 By Staff
June 10th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The real Monarchists were up at 5:00 am this morning to catch the CBC broadcast of the festivities surrounding the celebration of the Queen’s 90th birthday.
Queen Elizabeth II has visited Canada on 22 occasions and is reported to have kept herself up to date on Canadian affairs.
Many of the Canadian Armed Forces regiments have the Queen as their Colonel in Chief. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, who are head quartered in Hamilton, is one such regiment.
Ron Foxcroft, a retired Honourary Colonel of the regiment developed a close relationship with the queen when he WORDS on behalf of the regiment
Foxcroft sent best wishes from the regiment to the Queen earlier today saying:
Your Majesty, Colonel in Chief:
On behalf of your regiment, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, we wish you a heartfelt birthday wish on the occasion of your 90th birthday.
It is with great admiration and respect for your wisdom , loyalty , passion and sensitive leadership that we send our best wishes for continued good health on this most joyful occasion.
Ron Foxcroft, Honourary Colonel (retired) Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada.
 When Foxcroft had the audience with the Queen in May of 2015, they talked about the Canada geese that were fouling the lawns at the back of Buckingham Palace. He is reported to have given the Queen a Foxcroft 40 whistle to scare away the geese.
Foxcroft serves on the Senate of the regiment where he keeps a close eye on the welfare of Marcus, the son of Cpl Nathan Cirillo, the soldier who was gunned down and killed while doing sentry duty at the War Memorial in Ottawa.
 By Staff
June 10th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
Up up and away in a beautiful balloon.
 This Saturday, June 11th from 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Mohawk Park on Kenwood Ave, Mayor Rick Goldring and Councillor Paul Sharman will rise from the ground in a tethered hot air balloon – part of the MorganMerry Experience Annual Yard Sale in support of SickKids Foundation through Children’s Miracle Network.
You can ride in the RE/MAX hot air balloon (weather permitting). The balloon will be tethered to allow passengers a secured ride, up and down. Each ride is $2 per person, with proceeds going to SickKids Foundation.
What if someone cuts the rope? Will the Mayor and the Council member just fly off into the wild blue yonder?
By Staff
June 9th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Lisa Raitt is one of three women that represents the citizens of Burlington in the House of Commons. Raitt is the Member of Parliament for Halton, which includes the northern part of Burlington. Earlier this week Ms Raitt spoke at some length in the House of Commons on the budget implementation act.
Raitt is seen as a possible Conservative leadership contender.
Here is what she had to say.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to address Bill C-15, the budget implementation act.
I will note that the hon. member opposite indicated in the introduction to his speech that this was part one of budget implementation. Therefore, we look forward to part two of the budget implementation act when that arises.
For many weeks, we in the official opposition have had many opportunities to take a look at the legislation. We have actually had a lot of opportunity to also question the Minister of Finance and the government on their fiscal plan. Unfortunately, it appears that the more we ask for clarification the less things become clear for us. That is why I would like to focus today on the aspects surrounding the credibility of the minister in delivering this budget.
 Most of Burlington above the 407 highway is part of the Halton constituency – NOT all of it. This plan, or really the lack thereof, his projections, and his assertions are incredibly important to the veracity of this budget. The Minister of Finance is continuing to battle serious questions about his fiscal credibility and his lack of transparency.
We in the opposition would much rather be working with the government to make amendments to the legislation. However, we cannot support a plan for massive borrowing and massive spending when it is based on such flawed assumptions. The fundamentals of the legislation were simply not sound from the beginning.
During the committee of the whole on May 30, the Minister of Finance stated the following, “We found ourselves in a low-growth era. That is what we are facing right now.” Indeed, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance repeated the concept of the low growth the Liberals were handed.
This simply is not the truth.
 Conservative MP Lisa Raitt asks a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. In a briefing prepared for the Minister of Finance, his own department advised him that Canada’s real income per capita growth was the strongest of all G7 countries in the 2000s, compared to the weakest growth in the 1990s.
It also showed that we had the healthiest middle class of our G7 cohorts.
More importantly, it was proven by the OECD that income was evenly distributed during this period of time.
It is indeed concerning that the Minister of Finance and his Liberal budget appear to be so out of touch that his budget is based on a false assumption.
The history and the current state of the Canadian economy are important factors, and the way in which the Liberals are characterizing it is simply incorrect. Indeed, the excessive spending that is set out in this budget is wholly inappropriate for the actual state of the economy of this country.
The facts are very clear that we are not in a recession, yet the government continues to act as though we are.
During the committee of the whole, the Minister of Finance also said, “The ‘Fiscal Monitor’ in 2015 shows clearly in the month of March that in fact the government before us left us in a deficit. That is our starting point.”
Once again the facts do not support this claim. The evidence shows clearly that the minister was actually left with a surplus by the Conservative government and that it really is his own spending decisions that have set it off track. Our government balanced the budget in 2014-15, as we said we would, and there was a $1.9-billion surplus. The parliamentary budget office has confirmed that the 2015-16 budget was left in a surplus by our Conservative government. We have still yet to see the full extent of the Minister of Finance’s March madness, but it is clear that in this spending spree he worked really hard to spend away Conservative surpluses, and he refuses to take the responsibility for this reckless spending.
Credibility is key and trust is a key as well. The current government’s inability to answer simple questions asks us to question both credibility and trust.
When we look at the budget implementation bill and reflect on the testimony in the committee of the whole, we actually gave the Minister of Finance about four hours to answer some pretty basic questions about his plans, but our questions were often met with silence, and that is a very revealing indication of problems with respect to the implementation of this budget.
Revealing, as well, were our questions about the $6-billion contingency fund the minister built into the budget. During this particular exchange, the minister was actually unable to provide any details at all as to what kinds of factors were taken into consideration when determining the size of the fund. I would add that one of the witnesses before the finance committee indicated to the members of the committee that applying this contingency fund was, in essence, projecting oil to be at a price of $20 per barrel, and we know that not to be the fact.
More concerning was the fact that the minister revealed that he already had plans to spend this $6-billion contingency fund. The next day, in question period, the minister doubled down. Again, he committed to spending this $6 billion, regardless of whether it was needed, instead of returning it to taxpayers. This is not responsible and is simply not acceptable.
 People could understand it if it were put in simple terms of dealing with their own credit cards. For example, a person asks for a $6,000 credit card increase but has no need and no plan as to what to buy but knows that he or she is going to buy something, the only factor being that every single last cent of that $6,000 will be spent. Even Canadians going to a bank for a loan these days are asked to explain why they need the loan, whether they are students looking to invest in their educations or young families wanting to make improvements to their homes. Any responsible institution would ask why they are applying for the loan.
Canadians also expect that when someone promises to do something, that person will follow through on the promise. The Liberals have made many promises, but those promises lack credibility. The Liberals have broken their election promises, and their out-of-control spending will end up hurting families, small business, and hard-working Canadians, because we know where this ends. It ends in the form of tax increases.
The Liberals were elected on a platform of modest deficits capped at $10 billion. They were elected on a platform of reducing the ratio of debt to GDP, with a goal of returning the budget to balance. However, almost immediately after taking power, they changed their minds. At a time when Canada is not in a recession, they have nearly tripled the deficit, admitted that they cannot control the debt to GDP ratio, and decided that balancing the budget was really not that important after all.
Not only is the minister breaking his promise, but as we know, he is suggesting that Conservatives would do well to get past this whole budget balance thing. However, the Conservatives will not simply get past the whole balanced budget thing, because we know that budgets do not balance themselves. We will continue to voice our concerns, as well as those of Canadians who want to see balanced budgets, not broken electoral promises and out-of-control spending.
