By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON July 27, 2011 – It took awhile, but the Burlington Progressive Conservative Association finally nominated a candidate. Jane McKenna was acclaimed in a very, very short nomination meeting – 15 minutes, and they were out the door.

It was a decent size meeting, maybe 100 people in the room but it had that eerie feeling the Cam Jackson municipal campaign had – a lot of very senior people sitting in those chairs. And there wasn’t much in the way of energy in the room. Were it not for the consistent clapping by federal MP Mike Wallace, there may not have been any applause.

A fresh face with no political experience other than a run for a seat on city council for a ward she didn’t live in.

The Progressive Conservative Association held it’s meeting without the presence of the President of the Association at the podium nor was the sitting member, Joyce Savoline in attendance. Both Burt Radford, president of the Association and Joyce Savoline were said to have had “other obligations”. There appeared to be some difference of opinion over whether or not the meeting was properly constituted but the concerns weren’t made public other than one member saying that he did have a copy of the association in his bag.

There is something not quite right with the Burlington Progressive Conservative Association – but they now have a candidate and while she has absolutely no political experience she does appear to have friends who support her. Ron Foxcroft got a specific mention and Keith Strong placed her name in nomination..

Rene Papin, the nice man who fell on his sword when it was suggested he wasn’t quite what the association was looking for, was in the room but Brian Heagle who after changing his political stripes from red to blue found that the change in colour wasn’t quite enough, bowed out of the race by saying that the failure to call a nomination meeting had left him hanging in the wind and he wanted to get on with his life and withdrew his name as well. Heagle didn’t make an appearance. Nor did former MPP Cam Jackson make an appearance. Any chance to rehabilitate his reputation in Burlington is going to have to start with his attending events like this.

McKenna looked great, was a little edgy and flushed at the podium, which didn’t have a microphone for the speakers, but there was a freshness to her. Given that Burlington tends to elect Tories – it is said that the city hasn’t elected a provincial Liberal since 1943 McKenna stands a chance. The extremely disappointing behaviour of both the sitting member and the association president are things McKenna is going to have to put behind her and create her own organizational and build her own campaign team. With just 71 days before the election she does have her work cut out for her.

McKenna did come up with one interesting bit of information when she said: “Ontario has almost 630 different Agencies, Boards and Commissions. Every one of them will be reviewed to ensure they are providing good value for the taxpayer. Our process will be straightforward. If it works, leave it alone. If it’s broken, fix it. If it cannot justify its existence, it goes. Great sound bite – now to get out on the streets and make the words real to the voters.

With candidates nominated by the three political parties that are active in Burlington the race is on. McKenna won’t have to beg for funds – there were enough deep pockets in the room to get out the coin from the membership.

She appears to have a pretty sharp tongue. During the municipal election she ran against Rick Craven in Ward 1, got trounced but certainly had her say. “I have the interests of all of Ward 1 at heart. The only knock on me, and it’s a non-issue in my mind, is that I don’t live in the ward – though I’ve got close family there and have worked full-time in Ward 1 for several years. If for whatever reason you’re hung up on geography, consider the fact that the mid-point between the incumbent’s home and my own is the Burlington Golf and Country Club; if you live east of there, I’m technically more your neighbour than the politician you’ve been paying for the last 10 years. And frankly, those 10 years have been sufficient. Most incumbents have been at it for long enough that they’ve shifted into maintenance mode. Competitive communities should never be satisfied with the status quo. Ward 1 in particular needs fresh leadership that respects the concerns of residents, that addresses the ward’s shortage of basic amenities and is prepared to work tirelessly toward a shared vision of community.

Karmel Sakran has been in the field for the Liberals for a number of months and has managed to pull two Ministers into the riding; Chris Bentley, the Attorney General made comments that will keep the Liberal base happy and Kathleen Wynne came to town to tell Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring and the people from the Stop Escarpment Highway Coalition that a road didn’t have to be built through the Escarpment. Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr says she promised “that the province will not proceed with the Niagara to GTA corridor through Burlington”. Promise is a big word with anyone but one that doesn’t have much credibility when it comes from politicians. It’s not that they don’t tell the truth; it’s that they have to satisfy the interests of every segment of society and everyone cannot be satisfied. We will track this one. Good for Sakran to pull that much political weight into the riding.

