 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 23, 2012 Remember the difficulty the police had getting the help they needed with that black bear that was roaming around Mountainside Park last week?
They put in a call to the people that were thought to have the capacity to handle situations like this.
Turns out that the Ministry of Natural Resources isn’t in that business anymore but they neglected to tell the police forces across the province.
 Properly trained police can handle situations like this. The Halton Regional Police thought this was the kind of thing the Ministry of Natural Resources handles - what a shock when they learned the provincial government doesn't do that anymore. The police did what they had to do and got very little thanks from the public for handling the problem. The Animal Control people in Burlington apparently didn’t know either.
Government cut backs were the reason for getting out of that line of business. Public responsibility apparently wasn’t factored into the decision. Why didn’t the Ministry alert the police forces and then hold a work shop to teach the police what they need in the way of equipment and how best to handle dangerous animals that get into public spaces?
They could have perhaps sold some of the equipment to the police services as well.
Our Burlington has asked our MPP, Jane McKenna if she can ask some questions in the Legislature and do something to help the Regional Police do the job we expect them to do.
Learning that the Ministry of Natural Resources don’t tranquilize animals that have to be removed from an areas must have come as a shock to the police as they scurried around trying to get the help they needed.
You can bet the Regional Police are adding a line to their budget for the equipment needed to do this job and the funds to train staff.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 23, 2012
Something’s just get completely bedeviled and no matter what you do – things still go wrong. Is Burlington going to be defined by a Pier that just seems to be plagued with problem after problem? Have you noticed that the construction site isn’t exactly a beehive of activity?
 Stripped to the bare essentials with not much more than the caissons and the apron in place - the Pier awaits new beams. It was expecting to see a neat turbine mounted on the east side that would power the lights at night but that is in a solid state of confusion right now. Let’s take the most recent developments one at a time. The turbine – it was a device that was going to make the Pier different and it would provide the energy to light up the lights that would illuminate the Pier at night. City Director of Engineering Tom Eichenbaum said “once the lights are on at night they would forever shape the view people had of Burlington”. Eichenbaum is a decent man who does his job with efficiency and dispatch; the kind of person you want in the job he has. When there are problems, and there are always problems in construction, Eichenbaum usually comes up with an innovate solution. The one observation is that the solutions are sometimes a little on the expensive side.
What the city calls Phase Two of the Pier construction, is tooling along; the steel beams that were not up to specifications were taken out and are in storage. Highly qualified and expensive consultants are in place and we have a construction company that has a good reputation under contract. What could go wrong? Guess what – things went wrong – just a bit.
The city has project management software telling them what has to be done when and they were approaching the point where some attention should be paid to the construction, installation and all that kind of stuff, related to the turbine. Then, right out of the blue, Burlington Hydro advises the city that they cannot take an energy feed from the turbine into the Cumberland Street transformer station. What!
This project has been on the table for more than six years. Hydro, which is owned by the city, put up $100,000 to pay for the turbine. And now they tell us that the energy created by the turbine cannot be fed into the electricity grid. There are people at city hall spitting teeth on this one. Unbelievable. Eichenbaum does what he does – and comes up with a solution – for just $70,000, the city will install a battery pack in the electrical utility room which is almost directly under where the turbine will sit. The energy created by the turbine will be fed into the battery pack and be used to keep the Pier lights on at night.
It is not a solution city council wants to go anywhere near and they nix the idea in a unanimous vote at committee level. We report that development.
Everything that happens at committee goes to Council for a final vote. Not so fast say the good folks over at BurlingtonGreen – and they delegate at city council. While Amy Schnurr does an admirable job of stating the BurlingtonGreen case she does not change any minds. Schnurr is not happy – she does not like situations where common sense and a strong belief in the need to pay much more attention to the environment are not given their due.
This council doesn’t want to approve any more spending on the Pier. While it is regrettable they say – that Hydro cannot take an energy feed – that’s the way it is and they are prepared to live with that for today and perhaps at some point in the future they city will revisit the idea.
BurlingtonGreen isn’t easily dissuaded. They dig in and do some homework. And they learn that an energy feed can be handled by the Cumberland transformer station and that apparently the permits to do that are all in place.
More teeth are spit out at city hall. Telephone calls are made, one can hear the sound of teeth grinding.
Understanding how this confusion came about is a little complex – the transformers are part of the Hydro One operation. They manage the grid and they determine what can be fed into the grid and what cannot be fed into the grid. Capturing energy and feeding it into the grid is something everyone wants to do these days and Hydro One can only handle so many situations at any one time. To manage the many requests Hydro One set up a systems where applications are invited for a specific time frame – perhaps three months. Hydro One chooses the ones they can handle and approve and they advise those chosen and issue the permit. The is relatively complex – the one thing the OPA will not let happen is have someone suddenly begin feeding energy into a transformer that is not set up to handle it. It’s a process and it takes time.
Organizations make their applications and if they are accepted they are advised. All those not accepted get thrown out and when the new window opens new applications have to be submitted – sounds kind of dumb but that’s the way it apparently works and Burlington is not going to get that changed.
The Burlington Hydro people had been making applications – not making the cut and re-applying, apparently for some time. Suddenly they are accepted but someone at Hydro fails to tell the city but BurlingtonGreen manages to find out
So – BurlingtonGreen is right – and Burlington Hydro is lousy at communicating.
The communication between BurlingtonGreen, the Mayor, who for some reason inserted himself into this when he should have delegated it to his staff and stayed above the fray, was interesting and confusing.
This all started with a Staff report on the power feed problem. Engineering said the city council committee”
“In January 2012, the Project Management Team met with Burlington Hydro staff for an update on the wind turbine installation. Hydro staff advised that the transformer station serving the downtown area is not adequately configured to accept feed-in (surplus power) from the pier wind turbine.
“An upgrade of the transformer station to accept renewable energy from the pier and other sources is fairly expensive and not currently planned for the immediate future.
“In order to maximize the usage of the pier wind turbine power, staff have authorized the pier design consultant and contractor to revise the wind turbine configuration to have on-site excess power captured using battery packs. The cost of this reconfiguration, including the batteries, is about $70,000 and will be funded from the overall project contingency (approximate total project contingency allowance of $890,000). The overall appearance of the wind turbine will be the same and the battery packs will be housed in the existing pier electrical room. *NOTE: Having discussed the extra costs of the battery pack option and the overall merit of the wind turbine, Community Services Committee approved the following recommendation for consideration by City Council on April 30, 2012: “”Direct the General Manager of Community Services to have the turbine eliminated from the Brant Street Pier project.” Should council approve this option, the wind turbine will deleted from the project.”
Tom Eichenbaum, P. Eng. Director of Engineering Community Services Division
As you would expect, BurlingtonGreen is very disappointed with the unanimous decision of Council to cancel the pier wind turbine.
In a delegation to city council BurlingtonGreen says:
“It would have served as an important symbol of Burlington’s commitment to innovation and economic growth as well as providing environmental benefits. We believe the decision to cancel it will send a strong signal counter to our collective goals.
“Of additional concern is Council’s unwillingness to explore creative (i.e. privately funded) solutions to support the added costs for the project and unwillingness to defer the item to allow for public awareness and an invitation for meaningful engagement. This appears to be very much at odds with this Council’s expressed commitment to do a better job at this.
“ Moving forward, without the benefit of a staff report our team has some questions I am hoping you can answer or direct to the appropriate staff member.
1. What are the next steps with the wind turbine unit? Who owns it? Is it available for use elsewhere in the City? Will there be any costs as a result of cancelling the turbine order and if so , what is the amount?
2. There were Council comments about a preference to redirect the 100k from Hydro (earmarked for the turbine) to support another, more effective renewable energy project in the City. We would like to learn more about this opportunity and what the process will include as far as specific project opportunities, the 100K funding redirection and the projected timing of this.
3. We would like to know how and when the cancellation of the wind turbine will be communicated to the citizens of Burlington. Thank you in advance for your attention to these inquiries and we look forward to a response.
Amy Schnurr, Executive Director, BurlingtonGreen
They don’t manage to win the debate at city council but they do dig down and learn that the city can in fact feed energy into the grid. They write the Mayor:
“We believe the inaccurate information shared at Committee and Council meetings and followed up in the media regarding the pier wind turbine was misleading to the public and harmful to the renewable energy industry. We trust the following information will be considered helpful in getting the turbine installation back on track as planned.