We should take a closer look at some of the broken electoral promises. The Liberals have absolutely shattered their promise to small businesses to proceed with a small business tax rate reduction to 9% by 2019. While the Liberals promised to stand by this commitment during the election period, since taking power, it has become clear that small businesses are not the government’s priority at all.
Budget 2016 lays out the Liberals’ plan to tax small businesses at 10.5%, but they cleverly say that plans for any other small business tax cuts will be deferred. I know what the definition of “deferred” is. For the record, it is “withheld for or until a stated time”.
The finance minister indicated, when he appeared before the finance committee, that he actually has no further information about any planned date to restore this tax reduction, as promised. He refuses to own up to the fact that this tax cut has been clearly cancelled.
The president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Dan Kelly, has expressed his disappointment and his shock as well. According to the CFIB,“This decision will cost small firms over $900 million more per year as of 2019”.
The parliamentary budget office, in a report from May 10, “estimates that by 2020-21, Budget 2016 changes to the small business tax rate will reduce real GDP by $300 million”, and this Canadians will really understand, “and the level of employment by about 1,240 jobs”.
Not proceeding with the planned implementation of the tax rate, in fact cancelling it, will have a long-term effect on employment in this country and on our GDP. This will clearly not help grow the Canadian economy.
We know that the Liberals will have to raise taxes to pay for all of this out-of-control spending. However, when we reflect upon it, it really is disconcerting and unfortunate that 700,000 middle-class small business owners, who employ 95% of working Canadians, were the first target of this finance minister.
 When it increases taxes on job-creating small businesses, the government is discouraging success and discouraging entrepreneurship, and that has an effect on the entire country. It is not helping the middle class. It is absolutely hurting the middle class.
I, along with my constituents and the Conservative Party, have a long list of concerns about this budget. We have the ballooning deficit, with no sign in the future of what the cap will be. The Prime Minister famously gave an interview in the United States, and when he was asked how big the deficit will grow, he said he did not really have a number in mind. That is not prudent management.
We also have concerns about eligibility for old age security being lowered from 67 to 65. I have two points on that. First, it was this country’s finance minister who indicated no more than three years ago that this was the right thing to do, and now he has done exactly the opposite. Second, when we actually did this in the former Conservative government, we were lauded as having the courage to do the right thing by the Secretary-General of the OECD. We joined a list of 29 out of 38 countries in the OECD proceeding down this road.
I am concerned about the fact that this budget has no plan to create jobs.
There is the notion that if the Liberals sprinkle the money out into the economy, it is going to actually take root and there will be growth. The reality is that there are a lot of things that can happen between the sprinkling of the money and the creation of a job. My concern is that there is no plan to actually nurture the creation of jobs.
I am very concerned that there is no plan to promote business investment. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The government’s version of promoting investment by private businesses is taxing them more, creating more regulation, and giving far greater uncertainty in decision-making within this country when it comes to the movement of our natural resources.
That does nothing to help our economy. That does nothing to help us with the commodity shock we are feeling right now in this country that is actually putting so many people and Canadians in pain, in several provinces, as a result of something that is completely out of their control.
I am very concerned that the Liberals have repealed the balanced budget legislation. There were provisions within this legislation to take into account in emergency situations. Instead, the Liberals have decided to just remove it, because they do not want to be tied to a fiscal anchor that every Canadian household can completely understand and should absolutely live to attain.
We can look at studies that have been produced by the parliamentary budget office. One that came out in January that was of most importance to me looked at household indebtedness in our country. It may be surprising to note that household indebtedness in our country is projected to rise to about 174% of debt to household income. That is a very large number. It means that Canadians are gathering in more debt. They have higher debt than they did before the recession hit in 2008-09. The government is now getting on that bandwagon and saying that debt is good, and it is going to go into debt now too, as their government. However, it is not doing it on its own behalf; it is doing it in combination with provinces that are doing the exact same thing, going into greater amounts of debt. We have households with increased debt. We have provinces really racking up the debt, especially in my province of Ontario.
By the way, Ontario is the number one sub-national government in the world in terms of the size of the debt. We are number one, Ontario. That is fantastic.
The other aspect of debt is the reality that at the end of the day, this debt actually does matter. It takes away the flexibility of a government to act when things get very difficult with respect to the economy.
The bill also targets tax credits we introduced, as the previous government that actually helped families. One of the aspects of the fitness and arts credit I appreciated the most was the fact that it was actually recognizing Canadian families for doing something good for their children’s health in the future, their mental health by taking arts and their physical health by getting involved in fitness. That incentive has been taken away by the government.
Changes to EI are of great concern.
However, the small business tax cut cancellation will, of course, have a long-term, long-run effect on our Canadian economy.
 When people realized that the government had actually increased taxes on higher income earners in our country, a lot thought that should be okay and that it did not really mean a lot, because those people make so much money that it does not matter. I asked the minister’s officials at the finance committee whether there had been any studies done to indicate difficulties in having a combined tax rate of over 50% when we are trying to attract to Canada world-class talent for our Canadian companies. Not a single study had been done to determine what the effect would be. That is just another example of rushing to implement parts of a platform without thinking about the total effect.
The only things the government is going to grow in the coming years are two-fold: it is going to grow our debt, and it is absolutely going to grow the size of government. Coming from Cape Breton, I can say that big government is not here to save us. Big government is not something we should be reliant upon. We should be reliant upon ourselves, our families, and our communities to ensure that we live a prosperous life and can contribute to the economy of Canada.
With all of these concerns in mind, Conservatives will not forget that Canadians voted for responsible fiscal management on election day. Those who voted for the Conservatives and NDP in both cases voted for balanced budgets. We will not forget those who voted for the Liberals either, because they voted on the basis of small, moderate deficits that would primarily go to infrastructure. That is far from what the Liberals have delivered so far.
 Milton MP Lisa Raitt at an Air Park social event. Many o her constituents thought she was a little too close the he airport ownership and didn’t listen all that well to the residents of north Burlington. We will hold the government accountable. We will fight for lower taxes, we will fight for a balanced budget, and we will fight to get a plan that will actually keep Canada growing and thriving.
She is certainly a scrapper and she will do everything she can to hold the current government to account – just the way the Liberals and the New Democrats held the Harper government to account.
 By Staff
June 9, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The city wants citizen input on designing an age-friendly future for Burlington. They are hosting three discussion forums for the community to share its thoughts, ideas and suggestions.
Feedback provided at each session will be used to help develop the city’s Active Aging Plan, which aims to help keep older adults active, healthy and engaged in their community.
 The Mayor discuses an issue with a senior citizen at a ward 4 meeting. “If you are a resident 55+ or the care partner, friend, neighbour or family member of someone 55+, who cares about building an age-friendly future for Burlington, the city encourages you to attend one of these forums,” said Rob Axiak, the city’s manager of Recreation Services.
“The discussion forums are your opportunity to tell us what you think would help to make Burlington a city that reflects the needs of its older adults. Your input is instrumental in helping the city to design the Active Aging Plan.”
 Mayor Rick Goldring has his membership application processed at the Seniors’ Centre. At each forum, a brief presentation about the Active Aging Plan will begin the session, followed by small discussion groups focused on five key areas:
• Recreation and leisure
• Information and communication
• Accessibility, diversity and inclusion
• Volunteering and employment
• Transit and transportation
A speaker’s corner will also be set up at each forum to help capture ideas on video.
The Active Aging community forums will take place on the following dates:
Tuesday, June 21 from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Tansley Woods at Schlegel Village – in the Town Hall room
4100 Upper Middle Rd.
Wednesday, June 22 from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Geraldo’s at LaSalle Park Pavilion
50 Northshore Blvd. E.
Thursday, June 23 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Burlington Seniors Centre
2285 New St.
Refreshments will be served.
Residents who require assistance with transportation to one of the forums can contact 905-335-7888, ext. 6343.
