 By Pepper Parr
February 16th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
We now know why the Special Council meeting that took place on the 14th – was not webcast – the Gazette has been digging into that and we will report what we have learned later today. The way the city handled the Special Council meeting is the kind of thing that has to be taken to the Office of the Ombudsman.
The news that Hassaan Basit has been appointed the next City Manager was a bit of a surprise but also great news for the City.
What appears to have put Council into a real tizzy is that the current city manager Tim Commisso, wanted out – now. That got resolved at the Special Meeting.
The City Councillors had made up their mind on who they wanted in place and with that information in hand Tim Commisso felt he could leave the job.
He was a principled enough bureaucrat to stay on the job no matter how uncomfortable it may have been.
Mayor’s do not do what Meed Ward did to Tim – he didn’t deserve it and it wasn’t called for.
Hassaan Basit is a fine administrator. He did very good work at the Conservation Halton.
Gerry Smallegange, Chair of the Conservation Halton Board, put it perfectly when he expressed gratitude and extended congratulations to Hassaan:
“On behalf of the Conservation Halton Board, I want to congratulate Hassaan Basit on his new position with the City of Burlington. Hassaan has been an invaluable leader during his eight-year tenure as President and CEO of Conservation Halton, and nearly two decades of dedicated service with the organization. His departure is a significant loss — Hassaan is widely respected as an engaging and transformative leader, guiding Conservation Halton through challenging times, as evidenced during the complexities of the pandemic and an ever-changing regulatory landscape.
“His visionary approach has left an indelible mark. He redefined Conservation Halton’s business model, shaping two ground-breaking strategic plans that have not only elevated our business outcomes — providing financial stability and growth — but also fostered a positive organizational culture, instilling a growth and innovation mindset, collaborative problem-solving, and continuous learning.
Gerry got that right.
Related news stories:
The Mayor and the City Manager
The first look at Hassaan when he was appointed President & CAO at Conservation Halton
 By Pepper Parr
February 16th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
 The next City Manager. Good choice that could turn out to be a great choice. Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, along with Burlington City Council, is pleased to announce Hassaan Basit will be joining the City of Burlington team as its next City Manager. Mr. Basit will begin his role on April 22, 2024.
Hassaan Basit has a proven track record of transforming organizations to deliver results. As CEO of Conservation Halton, he built a high performing team with an outstanding culture, reduced permit times, improved processes, brought in performance metrics and turned around relationships with the development industry, experience which will all be essential to meeting our housing pledge of enabling 29,000 homes to be built by 2031.
Additionally, he and his team are responsible for managing critical flood water infrastructure, approving development permits under the Conservation Authorities Act, carrying out environmental restoration and forest management, delivering programming to 1.5 million annual customers, and running parks, while focusing on sustainability, climate change adaptation and mitigation – key priorities outlined in the City’s recently approved four-year work plan, Vision to Focus.
He has also developed extensive relationships with all levels of government and Halton Region, including being selected by the provincial government as the chair of the Province’s Conservation Authority Working Group.
That’s the Official media release – nothing wrong with the content. Hassaan Basit has done a marvellous job running the Conservation Authority.
There is a deeper story that we will get to later in the day.
 By Staff
February 15th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
New this spring!
Parking fees in high demand lots and all on-street metered parking spaces on will increase starting March 1st, 2024.
Drivers will need to pay for parking in three out of the 14 municipal parking lots and metered on-street spaces on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Parking is free after 6 p.m.
Users with a valid accessible parking permit or City-issued Veteran Parking Permit may still park in any space for free if the accessible spaces are occupied.
New Saturday parking fees
The three lots are: 1, 4 and 5. Users will need to pay for parking in these lots and metered on-street parking from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Parking is free in most other Downtown Burlington lots, including the Waterfront Parking Garage at 414 Locust St., on weekends and holidays.
