 By Katelyn Goodwin
September 5th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
With the first Rib Fest in three years coming to an end, it is worth taking a look at how the event – what worked and what didn’t work and where changes might be made.
People clearly enjoyed getting out and being with friends and enjoying a decent meal.
 It was the first major event (with the exception of sound of Music) where hundreds of people mingled and stood around talking to friends without feeling they had to mask up. The two-year absence from Spencer Smith Park, due to COVID restrictions seemed to heighten the interest in attending.
The crowds were good – what surprised me was just how many came from outside the city to attend.
Out of the thirty-eight people I had the chance to talk to during my time interviewing people, about fourteen of them were locals there to enjoy the Rib Fest; Burlingtonians have been doing this since 1996 – this is very much a Burlington event that attracts a lot of visitors.
Ten of the people I spoke with who didn’t live in Burlington heard about the event from co-workers or friends, and the other half having always come from Hamilton, Oakville, Brampton specifically to attend the Rib Fest.
The latter reason says a lot about just how much the festival has grown.
There were people in the park who had simply came downtown for a day out and were drawn to the activity of the festival, having never been before.
A young pair had admitted being out sightseeing in downtown Burlington, curious as to what was going on at Spencer Smith Park. This led to them getting their first ‘taste’ of the festival.
Another pair around the same age had also been sightseeing, with the young lady from Burlington and the young man new to the city.
There were two people from the U.K who were touring Canada, three others who had just moved to Burlington.
There were a few people I talked to who had thoughts about the festival itself and its setup. A very good friend of mine who is a local was happy to enjoy it again after not having been there in a while, thought rides, games, and concession stands that were spread throughout the park was a good idea – people didn’t have to walk back and forth from one area to the other to enjoy an activity.
An older gentleman from outside Burlington wanted to come to the festival again after attending the last one before COVID but said he wouldn’t do it frequently due to the cost of the ribs and other food.
A couple who had just moved to Canada said their second time at the festival was nice, but wished they allowed dogs in, having taken theirs with them that day. I believe they may have said that in a lighthearted/joking manner, though it was still informative to hear the thoughts of others about such a big local event.
 Good crowd with traffic flowing smoothy. And a dog that got in. Was there a rule against dogs?  The only difference that told anyone we were still dealing with a pandemic was the way the tables were set out this year. Social distancing appears to be a thing of the past: I saw six people with masks at the festival out of the hundreds down there, one of which only had it in his hand. It appears there are only a few these days who still wish to take personal precautions.
It became clear to me that Rib Fest continues to be an event that attracts people from the region and many that experience the event for the first time.
RibFest closes at 7 pm this evening.
 By Pepper Parr
September 4th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The crowds were there.
We didn’t see a single Burlington member of Council in the crowd.
 Regional Chair Gary Carr working his cell phone while at the Rib Fest on Friday We did see Regional Chair Gary Carr working is cell phone.
He was on his way to the VIP tent to meet up with former Mayor Rick Goldring, an opportunity to swap election war stories.
Carr was looking good. During the short conversation he kept breaking away to shake hands with the police officers on duty. He knew several by name and spoke proudly of the new recruits who were sworn in recently.
By Pepper Parr
September 3rd, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Well Friday came and went. Stephen White was logging into his email on the quarter hour to see if the city had managed to meet the commitment it had made to get a report out to the public on how they were going to manage the coyote problem by the end of Friday.
 Signs and whistles are the tools the city is using at this point – citizens were waiting for a report that was scheduled to be released on Friday. Many thought it was a target that would not be met. The two meetings on the Thursday: one at 10:30 and the other at 1:00 pm didn’t leave enough time for the communications people to put together a solid review of what they had discussed – things just don’t work that quickly at city hall – especially if you want to get it right the first time.
On the Thursday evening I was with a group that was singing as a choir that wasn’t competing, wasn’t preparing for an event – just singing and enjoying themselves.
When it was over I was heading back to my car and Jane Kelly Cook, the organizer of the event – it was held in her back yard which borders on the Centennial Trail, said she would show me the way – as we approached Seneca Street she paused and said: “It was right here, on this spot that someone was bitten by a coyote – it wasn’t a serious bite – but more than enough to scare the daylights out of the person.
Many think that city hall and some of the Council members are just not really in touch with their constituents – and if they are they aren’t saying very much.
