gala was also attended by Canada’s Governor General, Julie Payette, Canadian Army General Jonathan Vance, The Honourable Harjit Singh Sajjan, Canada’s Minister of National Defence, and, among others, Mayor Brian Bowman of Winnipeg who attended the 75th Anniversary ceremony in honour of the significant contribution the Royal Winnipeg Rifles made to D-Day.

JUNE 6

Day 2 of my tour was June 6th: the official 75th anniversary of D-Day itself and included two commemorative ceremonies on the beach in front of the Museum.

Our very own global music ambassadors, the Burlington Teen Tour Band played throughout the ceremony and, as always, made us proud. Over 167 band members and their leadership team camped out on air mattresses and in sleeping bags in a local gym the entire week, many finding time to study for the high school exams they would write the week they return home.

One band member had just been released from cancer treatments and faces an operation to remove a tumor upon return but did not want to miss this special trip. Several missed their high school graduation ceremonies, and one celebrated a birthday.

The dedication and spirit of this group is beyond measure. They put everything aside to represent Burlington on this historic day.

The Canadian ceremony began at noon and was attended by Canadian dignitaries including Canada’s Prime Minister, the Honourable Justin Trudeau, Canadian Army General Jonathan Vance, Minister of Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of France, Édouard Philippe. In the crowd of thousands, I met people from across the world, including some familiar faces from home in Burlington.

But the real VIPs in the audience were the veterans.

There’s Jim Warford, who I have had the pleasure of knowing since I became a councillor. Jim is now 96 years old and has continued to share his stories and the history of that time with residents young and old across Burlington and beyond. For our Burlington Remembers Juno75 event on May 6th, he gave us letters to read that he and his wife wrote to each other while he was in France during the war.

He knows the importance of passing on that knowledge and honouring the legacy of the friends and soldiers who are no longer with us. At his advanced age, you can imagine how tough it is to stay in good health, but despite spending many weeks in recent months in the hospital, he summoned the strength and spirit to fly back to Juno Beach this week with his grandson and the help of Veterans Affairs Canada.

Jim joined dozens of his fellow D-Day soldiers at the Canadian D-Day Commemoration Ceremony on Juno Beach. He watched a moving ceremony that took place right in front of the Juno Beach Centre along with thousands of others from all over the world who had travelled there to pay their respects and ensure that “We Will Remember Them”. There were moving video and musical performances, speeches, and moments of silence that brought us to tears.

Much of the ceremony was live broadcast by CBC, and I heard from several residents who rose early at 6am to watch and were also moved to tears.

Later the same day, an International Ceremony of remembrance was held, with dignitaries, veterans and representatives from the 15 different countries that were part of Operation Overlord on D-Day.

Canada’s Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of the Republic of France returned, as did Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House from the United States among others.

Children from each country read a quote or a passage that told part of the history and stories of their soldiers. Dignitaries laid wreaths on Juno Beach for each of the 15 countries as their national anthems were beautifully played. It was, again, a great reminder of how countries can come together for the common goal of peace, and a wonderful way to end the day.

JUNE 7

On June 7th, I joined the Burlington Teen Tour Band for the morning to visit spectacular Mont Saint- Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rising out of a rocky tidal island, this historic town is crowned by a medieval monastery in the sky and began its construction in the 10th century.

It was epic in both scale and design. I felt like I was in an episode of Game of Thrones (or Lord of the Rings) exploring ramparts and archways and spiral stone stairwells. It was great to meet and spend time with some of our young band members and watch them explore this place in awe. It’s an experience they will not forget.

I then accompanied the band to the Canadian war cemetery at Beny-sur-Mer. Lovingly designed and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, it is a beautiful homage to our soldiers and their sacrifices. The 359 soldiers who died on D-Day are buried there, along with over 1600 more who died in the months of battle that followed.

Each Teen Tour Band member was given a dog tag before the trip with the name of a soldier who was buried there. They found their soldiers and what I saw there made the tears flow once again. Some sat on the ground in front of their soldier’s tombstone and had a quiet conversation. Some did paper rubbings of the tombstone with crayon to bring home. And some brought special gifts from the families of their soldier, having reached out to them before the trip.

I know these students will carry these stories and memories throughout their lives, and help their generation remember this important history.

Many tombstones had a loving message etched in it from each soldier’s family, and they were deeply moving to read. I wept as I saw the graves of young men 18, 19, 20, 21 years old. They were just starting their lives and they were cut down in sacrifice for us. These souls came from across our country, of different nationalities and faiths, and united in a common purpose of freedom from tyranny. I noted many graves of Jewish soldiers, marked with the Star of David. They were fighting against Hitler, who was systematically exterminating Jews across Europe in the Holocaust.