Downtown parking fee increases
For the first time in 10 years, all downtown metered on-street parking spaces and lots will see a rate increase of $0.25 per hour. The rate increases will help fund lot maintenance, infrastructure and resurfacing and are:
- Hourly rate increase from $1.75 to $2 per hour
- Daily maximum parking fee increase from $14 to $18
- Monthly permits increase from $83 to $91 and from $132 to $151
Hourly and daily users can pay their parking fees through the HONK mobile app. Users do not have to download the app but can scan the QR code on parking lot signage to pay for parking. Monthly permit holders will receive a letter outlining their increases, renewal and payment options.
For downtown parking options, visit burlington.ca/downtownparking.
Visitors are encouraged to consider taking Burlington Transit, cycling, walking and leaving their cars at home.
Timing, Impacts and Basis
The City of Burlington periodically review their rates and fees for downtown parking. The last fee increase was 10 years ago in 2014.
 Part of the urban experience. Studies show that with intensification in the downtown core, many lots are approaching capacity. A rate increase will encourage turn over in these lots and help to pay for lot maintenance, infrastructure and resurfacing.
Research on neighbouring municipalities confirmed that these rates are consistent with their parking fees. For example, to park in Downtown Hamilton, user fees range from $3 to $3.25 per hour. To park in Downtown Oakville, user fees are $2 per hour.
Burlington is a City where people, nature and business thrive. Sign up to learn more about Burlington at burlington.ca/subscribe and follow @CityBurlington on social media.
Why are they doing this? Manager, Integrated Mobility Transportation, Kaylan Edgcumbe explains: “Parking spaces in our most popular lots are limited and the lots fill quickly. We are introducing paid parking on Saturdays to help manage the parking and traffic flow. In collaboration with the Downtown Parking Committee, we recognize that visitors come to the downtown, not only for shopping and services, but to access recreational opportunities and enjoy Spencer Smith Park and the waterfront. In order to maintain equitable access to the waterfront and recreational destinations, Saturday paid parking be extended to on-street and “premium” surface lots only. This option aims to balance parking demand by incentivizing use of the free lots for longer-duration stays that are located further away from the Brant Street retail area. We also hope that this encourages downtown visitors to look at other modes of transportation to help reduce greenhouse gases. Less automobile use within the downtown will support a more walkable community and active modes of travel.”
HONK mobile app
By Staff
February 15th, 2024
BURLINGTON. ON
Anything to get the narrative off the bad, really really bad news off the front page. Keep an eye out fpr the photo ops that will follow the announcement.
The Ontario government is keeping costs down for drivers by introducing legislation that would, if passed, ban tolls on provincial highways. This ban would apply to the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway once uploaded to the province, as well as the province’s 400-series highways.
Why would they say: “If passed” The have a clear majority of seats – they can, and have, done whatever they wanted.
 Premier Doug Ford is on a mission to keep costs down for families and businesses. “Our government under the leadership of Premier Ford is on a mission to keep costs down for families and businesses,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation. “First, we scrapped the tolls on Highways 412 and 418, now we’re protecting drivers from the costs of new tolls. Together with our cut in the gas tax and eliminating the licence plate sticker fee, we’re saving drivers hundreds of dollars every year.”
To further keep costs down for people, the province is also proposing to make the current freeze on driver’s licence and Ontario Photo Card fees permanent through legislation, saving drivers an estimated $66 million over the next five years. By legislating the current freeze, which was originally put in place through regulation and which has saved applicants $22 million since 2019, the government is ensuring that any future increases can only be made through legislation.
What a driver wants to know is: How much am I going to say personally. Truth – not all that much.
The province is also proposing to save drivers time by automating the licence plate renewal process starting this summer, saving vehicle owners more than 900,000 hours each year. This follows recent action by the government to eliminate the cost of renewing your vehicle permit. Until the automatic renewal process begins, drivers are still required to renew their licence plates at no cost, which can be done online or in person at ServiceOntario. The automatic renewal process will only be available to drivers in good standing who do not have outstanding fines or tickets.
