 By Pepper Parr
February 28, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
My friend Amy Schnurr, Chief Cheese over at Burlington Green, sent me a piece by David Suzuki that made enough sense for me to pass it along. When we great people, we usually ask them how they are doing. Ask a business person how they are doing and they might tell you THE GDP is up and that they are part of it.
Suzuki suggests that measuring progress with GDP is a gross mistake
Governments, media and much of the public are preoccupied with the economy. That means demands such as those for recognition of First Nations treaty rights and environmental protection are often seen as impediments to the goal of maintaining economic growth. The gross domestic product has become a sacred indicator of well-being. Ask corporate CEOs and politicians how they did last year and they’ll refer to the rise or fall of the GDP.
It’s a strange way to measure either economic or social well-being. The GDP was developed as a way to estimate economic activity by measuring the value of all transactions for goods and services. But even Simon Kuznets, an American economist and pioneer of national income measurement, warned in 1934 that such measurements say little about “the welfare of a nation.” He understood there’s more to life than the benefits that come from spending money.
 The GDP: It’s complex, it’s seen as a standard – and it might be totally useless. My wife’s parents have shared our home for 35 years. If we had put them in a care home, the GDP would have grown. In caring for them ourselves we didn’t contribute as much. When my wife left her teaching job at Harvard University to be a full-time volunteer for the David Suzuki Foundation, her GDP contribution fell. Each time we repair and reuse something considered disposable we fail to contribute to the GDP.
To illustrate the GDP’s limitations as an indicator of well-being, suppose a fire breaks out at the Darlington nuclear facility near Toronto and issues a cloud of radioactivity that blows over the city, causing hundreds of cases of radiation sickness. All the ambulances, doctors, medicines and hospital beds will jack up the GDP. And if people die, funeral services, hearses, flowers, gravediggers and lawyers will stimulate GDP growth. In the end, cleaning up the Darlington mess would cost billions and produce a spike in the GDP.
Extreme weather-related events, such as flooding and storms, can also contribute to increases in GDP, as resources are brought in to deal with the mess. Damage done by Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico added tens of billions to the GDP. If GDP growth is our highest aspiration, we should be praying for more weather catastrophes and oil spills.
The GDP replaced gross national product, which was similar but included international expenditures. In a 1968 speech at the University of Kansas, Robert Kennedy said, “Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things …Gross national product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities … and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
“Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”
We deserve better indicators of societal well-being that extend beyond mere economic growth. Many economists and social scientists are proposing such indicators. Some argue we need a “genuine progress indicator”, which would include environmental and social factors as well as economic wealth. A number of groups, including Friends of the Earth, have suggested an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, which would take into account “income inequality, environmental damage, and depletion of environmental assets.” The Kingdom of Bhutan has suggested measuring gross national happiness.
Whatever we come up with, it has to be better than GDP with its absurd emphasis on endless growth on a finite planet.
Thanks for that Amy.
 By Pepper Parr
February 28, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
This one will keep those who think municipal civil servants are getting too much of the good stuff very happy.
Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward, who chairs the Community and Corporate Services Stranding committee that is currently going through the last phase of recommending the current budget for 2014 plans to bring up a new wrinkle – the tax implications of the free parking the city gives its employees and the liability that could create for the city.
 Councillor Meed Ward goes after free city hall parking. Wants the tax rules to be applied. Meed Ward has a Budget Action Request before he committee that asks that free parking show up as a taxable benefit and be part of the T4 tax slips staff get. There’s a vote getter if there ever was one.
Meed Ward is suggesting the city might be liable should the Canada Revenue Agency do to Burlington what they’ve already done to Kitchener. The CRA has said free parking is a taxable benefit – Kitchener didn’t treat it as such and the government when after them for the money they didn’t collect from their employees for the free parking they had been given. Kitchener ended up paying thousands of dollars on behalf of employees to correct this.
 Meed Ward wants the city to comply with the CRA rules regarding employee parking and sets out the rules: “Employer-provided parking is usually a taxable benefit for an employee. The amount of the benefit is based on the fair market value (FMV of the parking, minus any amount the employee pays to use the space. You have to include any GST/HST that applies to the value of this benefit.
There are some exceptions to the taxability of parking:
If the employee has a disability, the parking benefit is generally not taxable, see Disability-related employment benefits.
There is no taxable benefit for an employee when both of the following conditions are met:
You provide parking to your employee for business purposes.
Your employee regularly has to use his or her own automobile or one you usually supply to do his or her duties. Travel between work and home is not considered travel for business purposes.
Scramble parking is still a benefit to the employee, but in the absence of the ability to accurately assign a value to the benefit because of the random or uncertain nature of it, a benefit is not included in income.
Scramble parking is where there are 35 parking spots and 60 employees who want parking.
 Should parking for staff in this lot be free? Councillor Meed Ward wants the benefit to be treated as taxable. Not scramble parking is when there are enough parking spaces for all employees who want a parking space on a daily basis but it is “unassigned parking”, meaning employees are not assigned to a particular parking space.
Meed Ward has been discussing this matter with Roy Male, the Executive Director of Human Resources, Joan Ford, Director of Finance and Jeff Fielding City Manager all who currently have free parking spots.
The City Manager will be providing wording for a motion at the March 4th budget meeting for staff to review and address downtown employee parking and the taxable benefit status for union and non-unionized city employees, downtown local board employees and members of Council including implementation issues such as required notifications and other related impacts.
Members of city council are assigned free parking spots right outside city hall. Meed Ward, who doesn’t think the Mayor should be given a car paid for by the city, advised her colleagues some time ago that she would be refunding the value of the free parking she gets. It should be noted that Meed Ward lives a few blocks from city hall and tends to walk to work most days.
Background links:
Kitchener gets whacked for taxes not paid on staff parking.
Government rules and regulations on free parking: read them and weep.
 By Pepper Parr
February 28, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Council met as a Committee of the Whole and used a workshop format to listen to the people doing the thinking behind the new economic development organization the city manager thinks should be put in place.
It was a fantastic meeting – we heard some of the smartest people this city has seen sitting at the council chamber horse shoe explaining to council how economic development could be improved.
The direction is to create corporations that will be owned by the city and charged with bringing new companies to Burlington. City general manager Scott Stewart and Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) board member Pat Sugrue led the explanation while lawyer Charles Keizer explained the rather intricate collection of corporations that would be formed. Lest anyone think this was going to be a group of people picking up fat fees it was made very clear that these were going to be very lean organizations with a mandate the improve growth.
 Is the city about to begin a process that brings real economic development to town? Do the parking lots offer economic development opportunities and will there be better relationships with the development sector? Two points came close to jumping off the page. Gerry Smallgange pointed out that BEDC does not have a “deal maker”; has never had a “deal maker” and that the city has to re-think the way it has zoned its employment lands. City manager Jeff Fielding made the point that the Bronte Creek lands are going to have to be mixed developments if there is ever to be any development on those lands. He also pointed to the Navistar property at th corner of Guelph Line and Harvester Road and said there was never going to be another operation similar to what is on the site now.
Fielding said the city needs to begin working with Emshie Development to get something on that property – and at the same time find a way to work with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to overcome some of the obstacles as to what can be built in and around the major traffic intersections leading onto the QEW.
It was a two-hour meeting during which some startling opportunities were laid out. We knew that changes in the structure and purpose of the BEDC were vital – this was the first the public got to see as to how bold these people seem prepared to be.
Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his seminal book, The Tipping Point, that events build up and can reach a point where a direction can be changed. Burlington just might be approaching a badly needed tipping point.
Burlington is in one of those awkward situations where much of the developable land is in the hands of a few corporations who are just sitting on it. Most would like to see their holdings converted from “employment lands” to places where they can build residential housing.
Burlington doesn’t need any more residential housing – it needs new businesses to move to the city – and that hasn’t been happening. It needs better working relationships with the development sector, it needs better working relationships with the agencies that the city. In time it will become evident that one of the biggest hurdles the IKEA opportunity on the North Service Road could not overcome was the Conservation Authority.
Add to that some of the near toxic “bad blood” that exists between the Paletta corporation and the city. General manager Scott Stewart said the city needs to “get the problems of the past behind us” which is going to call for a different approach on the part of both the city’s planning department and the key people at Paletta.
Some time ago the BEDC chose Pat Paletta as the Entrepreneur of the year and hoped that wold be a first step in the “kiss and make up” process that is necessary. Son Angela Paletta was asked to be the Honorary Chair of the Burlington Community Foundation where he did a superb job and worked the room as well as any politician we’ve seen.
What became very clear during the Committee of the Whole meeting was the need to significantly upgrade the way the BEDC has done business – Pat Sugrue, who ran Fearman’s Pork when it was bought in November 2010 by Sun Capital Partners from Maple Leaf Foods Inc. for $20 million.
