 By Staff
September 2nd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Craig Gardner, chair of the Burlington Terry Fox Run tells the story of two girls in the Cavendish Drive and Longshire Drive area who set up a lemonade stand/bake sale on Saturday and raised $633.15 for the Terry Fox Foundation.
 Grace and Isabelle celebrate a successful lemon aid and bake sale – raising xxx for the Terry Fox Foundation. Proud mom Tanya Blizzard-Carden has nothing but praise for her daughters Grace and Isabelle.
The annual Terry Fox Run takes place Sunday September 16th.
 By Ray Rivers
September 1st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The one thing that all of our federal parties agree on is their support for Canada’s supply management system. Pierre Trudeau may have invented the program for dairy, poultry and turkeys back four decades ago, but Brian Mulroney expanded it in his time. And Parliament unanimously endorsed supply management in 2005. The alternative to supply management is what we saw back in the sixties and what see south of the border now.
 When markets were saturated milk got poured into fields. Supply management controls what is produced and farm incomes are kept stable. Periodically farmers in Wisconsin and other big dairy states will dump millions of gallons of milk out behind the barn and into their plowed fields. They have no other option since the markets are saturated and they couldn’t even give the product away. But it’s no big deal because they know there is a federal cheque on the way to tide them over – until the next time.
It’s about market signals. That invisible hand of Adam Smith which worked so perfectly in economic text books goes numb when put into practice in our imperfect world. However Canada’s quota supply management system gives farmers market certainty, so they can plan their expenditures accordingly. The result has been stability and wealth creation.
But not everyone agrees with supply management. Donald Trump for one, as he has threatened to end NAFTA unless Canada shuts it down. He’d prefer all that Wisconsin milk to be dumped in Canada instead of in the furrow behind the plow so he could get away with paying his farmers a smaller subsidy. But not all Americans agree with Trump.
The Wisconsin Farmers Union, the National Family Farm Coalition and Institute for Agricultural & Trade Policy, support Canada’s right to manage its internal food production system. In fact they have been lobbying for the US to adopt its own comparable supply management system. And they’ll probably have as much success as those Americans advocating the adoption of Canadian-style single-payer health care.
Opponents of supply management argue that the system is inherently less efficient than the unregulated market alternative. Were that true the price of milk should reflect such inefficiency. But that is not the case. The 2018 AC Nielson Fresh Milk Price Report studied what consumers have to pay in a number of countries, in Canadian dollars, over the twelve month period ending in October 2017.
 Canada had the least expensive milk Canada, at $1.50 a litre, had the least expensive milk among the nations surveyed. Australia was next at $1.57, followed by the US at $1.61 for Canadian comparable rBST-free (hormone free) milk. Prices in France came in at $1.77 per litre and export oriented New Zealand surprisingly sold its domestic milk for $1.83 a litre, raising the question of how it manages to sell as much as it does in export markets at that price. Tiny New Zealand owns between 12 to 16% of the global export market, compared to Canada which has virtually none.
New Zealand and Australia have the huge advantage that dairy farmers there don’t require costly winter housing or much stored feed for their animals. New Zealand dairy farm costs may be as little as half those in Canada as a result. But that many dairy cows in the historic land of the flightless kiwi bird has taken it’s toll. It is estimated that 60% of the internal waterways there are contaminated with animal wastes to the point that it is unsafe to swim. And agriculture has become the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) for that country.
Methane is over twenty times more powerful a GHG pollutant than carbon dioxide and cows emit a lot of methane as they digest their food. Then there is all the inevitable manure and the extensive application of nitrogen fertilizers used to enhance pastures. As a result, New Zealand has grown it’s GHG emissions by almost 20% just since 1990.
Canadians spend a relatively small percentage of their household budget on food, roughly 10%, down considerably from only a couple decades ago. So perhaps that is why so few Canadians can be bothered learning how their market quota system works. An Angus Reid poll indicated that most Canadians admitted they knew “nothing at all” about Canada’s dairy system.
 The system also takes wide price swings out of an important part of a food source. It is a complicated process with federal and provincial milk boards and quotas for industrial and fluid milk, etc. And that makes it politically vulnerable, as we have seen with other complicated programs – like Ontario’s now cancelled cap and trade system. The general public likes things made simple, and which can be explained in a sound bite. So almost a quarter of ordinary Canadians would be OK were the system scrapped, and almost half would be willing to sacrifice it in NAFTA negotiations.
However there is also a chorus of well educated, vocal and persistent detractors who seriously want Canada to ditch its supply management system. And these advocates span the political divide. Liberal parliamentarian Martha Hall Findlay made scrapping it her major policy plank, which partly explains her loss to Justin Trudeau in the last Liberal leadership contest. And Maxime Bernier, the odds on favourite to win the recent Conservative leadership race narrowly fell on this issue to Andrew Scheer, and was defeated by dairy sector delegates from his home province.
 Maxine Bernier, who wants to abandon supply management, comes out of a province where there are more milk producers than any other province. Bernier, who has been described as a true libertarian, has now left the Tories and is threatening to create a new neo-conservative party of his own. Conservatives can recall how the last right wing splinter party, Reform, helped give the Chretien Liberals three consecutive majority governments, and led to the virtual destruction of the party of Sir John A.
So one can hardly blame them for being a little nervous about Bernier’s intentions and his appeal to the right wing of Canadian politics, joining the Libertarian party and the so-called Christian Heritage. And that should make Mr. Scheer want to reconsider his party’s discomfort with either a preferential ballot or proportional representation electoral system, particularly if Bernier resonates as well as he has in the past.
