By Staff
 BURLINGTON, ON August 12, 2011 Halton Regional Police Service is investigating a break and enter to a Greening Lane residence in Burlington.
Shortly after 3 a.m. on August 5th, a homeowner was awoken by a noise inside the house. The homeowner saw a shadow near the top of his stairs and called out. The suspect was startled and fled the house.
Investigation revealed the suspect had gained entry to the house by cutting a screen on a window at the rear of the residence. While inside the house the suspect had removed the homeowner’s wallet, a cell phone and camera from downstairs.
The suspect is believed to be a male party approximately 5’9″-5’10” with an average build.
Halton Regional Police remind homeowners to lock their backyard gates and to be mindful of not leaving windows unlocked especially during the hot summer months.
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).
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By Staff
 BURLINGTON, ON August 12, 2010 – The following beaches have high levels of bacteria and are unsafe for swimming:
Oakville
Coronation Park East,
Coronation Park West,
Bronte Beach Park
The Halton Region Health Department tests recreational water throughout Halton. Beach water samples taken on August 9 and 10 revealed the following beaches have acceptable levels of bacteria and are safe for swimming:
• Burlington – Beachway Park North, Beachway Park South
• Halton Hills – Prospect Park Old Beach
• Milton – Kelso Conservation Area
Residents can also call Halton Region to find out which beaches have acceptable levels of bacteria or which have been posted as unsafe for swimming due to poor water quality. Beach water quality information is available 24 hours a day by dialing 311 or calling 905-825-6000, toll free 1-866-442-5866 or TTY 905-827-9983. During regular business hours ask for beach information, and after regular business hours press 0 for health information.
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By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON, ON August 12, 2010 – She is certainly banging out the press releases and based on her words every announcement the government makes has a “crass political” purposes behind it. Peggy Russell is one tough lady – don’t mess with her.
 NDP candidate Peggy Russell supports the need for a hospital upgrade – she just doesn’t like the way the government apparently wants to pay for it. She says: “After 8 years of silence”, and an in less than 60 days “the McGuinty Liberal government finally found their way to Burlington’s waterfront to announce infrastructure support for Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. Ancaster Dundas Flamborough Westdale MPP Ted McMeekin was in town to make the announcement, surrounded by Liberal Party candidates.” Russell says she “was not surprised by this crass political move in the run up to an election. and says, “I have been an elected official during both the Harris and McGuinty governments and what has been clear in both cases is that between elections Burlington issues tend to get ignored and then come election time the promises begin. I have seen this story before.” She said exactly the same thing in the last press release. Someone get Peggy a dictionary.
“Also unsurprising” says Russell “is the Liberal Plan to finance the hospital expansion and modernization through a private financing scheme. While the full details of what is planned have not been released, the Liberal government has indicated that it will continue with the P3 model of funding that they have renamed AFP (Alternative Financing Plan). Given the significant cost overruns and service reductions that have happened under this model, first adopted by Mike Harris”, Russell says the community has good reason to be concerned.
 NDP candidate Peggy Russell says Ted McMeekin, Liberal Cabinet Minister, invited all his Liberal friends to the hospital upgrade announcement. He didn’t invite Russell and he apparently didn’t invite the sitting member Joyce Savoline either. “In Brampton this model meant an increased cost to taxpayers of over $200 million dollars. In Ottawa it has meant a reduction of 96 beds at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. McGuinty used to dismiss these private financing schemes as opposition leader but as Premier he has turned a Mike Harris pilot into an Ontario-wide private health plan.”
Them’s fightin words folks!
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By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON, ON August 11, 2011 – There he was, a top notch professional, an experienced hospital administrator trying to re-shape and redevelop a hospital that is badly in need of an upgrade, An institution that has not had any major work done on it for more than forty years in a community that has grown significantly in the past ten years with a population that is aging and in need of different kinds of care. A hospital that went through a deadly C difficile epidemic that cost 78 people their lives because the hospital was old and very hard to keep clean enough to prevent the spread of newer more virulent viruses.
 Nice guy, great at what he was hired to do. Got abused by the politicians. Made to stand up and basically say nothing. They had him up there on a platform, looking a little like a monkey on a chain tethered to an organ grinder who was peddling the same old tune. Poor Eric Vandewall had to stand up there and say what he has been saying for years, give me the funds I need and I will get you the hospital you need and deserve.
He is the President and Chief Executive Officer of one of the largest employers in the city and responsible for one of the most important institutions in the city. And he had to be excited and say how happy he was, and indeed he is happy, but he doesn’t yet know just how the government is going to get him the funds to build the hospital he has to run. And given that it looks as if the provincial government is going to go the Alternative Funding Plan route(the government doesn’t have the money to pay for the hospital) – Vandewall may not have all that much say in just what kind of a hospital he will get to run. They’ve got the guy tending to the minutia and not focusing on the bigger picture and ensuring he has the best team he can recruit to give the community the hospital it needs and deserves.
A member of the provincial government was on hand at the “announcement” event to spout for more than ten minutes, assuring the community that the hospital was going to be redeveloped. That it was going to happen.
Of course it is going to be redeveloped. The question is exactly when and how much has the government actually committed to the project. Where are the time lines ? Where are the funds ?
The event was an announcement of “historic” proportions. What was historic about repeating what has been known for some time – that the government is going to re-build the hospital ? They couldn’t not re-build, not if they want to have a hope in Hades of ever getting elected in Burlington. It’s been a long time since a Liberal represented Burlington in the Legislature – 43 years and counting.
Ted McMeekin, former Mayor of Flamborough, former member of Hamilton’s city Council and now the MPP for Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Westdale was on hand to make the announcement along with MPP Sophia Aggelonitis, MPP for Hamilton Mountain who is also the Minister of Revenue for the province and the Minister Responsible for Seniors as well.
Aggelonitis was supposed to be on hand for the announcement but was reported to be struck in QEW traffic. This on the day that Premier Dalton McGuinty announced that if the GO trains were more than 15 minutes late riders would have the cost of their fare refunded. Aggelonitis could have taken the GO train like the rest of us and been on time.
Vandewallderwall must have wondered why he spent so much money on renting a fancy white tent that was filled with just about every politician drawing a paycheck – and there were a lot of those on hand, each congratulating themselves on how wonderful this announcement was.
What announcement? Nobody said anything new. We weren’t told how much money the government has committed to the redevelopment of the hospital. We weren’t told when construction would start – not one single dollar amount was mentioned nor was one date mentioned.
Liberal Candidate Karmel Sakran, who sat on the hospital board and was on the committee that hired Vandewal said after the press conference that all one had to do if they wanted to know what was being spent was do some research. Wonderful idea but there are no numbers on the hospital web site nor are there any construction start dates. It was a little on the embarrassing side for Sakran. Here he is, running for office with a campaign that is in very good shape, doing all the right things and ahead of his competition who has yet to open her campaign office and he finds himself sitting in a room with everyone waiting for an announcement that really didn’t get made.