There is more information about Burlington’s Active Aging Plan on the city web site: CLICK HERE
 By Staff
June 9, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will be reducing the number of lanes on the westbound 403 at Highway 6 for construction starting June 10 until June 13. Traffic delays are expected.
• Friday, June 10 – lane restrictions begin at 8 p.m.
• From Friday, June 10 at 8 p.m. to Saturday, June 11 at 6 p.m. – two lanes will be open
• From Saturday, June 11 at 6 p.m. to Sunday, June 12 at 1 p.m. – one lane will be open
• From Sunday, June 12 at 1 p.m. to Monday, June 13 at 8 a.m. – two lanes will be open
• On Monday, June 13 at 8 a.m. – all lanes reopen.
 By Ray Rivers
June 9, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
We are all feminists today. We know that men have no monopoly on being successful politicians or in totally screwing up. More generally we know that gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation are artificial barriers that for too long have allowed the ‘suits’ in the white male club to stay in power.
Nobody made that point better than our Prime Minister when he announced that his first Cabinet would be composed of an equal number of men and women and would also reflect Canada’s cultural mosaic. In the USA Obama broke the racial barrier, and now Hillary Clinton has smashed that other glass ceiling becoming the first female democratic nominee.
 America’s choice for their next President? Barring an act of incredible stupidity by our friends south of the border, she will become the next US president and leader of the free world, with the largest military in global history and the second most powerful economic machine on the planet. Of course this is a biggie for the Yanks, but the world has already seen some exceptional female leaders including Thatcher, Merkel, Meir, Gandhi, Katherine the Great. Kim Campbell was Canada’s first female PM.
So I’m puzzled by Ted McMeekin’s announcement that he is planning to resign from Premier Wynne’s cabinet to make way for a women to replace him. It’s true that less than 50% of Wynne’s Cabinet jobs are held by women. And Ted, the popular member of provincial parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, my riding, claims he is a feminist and that he expects his resignation will facilitate the transition towards gender parity in Wynne’s Cabinet.
Using quotas, be they ethnic or gender, has been an important transition tool for changing attitudes and opening the door to broader participation by underrepresented sectors of our society. But quotas should never be considered as anything but transitional or they suddenly become that reverse discrimination the white guys all fear. And the pursuit of attracting more of one gender at the expense of the other may lead to perverse outcomes then requiring corrective gender re-balancing.
Teaching was a field once dominated by males, and now is a place where men are seen as an endangered species. Still, while the gap in male and female incomes is shrinking it is hard to argue that the need for transition is over in so many other economic sectors. Except at Queen’s Park where female MPPs are on the same pay scale as their male counterparts and the Premier herself is a woman with the fattest pay cheque in the legislature.
Yet, the argument remains that women are under-represented at Queen’s park relative to their numbers in the general population. But then so are the economically disadvantaged, the poor. And what about those with lower educational achievement or those with a physical or emotional handicap – or seniors. Indeed casting our parliament as a mini-me of the entire Ontario demographic could be a scary thought and formula for failure.
 Ted McMeekin – MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale And if a male political leader, like Ted is truly a feminist, wouldn’t staying on the job to continue to promote equality be the most important thing he could do? McMeekin is a popular political veteran with an enviable track record, having served the people wearing three different ministries. The horse-racing folks will remember him for his efforts to save their industry after the McGuinty’s austerity program nearly drove it out of existence.
In his latest job, as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ted has just initiated a long over-due sea-change in how we elect municipal politicians. That includes new campaign spending limits, prohibiting corporate and union donations, and enabled municipalities to use ranked ballots to ensure that next elected municipal representative would the most popular, the first, second or third choice of the voters, should the municipality go this route.
 McMeekin in an animated conversation with Risha Burke, field worker with Community development Halton. Ted has spent much of his life in politics and fighting for the good causes. He may well be considering the benefits of slowing down, or may even be planning retirement. But resigning his Cabinet seat, notionally to make way for the Premier to appoint a woman, does him no credit. The Premier is a powerful leader and quite capable of recasting her Cabinet however she chooses. Ted would be in or out depending on her judgement of the skills needed for the new team.
Gender parity is a societal goal and we are inching ever closer to that goal, with or without McMeekin’s resignation from Cabinet. In the end it is more about enabling women and ensuring accessibility by removing roadblocks. And there have always been vocations in which one gender or the other predominates, and usually for a good reason. But politics is not one of those vocations.
There are still other significant opportunities to facilitate the transition to the goal of a more gender-neutral world. For example MP’s in Ottawa are considering enhancing the language of the song we all learn to sing, our national anthem, to make it more gender-neutral. But watching a good politician quit Cabinet in the interests of gender parity seems more like a case of gender cleansing. Who will be the next male volunteer?
Ray Rivers is an economist and author who writes weekly on federal and provincial issues, applying his 25 years of involvement with federal and provincial ministries. Rivers’ involvement in city matters led to his appointment as founding chair of Burlington’s Sustainable Development Committee. He was also a candidate in the 1995 provincial election
Background links:
McMeekin Stepping Down – More McMeekin –
Ranked Ballots – National Anthem –
By Pepper Parr
June 8th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The wheels of Justice move slowly – not at a glacial pace but there is no rush to judgement – at least not when it is the city and the Burlington Air Park sending their legal warriors into a Court Room to do battle
On April 4th, the Gazette reported that “a member of the city’s legal staff advised council that a Judge at the Court House advised the city that Justice Gibson anticipates he will be in a position to release his decision by April 30th.
April came and went, we got into May and no decision and now we are into June and we are advised that a decision will be released June 30th
 Trucks were driving in and out of the Air Park property dumping loads of landfill that was reportedly un-inspected with permits allowing them do to do. The Air Park and the city have been going at it for some time. The story came to the public’s attention when the Gazette reported in 2012 on the number of trucks that were roaring up and down Appleby Line and leave a terrible mess on the road and disturbing the peace and quiet of the country side with the clanging of truck tail gates.
Literally hundreds of trucks were taking landfill onto the Air Park property. City hall wasn’t aware of what was going on nor did anyone at the Region know very much.
When it came to the attention of people at city hall they could find no record of any permits being issued.
Turns out the Air Park didn’t seek any permits – they had taken the position that the Air Park was federally regulated and they didn’t have to ask the city for permission to do anything.
 Former city manager Jeff Fielding, on the left, making his views known to Air Park lawyer Glenn Grenier after a council meeting. City lawyers stand to the right. The city saw it differently and one court case, and an appeal later – Justice Murphy clarified that situation. The Air park is subject to city regulation.
 An Appleby Line resident looks at a 35 foot high pile of landfill that she believes is toxic that was dumped next to her property without any kind of permit from the city. She is standing on her property line.  The landfill pilled on the north side of the Appleby Line residents property – put in place without any permitted permission. At this point the dumping of landfill had stopped but it was too late for an Appleby Line resident who had landfill that she believed was toxic, piled 35 feet or more high on either side of her property.
The city then began to press the Air Park to submit a site plan for approval and to begin providing some data on just what was in that landfill and what impact was it having on the water table. Was it polluted? Many people in northern Burlington thought is was and they wanted water and soil samples taken.
 Getting a single picture with most of the players in it is unusual. On the far left is outside counsel Ian Blue who won two court cases for the city and has been brought in to stick handle the most recent legal issue. To the rear of Blue is Blake Hurley who is with the city legal department. Scott |Stewart chats with rural Burlington residents Robert Goulet, Ken Woodruff and Montre Dennis. Vanessa Warren looks over their shoulders. Warren, Dennis and Pepper Parr, publisher of the Burlington Gazette have been sued by the Air Park. That case has yet to get before a Judge. . The good folks at the Air Park were not only taking exception to the demands the city was making but they took exception to what the Gazette and its publisher had written along with the comments of two citizens: Vanessa Warren and Monte Dennis. We were all sued for libel.