These measures are part of upcoming legislation that will kick off the spring sitting of the legislature on February 20, 2024. The Get It Done Act will include a variety of measures that, if passed, would build on the government’s commitments to date to streamline approvals for major infrastructure projects and housing, keep costs down for people and businesses, and support economic growth for long-term prosperity.
Isn’t Get It Done what Ryan Amato said to the bureaucrats when moving properties out of the Greenbelt.
Ryan Amato, was chief of staff for Cabinet Minister for SteveClark, who later also resigned. Amato played a key role in choosing and opening up Greenbelt land for housing development.
With Ontario’s population expected to grow by five million people over the next decade, the province is moving forward with building Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. These highways will bring relief to one of the most congested corridors in North America, helping commuters save 30 minutes a trip so they can spend time doing what matters most to them.
 September 2023: Long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT has no target date for completion, says Metrolinx CEO Over the next ten years, Ontario is also investing more than $70 billion to transform public transit in the province, which includes the largest subway expansion in Canadian history, including the Ontario Line, the Scarborough Subway Extension, the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension and the Yonge North Subway Extension. The province is also moving forward with plans to extend the Hazel McCallion Light Rail Transit line by building the Mississauga loop and bringing the line into downtown Brampton and is calling on the federal government to join in a cost-sharing partnership to deliver two-way, all-day GO service on the Milton line.
The media release was followed by a list of people who had nice things to say about the planned legislation including:
– Todd McCarthy
Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery
– Kevin Ashe
Mayor of Pickering
– Steven Del Duca
Mayor of Vaughan
– Frank Notte
Director of Government Relations, Motor Vehicle Retailers of Ontario
– Teresa Di Felice
AVP, Government & Community Relations, CAA Club Group
– Stephen Laskowski
President, Ontario Trucking Association (OTA)
– Vince Accardi
President, Ontario Motor Coach Association and Motor Coach Canada
– Sara Anghel
CEO, Greater Toronto Hotel Association
 By Mia Gonsaco
February 15th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
It has long been believed that casinos and sports betting are closely related. You can learn about many of the sacraments taking place in Pin Up casino from social networks.
Various myths often surround huge bets, cool winnings and gaming paraphernalia. Thanks to the Pin-Up Instagram page, subscribers can access the latest information about current events in the field of new gambling technologies and sports betting. Communication through social networks helps bring together gambling enthusiasts. They have a source of additional information, which is often helpful, helping to penetrate deeper into the mysteries of gambling.
Why is an Instagram page better than the official website
 Instagram followers have a new tool to receive additional incentives related to sports betting and casino games. At its core, any gaming platform is a very static resource. While providing the primary type of service at a high level, it cannot additionally act as an information portal on which administrators can post additional information related to gambling.
One of the goals of creating the Pin-Up platform on Instagram was to fill the need for more information. It is on such resources that you feel an informal atmosphere filled with a lot of useful content.
The Pin Up Canada player community is beneficial from all sides
The world of gambling entertainment is exceptionally dynamic, and innovations regularly appear in it. Bookmakers are changing the rules for calculating bets; new games are appearing, and bonus programs and user agreements are being updated. Unlike a gaming site, a page on a social network is a specialized platform where any subscriber gets access to verified information online.
With the increase in the number of users, social networks are turning into colossal marketing platforms. Thus, Pin Up CA has an influential audience at its disposal, some of which are potential clients. In turn, Instagram followers are purchasing a new tool to receive additional incentives related to sports betting and casino games. After all, through a social network, organizing some entertaining competition among subscribers and providing a prize fund for the lucky winners is relatively easy.
 Connecting with people who want to talk about what you want to talk about are out there on Instagram. Instagram is a great place for communication between game participants. Watching the successes of other subscribers, it is always easier to be inspired for further achievements. Newcomers get a chance to learn from veterans and gain confidence. Players who have gone through a serious school can reboot their imagination and get acquainted with new trends to expand their personal bet coverage.