“Below is our understanding of the turbine and its installation based on information from Hydro One, the wind turbine manufacturer and the wind turbine installation company (We have not received a reply to our request for confirmation from Burlington Hydro at this time).
1. The wind turbine energy can feed into the transformer and the permits are in place. Counter to what has recently been reported, no added battery packs are required. If you did want to add a battery pack (although not necessary), the cost would be $11,800 not the reported $50,000.
2. The “$200,000 plus” figure quoted by Councillor Dennison is not accurate. The wind turbine feature has already been paid for by Burlington Hydro via a $100,000 contribution. The invoice we have reviewed states a total cost for the turbine including installation to be $89,819 leaving a project surplus of $10,181 available to support any hydro connection costs that may be required.
3. We understand the city already has in its possession some of the components of the turbine at a cost of $52,000 and that there could be an additional cancel order fee if the project was not to proceed.
4) The wind turbine is a small 10 kW unit and yet it is a good investment, both financially and environmentally. Unlike other infrastructure expenditures in the City, renewable energy projects produce a financial return. Projected energy revenue for the wind turbine is estimated to be $3000 per year and instead of lighting the pier lights with conventional energy supply and paying for it, you will be using “free” wind power and setting a clear example of Burlington’s innovation and environmental leadership.
Considering these facts and continuing to recognize the benefits to the City of Burlington, we look forward to seeing the City proceed with the pier wind turbine project.
Amy Schnurr, Executive Director, BurlingtonGreen
BurlingtonGreen issues a statement saying it is very disappointed with the unanimous decision of Council to cancel the pier wind turbine.
The Mayor then makes a tactical mistake and responds to the Burlington Green people directly saying:
1. No wind turbine has been purchased. There could be a change order fee for cancelling the turbine component due to time spent on this by the contractor. Staff does not believe that fee will be greater than $10,000.
2. The potential for a meaningful renewable energy project is up for discussion during the Community Energy Plan process. There is nothing specific in mind at present. ( I am sure you are aware of the solar panel installation that is on the roof of the new Fire Station number 8.)
3. The cancellation of the turbine has been communicated in both The Spec and The Post. All pier updates are added to the city website.
I have had several positive comments about council’s decision and I know Councillor Meed Ward has heard from several residents by email that support removal of the turbine from pier as well.
If you have any other questions, please let me know.
That’s a brush off if I ever saw one – and BurlingtonGreen is not a crowd that is easily brushed off. If it comes to going toe to toe – Amy Schnurr is going to best the Mayor every time.
It is now possible to feed energy from the turbine into the grid and BurlingtonGreen wants the city to get on with it.
There was a turbine at least partially built by the original contractor Henry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd. but they apparently want more for it than the city is prepared to pay. BurlingtonGreen makes mention of “parts” of a turbine that are “somewhere” and city hall isn’t being as transparent as it perhaps could be, should be on this whole file.
There’s more – there is a reason why there is no construction activity down on the Pier. That one is being worked at. Stay tuned.
 By Sue McMaster
Co-chair, Citizens Opposed to Paving the Escarpment.
BURLINGTON, ON May 23, 2012 The Stop Escarpment Highway Coalition (SEHC) is calling on the Provincial Government to stop wasting money, especially on a highway they promised not to build: the Niagara to Greater Toronto Area (NGTA) highway.
Despite facing immense fiscal challenges, the McGuinty government is quietly spending money on the NGTA highway that local governments and citizens oppose in part because it will divert money from transit and make traffic congestion worse by dumping more traffic onto the already overloaded GTA highways. Moving ahead with the highway also contradicts a Liberal pre-election promise.
 The purple lines are the ones you want to pay attention to - this is where they want to build a six lane highway.  Legend for map displayed. In August 2011, prior to the October election, then Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne announced that Ontario’s Liberal government would not build the western portion of the Niagara to GTA highway. “We were pleased that Minister Wynne saw the logic in our group’s position: a highway isn’t needed now and, with gas prices rising rapidly and congestion in the GTA, it certainly won’t meet Ontario’s needs in years to come. Evidently, that promise vanished after the election,” says Susan McMaster of Citizens Opposed to Paving the Escarpment (COPE).
Back in 2002 COPE, a member group of the SEHC, led public opposition to the NGTA, then known as the Mid-Peninsula Highway. Planned to run from Fort Erie, through Flamborough it would meet up with the 407 in North Burlington. “They said we needed a highway in the area, but their assessment and numbers didn’t add up,” says McMaster. “The GTA was and is experiencing significant congestion; anybody could look at a map and note that the highway is a bad idea.” Public pressure forced the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to take a second look at the project and they conceded that no highway was needed – at least between the Fort Erie and Flamborough section, but the push remained to build a highway through the heart of rural Flamborough and Burlington – until Minister Wynne’s empty pre-election promise.
 Mayor Goldring didn't look as if he believed then Minister of Transportation Kathleen Wynne during the provincial election. There is a different Minister now and they are talking a different story. “Going ahead with the planning for this highway after they said they wouldn’t build it is pure folly” said Geoff Brock, Chair of SEHC. “An Ontario Government Agency, Metrolinx, has mapped future congestion in the GTHA. It is exactly where anybody in the GTHA knows it will be. Starting in Burlington and increasing Eastward on the way to downtown Toronto. This highway we’re talking about – skirts the Western end of Burlington – culminating at Burlington and putting more pressure on an already severely congested area.”
Brock notes that at a recent Transportation Forum organized by the Federation of Urban Neighborhoods (Ontario) in Markham the message was clear – congestion will not be solved by more roads. We’ll be adding 2.5 million people to the GTHA in the next 20 years, and we won’t solve our congestion problem with more expressways. “There was a lot of anger expressed at the lack of transit,” he says. Clearly there’s a disconnect between what the MTO is planning for transportation and what people want.”
The SEHC is ramping up the pressure on the Provincial government to honour their promise and to build transit. The SEHC wants Premier McGuinty to give the money being spent on the NGTA
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 19, 2012 The Rotary Club of Burlington Central did something recently that should have been done some time ago, which was to recognize Deb Tymstra for the contribution she has made to the arts in Burlington.
The Paul Harris Fellow Award was given to Tymstra for her “tangible and significant assistance for the furtherance and better understanding of friendly relations among peoples of the world”. That doesn’t tell the half of what Deb Tymstra has done for Burlington.
We have in the past been critical of some of the governance practices of the organization Tymstra created but that criticism can’t for a second take away from the job she did during the years of tireless work in advancing the arts in this city.
 Always an artist at heart, Deb Tymstra worked tirelessly on behalf of the arts in Burlington. Rotarian Award richly deserved. The early, hard, ground breaking work done when a performing arts centre wasn’t much more than a glimmer in the eyes of Mike Wallace and Walter Mulkewich got done by Tymstra. She didn’t do it all but she was always there doing the work that had to be done.
She was both tireless and shameless in raising funds, raising the profile of performers in Burlington and never letting the community forget what it needed.
When the fund raising for the building of the Performing Arts Centre began, it was Tymstra who stepped forward with a $64,000 donation which amounted to almost all the money in the till of her organization.
When the people behind the building of a centre decided they wanted to use the name “Performing Arts”, which Tymstra had for her organization, she graciously stepped aside and came up with a new name for the works she was doing in the community.
Creative Burlington didn’t last as long as Tymstra had hoped but its closing had nothing to do with the passion and dedication she brought to the drive to develop not only a place for the performing arts to perform but the information and contacts of the people who did the performing.
Tymstra was never adequately recognized by the Burlington Performing Arts Centre people. Thankfully the Rotarians saw the gap and filled it.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 19, 2012 You’re sometimes damned if you do and double damned if you don’t.
There was a black bear the police had to shoot in the woods around Mountainside Park . They did exactly what they were supposed to do. Can you imagine the public outrage if that animal had gotten anywhere near one of the schools or, heaven forbid, anywhere near a child. The lawsuits would have been something they would have to deal with later as well.
The comments and news stories on the decision the police made to shoot the bear are hard to understand. This was a wild and very dangerous animal that was an immediate threat to the people in the area.
The police fired four bullets into the chest of the animal and it died almost instantly. Yes there would have been an initial burst of pain and that is regrettable. That the police fired the four shots quickly and that the aim was true in each instance is a reflection on their training and discipline.
 Regretable, unfortunate - but killing the bear was the only option the police had. Public safety was the prime concern. To have the police now defending the decision they made is close to incredulous. Senior people within the police service are now spending their time explaining what they did minute by minute and you can bet the issue will be raised at the Police Services Board as well. Hopefully someone on that Board will make a point of publicly thanking the police for the action they took and maybe someone will make a comment on behalf of the police.