The NDP have Peggy Russell in place and so now the gates are open and we can begin tracking this one more closely.

Tim Hudak, the man who wants to form the next Ontario government, has decided that he will take the seats he can win in Hamilton and live with losing Burlington and perhaps Halton by taking the position tat the GTA corridor is necessary. Maybe he can have all those criminals he want to get out of their jail cells and earn their keep doing some of that road building – and then we can create a unique tourism industry and have people from around the country visiting and watching convicts break rocks with sledge hammers. Gives the provincial motto “Yours to Discover” a whole new meaning doesn’t it.

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By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON July 26, 2011 – Ever the eager beavers, the Councillor for Ward 2 and her able assistant have announced that there will be a Ward Two Citizens Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday July 27 at 7pm in Room 247 at City Hall.

Now that is dedication – on the part of both the Council member and her Advisory Committee. There is much for the Council member to report on. Might she advise her Advisors as to where things are with the Freeman Station project and what the real reason is for not going with the most logical location and the one that everyone thinks is the best location ? And where would that be? Spencer Smith Park of course

Would the answer lie in the three condominiums that lay to the North of Spencer Smith Park and just a little to the west of Maple ? Are the people with all that supposed clout, who frightened Councilor Craven and then Council member Peter Thoem now frightening Councillors Lancaster and Meed Ward?

One would like to believe that the interests of the larger community outweigh the petty, personal interests of people who get their phone calls answered – but maybe some people have more influence than others.

Locating the Freeman Station just beyond the two trees would have is sitting within yards of the old rail line that rank along the lake edge embankment that is now a walking path is the most logical place to put the building from an historical perspective. Those in the immediate neighbourhood who think it will mess up their sight lines need to re-think the position they’ve taken. The station is just a bit over a storey and a half high.

The Freeman Station belongs in the western section of Spencer Smith Park for numerous reasons, the strongest of which, from an historical point of view, is that it lays right along where the rail line used to run.

Those with a Christian frame of mind will recall the phrase “…whenever two or more of you are gathered in my name” and given that there are going to be at least two people at the Ward Two Citizen’s Advisory Committee on Wednesday – perhaps there will be some divine intervention.

If the Freeman Station doesn’t take up all the time available – why not talk about the changes that are going to take place at city hall. The resignation of the city manager is step one of a significant shake-up in the works.

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By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON July 25, 2011— The Mayor’s statement.

“Earlier today, Roman Martiuk announced that after four successful years as the city manager of Burlington, he will be leaving his post at the end of August 2011.

Ever the conductor no matter what the meeting, City Manager Roman Martiuk, whose resignation was announced by Mayor Goldring today, conducted a significant part of the Strategic Planning sessions – but he wasn’t always in tune with the Council he serves. Here he “conducts” with Georgina Black, the Strategic Plan facilitator.

“Roman has had a vast and varied career as a change agent in the municipal sector, both in Ontario and Saskatchewan. His expertise is in organizational change, cost containment initiatives and budget system improvements. He was hired by the City of Burlington in 2007 in his change-agent capacity, and successfully oversaw a number of changes, initiatives and system improvements.”

“After extensive discussion with me, City Council and Roman, the joint decision was made that a new city manager, early in the council term, would both build on Roman’s successes and be best to lead and implement council’s strategic plan over our four-year term.”

“On behalf of council and staff, I want to thank Roman for his hard work and dedication to the City of Burlington and its residents.”

“While we conduct a search for a new city manager, the duties will be assumed by rotating acting assignments by the city’s current general managers.”

So – what really happened?

Martiuk has been a strong administrator but he has had difficulty with this new Council who want to serve as a strong Board of Directors and while the city Manager has consistently said staff were in place to serve Council – there was the distinct impression that he didn’t like the shift that was taking place.

During the extensive Strategic Plans sessions – there were nine half day sessions – Martiuk and his staff were often running counter to the wishes of the majority of the Council members.

Where Martiuk has served Burlington exceptionally well is with his solid grasp of the city’s finances and the consequences of any changes that were made on the spending side. He was a very firm hand at the Council meetings he took part in – and tended to use the words “..if I might make a comment”, which usually saved one of his staff memners from making a mistake.

