 By Pepper Parr
December 7th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
 Did you ever had a puppy that you had to train not to piddle on the floor? I had one and when he did his business where he wasn’t supposed to I’d give him a stern look and call him a bad dog and put him in his business box.
Scott Wallace did just that, gave Mayor Meed Ward a couple of paragraphs of some strong language when he wrote the following letter:
Our response to the Mayor’s statement on November 24th has not come easily. We must speak to the facts that outline our last few years urging for change in our local taxi industry. We could not be more proud of our Burlington Taxi team for their hard work and dedication over the last 53 years.
With all due respect, we take strong exception to our Mayor’s statement that asserts, “the Taxi By-Laws were written to protect Burlington Taxi” and that our “closure was unrelated to the by-law review request in 2018.”
We ask, what exactly has the By-Law protected? Did the By-Law protect the taxi drivers now out of work since November 2021? Did the By-Law protect Burlington Taxi from having to shut down its operations? Did the By-law protect taxi companies from unregulated competition; ride share companies that have enjoyed the luxury of no city license fees, no federal taxes, no commercial insurance, no vulnerable sector criminal checks, nor an obligation to support wheelchair accessible transportation?
 Former Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster talks with Scott Wallace, proprietor of Burlington Taxi. Lancaster was on the Council that Wallace had taken his concerns about the taxi industry in 2018. It gives us no pleasure to say that the city’s process failed to support its business community, taking little notice of our repeated pleas over the years for comprehensive change.
We saw the tsunami coming (Uber/Lyft drivers, the pandemic, a severe labour shortage, a spike in insurance rates). What we missed was the acknowledgement that our By-law request in November was one small part of a fulsome City By-law review initiated in 2018.
For the record, our final plea in November was to allow our drivers to continue working as employees under new Burlington Taxi ownership, and further give them the ability to align themselves with other Cab companies of their choice as independent operators, as every other city does in North America.
Facts don’t lie. The last time the City of Burlington reviewed its taxi by-laws was in 2009, which was written based on the recommendations of a consulting firm hired by the city of Burlington, not the taxi industry.
In 2016, the City was urged to review the new unregulated ride share service (Uber). Council and staff agreed to complete a review of these services. Our industry concern had little to do with Uber itself, but everything to do with regulation of the Uber business model. Regulation is what keeps people safe and ensures fair play among businesses. In Burlington’s case, the ride share industry has no responsibility to anyone – not to the city, not to its drivers, and definitely not to its customers. As a rider, if you experience an unsafe ride, or are a victim of excessive surge pricing, there is no one to call. The city has not regulated ride share companies, perhaps a way to absolve its responsibility, but it certainly doesn’t solve the problem.
Our former council, recognized that our Taxi By-Law was antiquated and in desperate need of comprehensive review. That is why, in early 2018, the former Mayor directed the City to commence a comprehensive review. Public record shows the details surrounding this direction. Nothing came of this.
 Not liking the sound of that letter. Was it even read? We thank our current Mayor for her recognition and issuing her statement on December 2nd regarding taxi, that, “In 2019, city staff formed a small team to look into the by-law review and removed the motion from the regular reporting list, with a plan to report back to council on progress. That report didn’t happen… We acknowledge that the review should have occurred. It didn’t, and for that, we take responsibility.”
 “Facts don’t lie. The last time the City of Burlington reviewed its taxi by-laws was in 2009, which was written based on the recommendations of a consulting firm hired by the city of Burlington, not the taxi industry.” It should not go without mention that we have reached out at regular intervals to the city, each time trusting in their reassurance that the by-laws would be changed.
The election of new city representatives unfortunately sidelined the former Council’s directive for a comprehensive review of the taxi industry and our hope for actual change.
Following our closure last month, Council has re-committed the City to reviewing and updating the Taxi By-Law.
Our hope is that the City will NOW actually follow through with meaningful change.
Our thanks to Ward 4 Councillor, Shawna Stolte, for taking up the torch and advocating for change.
Our City deserves it.
One small ray of hope. There will be a Verbal Update on Licensing of New Taxi Businesses in Burlington at a Standing Committee on Tuesday.
 By Pepper Parr
December 6th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Fifty million – and not enough information in the hands of the public.
City Council agreed this afternoon to make a formal offer to purchase the Bateman High School property for $50 million.