Friday, August 31 was the deadline Trump gave for Canada to cave into all of the US demands or there’d be no deal and the US would tariff us into oblivion. And if we licked his boots Canada could become a signatory to the deal Trump struck with Mexico. The US was not going to compromise on any of their conditions. Art of the deal or not, if one side won’t compromise it’s called capitulation, not negotiation. NAFTA is kaput unless this Congress, which has the annoying habit of asking ‘how high before Trump can say jump’, is willing to stop him.
The dairy producing sector is declining globally and milk producers everywhere are worried about their fate – except in Canada. Milk is healthy for children but indigestible for many of us once we reach adulthood. Even Trump doesn’t drink the stuff. But milk is entrenched in Canada’s Food Guide and milk protein has been integrated into so much of our food processing and specialty products that it will continue to be with us into the foreseeable future.
Recent polling shows that almost all Canadians are overwhelmingly content with the range and quality of dairy products available in Canada and two-thirds of Canadians are satisfied with the prices they pay.” If it’s not broken we should not be fixing it, no matter what Mr. Trump thinks he wants and how inappropriately he tries to bully us.
 Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. He earned a degree in economics. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Supply Management – Bernier – Conservative Policies –
New Zealand and Dairy – New Zealand Emissions –
 By Pepper Parr
August 31stt, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The rule is – you follow the money and you connect the dots.
And follow the facts:
In a statement sent to Meed Ward on behalf of Campaign Research lawyer Evan Presvelos said, “We vehemently contest your characterization of the subject statements as ‘defamatory.'”
“He also said the poll was conducted for “another market research firm, whose identity we cannot disclose due to confidentiality.”
 A rendering of the development Reserve Properties wants to build on the SE corner of Brant and James – across the street from city hall. Reserve Properties has options on a number of options on Brant Street land. The development Reserve took to the Planning department for a 24 storey condominium was turned down. Staff recommended 17 storeys.
Reserve has appealed that decision to the Land Planning Act Tribunal.
KG&A announced recently that Reserve Properties had become a new client. An entry on the KG&A web site states:
“KG&A is an award-winning communications strategy firm.
“Over the last decade we’ve earned a reputation as one of the only in Canada specializing in the urban landscape.
“Our approach is unique. We’re research obsessed media junkies with backgrounds in journalism, digital media, brand strategy and event programming.
“And we believe that strategy should be invisible – that’s why we’re the award-winning firm you’ve never heard of.”
 Sheldon Fenton, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Reserve Properties Sheldon Fenton, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Reserve Properties. A lawyer by profession, Sheldon launched his career at a top tier Toronto law firm specializing in corporate and real estate law.
A role at CIBC followed with a deep focus on strategic financing and institutional problem-solving. It is this entrepreneurial approach to problem-solving combined with an unwavering passion for real estate development that has helped Reserve’s portfolio grow exponentially. Since it’s inception the company’s real estate activities have included more than 8,000 residences, office and retail developments, hotels and retirement communities across North America.
 By Staff
August 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton District School Board will be welcoming approximately 64,000 Kindergarten to Grade 12 students on the first day of school on Tuesday.
The Board’s 6,507 teachers, 3,117 non-teaching and support staff, and 222 principals and vice-principals are outfitting classrooms, tending to sports fields, polishing floors, cleaning buildings and organizing schedules to prepare schools for another productive and memorable school year.
 New cladding on the sides of the high school and repairs to the roof are part of the work done at MMR during the summer. The controversial transferring of Lester B Pearson students to M.M. Robinson High School starts on Tuesday as well. During the summer, MMR underwent some renovations to improve the educational experience for all students as the two schools merge into one community. The school’s Community Pathways Program (CPP) space has been re-constructed, new locker bays installed throughout the building, the theatre’s facade re-designed and renamed the Lester B. Pearson Community Theatre and new cladding added to part of the outdoor front facade, in addition to other improvements.
Students, staff and parents/guardians will also walk into many other Halton schools that underwent various renovations and upgrades this summer. Approximately $25 million worth of construction projects were completed at dozens of elementary and secondary schools. Work included roofing improvements, ventilation, new entranceways, windows, doors, flooring and washrooms, and more.
Over the summer, the HDSB transitioned to a new Student Absence Reporting system called SchoolMessenger. Families can register for SchoolMessenger through the website (go.schoolmessenger.ca) or the HDSB Mobile App. Resources and training videos to support parents/guardians with the transition to SchoolMessenger are available on the HDSB website (hdsb.ca) by searching “SchoolMessenger”.
This new system enables parents/guardians to receive app notifications, text messages, emails and phone calls from schools and the HDSB. Families will now be able to report absences for their child using the HDSB Mobile App, the SchoolMessenger website or a toll-free phone number.
The HDSB Mobile App, rolled out earlier this year, consolidates important information for parents/guardians and students into one easy-to-access location. Report absences, receive school and Board news, social media and calendars all in one place. The HDSB Mobile App is available for download on the App Store and Google Play by searching “HDSB”.
 By Staff
August 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Police are seeking witnesses who observed a vicious assault that started at the side of the Island Bar located at 4170 South Service Road in Burlington.
On August 11th 2018, shortly after 2:30 AM, a 19-year old victim was at the side of the premise and began speaking to unknown person(s) in a dark colour pickup truck that had parked in a neighbouring parking lot to the east.