Roman Martiuk, in the white shirt, center, was the kind of city manager who did his home and usually knew more than anyone else in the room about the numbers that lay behind every decision made.

No word on where Martiuk plans to land next – the words “looking at his options” wasn’t used in the Mayor’s statement and the words “irreconcilable differences didn’t get used either. There is certainly more to this story than we are being told.

Is there a new City Manager amongst the current senior management team? Well, we have far too many “acting” positions on the go. Chris Glenn at Parks and Recreation is an “acting” Steve Zabos and Joan Ford are also “acting”. While there are good reasons for each of these people still serving as “actings” the reality is that a part of the management team is not fully confirmed – and that doesn’t result in a management team that is tight and focused.

Of the two General Managers – Scott Stewart is the strongest candidate and he is said to have an appetite for the City Manager position.

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By Staff who pinched the story from the Chicago Tribune.

BURLINGTON, ON June 13, 2011 – Kimberly-Clark has begun testing sales of the Scott Naturals Tube-Free brand of TP that doesn’t need a cardboard tube to keep the good times rolling. It’s the biggest change seen by toilet paper users since the roll first appeared in the 1800s.

But response isn’t all flushed with excitement for terminating the tube, often reused for arts and crafts projects or as pet toys.

“You just know it’s done. It’s over. It’s finished. You need a new roll,” said Samm Reed, a customer at a Pennsylvania Wal-Mart. “There’s something about that tube.”

To her, the appearance of a brown cardboard cylinder signifies something momentous — the end of an era.

Kari Love, of West York, Penn., pointed to the new rolls’ central holes. Designed to fit around a spindle, they’re shaped like polygons instead of circles.

“How are you going to get your holder in there?” Love asked. “I’m in my 40s. I grew up, and they always had a tube. I’m environmentally conscious. I recycle, but this doesn’t look like it’s going to work.”

According to a Kimberly-Clark news release, U.S. households use an estimated 17 billion bath tissue tubes annually, amounting to 160 million pounds of waste.

The company conducted a survey of 1,000 people that found 85 percent throw the tubes out with the trash.

At Wal-Mart, Scott’s Naturals Tube-Free costs $2.97 for four rolls containing 205.2 square feet compared to the tube-inclusive Scott brand, which costs $3.98 for four rolls containing 419.2 square feet of paper.

Anna Hall, of West York, Penn.,  didn’t seem so sure about paying more per sheet to lose the tubes, sometimes coveted by children as make-believe telescopes and finger puppets.

“Oh for Pete’s sake!” she said. “If they do away with (the tube), we won’t have anything to build with in Sunday school class.”

Only in America!

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By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON July 18, 2011 — They have a secret recipe and are using it to rid the seas of the world of some very significant pollution. They have sales that exceed $20 million, 100 plus people on staff at a plant on Mainway and no one in Burlington buys anything from them. They were recently nominated for a coveted Ocean Environmental Protection Award.

Don’t look for a sales counter at Thordon Bearings – they don’t have one. But they do have distributors in more than 73 countries and have sold their product to more than forty different navies and are in the process of prototyping a product that they believe will replace the use of some bronze in the marine line of bearings

The basic premise behind everything the company does is the replacement of metallic bearings with the polymers they first developed in 1969 and have been improving upon ever since.

Thordon Bearings designs and manufactures a complete range of high performance, non-metallic journal bearing solutions for marine, pump, hydro-turbine, offshore oil and other industrial markets. From water lubricated stern tube and rudder bearings for ships to grease free wicket gate bearings for clean power generation, they provide innovative non polluting bearing solutions that meet or exceed the technical requirements.

The Thomson Gordon business focuses on the propeller of a ship and in this image the propeller has been removed.

The company has more than 10% of it’s labour force doing research and development and includes three people with doctorates in their field. This is very much a company that is breaking new ground in product development – all based on a secret recipe that is used in their manufacturing process that takes place behind screens that prevent visitors from even seeing what they do and how they do it. But they do it rather well and the growth potential for the company is close to unlimited.