Finally, the instant access page can be a great place for humor and jokes related to gambling. No reputable betting site can afford such content. Having cheered up and rested on such a resource, getting ready and preparing to storm new heights will be easier.
By Staff
February 15th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Halton District School Board is hosting Mental Health & Well-Being information sessions for parents/guardians
 The Halton District School Board is hosting Well-Being/Mental-Health-Well-Being-Information-Sessions for parents/guardians this Winter and Spring. Covering specific topics based on feedback from parents/guardians. Each session will be led by a mental health expert in that area who will share their knowledge and provide helpful information and resources.
Sessions include:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) & Mental Health – Wednesday, Feb. 21 from 6 – 7 p.m.
- Executive Functioning for High School Students – Tuesday, March 19 from 6 – 7 p.m.
- Healthy and Unhealthy Stress – Monday, April 15 from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
*Note: These are repeated workshops offered last year. Additional sessions will be announced at a later date.
Registration is required for these sessions as limited spots are available. Parents/guardians can register by completing the Mental Health & Well-Being Information Sessions Registration Form. Sessions will be held on Google Meet, where closed captioning is available in various languages. Registrants will be emailed a link to access the session. Sessions will not be recorded.
Parents/guardians will have the opportunity to submit questions when completing the registration form or during the session. The HDSB’s Mental Health & Well-Being webpage has information for parents/guardians and students on mental health, ways to support positive mental health and well-being, and how to get additional support at school and in the broader community.
For additional information, contact: Amy Smith, Senior Communications Officer – Corporate communications@hdsb.ca | 905-335-3663, Toll free: 1-877-618-3456
By Pepper Parr
February 14th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
An update on that Special Council meeting that took place immediately after Council adjourned from a Council meeting yesterday.
At the time Mayor Meed Ward said – “Wait a second, don’t go anywhere yet – we have to reset the room for a Special Council meeting.”
So we waited – nothing happened. I spoke to other media people who follow what Burlington City Council does.
 We have no idea why this image appeared on our monitor. We didn’t like what we saw when we pressed Ctrl. Alt..Delete All kinds of images appeared on the computer monitor – none of them made sense
We poked around and learned from a Council member that a meeting did take place and were told that:
 Councillor Paul Sharman – explaining a view point. “The last meeting was a procedural action. Nothing of any relevance, no decisions, no information shared, all legal.”
That wasn’t really an answer.
The meeting we are told did go into a CLOSED session
We would like to know which part of which Act was used to go into a CLOSED session, how long did the CLOSED session last and what was reported when they came out of CLOSED.
These are all parts of a process that ensures a City Council is transparent – this stuff matters – and when the procedures are not followed questions are raised.
Having Councillor Sharman say:
“It was a closed meeting, Pepper. No skating, no statement nothing else I can say. You could ask the question of the clerk who will provide an official response.”
That answer isn’t good enough either.
 Marianne Meed Ward is on the other side of the podium this time – sits as the Council member for Ward 2 where a developer got a zoning change she opposed. It bothers me that this Council chooses frequently to take a pass on the process. There are very good reasons for requiring every public meeting to be webcast. This Council pays lip service to doing everything they can to ensure that the people they serve are properly informed. The processes are there for a reason.
Don’t expect the Mayor to make a comment and explain what she did and why she did it. That is not the way she operates these days. What we hear today is not what she was saying in 2018 and 2022.
By Pepper Parr
February 13th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Something very suspicious going on at the City Council level.
At just after 12:30 pm on Tuesday, Mayor Meed Ward adjourned the scheduled City Council meeting. A second after that she said:
 Mayor Marianne Meed Ward Wait a second, don’t go anywhere yet – we have to reset the room for a Special Council meeting.
Huh!
They had just adjourned a Regular Council meeting. Why a Special Council meeting that was not on the City web site and for which there was no agenda that we could find?