The bear could not be tranquilized for several reasons. First, the police did not have the equipment nor any personnel to tranquilize the bear. Second, in order to tranquilize the animal it would first have to be up in a tree. That would have meant having the police somehow badger, chase or scare the animal and get it to climb up a tree. An extremely dangerous thing to attempt – the bear could have just as easily panicked and bolted off much faster than the police could ever move.
What if while frightened the animal had bolted further away? It got to within 30 feet of a residential dwelling as it was. Imagine if there had been a child in the yard or on the porch of that residence – that bear could have been on that child in seconds.
If there is anyone to criticize it is the Ministry of Natural Resources for basically abandoning the Halton Police. They did nothing for the police other than to ask for a DNA sample and some hair from the bear. You can bet there will be some questions asked about the way that Ministry failed to respond.
The police did their job; they did it quickly and efficiently. Involving the aboriginal community in the burial of the animal was a wise and sensitive mood on the part of the police and Burlington’s Animal Control people.
A point to keep in mind – there were two bear sighting in the Milton area earlier in the week. The wild animal experts don’t think the bear shot in Burlington is the same bear sighted in Milton. The Regional police aren’t certain the two bear sightings were of the same animal – so we “might” have two bears some distance from us wandering around the countryside.
Should one of those bears venture into parts of the city where people live, work and play – the police should, if they are unable to get help and support from the Ministry of Natural, do exactly what they did on Wednesday.
What we would like to have heard was a statement from our local MPP Jane McKenna, saying she will inquire as to why the Ministry of Natural Resources was unable to help. That she apprently didn’t do so, is disapointing.
 Part 11
This series is a first person account, told by a parent who has lived through the fear and pain that rocked Woodstock when an eight year old girl was abducted on her way home from school and subsequently murdered. Elizabeth Maloney takes us through each step of the ordeal and starts with: A girl the same age as my daughter – is missing, she didn’t get home after school. The worry sets in. No longer can a parent feel reassured by the spotlight of safety once provided by broad daylight. Things are different now. It can happen anytime, anywhere, and the most gut-wrenching of all; to anyone.
By Elizabeth Maloney WOODSTOCK, ON May 19, 2012 Can we move on from this? And how?
For three plus years, the City of Woodstock has talked about, thought about or debated about the death of Victoria Stafford. We were consumed with finding the little girl and then with finding her killers. But now that Tori has been laid to rest, and her murderers tried and behind bars, what is there left to do? It’s kind of like the first few days after you graduate from high school- you are grateful you survived, that you finally succeeded and now that it’s over, you’re not sure what to do with yourself.
 Much like any other small Ontario town - the recent addition of a large auto assembly plant brought lots of jobs to the city but other than that - it's just another small town that drew some attention it could have well done without. But much like high school, after a few days of reveling in the success, you get the idea that you have to move forward, get your direction and put one foot in front of the other. And that is where Woodstock is. We’ve been celebrating the verdict, but now it’s time we find our way. How have things changed for Tori’s family, the Oxford County Police Services and the community as a whole?
Our mourning period sufficiently satisfied, now it’s time for new growth from the ashes.
Signs of life after Tori are starting to bud sporadically around the City, much like tiny buds on a tree during the first warm days of spring. Tori’s mother, Tara McDonald has announced her plans with a job waiting for her and going back to school in her future, working towards her goal of becoming someone Tori would be proud of.
Rodney Stafford, Tori’s father, has stated that he is going to do something to make sure some good comes out of this tragedy, by continuing to raise money for ChildFind, challenging current laws or pushing for security cameras in schools. While the rest of Tori’s family have not publicly announced their plans, rest assured they are picking up the pieces much like Tara and Rodney and trying to move forward as best they can.
Since the investigation into Tori’s abduction and murder, Oxford Community Police Services (OCPS) has waged a war on drugs in the city. Woodstock was saddled with allegations of having a seedy, underground drug culture running rampant within the city limits. Every community has drug issues – even Woodstock – but I don’t think our “problem” is any larger than most other communities. I think the chief difference is that no one believed the friendly City of Woodstock had one. There is no doubt of the drug connection to this murder, with three of the major players in this investigation reported in the media as having a drug addiction; one could hardly argue. This case shone a bright light in that dark corner, making it impossible to ignore.
 Woodstock - a city with an old city hall, a pleasant city hall square - quiet sort of suburban - a decent place to raise kids - and then everything changed. Tori’s murder case provided the catalyst needed to motivate OCPS to launch a crackdown on the supply of drugs like Oxycontin. In the few years since Tori’s murder they have offered help to addicts while simultaneously breaking up the channels the drugs flowed through. Chief Rodney Freeman spoke of this when he said “We’re not going to win the war on drugs. But our effort has been to disrupt and displace the drug cultures within our city to the very best extent we can.” In other words, they’re not going to be able to eliminate the drug issue completely, but they sure as heck were going to make it harder for them to operate.
As for the many families in Woodstock, when Tori went missing the expected reactions occurred. Parents became more cautious, not allowing children to venture far, and in some extreme cases at all. We didn’t just watch our kids, we watched other peoples’ kids! My own child was sequestered to the back yard when she asked to go outside, with instructions not to play out the front of the house and to come in immediately should anyone come around. Tori’s story had rattled most of us parents. We were suddenly aware that two predators had been lurking amongst us for quite some time. It was alarming to say the least and we reacted the only way we knew how- out of fear.
Perhaps the saddest thing I learned out of all of this was the reaction of the children of Woodstock. According to a lady who works for one of the family services agencies in the city, they fielded calls from parents asking how to answer their children’s questions about Tori. Children who usually remain oblivious to the harsh realities of the world around them somehow were not immune this time. They were painfully aware of what had happened to Tori and many of them had questions. Parents were challenged with finding the right answers- giving enough so their children realized the gravity of the situation, but not enough to irrevocably scare them into hiding.
 Lots of sports teams with parents heavily involved - the author of this series, a resident of Woodstock, coaches her daughters soccer team - but it isn't the same So are our children still “bubble-wrapped” and under careful guard today? No, not really. While we still keep watchful eye, as parents we know we can’t watch our children every single second of their lives. Instead of locking them away out of the fear we felt, we teach them how to protect themselves and I believe that most of the parents within the city are doing just that, or at least moving towards that. Education programs about strangers were renewed in the schools and parents employed the buddy system, cell phones and check in times as a means of giving their children freedom but security at the same time. We are giving our children the tools to survive in a world that does not care about their innocence. Because we know that to just lock them up only imprisons them and does nothing to teach them about survival. We can’t stop all the predators before they strike, but we can arm our children with the tools to avoid, out-smart and escape them. Some argue this is robbing our children of their innocence. But I look at it this way, better to be robbed of innocence in this manner than for a predator to do the robbing and my child end up like Tori.
We are making progress, but with all tragedies, it will take some time. Wounds this severe don’t heal overnight. We are on the right path and pointed in the right direction. The bottom line is that Woodstock came together in this tragedy. Our citizens participated in the searches, the vigils and sadly the memorials of Tori Stafford. We cried, we raged, we mourned. We circled around Tori and her family and banded together even in our darkest hours. If after seeing that, you still have doubt that Woodstock will bounce back from our loss, let me be clear: Speaking on behalf of my city, we will heal. We will rise from the darkness, if for no other reason out of respect and homage to our dear little Tori. Our innocence may be lost, but our spirit is still fully intact.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 18, 2012 The Burlington detachment of the Halton Regional police have noticed a string of disturbing incidents involving young students and think there might be a pattern. Here is what they know so far – can you help with any piece of this puzzle?
Incident 1:
On May 15th at 1:40 p.m. a man in a parked car struck up a conversation with a 15 year old female student at a bus stop in front of MM Robinson HS, located at 2425 Upper Middle Rd., Burlington. The male asked questions about the school, asked for the student’s name, and even asked the student to reach through the open window to hand him a piece of paper that was located on the passenger seat. The student did reach into the car; however the man made no attempt to grab or harm her.
The man is described as 55-60 years, heavy build, South Asian. Vehicle description: Silver – four door.
That young lady should never has put her hand into the car. The police officer taking the report must have cringed as he listened to the student.