 As the victim was standing near this pick-up truck, four white males and two white females approached from the direction of the Island Bar. One of the males pushed the victim to the ground and the other males joined in on the assault.
The victim retreated to the neighbouring parking lot where the assailants continued to assault the victim by pushing him around and repeatedly punching him in the head. The assault lasted for approximately 5 minutes before the assailants left the area in the dark pickup truck.
The victim was taken to the hospital where he was treated for a broken jaw that required surgery.
Police are asking anyone who witnessed this assault or provided assistance to the victim to contact Detective Constable Erin Toth of the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2313.
Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See something? Hear something? Know something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
 By Staff
August 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Conservation Halton is looking for 50 community volunteers to help plant native trees and shrubs on Sunday, September 9.
The Trees for Watershed Health planting is taking place at the Hopkins Tract, 201 Old Guelph Road in Hamilton.
Registration and check-in will begin at 9 a.m. with planting scheduled to start shortly after 9:30 a.m. Volunteers are reminded to dress according to the weather, wear waterproof boots and bring a shovel. The event will happen rain or shine, unless conditions are deemed to be unsafe for participants and staff.
The welcome to participate goes out to all individuals, families, and small groups. No prior planting experience is required. Space is limited and pre-registration is mandatory, visit the web site for more details and to find registration information.
 Hopkins Tract is in orange Established in 2015, the Hopkins Tract of the Pleasant View Natural Area, is located on the southeast corner of Old Guelph Road and York Road in Dundas. The 24 hectare (59 acre) property contains deep ravines associated with the Pleasant View Tributary lined with mature deciduous oak forests and contains several uncommon and rare Carolinian and savannah indicator species.
This newly formed public natural area has been incorporated into the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System.
The significant parcel was secured to further establish and widen a natural corridor link between Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment within the City of Hamilton. The property offers significant opportunities for the restoration of creeks, wetlands and Carolinian forest as well as protection of head-water stream ravines.
 This is some of the terrain that work will be done on. The restoration strategy for the property provides a direction to protect and restore natural ecosystems to ensure the health and diversity of native species, habitats, landscapes and ecological processes.
These strategies will help to improve the natural functions of the landscape and hydrology of the two subwatersheds.
Trees for Watershed Health is a Conservation Halton community outreach program which gets watershed residents and community groups involved in tree planting. The program is designed to bring communities and nature together to increase forest cover in the watershed through volunteers planting trees at selected sites.
 By Pepper Parr
August 31st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
James Burchill released the fourth and final Smart Car Coffee Confidential this morning – and it is a lot different than the first three.
This morning we get to see and hear what Aldershot resident Greg Woodruff has to say as he runs a campaign to become the next Mayor of Burlington.
 Greg Woodruff on the left with James Burchill as they do a Coffee Confidential interview while driving around in a Smart Car He is up against the incumbent Rick Goldring; former city Councillor and former Member of Parliament for Burlington, Mike Wallace and ward 2 city Councillor Marianne Meed Ward.
In another article we are going to publish all four interviews that were done in the car that Burchill drives around the city.
Greg Woodruff is different – but he is certainly worth a listen. Worth more than one listen.
CLICK HERE for what Woodruff has to say.
If he is right …. Well listen to what he has to say.
 By Pepper Parr
August 30th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It’s a story that isn’t going to go away and the telephone election polling being done doesn’t appear to be stopping.
Campaign Research appears to have revised the questions they are asking the people they call in Burlington which suggests that the client is still intent on attempting to collect some information and at the same time using historical information out of context to hammer the reputation Mayoralty candidate Marianne Meed Ward’s reputation,
Meed Ward worked for a number of years as a columnist for the Toronto Sun. Anyone who wants to put a specific spin on what another person who writes for the public won’t find it difficult to do a really good smear job on them. Columnists have opinions – that’s why they are hired. Some are provocative, others entertaining. We all have our favourites.
I usually can’t wait to read what Maureen Dowd has to say in the New York Times and there is certainly a colourful background story on her.
 There is a lot of money riding on this development. They want what the guy across the street has in terms of height. This rendering is on Brant from the Queen’s Head looking north. What Burlington is seeing is this – significant financial interests don’t like the impact Meed Ward is having on the rate and kind of development the city is experiencing.
Meed Ward, often described as a populist (I’ve never understood what’s wrong with being a populist) can be very blunt and direct. She has an agenda – as a politician she is supposed to have an agenda.
For some politicians their agenda is for the ward they represent. Meed Ward has always seen the city and the Region as her agenda and a city that meets the needs of the people who live here as she understands them.
She is described as well as “divisive” – that she isn’t a team player. She has chosen not to work with the current political team at city hall because she thinks they are dead wrong and she has a level of support that suggests she just might be right.
That she has the support of a large sector of the city impacts what the developers are going to get away with. Development is now all about money.
There was a time when developers cared about the communities they were building – that day has come and gone. It is now about how much you can make and keep.
The number of new developers who are new to Burlington is significant. They see a market in which they can get just about anything they want – and they are either buying up properties or getting options to buy.
Residents see opportunities to make a bundle on selling their homes – everyone wins.
Meed Ward sees it differently.
 Quiet streets with good homes – the Burlington many people want to defend and they believe Meed Ward is the person who will deliver for them. She believes that the city is where people live and the quality of life they have experienced can continue as long as there is some level of control over the growth that is taking place.
There are numbers being put out saying that the city has to grow by a certain number of homes and jobs – it doesn’t look as if anyone knows what the 30+ development applications that are said to be working their way through the Planning department will amount to.