So why would the Mayor tell her Council colleagues to stay in the room?
Got a note out to the Communications people – nothing back from them yet – but they seldom, if ever, get back promptly.
The Gazette, along with colleagues at other Burlington based media experienced what the Gazette was trying to deal with. Their calls to the Communications department were not returned. Same with the Clerk’s office.
Why would the Mayor say publicly that there was to be a Special meeting of Council when there was nothing in the calendar?
A meeting must have an agenda and that Agenda has to be public and approved before a meeting can commence.
 Are we overly suspicious? With this Council we certainly are.
Stand By
 By Pepper Parr
February 14th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Paul Sharman told his Council colleagues about an initiative that could help the most vulnerable in our city.
The U13A Blue Burlington Eagles is actively competing for the 2024 Chevrolet Good Deeds Cup and they need your help.
 The Chevrolet Good Deeds Cup seeks to inspire young Canadians to do good by transforming the positive values learned through hockey into Good Deeds within their communities. The team with the most “points” will win the cup and the money will go towards the charity of our choice.
If they win, they will donate the $100,000 grand prize to the Gift of Giving Back (GOGB)(https://giftofgivingback.ca/who-we-are/burlington/).
The competition runs from Jan 19 until March 3. After 3 weeks of the competition, the U13Blue are currently in 2nd place.
 Check out the recent news story: https://youtu.be/if8a2tsMj8k?si=DXv4fpMSi6aza96y
As City of Burlington residents, we can work together to help this team win the cup for our city.
The team gains points when ANYONE posts a photo or video of a good deed on social media.
It’s really easy to capture a good deed. It can be anything from picking up a piece of trash, writing a nice note to a team mate or friend, buying a coffee for a stranger or capturing a picture of the clothes you just donated. You don’t even have to be in the picture. It just has to showcase the act of the good deed and a description so we know what the good deed was.
 If you want to contribute a good deed, send your photos or videos to:
U13ABlueBurlingtonEagles@gmail.com and they will post it for you.
If you have a PUBLIC profile and are social media savvy, you can post on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok or YouTube, but please remember to:
- Post it on social using #GoodDeedsCup
#Contest #u13ablueburlingtoneagles and #FillTheCup
- Be sure to tag @ChevroletCanada and @U13ABlue_BurlingtonEagles to make sure your entry gets counted.
“We can do this, Burlington”
Indeed they can – and bringing home $100,000 is not chump change.
 Boys in a van on the way to a hockey game in London use the time to log in and click, click, click. A number of years ago Kraft Foods held a contest that had thousands of young hockey players across the country clicking away. BLOMA players came in second and brought in $20,000 for the league.
 It was great fun BLOMHA Executive Director on the left and John McNeil hold up the $20,000 cheque won during a drive to register clicks on the Kraft Hockey Goes On contest.
 It became a family + friends drive to get the biggest numbers of clicks when BLOMA league players took part in the Kraft Foods contest.
 By Pepper Parr
February 13th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
City Council will meet today and zip through their agenda.
The folks in Shoreacres will delegate – but Council was pretty clear, the owner of the lot that has a single house on it at 366 Appleby Line wants to tear it down and put a semi-detached structure on the property which would add to housing available. The argument that housing was needed did it for this Council: from that point forward it was a done deal despite some impressive delegations. Another community lost out
The interesting thing on the agenda is in the CLOSED session stuff;
This is something you want to keep an eye on.
If the numbers were positive City Council would be letting you know real quick. When they go behind CLOSED doors – you know something is wrong. Keep that in the back of your mind going forward.
Reserves are mandated by the province – you can’t cheat.
There was a time when the Reserve balances were available – one of the gifts City Manager Tim Commisso gave the city was bundling the reserves into groups making it difficult to dig down into the numbers.
We’ll keep an eye on this one.
By Staff
February 13th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
City of Burlington administrative services will be closed for Family Day, on Monday, Feb. 19. A summary of closures is listed below.