Incident 2:
 They are out there - they are dangerous - but we can teach our children how to protect themselves. On May 17th at 4:30 p.m. two 15 year old males were walking along Tavistock Drive near Clarksdale Public School. A man drove up to them, got their attention, held up a package of cookies and offered them one. The man is described as white, 60 years old, average build, white/grey hair, wearing glasses. Vehicle is described as a black, four door Lincoln.
Does any of this trigger something you saw. Don’t worry if you don’t have a complete recollection – the police know how to put the parts together – but they do need those pieces and they can only come from you.
Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to contact the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905 825-4747 x2385, Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes).
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON May 17, 2012 On Tuesday May 15th and Wednesday the 16th 2012, the Halton Regional Police Service in partnership with the Ontario Provincial Police, Peel Regional Police, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of the Environment and the Region of Halton conducted a two day Commercial Vehicle Safety Initiative.
And for a number of people it was an “ouch” day.
 Scenes like this were repeated 52 times earlier this week. The focus of the police blitz was to identify vehicles that may not be properly maintained and could pose a danger on our roads.
A total of 197 commercial vehicles were inspected resulting in:
• 186 provincial offence notices issued
• 52 vehicles removed from service
• 54% failure rate
That probably resulted in a lot of deliveries that weren’t made on time. The police do point out that road safety is a shared responsibility, those who drive are expected to maintain their vehicles.
The Halton Regional Police Service remains actively committed to ensuring the safety of our community through a balanced approach of education and enforcement initiatives.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 17, 2012 As a kid, I knew it as 24th of May – firecracker day. For Rick Wilson it will certainly be a crackerjack day. He will be meeting the Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla at an event taking place at Fort York on the holiday Monday.
The Royal event is part of the Commonwealth celebration of the Queen’s 60th year on the Throne. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall
 Rick Wilson points to the error in fact on a provincial historical plaque. Will he get a chance to ask Prince Charles to help him change this mistake? Wilson, who is a serious amateur historian, a member of the Burlington Historical Society and a member of Heritage Burlington, the city’s advisory committee on heritage matters in the city.
Wilson has a very keen interest in the history of the province and thinks there is a very significant error on one of those historical plaques the governments of the country put up.
The plaque that bothers Wilson is in Hamilton and was put up by the provincial government. Wilson approached Mike Wallace and asked if his office could do anything about the mistake on the plaque. Wallace tried but when his office learned that it was a provincial matter there was nothing he could do. Wilson has not been able to get his telephone calls to Jane McKenna’s office answered never mind getting any help. We are hearing that complaint from a number of people. The Lady Jane, who represents us at Queen’s Park is still getting her office organized.
 Rick Wilson will, if he gets a chance, tell the Prince of Wales that ships of war did not sail into the body of water west of the Skyway bridge. Wilson won’t get his 15 full minutes of fame when he shakes the hand of the Prince of Wales, which is fortunate for the Prince, because Wilson knows his history and he could keep the heir to the Throne standing there for hours while he talks about the War of 1812 and how a serious mistake has been made about how that war was won and what was done right here in Burlington to bring about the victory.
 Rick Wilson believes he is standing near where the British ships retreated to and in doing so really won the War of 1812 for the British. There was a battle at Stoney Creek but the real fight, the one that mattered and resulted in mastery over the Great Lakes happened offshore from Burlington. Wilson is both informed and intense. If you want a conversation with him on things historical – you better know your stuff.
Meeting the Prince of Wales, who is also known as the Duke of Cornwall and a number of other titles, will be a huge day in the life of Rick Wilson. Little does the Prince know that had he the time Wilson could tell him all kinds of things about the war that surrounded the building, the burning and the rebuilding of the fort where the introductions will take place.
The current duke of Cornwall is Charles, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch. Charles was officially proclaimed Duke of Cornwall at Launceston Castle in 1973. As part of his feudal dues there was a pair of white gloves, gilt spurs and greyhounds, a pound of pepper and cumin, a bow, one hundred silver shillings, wood for his fires, and a salmon spear.
But Rick Wilson already knows that and when he meets the Prince and his wife he will be polite and make Burlington proud that he was one of the few that got to meet the Prince at Fort York in Toronto to take part in the celebration of the 60th year that Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 17, 2012 Transit got a kiss and a promise, and had half a million taken out of one pocket and put in another last week, as four “underused” routes had major changes made to their level of service on the roads they travel.
The routes that are to have significant service level changes and some direction changes are:
Route 4; Route 11; Route 12; Route 15, with changes to the #61 and #62 GO specials as well.
The four routes were described as marginal and “under performing” and the city set out a proposed service level for each and called it the Interim Service Plan.
This Interim Plan is to resolve some of the more immediate problems while the city continues its work on the Transit Master Plan and gets a sense of what changes the citizens want to see in the Official Plan Review that is currently taking place.
City Manager Jeff Fielding said he expected to need between 18 and 24 months to figure out if the small fixes made during the interim are going to make a difference.
While the Workshop was all about transit, Fielding explained most of the choices that had been made while Director of Transit Donna Shepherd took Council through the presentation.
In this Interim Plan the city is cutting back frequency from once every half hour to every hour on most of the routes and making alterations on just about all of the four routes. “How well did we deliver and is anyone better off was the question Fielding asked again and again – and it may well be the question that transit users in Burlington will want to remember and ask in a year and a half.
Doug Brown, perhaps the most informed citizen when it comes to transit, doesn’t think all that much of several of the changes.. “Burlington Transit” he said, “thinks they can make route changes whenever there is a problem but transit doesn’t work that way.” If you keep making changes it just takes that much longer to get a stable ridership. The change is upsetting to people.
“The most important thing about transit is the need to be reliable and if you go changing the schedule people begin to see you as unreliable and stop using the service.
Brown thinks the transit people have seriously misinterpreted their own data and that the data they use for route 4 is faulty.
 The city has created a grid against which it will measure how well it is doing in getting transit to the point where the revenue/cost ratio is bearable and ridership is seen to be increasing. How reducing transit frequency is going to get them there is very debatable. Public will get several opportunities to discuss the changes which are scheduled to go into effect September 2 The changes to the four routes are expected to save the transit service $500,000 each year which they say they will then pump into the well-used routes to improve the service on those routes. Brown’s comments that : The added service level are rather vague and goes on to say that Burlington spends half the average spend in other Greater Toronto Area municipalities.
“We really do underspend on transit in this city” and Brown should know – he attends numerous transit conference each year. At a transit event in Markham two weeks ago Brown said the buses they use “are like Cadillac’s compared to some of the 20 year old buses Burlington has on the streets”.
While Brown can talk authoritatively on each of the routes that are to undergo a change he also points to what he believes is one huge error and that is the assigning of funds the city gives to GO service as a transit cost. The city pays GO $3.3 million each year (just for being there I guess) and that amount is shown on the books as a cost to the transit system when there is no benefit to transit.
In the transit business the key number they use is their Revenue/Cost ratio. This RC number pops up all over the place and Brown thinks with the $3.3 million given to GO included in the transit costs – the ratio is badly skewed and thus not a very reliable measure.
Route 4
 Current Pinedale route  Rte 4 Pinedale proposesd peak  Current service is basically every half hour. There are two proposed services for this route. A) 30 minute frequency 9-4 weekdays; Saturday 7am to 7 pm. B) Weekdays 30 minute frequency 6-9 am and 4-7 pm
 Current and proposed route changes for Rte 11 on Appleby Line
Route 12
 Only change in this route is having the bus dip into Itabashi Way and the Tansley Wood Community Centre/ Having the service swing into Itabashi Way is seen by many as a very good move – but reducing the service to a 60 minute frequency from the current 30 minute service bothers many people.
Route 15
Frequency of service will be reduced from every 30 minutes to every 60 minutes between 9:30 and 2:30
 No route changes on route 15 - Walkers Line but the level of service will change. With the planned routes changes now out in the open the city wants to meet with the public for input and feedback. There will be four public sessions, which is two more than the city held for the early stage of the Official Plan review
May 23 – Wednesday at the Senior’s Centre 3:00 to 4:30 pm
June 4 – Monday at Holy Rosary School 6:30 to 8:30 pm
June 4 – Wednesday at Tansley Woods 6:00 to 8:00 pm
June 5 – Tuesday at City Hall 6:00 to 8:00 pm
 A newly formed transit will be known as Bfast - they intend to inform the debate on transit and insure the issue of transit service doesn't get lost in the Official Plan Review There is a group of citizens who have formed a coalition that is going to track the way transit is treated during the review of the Official Plan. They have titled themselves Bfast and will meet next at the Burlington Central Library June 11 at 7:00 pm when Brian Bedford, former Commissioner of Planning for the city of Toronto will talk about how transit has to be funded.