Which brings us back to the telephone survey that has been taking place and is still underway.
Someone wants to know just where the political support is in this city. There are three serious candidates (the fourth needs to get another hobby). Each offers very clear choices.
 Meed Ward has always been a different campaign. She ruffles the feathers of her colleagues on city council; asks more questions than all the others combined and truly believes that the people she represent deserve a better form of local government. The Meed Ward choice threatens the interests of people with a lot of money who don’t want to lose the opportunities they see in Burlington.
So they do some research and in the process do whatever they can to besmirch the reputation of one of the candidates by bringing up stuff she wrote more than a decade ago and then putting it in a different context.
It’s sort of like asking a man if he is still beating his wife. The answer to the question isn’t the issue – it is the question that is all wrong.
That’s what applies to what it taking place now and people in Burlington need to see the situation for what it is.
This business about being divisive is just another way of saying Meed Ward asks questions that make me uncomfortable – and that she does. That’s what her job is and she appears to be doing it quite well – too well for some people.
 Mayor Rick Goldring being interviewed by CBC The CBC radio office in Hamilton has done a good job of digging out a large part of the story. (We would love to have the resources they have.) They got a statement from the Mayor – he appears to have chosen not to release a statement to all media. Goldring, who is running for re-election against Meed Ward, said he had nothing to do with the poll. “It was definitely not me. It’s certainly not my style.”
In the CBC report Councillor Marianne Meed Ward says she first received word from residents on Sunday afternoon she was being mentioned in a telephone survey conducted by Toronto-based consulting firm Campaign Research — which counts controversial conservative political strategist Nick Kouvalis as one of its heads.
Meed Ward called the statements made about her “untrue, inflammatory and defamatory.” Campaign Research denies that. “This is heinous and it needs to stop,” Meed Ward said.
 Jim Young at a transit meeting. Burlington resident Jim Young told said he received a call Monday afternoon. “It started off like a fairly regular political poll, he said, “consisting of rating candidates on a scale of one to 10, and indicating how certain he was that he would support a particular candidate.”
Young said that he planned to vote for Meed Ward and then the tone of the questions the person was asking changed.
“At that point, the questions became very strange,” Young said. The woman conducting the poll said she was going to give several statements about Meed Ward, and instructed Young to indicate on a scale of one to 10 how likely he was to change his vote because of them.
The questions asked, which don’t deserve repeating, were in Jim Young’s words “seemed like character assassination.”
Young wanted to complain about the questions being asked and was told that the survey was being done by Campaign Research and was offered a telephone number in case he wanted to complain.
Young said he called the number, and got an automated recording for Campaign Research.
Campaign Research denies survey was defamatory
In an email, Campaign Research Principal Richard Ciano said the company will not “disclose, discuss, confirm, or deny the existence of any matter relating to who its clients are, or may be, or any work Campaign Research Inc. may perform on behalf of its clients unless specifically required to do so by law, or unless specifically directed to do so by our clients.”
 Nick Kouvalis, a campaign strategist with a reputation os his own that he uses to drum up business from people who want deep background on public office candidates. Legal counsel for Campaign Research said, “We vehemently contest your characterization of the subject statements as ‘defamatory’.”
He also said the poll was conducted for “another market research firm, whose identity we cannot disclose due to confidentiality.”
A bunch of guys just taking care of business – see them for what they are.
Salt with Pepper are the opinions, reflections, observations and musings of the Gazette publisher
 By Greg Woodruff
August 30th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
In 2014 I was going around saying Burlington’s transit strategy is no more complicated than “Walk, Bike or stay home.” I figured that would make others explain what the transit strategy actually was. No luck on that count 4 years later we have – absolutely nothing. The upside is the website didn’t need any adjusting for the 2018 campaign. The downside being I live here.
The transit strategy when it finally arrives I suspect it will be full of city math. Where 2+2 doesn’t equal 4, because 2 of those people will stay home for no explicable reason.
I once said to a City staff member at a meeting that; “There is no realistic way you can get 100,000 more people into Burlington.” I fear they took the comment as a dare because. The “Grow Bold” plan puts at least 100,000 people in Burlington.
Realty time. All these high-rise buildings sit atop massive parking lots – all these people are bringing cars. Maybe they are not bringing two cars like traditional suburbs, but they still bring cars. How if
100,000 plus people are coming are we not going to cross the James Ridge
50,000 car doomsday line? The math just doesn’t add up.
Never fear though this problem will be solved by the “New Burlingtonian” who for some reason buys a car but never uses it. Yes, they made sure to get a parking space and bought the car, but it never goes anywhere. Existing residents will find hours of new time for walking, biking and bussing.
As you can imagine, running for office, you end up talking to a lot of people. I’ve never run into one person who is planning to modify there life to fit this new paradigm; Not one.
So the manifestation of everyone going about their busy lives; getting groceries, getting the kids to soccer, visiting friends or going to work – is that the road system will keep becoming an ever greater waste of time.
Don’t worry say transit experts; at some point, driving will waste so much time – people will give up on it. They drive less – fewer cars on road – problem solved. The math is solved not by making the numbers add up, but by changing the definition of two. Changing how much and how people are expected to travel.
This as far as I can see has not worked anywhere on the planet. What you discover is that those people who bought parking spaces and cars – use them. Though the road system gets ever more painful – it’s not more painful than trying to walk home with a case of canned tomatoes.
I might have to modify my line for the 2018 campaign to: “Walk, Bike, stay home or waste incredible amounts of time and gas”.