There doesn’t appear to be much in the way of leadership from the Office of the Mayor or the city manager. And none of the members of Council have chosen to be a voice the public can pay attention.
What the public was getting was statements that appear to have been written by the communications department.
One Gazette reader, who isn’t always that reliable but he did seem to have information that wasn’t made up, told of a program the city of Thunder Bay has in place.
Alfred Facenda, at times known as Albert Facenda, a small developer who has made Burlington the market he works in, sent the following comment to the Gazette:
Let me give you an example of what leadership looks like.
In Thunder Bay the citizens were experiencing an incredibly high motor vehicle collision rate. In the urban part of Thunder Bay the amount of deer vehicle collisions numbered 800 per year. Clearly the thought of a 250 pound deer slamming through your windshield at 60 kmh began to concern citizens.
Taking everything into consideration the City council decided to reduce the number of deer in the city. They then did the unthinkable. They allowed the citizens to hunt deer within City limits. Now remember this is a City of 175 thousand people, about the size of Burlington. The stipulations were archery only, shooting from stands or platforms 10 feet or higher. Resulting in shooting at close distances into the ground for safety reasons and you had to be a licensed hunter having completed all the safety courses.
The deer vehicle collisions dropped by 700 and citizens are much safer. To date no archery accidents This program has been in place since 2012. The “Citiots” of Burlington might learn something from people who hunt and fish and routinely see bears, moose, deer and other incredible species and understand what has to be done to manage animal numbers.
Not to mention knowing what a great venison roast tastes like.
. 2% of the population should not be telling the 98% what to do.
 City Manager Tim Commisso Editor’s note: The irony of this is too much to keep to myself. On Thursday when Stephen White was on a Zoom call with City Manager Tim Commisso, he told the Gazette that Tim was in Thunder Bay, his home town and where he has family. He also served Thunder Bay as city manager for a period of time. He retired from that job, worked in the private sector for a period of time – until Marianne Meed Ward invited him for a cup of coffee. And we know where that led.
By Katelyn Goodwin
September 3rd, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
While covering the Rotary Rib Fest at Spencer Smith Park on Friday I talked to some of the people about the recent coyote attacks reported in south central Burlington.
 Signs and whistles were the tools the city was using to combat the coyote problem. While many folks come from outside the city simply to enjoy the Rib Fest, there are those residing within Burlington and on the outskirts who are aware of these attacks and were aware of what the city is doing to manage the problem.
Those from outside Burlington are aware of the attacks, though unaware of how the city is handling them.
For the most part residents believe the city is doing all they can and should educate people on the issue; some think the city cannot do a whole lot more than they already are – others claim they are providing minimal info and should be providing more.
Other people noted the distribution of whistles for the use of ‘hazing’ wild animals they may encounter, saying it was a decent solution for the time being.
Two women had many thoughts to share on the subject. One believed a reason for the sudden aggressive behaviour in coyotes stemmed from the issue of some people feeding wild animals, causing them to become more territorial. She also believed the elimination of the coyote suspected to have been the one that bit and scratched the leg of an eighteen-year-old girl south of Lakeshore Road as well as attack a two and a half-year-old toddler was ‘unfortunate, but necessary’.
While she stated she did not enjoy hearing about the elimination of any animal, she did not want any other residents or children injured by them, or any small pets attacked and killed.
 It was the new normal everyone wanted. Few masks in sight. The other woman said she felt sorry for the coyotes, believing us to have taken more of their habitat/territory away, though acknowledged what had to be done under city orders to take safety precautions. She was particularly concerned about the uncharacteristic aggression in the animals suddenly, calling it ‘worrying behaviour’.
As noted, there are differing thoughts from both Burlington residents and residents outside the city about these unprovoked coyote attacks and what the city is doing to manage the problem even during an enjoyable event such as the Rib Fest, with people coming to their own conclusions on what is being done/needs to be done to resolve the problem.
The interesting thing about asking people questions at a large public event is the answers you get. One woman from New York city was in town visiting and decided to take in the Rib Fest to see what it was like.
 This is what brings them back to Burlington’s Rotary Rib Fest!
 By Pepper Parr
September 3rd, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
It has been a couple of years hasn’t it?