 Council agrees to make an Offer to purchase the Bateman site Mayor Meed Ward said the site will become the biggest facility in the city –more than twice the size of Tansley Woods which is the largest at this point.
To the surprise of this reporter we learned that the pool is not owned by the city – Halton District School Board (HDSB) appears to be the owner.
 It will be a shared space with plenty of space for community events There are all kinds of details that are not known; the HDSB will retain some of the space, Brock University is in talks with the city to rent space, Tech Place is going to need an affordable place to operate and has eyes on the Bateman location and the Library might become a tenant as well.
 Councillors Stolte and Kearns hold off on fully agreeing to the decision to purchase; they want much more information in the hands of the public. Councillor Sharman put is quite clearly when he said this was not an agreement to purchase – this was an agreement to continue discussions with the vendor.
The task now he said “ is to figure out how to pay for it.”
The matter comes up again in March of next year.
At the Special meeting of City Council this afternoon two of the seven members of Council voted not to approve the decision to make a formal offer: Councillor Kearns and Stolte took a pass on putting their thumbprint on this one.
 By Ryan O’Dowd
December 6th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
 Call it a Christmas Caravan – a collection of vehicles that worked its way through the city on Saturday and Sunday. Santa was there – but no chance to hand out cookies. The Good things was that the weather held.
The crowds in the different neighbourhoods were small but enthusiastic.
 That little lady on the right had things to say to Santa when he got to her door. And everyone held the hope that the Santa Claus parade in 2022 would be the real thing.
The city did put together a set of routes that got the Fire truck that was subbing for a sleigh into a lot of neighbour hoods.
It was one of those “you do what you can with what you have”.
 There he was – not quite what the event is usually about – but the kids seemed happy and the parents may have done something to add to the event.
  By DENIS GIBBONS
December 6th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Frosty the Snowman and more than 100 of his brothers and sisters have made an early Christmas visit to Burlington’s Lockhart community.
The plastic, blow-up images of the Yuletide characters dot the lawns of almost every home in the area, behind the old John A Lockhart School.
It’s all part of the Frosty’s Village program, organized by several mothers, to spur donations to the Burlington Foodbank.
 Campbell Court was alive with Christmas music On Saturday night a selection of musicians from various bands in the city gathered at the end of Campbell Court to entertain folks, who accompanied them by singing Christmas carols.
The concert was organized by Marg MacVinnie, who now is retired from her job on the Waterfront Project for the City of Burlington, with the help of Jan Boomgardt, Sue Hall, Cathy Hall and Phyllis Wallen.
The volunteers were able to secure a grant of $1,500 from the City’s Community Support Fund to organize the concert and another one, which will be held this Saturday night at 7 on the promenade of Spencer Smith Park.
 76 trombones led the big parade. Children will be able to learn bucket-drumming on metal pails then follow Burlington’s Junior Redcoats as the march along the edge of Lake Ontario.
Purpose of the fund was to encourage neighbourhoods, arts, recreation, sports and culture groups to create new ways of connecting with each other.
Three mothers came up with the idea for the blow-up Frosty’s.
 Three-year-old Quinn McMahon watches the concert from the shoulders of her granddaddy Alan Sharkey. Frosty’s Village has brought in hundreds of food donations for the local food bank.
They collected about 900 pounds of food last year, and are hoping to double the donations after formally partnering with the Burlington Food Bank.
The Lockhart Community is named after the late John A Lockhart, who served as Principal of Central Elementary School for 26 years, then as Mayor of Burlington from 1957 to 1961 after completing his education career.
By Staff
December 5th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Council is expected to recommend the standing committee Chair and Vice-Chair appointments for 2022, and the appointments to the Licensing Committee, as follows:
 Councillor Galbraith will back up Lisa Kearns as Chair of the Budget Committee. It will be a quieter year for this Committee EICS: Environment, Infrastructure & Community Services Committee
Chair: Councillor Kelvin Galbraith Vice Chair: Councillor Shawna Stolte
CPRM: Community Planning, Regulation & Mobility Committee
Chair: Councillor Shawna Stolte Vice Chair: Councillor Rory Nisan
CSSRA: Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability Committee
Chair: Councillor Rory Nisan
Vice Chair: Councillor Paul Sharman
 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna remains chair of workshops. Council Workshop
Chair: Councillor Angelo Bentivegna (remains the same) Vice-Chair: Councillor Lisa Kearns
Budget
Chair: Councillor Lisa Kearns (Moves from Vice Chair to Chair) Vice-Chair: Kelvin Galbraith
License and Appeals Committee
Chair: Paul Sharman
Council Representatives (2 required):
Councillor Kelvin Galbraith Councillor Lisa Kearns
Each year, the mayor recommends for council approval appointments of Chair and Vice Chair for standing committees.