Related new article:
Transportation study: A draft is sitting on a desk somewhere in city hall.
 Greg Woodruff is a candidate for Mayor in Burlington. He ran as a candidate for Chair of the Halton Regional Council. Woodruff lives in Aldershot.
By Staff
August 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has been made aware of a fraudulent telephone call being made to a resident which appear to be coming from the Service’s non-emergency telephone number (905-825-4777).
This is known as spoofing, a caller on Canadian telephone systems can easily make a call appear from any number. Fraudsters will do this in order to hide the true origin of the call.
At this time, we are aware of only one incident in the last week of the Service’s non-emergency telephone number being used for fraudulent representation. The caller purported to be “police” to the person receiving the call and advised that a relative had been arrested. The caller stated that funds were required to be paid so that the relative could be released from custody. The person receiving the call was then requested to deposit funds into a Bitcoin ATM.
Please note that there are NO circumstances in which you will be legitimately contacted by the Halton Regional Police Service with an originating number displaying on your caller i.d. as 905-825-4777.
Outgoing calls from HRPS landline telephones will never be displayed as 905-825-4777.
This spoofing activity does not represent a data breach, nor does it represent a records information breach. Any and all personal information on file with our Service is secure, and the protection of this information remains our highest priority.
No police service in Canada will ever request an individual to deposit funds using Bitcoin or any money transfer service to secure the release of anyone.
If You Receive a Call Identifying as 905-825-4777:
Do not provide information to anyone contacting you from caller i.d. 905-825-4777.
Take steps to verify anything you have been told by the caller, including finding relevant phone numbers yourself to make call backs on.
Be aware that there are a number of popular scams that are currently utilizing caller id scamming.
Please do your part in sharing this message with your friends and family and help us to create more awareness of this type of fraud.
 By Staff
August 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
City hall is telling citizens that over the next 25 years, Burlington is going to grow in its urban areas.
“With 193,000 people expected to live in Burlington by 2031, the city is planning for future population growth including how people will move through the city.
“Over the last 30 years, Burlington’s transportation network has accommodated growth by building more roadways. This strategy is no longer sustainable. The city does not have the space to build new roadways and the financial cost to maintain a larger network of roads is significant.
“A 21st century city is built around a different transportation model, one designed to provide people of all ages and abilities with more travel choices for things like walking, cycling and transit.
“Go Bold is Burlington’s Transportation Plan. The plan is built around eight new directions for the City of Burlington. When implemented, these directions will result in a new era of transportation.
In a Transportation study that seems to be talking ages to make it to a city council Sanding Committee the department explains that eight New Directions are being worked on.
The study will provide a wide range of options for getting around regardless of age, means or ability, including walking, cycling, public transit and automobiles
Uses compact modes of travel like buses, bicycles and walking to efficiently move larger number of people
Is well connected to transportation systems in surrounding regions
Offers fast, reliable and more frequent transit
Features improved facilities and safety for cyclists and pedestrians
Fully Align Land Use and Transportation
Ensure all land use and transportation decisions made at City Hall, from policy-making to budgeting, are integrated and support walking, biking, transit.
 There was a time when Lakeshore was known as Water Street and traffic was a little slower. But Burlington isn’t a sleepy little town anymore – traffic has to be controlled. Rethink Streets
Creating more travel options for the community means thinking differently about how our city streets look and function. One of the ways to allow for more travel choice is to create complete streets. These are streets that are designed to be safe, comfortable and efficient for people of every age and ability including pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and drivers. They also easily connect people to the places they live, work and play.
In rural areas we, envision the potential for rural roads to serve more than just automobiles, but instead as key pieces of infrastructure that improve community interconnectivity and social interaction.
Reprioritize Mobility Choices
Reprioritize decision making at City Hall to support the creation of new facilities for walking, biking, transit that can compete with the automobile.
 New Street when the Road Diet was thought to be a good idea.  No New Street Capacity
Land use intensification with further auto-oriented design will only result in continued auto-dependency, expensive infrastructure and overall traffic failure. Understanding that as the city grows, expanded mobility will be achieved by investing in walking, biking, and transit instead of building new roadways.
  Make Walking More Enjoyable
Walking is the foundation of the transportation system. Design streets that are safe, vibrant, active and easy to navigate.
  Make Biking More Enjoyable
Design streets with biking infrastructure that provides a safe, well connected system throughout the city. In the rural areas, encourage development of biking opportunities over time with infrastructure where strategically appropriate.
  Make Public Transit Enjoyable
Implement significant and strategic improvements to transit in order to improve experience and increase ridership. The result is a transit network that offers quick, reliable and more frequent transit service.
 Vito Tolone – Director of Transportation  “Walk the Talk” in the Follow Through
Dedicate energy and attention to ensuring the actions identified in GoBold are implemented. Align decision making and budgeting to support the new mobility hierarchy.
Phony baloney according to ward 2 city council candidate Lisa Kearns. She explained to a small audience last week that the problem with all these studies is that they are never related to each other.
Her example was the traffic study done for the now approved development on the NE corner of Brant and James, directly across from city hall makes no mention of the traffic study done for the development Reserve Properties wants to put up on the SE corner of that intersection.
 Lisa Kearns before she announced her decision to run for the ward 2 city council seat. According to Kearns it makes no sense to look at the traffic projection studies independently.
There is a report on traffic impacts attached to every application – the problem is that the cumulative impact of the developments never appears in the reports and so far the public hasn’t seen anything from the Transportation department on just what that cumulative impact is going to look like.