 It has been two years since we’ve seen scenes like this. What has changed in the Rib Fest so many people come to Burlington to enjoy ?
 He loves his job. The crowds are certainly going to be there. The ribbers are most certainly there.
The biggest difference is the way the tables at which you sit to eat those finger licking ribs.
 Tables were spread in what we now call “social distancing”. They are set up to seat about 8 to 10 people and spread about 10 to 12 feet apart.
Many people bought foot and chose to sit on the wall next to the lake.
Some people were wearing masks – but no where near the majority.
The police were out in force – none of them wearing masks.
The schedule:
Saturday, September 3, 2022 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Sunday, September 4, 2022 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Monday, September 5, 2022 11:00 AM – 07:00 PM
 It was an occasion when people were meeting people, glad to be out and enjoying fine weather. A typical Rib Fest crowd – thousands come to Burlington for the event.
 By Staff
September 3rd, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
 The Regional government has a department that reprints all the municipalities in their efforts to attract new corporations and other organizations that are looking for a place to locate their operations.
The turmoil south of us and the exceptional public safety record the Region has make the four municipalities very attractive.
In helping people understand what the Region is all about their business attraction people created the following two infographics to tell part of the story.
There is data in their that might surprise you.
 The dwelling types will undergo a radical change as the construction of high rise towers begin to be built in Burlington, Within a decade we will see at least a third of the population in high rise and eventually close to a majority. 
 By Staff
September 2nd, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
At the Art Gallery of Burlington from August 30 – September 27
Fireside Lounge
 Reception & Artist Talk: September 11, 2 PM
Arts Burlington presents Florabundance, an exhibition of new photographs by Tom Stephens.
Showing in the Fireside Lounge, August 30 to September 27, Florabundance features striking botanical imagery inspired by the artist’s own garden.
Reception & Artist Talk: September 11, 2 PM, for your chance to view and purchase an original piece!
 By Staff
September 2nd, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Fall is a good time to plant trees. To make that point the city is giving away 500 trees to residents. The trees are free, but residents will need to register and select their preferred tree from 10 types of trees.
Types and quantities are limited to first registered, first served. One tree per address.
Direct link
To register for a tree, visit getinvolvedburlington.ca/forest-health. Registration is open now.
Pick up date and time:
 Tree planting as a community event or putting an additional tree in your back yard it all adds to then canop Sept. 24, 2022 – Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pick-up time is dependent on species selected
Location: Roads, Parks and Forestry Operations Centre, 3330 Harvester Rd., Burlington
Trees will be between four and seven feet tall. Please ensure you can safely transport the trees. A City staff member will place the tree into your vehicle.
Tree Planting Tips
1. Ensure the type of tree will fit the space you have available
2. Contact www.ontarioonecall.ca before you dig to ensure there are no wires, pipes or cables where you will dig
3. Dig a hole roughly twice the width and depth of the tree’s pot
4. Remove the pot and carefully place the tree into the hole
5. Fill the hole back in with the soil removed while digging and water thoroughly
6. Water the tree several times a week to minimize the stress on the tree and ensure good root growth
Steve Robinson, Manager of Urban Forestry points out that: “Planting trees on private property is a big help for us in expanding our tree canopy important that we ensure there is a variety of trees planted and not just one type.
“By having several tree types in an area, it creates stronger trees and reduces the likelihood of an entire area being wiped out by a disease or pest that only impacts one type of tree.”
 By Staff
September 2nd, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The announcement from city hall billed the event as “Public engagement opportunities for Burlington’s woodlands” The City wants to once again engage its citizens.
They are looking for input to help inform a Woodland Management Strategy (WMS) that will for the first time, provide comprehensive 20-year strategic direction for the management of all City-owned woodlands. These woodlands cover more than 300 hectares of land.
Ultimately, the WMS will help preserve and grow the city’s woodlands and will provide:
• information on the current state of Burlington’s woodlands
• a long-term vision for the City’s woodlands
• city-wide woodland management goals, funding requirements, recommendations, and targets
• forest management plans are operational documents guiding management activities for specific woodlands within the bounds of the WMS
 The city wants a long term plan to maintain property like this. Residents can learn about the project and provide feedback that will inform goals, targets and funding priorities. This includes financial and community investment into environmental protection for reducing floods, invasive species, green infrastructure and reducing our carbon footprint.