There are two notable changes from 2021. There is no longer a separate chair for Community Planning Regulation and Mobility Statutory Public Meeting. These meetings will be chaired by the Chair of the regular CPRM. There is a new License and Appeals Committee and the clerk has requested a chair and two members of council to be appointed to serve.
In making my recommendations to Council said Mayor Meed Ward the guiding principles include attempting to accommodate specific requests where received, providing accommodations for specific personal circumstances as needed, providing opportunity to serve on different committees, and offering fairness, balance and equity of opportunity for each member to serve as chair of one of the three standing committees within a two-year period.
Normal practice to achieve this equity is for the Vice Chair to move into the Chair position the following year. There are six committees, so all members of council will have an opportunity to serve as Chair of a committee and Vice Chair of a committee in 2022. Audit committee selects their own Chair and Vice Chair by a vote of the membership.
As 2022 is an election year, the term of Chair/Vice Chair will end with the council term. A new slate of Chairs/Vice Chairs for the balance of 2022 and 2023 will be chosen in November once the new council takes office.
By Pepper Parr
December 5th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
There was a significant change at the Halton District School Board last week.
The policy is to elect the Chair and the Vice Chair of the Board of trustees for the year going forward.
 Former Chair, Halton District Board of Trustees Andrea Grebenc Andrea Grebenc, served as chair for a number of years and in that time created a voice for the Halton Board and spoke strongly for policy changes across the province.
When media were looking for a voice, Grebenc was there to respond with a consistent soundly researched views that reflected the concerns of trustees across the province.
She will be missed.
 Margo Shuttleworth elected Chair of the Halton District School Board trustees for 2022 Margo Shuttleworth was elected for the year ahead. Her first sentence was that this “was going to be a rocky road ahead”. Indeed, it will be.
It was interesting to hear trustee xxx Amos say “not this time” when trustees were polled on their interest in running for Chair.
 By Pepper Parr
December 4th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Photo by DENIS GIBBONS
It wasn’t a parade but Santa did manage t get around town with the aide of Fire department volunteers on Saturday.
 Small groups gathered at intersections to watch Santa in a Fire truck drive by. They will be back out on the streets of the city on Sunday.
 He isn’t really sure what’s coming his way.  Taking it all in as best they can during a pandemic
 Santa Drive By
By Denis Gibbons
December 5th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
 Staff from Hospital’s Labour and Delivery Unit handing out Christmas packages. Photo by DENIS GIBBONS Burlingtonians, who purchased Join the Joy gift boxes to support Joseph Brant Hospital’s Labour and Delivery Unit, were able to pick up their gift boxes in the parking lot of Access Storage on Fairview St. on Saturday.
The boxes contained fun items like a family-friendly game, hot chocolate, magical reindeer dust and holiday crafts.
 Retired fire fighters keeping an eye on an antique fire truck. Photo by DENIS GIBBONS
Veteran Burlington firefighters had their 1922 fire truck, which is housed in Kilbride, on display as they handed out candy canes to children
Tasty pastries were handed out by employees of COBS Bread Bakery, representatives of FastSigns accepted letters to Santa and Paladin Security had its cars and men on hand to act as Santa’s secret service.
 Pepper Parr
December 4th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
Some background on the budget process to put what took place last week in context.
Staff prepare a budget setting out what they believe is needed in the way of funding to operate the city.
They prepare a Capital Budget and an Operating Budget.
 There is a lot of work done to get the drafts of the budget completed including presentations to Council at Standing Committees.
That budget is then debated at a Council Standing Committee. Burlington uses BARs (Budget Action Requests) prepared by each council member setting out where they would like to see changes made in specific items.
Those BARs then become the agenda for the budget meeting
This is the process when Council tells staff what they want made in the way of changes.
The work Staff does is administrative; the work done at Council is both administrative and political. Council members have views and projects they want to advance; see it as the individual council member’s agenda.