The press conference was originally going to be on the Tuesday but got moved forward a day. One would think the government could plan things well enough to ensure that the Minister making the announcement could get into the riding the Liberals have a slightly better than even chance of winning and have at least a shot at the Halton seat.
Ted McMeekin, member for Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Westdale has shoved Joyce Savoline aside and is doing every media event he can. Savoline, the current MPP for Burlington, is the Progressive Conservative member of the opposition for Burlington, was not at the event. McMeekin , said he had called Savoline four times but she never got back to him. A very reliable source informed me that Savoline apparently wasn’t invited and was very disappointed because the hospital was one of her favourite projects.
After the dignitaries had done their bit, McMeekin said the reason dollar figures were not announced was that the government didn’t want to say publicly what was going to be spent so that contractors wouldn’t know how much money was going to be available. What a crock! Either McMeekin didn’t know – unlikely, or he had been told that announcement would get made by Aggelonitis. Or the government doesn’t want to talk at this time about their Alternative Funding Plan, whichever, it was a cock-up on the part of the government and a waste of everyone’s time.
In his press release Mayor Goldring said: “Phase 1 of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital redevelopment is more than $300 million. The planned local share is $120 million. The Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation has committed to raising $60 million through a fundraising campaign in addition to the city’s contribution of $60 million.” The city already has $4.8 million sitting in a bank account and they are going to sit on it until there is a rock solid Memorandum of Understanding in place. The city’s money may get used to build the parking garage. How embarrassing.
It was a non-event, waste of taxpayers money – and all apparently because Minister Aggelonitis couldn’t get to Burlington on time to tell the whole story and tell us just how many big bucks were going to be spent.
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON August 11, 2011 — The dance cards are beginning to fill up with the Chamber of Commerce announcing they will put on their traditional all candidate event to help businesses make an informed decision about their vote for Burlington’s next Member of Provincial Parliament.
The event is to take place September 27 at what is now the Burlington Hotel & Conference Centre. Used to be the Holiday Inn on South Service Road just east of Guelph Line.
Registration desk opens at 7:30 a.m. with a continental breakfast. The question and answer session runs from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The meeting is free to Chamber members and costs $10.00 (including HST) for non-members. You must sign up in advance.
All candidates have confirmed their attendance at what will be a moderated question and answer session where attendees can ask questions of each of the candidates. We don’t do debates in Burlington, which is unfortunate for debate brings out the strengths and weaknesses in candidates. Can you imagine the national TV networks doing a moderated Question and Answer session. Debate allowed Brian Mulroney to show a side of John Turner we had never seen before. Imagine too – John Diefenbaker in a moderated session. But this is Burlington.
The event is sponsored by the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington.
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By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON, ON August 6, 2011 – It was a brief ceremony, I mean we were doing a photo-op for the opening of a splash pad at a 40 year old public swimming pool that was badly in need of an upgrade, so it had to be mercifully brief, and it was..
 Those yellow shorts belong to one of the city’s General Manager’s – and it isn’t Kim Phillips. It was a “casual” event. Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor has been fighting at council committee meetings for some of the federal gravy to spill into his ward and today he was there to see the reward on the table. The governments of Canada and Ontario have each committed $825,000 to the project, while the City of Burlington will contribute the balance of the total project cost of $2.475 million that upgraded forest trails, paved paths, put in a seating area; added a playground, a multi-use court with basketball and skate elements, in addition to an enhanced entrance and screened parking. The project also brought enhancements to the outdoor pool area, which includes a new splash pad that features a large water play structure and water play elements.
Taylor also let his community know that there was even more gravy coming their way. He proudly announced that City Council had approved funds in the 2012 budget to add an upper level and a small community centre with meeting rooms. Architects have been hired with an opening scheduled for sometime in 2013. The pool is set in what is a 30 acre park.
Mike Wallace, MP for Burlington; Ted McMeekin, MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale; and John Taylor, Ward 3 Councillor and Deputy Mayor of Burlington, participated in the celebration of this important community recreational infrastructure project. Acting Director of Parks and Recreation and some of his staff were also on hand.
 It took a lot of stick handling for Councillor John Taylor to get to this point. Next for the community – an expanded community centre in the 30m acre park. “Stimulating the economy and creating new opportunities for healthier, more active living in our communities supports Building Together, Ontario’s long-term infrastructure plan. In Burlington, Building Together is helping to repair, rebuild and renew our sport and recreational facilities, providing spaces for families to enjoy for years to come,” said MPP McMeekin, who was apparently filling in for MPP Joyce Savoline who appears to be missing in action.
“One of the most significant things about this project for me, was that while enhancing the pool and park we were still able to meet the community’s objectives of preserving the remarkable forest and natural area,” said Ward 3 Councillor and Deputy Mayor John Taylor who was subbing for the mayor who is on vacation. This was a project Taylor really wanted for his community.
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON August 10th, 2010 – When you get nominated just 71 days before the election and the President of the political party association doesn’t show up and nor does the sitting member, you know one thing – there is trouble in paradise.
We are in the process of interviewing every candidate and have given Progressive Conservative Jane McKenna a little more time to pull her team together. She may be looking for someone to decorate her office.
 Peggy Russell Burlington’s NDP candidate Meanwhile, NDP candidate Peggy Russell says she is suspicious of Liberal promises. She said in a press release that “after 8 years of silence, the Liberal government recently indicated that we might soon see an announcement in regards to our hospital. Now, the McGuinty Liberals also appear to have suspended their plans to push a new highway through sensitive Niagara Escarpment lands in Burlington.” Russell says she was not surprised by these crass political moves in the run up to an election.”
“I have been an elected official during both the Harris and McGuinty governments and what has been clear in both cases is that between elections Burlington issues tend to get ignored and then come election time the promises begin. I have seen this story before.” And Peggy is surprised at this? The New Democrats did much the same thing when they formed a government – except they didn’t last long enough to form a second government. Few have forgotten the Rae Days
“Liberal Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne has only made a vague promise (it really wasn’t a vague promise – she just didn’t follow up or through on her words) at a local Liberal Party organized event. But, what does it mean? The Government of Ontario website has no record of the Minister’s local promise or a changed government position on the mid-peninsula highway, at least yet, and the Minister did not cancel the ongoing study for the proposed highway. No announcement has been made about how the Liberals will deal with the congestion and transportation needs of this area.”
Feisty isn’t she?