The only account they haven’t managed to crack is the Adam Beck power generation plant at Niagara Falls “We do have our product in power generation plants in Northern Ontario” added Carter and we do a lot of business with Hydro Quebec.”, he added.

Mayor Rick Goldring, who is focused on improving and upgrading the make up and mix of companies headquartered in Burlington said: “While we share the disappointment in Thordon Bearings not winning the Ocean Environmental Protection Award, we nevertheless recognize their significance as a leading employer in Burlington that is allocating a significant portion of their 100 plus employees to research and development.” The Mayor added: “Their participation in the Burlington economic scene is both very welcome and satisfying.”

Formed in 1911, the organization is in its fourth generation of leadership with a succession line that will place the leadership on the shoulders of Anna Galoni who is the current vice chair. Founded by Chairman Sandy Thomson’s grandfather, army major George J. Thomson and his brother William, the company was in the business of repackaging and distributing industrial products. They later took on a partner and renamed the company Thomson Gordon when it was incorporated in 1916. The business flourished and by 1936 they were into manufacturing products for industrial engineers.

The son of the founder, Sandy’s father, graduated from Pratt Institute in New York with an architectural degree. He completed his studies during the Great Depression and found work as a commercial photographer. He soon answered his father’s summons to help run the business in Canada, which he did for the next 30 years. That put the second generation in place and the evolution continued in 1967, when Sandy took the reins of the company from his father, George J.V. Thomson.

Sandy Thomson had decided he didn’t want to be in the family business and chose to study aeronautical engineering at Northrop University in California. “I wanted to be an aerospace engineer,” George “Sandy” Thomson said, remembering his college days during the 1960s at Northrop University in Inglewood, California. “My mentor was a senior engineer who was absolutely brilliant, and we played in a band together. I really thought I had found my place in life because I didn’t want to be involved in the family business. However, the dean of the school talked me into going from aerospace to mechanical engineering because he said there would be many more opportunities, so that’s what I did. In fact, I did my final mechanical project design on seals for pumps.” That work with pump seals took Sandy into a career that has revolutionized the way propeller shafts are lubricated around the world.

The firm had a broad selection of product offerings and expanded often, but in a little corner of the plant Sandy was working on his non-metallic bearings concept. Sandy and production foreman Arnold Lange were coming up with a number of ingenious uses for newly discovered polymers and soon began solving bearings problems with an entirely new type of bearing system.

The only way Sandy Thomson felt he could convince ship operators to use his product was to have a ship using them – so he bought a Russian steam operated tug boat and outfitted it with his product and then sallied from port to port – 200 in all to show what kind of a difference his products could make. Many Thordon Bearing staff members can remember tours on duty on the Rudokop which was later sold to Norwegian interests. It was a Sandy Thomson original trade show.

Having a great product is one part of a great business operation – selling it is the other part and Sandy, in his typical innovative fashion took his product to the market using a ship he had purchased, a Russian deep sea salvage steam tug, the Rudokop, and converted it into a floating showcase for the company’s marine bearings and seals. Over a 14-year period, the tug visited more than 200 international ports. It was crewed by six Eastern Europeans and captained by Thomson himself. Burlington staff would take turns being part of the crew to explain the product line. As a traveling road show the tug and its crew was a great success in introducing ship owners to Thomson’s radically new approach to lubricating the shaft of a ship’s propeller with sea water instead of oil.

“My grandfather didn’t do very much with bearings in his day. He did look at synthetic polymers but felt the science was too complex for him. He actually thought it was too complicated for Sandy as well, but the young Thomson envisioned three products that could be made from polymers. One was a flexible machinery mount. Another was a flexible coupling for a shaft, and the third was a rubber bearing for pumps. “So I came up with the idea of using an elastomer blend to work as a pump bearing and our first customer was a Canadian steel company,”

“Our bearings worked much better than the rubber bearing in vertical scale pit pumps, which were pumping scale water out of the pits. Then it hit me: Why not use my new bearings on propeller shafts for ships? While the company didn’t enter into the maritime markets for a few more years, I knew we had a winner.”

At the time the company did not have a testing facility for the new polymer bearings. So a few years before entering the maritime market, Thomson worked with a couple of senior engineers at Stelco to test the new product: “These engineers bought our polymer bearings and put them into places even I thought they didn’t have a chance to work, and they didn’t, but the cost was covered in the plant’s maintenance budgets. We did a lot of testing and I give those engineers a lot of credit for helping us in our early days.”