The libel case is still before the courts. The defendants are asking for financial data from the Air Park; the Air Park didn’t want to give any data – a Judge will decide on that matter sometime in the next couple of weeks.
 Both the Region and Conservation Halton bought the argument that they had no jurisdiction but Rossi appears to have kept them informed. Meanwhile the city is awaiting a decision on their request that a Judge compel the Air Park to submit a site plan for approval and that the landfill that was dumped on the property without any kind of permit be removed.
It is the decision on that case that everyone has been waiting for. Many believe that whatever the Judge decides the losing side will appeal and that this case could go all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada
There are those who believe that the Air Park is not in a position to move more than a couple of truck loads of fill – they have already spent a reported hundreds of thousands of dollars on the various court cases – and all the bills aren’t in yet.
Might the Air Park be getting close to being tapped out?
By Pepper Parr
June 8, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
There wasn’t much in the way of protest – the citizens of the city took the arborist at their word when they said the two willow trees planted by Spencer Smith 70 years ago had to come down – it was all about public safety.
 Kind of bald looking isn’t it? There are many thousands of people in the city who will be very surprised when they take in the Sound of Music and notice that the trees are gone. Unfortunately not everyone reads the Gazette – yet.  This is what we lost. There was a small celebration of the trees the day before the chain saws cut into the wood – an aboriginal drummer was on hand to lend a degree of dignity to the event that was organized by Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward. She was the only member of council to make an appearance.
The public at the event was told that seventy cuttings would be taken from the trees; they had already been taken and were already in the city nursery where they have been plated and will be nurtured to the point where they are ready for transplanting elsewhere in the city
 Two trees came down – took less than two days. The foresters had to be off the site so the Sound of Music set up teams could get started on their task. Imagine 70 more willow trees sprinkled round the city. Let us hope that much thought and consideration is given to just where they are planted. There is an opportunity here for our historical past to be spread around the city with plaques that tell the story.
Burlington has a problem getting itself attached to its history. We have let far too much of it get away on us.
The taking down of the trees was done by city staff. Drew Deitner, Supervisor of Forestry has a crew that has great equipment that lets them take down trees safely and quite quickly. “The logs that result will get taken out to the yard and stored until someone tells me what to do with them.”
 The tallest parts come down piece by piece. While willow trees are technically hard wood – they are the softest of the hard woods – one wonders if there might be an opportunity for the wood carver’s guild to do something with those large logs.
Deitner explained that when we began taking down the most easterly tree – the one right next to the gazebo the level of rot in one part was so severe that one of the foresters was able to sink his chain saw into the inside of the tree as if it was quick sand.
Other parts of the tree was in pretty good shape.
The trees may have a little more taken off them Deitner explained – “right now our task was to get them cut down so that there were no public safety issues.”
 Public safety is getting to be the mother lode of justifications for a lot of decisions these days.
By Pepper Parr
June 7th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
The weather could not have been better.
The lake was resplendent.
And there were three or four dozen of the elected and the movers and shakers in the city gathered at the Discovery pond
We had all been invited because were “friends” of the Burlington Community Foundation – the organization that stepped up and did the heavy lifting when we were hit with that disastrous flood in 2014.
 Colleen Mulholland, President and CEO of the foundation, took to the podium said we must have an idea about why we’re here. “But first”, she said “I’d like to ask you to turn to your right. The person next to you might trust us to manage their family’s endowment that funds much- needed health services.”
“ Now turn to your left, there might be a non-profit leader who helps ensure that at-risk Burlington youth get the counselling services they so desperately need.”
We were being taught the importance of helping each other. “You are all brand ambassadors because you trust us to make change happen.”
Mulholland went on to explain that “17 years ago, a small group of people took action. They saw a need for something greater than themselves. Rallying together, they created our city’s first-ever home for sustainable giving and gave us our name – Burlington Community Foundation.
Almost two decades later, said Mulholland, we’re now most commonly referred to as BCF. Each and every day, we still follow a path our founders would recognize, making vital connections between charitable giving and thousands of local community members.
Our sole purpose has been consistent from the start. We help Burlingtonians give with confidence. Whether it’s your first or 100th gift, we take the guesswork out of giving.
We were all brought together to see the new Burlington Community Foundation brand and to hear from the people who give and the people who receive
Our vision explained Mulholland, inspires us to inspire others. We thought about what the act of giving itself – why do people give? How does giving make people feel? What can we do to make giving easier?
At some point in life, leaving one’s mark becomes important for many people.
 The new logo has three waves represents the positive ripple effect that starts at the exact moment when someone decides to make ANY gift of ANY size. And as the center for giving in Burlington, we help strengthen the ripple effect of your giving.
Along with the logo is a new tag line: Give brilliantly!
Two simple words that speak to why we’re here and what we do. Every day, we help people give brilliantly – to make the most of their giving by building legacies, addressing vital community needs and supporting areas of personal interest.
At that point a large round version of the logo was floated on the Discovery pond.
In closing, we understand the difference we make is greater when people work together…and that’s why we are calling upon each and every one of you to help Burlington Foundation make some bigger waves starting today.
Tim Hogarth can tell you quite a bit about giving. It was his dad, the late Murray Hogarth who formed the Burlington Community Foundation. He was active in the Hamilton Community Foundation and flt that Burlington was ready for its own. He wrote the first cheque and has been writing cheques every since.
He passed that habit along to his sons. Tim expressed the habit when he said giving is part of my family’s DNA. Before Burlington had a community foundation, my father Murray saw the opportunity for one organization to take the guesswork out of local giving.
 Like many donors, he had a deep need to give and saw that a new community foundation could be the start of something big for Burlington. From day one, the Foundation provided our family with tangible and meaningful ways to leave our mark right here, in the city we are so proud to call home.
Two years ago at BCF’s annual gala, I had the pleasure of seeing my parents, Diana and Murray Hogarth, be honoured as the 2013 Philanthropists of the Year. My parents were honoured to be recognized for their outstanding community leadership, volunteerism and consistent financial gifts within Burlington.
For decades, my family has made giving a priority. It’s something that I grew up with…as well as something that every Hogarth family member proudly instills in every generation.
Burlington Community Foundation understands how important it is for every gift to make a real difference. We trust BCF to collaborate with community leaders, agencies and other organizations to ensure that our family’s gifts and grants directly impact people’s lives.
We also trust BCF to make gifts of any size that will amount to real change in the lives of Burlingtonians. I’ve seen first-hand how passionate and generous Burlington donors are – and I know that the Foundation is poised to make even more change in our great community.
The organization got to see the new branding – we also got to see how the Community Foundation works and the people who sit at the board room table and work to have the endowments grown and the funds put where they are most needed.
It was another milestone in the life of the community. Not something you see all that often.
By Staff
June 7th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The sound of music will be in the air for much of the summer.
People will be able to enjoy concerts at the band shell beside the library from June 19 to August 14; performances start at 7:30 pm on Wednesday and Sunday.
Residents are invited to bring a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy a variety of music for all ages. The first concert of the summer will feature the Burlington Teen Tour Band and Junior Redcoats. A complete list of scheduled performances is available at www.burlington.ca/concerts
The season of summer music will begin with a joint performance by the Rich Harmony Choir and the United in Song Gospel Choir who will perform at the Burlington Seniors’ Centre Choir at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 19.
The free community concert is in support of the Partnership West Food Bank. Attendees are kindly asked to bring a non-perishable food item. Space is limited and seating will be arranged on a first come first served basis.
The June lineup looks like this:
 Sunday, June 19 – Burlington Teen Tour Band & Burlington Junior Redcoats
Over 150 musicians on stage as the Burlington Junior Redcoats join the Burlington Teen Tour Band to open the 2016 Summer Concert Series.