There are multiple opportunities for people and professionals to provide input into the plan.
All opportunities are available at getinvolvedburlington.ca/wms. Locate a woodland
Visit getinvolvedburlington.ca/wms to submit an area you value in Burlington’s public woodlands, or places where you would like improvements to be made within woodlands.
Residents can upload comments and photos and see what others have posted. The City will be collecting your urban woodland locations now until Sept. 29, 2022.
Virtual Public Information Centre
Attend the online public information centre on Sept. 14, 2022 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. to learn more about the state of Burlington’s woodlands and ask questions about the Woodland Management Strategy.
The public information centre will be hosted via Zoom and pre-registration at getinvolvedburlington.ca/wms is required.
A caution here. City Council meets on the 14th – the meeting could extend into the evening.
Woodland walk
On Sept. 17, 2022 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., the City and the Woodland Management Strategy project team will be leading a walk through Tansley Woods, starting at the rear of the Tansley Woods Recreation Centre parking lot, 1996 Itabashi Way. This walk offers a chance to learn about the current challenges that the City is facing in the management of its woodlands. Participants can also ask your questions about the woodlot management strategy.
Please be at Tansley Woods by no later than 9:15 a.m. on Sept.17; late arrivals may miss the walk. Walking or hiking shoes are encouraged. RSVP your attendance at getinvolvedburlington.ca/wms.
How will the Woodland Management Strategy relate to the Urban Forest Master Plan?
The City’s Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) will provide the strategic direction to manage the urban forest in response to new problems facing urban trees and their management.
While woodlands are an important part of Burlington’s urban forest, the City’s urban forest also includes a range of other urban tree types, including street trees, park trees, and trees growing on private property.
The UFMP will provide management direction related to all of these urban forest components. The Woodland Management Strategy will play an important part in achieving the overall goals and objectives of the UFMP.
 The woods are even more peaceful in the winter. What are woodlands?
Generally, the term woodland is used to refer to groupings of self-seeded trees, growing under ‘natural’ forest conditions. Ontario’s Forestry Act defines woodlands as supporting a density of at least 250 established (20-centimeter trunk diameter) trees per hectare. Groups of trees featuring smaller diameter trees could still meet the qualities of a woodland, consistent with the definition in the Forestry Act, but would also need to feature a higher tree density.
Steve Robinson, Manager of Forestry explains: “The City of Burlington owns and is responsible for the management of more than 300 hectares of woodlands. This Woodland Management Strategy will, for the first time, deliver a coordinated 20-year strategy and supporting management plans for individual woodlands.
The Strategy will offer the comprehensive direction necessary to properly inform management of woodland health and diversity, risk, resilience, and sustainable practices.”
Links and Resources you might want to follow up on:
getinvolvedburlington.ca/wms
burlington.ca/forestry
By Bradley Elston
September 20, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Learn the main idea and concept of a Virtual data room. What is it and what purposes such software is used for?
Virtual Data Room: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners
All sorts of file storage facilities are commonly used to store documents: a personal computer or various systems like Google Drive. As long as files are locked away from prying eyes, they are quite secure. But how to protect them if you need to give access to a limited number of people you don’t know well? For example, confidential documents in various transactions, some financial reports, or documents related to tax or audit audits.
There are many similar examples when it is important to provide access to the documents, on the one hand, and to make sure they are not leaked or the person who leaked them will be found, on the other hand.
VDRs (virtual data rooms) are used for secure data exchange. They allow delimiting rights and access to the documents inside the system, creating a clear structure and organizing easy exchange and work with files both inside the organization (synchronization with AD/LDAP) and during interaction with contractors.
The data room offers a standard set of tools, such as viewing documents, downloading, sending for printing, sharing, etc. Protection of files inside VDRs is provided by differentiation of user rights, control of document lifetime, and logging of events. But the question is how to be sure that the information will not leak into the public domain, and how to identify the culprit in case of leakage.
Check the virtual data room review to get more information about this software.
 The existence of clouds has made it possible for data to be accessed by almost anyone anywhere. With a Virtual Data Room that data is secure – rock solid secure. What is VDR?
A virtual data room is a tool, usually set up for a specific time and purpose, that gives authorized users access to a secure database of documents, according to their permit rights.
Why is It Important to Use?