More opportunities for recreational activities have been added for Family Day. Visit burlington.ca/familyday to view a full listing of programs available.
 We are not going to have the kind of weather in this picture – but the idea is there – have fun with your children.
 By Staff
February 13th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
UPDATE: The Beer Store advises that: Agency locations are independent and and as such each operate independently with their own hours
All The Beer Store locations will be closed on Monday, February 19, 2024, so our employees can celebrate Family Day with their families and loved ones.
Regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.
About The Beer Store
By Pepper Parr
February 13tjh, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
 Jim Thomson – a regular city council delegator. We got a note from Jim Thomson who commented on the questions that were being raised about just how much space is there at the former Bateman High School and how will the use of the space be divided between the various tenants.
At the Standing Committee last week, no one seemed to be certain as to just what there was and who would be using the space at the Centre
Thomson got back to us with the following:
There are detailed floor plans for Bateman. (RCC-10-23 Appendix B)
The areas in green on the ground floor are the areas that Denise Beard. Manager of Community Development, is saying are available for community groups to get part of.
The areas in green on the second floor are areas that Brock has an option on for five years, thus aren’t available to community groups at this time.
The available space has been well defined since December 2022.
The Memorandum to Council with detail on how the available space was being distributed was, said Thomson “actually requested by Councillor Kearns. Adding that “Maybe the Deputy Mayor for Community Engagement should have attended one of the visioning sessions.”
Overall, advises “the City will be increasing the facility owned portfolio of community accessible program space by approx. 118,700 Square Feet (Net) for Phase 1 and Phase 2, combined.”
What the City should be doing is preparing detailed illustrations showing who is going to use what in the way of space. There are a few illustrations but they don’t provide a bigger picture that makes a clear understanding possible.
By Pepper Parr
February 12th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
During a lengthy and very detailed report on what Denise Beard, Manager Community Planning, has done to date on finding out what people want to do with the Bateman Community Centre, now that we own it, we come to realize that at least one member of Council – probably every one of them, need a map to identify the progress in terms of programming.
 Councillor Lisa Kearns: shop areas which are kind of on the westerly side of the of the property, and kind of icky. Councillor Lisa Kearns asked:”this report is putting in scope the three shop areas which I said are kind of on the westerly side of the of the property, and kind of icky and then the 11,000 of the potential 42,000 square feet of community space which is that open flex space, so I don’t know if that means we can use 500 of that for a community pantry, if we’re just going to be open space with programming.
“I just feel like I need to see two maps or two floor plans with where these potential pieces are. And I’m especially concerned about the gym space because we’ve, I believe, encouraged the community to talk a lot about what gym facilities and gym activities they want to see without the benefit of technically having jurisdiction over deploying the use of that. I don’t know when and how much we’ve given to Bateman.
 Councillor Kearns is quite correct – there are no detailed floor plans – the above is what the public has been shown to date. The Communicators from the top down are not very good at communicating. “I don’t know if we’ve seen that least I don’t i don’t think I know that. So I feel like the expectations are high from the community and I’m not able to appropriately scope the first phase, what’s been determined, versus second phase yet to be scoped.
“I don’t have the information for phase one. Why? ”
Good question.
By Pepper Parr
February 12th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
The future just landed.
CoBy, Burlington’s first AI-powered digital assistant – it can be found on the City’s website, burlington.ca.
This customer service enhancement provides 24/7 access to a wealth of city information and services. With a simple click, residents, businesses, and visitors can pose questions and receive real-time, AI-generated responses, based on the extensive knowledge gathered from burlington.ca.
CoBy is not just a digital assistant, it is an ever-evolving digital entity, designed to learn, adapt, and improve from every interaction, ensuring an enriched user experience.
The City of Burlington is one of the first municipalities in Canada to launch a generative AI digital assistant, created with Microsoft Copilot.