Sugre told the meeting that Sun Capital moved very quickly and scooped another off that was on the table because they were able to commit to the deal in seven days and close it within 45 days. Burlington hasn’t see a deal like that in the last century.
Sugre made another important point: municipal people do not, cannot and should not be in the deal making business. It takes people with skills sets that don’t exist in a municipal environment.
There is a lot more on this story – for the moment the time line the city wants to work to on this is very aggressive they want to have it all wrapped up before the BEDC AGM late in May.
They are going to squeeze some public information sessions in there somewhere. The Gazette was the only media in the room for this meeting of Council. We will keep you posted.
 By Pepper Parr
February 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Sometime next Tuesday afternoon city council meeting as a Standing committee will recommend the current operating part of the 2014 budget. Traditionally that recommendation goes to city Council about ten days later for final approval and the tax rate is then set.
Citizens then have an opportunity to delegate before city council and attempt to plead for changes to the budget.
People in Burlington will not have an opportunity to do that this year. Council voted on Thursday to have the Mayor call a Special Council meeting immediately after the Standing Committee meeting and approve the budget immediately. There will be no opportunity for the public to delegate because they will not know when the meeting is taking place.
Councillor John Taylor moved a motion on Thursday that the budget be made final at a scheduled council meeting on March 17th. There was very little debate on the motion and Councillor Taylor wasn’t particularly direct or forceful with his comments. Councillor Meed Ward was direct; the city manager didn’t seem to care if the date was set back to the March 17th
The vote lost 4-2; Mayor Goldring had left the Standing Committee shortly before the vote.
What is disturbing with the vote is that Council is being very deliberate in not ensuring the public has some opportunity to read about the contents of the budget; go on-line and watch parts of the debate if they wish. It is almost as if this council has something to hide and at this point we don’t see that as the case.
It is a complex budget; we still don’t know what they plan to do with the $2.6 million 2013 surplus which they call retained savings. Staff had difficulty getting some critical reports before the Standing Committee on time – which meant the public didn’t get much opportunity to inform themselves. The transit advocates are close to spitting nickels over what they call the transit shenanigans.
The report on what the snow levels are to be before equipment is put out on the road was late – part of the reason for that was due to snow still falling.
 “I don’t want to hear anymore delegations” said Councillor Jack Dennison. Councillor Dennison said he didn’t want to hear any more debate on spending decisions; Councillor Sharman felt the public had had more than enough opportunity to make themselves aware of what council is doing. Not quite sure how he arrives at that conclusion when council has yet to make many of the budget decisions. Councillor Lancaster has never been a big fan of meeting with the public.
The public was given just the one opportunity to look at the budget in an open public meeting when they met at the Art Centre in January. . At that time people complained that they didn’t see anything before the meeting and that all they were able to do was respond to what was put in front of them.
There were close to 100 people at that January meeting which was held south of the QEW. Burlington now has a brand new campus in Alton Village where a second public meeting could have been held. The finance department staff chose not to do so this year but have indicated they will do so next year.
In 2010 Burlington received the Shape Burlington report; a document put together by the late John Boich and former Mayor Walter Mulkewich who were supported by a strong committee that, believe it or not, included Blair Lancaster and Paul Sharman before they were elected to council.
 Councillors Sharman and Lancaster: both part of the Shape Burlington committee who seem to have forgotten what the report was all about – civic engagement The Shape Burlington report made it very clear that Burlington suffered from an “information deficit” – the public just didn’t have the information they were entitled to – city hall wasn’t making it available.
When the report got to Council it was unanimously adopted – then apparently forgotten.
An informed public can make informed decisions and given that it is the public’s money that is being sent giving them an opportunity to make themselves fully aware would seem reasonable.
It is sort of like the cashier not letting you see the tape with all your purchases on it but just grabbing your cash and ringing up the sale.
The public is entitled to better treatment and if democracy is to prevail the elected officials should ensure that the public has more than adequate opportunity to inform themselves.
Odd that the four people who voted against giving the public time to review the budget decisions plan to ask the public to re-elect them to office in October.
Background links:
Just the one public meeting on the budget – comments are telling.
Shape Burlington points to “information deficit”.
 By Ray Rivers
February 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
“President Yanukovych has been made illegitimate. It’s very worrying, especially because Russia lost in hockey, they’ll be in a bad mood. We fear Russia’s involvement in Ukraine.”
Trudeau made himself a target for those questioning his maturity for the job of Prime Minister with this inappropriate comment and poor joke, given the tense situation in the Ukraine. Of course this is exactly what everyone is wondering – the ‘Russian bear in the room’– it’s the media has been discussing ever since the Ukraine went into crisis mode.
And not everyone was offended by the remark. For example, the Russian ambassador to Canada, Mr. Mamedov, during an interview told the media, “I’m turning serious, because I know you don’t appreciate jokes.” But Trudeau should not have linked Russian military action to the Olympic games – the games of peace. And Canada did make a spectacular showing at Sochi, ten golds including back-to-back hockey and curling.
 The Dufour-Lapoine women at the Olympics. A lot of money has been devoted to preparing athletes for the Olympics and it clearly has paid off. The Harper government has been throwing something like $150 million into the pot, Ontario another twenty million or so, and Quebec even more. Ontario had 63 Olympians competing, Alberta was right behind with 55,and B.C. fielded 30. But forty percent of all the athletes came from Quebec, prompting one news medium, reflecting on early returns (9 medals), to speculate that were Quebec a separate nation it would have placed third and the rest of Canada sixth.
The federal Liberal party held its biennial policy conference in Montreal last weekend and Justin Trudeau delivered an upbeat speech – including better jokes. One session involved the three eastern Liberal premiers and provincial party leaders from New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Kathleen Wynne spoke passionately and sincerely about the need for ‘nation-building’ by the federal government. She complained about the frustrations of trying to work with a senior level of government which refuses to consult the provinces and acts unilaterally on issues which affect them, including job training, health care, education, pensions and infrastructure.
Most impressive of the panelists was the fluently bi-lingual and articulate would-be premier from New Brunswick, Brian Gallant, as he switched between English and French with more ease than anyone I’ve ever witnessed before. I couldn’t help wondering how different things would be in this nation if we could all communicate like that. It was some 19 years ago when Quebecers came close to a ‘yes’ vote for sovereignty in that last referendum. And we know there is another one down the road, once Premier Marois wins the next provincial election this year.
I recall that last referendum. My daughter and a close friend skipped school to train down to Montreal and join the throngs pledging their love for Quebec as a part of Canada. I have rarely been more proud of her. And it was her and all the others across the country professing their love for the people of ‘la belle province’ that, I believe, convinced those last-minute Quebec voters to scratch their check marks for Canada, even as the Chretien government was sleep-walking through it all.
 A massive Canadian flag was passed hand over hand amongst a huge crowd in Montreal days before the citizens of Quebec voted in their referendum to remain a part of Canada. It was a race of Olympic proportions and Canada won by a squeaker – but the separatists demonstrated their competitive ability, not unlike Quebecers in the Olympics. Come the next referendum we can expect the separatists to be even more competitive. This will be a provincial government which has learned from two earlier failed attempts, and a federal administration which, like Chretien’s, doesn’t want or know how to get engaged.
René Lévesque had always planned to hold his 1980 referendum while Joe Clark, with only 4 seats was in power, but Trudeau the elder came back with majority support in Quebec and trounced him. One could surmise that Jean Chretien’s modest support in the province (about a quarter of the federal seats) contributed to the near loss by the forces of unity in 1995.
Pauline Marois would love to run her referendum while Mr. Harper is in power, given that he has no more political support in the province than Joe Clark did back then. If she waits until the election she might end up fighting the Quebec-popular NDP; still a federalist party though one promising an easy sovereignty exit with 50-plus-one percent ‘Yes; vote. The federalist Liberals appear strong in today’s polls but winning nationally, and winning in Quebec, is still a crap shoot at this point. Then there are the Tories, who might just get re-elected but are unlikely to improve their Quebec numbers.
Today, as we watch the Ukraine struggle with nation-building amidst threats of secession from minority regions it behooves us to contemplate how a successful ‘Yes’vote on sovereignty would play out back here. It is true that Quebec is a net recipient of equalization and some other economic benefits for being part of Canada. However, we should remember that the financially crippled Ukrainian people rejected the huge Russian multimillion dollar bailout, and expect a similar response from Quebec.
It will be instructive to watch how Scotland votes on its independence referendum this coming June. The pundits are betting the Scots will vote ‘No’, but then this is only their first referendum.
 Is this the kiss goodbye from a Quebecers or just a happy Olympian who happens to be from Quebec? Charle Cournoyer of Canada celebrating his Bronze medal win in the men’s 500 metre short track speed skating event on February 22, 2014 at the Sochi Winter Olympics. Quebecers are a passionate lot, something they clearly demonstrated at Sochi, even under the Canada banner. The next referendum will not be played out on the pocket books of Quebecers, it will be won by what is in their hearts. A dis-interested, almost hostile, federal government is exactly what the separatists are hoping for – and that is what they are getting.