Initially, virtual data rooms were created as an alternative to physical data rooms in due diligence procedures during mergers and acquisitions. Before the era of broadband Internet access, the familiarization of possible parties to a transaction with documents was as follows:
● The seller would allocate or lease one or more rooms into which folders of paper documents would be taken down, and write down the rent or lost profits from the misuse of the rooms as an expense item.
● A schedule of room visits and paperwork for potential buyers (beaders) was drawn up, which, if their number was substantial, greatly increased the transaction time.
● If the beaders were from another city or country, their representatives went on business trips to world cultural centers and to industrial regions, wasting time on the road and money on higher travel expenses.
But the virtual data room solves the problem of time, cost, and convenience of accessing documents.
Currently, virtual data room services accompany the activities of companies in other areas, from providing information to partners of investment funds to obtaining certificates for medicines, that is, everywhere where it is necessary to provide convenient access to confidential information for a certain circle of people who may be thousands of kilometers away from each other.
How Can a Virtual Data Room Protect the Data?
A virtual dataroom can be used in almost any situation where a company needs to provide simultaneous access to confidential information to several people:
● Analyzing corporate records;
● Creation of document archive;
● Audit;
● Preparation of an initial public offering (IPO);
● Help with mergers and acquisitions;
● Searching and providing information for investors.
The technology works in the following way: any interaction with a document (opening, downloading, sending for printing, sending by mail attachment, etc.) provides the user with a personal labelled copy. The copy is visually indistinguishable from the original, the markings are not visible to the naked eye, and can only be recognized using a forensic tool. In addition to the invisible marking the document is assigned the following attributes: employee ID, time, date, IP, location, etc.
If there is a leakage, the compromised document is loaded into the system and its labelling is compared with the original document available in the system for analysis. As a result, the system identifies the most similar copy and its owner. Thus, allowing you to find the potential culprit of the leak.
Such a solution can be used for critical business events: mergers and acquisitions, audits, and IPO preparation handling the personal information of public persons, as well as for intellectual property protection.
 The name “the cloud” actually describes a room full of servers that hold data and make it available via the internet. While a person is working in the VDR, a system is recording every copy of the document. In case even a small fragment of text of any document stored in such an electronic data room is compromised, the owner can conduct an examination and unambiguously discover the name of the person who published it without consent. Such marking is absolutely invisible to users and nothing changes in their usual processes.
 Market projections for VDR services is very positive. Whether or not to tell employees or counterparties working in such a VDR about the presence of invisible marking is the right of the owner of the virtual room. On the one hand, this can immediately become a preventive psychological measure to protect documents. On the other hand, if the task is to identify an already existing insider, it is possible not to report about the technology.
Conclusion
A virtual room is a space where documents are sorted into folders, and all participants have a certain level of access rights. They can download files, and upload and share them only with permission. This format of use allows organizing convenient collaboration within different business processes.
VDR can save your company time and effort. When it comes to business effectiveness, every feature helps. The use of the dataroom software allows convenient managing of important corporate information and team collaboration. Also, it is more secure than usual file-sharing systems. So VDR is a smart solution for your business.
 By Staff
September 1st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Everything you need to know about RibFest:
Where
 What a crowd, what a location, what an event. Should you mask – that would be a good idea. When
Friday, September 2, 2022 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Saturday, September 3, 2022 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Sunday, September 4, 2022 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Monday, September 5, 2022 11:00 AM – 07:00 PM
 By Pepper Parr
September 1sr, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
It has been a very useful, productive day for Stephen White.
He had a forenoon call with City Manager Tim Commisso who was in Thunder Bay, his home town, for some R&R during which the two discussed at length a report that White and Julie Martin put together on the coyote problem in eastern Burlington and western Oakville.
 The Burlington, Oakville Coyote Management (BOCM) report set out the nature of the problem and a number of solutions.
The Commisso/White conversation was lengthy, much of which was off the record – as it should have been.
What was on the record was that of the 11 recommendations, five would be accepted and acted upon by the city and six would be referred to others for further review. Some of the recommendations did not fall within a municipalities jurisdiction.
 Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte  Sheila Jones, second from the right is seen by many as the power behind the city manager. During the afternoon meeting that was also virtual, Commisso, Sheila Jones, who White saw as the power behind the city manager, the Mayor and a number of staff people well as Councillor Shawna Stole who was fully engaged in the conversation.