Wednesday, June 22 – Swingline
A little big band of local based musicians playing the big band standards and more.
Sunday, June 26 – Sinatra Celebrations
Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birthday of the Chairman of the Board. A special Sinatra show by Jim Heaslip and the 12/4 Swing Orchestra.
Wednesday, June 29 – Burlington Top Hat Marching Orchestra
By Pepper Parr
June 6, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Talk about information overload.
Have you any idea how many opportunities there are for you to “inform” your government?
You really don’t want to know.
The list of things the government would like your opinion on is endless.
It goes on and on and on.
 Consulting with Canadians provides you with single-window access to a list of consultations from selected government departments and agencies. Look at some of the consultations in progress and get involved.
If you feel you have a need to give the federal government the benefit of your wisdom – click here to get to the place where you can tell them what you think.
June 3, 2016 – August 5, 2016
Consultation on manganese in drinking water
May 30, 2016 – July 24, 2016
Stakeholder and Partner Feedback on Regulatory Guidance and Services
May 27, 2016 – August 10, 2016
Consultation on Cyantraniliprole, Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2016-26
May 25, 2016 – August 8, 2016
Consultation on Fenhexamid, Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2016-24
May 25, 2016 – August 8, 2016
Consultation on Metaldehyde, Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2016-23
May 27, 2016 – August 10, 2016
Consultation on Pyraclostrobin, Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2016-27
May 27, 2016 – August 10, 2016
Consultation on Pyraflufen-ethyl, Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2016-25
May 30, 2016 – August 13, 2016
Consultation on Tebuconazole, Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2016-28
May 25, 2016 – August 8, 2016
Consultation on Trifloxystrobin, Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2016-22
May 31, 2016 – August 31, 2016
Consultation on potential measures to regulate tobacco packages and products
May 31, 2016 – August 2, 2016
Consultation on the Canadian Guidelines for Protective Actions during a Nuclear Emergency
May 31, 2016 – June 30, 2016
Public consultation on draft Guidelines for Tanning Equipment Owners, Operators, and Users
June 1, 2016 – June 30, 2016
Standards Council of Canada: Stakeholder response requested for new ISO standard proposal: DUE DATE:June 30, 2016)
May 27, 2016 – July 26, 2016
Code of Practice for the Management of Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Emissions in the Potash Sector in Canada
May 30, 2016 – June 20, 2016
North American Polypropylene Rail Yard Project
May 27, 2016 – July 26, 2016
Proposed Code of Practice for the Management of Air Emissions from Pulp and Paper Mills
May 27, 2016 – July 26, 2016
Proposed Guidelines for the Reduction of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Emissions from Natural Gas-fuelled Stationary Combustion Turbines
May 27, 2016 – July 26, 2016
Publication of Final Decision After Screening Assessment of a Substance – Carbamic acid, ethyl ester (ethyl carbamate), CAS RN 51-79-6- Specified on the Domestic Substances List (paragraphs 68(b) and (c) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999)
May 30, 2016 – June 29, 2016
Request for data: Partially hydrogenated oils in the Canadian food supply
May 24, 2016 – July 23, 2016
Action Plan for Multiple Species at Risk in Southwestern Saskatchewan: South of the Divide – 2016
May 24, 2016 – July 23, 2016
Action Plan for the Eastern Mountain Avens (Geum peckii) in Canada
April 21, 2016 – April 21, 2016
Aquaculture Consultations – Freshwater/Land-Based Aquaculture Industry Advisory Panel Meeting
November 23, 2015 – March 18, 2016
Consultations on the Proposed Listing of American Eel as “Threatened”, under the Species at Risk Act (SARA)
October 1, 2016 – October 31, 2016
Freshwater/Land-Based Aquaculture Industry Advisory Panel Meeting
May 5, 2016 – May 5, 2016
Shellfish Aquaculture Management Advisory Committee
May 18, 2016 – June 1, 2016
2016‑2017 Annual Plan: Strengthening Competition to Drive Innovation
May 24, 2016 – July 29, 2016
A Governance Framework for IP Agents
May 21, 2016 – July 20, 2016
Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under Sections 140, 209 and 286.1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
May 20, 2016 – July 19, 2016
Consultation on Quinclorac, Proposed Re-evaluation Decision PRVD2016-15
June 8, 2016 – June 9, 2016
Science Advisory 2016 Schedule – Evaluation of Fraser River Decay Model to estimate Mortalities of Interior Fraser Coho
June 9, 2016 – June 10, 2016
Science Advisory 2016 Schedule – Evaluation of the Southern BC Marine Fishery Planning Model for Coho Salmon
May 18, 2016 – July 2, 2016
Consultation on Dyson Humidifier, Proposed Registration Decision PRD2016-15
October 1, 2016 – October 1, 2016
Freshwater/Land-Based Aquaculture Industry Advisory Panel Meeting
July 8, 2011 – July 8, 2011
Laurentian Channel Area of Interest (AOI) Advisory Committee Meeting
June 14, 2016 – June 15, 2016
Science Advisory 2016 Schedule – Updated Assessment Framework for Gooseneck Barnacle in British Columbia
May 14, 2016 – June 12, 2016
Canada Gazette Part 1 – Proposed Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Relating to Access to Diacetylmorphine for Emergency Treatment
May 18, 2016 – July 31, 2016
International Assistance Review
May 17, 2016 – June 7, 2016
Kitimat Clean Refinery Project – Public Comments Invited
May 14, 2016 – July 28, 2016
Order Amending Schedule 3 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
May 14, 2016 – July 28, 2016
Regulations Amending the Export of Substances on the Export Control List Regulations
May 14, 2016 – July 15, 2016
Tintamarre National Wildlife Area Management Plan [Proposed]
May 13, 2016 – July 27, 2016
Consultation on Fluopyram, Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2016-21
May 16, 2016 – June 30, 2016
Consulting Canadians on flexible work arrangements
May 13, 2016 – July 11, 2016
Development of a Regulatory Framework for Mandatory Reporting by Healthcare Institutions (Vanessa’s Law)
May 16, 2016 – June 16, 2016
Standards Council of Canada: Stakeholder response requested for new standard: Marine sensing (Due Date: June 16, 2016)
May 12, 2016 – June 30, 2016
Health Canada Request for Input and Scientific Data: Vibrio parahaemolyticus in oyster shellstock intended for raw consumption
May 9, 2016 – June 6, 2016
Record Suspension User Fee Consultation
May 12, 2016 – June 30, 2016
Consultation Notice: Measures Under Consideration For Inclusion In The Prescribed Conditions Regulations Related To Security Inadmissibility
April 23, 2016 – May 20, 2016
Consultation on Canadian content in a digital world – Pre-consultation phase
May 11, 2016 – June 10, 2016
Standards Council of Canada: Stakeholder response requested for new IEC standard: HMI (DUE DATE: June 10, 2016)
April 15, 2016 – July 15, 2016
Department of Finance Releases Legislative Proposals to Better Fight Tax Evasion and Secure Tax Compliance
April 29, 2016 – June 29, 2016
Government Consults on Measures to Strengthen Canada’s Trade Remedy System
May 10, 2016 – June 10, 2016
Project 4 – All-Season Road Connecting Berens River to Poplar River First Nation – Public Comments Invited
May 9, 2016 – May 30, 2016
Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir Project – Public Comments Invited
May 5, 2016 – July 6, 2016
Statement on the Release of a Revised Consultation Draft of the Capital Markets Stability Act
May 9, 2016 – July 31, 2016
Next Agricultural Policy Framework – Share Your Experience and Ideas
May 9, 2016 – July 8, 2016
Portobello Creek National Wildlife Area Management Plan – 2016 [Proposed]
May 6, 2016 – July 5, 2016
Recovery Strategy for the Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae) in Canada
May 1, 2016 – June 30, 2016
Revitilizing access to information
By Pepper Parr
June 7th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It was a decision that the public didn’t have much of an opportunity to say anything about.