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province. He developed the current policy process for the Ontario Liberal Party.
Additional information links:
Trudeau’s Joke
Reaction Russian Worries Apology Sochi Olympics Own the Podium Quebec Athletes
Early Medals Trudeau Speech in Montreal Quebec Anglophones Liberal Premiers
 By Pepper Parr
February 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Got an email from Yasir Naqvi, an Ontario Liberal party MPP who told me he was proud to stand with Premier Wynne when she announced the government was increasing the minimum wage to $11 an hour on June 1st of this year.
The government introduced the Fair Minimum Wage Act in the Legislature which is apparently going to tie all future increases to inflation because it will create consistency for businesses and Ontario workers.
While the increase is certainly welcome – why is the province being so cheap. A household hasn’t a chance of getting out of poverty at $11 an hour. Indexing that amount to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) assures society that those below the poverty line will always be there.
The increase to $11 an hour in June is fine. Now take it up to $12 in a year, then to $13 a year after that and then to $14 a year after then THEN index the amount to the CPI.
Naqvi assures us that “businesses, labour groups, youth and workers support our legislation because they helped shape it: the Minimum Wage Panel was made up of all these stakeholders. They held province-wide consultations, received over 400 submissions, and brought forward unanimous recommendations that we are acting on.”
I’ve yet to meet anyone earning a minimum wage tell me that they are happy with this increase and the indexing.
MPP Naqvi points out that “the New Democrats ignored the Minimum wage panel and were silent on minimum wage—in the House, the media, and the by-elections. After a year of ducking, it’s too late for the NDP to try and be leaders. They need to do the right thing and support our plan.”
“Between the NDP’s flip-flopping and the PC’s radical ideas, we know the opposition will try to stall, so we need your help to pass this legislation.”
That’s just so much politicking – shame on the Ontario Liberals for doing this on the backs of the poor people.
“The Liberal plan for jobs is practical and it’s realistic” says MPP Naqvi. “Together”, he adds “ we are building a fairer, more prosperous Ontario.
There is no fairness in this act and at $11 an hour there is no prosperity for people earning a minimum wage.
Revise the bill Madame Premier make it really fair and decent.
 Pepper Parr is a lifelong Liberal who has voted for every federal Liberal leader as far back as Louis St. Laurent. He has served as the president of Liberal Party Associations on more than one occasion. He is the publisher of the Burlington Gazette and expect to tell the Premier that her that the “fair”of the minimum wage act just is missing. She can fix that.
 By Pepper Parr
February 26, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
One doesn’t often see exceptional cooperation between a developer and the city’s planning department. A proposal from the Hamilton District Christian Senior Citizens Home Inc. to put up a 148 unit, 6 storey apartment building for seniors on property assembled at 3260-3306 New Street somehow managed to go through two Public meetings – this second one lasted three hours and city council made a wise decision that is going to positively impact the lives of a lot of people. We may well see more proposals like this one.
 The developer came in asking for out – saw that wasn’t going to work and came back with a seven story proposal. That didn’t work either. The massing of the building on a street that just doesn’t have any high buildings was too much for everyone – even the planners. The original proposal was for an 8 storey, 176 unit apartment building which got cut down to 7 storeys when the developer realized that a totally different approach was needed to the look of the building and the impact it was going to have on the neighbourhood.
It was at this point that the developer began to have deep discussions with the planners – how does one get away from that massing with a 7 story structure that is five to six lots wide? Out of those discussions came the 6 storey design with a wide opening between the two.
With a much more satisfactory design that still wasn’t enough to change the minds of most of the people who delegated.
 The six storey version of the project did away with the massive look of the building Graham Tower just plain doesn’t want a 6 storey building next to his house up – it’s too high and not compatible with the existing neighbourhood – and that is true. The planners tried to explain that communities change and that this was an appropriate change for this community.
Ward 2 Councilor Marianne Meed Ward wanted something that was at the four storey range. Ward 1 Councilor Rick Craven pointed out that when a six storey structure was proposed for Plains Road was announced there was exceptionally strong opposition in the Aldershot community. Today, said Craven, everyone says this is the route to go.
When Maranatha first went to council in December 20, 2012 the proposal was for an eight story structure – and it was a pretty brutal looking building. A community meeting in January 8, 2013 at Central Public library attracted 80-100 people.
The developers behind this project currently manage a 3-storey, 63 unit seniors apartment building that backs onto the General Brock lands – some of which is owned by Burlington and the rest by the school boards.
The property at 3260 New Street, to the immediate west of the proposed development, contains an 3-storey, 63 unit seniors apartment building.
It is easy to confuse the two organizations discussed at the meeting. Maranatha Homes is under different ownership than Maranatha Gardens
Maranatha Homes is a not-for-profit Christian aging-in-place community that aims to provide a variety of affordable and interconnected housing options including affordable rental units that will provide a variety of assisted living services and facilities to meet the social, therapeutic, and recreational needs of the residents.
 Cumberland would serve as the common entrance point to the two projects both managed by the same people. The set back from New Street is substantial and the two levels of underground parking means the grounds won’t look like a parking lot. Maranatha Homes was built under Section 27 of the National Housing Act and was administered by Canada Mortgage and Housing (CHMC) until 2001 when the administration of housing was downloaded to municipalities through the Social Housing Reform Act.
CHMC currently holds a mortgage on 3260 New Street, the Homes, with an expiry date of August 1, 2026.
Maranatha Homes, Residence and Seniors Care was approved as a charity on December 27, 2012.
The original plan proposed a stepped building that was 8 storeys on the west side, stepping to 7, 6, 5 and 3 storeys at the east side. The last revision was for a six storey apartment building, containing 9- one bedroom units, 116- one bedroom plus den units and 23- two bedroom units on the assembled lands that will consist of two towers connected from floors 1-3 with a separation at the 4th floor to reduce the impact of the building massing. The existing driveway serving the Maranatha Homes building, south of Cumberland Avenue will serve as the main signalized access to the site.
There will be two levels of underground parking along with surface parking that will be shared by both Maranatha Homes and Gardens visitors.
Proposals like this have to go through all kinds of hoops – there is the Official Plan Amendment and Rezoning applications that are subject to the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS), the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (Places to Grow), the Region of Halton Official Plan (ROP), the City of Burlington Official Plan (OP), and Zoning By-law 2020.
 The issue for Burlington and this city council was – what kind of housing do we want for the seniors in the community who want to “age in place”. Many seniors (there are already more than 100 people who have asked to have their names placed on the waiting list for units in the building) want to move out of a house that requires upkeep they can no longer manage but they want to remain in the community where they are comfortable, where they are active in the community and close to family. The problem was there just wasn’t much in the way of housing for these people.
Burlington currently has 9,000 people over the age of 80 – which represents 4% of the population. That number is projected to triple in 30 years. Burlington has more seniors (as a % of the population) than any other city in the GTA. More than 17% of the current population is over 65.
It doesn’t take much more than a grade 5 math level to figure out where we are going. Knowing that today – we can plan for tomorrow. That point didn’t seem to have any traction in the minds of most of the people who spoke last Monday evening.
The choices seemed to be – learn to live with a larger than normal structure in an established community or begin thinking of other ways to house seniors who want to move out of the single family structures they are currently in and no longer want to maintain. With 148 units available and more than 100 people on the waiting list – the market seems to be saying something.
Mayor Goldring felt the development was a great idea that met the needs of a growing senior’s population. The development is in ward 4 but Jack Dennison, the councilor for the ward, had little to say. Dennison had come up against the residents at the community meetings – he knows when to keep his head down.
Councilor Taylor hardly spoke.
Councilor Sharman saw it as a good project.
These apartments are not going to be cheap: There will be 140 one bedroom and one bedroom with a den that will measure 79-98 m2 and be priced at $2074 a month.
There will be 8 two bedroom units that are between 103 and 130 m2 priced at $3677 a month.
 Question were raised by some concerning adjacent road network capacity was it capable of absorbing the additional traffic generated. The capacity of a typical urban travel lane is 800 vehicles per hour. New Street has two lanes in each direction, therefore the capacity of New Street is 1600 vehicles per hour in each direction.
New Street is serviced by Burlington Transit’s Route 10 with bus stops on both the north and south side of New Street; the New-Maple route provides cross-town connectivity to the downtown bus terminal, Mapleview Mall, Burlington Go Station, Appleby Mall and the Central Park area which includes a large concentration of community services.
The site is located approximately midway between Guelph Line and Walker’s Line where there is a variety of neighbourhood conveniences. The site is also located a short distance by car (1.7 km) or bus to the Central Park area which includes a large concentration of community services geared at different demographics including the Burlington Seniors Centre, the Central Public Library, Burlington Music Centre, the Burlington Curling Club Central Arena and the YMCA.