The people who live in the downtown core don’t need a study to know what the impact is going to be – they experience it every time they drive in the downtown core.
Using her whimsical, straight to the point style Lisa Kearns got it right: phony baloney indeed.
 By Staff
August 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The road closure for culvert replacement work near 6097 Cedar Springs Rd., which is north of Britannia Road and south of Grand Blvd, has been extended until Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018.
School buses and emergency vehicles are the only traffic that will have access to this area.
For more information, including contact information, please visit the project page.
By Staff
August 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Somebody did it and it wasn’t the Rotarians.
Someone decided to commission an election survey that was focused on residents of ward 2
Organizing a survey done by telephone is both expensive and time consuming.
The objective has to be determined – is the survey intended to gather real information or is it being done to sow discord and confusion.?
 One the objective is determined the strategy has to be determined and then put in place.
The questions that will be asked have to be written and re-written,
Telephone callers then have to be trained.
And then the last minute decision to proceed made.
This took at least two weeks to complete.
The public may never know who commissioned the survey and we will probably never know who paid for it. Short of a Judge ordering Campaign Research to divulge the name of the client we are never going to know. Unless of course a disgruntled employee decides to give the Gazette a call we will never know.
The two stark questions are who – and why?
It was certainly politically motivated.
Ward 2 residents were targeted.
Whoever made the decision to do the telephone survey certainly didn’t understand the people in ward 2 who are Mayoralty candidate Marianne Meed Ward supporters.
 The Med Ward campaign has people who are holding private Meet the Candidate events throughout the city. This is a very tight group of people. A tribe for certain and passionate about their candidate who they believe can get the city and its planning goals on a different track which they believe is the right track.
The motivating forces behind Meed Ward are very intense.
 Rick Goldring announced his campaign office location with some falir – being next to a Tim Hortons seemed like a good idea. The FRank’s Magic Crop across the street is closed – so that won’t influence the campaign. As soon as it is legal the Goldring campaign will add the words For Mayor to the sign which is at the plaza on Guelph Line just north of New Street.. The driving force behind Mayor Goldring is his wanting a chance to complete the job he started. Part of his campaign statement is: Clean Up, which he believes he did in his first term of office; Set Up which Goldring believes he did in his second term of office. He wants a third term to implement what he got done in his first two terms.
Goldring brought his former Chief of Staff into the campaign as a strategic advisor. Frank McKeown is understood to be the person who write the several good petition papers in Goldring’s first campaign in 2010
There are a lot of people in the city who don’t want the Goldring Set Up implemented.
 Mike Wallace announcing his plans to run for Mayor. Mike Wallace believes that he can do the job that has to be done better. Wallace describes himself as a pragmatist. He has a well organized campaign that is drawing upon the solid Tory community that held power in Burlington for decades.
Greg Woodruff, the fourth candidate for Mayor is on the sidelines telling people that they all have it wrong and that he has an approach that will solve all the problems.
So – who commissioned the election survey?
You can be pretty sure that none of the candidates did anything directly. If, and this is a big if, a candidate for Mayor did this they had someone else acting on their behalf.
Would Goldring benefit from this really stupid political tactic?
Does Mike Wallace want the job so badly that he will go to any lengths to get it.
Did Meed Ward commission the survey knowing that it would create major dissension in the downtown core and within her tribe and motivate them to work even harder?
There are financial interests that stand to benefit significantly if Meed Ward is kept out of office.
The $50,000 such an election survey would cost is peanuts to the development interests.
It would take a developer who doesn’t really know the city and its people all that well to do something like this.
Or it would take a developer that is a bit of a rogue who wants to disrupt – that has happened before.
The blow-back to the survey has been so intense that anyone trying something like this again is perhaps remote.
Someone ordered that the survey be done and someone paid the invoice.
And it wasn’t the Rotarians.
What we know for certain is that an organization that has staff who have done work like this before took on the assignment. No shame in that office.
 By Staff
August 29th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
When the Barrie Baycats or Kitchener Panthers hoist the IBL championship trophy next week, it will be a first. Both teams have certainly done so before – but not this one.
 Jack and Lynne Dominico Trophy In celebration of the IBL’s 100th season, the League commissioned a new trophy. It will still be called the Jack and Lynne Dominico Trophy but the old wooden trophy, which had been awarded for 25 years since 1993, is going out of service. In its place the IBL has a new and more traditional trophy – a cup, mounted on a series of levels that chronicle all 99 league champions.
“We have done a number of things to recognize our 100th season,” said Commissioner John Kastner. “We recognized the top 100 players in League history, we had special baseballs from Rawlings complete with our 100th season logo, and we produced a fantastic book.”
“All of those things were great initiatives but the trophy is the one thing that will create a lasting legacy for this, our 100th season.”
And what a season it is turning out to be. The Burlington Herd didn’t make it out of the quarter finals but the league leading Barrie Baycats and the Kitchener Panthers are matched up in the playoffs.
The first game in a best out of seven went 11 innings with the Panthers taking the game 1-0
 The next game is in Kitchener on Thursday.
Created by Wilson Trophy of Mississauga, it is nickel, with a black base and with the IBL logo proudly displayed.
About the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is the top level baseball league in Ontario, boasting ex-major league professional and elite NCAA college baseball players. The 2018 season will mark the IBL’s 100th season. The IBL is the fifth longest continually operated baseball league in the world and serves as a valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff. More than 40 IBL players have advanced to Major League Baseball or returned to the IBL following their MLB careers. The league is comprised of teams from Barrie, Brantford, Kitchener, London, Toronto, Guelph, Burlington and Hamilton. For more information, visit www.theibl.ca.