The Canadian Navy Halifax class frigates gave Thordon Bearings their entry into the marine business. With their products on ships of this class and level the rest of the marine world had to pay attention and look seriously at the products. They did and the company grew.

When Thordon Bearings entered the maritime market, its biggest client and supporter was the Canadian Coast Guard. While a couple of tugboats used the propeller shaft bearing, the company knew they really had to be proven on the next level of ships. “The Coast Guard came along and gave us a chance,” reminisces Thomson. “I don’t want to say it was easy, because it wasn’t.

Products go through different departments as the come from manufacturing to finishing and into shipping where they are sent to more than 70 countries around the world. China is the companies biggest customer.

In the days when Thordon first began business, 95 percent of the ships in the world had propeller shaft bearings of white metal with stern tubes of oil for lubrication. At the time the systems were state-of-the-art and no one worried much about a seal leaking. In fact, marine vessels had very little environmental compliance issues to deal with. When Thordon decided to eliminate oil and replace propeller shaft lubrication with seawater, many thought the concept was going backwards. Thomson reminds us that shaft bearings were made of wood until the 1950s. More importantly, wooden bearings would only last for about five years. So companies began manufacturing white metal bearings and using oil as a lubricant to extend the life of the bearings.

Thordon Bearings has a lock on the market for propellers and rudder bearings on those specialized vessels that push barges up and down the Mississippi River where the mud and particles in the water get cleaned out of the propeller shafts that are lubricated by the river water.

While attitudes change slowly, today’s environmental push has never been more comprehensive, and losing a few liters of oil a day from a leaking seal is no longer acceptable. Thomson points out that in 1998 Thordon installed a seawater propeller shaft bearing on Carnival Cruise Lines’ Grand Princess. Thirteen years later, during an extensive refit the strut and stern tube bearings were checked and found to be in exceptional shape.

Thomson says the bearings on the Grand Princess could be in great shape for 20 years, which is unheard of. “When we started guaranteeing 15 years of life for our seawater propeller shaft bearings, people thought we were nuts,” he said. “We’re not in the spare parts business, so we manufacture our bearings to last the life of the ship.”

We` are a much more environmentally conscious society and it is no longer acceptable. With bearings that have a 20 year life span a lot of oil is kept out of the water.

The more than 100 employees who manufacture products result in significant savings for their clients and keep a lot of oil out of the sea lanes. Operated as a company that constantly innovates Thordon Bearings uses a team of nine area agents who supervise agent/distributors in 73 countries. Craig Carter, Director of Marketing and Customer Service, explains that by using local distributors we can be both international and at the same time very local. Our distributors have been with us for a very long time and they have their ears to the ground in their markets.

Sandy Thomson is both an engineer and a captain who understands the waters ships sail on and the equipment they need to ensure a safe voyage. He is also fully aware of the increased environmental consciousness that is keeping the sea lanes cleaner than ever before.

However, to be successful around the world, you also need credibility at home. “When our products were specified for the Halifax class patrol boats used by the Canadian Navy we had immediate bona fides with other navies and as a result of that we sell to navies around the world including the United States where the four Nimitz class aircraft carriers use our products.

Today the company has outfitted about 2000 vessels with its oil-free, seawater-lubricated bearing system. Thomson says the company has expanded to Poland and Saint Petersburg, Russia to complement the Canadian facility.

Sandy Thomson is winding down a little today at the company. His new passion is an old one with him, film-making. He is working on documentary films and only spends a couple of days a week at the office. Thomson recently re-released a DVD – “The Eyes of Memory” that he shot in 1972 with a 16 mm camera that he will tell you is the only film format that is going to survive. The 32 minute reflection on Burlington is a joy to watch – give Sandy’s office a call and get a copy. Might even be on at the Library you can borrow.

Succession is critical for any business. Thordon Bearings know today what the fourth level of succession is going to be. Anna Galoni will lead an engineering company in an industry that doesn’t have very many women in it and lead the company deeper into the marine market where woman are rare. Once again Thordon Bearings innovates and leads.