The Mayor also has an agenda.
And 2020 is an election year.
The budget timeline was to have council do its work on the Tuesday and Thursday and send a recommendation to Council that would be dealt with on December 14th.
That didn’t happen. The four votes required to get a recommendation to Council just weren’t to be had.
 Budget Committee Chair Rory Nisan Between now and the 14th individual council members were asked to review their original decisions and come up with ways they think they could get closer to whatever number is going to be acceptable to the Mayor and Rory Nisan Chair of the Budget Committee.
Council would review the recommendation on the 14th, vote on it and if at least four votes for the budget can be found at council it passes and we would all know what we were looking at in the way of taxes for 2022.
However, if at any point in the process a member asks that the vote be called the Chair has to call the vote. If the Chair doesn’t call the vote he will be challenged this time and forced to call the vote.
Councillor Sharman tried to force a calling of the vote at Standing Committee on Thursday but got stiffed by Chair Nisan who understood the rules better than Sharman.
As messy as all this has been there was one point that everyone agreed upon before the Standing Committee recessed on Thursday – any ideas for changes would be run by Treasurer Joan Ford who would coordinate whatever was put in front of the Standing Committee on the 14th.
 Joan Ford, Executive Director of Finance, has a busy few days ahead of her if there is going to be a Council recommended budget. Ms Ford has a busy weekend ahead of her – she can expect a majority of the members of council to be on the phone to her. Fortunately for Burlington this is a treasurer who knows the budget and the ramifications when changes are made. She has been supported by Lori Jivan who has been crunching the numbers. At some point Ms Jivan will be treasurer somewhere – she has been doing a great job.
As for Mayor Meed Ward she desperately needs a vote from the Committee that recommends a budget.
Without that her re-election prospects are at serious risk. As it is, the myth that she leads a Council that is reading from the same hymn book is no more.
Related news items:
Is the budget the first municipal election skirmish?
Sharman pushes Council to get more information when preparing budgets.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Pepper Parr
December 4th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
When budgets are put together there is the opportunity to get a closer look at all the wheels and cogs that make the city work day to day.
We learned last week that 47% of the cost of running the city is on the Human Resources side and that in this budget there was an expense of $40,000 to cover the cost of the provincial legislation that raised the minimum wage effective January 1st.
One of the Councillors asked why that amount was necessary and learned that the city has staff who are earning just the minimum wage.
 City Manager Tim Commisso City Manager added that it was people working part time, mostly students doing parks and recreation work or sprucing up the flower beds in the medians and working in the summer Parks and Recreation summer camp programs.
For a city that adds the phrasing “Burlington is a City where people, nature and businesses thrive” to every media release they put out the admission that people are paid that bare minimum has to be at least a little embarrassing.
There wasn’t a word from any member of council on ensuring that the city do better.
 Director of Human Resources Laura Boyd One can’t thrive on the current minimum wage; the new one ($15. an hour) won’t help much.
It was appropriate for both the City Manager Tim Commisso and the Director of Human Resources Laura Boyd to commit themselves to ensuring that the city would always be above the minimums before they were forced to be by the province.
We didn’t hear that last week.
By Pepper Parr
December 3rd, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
It has been a hard year for everyone.
A wee bit of Joy will be Santa driving through the streets of the city in an antique fire truck.
The route maps and time frames are set out below:
Dec. 4, morning route, starting at 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: south-east Burlington
Dec. 4, afternoon route, starting at 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: north-east Burlington
Dec. 5, morning route starting at 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: north-west Burlington
Dec. 5, afternoon route, starting at 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: south-west Burlington
Santa is unable to stop and chat or accept any letters, glasses of milk or bags of delicious cookies.
Milton chose to hold a real parade; the city of Toronto is holding one. Burlington chose a different route.
Set out at the bottom of this story is a link to an article on a parade that took place in 2012 We knew how to do it then.
The 2012 Burlington Santa parade
By Staff
December 2nd, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
No need to panic but a need to know that the first case of the lab-confirmed case and two probable cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been identified in Halton region.