 Liberal candidate Karmel Sakran stands proudly before the sign being installed outside his campaign office on Guelph Line Karmel Sakran, the Liberal candidate made a strategic decision not to have a campaign office on Fairview Avenue, the traditional location for campaign offices in Burlington but instead opened his in a small plaza on Guelph Line, south of Upper Middle Road and North of the QEW. Karmel thought he might open a small sand that people could drop by for a chat outside the campaign office.
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON August 10, 2011 Taken the bus in Burlington recently? Not that many people do take the bus. Students use public transit because they have to; seniors sometimes have to because they don’t drive and people on limited incomes just can’t afford a car – so it’s public transit for them.
 New bus cuts through a ribbon at the opening of the new Transit Operations Centre. Lot of city hall talent on hand to cut a ribbon. How much did it cost to have them all there to get their picture taken? Did they take the bus or did they drive individual cars? Burlington is a car city – most houses have two cars in the garage or driveway. If you want to get around Burlington quickly – you drive. The city gives its employees the choice of a transit pass or free parking. Guess which most choose ?
The city spends a lot of money on its transit system and many feel the busses we have on the road aren’t effectively used. Council member Paul Sharman got himself electe4d on a transit issue and he is the most forceful member when it comes to talking about transit at Council and committee meetings.
Burlington decided a number of months ago that a detailed study of what we have in the way of transit service and brought in a consulting form to finds out who uses the transit service and what the public feels they should have in the way of transit services.
Mayor Rick Goldring is a big advocate for greater use of public transit but he drives a car provided by the city and says that he uses his bicycle but I’ve never seen even a picture of him on his bicycle. If asked when they last used public transit very few, if any, members of Council would tell you they use the public transit system.
The city wants to develop a Transit Master Plan. The consulting that will precede the development of a Plan is being called The Road ahead. When the proposals for the consulting contract came in Council members later said they knew almost instantly which firm they were going to go with. The details and ideas in the proposal from Dillon Consulting were so far superior to all the others that it was a pretty simple exercise to choose who to go with.
 The John Street terminal can get really busy at rush hours – yes there are actually rush hours at this location. Advertising pulls in some revenue for the city. There will be significant public input – and that means the public gets to make comments. Think about what we need in the way of transit; what would it take to get you to use transit ? Do you know what the bus routes are in your community? Does public transit even matter to you?
Burlington as a city is now much more attuned to public engagement – city hall staff (not all of them yet) are learning to listen and to go out to the community for comment and ideas. The public needs to get better at responding to these opportunities to participate in the decision making process.
The purpose of the Transit Master Plan is to attempt to get a sense as to what the public will want in the way of public transit – and with gas well above $1.25 a litre transit has to get at least a look. The purpose of the plan is to conduct a comprehensive review of Burlington’s conventional transit services and to develop a Transit Master Plan covering the period 2012 – 2021.
The main objectives of study is to provide recommendations that will significantly increase the use of transit, improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of transit service in Burlington, develop technology and marketing plans and review options for the downtown terminal.
The Route Ahead will include an implementation plan that will lead Burlington Transit to the next level of ridership growth. A key component of this study will involve consultation with transit customers, community groups/organizations, and the public at large to determine their views of the Burlington Transit system and obtain input on strategic directions.
The first of the several methods of getting involved in this study and providing input will be the Let’s Talk Transit” Drop in Centre that will hold two sessions on August 24th. One at the Burlington Seniors Centre from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Deputations will begin at 2:30 pm. The second session will take place at City Hall in the evening from 6:00 to 9:00 pm Room 247
Dillon Consulting will be hold a series of Focus Groups in September and October with residents and stakeholders that have an interest in transit services. These two sessions will be facilitated discussions focused on the overall vision for Burlington Transit, key markets for increasing ridership and strategic directions for moving forward. Participants are not required to be transit users; only to have an interest in the future of Burlington Transit.
If you would like to participate, send an e-mail under the subject of “Focus Group” to TheRouteAhead@burlington.ca and provide a brief description of your interest in this study. Participation is voluntary and numbers will be limited.
In mid September, there will be an Onboard Transit User Survey. Passengers will be able to complete a survey that will probe key information on demographics, trip making characteristics and attitudes concerning transit.
A Public Information Session will be held in the late fall to present consultation results, study findings and potential directions and obtain feedback from the public prior to finalizing study recommendations.
The Study is expected to take approximately six months to complete. The presentation of the study recommendations to council is scheduled to occur in mid December 2011.
Comments from the public are both welcomed and encouraged. I would add they are expected.
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By Staff
BURLINGTON, OM August 10, 2011 – Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services affirmed Halton Region’s AAA credit rating. The same organization recently downgraded the credit rating of the United States to a AA- with negative implications.
This is the twenty-second consecutive year that the Region’s credit rating has been affirmed the Standard and Poor’s. The published review that is part of the affirmation is attached.
“Reaffirmation of Halton Region’s high credit rating is extremely important and excellent news for our residents because it ensures the Region and our Local Municipalities are able to borrow money at the lowest possible financing rates in the capital markets, minimizing the longer term costs of infrastructure capital. The Region’s lower costs can then be passed on to our taxpayers in the form of lower tax increases, said Regional Chair Gary Carr – and we are pretty sure his tongue wasn’t in his cheek when he said that.
When any of the municipalities within the Region need to borrow funds for long term development or operational purposes they go to the markets and float a bond that is offered by the Region. The Region’s credit rating is thus the credit rating for Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills – so we all have a better credit rating than the United States.
Over the last five years, the average annual tax increase for Regional programs and services has been approximately half a per cent – one of the lowest among municipalities in Canada.
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By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON August 10, 2011 – The media people at the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital will be making an historic announcement Wednesday afternoon.
And you know what that means. The Liberal government will announce that oodles of money will flow to Burlington to begin the long needed upgrade and improvements to the hospital that has had the same foot print for more than 40 years.
That wouldn’t be because there is an election taking placed in just over 60 days would it? Burlington has been represented in the Legislature by the Progressive Conservatives for more than 43 years but the Liberals seem to sense there is an opportunity to take the seat this time around and they also seem prepared to finally come up with the funding they have been talking about for years.
The Liberals must be dancing in the streets.
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By Pepper Parr with excerpts from Brian Heagle’s Facebook page.
BURLINGTON, ON August 9, 2010 – Interest in the provincial election has begun to heat up. The candidates have opened up their campaign offices and before long you will see them at your door. All three political parties are holding BBQ events and fund raisers and we can expect to see lawns on signs in the near future.
My colleague, and frequent subject of news stories, Brian Heagle, has asked: “Do you think social media will really make a difference in the upcoming Provincial election? In Burlington’s case, none of the candidates have much of a presence, commitment or following – so far.”
As you may know, Liberal’s Karmel Sakran’s website has been up and running for awhile, but I haven’t found a specific one yet for NDP’s Peggy Russell.