The huge willow trees just a couple of yards to the west of the bottom of Brant Street in Spencer Smith Park were deemed to be unsafe.
 It was a small meeting – the weather kept most people away. The size didn’t detract from the significance. The massive willow tree in the foreground will come down and at some point in the future the gazebo will get rebuilt to make it fully accessible. The force driving that decision was the Sound of Music – they are apparently going to be holding events in that part of the park and the idea of a branch falling into a small crowd is something that sent shudders through the legal department.
The city has too many law suits on their hands as it is – so the branches of the tree had to come down. How many of them? All of them with the trunk of the tree left for someone to perhaps carve something out of at some future date.
 An aboriginal drummer took part in the celebration of the Spencer smith willow trees that were scheduled to be cut down today. There is an opportunity to do something interesting – look at the size of that tree trunk
Seventy cuttings are going to be taken and replanted immediately in some secret location and at some later date they will be replanted elsewhere in the city. So the planting of the willow trees some seventy years ago by a Burlington merchant named Spencer smith who had a shop on Brant street will live on.
Burlington is adding to its history.
Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward invited people to gather at the base of the tree and hold a small celebration. Weather was a factor and as Meed Ward and her husband Pete and their dog walked to the park they glanced at the heavy grey rolling clouds Meed Ward decided they would continue with the event.
 Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward gives the Spencer Smith willow a hug – later today the chain saws will dig into the bark and bring down all the branches leaving just the trunk that is expected to be available to someone to carve. Instead of gathering at the base of the tree everyone gathered in the gazebo – it was tight and it didn’t last all that long.
There was an aboriginal drummer to bring some dignity to the event.
The evening ended with Meed Ward giving the willow tree a last hug.
By Staff
June 6, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
What is eventually going to be a 19 story – five building complex is now rising above grade level. These buildings don’t inch their way up – they sort of suddenly appear from beneath the ground and then seem to grow quite swiftly
 Tower C on the right will go on sale early in 2017 The five tower Paradigm project being built by the Molinaro Group – they put up most of the condominiums along Lakeshore Road, will become a community of some 2000 people in a project that will have almost everything anyone would want in the way of amenities.
Snuggled right beside the railway line – residents will hear more from the wind than they will from the passing rail traffic, planners nevertheless required a two foot thick wall between the rail tracks and the buildings.
 North side of the project – amenities will be well above the wall. Nothing is going to get through that wall.
Safety and peace and quiet were thoroughly thought through when the building was designed.
 The crane operator and his rigger look at a model of the project they are helping to build. Sales have been brisk, tower A is sold out tower B sales have reached the 55% level. Tower C will go on sale in early 2017.
 By Pepper Parr
June 6, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It was a pretty large community endeavour – plating hundreds of trees in a reasonably recent development.
 Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster announced the community event and the weather worked for her; a load of people turned out to plans hundreds of trees – and it all happened without the member of council even making an appearance.
 It as hard work – but by the end of the day there was an outstanding little forest in the making in place. The kids doing he job will look back on those trees for years to come and take great satisfaction knowing they put them there. Her husband appeared to have been on hand digging holes to plant a tree – or at least the man in the picture looked like Lancaster’s husband.
As for the Councillor – she was at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference that took place in Winnipeg. Lancaster, Mayor Goldring, Councillors Sharman and Meed Ward represented Burlington at the three day event. Lancaster will surely tour the planting later this week and marvel at all the really good work that was done.
 The trick now is to ensure that these trees are watered regularly during the first year and properly supported while they find their own legs. Might she wonder as she walks amongst the planted trees – that maybe they don’t need her on hand at all. The citizens can do it all by themselves – frightening thought for any politician.
Credit does go to the Council member and her staff for getting it off the ground and making all the parts come together.
By Pepper Parr
June 6th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It has been a busy couple of weeks for Robert Steven and his crew at the Art Gallery of Burlington.
They sponsored an event that took place at the Performing Arts Centre; held their AGM and then pulled off a reasonably successful art sale.
 Patrons reviewing the art that was up for sale. The prices were great for the buyers. The annual Art Sale is a critical part of the fund raising the gallery must do to remain viable and offer the full range of some impressive programming.
Art Sale chair Cheryl Miles Goldring mixed thing us up a little and had all the art in the one room and the bidding done in a separate room. There was a pleasant light jazz combo playing for much of the evening. The schmoozing, and the networking were going full tilt.
 John Duffy, designer of the Art Gallery of Burlington logo, and his wife chat up a friend The art gallery crowd brings a different level of sophistication to their events – the mix in a different way than the theatre crowd.
The Art sale had some surprises – they had an auctioneer, Rob Cowley, who had sold a Lauren Harris (Group of Seven) painting for just under a million dollars a few days before but he wasn’t able to pull very many impressive numbers from the Burlington crowd Friday evening.
 A possible buyer taking a close look at a piece of art. There were some very disappointing prices drawn from the audience that basically filled the bidding room. A number of pieces were withdrawn when they didn’t reach the reserve.
 “It’s Been a Long Day” by Helen Griffiths went for a disappointing $900. A Helen Griffiths went for a disappointing $900 and an E. Robert Ross was pulled when it didn’t come anywhere near the reserve.
The Bateman did ok – but the price wasn’t outstanding.
There appeared to be someone in the room who either has a lot of bare walls or was there as a dealer picking up some art work at very good prices.
One wondered if the event was an opportunity to get some very good art at close to bargain prices for those in the Burlington community or if it was an annual event where people paid close to top prices to raise funds for the work the gallery does.
It looked like the former last Friday at the AGB. One wonders what might have happened if some smart tour operator brought in a busload of people from say the Annex in Toronto or the Beach community or perhaps North Toronto – served them a private dinner at Spencers and then walked them across Lakeshore road to the AGB and an opportunity where some very very good art was available at hard to believe prices.
Auctioneer Rob Cowley, started every offering by mentioning a suggested price and then immediately dropped it a good 25% and then struggled at times to get to get that price. He didn’t succeed all that often. The auctioneer was skilled – it was the audience that had forgotten why it was there.
 “Cows in a row” by Janice Ykema The “Cows in a row” by Janice Ykema was shown at $800 with the bidding starting at $500fetched $600. Cowley sensed that the room wasn’t going to go much higher and quickly moved on to the next piece.
There were a few points at which the bidding got vigorous. A piece that started at $800 got worked up to $1100 – with the comment from the auctioneer “killing you isn’t he” bringing a chuckle from the audience – the eventual buyer wanted the piece badly enough.
The Anna Kutishchev “Warm evening” had a suggested price of $2200 with bidding started at $1200 – no takers so the auctioneer dropped it to $1000 and then managed to get the selling price up to $1400 – along the way he did have to remind one bidder that he “couldn’t read your mind”.
 Fibre Art done by the Burlington Fibre Arts Guild. The Rebeca out on the pier. A large piece of fibre art by that Guild placed the Rebecca sculpture outside the art gallery on the pier. It had a suggested price of $2500 – bidding started at $1000 – then skipped along rather briskly through $1200 – then $1400 – then $1500 – to $1600 – then to $1700 – $1750 – $1800 – $2000 – you could feel the tension – dare I ask for $2100 asked the auctioneer – and he got it – and it was sold – the audience burst into applause. It was the only sale that drew any applause.
That pier is solidly embedded in this city’s DNA.
The E. Robert Ross landscape didn’t get anywhere near the reserve and was withdrawn.