 By Staff
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The following document was sent to media by the Marianne for Mayor Campaign
Deep pockets and dirty politics by a Toronto firm, Campaign Research, are attempting to influence the outcome of the Burlington mayor’s race and must stop.
In the last few days, Burlington residents have reported to our campaign that they received an extremely disturbing telephone “election survey” containing divisive and false statements attributed to me about domestic violence, the hijab, unemployment and more.
According to a number of residents who received the call and contacted us, residents are initially asked a series of questions, including “Do you support change ?” “Rate all 4 candidates on a scale of 1 to 10”. “Rate the following issues 1 to 10.”
Residents are then asked about several issues including downtown development and attracting business.
Then the questions change dramatically and are targeted exclusively on one mayoral candidate, Marianne Meed Ward. Residents are asked to rate their support for “statements she has made” on a scale of 1 to 10.
According to one of the residents who got this call, “There followed several outrageous allegations about what they claimed are statements by Marianne” including about abused women, the hijab, unemployment, capitalism, and development.
“I found the questions so ridiculous I stopped the interviewer and asked her if she was serious. The interviewer agreed the questions seemed outrageous but that her job is to ask and not analyse them,” stated the resident.
No questions are asked about any other candidate for mayor.
The caller gave the resident a phone number linked to Campaign Research, a Toronto firm run by Nick Kouvalis, Richard Ciano and Eli Youfest.
https://www.campaignresearch.ca/our-team
This firm has been rebuked for their behaviour in a previous election (federal) by the Market Research and Intelligence Agency, which said their tactics “caused the Canadian public to lose confidence in marketing research” and have “tarnished” the profession.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/11/28/tory_pollster_rebuked_for_misleading_campaign_against_mp_irwin_cotler.html
This survey may also violate campaign finance rules. Only registered candidates and registered Third Party Advertisers are permitted to spend money to influence the outcome of an election. There are no Third Party Advertisers registered with the City of Burlington.
The firm says it aims to “shape public perceptions”, and has been contracted by someone with deep pockets who is clearly attempting to influence the Burlington mayor’s race against one candidate, and only one candidate, Marianne Meed Ward.
“Anonymous deep pockets are clearly trying to influence the outcome of the Burlington mayor’s race with lies and inflammatory statements. We don’t yet know who is behind this, but ask ‘Who benefits?’ and that’s where we’ll find our answer,” said mayoral candidate Marianne Meed Ward.
“We won’t stop until we expose the cowards who contracted Campaign Research to carry out this dirty tactic and stop them both in their tracks. Both the company and the client are complicit in this.
“We will do everything we can to ensure this election is decided on what is best for Burlington based on platform, policies and track record. Lies, personal attacks and defamation have no place in our city or in this election, and do nothing to help make our community better.”
The Marianne for Mayor Campaign has contacted Campaign Research and spoken directly to Eli Youfest, and left messages and emails for the other two principals, Nick Kouvalis and Richard Ciano to demand that this stop immediately.
We are filing a complaint against Campaign Research with the Market Research and Intelligence Agency and filing complaints with municipal and provincial election authorities, as this activity violates not only basic decency but potentially Third Party Advertising rules.
Residents and other campaigns can take the following steps:
1. Should you receive a call, document the nature of the questions, and the phone number.
2. File a formal complaint with the Market Research and Intelligence Agency against Campaign Research. https://mria-arim.ca
3. File a formal complaint to Campaign Research. https://www.campaignresearch.ca
4. Ask the other mayoral candidates if they know who is behind this, and to commit to finding and exposing who has paid for this telephone call.
5. Should this not be linked to a candidate’s campaign, file a formal complaint of a violation of Third
Party Advertising by an unregistered entity with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing ( https://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page219.aspx ) MMHA contact: ( https://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page7030.aspx ) and the City of Burlington ( Elections@burlington.ca )
Media contact:
Marianne Meed Ward is available for telephone or on-camera interviews:
Marianne Meed Ward
Marianne4Mayor@gmail.com
905.335.1899
We also have a resident who received the call and is willing to speak to the media. Contact us for details.
By Staff
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The following statement was released this afternoon by the Campaign to Elect Mike Wallace for Mayor.
My team and I have learned that a telephone campaign is underway targeting Burlington voters concerning the upcoming municipal election. It is focused on Marianne Meed Ward, one of my fellow candidates for Mayor. I wish to assure the voters in Burlington that neither I nor any member of my team is involved in this quite negative campaign tactic.
The coming election is an important opportunity for the people of Burlington to choose the leader they want for our city. Negative campaign tactics, such as what is known as “push-polling” should not be used by any candidate nor their supporters. Each candidate has their own bona fides, platform, experience, and values to offer you. Each, quite different. The choice is yours to make. Do not let the negative tactics of some influence your decision.
By Staff
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
On Tuesday August 28th, 2018 the Halton Regional Police Service responded to a report of a serious injury collision, involving a single motor vehicle near the intersection of North Shore Boulevard and Eagle Drive in the City of Burlington.
At approximately 12:21am, a 31 year old male resident of Tory Hill fell from a moving 2015 Nissan Rogue while it was traveling westbound on North Shore Boulevard. The 28 year old male resident of Hamilton who was driving was uninjured in the incident. Early medically assessments deemed the male to possibly be suffering from serious injuries at which point he was transported to Hamilton General Hospital.