An apartment building use differs from a retirement home whereby it does not supply meals to occupants in a common kitchen and dining facility and where other communal facilities may be provided. The proposed use will contain apartment units with their own kitchen facilities.
Maranatha Homes property and Maranatha Gardens lands will be under the same management but different ownership.
The people behind this development are not getting and discounts or special deals. They will pay all the fees and charges that every other developer pays as well as be required to provide the city with securities to ensure that the work is completed.
City development charges may be payable, Educational Development Charges are payable; Regional Development Charges and Surcharges are payable
As progressive as the project is – there was and still is – some very vocal local opposition to the project. Graham Tower lives in the home on the east side of the project – and he just plain did not want a large building next door to him and he feels the development will impact very negatively on the value of his property. The developers staged the height of the east side, have plans for trees – Tower wasn’t happy and is not likely to ever be happy.
Anup Ogale, who lives on Pine Cove gave the most detailed delegation. He mentioned a sink hole that would hold the Titanic; an engineer spoke later and explained it was a hole in a drive way and was found to be above ground that had utilities running beneath it.
He added that the building was going to be set on bed rock and if there was any “quicksand” in the area it would not be underneath the structure.
 Both the Maranatha Homes and the Maranatha Gardens back on to the Brock lands – residents managed to convince themselves that something was up for the development of that property. The proposed development faces New Street with a substantial set back from the road. Mr. Ogale had done quite a bit of research; each matter he brought up was answered by the planning staff. What planning staff could not do was fully explain why they would not go for eight storeys or even seven storeys but would accept six. The planner explained that he felt that was an appropriate height for that location – and the area residents just weren’t buying that argument.
A Myers Lane resident, whose name we shall withhold, managed to embarrass both herself and anyone who knows her, with comments during her delegation that were just plain rude and disrespectful. Mayor Goldring mentioned that he drives by the site most days on his way to city hall and he had not found the traffic to be impossible. He signaled the committee chair that he wanted to speak and the resident cut in and told the Mayor to wait – she was speaking.
Asked by the committee chair to respect the process the resident said “you respect us… we voted you people in and we can vote you out.”
 It went downhill from there. The resident pointed to council and said “I see all kinds of attitude here .. it seems as if you have decided and that you know what is best…No you don’t” and with that the delegation walked away from the podium.
She did return to answer a question from Councilor Meed Ward who wanted to find out just what it was the woman was opposed to; with that she returned to the podium and said: “We don’t want the re-zoning”. That was certainly obvious.
The Standing committee voted 6-1 to accept the staff recommendation; Meed Ward, who wanted four storey structures and perhaps a bigger footprint, did not vote the recommendation. This item comes to city council March 17th – the question is will it move on to the Ontario Municipal Board. It shouldn’t.
 By Staff
February 26, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Perhaps it is part of an attempt to hustle up some warmer weather and if that’s 5the story – most people are grateful – we seem to have had our fill of winter.
 The end to winter must be in sight – the Bandits have announced a Try Out camp. The Burlington Bandits, members of the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL), have announced the hosting of open tryouts for their 2014 season on Sunday, March 16th from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at The Burloak Sports Centre on 952 Century Drive, Burlington.
You have to bring your own equipment – so get down to the basement and loosen up that glove and dust off the helmet. This might be the time to get out and buy a new pair of batting gloves. No metal spikes.
Drills to be conducted are pitching, hitting, fielding, timed base running and position-specific drills.
Tryouts are open to all 18 and over. Cost to register is $15.00 per player and will be accepted via certified check or cash the day of the tryout. Players must be registered prior to March 15th to receive $15.00 registration cost. Day of walk up registration is $20.00.
If you’ve got questions: contact Ryan Harrison at 905-630-9036.
To register, visit and fill out the registration form under the team drop down. Looking for other ways to connect to the Bandits? Follow us on Twitter @iblbandits, and visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/iblbandits.
The Bandits will play 18 home games in 2014 at Nelson Park located off New Street in Burlington. Season opener is May 4th with the home opener May 10th.
Background links:
Season opens May 4th – home opener May 10th
 By Pepper Parr
February 26, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It became evident early in the development of the Alton community that it was going to be different. Many who now live in the new community see it as the “new” Burlington where people made it on their own.
Hayden high school opened last September with the library following that by weeks and the Haber Recreation Centre opened shortly after that. All three share the same structure which the city calls the Alton Campus. The Norton skate park across the street from the campus make the place a very active part of town.
A city Standing Committee held the required public meeting to review an application for a zoning by-law amendment submitted by Emery Investments for 4853 Palladium Way. The intention of the developer is to build two five storey towers attached to each other with a two storey atrium.
 Two towers in phase 1 – finished project is projected to result in 1280 professional jobs, The property is at the intersection of Appleby Line and Palladium Way in the Alton community where Urban Design Study and Guidelines for the Alton Central East Community are in place.
It is a two-phase project with phase 1 being the construction of the office towers and phase 2 the construction of three industrial buildings. The 5.2 hectares property is currently vacant.
 The two five-story structures will be joined b a two storey atrium. The developer is seeking approximately 24,964m2 in the office towers and, in Phase 2 to create three industrial buildings, with a combined total of approximately 12,245m2.
The Burlington Economic development Corporation (BEDC) estimates this development will create about 1,280 professional jobs.
Blair Lancaster, the ward councilor determined that a neighbourhood meeting would not be required. Public notice of the statutory public meeting and recommendation report were provided 14 days in advance.
The Standing Community approved the application unanimously; that recommendation goes to city council March 17th.
Once approved the developer appears to want to get shovels into the ground quickly. They will lay down the two levels of underground parking and get the first tower up – they’ve yet to decide when they will put up the second tower. The market for quality space is tight in Burlington – this project might move very quickly.
 The development will be done in two phases. The developers are building the project as a speculative development. It is the first decent office development project the city has seen in some time. While the Economic Development Corporation beavers away at producing reports and working towards whatever shape and purpose it is going to have in the near future – this development came to the city on its own – and it isn’t within any one of the “prosperity nodes” the economists created.
Background Links:
Alton campus opens.
How Alton got started.
 By Staff
February 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
If you are one of those who believes that there is an end to this winter and that Spring will arrive and the flowers will bloom and you are thinking about the work to be done to get your garden ready – there is a place you want to be: Saturday, March 1, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church 662 Guelph Line for the Halton Seedy Saturday.
 A large variety of garden seeds will be for sale at the Halton Seedy Saturday. A $2 entrance fee will give you access to a day full of swapping seeds at community seed exchange tables, buying from heirloom and organic seed vendors, learning from garden experts, and garden craft fun for kids. You can also discover community garden opportunities in Burlington and Halton. Food and drink from Family First Organic Meals will be available for purchase.
Featured guest speakers: at 11:15 a.m., Karen Walsh, a Halton Master Gardener, will discuss starting vegetables indoors; at 12:15 p.m., Fran Freeman, an Urban Beekeeper, will present urban beekeeping and attracting pollinators; at 1:15 p.m., Linda Crago, an heirloom vegetable farmer from Tree & Twig will discuss exciting vegetable varieties for your garden; and at 2:15 p.m. Sarah Hemingway from Sarah’s Kitchen Garden, will present growing, cooking and preserving herbs.
Confirmed vendors and exhibitors thus far include: BurlingtonGreen, Greening Sacred Spaces, Oakville Sustainable Food Partnership-Growing & Sharing Food in Halton, Burlington Horticulture Society, Urban Harvest Seeds, Days to Harvest, The Plant Lady, Matchbox Garden & Seed Co., Sarah’s Kitchen Garden, Tree & Twig, Urban Beekeeper, and Halton Master Gardeners.
Additional information can be found at Burlingtongreen. Event proceeds will support Halton community gardens. Non-perishable food items will also be accepted for food bank donation.
Halton Seedy Saturday is brought to you by BurlingtonGreen, Greening Sacred Spaces (Halton-Peel), and Growing & Sharing Food in Halton, with funding support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Background links:
Burlington opens its community garden.
 By Pepper Parr
February 25th, 2104
BURLINGTON, ON.
After a month or so of significant turmoil and the introducing of a new named sponsor the Chilly Half Marathon and the Frosty 5k gear up for an event that draws thousands to the city.
Sunday March 2nd, runners who have been training for some time – thousands of them – will gather at the starting gate and get ready to run in what just might be a genuine “Chilly” half marathon race this year
The event does close down large portion of Lakeshore Road just the way the Santa Clause parade closes down New Street.
There are a number of races in the city with most being organized by Kelly Arnott who is one of those people who just does things and is always on the go.