A number of people who really study transit in this city are troubled with the changes made on route 10 which happens to have buses that travel right in front of Councillor Paul Sharman’s home. James Smith quotes Sharman as saying he bought his house on a Sunday when there were no buses running and thought he was getting a great deal. He didn’t realize then that there was a reason for homes being less expensive the other side of Appleby Line.
Smith it should be pointed out ran against Sharman in the last municipal election. Sharman won; Smith came third. The second place candidate Cal Millar is now the President of the Burlington federal Conservative Association and now has the ear of MP Mike Wallace and may well expect the Wallace machine to support him in 2014.
 By Staff.
BURLINGTON, ON May 16, 2012 Seeing a black bear in the community was more than two Burlington residents expected earlier this morning. A quick call was put into the police and that brought out Burlington Animal Control people as well as staff from the Ministry of Natural Resources . A 300 pound + bear was too much for the Animal Control people.
The police had reported two bear spottings in the Milton area but the sense then was that bears would stay in that area. While there is no certainty that this is the same bear the one the police had to shoot was in the area of Mountainside Park. The park is heavily forested, contains a children’s playground and is surrounded by many residential homes and schools.
 Residents in this area spotted the bear that Halton Police eventually had to shoot, because there was no tranquilizing capacity at Animal Control and the Ministry of Natural Resources were unable to respond. Watch for tranquilizer guns to show up in next year's police budget.. As soon as the report came in police set up a containment area and notified neighbouring elementary schools of the ongoing problem to ensure there was no risk to school children in the area. Clarksdale, St. Gabriel and Rolling Meadows schools were notified by police of the bear sighting. “MNR personnel advised police that in order to immobilize a bear to relocate it, it needs to be contained up a tree and not in a densely populated residential area,” explained Halton Regional Police media Sgt. Dave Cross.
“MNR officials said it can take up to 15 to 20 minutes for immobilization to take effect, and the bear can be actively on the move and still pose a threat during this time which is why this method is not suitable for residential areas.”
The MNR advised police that they were unable to attend the scene to assist.
This was clearly a public hazard and action had to be taken immediately. Neither police nor the City of Burlington – Animal Control is equipped with or trained in the use of large animal tranquilizer guns or traps, or wild animal relocation. Police attempted to engage the assistance of other private enterprises that may have had the training and equipment to respond, but none were available to attend in a timely manner.
At 11:20 a.m., the bear was sighted by police. Officers tracked its movements and saw it was exiting the forested area of the park into a residential area. The bear was seen again within 30 feet of a local residence. At that point, due to overwhelming community safety concerns, the bear had to be dispatched by officers.
The bear was an adult male weighing between 300 to 400 pounds.
“We empathize with those members of the public who are distressed by today’s events. Our officers do not relish having to dispatch an animal, but our options were extremely limited. Given the particular circumstances, we could not risk public safety as the bear moved deeper into residential areas,” said Public Affairs Sgt. Dave Cross.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 16, 2016 Good ideas just don’t go away. James Ziegler wants to see a new link added to the Waterfront Trail and is interested in being part of any “community action group” that might want to push this one a little further. Any pushing needs to be done at the Parks and Recreation department where Rob Peachey has been working the file..
Ziegler explains: “I’m a resident of St. Paul Street. While walking with my wife tonight to the end of St. Paul Street where the road meets the lake we mused about how nice it would be to walk right up the lake shore. My wife was surprised when I said the property maps show that it is public lands right up to the lake at this point however you would not know this from how the adjacent home owners have landscaped the area.
 St. Paul Street resident wants to see Waterfront Trail extended through lake shore property the city already owns. “We took the opportunity to walk right up to the stone lake shore protection wall and enjoy the view and I trust we were not trespassing on private land and fully within a citizen’s right to do so.
“Looking more closely at the land parcels, there is a contiguous strip of public land along the Lake shore between St. Paul Street and Market Street. I suggest this could become a pedestrian and bicycle pathway, part of the Waterfront trail.
“Although is has become the practice of the home owners adjacent to the lake in this area to treat the land as private it is not part of their deeded land. I believe this is no different than places along the pipeline right of way that are being cultivated for gardens by the adjacent home owners. There are so few areas of access the the lake for the general public, areas where the land title and property lines are both separated by a significant distance, such as over 30 feet, and form part of contiguous lands between existing streets, these areas should be considered for public pathways serving the general good of our community.
Ziegler wants to know if “consideration of this link has been initiated by the City of Burlington. If not I would like to discuss the feasibility of a water front link between St. Paul Street and Market Street and the formation of a citizens’ action committee to achieve this goal. If there is already such a citizen group I will be happy to add my support to the cause.”
Les Armstrong, a member of the Waterfront Advisory Committee, along with a couple of his fellow committee members covered the full length of the lakefront of the city looking for those locations where the public has the right to access the lake and found several places where the access wasn’t as accessible as it was supposed to be.
When former Mayor of Toronto, David Crombie met with the Waterfront Advisory he said there was a time when Burlington was a leader in the development of the Waterfront Trail – but that that is no longer the case.
 This part of town isn't used to having just anyone tramp through the streets. Will the waterfront access ever be opened up? The Waterfront Advisory Committee called people at city hall and asked then to explain why this was so. Rob Peachy appeared and gave some of the background. The best comment he made at the time was that “this wasn’t his favourite file”. Apparently the property owners who live by the lake tend to think of the shore line as theirs and don’t appear to want any interlopers wandering around their homes.
The city has found itself with fights on their hands in the past in that part of town and haven’t always won the battle. We just might be seeing another battle shaping up. Will having Marianne Meed Ward at the Council table make a difference? Stay tuned.
 Part 10
This series is a first person account, told by a parent who has lived through the fear and pain that rocked Woodstock when an eight year old girl was abducted on her way home from school and subsequently murdered. Elizabeth Maloney takes us through each step of the ordeal and starts with: A girl the same age as my daughter – is missing, she didn’t get home after school. The worry sets in. No longer can a parent feel reassured by the spotlight of safety once provided by broad daylight. Things are different now. It can happen anytime, anywhere, and the most gut-wrenching of all; to anyone.
By Elizabeth Maloney
WOODSTOCK, ON May 16, 2012 Over the course of this trial, the family of Victoria Stafford has spent a large part of their time being spectators to the court proceedings. Having to sit quietly on the sidelines and follow along, much like the rest of us, just with a closer seat. How frustrating the last ten weeks must have been; to be voiceless in a room with the alleged killer sitting a dozen or so feet away. Your head and heart are screaming for justice.
 Tara McDonald will carry questions for the rest of her life. The silence broke yesterday when the family gathered in the Court Room for what should be the last time to take part in the sentencing hearing of Michael Rafferty. The judge would be ruling on Mr. Rafferty’s fate, having been found guilty last Friday night on the charges of first degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault. But not before the family would take the stand and explain how the loss of their beloved Tori has scarred their lives.
This is not the first time Tori’s family have given victim impact statements. They did so at Terri-Lynne McClintic’s sentencing speaking of their tragic loss. It would seem though, that their harshest and most painful words were reserved for Rafferty.
Tori’s parents spoke along with statements from Tori’s brother Daryn, grandmothers, several aunts and uncles. All of them listing the pain and suffering they have dealt with over the last three years. Unable to hold back her tears, Tara McDonald, Tori’s mother, spoke about having no choice but to be strong and how her pain pales to that suffered by her daughter. And how she had to trade in heartwarming moments like Tori’s prom, graduation and wedding, for sombre memories the likes of the day Tori went missing and the day she was found.
One of Tori’s aunts, Rebecca Nichols, echoed a similar sentiment. Saying that instead of remembering Tori the way she was with her beautiful blue eyes and her smile and laugh, every time she hears Tori’s name she now thinks first of the forensic photographs of Tori’s distorted body.
 They were close to inseparable - except for that one day. As heart-wrenching as these statements were, it was Daryn’s prepared statement read by Crown Attorney, Stephanie Venne, that grabbed everyone. Daryn wrote about being afraid to walk alone on the street without looking back. He talked about having low self-esteem and anxiety. He also spoke of his guilt; how Tori and him had fought before parting ways on April 8, 2009, not knowing it would be the last time he would ever see her. And then he explained the loss of his “bestest friend” the one who felt what he felt. “No hugs, no ‘See you later,’ no goodbyes, just a part of my heart ripped out,” Daryn wrote in his statement. Continuing on to say he feels so alone and that it’s like the world is playing a sick trick on him, but instead it was his reality.