 Peggy Russell wants to bring her ten years of political experience at a school board trustee to the provincial legislature. If she manages to win the seat she will be a voice to be reckoned with – if she wins. At present, Burlington voters will find little in terms of local issues being highlighted (although Liberal’s News section does include some items/links, including “hospitals, not highways” messaging). In terms of local candidates, voters may also have to dig deeper than websites if they really want to know and compare them (Liberal’s Biography offers a few brief details but PC’s Bio is somewhat vague, including references to “community leader” and “self-educated entrepreneur” but without providing leadership or business positions held).
In other words, it seems media types will be heavily reliant on Our Burlington to be informed and engaged. Of course, it’s also up to us citizens to step forward, get engaged and then vote. Too often we seem to neglect that part of the civic engagement formula for elections.
However, social media may not be at a stage yet where it will have much influence, at least not in Burlington. Lots of thoughtful comments on my Facebook page when I posted this week about the role of social media in politics.
Cory Judson, campaign manger for Peggy Russell the NDP candidate tends to not let a day go by without sending out half a dozen notes to his friends. It can get a little much at times but he is an NDP trooper and nothing is going to stop him.
 Sakran has all kinds of community experience that should serve him well and he has made inroads with the Conservative crowd in the city. Will that be enough to deliver a seat to the Liberals that the Conservatives have held for more than 43 years? A recent research report said Small Business people are not all that keen on Social Media and that 47% don’t make any use of it. Suggesting that political campaigns are similar to a small business operation isn’t that much of a stretch
It isn’t clear yet what the over riding issue is going to be for the Burlington and Halton ridings –although the Niagara to Greater Toronto Area highway (NGTA) is certainly going to be front and center.
Some elections turn out to be a battle between the leaders; others are about clear cut issues province wide. That doesn’t seem to be the case yet – we probably won’t know until Labour Day. Burlington’s Strategic Plan is going to have NGTA stamped all over the thing.
 McKenna said at her nomination that she had 71 days to win the provincial election – that’s certainly a challenge for an untested candidate but she has Ron Foxcroft and Keith Strong in her corner – and those two are certainly not political lightweights. So Heagle asks: Okay, Burlington, is this single local issue (the proposed NGTA highway) enough to sway your vote on October 6? Jane McKenna, the Burlington Progressive Conservative candidate supports her Leader’s position – build a highway through the Escarpment because it will create jobs. The Liberals have promised not the build a highway through the Escarpment. The NDP doesn’t want the high built.
www.votesakran.ca/Biography
www.votesakran.ca
Full disclosure: Brian Heagle has run as a municipal candidate and put himself forward as a candidate for the Progressive Conservative nomination but withdrew before the nomination meeting was held. Heagle was at one point being groomed as a Liberal candidate by the late John Boich.
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By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON, ON August 8, 2011 – You heard it here first. The receiving and opening of the bids for the construction of the Brant Street Pier has been moved from Wednesday August the 10th to Wednesday August 17th – and that is good news.
Seven companies picked up the data package from the city. Recall those were:
- ConCrete USL Limited
- Toronto Zenith Contracting Limited
- Belor Construction Ltd
- Rankin Construction Inc.
- Bot Construction
- PCL Construction Canada Inc.
- Graham Infrastructure
The city would have liked to have seen the bids in by the 10th of August but the rules of the game allow the city to extend the deadline if it is felt the contractors need more time. Another rule in the public tender approach allows any contractor to ask questions but the questions asked and the answers given by the city’s engineering department get sent to every contractor who picked up the tender package with all the data in it.
And the contractors have been asking questions. The asking of questions is usually a good sign and senior people within city hall are very confident they will have very solid bids coming in from top rank firms.
The Engineering Department built in time to allow for additional questions from the pre-qualified vendors. Some of the questions will have been simple and some of the questions take time to respond to and of course the answer to one question sometimes generates follow up questions. Both the questions and answers get given to all the contractors.
 The city has extended the delivery date for bids on the completion of the Brant Street Pier. This is good news. Engineering department staff are making sure they exhaust all questions and give the contractors ample time to put together an attractive bid in terms of construction and cost. The project continues to be on schedule for reporting to Committee this fall where the Engineering department will give their recommendation to a Council Committee and then it goes to a Council meeting where the final decision is made.
Mayor Rick Goldring said the Pier will get built – and yes it is going to cost quite a bit more than originally planned. Taking it down will apparently cost just as much to complete the thing. And, as Councillor Jack Dennison pointed out, we cannot expect to recover anything from the civil suit unless we build the Pier – not sure why that’s the case – must look into that for you.
Let’s see what the bids are on the 17th.
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By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON, ON August 5, 2011 – Why, one might ask. Would you do a piece on someone who was given an award several months ago ? Good question. Couple of reasons; during the presentations we don’t hear very much about the “real work” the Civic Recognition award winners do. The speakers are limited to three minutes and with every one of these award winners there is a really interesting and significant story.
One of the first academic papers Dr. James Henry, who is quick to point out that he is not an MD, but an academic who teaches and does research, was to one of the Nobel Committees. That is not to say that he is a Nobel Laureate, but that he presented a paper to one of the Nobel Committees that keeps abreast of all the scientific research taking place around the world. The type of recognition early in a career is quite unusual.
 James Henry, PhD Professor Emeritus, McMaster University We found that trying to set up ,meetings with the people who were recognized by the city of Burlington took time and when we finally got through to them – their schedules were packed. Today we want to tell you more about Dr. James Henry, a North Shore Road resident who was recognized as the Senior of the Year. Don’t think wheelchair when you read the word Senior. Dr Henry is as active now as he was when supervising doctoral students at McMaster University where he is a Professor Emeritus, which he explains is a professor who has an office, a lab, a work load, some grant money that he sources, but no salary. I neglected to ask if he got a free indoor parking space.
He served as Professor, Scientific Director, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care, Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, and Anesthesia at McMaster University. Dr. Henry started out at McGill University, one of the, if not the Premier universities in the Country.
Dr Henry holds an endowed chair in central pain at McMaster University. He received his PhD in physiology from the University of Western Ontario in 1972 and, appointed as professor of physiology and a professor of psychiatry at McGill University from 1977 to 2002. In 2000, he was awarded the Millennium Distinguished Career Award of the Canadian Pain Society. While at McGill he founded the Quebec Pain Research Initiative. He also founded the Canadian Consortium on Pain Mechanisms, Diagnosis and Management, which is comprised of 40 top pain researchers in a multidisciplinary Canadian think-tank to promote pain research, improve pain management and to disseminate information on pain to patients, practitioners and policymakers. He is also president and chairman of the board of the Canadian Pain Foundation, and is a past-president of the Canadian Pain Society. He is the associate editor of Pain Research and Management. In 2002, he moved to the University of Western Ontario, to create and chair the new Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and in 2005 took up his current position at McMaster.