Their sacrifice put an end to Hitler.

JUNE 8

On June 8th, the town of Courseulles-sur-Mer went above and beyond in creating an event to commemorate D-Day and honour our Canadian veterans. It started with a parade through the centre of town, accompanied by the Burlington Teen Tour Band, stopping at the memorial for the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, where the mayor of Courseulles-sur-Mer and I together raised the Canadian flag.

We then marched on to the memorial square for a formal ceremony with the Canadian veterans who
were able to join us. This included Burlington’s own Jim Warford along with others like Richard Rohmer.

I had an opportunity during the ceremony to meet Mr. Rohmer, a local veteran born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, who is now the Honourary Lieutenant General of Canada. Mr. Rohmer flew 135 missions in WWII, including two on D-Day. His face was on the posters and banners throughout Courseulles-sur-Mer promoting the Juno75 ceremonies.

He is now age 95 and has been married for 70 years to his wife Mary. His countless medals and passionate storytelling impressed me beyond words. We are so lucky to have veterans like him to keep those important stories alive and pass them along to new generations.

Mayor Pouille and I read aloud the names of every Canadian veteran who was in attendance:

Lloyd Bentley, Art Boon, Colin Brown, Richard Brown, Hugh Buckley, Jack Burch, Bill Cameron, Emard Court, Rod Deon, Benoit Duval, Joe Edwardson, Alyre Gallant, Roy Hare, Alf Hebbes, Warner Hockin, Winston Judson, Earl Kennedy, Norman Kirby, Frank Krepps, Eugenie (Frankie) Turner, Jim Parks, Hugh Patterson, Alex Polowin, Charles Scot-Brown, John Stoyka, Jean Temple, Jack Miller, William Tymchuk, Alphonse Vautour, Jim Warford, Bill Wilson, Gérénal Richard Rohmer

Accompanied by the singing of national anthems and a moment of silence, wreaths were laid by myself, Mayor Pouille, veterans and others at each of monuments in the square:

Other Canadian dignitaries participating in the ceremony were Stéphane Lauzon, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence and Charlie Angus, MP for Timmins – James Bay.

Again, Burlington residents were there in the crowd, and a few called out a greeting to me when myself and the Mayor Pouille walked by.

Mayor Pouille was a gracious host to myself and everyone from the Juno Beach Centre, and I was blown away by the level of organization and intention they had put into this event.

WWII aircraft flew overhead, and local school children gave handmade poppies to every veteran in attendance.

Courseulles-sur-Mer did so much to show us how they value our veterans, our country, the City of Burlington and the Juno Beach Centre. The mayor has asked us to twin with them and I believe this is a fitting relationship to honour Burlington’s role in creating this Canadian memorial and ensuring we continue to tell that story at home and abroad.

I am looking forward to fostering this special relationship between Burlington and Courseulles-sur-Mer and seeing it deepen and evolve in the years ahead.

And with that special day, our D-Day commemorations came to an end. We drove the three hours back to Paris that night ahead of our flight to Burlington the next morning.

Related new story:

How many cities does Burlington want to twin with?

By Pepper Parr

July 5th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The Gazette is taking a look at what city council has managed to get done since they were sworn in just over six months ago.

We will be looking at what the members of council promised when they ran for office, what they have done in the first six months; where their campaign funding came from and what we might expect from them going forward.

As we do our due diligence some interesting data comes to the surface.

The two documents set out below are interesting.

The donations that were made were perfectly legal.

Lisa Kearns explains her donation to Nisan:

“All donations are in accordance with audit requirements. My personal pledge to Rory’s candidacy was made significantly in advance of my own consideration to run as a municipal candidate. I recognized his experience as a Foreign Service officer and strong community advocate as an asset to our City and Region.”

A reasonable explanation.

But let’s look at the time line.

Nisan announced his candidacy May 1st, Kearns announced her candidacy on May 15th.  When was the Kearns donation made to Nisan, could she make a donation to a campaign that did not yet have a candidate?

Lisa Kearns first showed up on the public radar in December of 2017 as a participant at the founding meeting of ECoB.

She sounded good – said all the right things and then got heavily involved in what ECoB was setting out to do.

During one of our early interviews with her we asked Kearns if she was considering public office – we got the kind of answer that people considering their options usually give. She didn’t say yes but she didn’t say no.