Daryn’s grief even touched a chord with the defendant himself. Rafferty who had remained unemotional and detached throughout the trial, wiped away tears as he sat listening in the prisoner’s box. It was unexpected to say the least, but it garnered no sympathy from the family. If I were to hazard a guess, I would think the family was happy to finally see him feeling some kind of discomfort over what he had done.
 Rodney Stafford struggles with his pain - now he and his son must work out the life they will live without Tori Tori’s father, Rodney Stafford had the harshest words of them all for Rafferty. His grief and, at times, his rage were painfully apparent as he spoke to the court. Rodney told the court how he agonized over Tori’s disappearance until she was found in a rock pile near Mount Forest months later. Of how he had to visit his daughter’s grave stone to say hi and not by having her in his arms and holding her tight. At one point he looked at Rafferty and spoke to him directly, calling him a “piece of s**t”, eliciting applause from the courtroom observers. Rodney perhaps summed it up the best near the end of his statement when he said “Nothing will ever replace what was stolen from all of us. A human life, a child’s life, my daughter’s life.”
When the family finished their statements, the court asked Michael Rafferty if he had anything to say. After being silent throughout the entire proceedings, Rafferty decided to break his silence here and now. He said he admitted he was guilty of many crimes and there are things he was very, very ashamed of doing, but he still stands behind not guilty. He confessed that he believed he was a “definite part” of why Tori is not with us today and that although we may not be believe him, he is sorry. He hopes that everyone will find closure from his sentence.
In a move that I think none of us saw coming, Rafferty addressed Tori’s mother Tara directly during his address to the court. He offered to fill in “all the pieces of the puzzle” if she wanted to hear them, but away from the court, the media and the public. Was this a genuine offer or an attempt to cast some shadow back at Tara, who had often been the scapegoat for suspicion in this case? Surely people would question why this offer was made to Tara and not to Rodney or the family as a whole.
With all parties heard from, Superior Court Judge Thomas Heeney, gave his ruling on Rafferty’s sentence. He referred to the negative media attention that angered many regarding the excluded evidence obtained from Rafferty’s computer, explaining the necessity of a fair trial. He pointed out that character evidence is more about who the defendant is, not so much as to what he did, stating “Being a pervert does not mean that he is a murderer.” He went on to say “But with the verdict of the jury, that presumption of innocence has been stripped away, revealing who he really is: a child abductor; a child rapist; and a child murderer.” At the very end he told Rafferty he was a “monster.”
 Daryn Stafford is a teenager now. His sister is still his" bestest" friend. Rafferty was sentenced to twenty five years for the murder charge, and to ten years each for the kidnapping and sexual assault charges. The sentences were to be carried out concurrently. Rafferty is also banned from possessing any weapons, his name will be added to the sex offender’s registry and he also must provide a sample of his DNA. Rafferty will not be eligible for parole until May 19, 2034. However, he may be able to apply for the faint-hope clause after 15 years.
Unless an appeal is filed within the next 25 days, this will bring to a close the three year odyssey we have all endured. Tori’s family and the community of Woodstock will wake up today with no trial or verdict looming. Nothing left to do but to somehow get up and move forward in the aftermath of one of the city’s darkest and most painful periods. The city has changed; there is no doubt about it. Can we move on from this? And how?
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 15, 2012 It’s a laudable objective – have the public marina at LaSalle Park become the 400th Safe Harbour in Ontario. Burlington is one of the very last communities on Lake Ontario to have a Safe Harbour – and given that we are the Second Best City in Canada to live in – a Safe Harbour would seem essential.
 LaSalle Park Marina as it looks today - 219 slips with wave breaker and docks that have to be brought ashore every winter. For John Birch it is more than essential – a Safe Harbour out at LaSalle Park is an opportunity to add to the goals of the fisheries people, especially the Hamilton Harbour and Watershed Fisheries Management Plan. Given all the toxic waste Hamilton has created in this end of Lake Ontario getting new fish species in the water is far more than a laudable goal – it’s an essential one.
And that is where Birch has been steering his boat for the past couple of years. By advocating for a form of wave barrier that will result in a Safe Harbour, Birch envisions 1,500 linear feet of an environmentally friendly, state of the art, riparian rock island fish and wildlife habitat wave breaker that will provide all weather protection for the city’s marina. It is a bold step.
The LaSalle Park Marina Association operates the marina at the foot of LaSalle Park and has done so since 1981 without so much as a dime of city money. “We are a non-profit that built this facility from scratch and have it to the point where there are 219 slips available to members of the Burlington Boating and Sailing Club. There is a boat launching ramp for public use as well.
The Marina currently has 219 slips. The docks have to be brought ashore every winter and the current wave reduction system doesn’t work particularly well. The LPMA wants to have a riparian rock island fish and wildlife habitat wave breaker built at a cost of $7 million that Birch expects to see paid for much the same way they built what they have today: a significant portion from the federal government with a close to matching amount from the provincial government and the rest coming from the association through some form of debenture they will pay off over time.
 The option the LaSalle Park Marina Association hopes is chosen through the Environmental Assessment due March 2013. The design will add 100 slips plus 20 available for transient use and more significantly provide a solid barrier that will allow fish stocks to return and breed and put an end to the wave agitation The Association has to be one of the gems for the city to work with. Founded in 1981 the LPMA put together a joint venture with the city that works this way. The land is owned by the city of Hamilton and is leased by Burlington and then sub-let to the LPMA. In 1998 LPMA borrowed $250,000 from the city as part of their joint venture agreement and built a new wave breaker that has a 20 year life span. That loan was fully retired in 2008 – without a payment being missed. The city now has a marina on land they lease and operated by the LPMA. Close to 90% of the lease expense is paid by the LPMA and the Burlington Boating and Sailing Club – the city picks up 10% which pays for the public ramp.
While the wave reduction devices help – they aren’t up to the job of preventing significant damage to boats tied up in the 219 slips.
 There is always someone below deck cleaning up - some things never change. The demand for additional slips is consistent. The Association turns people away every year and don’t expect to have any problems renting out the additional 100 slips that will become available when the project is completed.
The association saw an opportunity to take their two needs and add to them a third – a significant environmental improvement and improving the fish habitat in the area – the result being what the LPMA hopes will become Ontario’s 400th Safe Harbour.
All hinges on a positive environmental Assessment which the LPMA expects to see completed by March of 2013. Birch believes there are funds available for a project like the one they are proposing and that those funds will be spent somewhere – he just wants to see them spent in Burlington.
 Another boat is hoisted out of the yard and into the water as the LaSalle Park Marina opens for another season. The LPMA is confident that they can continue to operate what can only be described as a very successful business model. The club provides an excellent marina to the city and is debt free. It believe it will be able to bear its share of the $ 7 million it is going to cost to get the barrier in place and their hope is that the Environmental Assessment decision is for the option they have chosen.
They expect that the province will pick up 25% of the cost and the federal government an additional 25%. With LPMA picking up the balance.
This is one of those Mother of all Stakeholder partnerships. There is the MOE, the MNR, the COB, CH, the TSP people and BARC plus DOF, to name some of the people who will sit at this table. All have to be placated and accommodated.
There are several options before the various levels of government. The details are a little on the mundane side unless you sit on the LPMA Board. The option the association likes is one that will provide everything the sailors want and given that they are going to end up paying the lion’s share of the cost – one would think the governments involved will decide in their favour.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 14, 2012 An MVP – usually means Most Valuable Player but the Regional government has given it a bit of a twist and is calling for residents with a “my point of view” approach to things, to take part in a new on-line survey.
Do these survey ever make a difference? Or are they a device for the political leaders to get a sense of what voters want and then look for a way to be able to afford to go in that direction,
In the tiring “political speak” the Region announces that “As part of ongoing efforts to engage with residents, Halton is launching an online citizen survey panel (Halton MVP) to gather information about important Regional issues and initiatives. Halton MVP is now recruiting residents to join the panel at www.halton.ca/MVP.
 Regional chair Gary Carr tasting honey on a farm tour. These days he is tasting the mood of the residents; wants to know what they are thinking. Take him up on the opportunity. “I believe it is crucial that we engage with residents and I’m hopeful that the ease and flexibility of the online survey panel will attract many people to participate,” said Regional Chair Gary Carr. “Public Engagement is a priority of the Citizens’ Priorities Action Plan and I’m pleased to see new and innovative approaches being used to connect with residents in Halton Region.”