Being recognized by your community seems like small potatoes when measured against that impressive list of accomplishments. All the titles and the awards don’t quite give you the full measure of the man. He speaks of a “social contract” by which he means the understanding he has that he has been richly rewarded and is now expected to return something to the society within which he lives. “I am in a poison now to do that and it disappoints me that no one else seems to be doing this.”
He is now retired from the faculty of McMaster University but is in their telephone directory as a Professor Emeritus, “which means I get an office, a lab and can spend the grant money that I source” but I’m not on the payroll.”
“I supervise a group of doctoral students, read papers and attend conferences sometimes and I sail my little boat on the bay” he explains if you ask him what he is doing these days.
His views on the academic atmosphere at McMaster are not all that kind. Dr. Henry found that the prevailing social structure was one of “cliques” and that one was expected to fall in line. The peer pressure was significant and some of the expectations unrealistic. So he retired and got involved in pain management and did some research on what pain really is.
 “I ran an advertisement in the newspaper and was just a little stunned with the response. I thought there might be 200 responses max – we got 350 responses”. Out of the advertisement came two groups; one in Burlington and another in Guelph that each held monthly meetings to talk about pain and how it can best be managed.
People who have to live with chronic pain don’t know what personal dignity is all about – the pain they experience is so debilitating and constant. Many in society think pain is something that one can adjust too – “not true” according to Dr. Henry.
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 BURLINGTON, ON August 4, 2011 – Chrissy writes in response to the piece we did on the Joseph Brant Day event at LaSalle Pavilion last holiday weekend. We had suggested there was precious little to see or hear about Joseph Brant at the event and Chrissy had this to say.
“I personally thought the event displayed the history of Burlington phenomenally! I do not necessarily think that the event is held to solely focus on Joseph Brant’s entire life, but rather Joseph Brant as one of Burlington’s first settlers. The event is meant to be a day filled with family fun and to celebrate Burlington’s heritage! I personally loved the event, and as did my family and friends! I think the citizens of Burlington also really enjoyed the event from what I gathered!”
“In addition, you have a spelling error in your article. I believe you mean to say heard, rather than hard. A funny spelling error, I must add.”
Oh dear, another spelling error – thanks for bringing it to our attention Chrissy. Spell checkers just aren’t what they used to be.
Readers are invited to make comments and express their opinions on anything we publish. If there is a degree of controversy in your remarks (and we certainly know what controversy is) we need to be able to actually speak to you before publishing your remarks. Use the Comments tab just under the masthead.
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By Staff
 BURLINGTON, ON August 4, 2011 The Halton Region Health Department tests recreational water throughout Halton. Beaches are selected based on use for swimming and other water sports.
Beach water samples taken on August 2 revealed the following beaches have acceptable levels of bacteria and are
safe for swimming:
- Burlington – Beachway Park North, Beachway Park South
- Halton Hills – Prospect Park Old Beach
The following beaches have high levels of bacteria and are unsafe for swimming:
- Milton – Kelso Conservation Area
- Oakville – Coronation Park East, Coronation Park West, Bronte Beach Park
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON August 4, 2011 Is it really going to be THE defining issue during the provincial election that has now begun to gain some momentum? There is certainly going to be a lot of chatter with everyone looking for a way to get their two cents worth in.
 The arrow tells the story in the clearest possible language – that is where the province has said in the past it wants to build a highway. Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne said recently that there wouldn’t be a highway built through the Escarpment – but not everyone believe her and the Progressive Conservatives have been very clear – they will build a highway through the Escarpment.
What got his ball rolling – and it was just waiting for a bit of a push – was the visit to the city by Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Transportation for the province. She was brought into town by Liberal candidate Karmel Sakran to take part in a closed door Round Table that included Mayor Goldring, Regional Chair Gary Carr, Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor who has been a tireless fighter for the preservation of the Escarpment, and the Liberal Candidate for Halton Indira Naidoo-Harris. Geoff Brock and Susan McMaster of the Stop Escarpment Highway Coalition (SEHC) were also on hand.
Wynne told the media after the Round Table session that Ontario’s Liberal government has no plans to pave over the escarpment, according to Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne, who was in Burlington yesterday to discuss the controversial Niagara to GTA corridor.
Wynne assured local politicians and citizens’ groups gathered that the provincial Liberals aren’t moving forward with a 33-km highway that connects Hwy. 403 in Ancaster to north Burlington.
“People need to move around. There is congestion on the roads and we need to address that. But we don’t need to destroy environmentally-sensitive land in order to do that,”
“The fundamental thing I hear is that people in this community are very concerned about a road that will disrupt a sensitive environmental area that really is the basis of the quality of life in the area. That’s why our government stepped back from this.”
The event, which took place in Burlington was organized by Liberal candidates Karmel Sakran (Burlington), Indira Naidoo-Harris (Halton) and Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale MPP Ted McMeekin. Given who the sponsors were – what did you think the Minster was going to say – add to that, if they play their cards right, the Liberals have a decent chance of taking both the Burlington and Halton seats.
During the session Minister Wynne made the comment that while she is the Minister of Transportation the people she directs tend to see themselves as employees of the old Department of Highways – and as the Minister pointed out, highways are one mode of transportation, but she directs a ministry made up of people who are deeply ingrained and committed to the construction of highways – and indeed Ontario has some magnificent roads.
 Burlington Councillor John Taylor, probably the most vocal and persisitent person on Council when it comes to the Escarpment and how to defines the city makews a point at the Roundtable held in Burlington recently.
Taylor said in an interview that he has met with the Minister on previous occasions and believes what she has to say. “She gets it” said Taylor but he added that to the best of his knowledge the Minister has never actually driven through the area.
One of the ideas the SEHC people had was to arrange for bus tours through the Escarpment for people who live in Burlington but don’t fully realize how magnificent a piece of geography we have and the damage that a highway would do to that part of the city.
Taylor, who has been fighting to ensure that urban development doesn’t take place north of Highway 5 (Dundas) had to give in a bit when the 407 was put through in 2000 and live with development between Highway 5 (Dundas) and the 407. He believes fervently that if there is an NGTA highway, development will go up so fast between the existing 407 and wherever a new highway is built that the Burlington we know will disappear before our eyes. NGTA is the acronym for Niagara Greater Toronto Area highway that has in the past been called the Mid Peninsula highway.
Developers salivate when they think about the opportunities to build homes should a road cut through the Escarpment. Local farmers would think they were on their way to heaven and able to think of retiring to the sunny south with nary a winter driveway to be cleared. Ward 1 Councilor Rick Craven argues that much of the land north of the 407 is already in the hand of patient developers.