All three cases are linked with one of the probable cases that recently travelled to Nigeria. The cases are currently isolating at home. Halton Region Public Health has identified all close contacts and informed them of the need to isolate and get tested, despite vaccination status, out of an abundance of caution at this time.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and I urge all residents to be vigilant given the entry of the Omicron variant in our community. I encourage all residents to continue to follow all public health measures to prevent the spread of of COVID-19 and for everyone who is eligible, to get their two doses of vaccine as soon as possible,” said the Medical Officer of Health.
By Pepper Parr
December 2, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
A council Standing Committee completed their review of the 2022 budget Staff submitted and did manage to slim it down from 5.45% over last year to a 4.95% increase over last year.
 Mayor Marianne Meed Ward – looking for a way to get a better budget number – 2022 is an election year. But the Mayor isn’t happy and said she would not support the budget at this point. Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte took the same position while Councillor Sharman said he was Ok with the increase – saw it as responsible.
Councillor Bentivegna was disappointed that most of his change suggestions didn’t win the support he needed but he was going to live with what was on the table.
Councillor Kearns was impressed with the Committee’s fiscal prudence and Councillor Galbraith was pleased that Council chose to rip the band aid off and put up with the immediate pain rather than continue to kick the can down the path and let a future council deal with the problems.
 Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman And problems there were – mostly on the Staffing side with some members of Council wanting to limit salary increase while others wanted to reduce staff.
There was a lot of juggling numbers around; taking dollars from the Queensway area Park and letting the downtown Dog Off leach Park group use the funds so they could get their initiative moving forward.
The only true winner was ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman who convinced council to fund the paving of a path in Mohawk Park that serves two schools and a church. He was ready to approve the budget.
The Mayor has a reputation staked on a lower tax increase – she has about ten days to pull a couple of rabbits out of a hat.
The difficulty appears to be that the Standing Committee may not be able to send a recommendation to Council that approves a budget. That creates a very tricky procedural problem.
It all comes before Council on December 14th.
No wonder he was so happy.
.
By Pepper Parr
December 2nd, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
In the municipal world the Clerk used to reign supreme.
The person holding the office had years of experience and understood the needs of the people and knew both the strengths and weaknesses of Staff.
Like most things, the administrative needs grew and people with better educations and stronger administrative skills began to be hired and grew into becoming CAO’s or City Managers.
 Kevin Arjoon came to Burlington from Halifax The position of Clerk remained: bylaws require the signature of the both the Mayor and the Clerk before they can be declared.
When a new Clerk is hired the first task for the new hire is to get the lay of the land: what exists in the way of staff; get to know the members of Council; take a hard look at what there is in the way of Governance policies and scour the outstanding Staff Directions.
Staff Directions are documents that instruct staff to perform specific tasks and report back to Council.
They are debated at Council meetings, written into the minutes and with web casts, now archived, are available to the public.
To say the 2018 Staff Direction related to the issuing of taxi licenses was lost is (a) not true, (b) rank incompetence and (c) a sign of some pretty deep rot somewhere in city hall.
 Kevin Arjoon, current city Clerk. When a Staff Direction doesn’t get followed up on, it can lead directly into the hearts of the lives of people.
The lack of a taxi service limits in an often severe way the way some people live their lives.
This isn’t the place to dissect those instances.
This is the place to ask the current Mayor and Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman what they have to say about the Staff Direction that can’t be found.
Both have been on Council since October 2010 and were in the room when the Staff Direction was created and voted upon.
Time for a heart to heart talk involving the Mayor, Councillor Sharman and the City manager about what to do about the current Clerk. This one can’t be blamed on City Manager Tim Commisso, he wasn’t an employee in 2018. However, he did hire the current Clerk.
Some feel there are grounds for dismissal.
What is not acceptable is the cover up that appears to be taking place.
There is a very competent Deputy Clerk in place – a staff position Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan wanted to get rid of to save about $150,000, but that’s another story.
Related new stories
New city Clerk
Managing an at times fractious council
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Staff
December 1st, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
The piers that line the canal leading from Lake Ontario into Hamilton Harbour may be gated in the very near future.
Transport Canada will use gates to close the popular Burlington shipping canal piers to pedestrians in December: both Hamilton and Burlington are putting up a fight.
 A fleet of tall ships sailed through the canals in June of 2013. At least 1000 people were on hand to watch the passage. The federal agency angered local residents last year by threatening to ban the public from the pair of 321-metre-long piers that usher ships into Hamilton Harbour and serve as popular walking paths into the lake. Public pressure and Advocacy from former MP Bob Bratina resulted in a closure “pause” last year to allow talks with Burlington and Hamilton.