Who writes this stuff?
The Halton MVP survey panel will be managed and administered by Jane Armstrong Research Associates on behalf of Halton Region through a secure website. All correspondence, data collection and data analysis are the responsibility of Armstrong Research. To protect your privacy, all information provided by panelists will be held in strictest confidence by Armstrong Research. The names of panelists, or any other identifiable information, will not be released without written permission by the participant. Individual views will remain anonymous and data will always be analyzed – and presented to Halton Region – in the aggregate. This means that personal data and answers to survey questions are always combined with those of many other panelists so that no one panelist can be singled out or identified.
Residents who register to join Halton MVP may be invited to participate in up to eight surveys each year. Simply, respond to the surveys and have your viewpoint heard. Registration is easy and open to all residents of Halton Region (excluding employees of Halton Region) 18 years of age or older. For more information about Halton MVP visit www.halton.ca/MVP.
Sounds pretty harmless and given that we will be into summer re-runs on television this will give you something to do. We will report on the survey results and then watch closely to see if they get implemented.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 13, 2012 The Mayor is on vacation so don’t expect to see him cutting a ribbon somewhere or meeting with citizens and listening intently to what they have to say any time this week
He won’t be at the interactive workshop to get public input on community design elements such as land use; transportation and natural features for the Evergreen community that is to be created along Tremaine Road. That event, if you’re interested is to take place at Tansley United Church – Sanctuary Room, 2111 Walkers Line – 6:30 to 9:00 pm. However, the Mayor will be brushing up on his “inspiring” techniques. Goldring got a call recently from Lance Secretan author of The Spark, the Flame, and the Torch that teaches us how to become a more inspired person and leader and how to change the world for a brighter future. It is an interesting work that helps leaders overhaul stale concepts such as mission, vision and values statements, personal leadership, coaching practices, and rethink our entire model of leadership by focusing on inspiration.
 Vacation reading for Mayor Goldring Providing the Mayor isn’t the kind of vacation reader I am (I tend to fall asleep with the book on my chest – part of my napping routine) Secretan will teach him that a leader’s power comes from the soul and reaches to a place that’s far beyond personality
Secretan, who is highly ranked as an inspirational speaker and works some of the biggest of the big in the Fortune 500 ranks, maintains great leaders inspire people, not just motivate them; they radiate inspiration without saying anything. That’s going to be a bit of a stretch for Rick Goldring – he has a level of decency that is seldom seen in politics and his sincerity is real. This guy doesn’t fake it – what you see is what you’re getting.
According to Secretan to be a great leader “you need to be inspired yourself first; that’s the Spark. Then you’re able to inspire other people; that’s the Flame, and then you can change the world; that’s the Torch. Wow, Rick are you sure you want to do this?
Secretan maintains that to be inspired you have to understand why you’re here. Understand your behavior and values. Understand what you will do to change the world – ask yourself: “What’s my calling, gifts, skills and challenges.
Secretan then maintains you have to have a dream. By that he means not your mission, vision or values, they’re old-fashioned junk, according to Lance.
 Mayor to take on the CASTLE principles: Courage, authenticity, service, truthfulness, love and effectiveness. He's doing pretty good with these already. How would his fellow council members rate themselves on this scale? With the dream firmly in place Secretan says you have to build relationships. Ideally with the right people and not with those who want to exploit the office you hold for their benefit and not the benefit of the larger community.
Secretan has created what he calls the CASTLE Principles
Courage, Authenticity, Service, Truthfulness, Love and Effectiveness.
As Mayor Goldring works his way through Secretan’s The Spark, the Flame, and the Torch, he will come to the final thoughts part; they go like this:
People get inspired with what they’re fed up by
It’s impossible to be inspired by anything that has no relationship with money
There should be a perfect intersection between your passion and your talent
Money is here to stay and will never be irrelevant because it’s energy and also a signal about your value and worth
The real issue is not the money but how much you’re willing to invest in yourself.
The Mayor told me he was taking a vacation. This stuff is pretty heavy lifting.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 13, 2012 They could have and perhaps should have held the event in Burlington but instead they are holding it in Hamilton. While we are a Burlington publication, the event: Great Lakes Need Great Friends; Protecting The Great Lakes Forever, being held May 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hamilton First Unitarian Church, 170 Dundurn St. South, is important enough to get mentioned here.
 That is not a healthy cloud - more like a marker telling you where Randall Reef is located - the second worst toxic site in the country. Given that Hamilton has done as much as anyone else to come close to killing the lake and is home to the second worst toxic site in on our side of the Great Lakes perhaps the event is being held there to shame the city. The plan to cap Randall Reef are kind of on hold – they’re still figuring out who is going to pay for the concrete cap that has to be put over the sludge that has accumulated from years of exploiting the natural water in the lake with waste from the steel mills and the coke ovens that once supplied the gas to light the street lamps in that city.
Maude Barlow, The Council of Canadians along with Mark Mattson, Lake Ontario Waterkeepers and Linda Lukasik, Executive Director of Environment Hamilton will talk about just how bad the situation is and what has to be done to begin cleaning up Lake Ontario.
Getting a good start at the Hamilton end is an admirable first step but given the rate at which the federal government is killing the whole environmental review process – don’t expect to see all that much done by the federal government. For them it is all about jobs – most of which might well be at hospices where the cancer patients can end their days after years of being exposed to toxic waste.
 Randall Reef - The second worst environmental waste deposit in the country is pretty close to home isn't it The Hamilton event is part of an eight Canadian city tour, with allied groups, several U.S. cities the “Great Lakes Needs Great Friends” Tour hopes to foster connections along the Great Lakes by making the links between current fights against threats such as “fracking”, bottled water withdrawals, invasive species, and nuclear waste storage and shipments.
Another objective is to cultivate a Great Lakes stewardship by encouraging people to recognize they not only have a right, but a responsibility to protect the Great Lakes’ waters. Ideally this will invite community involvement and encourage inspiring actions that will help shift the current market economy priorities that govern the Great Lakes to priorities based on commons and public trust principles.
Maud Barlow, who is a delight to listen to, will tell anyone with a minute of time, that “protecting the future of the Great Lakes is in all of our hands. When communities come together with passion and purpose, they can change political priorities and shape a better future for our shared water.”
Sometime this week you will get to the lakefront – pause and ask yourself what you can do to improve what we have. Next time you see Mike Wallace, the person Burlington sends to Ottawa, ask him what he is doing to help; listen carefully and ask him tough questions. His first position is to usually try and snow people.
 Part 8
This series is a first person account, told by a parent who has lived through the fear and pain that rocked Woodstock when an eight year old girl was abducted on her way home from school and subsequently murdered. Elizabeth Maloney takes us through each step of the ordeal and starts with: A girl the same age as my daughter – is missing, she didn’t get home after school. The worry sets in. No longer can a parent feel reassured by the spotlight of safety once provided by broad daylight. Things are different now. It can happen anytime, anywhere, and the most gut-wrenching of all; to anyone.
By Elizabeth Maloney
WOODSTOCK, ON May 9, 2012 Imagine with me for a moment. I am going to ask you to imagine something horrible, but bear with me. Imagine one day after school, only one of your two children comes home- the other is missing. Twelve hours pass, then twenty-four,…still no sign of your baby. Another day goes by, and then another.
 She just didn't come home. Her brother did, Tori didn't and she was never seen alive again. Each day waking with renewed hope that today will bring answers, each night going to bed just as lost as the night before. The ache, the emptiness inside. The media surrounding your home, pointing a camera in your direction each time you emerge, wanting a sound bite on “how do you feel”. How would you feel? Being the spectacle of a nation; your every comment, tear and irrational reaction recorded for the masses to see? And later, for those eyes to turn their suspicious gaze on you, and you know they are thinking “maybe the mom or dad had something to do with this”.
That was life for Tara McDonald and Rodney Stafford. Treated to revolving bouts of sympathy, pity and suspicion. Knowing the entire country was watching them suffer, and not being able to deal with the darkest moment of their life in private. Something like this is difficult enough. Think about it. If it was your child, how rational would you be? Would you be worrying about what you wore to a news conference, or if what you were doing made you look suspicious. No, you wouldn’t- your mind would be where it should be- on your missing child.