 Each day is non-stop for Kelly Arnott. One of her local sponsors – Discovery Ford provides a vehicle. She is a born salesman – Kelly just gets out there and makes things happen. There are those who wish she weren’t quite as active, perhaps a little less frenetic, maybe not have quite as many ideas. You might as well expect the tide to stop raising the level of the water. Kelly Arnott is a force – she just does stuff.
After working with her Dad in the shoe business, Arnott struck out on her own and opened a high-end fashion shoe store in the Village Square and things at Sabrina were pretty good until the recession in the 80’s which took the bottom out of almost everything retail.
Before experiencing the downturn Kelly and her husband Mark thought about using the second floor of the store they ran to sell running shoes. Dianne Hogarth designed the store for them and suddenly they were in another line of business driven to a large degree by Mark’s new interest in running; this at a time when running wasn’t the sport it is today.
Village Runner was one of the early athletic footwear retail outlets, long before the franchise operations came along. If you run a retail outlet selling running shoes you quickly get into operating races – and thus was born VRPro.
The Arnott’s have organized a lot of races. Part of their income is derived from working as Race organizers for others. They do the Yorkville Race in Toronto, which is one of the fastest in the country. There was the Downtown Dash, there was the better forgotten Goose Goo, and there was the Triathlon to raise funds for the Carpenter Hospice.
Carolyn Wallace and her Easter Seals campaign has had a race, the Lions have had a race. Portions of Brant Street get closed down for the Amazing Bed Race
There were races known as the Tim Horton series, and the very early Run for the Cure – before CIBC became the title sponsor.
Race sponsorships come and go. Corporations will decide that an athletic event will serve their marketing objectives very well and they get behind an event and put their marketing dollars on the line.
Tim Hortons was part of the event – now Trillium College is the title sponsor. There are still dozens of other local sponsors involved.
The Chilly Half Marathon and Frosty 5k takes place three weeks before the Race around the Bay – another event that draws people to our part of the province.
Running races is all about organization and working with all the interests in the community. There was one race where there was a fist fight that police had to break up. One of the early Arnott races had her busing runners to Oakville for a run back to Burlington: “that was a disaster” adds Arnott who tends to be quite open about what works and what doesn’t work.
All the difficulties – and when something different is done, there are difficulties, don’t detract from the fact that Kelly Arnott have raised millions and introduced tens of thousands of people to Burlington.
With the 2014 Half Chilly Marathon and the Frosty 5k just days away Arnott scurries about getting the details covered off. Registration will be lower in 2014 –”the publicity surrounding the race a couple of months ago didn’t help”, explains Arnott, “but the biggest reason is the weather. It has been too cold for runners to get out and practice”.
There are some people who will need access to Lakeshore Road from the streets that run south – there is a help line to get in touch with the people who can help resolve the problem. Call Jessica at 905-220-1785. She is there to help. If you don’t get the help you expected write us – we want to know abut that.
The number will come in close to 3000 people which is certainly respectable enough. The race route is now an established Lakeshore Road event. Arnott explains that there are 375 homes south of Lakeshore Road – that seems a little on the low side. The race does disrupt traffic patterns – there is no arguing that point, but for the people who do live south of Lakeshore Road – they know when the event is taking place and they can make other plans.
Race participants do pay a fee and detractors are quick to add up the numbers and decide that the Arnott’s are earning a pile of money – and the actual revenue is decent. It’s the expenses that chip away at that revenue. Each runner gets a sweater – and they aren’t cheap, beer tickets, and of course that Tim Horton’s Chilli
 Kelly Arnott displaying on of the female sweaters that race runners are given. Kelly can run anyone who cares to listen through the list of how much her organization pays out to community organization. $7500 to the Performing Arts Centre for the use of their space more than she likes paying to the Regional police for security and traffic control, to say nothing of the tens of thousands of dollars that gets spent in the city as a result of the race.
Could the race be run somewhere else – sure it could but why would you move a significant event off one of the nicest roads in the city? There was the suggestion that the race be run through the industrial parts of the city – which one didn’t go down very well when it was brought up at a city council meeting.
City council understood the value of the event to its retail and hospitality sectors and got behind the event to ensure it remained on Lakeshore Road. During the debate over the race route Burlington saw a level of pettiness that didn’t reflect well on what most people think the city is all about.
These things happen.
Background Links:
Half Chilly marathon route a city council issue.
Residents get a hearing on the marathon route, don’t get any satisfaction.
 By Staff
February 24, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Very early this morning I Halton Regional Police, Burlington Strategic Support Team (SST), concluded a drug trafficking investigation that resulted in five arrests and the execution of a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act search warrant at a Burlington residence.
Seized as a result of the Investigation:
• $14,800.00 in cash
• 720 grams of marihuana (approximately 25.40 ounces/ 1.58 pounds),
• 10 grams of Cocaine,
• 20 grams of hashish
• 6 ecstasy pills
The drugs have an estimated street value of over $53,000.00.
The following persons have been charged:
Christopher JONES (29 yrs) of Ghent Avenue in Burlington (Held for Bail)
• Trafficking in a controlled substance (marihuana)
• Possession of a controlled substance (marihuana)( for the purpose of trafficking
• Possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) for the purpose of trafficking
• Breach of Probation
Minhea KANG (35 yrs) of Ghent Avenue in Burlington (Released on Promise to Appear in Milton Court on March 18th 2014)
• Possession of a controlled substance (marihuana) for the purpose of trafficking
• Possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) for the purpose of trafficking
Alexander MORRIS (24 yrs) of Brock Avenue in Burlington (Held for Bail)
• Possession of a controlled substance (marihuana) for the purpose of trafficking
• Possession of a controlled substance (hashish) for the purpose of trafficking
• Possession of a controlled substance (Ecstasy)
David VEINO (22 yrs) of Cavendish Drive in Burlington (Released on Promise to Appear in Milton Court on March 25th 2014)
• Possession of a controlled substance (marihuana) for the purpose of trafficking
• Possession of a controlled substance (hashish) for the purpose of trafficking
• Possession of a controlled substance (Ecstasy)
Alexander KELLAR (23 yrs) of Mount Royal Avenue in Burlington (Released on Promise to Appear in Milton Court on March 25th 2014)
• Possession of a controlled substance (marihuana) for the purpose of trafficking
• Possession of a controlled substance (hashish) for the purpose of trafficking
• Possession of a controlled substance (Ecstasy)
Investigators remind the public to utilize Crime Stoppers to report any illegal drug, gun or gang activity at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes)
This was not a small drug operation.
 By Staff
February 24, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It went on for quite a while – between December 2013 and February 2014, but the Regional police were able to apprehend and charge a Hamilton resident for inappropriate touching.
The accused person had been going to the Silver City Cineplex Cinema located at 1250 Brant Street in Burlington where he engaged in inappropriate and unwanted contact with at least three different women. These incidents were later reported to Police.
The accused has been arrested and charged with the following offenses:
ACCUSED:
William DEJONG, 56, of Hamilton Ontario is charged with:
Mischief – Interfere with person in lawful use, enjoyment of property (three counts)
The Halton Regional Police Service believe that Mr. DeJong may have had similar contact with additional women at this theatre during this time period and urge victims to contact the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at (905) 825-4747 extension 2316.
Anyone with information on this or any other crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
 By Pepper Parr
February 22, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
A report from John Duncan, Transit Manager was what staff call a “walk on” – wasn’t prepared and circulated much in advance and the public didn’t have much time to read and review the document that focused on the November 3, 2013, a significant change to the Transit route network was implemented in order to address the following concerns raised by council and transit users:
Late night service;
Extended holiday service;
Increased frequencies on high demand routes;
Improved service to employment corridors;
Improved connections to GO rail service; and,
Route inefficiencies.
City council was having a problem with transit and the public was divided: people would complain that they saw buses going up and down the streets empty, transit riders complained about the poor service and the transit advocates said the problem was underfunding.
Council and the city finance people were looking at the amount of money being spent and a system that didn’t appear to be delivering what was needed.
The then director of transit advised the city she wanted to retire which left things in a bit of an awkward state as the city transitioned from one transit director to the next.
Mike Spicer, who was on staff at transit was appointed the new director of transit. He needed some time to get a stronger grip on what had been happening and then to assemble the staff he felt were needed to implement the changes. Spicer has been the voice for transit at committee meetings.
City manager Jeff Fielding directed Spicer to modify the routes and get more coverage with the same fleet. The transit users felt the changes were close to draconian. Fielding wanted more data so fact based decisions could be made. The public would watch council chatter away for an hour over the five or six complaints over service on a particular bus route yet pay little attention to the several hundred people using the route.
 Last November the transit people introduced a new schedule with a lot of changes – and that took time for people to adjust to the different routes and schedules.
Transit had to find efficiencies in order to fund improvements and provide service in other areas of the Transit network; that meant reallocate existing available resources. This was accomplished through the reduction or elimination of service on some routes, based on underutilization.