 Brian Darcy “Summer reflections” The Brian Darcy “Summer reflections” didn’t get any traction either and was withdrawn
The most brisk bidding was for a modern acrylic piece “Sentinel Falls” done by Joel Masewich was suggested at $6000 – bidding was started at $2000 – the auctioneer had no idea what this audience was going to pay for a piece of modern art. He soon caught the sense of the room and managed to get it up to $3200.
The Bateman piece – always the object of a lot of attention. Robert Bateman has been donating a piece of his art to the gallery for the past 38 years.
 Bateman’s Red Fox As I watched the bidding I had this feeling that the community was going to embarrass itself and let the work go for a pittance. It was suggested at $10,000 – bidding started at $500 and was sold for $7000. Barely acceptable.
The total take for the gallery wasn’t available – I wasn’t able to keep a running total.
 By Pepper Parr
June 6, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
UPDATE: Councillor Meed Ward has provided an update on the willow tree celebration taking place this evening. she will be the master of ceremonies and say a few words about the trees and some of the tributes from the public that have come in; the city arborist will explain why they need to be removed; a member of the horticultural society will provide some history about the trees and the legacy of Spencer Smith, a member of the society who planted the willows. There will be a drumming/smudging ceremony. If it is raining, this will take place inside the lobby/atrium of city hall.
This evening, Monday June 6, Councillor Marianne Meed Ward expects some people to gather near the base of the willow trees in Spencer Smith Park to celebrate the end of their lives.
The city arborist has come to the conclusion that the trees are not safe and they are going to be taken down to just their trunks where someone will be given the opportunity to carve something out of what is left.
 The trees will be gone a month from now – the gazebo will undergo a significant change. So many memories begun in that gazebo. No one knows how many people are going to show up. No one knows if some brave environmentalist will arrive and chain themselves to the tree to prevent their destruction.
The trees are magnificent and it will be a pity to see them go – many people have fond memories of the trees and the gazebo that is nested in between them.
The Gazette learned a number of weeks ago that the trees were going to have something done to them and that the gazebo was going to undergo a change so that it could be made accessible.
Kune Hua, a local videographer, took his camera to the park on the weekend and caressed the trees with the lens of his camera and created for all of us a tribute to the trees and, without realizing it, a tribute to the man who, 70 years ago, planted the willows that are in the park.
The video is very short – click here – enjoy it and share it with friends.
Within a year those magnificent waving limbs will be nothing but a memory – one that can be refreshed by reading the pages of the Gazette. We will, hopefully, be around for another 70 years.
Enjoys the trees – they will be gone forever by the end of the month.
Related editorial content:
Trees to be cut down.
First public mention that the willow trees were in peril – in the Gazette
By Jim Feilders
June 6, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
City council fully understands the impact climate change is having on us. The storm in August of 2014 brought that point home in a very vivid and expensive manner. More than three hundred residents suffered significant property loss. The city, the Conservation authority and the Regional government realized there were serious gaps in the level of preparedness.
The climate is changing due in part to the amount of carbon dioxide that is being allowed into the environment. Much of the CO2 is the result of the fossil fuels we burn to run our car engines and heat our homes.
The city has a number of plans in place to begin to cut back on the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into the environment.
Their task is to take specific actions and educate the public.
Burlington Carbon Plans Confusing You?
We have three plans affecting us regarding greenhouse gas emissions. Understanding what they mean can be a little difficult.
Strategic Plan
Council endorsed the Strategic Plan for the next 25 years to 2040 with one of many goals being to be net carbon neutral. It’s a tough call but the right thing to do in my opinion. But what does it mean? The definition in the Strategic Plan is “Having a net-zero carbon footprint refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount not used, or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference”.
Talking to City officials, I learned that no one knows exactly how this will be achieved at the moment. Work will be done in the future.
But whatever is done must comply with the triple bottom line philosophy of sustainability. This means any plan must look at environmental and social impacts as well as economic. People have to be on board with the financial and environmental implications.
Province of Ontario
Last year the Province of Ontario announced its targets for carbon reduction to 2050.
 We know where we are and the targets for the future have been set – can we summon the discipline to achieve the targets? Our Premier says we have to reduce total carbon by 37% in 2030 and 80% in 2050 – from 1990 levels.
Community Energy Plan
We have started to address this in the Community Energy Plan (CEP) that Council endorsed in January 2014; a lot of progress has been made.
The focus of the plan is to reduce energy consumption and cost as well as reduce greenhouse gases and improve local energy security.
The timeframe is to 2030. A report on progress to date is available here
It didn’t relate to 1990 levels. We didn’t track them back then and the closest we have is 1994 of 1.4 Mtonnes – close enough. This shows we met the 2014 target (1.4 – 1.19 = 0.21 or 15%, see below) and probably will meet the 2020 targets (1.4 – 1.1 = 0.3 or 21%). But we’re looking a little shy for 2030, coming in at 27%.
The CEP has set a realistic target of 26% reduction in energy consumption per person over the 15 year period from 2014 to 2030.
Although mention is made of investigating heat pump technologies and electric vehicles, the plan does not rely on switching fuels but reducing the amount we use as well as generating new energy from renewable sources. As a result, the amount of greenhouse gas reduction is the same as the energy reduction. If you drive less and save a 65 litre tank of gasoline and you save 156 kg of pollution. If you switch to an alternate fuel, you can still travel almost the original distance.
The plan does not account for population growth which is predicted to rise from 175,000 by about 30,000 people over this period depending on whether you look at the City’s estimates or the Province’s Places to Grow. This is about a 17% population increase. This tells me that if 175,000 people reduce their carbon by 26% and 30,000 people are added to the mix at the same reduction, the net decrease for the City is 14% to 1.025 Mtonnes from 1.19 Mtonnes.
Putting it all together with the best data I could find, is shown in the chart below. It includes the “What if” we do nothing, called business as usual. You know, keep our heads in the sand and keep doing what we have always done. I’m not saying change is easy by any means.
 The obvious solution is to make the Community Energy Plan work – problem with that is we don’t know yet how to do that. Extrapolations for the CEP are less optimistic as most of the behavioural change will have occurred. With our CEP alone, we fall short.
 If we determine what the plan is and then stick to the plan – there is hope for us – but we have a long way to go – and it is not going to be easy. Enter fuel switching. We need to replace gasoline vehicles with electric and hybrid models and transition our residential space heating and water heating from natural gas to electric inverter heat pump technology – air, water and ground sources.
These technologies are actually less expensive on a life cycle basis than their fossil fuel alternatives. Approaches that use a “hybrid” system of gas furnace and heat pump are available. So we can save the planet and money at the same time.
This will bring us close enough that industry can make up the remaining gap.
 Halleluiah! We can do it and get our gold star from Kathleen living the life she depicts below.
To now go for carbon neutral may not seem impossible.
 Jim Feilders is an engineer by training and an environmentalist by choice. He drives a hybrid car, heat and air conditions his house at a cost of of approximately $375 a year. The views expressed here are solely his own and not necessarily those of the various organizations with which he is associated.
 By Staff
June 5, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
For those who enjoy a pleasant game of baseball as one of their ways to relax – it was a disappointing weekend.
There was a full slate of games scheduled for Sunday with all eight teams in action but rain, combined with an ominous forecast, scrubbed three-quarters of the scheduled action and rain caused havoc with the only game that was completed.
Guelph Royals at the London Majors was called early and the Brantford Red Sox didn’t go to Kitchener to play the first-place Panthers. The Burlington Bandits travelled to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs at Christie Pits but that game was called after two innings with the Maple Leafs ahead 4-3.
 The ball got there first – but the Hamilton Cardinals embarrassed the Bandits with a massive win. The Barrie Baycats and Hamilton Cardinals toughed it out in Hamilton with a rain delay of over two hours and the end result was a 17-7 win for the Baycats.