Sandy’s stepdaughter, Anna Galoni, is a Polish-born epidemiologist by training and is now the firm’s Vice Chairman. She will eventually succeed her stepfather. The company is going to celebrate its 100th anniversary in September and Sandy has a large container of old papers and memorabilia to sort through for that event. Then, perhaps another film or two and maybe some ideas for a slightly better polymer bearing. There is also the old lighthouse on the Burlington canal, built before Confederation, that Sandy would like to see renovated. A great, great, grandfather of his was at one time the lighthouse keeper.

Both the company and staff are deeply involved in the community. They were major donours to the building of he Burlington Performance Arts Centre and are involved in the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum where Sandy and members of the staff provide volunteer hours in restoration projects.

Guys like Sandy Thomson don’t retire – they just keep on going round and round – much like the propellers that his bearings support.

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By Ken Colombo

BURLINGTON, ON July 18, 2011 — Subject: Heagle withdrawal

As I have said many, many times before, Pepper, your blog is a valuable and highly insightful viewpoint covering municipal and provincial politics. My friend worked his butt off for Heagle in the municipal election … thinking Brian represented the Liberals. When Brian pulled the ‘switcheroo’ … the guy became totally pissed. Hang in there buddy, yer doin’ a great job.

Ken Colombo … (a pseudonym of course).

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By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON June 14, 2011 – The Burlington Progressive Conservatives are soon going to run out of swords. First it was Rene Papin falling on his sword and now Brian Heagle has made “the right decision” and withdrawn as a candidate for the Burlington nomination. That leaves just Jane McKenna in the line up for the Associations nomination.

After a valiant battle and shaking thousands of hands Brian Heagle withdraws from the race for the Progressive Conservative nomination in Burlington.

Heagle said this morning that: “After a great deal of contemplation and consultation, it’s the right decision for me to make at this time. I’m accustomed to making tough choices but this one was especially difficulty because so many people in Burlington supported my candidacy.” Apparently not enough of those people were on the Burlington Progressive Conservative Association, which has yet to even set a date for their nomination meeting.

Jane McKenna is the only candidate left publicly seeking the PC nomination.

The Liberals have had Karmel Sakran out in the field for several months and the New Democrats found a saddle Peggy Russell was prepared to ride in and they are out there canvassing and developing supporters.

Sakran is out developing support in a riding that hasn’t elected a Liberal for more than 65 years. The PC’s are making it easy for him.

Jane McKenna is courting ever member of the PC association she can find hoping to get their vote when they hold their nomination meeting. At this point she is the only candidate actually campaigning publicly for the nomination.

Are the Progressive Conservatives so sure of their support in Burlington that they believe they can risk having their candidate not yet named with less than 90 days before the election takes place ? There must be some interesting and perhaps noisy association meetings.

The Progressive Conservative brand is taking a bit of a hit, the shine and the luster it held when Cam Jackson won 70% of the vote is beginning to tarnish.

Current MPP Joyce Savoline advised the association that she would not run in the October provincial election some time ago. Given the Burlington history of electing Conservatives to the provincial legislature since 1943 one would have thought this was almost the safest seat in the province and that there would be a line up of people seeking the nomination.

The New Democrats have their show on the road, given the candidate a new paint job and hope they can gain some traction from the federal NDP wins in Quebec.

The best they seemed to be able to do was attract Heagle who was for the longest time known as a Liberal and was being groomed by the late John Boich as the candidate for that party. A well placed Burlington Tory has said privately that the Progressive Conservatives “could lose the seat if they are not careful.”

McKenna, who was serving as Papin’s campaign manager, did a two step and put her own name forward after Papin withdrew and is now the only person publicly seeking the Progressive Conservative nomination.

Heagle, in his withdrawal statement said: “When I stepped forward as a candidate earlier this year, and after Rene Papin withdrew from the race in early May, I never expected the nomination process would still be going on in July or that a nomination meeting date would not be scheduled yet. Nine weeks have passed for other strong candidates to emerge. Perhaps, as a result of my decision today, one or more will step forward.

Heagle said he would “love the privilege and opportunity to be the Ontario PC Party candidate and represent Burlington as its next MPP. Regrettably, timing and circumstances have changed. I have to make firm commitments now to my family, partners an clients which no longer fit with this political process, including the short lead up to the October 6 election.”