But despite how awful the public ordeal of Tori’s abduction and subsequent murder may have been, I would think it would pale in comparison to having to deal with the trial, and being in the same room as her alleged murderers. For the past ten weeks, Tara and Rodney have sat in the same courtroom as Tori’s accused killers, Michael Rafferty and at times Terri-Lynn McClintic, with only several yards separating them. As a mother myself, I have no idea how Tara and Rodney have maintained enough composure to be able to be in the same room as Rafferty and McClintic without rushing the prisoner’s box.
 The not knowing when on for day after day. The eyes of the public were on them every minute. An ordeal they did not need - but Tara McDonald managed to keep it together. Yet somehow that is what they did. They endured the testimony of Terri-Lynn McClintic, who spared no detail in her narrative of the horror that Tori faced. Six long days of what was labelled the most disturbing testimony of the trial, and they were there every day. Sitting through the excruciating details compelled to bear witness to the crimes against their daughter- in the only way they can be there for her, this one last time.
And if the wound wasn’t raw enough, there were pictures; unrecognizable, horrific pictures of their once beautiful little girl. Identified only by her dental records and the Hannah Montana shirt she was wearing when she disappeared. The pictures were more than Rodney could handle and he left the courtroom- it was the only time he left the proceedings. Tara stayed behind crying as the images flashed by. The Coroner explained the state of Tori’s body, every gruesome piece of evidence laid out before the court. Every word another reminder that Tori will never come home.
Of all the proceedings there was one single thing I found more appalling than anything else. On the day of the Coroner’s testimony, some of the most sensitive testimony of the trial, Michael Rafferty wore a deep purple shirt and purple striped tie. It was the same shade of purple that had become synonymous with Tori, and the colour of the ribbons her family wore in her memory. The audacity of his wardrobe choice left me fuming. For the accused to come to court in a show of solidarity to the victim’s family was a huge slap in the face to Rodney, Tara, their families and the community as a whole. And I was not alone in this opinion, with other members of the community taking note of it as well. Whether that was Rafferty’s idea or that of his defence council, Dirk Derstine it was in poor taste.
In spite of all these painful obstacles, Tara and Rodney have fared reasonably well through the trial. Tara was more outspoken during Tori’s disappearance, holding daily media conferences on her front lawn. During the trial she has become a little quieter, taking a bit of a backseat in the media eye. She has kicked the drugs and has been clean for six months now. After a brief move to Brantford, she came back to Woodstock and has been at nearly every session of the McClintic and Rafferty trials.
 No longer with the Mother of his daughter Rodney Stafford handled his grief in his own way; resolved to be in the court room every day with a picture of his daughter in his hand. Rodney on the other hand is determined to build a legacy for his daughter. He has made numerous appearances over the last three years. Showing up on Charles Adler’s program, raising money for ChildFind and speaking to the media at every opportunity. Even pushing a bill proposal loosely named Tori’s law that calls for capital punishment for child killers. He has kept the promise he made at the beginning of the trial to be there and look his daughter’s accused killers in the eye.
It seems that despite their tragic loss one silver lining has come from this horrible event- both Tara and Rodney seem to be stronger people for it. Both of them have come a long way in the last three years. More action, more attention to the family and more cooperation with each other. If Tori were here she would be proud of both of them.
With the prosecution finishing their closing remarks today, the case will soon be in the jury’s hands. Tori’s family will not likely have to wait long now for the final resolution in this case. The last shred of justice to be served in Tori’s name. After that, the media will subside and Tori will become a memory for most of us. But for her family it will be just another day of trying to live without their beloved little girl.
So now, we await the verdict.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
By Pepper Parr
You heard it here first – Walk off the Earth will appear on the OLG stage June 17th at 3:45 pm.
That’s what 110 million YouTube hits and a slot on ELLEN will get you. What kind of a reception will the band get? Hard to tell. Will local guys make good go over in their home town? we`ll know that night won’t we.
 The people who run the Sound of Music in Burlington (this is the 33rd year the event has taken place) had a tough decision in front of them. Was the group available – of course they were available. They had to be on one of the stages and not a small stage either. What were they going to cost? More than the SOM had planned on spending. Before that viral wonder they were just another band struggling to get play dates – but now they had turned their 15 minutes of fame into careers where good management could get them into plays that had never heard of them before.
So, Dave Miller, SOM Executive Director, made the phone calls and put together a deal – the rest they say is history. We will get to see if this “viral” business makes any difference. You had to give then credit for a cool idea.
 By Pepper Parr
On Sunday “The Queen” will create two new Knights of the Realm and we will see Sir Paul of Sherwood and Sir Rick of Aldershot made knights as part of a visit the “Queen” is making to Ireland House on Sunday -Mother’s Day.
The event is part of a day of fun during which Ireland House will pay all kinds of attention to the Queen and the Monarchy – not that there is any relationship whatsoever between the Farm at Oakridge or the Royal Family for that matter, but it will be a nice day to have some fun in an ideal setting.
 This is how a "knighting" takes place today and each year the Queen knights a number of people. The event is one of those that the Museums of Burlington hold through the year. Joseph Brant did have a connection to Royalty, quite a strong one base on the evidence at the Brant Museum, but he is apparently not going to make an appearance with the impersonator filling in for “Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of this Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.”
There will be “tea with the Queen” at Ireland House in the afternoon and at some point there will be a ceremony that ‘knights’ Councillors Paul Sharman and Rick Craven. There is an excellent opportunity for those participating to learn more about the heraldry that surrounds Knights, and Lords, and Barons and Viscounts and Dukes.
Knights of the medieval era were asked to “Protect the weak, defenseless, helpless, and fight for the general welfare of all.” These few guidelines were the main duties of a medieval knight, but they were very hard to accomplish fully. Knights trained in hunting, fighting, and riding, amongst other things. They were also trained to practice courteous, honorable behaviour, which was considered extremely important. Chivalry (derived from the French word chevalier implying “skills to handle a horse”) was the main principle guiding a knight’s life style. The code of chivalry dealt with three main areas: the military, social life, and religion.
 When given a title the recipient has the right to create a "coat of arms". What would Paul Sharman and Rick Craven have chosen for their coat of arms. The military side of life was very important to knighthood. Along with the fighting elements of war, there were many customs and rules to be followed as well. A way of demonstrating military chivalry was to own expensive, heavy weaponry. Weapons were not the only crucial instruments for a knight. Horses were also extremely important, and each knight often owned several horses for distinct purposes. One of the greatest signs of chivalry was the flying of coloured banners, to display power and to distinguish knights in battle and in tournaments. Warriors were not only required to own all these belongings to prove their allegiance: they were expected to act with military courtesy as well. In combat when nobles and knights were taken prisoner, their lives were spared and were often held for ransom in somewhat comfortable surroundings. This same code of conduct did not apply to non-knights (archers, peasants, foot-soldiers, etc.) who were often slaughtered after capture, and who were viewed during battle as mere impediments to knights’ getting to other knights to fight them.
 Probably not attire that we will see on either Councillor Craven or Sharman Sunday afternoon at Ireland House. Certainly not for Craven - but with Sharman - you never know. Becoming a knight was not a widely attainable goal in the medieval era. Sons of knights were eligible for the ranks of knighthood. While other young men could become knights, in theory, it was nearly impossible for them to achieve that goal, especially for those from the lowest class. Those who were destined to become knights were singled out: in boyhood, these future warriors were sent off to a castle as pages, later becoming squires. Commonly around the age of 20, knights would be admitted to their rank in a ceremony called either “dubbing” (from the French adoubement), or the “Accolade”. Although these strong young men had proved their eligibility, their social status would be permanently controlled. They were expected to obey the code of chivalry at all times, and no failure was accepted.[citation needed]
Chivalry and religion were mutually influenced. The early Crusades helped to clarify the moral code of chivalry as it related to religion. As a result, Christian armies began to devote their efforts to sacred purposes. As time passed, clergy instituted religious vows which required knights to use their weapons chiefly for the protection of the weak and defenceless, especially women and orphans, and of churches.
Some of this could well apply to our Council members and Burlington society in general but for this Sunday afternoon it will be a day of fun and game playing as someone impersonating the queen will tap Sharman and Craven on the shoulder with a sword and declare: “Arise Sir Paul”.
The Code of Chivalry continued to influence social behaviour long after the actual knighthood ceased to exist, influencing for example 19th century Victorian perceptions of how a “gentleman” ought to behave up to today.
Hopefully neither will take the statement all that seriously.
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