Change to anything does not come easily. While the service change allowed Transit to establish a baseline service that could be built upon when future funding becomes available they also generated a substantial number of complaints: 270 that can be directly attributed to the November 3, 2013 service changes. That is 270 in a two month period for a service that carried an average of 175,000 passengers a month. That figure climbed to 350,000 during November and December.
 The amount of money Burlington pumps into its system is far less than Oakville – and it shows in the service we offer. Transit staff are struggling with what’s coming at them. The changes were made last November and they are now monitoring the usage and looking for ways where, based on the traffic count, changes can be made. What transit had to get away from was reacting to a couple of dozen complaints and having council beat them up all the time.
Spice, director of transit explained that there had been:
Limited time for transit users to become familiar with the network;
Seasonal changes effecting transit use; and,
Limited data collection window – less than three months.
Transit staff engaged from the DeGroote School of Business to assist with survey work to further understand the travel patterns, in the south-east section of the transit network, where significant changes were implemented resulting in the greatest volume of service type concerns.
 At busy holiday shopping periods buses get trapped in Maple View Mall – killing schedules. City is in talks with the Mall management. Traffic in and out of Mapleview Mall has been a disaster for transit. “when we get in there we can’t get out sometimes” explained Spicer at a committee meeting. Our buses get trapped in the mall which throws our schedule out of whack.” Transit is negotiating with the mall to see if they cannot find “bus only” access points to the mall property. Those talks do not appear to be going al that well. Time perhaps for the Mayor to pay a friendly visit to mall management; if he doesn’t hear the words transit users need – he has a “bully pulpit” he can use.
As part of the budget preparation process Mike Spicer was directed to reinstate service frequencies that were removed from underutilized routes. Because the changes in November 2013 were a reallocation of existing resources, there would be a cost associated with increasing service frequencies. Add to that the lack of additional buses or operators currently available – making it tough to get back some of the services that were cut. Spicer was between a rock and a hard place.
The transit team prepared two scenarios that identify the resource needs to reinstate service frequencies to previous levels in underutilized routes.
In Scenario “A”, Spicer reported there would be no discernible increase in ridership. Scenario “B”, showed the potential for a rise in ridership – the table sets out the approximate costs and revenue associated with each scenario:
|
ScenarioOptions
|
AnnualHRCost
(Operators)
|
AnnualOperatingCost
|
CapitalCost
(BusPurchases)
|
AnnualRevenue
|
Total
|
|
(A)Increasefrequencies
duringoffpeakservicehours
|
$481,528
|
$211,475
|
$0
|
$0
|
$693,003
|
|
(B)Increaseoverallservice
includingfrequenciesandroutes
|
$1,084,592
|
$548,938
|
$1,470,000
|
($245,000)
|
$2,858,530
|
Not hard to grasp what the issue is for council – where do they find the additional $2 million.
 The revised routes are not meeting their forecasts yet but it is a bit too early to have sound data. Burlington isn’t a city that makes heavy use of transit; partly for historical reasons, partly because the service isn’t all that good and partly because council doesn’t believe their constituents are prepared to pay for the service.
Early in the term of this council there was a fight over the level of service in ward 5 – Councilor Sharman territory. For a while there was a battle of petitions with the transit users gathering 250+ names to continue with a service while the councilor’s followers came up with less than 50 names on their petition. The service was changed despite the lopsided numbers and there is now no longer a bus service along Spruce Avenue – which happens to be the street the council member lives on.
Spicer makes on additional telling comment in his report: A funding source has not been identified to reinstate or supplement transit service levels. The report adds that there just isn’t enough data in yet to know what needs to be changed and doesn’t support throwing money at a problem that isn’t as clear as the transit advocates want people to believe it is.
Prior to the November 2013 service changes, a number of public engagements, notification and education initiatives were undertaken. These included:
Public information sessions on September 7th and 8th of last years at the Burlington Mall; the Bfast people (Burlington For Accessible Sustainable Transit) say these session were a bit of a joke. Transit used Social Media – Twitter; Local television and newspaper; the Transit website; Email alerts to subscribers; Bus destination signs and posters; items in the City Update; Media releases along with Transit Operator bulletins, postings and letters.
Add to that a group of 20 Transit Operators who engaged the public to review and discuss the service changes prior to implementation. And yet there is still a significant amount of dis-satisfaction over the levels of service.
Transit staff are not recommending any change or increase to transit service levels until sufficient system use data can be collected for analysis and a growth strategy can be prepared for council review and approval.
 The 270 complaints recorded don’t appear to be very high – not until they are put into perspective – the number is for a two month period only. A couple of members of council had a little trouble digesting the fact that the transit service will be paying bus cleaners $65,000 a year. They will be defined as “mechanic’s helpers” and will also fuel buses and do other related work. Councillors Dennison and Taylor choked on that rate of pay. Director Spicer explained the situation he was in with the outside bus cleaning firm and council went along with him.
This looks like one of those situations where everyone has to wait until there is sufficient data – and that takes time. Once the data is in hand, transit would be well served to hold a Saturday workshop that is broadly promoted where the data can be discussed by staff and the people who use the busses.
In the past we have seen public events on transit with few, in one case in Aldershot no one showed up, in attendance. People later said they didn’t know the event was taking place. Far too many bureaucrats rely on social media believing that is the answer to all their information and communication needs. What amazes us is that transit doesn’t use the bus drivers to promote the meetings. Why not have the bus drivers hand out transfer size piece of paper to each passenger as they get on the bus – talk about having your target market right in front of you.
It would be effective and a lot cheaper than advertising or taking up space in city publications that are poorly read.
Transit is said to be in transition – many are not sure it is transiting in the right direction.
Background links:
What kind of transit service will the city have for seniors?
Bfast wasn’t impressed with the last-minute transit report.
 By Pepper Parr
February 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The process Burlington Transit is going through as they rationalize their routes and look for more efficient ways to serve the needs of those who choose to use transit and those who have no choice got me to thinking longer term.
Stay with me on this.
Students or first time drivers have to go through a graduated license process and don’t get to drive on the 400 series highways the moment they pass their first test.
 It will not be too long before rules like that are going to apply to seniors. I personally find that my eyes don’t work the way they used to in the dark of night and my reflexes aren’t as sharp as they were when I was 25.
I frequently find myself driving behind a senior who gives the word cautious a whole new meaning. There is timidness to older drivers and once there are more of them on the road – and that day is not far off – traffic is going to move slower.
Between older people driving slowly and young people believing they can text and drive, the roads in town will become hazardous places. But that is not my point.
 We will need buses that can carry dozens of people with walkers – because they won’t be driving. I believe there will come a time when the province will require doctors to report any patient whose responses are such that they perhaps should not drive at night. Many of you know of adults who have had to go through the difficult process of telling Dad that he has to give up the keys to the car and not renew his driver’s license.
What do those seniors do then? Are they to be land locked in their homes – because they aren’t going very far with the service Burlington Transit offers?
It doesn’t require a degree in rocket science to figure out how many seniors we have and where they live – the federal census data will give you that information. We already know in large numbers how many seniors we have and which postal code they live in.
We know where the libraries are, where the food stores are and where the hospital is. If we know the ages of the people in this city, and we know where they live and where they will most likely want to go – then we can begin thinking about what kind of transit we are going to need to move these people around.
That is the kind of long term thinking a city council should be doing. I have watched and listened to council members discuss how many people were on a particular bus route at a specific time – none of their business – that’s what the transit people do.
Council’s job is to think today and plan for tomorrow on how the city is going to meet the transit needs of all the seniors that we are going to have living in the best medium size city in the country.
 Specialized buses will be needed and it will take longer to load passengers. When the capital budget for the next 10 year is drawn up there should be funds set aside to buy the kinds of busses the seniors will need. We need to begin putting money into that reserve find now and doing some early education work as well.
Perhaps we will see a Staff Direction to this effect sometime soon?
Will Burlington lead in the transit service it provides its seniors?
 By Pepper Parr
February 22, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There will be a heritage planner – a full time heritage planner but getting the position secured was easier said than done.
The question in front of city council as they worked their way through the budget was: how much did they want to spend on a heritage PLANNER – $206,000 or $103,000.
The city already has a heritage planner who spends half of her time on heritage matters and the rest of her time on other planning work; she is swamped. She gives the city far more time than she gets paid for and has done a lot of superb work.
Heritage has become a sort of favourite flavour of the moth in this city. The Heritage Advisory Committee is much more active – at times they think they need a full time planner. When the decision was made to go forward with the idea of a Conservation Heritage District for the Mt Nemo Plateau the work of the heritage planner suddenly got much bigger.
The question then was – how much staff resource are needed? For some reason council wanted to get right into the weeds on this one. They first talked in glowing terms about the job the current heritage planner has been doing and then began to map out her career for the next ten years until they were told that wasn’t council’s job.