Due to the nature of the injuries, the Halton Regional Police Collision Reconstruction Unit responded to assist in the investigation. The male is currently listed in serious but stable condition. The scene was held for approximately 4 hours for the at-scene collision investigation.
Witnesses to the collision are asked to call the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 905 825-4747 extension 5065 or tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See Something? Hear Something? Know Something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
By Staff
August 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON’
The City announces that Burlington has been chosen as a host city for the acclaimed Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour with Ron MacLean and Tara Slone on Oct. 27-28.
Residents, hockey players and hockey fans of all ages and abilities are invited to attend, participate and enjoy the free festivities planned throughout the weekend.
This is the 5th Season for the Hometown Hockey tour – they will be visiting 25 cities across the country this time.
 It takes a small convoy of trucks for the show to take place – all kinds of equipment. Rogers Hometown Hockey will be welcomed to the city in the midst of the largest food drive campaign in Canada, the Gift of Giving back. Young Burlington hockey players will be canvassing communities to gather non-perishable food donations. Residents are encouraged to continue to give generously.
The weekend will feature a ball hockey tournament, local musicians on stage, activities and will end on Sunday evening with an outdoor viewing party of the live Sportsnet broadcast of the evening’s featured NHL game with Tara Slone and Ron MacLean on site in Burlington showcasing our great city.
 Ron MacLean and Tara Slone host the show in each community. Each week during the 2018-2019 NHL season, the Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour will visit a different community across the country with a weekend of free outdoor hockey festivities for all ages, culminating in an outdoor viewing party of an NHL game broadcast every Sunday, with Ron MacLean and Tara Slone hosting live onsite from the Sportsnet Mobile Studio.
The family-friendly weekend tells the stories of local upcoming talent and alumni, provides an inviting atmosphere for the community to come together to show their passion for the game and ultimately, celebrate the game of hockey which has been woven tightly into our great Canadian culture.
More on this as we get closer to the event. We have to get through a municipal election first.
By Staff
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
We are heading into the last long weekend before we get into the fall season – the unofficial end of summer.
What will be open and what will be closed.
Most administrative offices will be closed Monday, Sept. 3, 2018 for Labour Day weekend. For a complete listing of hours of operation, phone numbers for city facilities and available services, please visit burlington.ca. For information about what to do in Burlington on Labour Day weekend, please visit burlington.ca/calendar and tourismburlington.com.
The city’s administrative services will be closed Monday, Sept. 3, 2018.
 Lowville Park – one of the really nice places to rest and relax – the kids will love Bronte Creek. Parks and Recreation Programs and Facilities – Hours vary.
Activities and customer service hours at city pools, arenas and community centres will vary over the holiday weekend. For program times, please visit burlington.ca/play. For customer service hours, please visit burlington.ca/servicehours.
Burlington Transit and Handi-Van
On Monday, Sept. 3, Burlington Transit will operate a holiday service and the downtown Transit Terminal and Handi-Van Dispatch will be closed.
 Handi-van schedule limited on the weekend. Regular service resumes Tuesday, Sept. 4. The administration offices are closed Monday, Sept. 3 and will reopen Tuesday, Sept. 4. For real-time schedule information, please call 905-639-0550 or visit www.burlingtontransit.ca.
Roads, Parks and Forestry
Closed Monday, Sept. 3. Only emergency services will be provided.
Animal Shelter and Control
Closed Monday, Sept. 3. Open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For more information or to report an animal control-related emergency, call 905-335-3030 or visit www.burlington.ca/animal.
Halton Court Services
Provincial Offences Courts in Milton and Burlington will be closed Monday, Sept. 3.
 This isn’t something you are going to have to do on the long weekend. Parking
Free parking is available in the downtown core, on the street, municipal lots and the parking garage on weekends and holidays.
NOTE: The Waterfront parking lots (east and west) do not provide free parking on statutory holidays.
Do you have family and friends visiting for the holiday weekend? A reminder that there is no parking on city streets overnight between 1 and 6 a.m. Exemptions to allow overnight parking on city streets may be obtained by calling 905-335-7844 or visiting www.burlington.ca/parking.
By Pepper Parr
August 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Is poverty an issue in Burlington? Ask the people who work at the Food Bank in this city.
The wealth in Burlington is thick – but there are too many people who have to go without.
 These are bins of food that were donated during the annual Giving Back event that takes place in Burlington. It all goes to food banks in the community. A measure of just how much food is needed by people who live below the poverty line. How does the problem of poverty get any attention when the focus is on the 20 + storey condominiums that are going to be built in the downtown core – unless of course the bottom falls out of the real estate market and then even more people will be living below the poverty line.
The Region has a group of people who think about poverty – where it is and how it can be eradicated.
With the new provincial government and the approach it is taking to those who are not able to do as well as many – poverty within the community is going to have to be handled by the communities.
For the past seven years the Halton Poverty Roundtable has been a community leader in connecting, educating and acting on issues related to poverty in Halton.
Their vision is: No Neighbour In Need. The organizational mission is: Mobilizing Community Will to Eliminate Poverty in Halton
They want to shift the conversation in Halton towards acknowledgment that poverty exists in our community, increasing education and awareness of poverty and then creating opportunity for community action.
The Roundtable has organized an event for Oakville and Burlington municipal candidates to learn just how deep the issue of poverty is. The event is being labelled The Poverty Primer. They will have panel presentations from local organizations to provide information about the reality of poverty in Halton; they are hoping to get a poverty pledge from the candidates that show up – all have been invited.
We will let you know who shows up.
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