That green image in the lower right hand corner is where CoBy sits waiting for you. Have fun – the folks at City Hall are absolutely giddy about this one – they are waiting to see just how many people use the thing. Our first question didn’t have an answer – but it will get better over time.
How CoBy works
Web users will find a green conversation bubble icon in the bottom right-hand corner of every web page on burlington.ca. Users can click the icon and enter a question for CoBy about the city. The digital assistant then uses Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) technology to quickly and efficiently provide the information requested.
The new digital assistant is currently in the beta phase of development, ready for testing.
CoBy will continue to develop over time, influenced by the customer requests it receives, patterns learned through generative AI, and the addition of new data sources on the City’s website and beyond. Users can provide feedback on their experience with CoBy at getinvolvedburlington.ca/digitaltransformation.
 By Pepper Parr
February 12th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Pay close attention to what is expected to take place at the Ontario Land Tribunal in April.
Vrancorp, the developer, has filed new documents with the Tribunal that are concerning.
By Pepper Parr
February 12th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Noted in the Staff report that was discussed at length during xxx meeting last week:
 Turns out this is not going to be the entrance to the Robert Bateman Community Centre. This would be accomplished by the expansion of environmental features, an improved “doormat” to the new public entrance at the back of the building, intentional and dedicated pedestrian connections throughout the site and preserving space for the future addition of outdoor recreational amenities.
So the entrance is going to be at the rear of what was the high school. Very little was said about this change.
It is decisions like that that disturb people about the way public engagement has been handled.
We are currently working on a detailed report on what Denise Beard, Manager of Community Development at Parks, Recreation and Culture reported.
Some very necessary work has been done and a lot of what the citizens of the city want to see happen at Bateman are now on the table.
By Pepper Parr
February 11th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
This is a complex story: While it about a developers attempt to build two towers right beside Spencer Smith Park where they will dominate the view to the lake. Spencer Smith Park is YOUR park. Fight to keep it.
In a re-submission letter dated February 6, 2024, Bousfields Inc. submitted a revised submission before the Ontario Land Tribunal (“OLT”) for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment Applications for the Subject Site.
 The bridge between the two building has been taken out and the podiums are to be reduced to 3 or 4. Bousfield are the planning consultants for Burlington 2020 Lakeshore Inc. (the “Owner”) with respect to their lands located at 2020 Lakeshore Road in Burlington.
Based on what we know about this application it was turned down by the city because it did not fit within the boundaries of the Urban Growth Centre of the city.
Vrancorp appealed the city decision. In email communication between Bousfield, the Vrancorp planner and the OLT case anger the Bousfield people said: “While our client remains hopeful for a settlement with all Parties, you are correct that the City has not yet settled with our client.”
In an earlier email Goodman, lawyers for Vrancorp set out why the re-submission documents were being circulated: “The drawings are marked “issued for settlement”. So there is no confusion on the part of any party (or the Tribunal), no settlement has been achieved with the City.
The original applications to amend the Official Plan and Zoning By-law to permit the redevelopment of the Subject Site with a high-rise, mixed- use development consisting of two towers with heights of 30 and 35 storeys, atop a 5- to 6-storey podium,
The Applications were deemed incomplete on November 23, 2021. Additional materials were provided to the City on December 17, 2021, and the Applications were deemed complete as of this date.
The problem for Vrancorp was that between the 23rd of November and the 17th of December 2031, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing agreed with an application to move the boundary of the Urban Growth Center further north which put the Vrancorp development outside the Urban Boundary and therefor no longer complying with the the Official Plan.
 The Waterfront Hotel site as it is today and the development Vrancorp wants to have approved at the Ontario Land Tribunal On April 12, 2022, a Recommendation Report was considered by the City’s Community Planning, Regulation & Mobility Committee. The report recommended refusal of the Applications, and City Council adopted these recommendations. On April 27, 2022, the Applicant filed an appeal to the OLT with regards to City Council’s decision. The OLT has scheduled a 15-day hearing scheduled to commence on April 29, 2024.