 It was about 15 months ago that rural Burlington began the discusion about what it wanted to be. Some things were clear – others not as clear. The early draft of a vision got put on a huge board and for the most part the community liked the look of what they had said to each other. Council had gotten into the weeds on this one the way they do far too often. For a bit it looked like they were going to start running the department. Should the current planner become full time on heritage? a full time role and contract someone for an additional half day; no that’s not good use of human resources. OK look for someone within the department and have them pick up the development work the planner was doing – the rationale for that view was that development is off so there must be bodies in planning with nothing better to do.
General manager Scott Stewart who signs off on everything that comes out of planning, struggled to get a grip on all the ideas flying around when the city manager pipes up with his position: it isn’t pretty.
“You don’t Jenna, she does; she decides what she wants to do. You have asked us to manage – then let us manage; that is not your job; this is not the type of discussion we should be having; you have me here to tell you things like this.”
 A heritage planner was critical if a Conservation Heritage District bylaw was ever to get passed. First part of that effort got through a Standing Committee. The proposal to think about turning the Mt. Nemo Plateau into a Conservation Heritage District which is just at the information gathering stage will require a lot more of a planner’s time. That file has the potential to become a lot messier than it would at first appear – when individual land issues are on the table get ready for noisy meetings.
Councillor Taylor is a big advocate on for making the plateau a conservation district – he wanted the planning resources available.
While council was digesting that blast from the city manager, Scott Stewart the general manager invited the Director of planning to “take it outside” where they worked out the possible time/task splits
The proposal was to have 1.5 heritage planners – then it looked like they were looking at two planners. Then there was a tussle over what this planner would be doing. The issue was where the planner was going to come from and the amount of work that was going to get created by the Mt. Nemo Conservation District task that is now on the table – or look as if it is going to be on the table.
A motion to hire more people failed, the amended motion to make the existing half time planner into a full-time position and distribute other work she was doing within the existing staff compliment passed 6-1 with Taylor voting against the decision made. He wanted more in the way of human resources than his colleagues were prepared to pay for.
 Residents look at a large map of their community during a Rural Summit more than a year ago. That meeting was the genesis of making the Mt Nemo Plateau a Conservation Heritage District. Some members of council wanted to know why staff just didn’t do the staff allocation. It was a new position – they were moving from a half time heritage planner to a full-time heritage planner and that was a decision council had to make, explained director of finance Joan Ford. What Ford was trying to say in a polite way was that council had to decide on the expenditure – staff would then decide who should be doing the job.
Councillor Meed Ward said she had “difficulty with the process that got us here”.
Was the spend going to be $103,000 or was it going to be $206,000 and would the new position be added to the base staff compliment or would they go outside and contract with someone, or would they look within the planning department and find someone who wasn’t all that busy.
Councillor Lancaster thought the city was moving too quickly on this file. Her view was that council needed to be more reflective and to take some time. But that wasn’t the view that Councillor Taylor brought to the horseshoe. The Conservation District would be in his ward and he is fully aware as to just how powerful the people in North Burlington can be. They were the folk that hung in and fought the Nelson Aggregate quarry expansion. Those people know how to dig in and for them a Conservation District would solve a lot of their concerns or they think it will.
 It took $2 million out of the legal department’s budget to pay for the tear long tribunal that decided the Jefferson Salamander was important and that an expansion of the existing quarry should not be permitted. It was rural Burlington residents who were the force behind that battle – they were not to be trifled with. The expansion to the quarry was going to be in the lower part of this topographical map Councillor Dennison said that “we didn’t ask for this, we don’t need to get all gung-ho about it. He wasn’t all that keen on the “foremost specialist the city hired to do the first cut of the research presented at the January meeting. Get ready to see this as a file that becomes very contentious.
At the community event in January city planner Bruce Krushelnicki explained that a Heritage Conservation District was created through a bylaw passed by the city. No one else has any input on that bylaw he explained. The city can pass a bylaw to create something and they can revise that bylaw anytime they wish.
What the planning department has to do is do the research necessary to figure out how best to craft a bylaw that will stand up to scrutiny – and at the same time ensure that the community wants such a bylaw and understands the ramifications. There are both ramifications and consequences – some of them unintended.
Once e a bylaw is in place it tends to take on a life of its own – which is what the rural life advocates want to see.
Making that happen requires a lot of hard work, a lot of research and a lot of public opinion massaging.
The first battle was to get the planner in place so that some of the early research work could get done.
There will be a planner, working full-time on heritage matters. The planning department will figure out a way to reallocate day-to-day work in the department.
Our significant seven weren’t seen at their best on this issue and they needed the sharp rebuke from the city manager to remind then what they were supposed to be doing.
At times one wonders how we manage to stay out of serious trouble.
Background links:
Rural Burlington figures out what it wants to be.
 REVISED
By Pepper Parr
February 22, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
They weren’t able to bring it home on Thursday, so they will get back at the budget March 4th and hopefully have it done then. There is still a lot to get through.
Council steps back from the budget deliberations to turn their focus on the day-to-day business of the city. Monday is Development and Infrastructure; Tuesday is Community and Corporate Services.
 City administration leadership team: city manager Jeff Fielding on the left with general manager community and corporate services, centre and general manager, development and infrastructure Scott Stewart on the right. Is it a cohesive team pulling together to achieve a goal shared by all. Some doubt that. Immediately following the Community and Corporate Affairs committee meeting council will meet in the Mayor’s Board room to hold a “Discussion concerning the City Manager’s Performance Evaluation.”
City manager Jeff Fielding has been holding their feet to the flames the past couple of months. Is there a genuine concern on the part of this council on the performance of the city manager? That would be a major ‘cock up’.
The city came to an “understanding” with the former city manager that he should not complete his five-year contract which led to the hiring of Jeff Fielding who is in the process of completely changing the way the city handles its finances and the way it serves the citizens. While it is difficult at this point to fully understand what Fielding has in mind (some staff members still don’t comprehend the new approach) the centre piece is Results Based Accountability by which Fielding means citizens will know who owns a service being delivered with that person being personally responsible and accountable – certainly something new for this city.
What is a little surprising and a bit disconcerting, is that council would stick a meeting to discuss the city manager’s performance in the middle of a very busy week that will handle the most important piece of business this city has to face.
And so, at a time when council is only part way through its budget for 2014 it pauses to gather in the Mayor’s Board room for a: Discussion concerning the City Manager’s Performance Evaluation.
This is either sloppy agenda management – or there is something up.
We have been advised that this meeting was scheduled at a time when council expected the budget meeting to last just the one day. We are also advised that the city managers performance is reviewed on the aniversary of his taking on the job and is “ pretty standard stuff”. The process is to review performance annually on anniversary date. It is a standard annual performance review and a discussion on future objectives.
 By Pepper Parr
February 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There isn’t going to be a Cultural Manager in Burlington during 2014 – perhaps in 2015, but a Standing Committee just didn’t see a compelling case for hiring a new person for a job that wasn’t as clearly defined as it could have been.
The arts and culture community brought its existence to the surface – the city learned a lot more about who they were, what they are and what they do. Their lobbying efforts blew hot and cold. They certainly pulled the Mayor into their circle – but that wasn’t enough.
Staff, particularly general manager Kim Phillips, who is the lead on culture in the city, didn’t do all that much to support the creation of the position.
Council seemed to feel that a full-time cultural planner was enough for now and would revisit the needs of the cultural community next year.
 What was nascent and budding – has been stunted at the administration level. It is going to be up to the artists to create whatever structure is needed. What the city will see is various initiatives – and there is some very solid work being done by individual artists, but people who are not always the best at administrative stuff aren’t going to be able to market and move the idea that Burlington is a legitimate cultural centre forward very much.
There is some hope but it doesn’t exist at council nor at the senior staff level.
 The unveiling of the Spiral Stella outside the Performing Arts Centre on a bright summer day was thought to be the beginning of a breakthrough point for the arts and cultural community. Hasn’t worked out that way, yet – but art perseveres – their day will come. Discussion on this item that was on the books for $128,000 + a one time set up cost of $8,320 started with Councillor Lancaster saying she was not on for this one – mostly because she didn’t think there was all that much to manage –and on that point she was right. The arts community saw this as a person who would do some ground breaking and seed planting.
Mayor Goldring followed Lancaster saying he would not support the expense – at least not this year. Councillor Sharman said he was where the Mayor is – not at this time.
Councillor Craven wanted to know what the impact would be without a Cultural Manager – he seemed to think that with the cultural planner in place whatever had to be done would get done.
General manager Phillips conceded that the Cultural Action Plan that Council has approved will certainly proceed much slower. She added that there is some cultural mapping being done –people are adding data on who they are and what they do to the web site.
Councillors Taylor and Dennison took a pass – made no comment.