An example of a Councillor doing a Councillor’s work
The group decided that there would be a report to be made public on Friday (which is a very fast turn around) and discussed at the Corporate Services,Strategy, Risk and Accountability Standing Committee on the 14th.
White said he was surprised that the group went along with as much as they did adding that “if they do everything they said they would do in the meeting we will have succeeded.”
We now wait for the report.
 Take a break and have a fun weekend. The only down side is that it will come out on a Friday, usually a slow day – people want to enjoy the last long weekend of the summer and a chance to get out and enjoy RibFest and get used to whatever the new normal is going to look like.
It was a good day for the city, a good day for Stephen White and Julie Martin and a good day for Tim Commisso who had a problem that had gotten out of hand.
Commisso is reported to have reached out to the City Manager in Oakville to create a Task Force with the two CEO’s working together.
By Staff
September 1st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
 Tony Brecknock out on the street An election that has yet to get any traction; coyotes where they were never seen before and a Rib Fest that starts on Saturday.
We know most, if not all, the candidates will be out in force – no word on the coyotes.
 The Brecknock campaign – works the intersections Every candidate develops their own style. Tony Brecknock is running a very lean campaign and has decided to put his team at major intersections in the city on different days of the week – this morning they were at Mainway and Walkers Line with two people at every corner holding signs at each corner of the intersection.
Tony would walk from one corner of the intersection to the other waving to people – coffee cup in hand and his thumb in the air.
 Anne Marsden with her van Anne Marsden is limited in her ability to get around but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t get her message out.
They will all be at Spencer Smith Park talking to anyone that will listen – you won’t miss her message.
 The Dreamboats – on stage at the Ribfest – great sound – huge energy. Rib Fest begins on Friday the 2nd and runs through to Monday the 5th
For the first time in two years people will be able to gather and enjoy the music, the food and seeing old friends.
Some people will be wearing masks – respect their right to do so.
And have fun – this is something we have been waiting for and deserve.
By Pepper Parr
August 31, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Where do you vote? Depends where you live.
The boundaries for a constituency (usually referred to as a riding) is determined by federal regulation that is based on the census report that is produced every ten years.
The Constitution of Canada requires that federal electoral districts be reviewed after each decennial (10-year) census to reflect changes and movements in Canada’s population.
The current federal redistribution process began in October 2021. It is led by independent commissions working separately in each province to establish electoral boundaries. The Chief Electoral Officer is tasked with applying the representation formula found in the Constitution to determine the new allocation of seats. Elections Canada is also responsible for providing administrative and technical support to the commissions.
The preliminary boundaries that will be discussed at an October 6th meeting in Milton are shown below:
 This map shows four ridings – Burlington currently has three. On June 23, 2022 , Parliament amended the Representation Formula, which determines the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) to be assigned to each province. The new legislation ensures that every province retains, as a minimum, the same number of MPs that it had assigned during the 43rd Parliament elected in 2019.
What does that mean for Ontario and, more importantly – what does it mean for Burlington. The people of this city get to vote in one of the three current ridings:
Burlington
Oakville North Burlington
Milton.
If the current preliminary boundaries people in Burlington would be in either:
Burlington Lakeshore
Oakville Lakeshore
Oakville North
Burlington Milton West
Walter Byj who covered the last change in the boundaries and has agreed to take on the task of reporting on the process this time around.
Kyle Hutton will be commenting on the changes proposed.
The first meeting for a public hearing takes place on October 6th in Milton
By Pepper Parr
August 31st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Municipal World is a trade magazine that caters to the municipal sector in Canada.
Members of Burlington city council either get a personal copy or have access to a copy.
An article in a recent edition may have been written just for Burlington.
The story is based on Los Angeles where some life guards were reported to being paid $200,000 a year – which ws an abuse of the system they had in place.
The County of Los Angeles was being hammered in the media
“For Los Angeles County, the cost of not being pro-active meant that their “heroes” narrative was barely present next to the “taxpayer waste” narrative – and, sometimes, entirely absent. This was true even in local media, which means the county had not effectively engaged media outlets that most influence their target audiences: the region’s taxpayers, politicians, and community leaders.