 Looks do tell and it doesn’t look at if Mayor Goldring on the left is buying what Minister Kathleen Wynne is selling. Karmel Sakran, in the middle, is just delighted that the Minister is in the riding mentioning his name. Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring liked what the Minister had to say but if the photograph is any indication of what Goldring really thinks – well you can almost see the grains of salt he is taking with the words he is hearing. Goldring makes the comment that the announcement is nice but adds that there was nothing in the way of an announcement from the Ministry of Transportation about the highway. What we got was a politician rolling through town handing out promises. And keep in mind that this will be the last election for Premier Dalton McGuinty – which means a leadership contest when he decides to resign – and Kathleen Wynne is being talked up as a potential for the Office of the Premier
SEHC has chosen to celebrate what Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne had to say – that Ontario’s Liberal government will not move forward with a highway that would cut across the Niagara Escarpment and Halton Region’s Natural Heritage System to connect Highway 403 in Ancaster to North Burlington.
“Ontario needs a modern, multi-modal transportation system if we want to stay economically competitive and decrease commuting times,” says SEHC spokesman Geoff Brock. “We are pleased the Province recognizes this and is willing to take another look at its transportation plans.”
 These signs popped all over North Burlington in February – Do they represent the feelings of the people south of the QEW? The 11-member SEHC, composed of citizens’ groups from Niagara to Oakville, worked with the City of Burlington, the Region of Halton and MPP Ted McMeekin, to oppose to the highway. The SEHC also commissioned a Natural Capital Study to highlight the $912 million value of green infrastructure services that would be lost if the highway were to be built.
“The quality of the Natural Capital Study and the value of its analysis certainly deserved the attention it received from the Minister,” said Susan McMaster of Citizens Opposed to Paving the Escarpment, a Member of the SEHC.
“We are pleased that Minister Wynne saw the logic in our group’s position: a highway isn’t needed now and, with gas prices rising rapidly, certainly won’t meet Ontario’s needs in years to come,” said McMaster.
SEHC – the Stop the Escarpment Highway Coalition is made up of 12 groups with a combined membership of 7,000 people. Citizens Opposed to Paving the Escarpment (COPE), Oakvillegreen Conservation Association, Lowville Area Residents Association (LARA), BurlingtonGreen, Coalition of the Niagara Escarpment (CONE), Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (PERL), Milton Green Citizens Group, Environment Hamilton, Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society, Sidrabene Latvian Camp, Cedar Springs Community.
The organization came together during an early February meeting when the city and a mixed group of local activists met to talk about a joint response to the surprising announcement from the province that it wanted certain data inserted into both the Regional Official Plan and Burlington’s Official Plan. Councilor Taylor spear-headed a public meeting that brought some 800 + people out to a local arena and more than a couple of dozen to their feet to protest against the idea of a road cutting through the Escarpment. That public meeting saw both the MPP from Burlington, Joyce Savoline and the MPP from Halton, Ted Chudleigh, troop to the front of the room and mumble a few words about listening to the community.
 View from Mt Nemo - If there is ever a highway cut through Escarpment land it will open up land like this to housing developments – and tear the heart out of what Burlington is as a city Flash fast forward to Mayor Goldring’s office last week, a day before he left for vacation and hear him say that “this issue is a hill he could die on”. The Mayor has a fine print of the Escarpment on the wall of his office.
In sharp contrast to the Liberal’s position, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak promises to build the highway if elected. The Niagara to GTA (NGTA) highway is expected to cost up to $6 billion. SEHC says the price is too high, not only in terms of destruction to valuable agricultural land and natural areas, but also because it will impair the Province’s ability to invest in the sustainable, multi-modal transportation system that citizens and businesses really need.
 For the SEHC people this as a pivotal issue in this fall’s Provincial election. The group is working to understand, and publicize, the position of all local provincial candidates on the highway as part of this year’s election so voters can make an informed decision on this issue.
The group is also looking to the Federal government to step up to the plate on transportation planning. Rail plays a major role in sustainable transportation planning and the Province can’t do it alone. So far the Federal government has been absent from the conversation. SEHC thinks this is unacceptable since rail is their responsibility. “Putting rail and a National Transport Policy on Ottawa’s agenda is a high priority for us,” said Brock.
 - Mayor Goldring and John Taylor at the Roundtable on the Escarpment. The Minister of Transportation certainly heard their words – did she feel the passion?
A number of people point out that the NGTA corridor has three parts to it and while the province might stall and hold back with the portion that was being planned for the Escarpment, if the other portions get built – they would then say they “have” to build the final portion. Thus Geoff Brock of COPE says “we have to be ever vigilant” and make sure that the Environmental Assessment never gets completed. Mayor Goldring is of the same mind. He says he will feel much better when he hears that the Environmental Assessment has been cancelled. At this point – it is still a task being done.
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By Barbara Teatero, Director of Museums
BURLINGTON, ON august 4, 2011 – For a family, fun-filled day our Joseph Brant Day festival is all about offering a wide variety of activities for multiple audiences yet still being true to our mandate to preserve, present and interpret the history of Burlington, of which Joseph Brant is a part. Many people stopped by our museums tables to learn more about the collections, the Renovation and Expansion of Joseph Brant Museum, Joseph Brant himself, and Marianne tells me she sold several copies of our book, Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea. Children loved making their native clan pendant and learning about its origins as well as having their picture taken beside our “Joe”. I don’t know that Joe went missing, he may not have been there in person (that would have been quite a feat since he died in 1807!) but he and Native Culture was woven throughout the entire event. YES, the hot dogs were good (excellent actually) and so was Sophisticated Swing!”
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Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON August 4, 2011 – There are advocates and then there are advocates. Some are fiery and loud other are more subtle and use the carrot instead of the stick. And then there is Carole Ward, recipient of the 2010 Civic Recognition Award for community service.
Quiet, unassuming but it doesn’t take long for what she thinks to come to the surface and she doesn’t bother to argue or disagree – she just gets on with getting it done. “When I see something is wrong, I do something was the way Ward explains her advocacy role. As for the recognition she was given by her community she thought it was “quite something”.
 Carole Ward, recipient of the Burlington 2011 Civic Recognition Award for Community Service. The daughter of a dentist, a woman who will tell you that once walked across the QEW – “there wasn’t as much traffic when I did that” – she explains, focuses on the quality of life. She lived in Aldershot as a young girl and has seen the community grow and it critically aware of how isolated life can be for seniors in that community.
“It would take me two buses if I had to use public transportation to get to the hospital”, which for Carole Ward is unacceptable. “We need to be thinking in terms of grouping services in a community. Walk in clinics should be where the supermarket is located and there could be a small branch of the library as well as a place where we could sit down and talk to our friends. Community is a large part of what Carole Ward believes brings quality to the life of people who are older and not as active. She is quick to point out that Burlington has a Senior’s Centre – in the middle of town – not close to the community she lives in.