The gleam in Boich’s eye (far right) and the earnestness with which Heagle was preaching to the Liberals was more than the Progressive Conservatives could handle – they just couldn’t accept that Heagle had really changed his colours – they wanted a real blue Tory - they’re still looking.

The problem for the Tories was that Heagle was just to red for them, his Liberal past was more than they could swallow. However, others have changed their political stripes and gone on to win elections under different party affiliations. Something doesn’t appear to be quite right within the party association.

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By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON July 7, 2011 – They make up a large part of the community and the demographic trend is for there to be many more of them. Their needs tend to be greater than that of other people in the community.

These are our senior citizens, although that term, senior citizen, is one many of them don’t like all that much and many scoff at the explanation that they are in their “golden years”, for many live in close to dire poverty and have health issues as well as financial issues.

Constable Wendy Moraghan of the Halton Regional Police Service works with the seniors community and spends time in the different Halton Region communities to answer questions related to safety. She is able to sense when there is any abuse taking place and knows how to gently prod and bring issues and concerns to the surface.

The fast pace of the society we live in and the newer forms of communication are beyond many of these people. They aren’t stupid. They have very strong core values and during their working years had a work ethic that today’s employers wish they saw a lot more of in the people they hire.

There is an innocence to many of today’s seniors and the changes in the family unit leave many of them alone, a bit frightened and looking for a place they can go for answers to many of the questions they have.

Elder abuse is now a serious social problem that every community struggles with. Many seniors give a power of attorney over there financial affairs to someone they trust and find that it is abused by the person who holds that power.

Fraud has become another serious problem with some seniors receiving a phone call from a person claiming to be a friend of their nephew or some other relative and asking for money to be sent to solve a problem.

Many seniors find that through misunderstanding or poorly placed trust, they get taken by scam artists and the savings they had set aside are suddenly gone and they are at a point in their lives when they cannot replenish those savings.

While counterfeit money is no longer the big issue it once was in Canada there are still people out there trying pass along counterfeit bills to unsuspecting people.

The Bank of Canada controls the money supply in this country. It is the Canadian Mint that actually prints the money. The Bank of Canada has people in the field who go into the community and explain what to look for in to determine if a bill is counterfeit.

The Bank of Canada was in Burlington doing a presentation with Constable Wendy Moraghan of the Halton Regional Police Service explaining the new polymer bills that will be released by the Bank in the very near future.

A table with several seniors looks closely at paper bills given to them to inspect. They were asked to decide if the money was counterfeit – none of it was.

And at the same time the told the audience how to detect a counterfeit $10, or $20 bill. The cardinal rule was: tilt the bill and look for the and then run your fingers over it – and if in doubt ask the person giving you the bill to give you a different one.

The new $100 and $50 polymer notes are easy to check and hard to counterfeit. They have the same innovative security features that can be seen in transparent areas on both sides of the notes. Some tips on what to look for if you find yourself with either a $100. or a $50. bill in your purse.

Feel

• 

  1. Raised ink

  Feel the raised ink on the shoulders of the large portrait, the large number, and the words “Bank of Canada” and “Banque du Canada.”

Look

• 

  2. Large window

  Look for transparency through the large window containing a metallic portrait and building.
• 

  3. Metallic portrait

  Look at the details in the metallic portrait in the large window. It matches the large portrait.
• 

  4. Metallic building

  Look at the details in the metallic building in the large window. Tilt the note to see sharp colour changes in the building.
• 

  5. Small numbers

  Look at the numbers in and around the large window that match the value of the note. Some of the numbers appear in reverse.
• 

  6. Transparent text

  Look at the word “Canada.” It is transparent and feels slightly raised.
• 

  7. Maple leaf border

  Look at the maple leaves that border the large window. Some of the leaves cross into the window.
• 

  8. Frosted maple leaf window

  Look at the frosted maple leaf window to see that it has a transparent outline.

Flip

Added Security

• 

  9. Hidden numbers

  The hidden numbers are a security feature that you can use to further verify your note, with the aid of an eye-safe single-point light source.