In the short run, this lack of foresight meant bad headlines. In the next few months, it could turn into lost trust with target audiences. And in the long run, it could mean budget cuts or income ceilings for lifeguards.
Building a trust reservoir before you need it provides several critical advantages:
You are bulletproof against all sorts of attacks, criticisms, and accusations because media outlets will come to you first for your perspective.
You can activate community, industry, and other influencers who support your organization, its goals, and its place in the market.
People outside of your immediate circle will quickly find your narrative and, if necessary, be able to use it in their conversations and coverage.
The emotional support built over time will likely outweigh out-of-context facts from critics.
What Does Your Trust Reservoir Look Like?
Every organization needs to build a trust reservoir, but each organization will have a unique message to its target audiences.”
In the four years Tim Commisso has been City Manager the Gazette has never had an opportunity to meet personally with him – there have been telephone conversations.
The Mayor has yet to hold an open press event.
The interaction with the Director of Communications for the city has been a disappointment. The Gazette had a very good or at worst a satisfactory relationship with previous city managers.
The final lines in the article read:
“Your side of the story may be the right one, but nobody’s going to believe you if the trust reservoir isn’t full and constantly refilled.
Municipal World Insider and Executive Members: You might also be interested in Julie Rogers’ article: Good public relations defines a municipality’s character, values, and purpose”
The headline: Getting ahead of bad press
 By Pepper Parr
August 31st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Has it all really come to this:
A Hamilton radio station is reported to have referred to the Burlington Coyote problem as “whistlegate”
Whatever happened to the best mid-sized city in the country to lIve in?
Other than the city and some of the Councillors handing out whistles to anyone who passes by, there was the sense that nothing was going to get done until the middle of September when a report was to be presented at a Standing committee.
 City Manager Tim Commisso Not so – there is to be a meeting on Thursday with Stephen While, one of the authors of the Burlington Oakville Coyote Management report and the City Manager to be followed by another meeting later in the day that appears to include a larger participation.
If all the members of Councillor are on the call – would that make it a meeting of Council ? – perhaps the City Clerk might want to rule on that. Nothing on the city calendar at this point.
There is no agenda that the Gazette is aware of – however this would be a perfect opportunity to verbally ask the questions he put to the city when his report was first made public – something, by the way, that the Gazette first published.
 The five questions were:
1) Why does BOCM have to wait over six months for City of Burlington officials to read BOCM’s Report and provide comments and feedback on our recommendations?
2) Why did Nick Anastasopoulos say that our Report had not been sent to Coyote Watch, but Rosemary Fitzpatrick advised us in mid-May that is what had occurred?
3) Why did Tim Commisso say in a June 2nd meeting that he would get back to us with a response shortly, but we are still waiting? How long are we expected to wait?
4) Why did Nick Anastasopoulos feel it was all right to forward a Report created by an outside advocacy group to another third party advocacy group without our prior knowledge or approval?
5) Why does City Hall not have a formal, established process for reviewing Reports and recommendations from outside entities and organizations?
While this whole business is an embarrassment – there is as well a serious public safety issue that many don’t feel is going to be solved with people blowing a whistle when a coyote is spotted.
The upside is that there do not appear to be anymore reports of people being attacked by a coyote. Was it just the one animal? With at one “eliminated”?
By Staff
August 30th, 2022
BURLINGTON. ON
 Community Development Halton (CDH) is seeking applicants for vacant roles on the Board of Directors.
Eligible applicants live and/or work in the Halton community and wish to contribute as unpaid, volunteers to help CDH achieve the stated Mission: Through research, community development, planning and promoting volunteerism Community Development Halton strives to improve the quality of life for all residents of Halton.
Interested people are asked to please email your letter and resume by September 2, 2022 at 5:00 pm to the Nominating Committee: CDH Board of Directors at office@cdhalton.ca. All applicants will be contacted. Selected applicants will be invited to a virtual interview using Zoom. Candidates will be put forward for election at the Board’s Annual General Meeting in late September.
CDH is a nonprofit, charitable organization focused on the impact of economic, political, social and cultural forces on individuals, families and stakeholders in Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville.
CDH supports three programs:
- The Social Planning program engages with the community to identify strengths and weaknesses and determine ways to improve the quality of life in the Halton community.