 The city’s cultural planner is all the arts community has at this point. There is some cultural mapping being done – which is useful in itself but won’t do all that much to build the tremendous potential culture has in this city. Angela Papariza will use her well-developed culture background and training to work with people like Trevor Copp – not likely to see much more in 2014. For Councillor Meed Ward – it was also a “not now – re-evaluate later” an odd decision given that much of the cultural activity is in the downtown core which is her bailiwick. Meed Ward could see where this was going.
The question now is – what is the cultural planner going to do? The current occupant of the position certainly has cred within the arts and culture community but Burlington has had good people working the culture file in the past – and they have all moved on.
The hope for many was that with the surprising energy that was seen within the arts and culture community (it was always there – just not seen or appreciated) the time had come to get serious and develop the opportunity.
The Arts and Cultural Collective did as much as they could – and then some. Trevor Copp sent out a last-minute plea to the Collective membership: “Without this position, Arts & Cultural Grants, an outside Arts body, use of space and bylaw reviews in our favour is seriously jeopardized. All our work may go up in smoke. Let them know how you feel please”.
What happens next will depend on the kind of energy and leadership that comes from the general manager handling this file. Don’t get your hopes up.
Background links:
Turns out the art community didn’t get anything from the cookie jar.
 By Pepper Parr
February 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
James Smith, the man who led the Friends of Freeman Station to where it is today and a leader in the transit advocacy community and one of the better delegators in the city did a no,no,no at the Thursday Standing Committee reviewing the current portion of the city budget.
Smith was one of five people delegating on two late arrival staff reports that impact the budget and was delegating on the transit report, which wasn’t all that bad a document.
 The late Les Armstrong, one of the strongest advocates for the Freeman Station revitalization chats with James Smith on the right. Smith took to the lectern and didn’t start with his usual polite “how ya doin” introduction but said he was going to depart from his prepared remarks and speak extemporaneously and then asked if the people who wrote the transit report were on crack cocaine?
Some in the council chamber wondered if Smith thought he was delegating at Toronto city council. He continued in the same vein until committee chair Meed Ward stopped him in his tracks, read him a portion of the riot act and Smith retracted the remarks.
None of his Bfast (Burlington For Accessible Sustainable Transit) colleagues could understand why Smith behaved as he did. “He wasn’t speaking for us” explained Bfast chair Doug Brown.
Any plans Smith had for a run against Councillor Paul Sharman in ward 5 now need a serious re-consideration.
The lingering question over the exceptionally poor behaviour is – why?
 By Pepper Parr
February 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
In the old Soviet Union, if you didn’t deliver they took you out and shot you. The Soviets have cleaned themselves up and the Koreans now do that. Sweden has always been a kinder softer country – but bet everything you have on someone at IKEA having to refresh their resume over the massive screw up on the decision to look at the North Service Road property as a possible new home for them in Burlington.
Multi-national corporations don’t make mistakes like this. IKEA has a brand, we now call all the strong brands iconic these days, that they promote heavily. They wanted that brand visible from a roadway where there is loads of traffic. Thus the decision to find a property along the QEW. That part of the decision making process IKEA went through may have been the only part that made sense.
There were problems galore with the site – there were also a lot of problems with the way IKEA said they wanted to situate the buildings and parking on the site.
 A portion of our prosperity corridor – IKEA had picked a spot close to Walkers Line. The Burlington Tourism office will tell you that IKEA was close to the #1 tourist attraction in the city; they drew from a dense and very rich market. We are the only IKEA operation west of the GTA core.
A five minute drive along the North Service road made it very clear the road would have to be widened to at least four lanes. We did that back in June of 2012 and reported on that.
A little research would have revealed that the Ontario Ministry of transport wanted more room to expand the width of the QEW and the only width available was to go north – which meant pushing the North Service road back – which would eat into the property IKEA had taken an option on.
The property has a barrier on the north side – a railway line. Walkers Line was known to be close to its capacity – so there was work to be done there. Creating a turn from Walkers Line onto the North Service Road – going both east and west was a challenge
Add to all that – the Creek that runs along the eastern side of the property.
IKEA is taking the public position that the site is not quite what they need – take that position with a grain of salt. The IKEA spokesperson assured anyone who asked that the decision was strictly based on the site. She added IKEA Canada is doing well financially.
 Mayor Rick Goldring Burlington’s Mayor is “discouraged” but adds that the IKEA application “did identify a need for infrastructure improvements”. It did much more than that; it showed land that was being very much under-used. Goldring does see a “silver lining” – the IKEA application showed that the transportation corridor either side of the QEW had to be improved. Did we have to wait for the IKEA application to figure that one out. The economic development master minds should have known that – and the planners could have at least suggested we pay some attention to that part of town. McMaster moving to the South Service Road should have been hint enough.
The city has managed to convince itself that IKEA pulling out has given us an opportunity to create a shovel ready site for anyone who wants to move to Burlington. Has anyone seen the line-up of people wanting to move to Burlington?
In the world of property development – two things matter: location and timing. Why it took IKEA a couple of years and perhaps as much as $1 million to arrive at the conclusion that the site wasn’t what they needed is a tough one to get ones head around. IKEA had made a decision to move. The objective was to have space for the headquarters office. They also wanted to expand the sales side and offer WHAT. All those IKEA plans are still relevant. IKEA’s intention was to WHAT and the city rezoned the property so they could do that.
IKEA lives in a competitive environment – they fight every week for market share. What they sell in this market works its way all the way back to the head office in Helsingborg, Sweden, where they are now asking a lot of questions. If some IKEA heads don’t role there are surely bonuses that will be a lot smaller.
 IKEA wanted to be bigger and a whole lot better – and that plan isn’t going to change. sooner or later – they will move from this site. IKEA has a very interesting corporate structure. At the top is a holding company in Luxembourg, tax reasons for that, with group services in Belgium, Franchise in the Netherlands, retail Centre Division in Denmark, and Finance in Sweden. The company appears to work as a series of national franchises – wonder who owns the Canadian franchise? The whole operation is owned by two parties: 51% Inter IKEA Group and 49% INGKA Group. Complex!
Burlington is trying to put the best face possible on the disaster – and make no mistake – this is a disaster for Burlington. Not only is there a major client that is not happy, even though much of the mess is their own fault, there is revenue that is lost to the city and we are now in the unfortunate position of having to pay for all of the changes needed on Walkers Line by ourselves. IKEA was going to be picking up a lot of that expense.
We have also done ourselves a lot of damage in terms of reputation. The development community knows we parted ways with the former Executive Director of BEDC. There aren’t that many job opportunities in that field; there are some good people out there but they don’t want to align their careers with loser communities and right now Burlington isn’t looking all that good.
Heaven’s Hamilton is seen as one of the top ten development growth communities and we all know how dysfunctional that city council is. Burlington has to figure out quickly what it needs to do and then do it. The problem is that the only people who can manage this type of problem are up to their arm pits with other tasks that are just as important. The city manager is a) re-casting his capital budget, b) totally revamping the way services are to be delivered and making people personally accountable –talk about a culture shift; c) reviewing the work force the city has and aligning it with the human resources we have and are going to need. He doesn’t have the time to resolve this problem and the one person he has that can do the job has his plate more than full as well. The city manager unfortunately doesn’t have the bench strength he needs to run the place and it is going to take him three years, at a minimum, to re-develop all of the human resource side of the city.
 Heck BEDC can’t get themselves to the point where they are ready to go to market and find the person they need. They have to restructure and get that approved at the May AGM.
Thinking that we can wait until the BEDC AGM in May is what a high school student might try. Is that our level of sophistication?
The Mayor and Councillor Dennison seemed to have found a silver line in all this; if IKEA couldn’t work through the difficulties with the location what makes us think someone else will? The forthcoming staff report will sum up everything – but that’s about all. Bet on someone finding a way to thank someone for all the hard work that was done.
There is trouble in paradise. The silver lining the Mayor is talking about might be a thought to put the new city hall on the site. The late James Gandolfini of The Soprano’s fame had a word for ideas like that – “fu-ge-da-boud-it”
There are three IKEA stores in the GTA market, Burlington, Etobicoke, and North York. There is a store in Vaughan and a store in Ottawa. There is room to the west of Burlington for an IKEA store and Hamilton’s demographics are becoming a lot more appealing to IKEA.
While IKEA has made a decision to remain in Burlington, that may well be just a place holder. They wanted bigger and better and they put their money on the table to get that. The deal couldn’t be closed – someone else, somewhere else might come along with an offer IKEA just can’t refuse – and don’t for as much as a second think that there aren’t people out there right now figuring out how to cook up a deal.
Hamilton took International Harvester right off our plate. Are we going to see a repeat of that kind of play?
One of the smarter commercial real estate types we talked to said: “this is embarrassing”; it might also turn out to be very expensive. Add this one to the egg on our face with the pier and we aren’t looking so good right now.
Background links:
North Service road couldn’t handle traffic load.
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