Her husband Ralph passed away at the age of 65 from multiple Sclerosis and Ward spends a lot of her time educating people about “a terrible disease”. The public is much more aware of MS today and accessibility has improved considerably.
Ward doesn’t think the community is at all prepared for the “tsunami of seniors” that will need services and support. There will come a point where seniors will need help dressing and feeding themselves and many will want to stay in their homes for as long as they can, according to Ward and she doesn’t believe the community is at all prepared for the number of people who will need care and support.
Brian Heagle, a former Citizen of the Year – 2009 – tells how he was influenced by Carole Ward several years ago. “She shared her tremendous experience and knowledge on a wide range of subjects – and, consistent with her generous spirit, I also left with several pounds of materials.
More importantly, Carole gave me a renewed sense of what effective advocacy can mean. It was one of the first times that I had a detailed discussion on the topic with another local volunteer. In effect, while groups rightfully focus on fundraising, event-planning and other vital concerns for worthy causes – advocacy can also make a huge, lasting difference on our quality of life.
“I’ve noticed”, continued Heagle that, “since my chat with Carole that many organizations – from Heart & Stroke to the YMCA – have increasingly committed their time and resources to advocacy.
Carole’s insights was ahead of their time. Hopefully, Burlington is listening closely to the concerns that she is sharing and putting out into the community now about the inevitable “tsunami of seniors” will be heard and acted upon.
Heagle had hoped to be able to advocate for Burlington within the hallowed halls of Queen’s Park but his attempt to move out of the Liberal camp and into the Progressive Conservative party didn’t have the traction needed and so Heagle withdrew his nomination
Ward believes the city should be thinking in terms of community hubs built around the services people need and in locations where they can get outdoors and sit in gardens and interact with their friends and neighbours.
Burlington has and will continue to have for some time, one of the fastest growing seniors populations and while Ward doesn’t come right out and say so – she wonders why Burlington isn’t making plans today for that “tsunami” that she knows is coming.
Dental care of adults has been a concern of Carole Ward’s for as long as she has been involved in senior’s issues.
 Ward lives in a small bungalow on North Ashore Road, a short walk from LaSalle Park. Before retiring she taught geography and mathematics at the secondary level and the in a Learning Resource Centre for Special Education students.
Her Mother was a gardener she tells you and mentions “that we had dozens of the Civic Rose award plaques in the house”.
She thinks Mayor Rick Goldring understands the demographic change that is going to take place in Burlington in the very near future and that her Council member, Rick Craven is “marvelous”.
Ward sat on the Board of the Community Care Access Centre for Hamilton Niagara Haldimand and Brant, and understands at a strategic level, what the community can do to take care of people who need support. Funded by Local Health Integration Networks through the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, CCAC advice and services are covered by OHIP.
Each CCAC is staffed by caring and knowledgeable professionals who assess needs, determine requirements for care, answer questions and develop a customized care plan that meets individual needs. Ward was part of the governance process that ensured the real needs of real people were being met.
Burlington will release a draft Strategic Plan in September and Ward wonders if the needs of Seniors will be recognized and planned for in the document. Expect her top have some comments for the Mayor when the Strategic Plan draft is released.
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By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON, ON August 2, 2011 – He runs what is one of the largest departments in the city and the one that impacts most on most people – parks and recreation which includes programming in the more than a dozen community centers. The five Managers reporting to him run various sections of the operational side of parks and recreation while Chris Glenn manages the strategic thinking and ensuring that the department is within its budget.
Glenn, Director, Parks and Recreation, reports to General Manager of Community Services, Scott Stewart – the two are like a tag team at Council committee meetings. The current challenge for both Stewart and Glenn is a wholesale revision of the numerous Joint Venture agreements the city has with numerous groups in the city. “Some”, explains Glenn “were and understanding, while others are complex legal documents that involve not only the group the city is working with but third party groups as well”.
The Civic Rose Association wanted to be able to use a room in a city building and have the normal fee waived, the Burlington Gymnastics Club wanted to be able to sell food suitable to young athletes and wanted to run a small concession of their own. Each of these situations required someone within city hall to get an agreement or an understanding in place.
 Sitting at the western edge of Central Park and across the street from the YMCA Central Recreation is heavily used buy the community. The city has for some time wanted to get some standardization into the agreements and is working towards a “template” approach, where there is a core document with all the essential gotta have boiler plate the lawyers insist on in place.
The city currently has 23 joint ventures related to programs and services as part of a “supported” approach to the delivery of services. One of the largest is the joint venture with the Burlington Youth Soccer Club and the domes set up at their Fairview field.
The Joint Venture agreements, which are gong to be much more standardized and then tracked very carefully, are part of a different approach to the city’s relationship with community groups that will see minimal city staff involvement. Each Joint venture Agreement will establish the business arrangement; define roles and responsibilities; assign liability and risk and clarify each parties rights and responsibilities.
Parks and Recreation Director Chris Glenn explains that” many of these arrangements were done on a hand shake and no one remembers whose hand was being shaken at the time.” “And” he adds, “there was very little if any documentation.” When the Gymnastic Club turned up at a Council Committee meeting asking if they could have a concession stand at the Central Park Arena to sell the kind of quality food young athletes need instead of the French fries that are usually on offer – the city realized that here was another situation where there wasn’t an agreement in place to cover his kind of situation.
 Chris Glenn Acting Director for Parks and Recreation, on the far right in this picture, was part of the Strategic Planning team. He is in the process of creating standard Joint Venture agreements for community groups that use city facilities and bringing a more professional level of management to the department. At the time the city wan entering into an agreement with a concession operator and found themselves saying: “You can enter into an agreement with us but you can’t sell your stuff on these dates.” Kind of messy from a contract administration point of view.
The gymnasts by the way were given permission to sell their Power Bars and Gatorade and the event went off without a hitch. This was at a time when many of the departments human resources were being burned up dealing with the “elite cycling events” that eventually didn’t make it to Burlington.
Many municipalities in Ontario provide programs through direct delivery. The Burlington experience is with groups that are much more self sufficient and self-directed. Burlington, Niagara Falls and Haldimand County are at the 90% self directed level on a continuum of different models of service delivery.
The role of the Joint Venture organizations is to provide programs and services that meet specific community interests and increase the level of service available in the community. The groups will partner with the city with the objective of operating in a self sustaining mode that has the Joint Venture partner operating, maintaining, repair and renewing facilities.