- Volunteer Halton supports the promotion of It provides residents and nonprofit agencies with volunteer opportunity matching services, as well as building the capacity of nonprofits through training, consulting and resources.
- Age-Friendly Cities and Communities encourages active and healthy aging by promoting inclusive opportunities for health, participation, and security in order to enhance quality of life as people Visit www.cdhalton.ca for more information about CDH.
Directors serve on the Board for a term of three years with options to renew. Board meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Directors also participate in ad hoc committees, with the total average time commitment of approximately 50-60 hours per year.
The CDH Board strives to reflect the strengths and diversity of the Halton community. CDH welcomes applications from people with disabilities and encourages people to make requests for accommodations at any point in the process. Preference will be given to candidates who demonstrate that they are committed to equity and social justice and have a passion for and/or experience with the following:
- Community needs in Halton Region;
- Human services and nonprofit organizations;
- Accounting and financial practices;
- Communications and marketing;
- Legal knowledge and expertise;
- Citizen engagement and collective impact
By Pepper Parr
August 30th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
In an announcement sent out via Twitter the city administration said:
 The city is reported to have purchased 12oo of thee whistles. In light of recent coyote attacks in south-central and southeast Burlington, we are giving out coyote whistles to help you ‘haze’ coyotes you may encounter.
 Ron Foxcroft, Centre with his son Ronnie and Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns with the Fox40 whistle. The whistles are available, first come, first serve basis at:
Service Burlington, Sims Square, 390 Brant St., third floor
Nelson Recreation Centre, 4235 New St.
Burlington Public Library Branches:
Aldershot Branch, 550 Plains Rd. E.
Alton Branch, 3040 Tim Dobbie Dr.
Brant Hills Branch, 2255 Brant St. o
Central Branch, 2331 New St. o
Kilbride Branch, 6611 Panton St.
New Appleby Branch, 676 Appleby Line o
Tansley Woods Branch, 1996 Itabashi Way
That was it. For those who aren’t glued to Twitter – well they don’t know.
Something is seriously wrong in the Communications department if this is the best they can do to effectively communicate with a public that is asking a lot of questions. There will be a Staff report going to Council for a September 14th meeting.
UPDATE The city did send out a media release later in the day.
 By Staff
August 30th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
 Do you love to sing popular music,
like Elvis’ “Love Me Tender“ or “That’ll Be The Day”
Come “join” our choir!
No tryout required!!
These are the people you gotta talk to:
Alex Fiddles https://www.mypopchoir.com
Jane Cooper-Kelly 905-802-8487
My Pop Choir (MPC) sings popular music in two- and three-part harmony.
We are holding summer rehearsals by candlelight, in a beautiful garden setting, backing on to the Centennial Multi-use Path in the Lakeshore School Community.
MPC is a community-based choir, with one qualification for membership:
“You gotta love to sing” 🎶 No tryout required. 😊
When/Where:
Wednesday August 31. 2022
Final rehearsed songs to be sung at 8:30pm
Between Martha Street and Seneca Avenue
How:
Hop on your bike or take an evening stroll…
Look for the twinkling candlelight…
Listen for the magical voices of…
This sounds like a fun event – wish we had heard about it earlier so more of you could take part.
By Pepper Parr
August 31st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Good speakers are always a delight to listen to – you learn a lot and you find the time was well spent.
The Burlington Historical Society will feature John McDonald at their September 12th meeting that will take place at 7:00 pm in the Centennial Hall at the Central Library
 John McDonald – to talk about the former Halton County Jail – now the Milton Town Hall and what Prohibition was like in the Region. McDonald was born in Milton, Ontario and is a lifelong resident of Halton. He graduated from Ryerson Polytechnic Institute and has served as a Member of Council with both Halton Hills and the Region of Halton.
John has conducted extensive research throughout the Halton area since the early 1970s including numerous presentations and walking tours. This work has resulted in the publication of three books: Halton Sketches, Halton Sketches Revisited and Halton’s Heritage. He is a founding member of the Esquesing Historical Society.
 Once the Court House and Jail – now Town of Milton offices John was awarded the Ontario Heritage Community Recognition Program “Certificate of Achievement” and recognized for his community efforts and historical research when presented with the “Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal”.
Join John for a fascinating look at the history of the Halton County Courthouse and Jail as well as the impact of the Temperance Movement and Prohibition in Burlington
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