 Gates are in position – just waiting for someone to put the lock in place. But residents watched nervously this month as three new swing gates were installed to block entrance to the piers from the waterfront trail. Transport Canada confirmed it will begin “restricting access” ahead of winter conditions, but added future recreational use is still up for negotiation.
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said Friday cities on both sides of the canal would consider taking responsibility for pier maintenance and controlling access in dangerous weather — if the federal government first pays to make the crumbling concrete safe.
That could cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands of dollars to the low millions.
“We certainly expect that the federal government will make those investments,” said Eisenberger. “I imagine it’s not a small investment, but certainly not in the tens of millions of dollars, either.”
Related news story
By Staff
December 1st, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Christine Vanderwal, an Itinerant Resource Teacher with the Halton District School Board, has received a prestigious Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence (Certificate of Achievement). She was nominated for her role as a teacher in Viola Desmond Public School in Milton in the 2020-2021 school year.
 Christine Vanderwal, an Itinerant Resource Teacher at the Viola Desmond Public School in Milton in the 2020-2021 school year. In receiving her award, Vanderwal is recognized for her teaching approach that incorporates a wide range of learning tools, creates an inclusive classroom where students feel their culture and identity is valued, and uses various technology methods such as photography, animation and stop motion to engage and motivate students.
The Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence nomination said: “(Christine) begins every year with a focus on building authentic connections among all members of the class, including herself. This starts with an exploration of identity, as individuals and as a community, with engaging discussions and activities that allow every learner to share their perspectives and ideas, as well as their personal uniqueness and culture. She integrates concepts of Design Thinking and Knowledge Building using technology, art and drama to explore the topics that matter including Indigenous issues and human rights.”
Upon learning of her nomination, Vanderwal expressed her gratitude to her colleagues who nominated her. “I want to thank colleagues Pieter Toth and Matt Coleman who put together such a thoughtful nomination package, and I am honoured that so many people, whom I deeply respect, contributed such meaningful words on my behalf,” Vanderwal says. “It is humbling to be included amongst such wonderful educators. I also want to thank the students who I have had the pleasure of learning alongside throughout my career. It is from them that I have learned the most. It is a privilege to be an educator, and my greatest joy is to work in a community alongside young people, empowering them to use their voices, uncover their gifts and explore their passions.”
“We are so proud that an HDSB educator has been honoured with the Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence,” says Curtis Ennis, Director of Education for the Halton District School Board. “Christine embodies the Board’s values by ensuring her students are learning in an environment dedicated to equity, collaboration and inclusion while focused on 21st century learning. It is wonderful to see our staff implementing the important elements of our 2020-2024 Multi-Year Plan where students will learn from, grow with, and inspire each other. We congratulate Christine on this prestigious award.”
 By Ray Rivers
December 1st, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
“The premier thinks the road to recovery from COVID-19 is paving over paradise,” – Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner
 How far from the tree has this apple fallen? Brian Mulroney can’t be happy. He was once proclaimed Canada’s greenest prime minister. And here his own daughter Carolyn Mulroney, as Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, is opening up the province for even more environmentally unsustainable and costly urban sprawl.
It was bad enough that as former provincial attorney general she declared war on the federal government’s carbon tax, widely considered one of the most efficient ways to lower society’s carbon footprint. But now she has begun paving over parts of Ontario’s greenbelt with even more highways.
The new 413 highway would be 59 km long and would take up over 400 acres of the Greenbelt and more than 2,000 acres of Class 1 and Class 2 farmland – among Ontario’s most productive farmland. Impacts include cutting through 85 waterways, damaging 220 wetlands and disrupting the habitats of 10 species-at-risk. And the kicker – it is estimated to cause over 17 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 resulting in more than $1.4 billion in damages from that pollution.
 Justification for this highway has never been made – is there one? The previous government had convened an expert panel which ended up dismissing the 413 concept on the basis that it would save the average commuter only 30-60 seconds, less than a minute, in commute times. In fact this highway, estimated conservatively at around $10 billion would mostly serve drivers wanting to get up to their cottages. And the government is claiming it’ll also be toll free for them.
Doug Ford has made new highways the centre piece of his campaign for re-election as premier of Ontario. A second highway, the Bradford Bypass, joining highways 400 and 404 and running through the heart of Ontario’s primary market growing land has already started accepting bids for construction.