One of the ECoB tasks she took on what to instruct potential candidates on what their responsibilities were once they filed their nomination papers. She spoke at length on how careful the campaign finance manager had to be when issuing receipt and accounting for the funds they received and how those funds were used.

If Kearns’ story holds water – it may be that she gave Nisan the money because she believed in the guy – we note however that she didn’t donate to anyone else in any other ward.

The question is – when did Kearns make the perfectly legal $1200 donation? Kearns didn’t provide that information.

The Gazette worked closely with Nisan as he was preparing to run for office.  At the time he wasn’t sure if he would run in Ward 6 where he happened to live in a condominium with his girl friend.  Nisan was heavily involved in the battle to keep Lester B. Pearson high school open.

The Gazette believed Nisan could take the seat from incumbent Blair Lancaster.  However Rory Nisan was raised in ward 3 and he wanted to run in that ward.  He had to find a place to live in that ward and get all his documents changed to reflect the move – then spend as much time as he could with his girl friend whom he shared ownership of the ward 6 condominium.

We asked Rory Nisan for some comment on the $1200 donation he made to the Kearns campaign.

The first response the Gazette we got back from Nisan was “ I’ll get back to you very soon.”

And he did saying :  “Lisa was an early backer of mine. She promised to help me financially and committed to giving her time when I was building support for a potential candidacy. She came through with a donation and by knocking on doors for my campaign.

“I was really grateful for Lisa’s support and I also encouraged her to run. I was happy to donate to her campaign, especially once I realized that developers were lining up behind one of her main competitors. Unlike at least one of my fellow candidates I did not receive any money from developers.

“I donated the maximum amount because I believed in her platform and because of what had become a highly competitive race, seen as more competitive than my own.

“My campaign was audited and all donations received and made were in conformity with election finance rules. As a Burlington resident I am grateful to have the same opportunity as other residents to support a candidate who I believe in.

The donations were perfectly legal – but the optics are terrible.

Add to that the issues that cropped up with the Nisan campaign and some of his fund raising efforts.  None of it creates a strong sense of probity in the candidates.

It could have been quite a bit different if Nisan and Kearns has issued a joint statement once the audit was complete, explaining what they did for each other and then making themselves available for media questions.

Very recently Nisan told the Gazette that he had been told “not to talk to you” when we were preparing to ask him some questions.

It all makes one look askance.

To be fair to both Rory Nisan and Lisa Kearns – when asked for comment they didn’t duck or hide – they were forthcoming and deliberate.  Lisa did ask that we write about the good work she has done – and we will do that when we review her performance as a member of Council.

Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette

Related news stories:

Nisan publishes an opinion piece in the Gazette.

Nisan stumbles on a fund raising goof.

Kearns explains to potential candidates what they have to watch out for when they run an election campaign.

By Pepper Parr

July 4th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

If the City Manager has a well-run office – things get done. That office sets the tone for the rest of the bureaucracy.

In the approval of the 2019 Operating Budget, a staff direction was passed to review the organizational structure of the City Manager’s office with a report due back May 31, 2019.

Commisso was the Interim city manager when the budget was being put together. Staff in the City Manager’s Office were working on the review with a focus on identifying key business processes.

CMO staff have held two think hard sessions. A total of eight separate services and processes have been identified as key focus areas for the City Manager’s Office. Commisso explained the “services” are actually internal corporate business processes the CMO is responsible for: Internal Audit, corporate risk management, service reviews (new).

More detailed work by the CMO team is needed to confirm resourcing. As well, there is a need to engage with the Burlington Leadership Team on this work. The City Manager’s Office team have advised that a report will get to Council in September.

Our understanding was that the BLT – Burlington Leadership Team, was something the city manager created and runs.
BLT is senior staff management team that meets weekly, previously it was called Management Committee. Membership is not rotating but the chair does rotate each week. Includes CM, DCM and all Directors.

In a conversation with the Gazette Tim Commisso explained that he was “looking at how the City Manager’s office functions from an overall corporate strategic management and organizational effectiveness perspective.

Reading between the lines and being aware of what this Council wants – expect the Directors to be told to get more value for the money being spent.  Can anyone tighten things up at city hall?

The September report will include implementing ongoing city service reviews as well as continuous improvement and performance measurement. Commisso will update Council verbally on status as part of the work plan report and adds that “FYI I’m not looking to add any $ to 2019 approved budgeted resources – which included a net reduction of $235k.”

The key metric is who Commisso chooses to work with him – there are some very good people in the hall – does Commisso have the ability to identify talent and recruit them?

And does he have it with him to gently move some of those that have not served the city all that well along to something more suited to their skill set?

This guy is going to be fun to work with.