Barrie scored once in the top of the first and added six more runs in the second inning. It was 8-4 after five innings then Barrie scored again in the sixth and added another six spot in the seventh inning to put things away.
The Baycats pounded out 24 hits in the five-hour marathon with leadoff batter Ryan Spataro leading the way. Spataro had four hits, scored four runs, drove in a run, walked, reached base five times and upped his batting average to .417.
Kyle DeGrace had two hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. Jeff Cowan had four hits and scored three times and Conner Morro had four hits and scored three times.
For the Cardinals, right fielder Dre Celestijn had a day, with a double and two singles, an RBI and he scored twice. Third baseman Callum Murphy had two doubles and TJ Baker had a single and a double.
Barrie improved to 8-4 with the win and Hamilton slipped to 3-11.
Standings:
Team
W L
Kitchener Panthers
9 1
London Majors
7 3
Barrie Baycats
7 4
Brantford Red Sox
6 4
Toronto Maple Leafs
5 4
Guelph Royals
3 7
Hamilton Cardinals
3 10
Burlington Bandits
1 8
Future games:
Tuesday
Barrie Baycats at Guelph Royals, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Burlington Bandits at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 p.m.
London Majors at Brantford Red Sox, 8 p.m.
 By Staff
June 4, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Bandits (1-8) dropped both games of a double-header to the Hamilton Cardinals (3-9) both by scores of 8-5 in front of 647 Bandits’ fans at Nelson Park.
Hamilton started the scoring early in the first game by bringing home Geoffrey Seto off two wild pitches by Jack Dennis (0-2).
 647 people at a Bandits ball game is some kind of a record. The Bandits would get on the board in the second bringing in five runs off a RBI single by Justin Gideon and walks by Shawn Mayhew and Julian Johnson.
The Cardinals would come alive in the following innings, putting up two runs in the 3rd, 4th and 5th to bring the lead to 7-5.
The Cardinals would add a run in the final inning to seal the win. Cardinals Jonathan Palumbo (2-0) would take the win.
Game two saw a much more even affair as the contest went to extra innings. The Cardinals would open up the scoring in the first driving in two runs off a Connor Bowie RBI single.
The Bandits would respond down 3-0 in the third with a four run inning. John Whaley would drive in a run with a single, followed by Canice Ejoh RBI single and a Carlos Villoria single that would drive in two runs to bring the score to 4-3.
The game would become tied in the 6th with a single by Jonathan Palumbo to score Marcus Dicenzo.
The game would remain tied through the 9th inning before the Cardinals exploded in the 10th with a four run inning to take the win once again 8-5.
Burlington’s Christian Hauck would take the loss going 4.1 innings while giving up five hits and four runs with two strikeouts and two walks. Hamilton’s Jonathan Palumbo would take the win going 4.0 innings allowing one unearned run and striking out one.
Burlington replaces Hamilron as the team in the league holding to the bottom rung.
Panthers Win 6-2 Saturday over Guelph
The Kitchener Panthers beat the Guelph Royals 6-2 Saturday to win their ninth of their last 10 games.
The game was tied 3-0 after the opening inning and remained the same until the fifth when the Royals got on the board with one run.
Kitchener would add more insurance in the 6th with three runs and would never look back as they kept the Royals to only one more run in the 7th to take the game 6-2.
Panther’s starter Noelvis Entenza (3-1) took the win going 6.0 winnings striking out seven batters and allowing two runs. Royal’s starter Adrian Yuen (0-1) took the loss allowing three earned runs in 0.2 innings pitched.
Red Sox Offence Explodes in 17-5 win over Baycats
The Brantford Red Sox bats were hot Saturday night as they recorded multiple runs in five innings.
The Sox would start early with a three run lead after a sacrifice fly by Brandon Dailey and an RBI double by Jeff Hunt.
The Red Sox would continue in the third with two runs before exploding with a five run inning in the fourth following four hits and two walks to score runs, a RBI single by Ben Bostick and a sacrifice fly by Brandon Dailey.
Brantford would follow the fourth with three runs in the fifth including a two run home run and four runs in the sixth to seal the win.
Barrie’s offensive highlights include home runs by Ryan Spataro and Jordan Castaldo but it wouldn’t be enough to stop the Red Sox.
Brantford’s starter Grant Tebbit (1-1) took the win going 7.0 innings allowing three earned runs while striking out three and walking two. Barrie’s Nate Arruda (0-3) took the loss putting 3.0 innings of work allowing four earned runs with three strikeouts and three walks.
UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, June 5th
Guelph at London; 1:05 PM
Burlington at Toronto; 2:00 PM
Brantford at Kitchener; 2:00 PM
Barrie at Hamilton; 2:00 PM
By Pepper Parr
June 4th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
In a media release the city said: “In order to add comfort and enhance customer service, Burlington Transit is adding benches to 57 bus stops around the city. Some bench installations will require a concrete slab to be poured first.”
Maybe service is going to become so sporadic and unreliable that they want customers to at least have a place to sit while they wait?
The locations were chosen based on areas that have busier pedestrian and vehicular traffic and public space available.
 The seats in this transit shelter are truly pathetic. Hopefully the new benches being placed are more usable. “Providing benches will provide a more comfortable place to rest while waiting for a bus,” said Mike Spicer, director, Burlington Transit. “Taking Burlington Transit should be a pleasant experience and it begins at the bus stop.”
The bench expansion is already underway and will continue as weather permits throughout the summer and into the fall, if needed.
Something you wanted to know – the locations of those benches. The number at the front identifies the bus stop,
433 – Lakeshore Boulevard at Burloak Drive
1003 – Lakeshore Boulevard at Kenwood Avenue
3 – Lakeshore Boulevard at Torrance Street
751 – Lakeshore Boulevard at Brock Avenue
755 – 1340 Lakeshore Blvd.
72 – New Street at Guelph Line
185 – New Street at Walker’s Line
184 New Street at Walker’s Line
495 New Street at Hampton Heath
557 – 5514 New St.
453 – Appleby Line at Fairview Street
388 – Fairview Street at Inverary Road
206 – Fairview Street at Woodview Street
95 – Fairview Street at Drury Lane
64 – 2065 Fairview St.
785 – Plains Road at Francis
767 – Plains Road at King Road
759 – Plains Road at Long Drive
832 – Plains Road at Downsview
833 – 127 Plains Rd.
162 – Harvester Road at Guelph Line
264 – 3450 Harvester Road
248 – Upper Middle at Mountain Grove
326 – Burlington Heights Centre
1030 – Upper Middle Road at Guelph Line
922 – Upper Middle Road at Country Club
628 – Upper Middle Road at Heron Way
269 – Brant Street at Hazelton Boulevard
200 – Brant Street at Havendale Boulevard
110 – Brant at North Service Road
102 – Brant at North Service Road
33 – Guelph at Lakeshore
77 – Guelph Line at New Street
83 – Guelph Line at Glencrest Road
114 – Guelph Line at Prospect Avenue
113 – Guelph Line at Prospect Avenue
156 – Guelph Line at Harvester Road
155 – Guelph Line at Harvester Road
220 Guelph Line at Mainway
245 Guelph Line at Centennial
299 Guelph Line at Upper Middle Road
302 Guelph Line at Upper Middle Road
622 Walker’s Line at Berton Avenue
619 Berton Avenue at Walker’s Line
611 Walker’s Line at Constable Hensaw
608 Walker’s Line at Darien
584 Walker’s Line at Country Club
368 Walker’s Line at North Service Road
296 Walker’s Line at Harvester Road
290 Walker’s Line at Harvester Road
355 Appleby Line at New Street
360 Appleby Line at New Street
395 Appleby Line at Pine Street
451 666 Appleby Line
899 Appleby Line at Harrison Court
522 Burloak at Spruce
89 2200 Fairview Street
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