The province estimates that some drivers could save as much as 35 minutes using this bypass, but again that would largely be people travelling into cottage country. If built, its four lanes would cut through 27 waterways, nearly 11 hectares of sensitive wetlands and the Holland Marsh, a region of the protected Greenbelt nicknamed “Ontario’s vegetable patch” for its fertile soil.
But even as the Premier is planning a new highway, a current high capacity highway, designed specifically for commuters in the GTA’s urban sprawl is sitting nearly empty given its capacity. The contract with highway 407 allows for the company to raise its tolls whenever traffic reaches a pre-determined threshold – something it has done repeatedly. The reverse also applies – that tolls should come down when usage falls.
 How come the toll rates never come down? But for the last two years traffic on the 407 has been considerably below levels to justify the high tolls they are charging. So under its contract, the 407 should have been fined a billion dollars. But the government has given 407 a free pass, a get out of jail card. 407 is not even required to lower the tolls to match traffic volumes. It was like an officer stopping you driving 140 kms in a 40 km school zone and telling you to be careful.
Mr, Ford complains about traffic congestion for daily commuters. Make no mistake, the single best way to reduce that traffic congestion on the 401 would be lower tolls on Hwy 407. Why build another highway way the heck out in farm country that will also sit mostly empty?
So why is the government so determined to build these new roads? Well the Toronto Star and Canada’s National Observer have identified a good reason. Their investigation found over 3,000 acres of prime real estate near the proposed route that is owned by large developers and would be expected to increase dramatically in value. Five of these developers have close ties to Premier Ford’s government including one who was the chair of Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney’s 2018 PC leadership campaign.
And it only gets juicier when it appears that Minister Mulroney’s office got its hands dirty redirecting the highway Bradford Bypass highway routing away from the second, third and 11th holes of a golf course owned by the father of another Conservative MPP.
 Golf course locations appear to be a determining factor in highway locations. The federal government has claimed that it will intervene with its own environmental assessment (EA) of the Hwy 413, because the Ford government had virtually disassembled and gutted Ontario’s EA process after taking power. The feds have not yet said they will require an EA for the bypass, however, though the current assessment is stale dated, having been undertaken some twenty years ago.
And it’s not just environmental assessments that have been subject to Mr. Ford’s my way or the highway management philosophy. Doug Ford has issued 57 MZOs, more than triple the number that the last Liberal government issued over its 15 years in power. He has expanded his powers three times and has bulldozed his pet developments over the rulings and wishes of local municipalities, the Greenbelt and conservation authorities.
The Auditor-General, Bonnie Lysyk, in a recent report noted that the province is failing to protect wildlife from developers and resource industries, and that the Environment Ministry is “essentially facilitating development rather than protecting species at risk.” Building another highway will just add to the toll of killed and injured wildlife. According to one study, today there are an estimated 14,000 wildlife-vehicle collisions a year – 5 to 10 per cent of all accidents in the province.
 In that part of the world this might be seen as an election sign. When Carolyn Mulroney told the world that she had decided to relocate to Ontario and enter provincial politics there was a sense of optimism in the air. After the dirty tricks the party had engaged in to politically assassinate their former leader, Patrick Brown, a fresh face and mind would be welcome in Ontario’s traditional ruling party.
But that was not to be. While she and her dad may differ on the environment and climate change, they share a passion for political favouritism and its dirty laundry. A two-year inquiry into Brian Mulroney’s dealings with German-Canadian arms lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber concluded that the former prime minister acted in an “inappropriate” way when he accepted large amounts of cash from Schreiber. According to the judge, Mulroney had “failed to live up to the standard of conduct that he himself adopted in the 1985 ethics code.”
Carolyn Mulroney hasn’t been caught with her hands in the till yet, but her role in building highways to the benefit, primarily, of her development friends and political colleagues doesn’t look good on her. She’ll never be seen as an environmental steward, as her father was, but when it comes to the darker side of politics, it’s what they say – the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
 Ray Rivers, a Gazette Contributing Editor, writes regularly applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Mulroney Honoured – Hwy 413 – Bradford By-Pass – 407 Free Pass –
Developer Friends – AG’s report – Wildlife and Road Traffic-
Mulroney – a different view –
By Staff
December 1st, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
The city administration, with the blessing of city council has set out their plan to get whatever might be available in the way of taxi service to replace the Burlington Taxi service that ceased operations on November 30th.