 Seniors, one of the fastest growing parts of Burlington’s population have a centre of their own and take part in numerous programs they create and run. One of the more successful community operations While great in concept – it hasn’t worked out quite that way for the folks at the Burlington Gymnastics Club, where they find they need to put a new roof on the building and don’t have the finds to do so. They didn’t have a fund for this kind of repair and didn’t realize they were expected to pay for major repairs. The building was put in place by the city 40 years ago and the gymnastics people have kept it in decent shape. The understanding they had with the city made no mention of their having to pay for major repairs and as George Curran, Manager of Facilities at the Club explains it: “We just don’t have the money for an expense like this” and is hoping that the city can work something out with them. “I think we can pay for maybe half of a new roof” said Curran.
Glenn is sympathetic and realizes that it is going to take a bit of time to get all the new Joint Venture agreements in place and fully expects there will be some speed bumps that slow things down and maybe even some sensibilities that get bruised. While the city doesn’t expect to get “hard nosed” with the groups that put on the programs, they do insist that there be a change and that groups who felt that had almost “anytime” access to the eighth floor are finding that the passes they had don’t work anymore.
As part of this new operational understanding between the city and its Joint Venture partners Corporate Strategic Initiatives is undertaking “condition assessments” to determine just what the condition of the different facilities actually is and expect to have all the data collected by the fall. The city is looking into software that will improve efficiencies and allow all the agreements to be maintained and managed in the one location. One gets the sense that there were a couple of dozen agreements stuffed away in bottom drawers of desks or somewhere in a filing cabinet.
Parks and Recreation provides a considerable amount of financial support to the community. They funnel funds to various Boards in the city, they pay for the operation and upkeep of some facilities and offer one-time support to an initiative that has merit but needs a little pump priming to things flowing.
While the department is a large one it has not had the benefit of much in the way of policy and even less technology and professional management applied to their operations. With the creation of standardized Joint Venture agreements in place and an inventory of the condition of the numerous facilities they operate and then a data base that will feed them information on what has to be done when and what has to be paid or collected when – one can expect to see a much more efficient operation.
The objective is to have most of their work done by the end of this year so that they can align themselves with the Strategic Plan that is going through its finals stages and have a solid handle on the financials and fit nicely into the budget that will get developed for 2012.
There are some 525 sports and culture related organizations in the city and something in the order of 700 + small groups that don’t fit into a specific category. Civic Rose and the Rotary Memorial Tree program are examples of the latter. While that’s a lot of organizations to deal with it speaks well of a city that has organized itself and works, for the most part, quite well with city hall. It wasn’t always that way with Parks and Recreation.
Parks and Recreation manages seven arena and recreation centres. The newest, Appleby Ice Centre is joined by Central Recreation Centre, Mainway Recreation Centre, Mountainside Arena, Nelson Arena and Skyway Arena which may not have that much longer to exist if the sentiment around the Council table reflects the reality in the community.
It is a large department with five managers reporting to him. They include:
Manager of Recreation Services
Manager of Facility Operations and Special Projects
Manager or Parks and Open Space
Manager of Community Development
Manager of Business Services
 A great idea that hasn’t met expectations. The location is costing more than the revenue it produces. The Mansion needs a re-think in terms of where it fits in the locations run by the Parks and Recreation department. The land was originally deeded to Laura Secord for her heroics during the War of 1812 The department also runs the Paletta Mansion in the east end of the city and the LaSalle Pavilion in the west end, as well as the Tyendaga Golf course, which just over a year ago was losing tonnes of money. That problem got resolved and the golf club is on a much better footing but resolving that issue brought forward the question: What businesses should the city be in? Is a golf club a legitimate city business? And where is the money to run the different venues going to come from ? Paletta lost a big chunk of change last year and while it is a lovely setting and a fine building – it is limping financially.
Along with getting the existing plant and operations to the point where they are at least not losing money Chris Glenn has to deal with the three partner community centre in the Alton community. The arrangement up there is between the Catholic School Board the Halton District School Board, the Library and the city.
 Mayor Rick Goldring along with a Parks department staff member and Ward 6 Council member Blair Lancaster turn sod at the Palladium Way soccer field that will serve the needs of the community in the north east part of the community. Add to that – the General Brock Park deal seems to be falling off the table; the Catholic school Board cannot come up with the money to pay for its share of the properties and City Council is in no mood to take on an additional multi-million dollar expenditure.
And yet another project that is finally on track – the New City Park that will host teams practicing for the PanAm Games. This is not to the time to talk to Parks and Recreation about the missed opportunity that the PanAm Games presented Burlington.
 Meeting the recreational needs of the north western part of the city is a challenge. The xx community centre doesn’t get nearly enough community use and is closed as much as it is open. Some re-thinking to be done on this location as well. After summer jobs as a Life Guard Glenn’s parents insisted he go to university where he studied Marine Biology which seemed to be the closest subject he could find that would keep him near water. He got a job with the city in Parks and Recreation and except for a short stint with Human Resources he has been involved with recreation for the twenty years he has worked for the city.
Chris Glenn, lives in Oakville (why do so many of our senior people live in other cities and towns – maybe they don’t want to meet you at the supermarket on Saturday) and has been in the recreational field ever since he left the University of Guelph where he majored in Marine Biology. From that he quickly got into aquatics and recreation – which as Glenn explains it “wasn’t that big a jump – it all had to do with water”.
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By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON Aug 2, 2011 A batch of mosquitoes collected last week in Burlington has tested positive for West Nile virus (WNV). This is the first batch of positive mosquitoes found in the City of Burlington and the second batch in Halton Region this year. The mosquitoes were collected from the area of Guelph Line and New Street. The other batch of positive mosquitoes was collected in the Town of Oakville.
 How West Nile Virus is transmitted to human beings. Cover up. “West Nile virus in mosquitoes has had an early start this year and we still have two months for West Nile virus to be amplified in mosquitoes in Halton,” said Dr. Monir Taha, Associate Medical Officer of Health for Halton Region. “August and September are the months of highest risk for human illness with West Nile virus, which is most serious in older adults and persons with chronic illnesses. However, it is important that all Halton residents take measures to protect themselves from mosquito bites.”
Mosquitoes can transmit WNV to humans after becoming infected by feeding on birds carrying the virus. The following are steps that residents can take to protect themselves and their families from mosquitoes:
• Cover up. Wear light-coloured, long-sleeved shirts and pants with tightly-woven fabric.
• Avoid being outdoors from early evening to morning. This is when mosquitoes are most active and likely to bite, as well as at any time in shady, wooded areas.
• Reduce mosquito breeding sites around your home by getting rid of all water-filled containers and objects. Change the water in bird baths at least once per week.
• Use an approved insect repellent, such as one containing DEET.
DEET is a registered pesticide. DEET is short for N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (also known as N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide). You probably didn’t need to know that.
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BURLINGTON, ON August 12, 2011 Halton Regional Police Service is investigating a break and enter to a Greening Lane residence in Burlington.