The Bank of Canada representative explained to the seniors gathered at Tansley Woods explained that when bank notes are taken out of circulation they are not burned but rather shredded and then recycled. He passed around a smallish plastic freezer bag half full of shredded bits of paper that he said represented half a million dollars worth of fifty dollar bills. It got a lot of attention as it was passed from table to table

Real money was passed around as well and people were asked to determine if the samples they were holding were real or counterfeit. Opinions were pretty evenly split – turned out every bill was real and were used to show people how to identify a counterfeit bill. Seems the Bank of Canada doesn’t deal with counterfeits and doesn’t use it in the community work.

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By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON July 6, 2011 The Great Waterfront Trail Adventure is an annual tour that travels the whole 720 km route over eight sensational days. Every single day of this fully supported tour includes the WOW Factor – the Wonderful Ontario Waterfront along the shores of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

Hundreds of Ontarians as well as people from the United States and Quebec take part in this event including Burlington’s Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison and his partner.

Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison arrives in Burlington on the first leg of his eight day adventure cycling from Niagara on the Lake to Riviere Baudette in Québec along the Waterfront Trail.

Each day Dennison is up at the crack of dawn to catch a GO train or drive to the location where the adventure picks up to drive the 45 to 100 km that is set out for a given day. Each ‘adventurer’ sets their own pace. The get together as groups or ride as pairs knowing that they will arrive at the destination for the day.

Because Dennison has responsibilities in Burlington at his health club and at Council meetings he become a sort of commuting adventurer for the first few days. But as the trip works its way east he will become a full time adventurer and the city and his business interests will have to wait.

July, 2008 was the inaugural year of the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure, an end to end tour of the Trail that welcomed the public.  In 2002, partners of the trail, including journalist Kate Harries, rode the length of the route and documented their journey in a series of articles that appeared in the Toronto Star.

Dennison takes a meal break in Mississauga on the second leg of hi eight day adventure rising the full 720 km length of the Waterfront Trail. “The beauty of this adventure is that you can stop when and where you like and relax over a beer and a meal” said Dennison. Are those Tour de France Yellow Jerseys?

“We had so much fun”, said Harries “that we decided to share the experience with as many people as we can. There is a true sense of pride and accomplishment in traveling along the entire 730 kms of the Waterfront Trail. There are now hundreds of what we call ‘end-to-enders’ who have done their own tours and had this unique experience of southern Ontario

The 2011 Route that Dennison is following is set out below with the day to day destinations shown on the map shown below.

The actual route these adventurers are taking is set out below.

Deputy mayor from Port Hope ; Mayor Parrish from Ajax; the current Mayor of Coburg and the former mayor of Coburn. Several of these gents are joining Dennison, who is on the far left, in the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure.

Each of the municipalities along the route have taken to providing a rest station and a certain amount of competition has developed between the municipalities to see who can be the most hospitable. Dennison, who is not exactly impartial, maintains that Burlington offered the best hospitality with people at the canal standing there early in the morning welcoming people into Burlington and directing them to the “butt” stop at Spencer Smith Park where fruit and juices were available. “Pickering came close to what Burlington had to offer but there was far more spirit in the people representing Burlington, Dennison reported to a Council meeting.

The Waterfront Trail is a project developed by former Mayor David Crombie who served as a one man Royal Commission that was to create a trail from one end of the province to the other along the shores of Lake Ontario. Crombie told a Burlington Waterfront Advisory Committee that Burlington was once a leader in the development of public spaces along the lake and that he hoped to see the city return to its prominence as a leader in making the lake accessible to the public.

What moves Dennison most as he cycles from community to community is the many occasions when he and his partner stop by the side of a road or take a break for a meal and gaze out over the lake and realize they gave been following the same body of water for a number of day. The aboriginal people who used the lake were very familiar with every creek and stream that fed into the lake but those of us who speed along the 401 and see glimpses of the body of water from time to time have no sense of what the lake means to us geographically or physiologically. It is only when you are near the water day in and day out that you realize the impact that body of water has on you.

For Dennison and his partner – there are new delights and insights every day. He just might come back to Burlington at the end of this adventure a changed man. But then again – the sights and delights of Quebec might get a grip on the man and we may never see him again.

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