Amendments made to Public Vehicle By-law provides opportunity for replacement of lost taxi service and applications arenbeing accepted starting December 2
The bylaw changes were made at a Special Council meeting yesterday, City Council approved amending the Public Vehicle By-law to allow exemptions to existing licensing requirements so other taxi services can apply to provide service for Burlington residents.
 With Burlington’s main taxi service provider Burlington Taxi, ceasing operation on Nov.26, 2021, the amendments are intended to provide a temporary solution to quickly replace lost taxi service. The by-law that governs the issuance of new taxi licences was written to meet the needs of the taxi business model that existed in 2009. To allow new businesses to enter the Burlington transportation market, City staff recommended interim by-law amendments. These amendments will help provide flexibility in the application process and meet demands of current business models.
Starting Dec. 2, 2021 applications for new taxi owner licences/plates will be open until all spaces are full. The by-law amendment allows licences to be awarded on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis (similar to other City business licences). Complete applications will be processed as soon as possible to address the current service gap in Burlington.
Applicants can visit burlington.ca/taxilicence for more information on the criteria and documentation required. The City will continue to share updates as available. In the meantime, Burlington Transit bus schedules can be accessed at 905-639-0550 or at burlingtontransit.ca. Burlington Transit currently offers adults 65+ free transit on weekdays, Monday to Friday, between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
The fee for the license is a reported $3,451.68.
The by-law amendments are intended to provide a temporary solution. City staff are aiming to undertake a comprehensive review and consultation and have a new by-law created prior to December 31, 2023. Further review is required not only to determine appropriate taxi licensing requirements, but to investigate the ‘rideshare’ businesses and options for regulating that market.
Related news stories.
Councillor explains part of the story.
Political will to do something quickly does not appear to be in place.
By Staff
December 1st, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
City of Burlington is offering special rates for rentals of gyms, ice rinks and community rooms from now until January 2nd, 2022.
. Residents can book space for 60 or 90-minute intervals at a variety of locations across the city. This presents a great opportunity for families to be active together in a safe, controlled environment over the month of December.
Rentals can be made 48-hours or more in advance. All bookings can be done through liveandplay.burlington.ca.
- Gym rentals are available at Tansley Woods Community Centre and Haber Community Centre for $28.90. Rental includes exclusive use of the gym and basketball nets and soccer nets. Renters must bring their own equipment.
- Ice rink rentals are available at Appleby Ice Centre, Mainway Ice Centre and Mountainside Arena for $139.64. Rentals include exclusive use of the rink, hockey nets and skate aids. Renters must bring all other equipment.
- Community room rentals are available at Tansley Woods Community Centre, Mountainside Community Centre and Haber Community Centre for $25. Rental includes two tables, 10 chairs. Renters must bring any other equipment they need such as crafts, fitness items or games. Sport balls or large sport equipment are not allowed in community rooms.
 A steal of a deal at less than 30 bucks an hour. All COVID-19 precautions and restrictions apply.
For more information, including booking and payments, visit burlington.ca/rentals.
By Pepper Parr
December 1st, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
People at city hall don’t set out to hurt people. Mistakes get made and the people who made the mistake, for the most part, set out to correct the error.
Some mistakes leave scars and diminish people who are already struggling to keep their heads above water.
The number of people going to food banks has risen: 300,000 households in Ontario made the trip this year.
 The Food Bank can deliver some of the food needed – but not all of it. The Burlington Food Bank is able to deliver food to many of the households that need help.
No one broadcasts that they need help feeding their families; while it is not something one should be ashamed of – there is a sense of shame for those on any form of public welfare.
Several of the churches in Burlington had a system that let them give families with no transportation a taxi chit that let them get to the food bank.
Now there is no taxi service and I personally doubt there will be one for something in the order of 100 days. The “significant legislative and legal challenges” made it impossible.
Those “legislative and legal challenges need to be replaced by “whatever it takes”. That is what makes a city great.
These mistakes cannot and should never be looked upon as a “learning opportunity”; a phrase that has achieved some currency at the Council table.
The apology from the City Manager just isn’t enough.
Related news story.
Councillor explains.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
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