Bousfield has set out a number of changes to the design of the site, many of which are welcoming – the design is not the issue.
The issue is that the application is no longer within the Urban Growth Boundary (an issue that Bousfield doesn’t mention in their application for reconsideration, and therefore does not comply withthe Official Plan.)
The following is material submitted to the Ontario Land Tribunal by Bousfield which they want to have included in the hearing that takes place on April 29th and is expected to last 15 days.
Bousfield, in the re-submission has compared the revised plans to the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study, a study required pursuant to Policy 5.5.9.2(1) of the in-force Burlington Official Plan (1997) and Section 12.1.4(2) of the City of Burlington’s New Official Plan (2020).
The Owner (Vrancorp) had initially provided the City with funds to initiate this study, which began in early 2017, and participated in a series of workshops and public meetings to determine a preferred concept for the Subject Site.
 Waterfront on property described by the planner for the developer as “ground zero” in Burlington. Many didn’t want the site block the view of the lake with 35 storey towers. The City paused work on this study, and only resumed works in late 2021. The City’s retained consultant completed the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study and the final report (dated March 23, 2022), which included a recommended preferred concept, was presented to the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee and Council in April 2022. City Council voted to receive the planning study for informational purposes at its meeting on April 12, 2022. The Owner has made efforts to incorporate key recommendations from the study with respect to the location and articulation of the building and the public realm.
Based on the foregoing, revisions have been made to the architectural plans, including:
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 Red outline defines the Vrancorp property. Entrance to the site, originally off Elizabeth Street is proposed to be from the south west point of the property, reached by Elizabeth Street. Parkland dedication is now proposed, at the northwest corner (250 m2), the southerly edge adjacent to Spencer Smith Park (415 m2), and the southeast corner (55 m2), whereas previously no parkland dedication was contemplated;
- The height of the podium of both towers has been reduced from 5-6 storeys (19.2 metres) to 3-4 storeys (12.55 metres);
- The East Tower massing has been revised to incorporate a 10-storey base building element, including the podium, which transitions through stepping on Levels 11, 12 and 13 to the tower;
- The West Tower has shifted further east, resulting in an increase of the minimum distance between the tower and the west lot line from 0 metres to 17.6 metres;
- The East Tower has shifted further south by approximately 5 metres;
- As a result of this shifting, the two towers are separated by a distance of 35.4 metres;
- The hotel component has been relocated to floors 4-8 within the East Tower;
- The office area in the West Tower has decreased from 4,348 m2 to 1,488 m2, with the balance now occupied by residential units;
- The skybridge between the two towers has been removed;
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 The bridge between the two towers is no longer part of the development. The very steep from from the street level to the park area south of the towers now has some open area that lessens the drop. The linear space between the two towers has been redesigned to provide a mid- block connection with no atrium space above, and has been revised to include more patio space for commercial tenants;
- The underground parking level has been modified so that there is no stratification below the parkland to be conveyed;
- Parking access and loading for the East Tower has been re-oriented to the south so there is no longer a left turn onto Elizabeth Street; and
- The ground floors of each tower have been reconfigured, with updates including consolidation of the back-of-house uses and the reorientation of the lobby areas.
There have been no changes to the building height. As a result of the changes, the total gross floor area has decreased from 54,928 m2 to 49,203m2, resulting in a reduction in density from 7.20 FAR to 6.45 FAR. Based on the reorganization of the building, the number of dwelling units has increased from 579 units to 594 units. A full update of the relevant statistics is included in Table 1 below.
Additional addenda to the technical reports filed with the original submission may also be circulated at a later date, as required.
 The rendering shows both the Vrancorp development and the Bridgewater development that is now complete. Both have a wide openings to handle walking traffic from Lakeshore Road into the park. The Bridgewater opening takes people to a walkway along that edge of the lake to the Pier and Spencer Smith Park. “We trust the foregoing is satisfactory for your purposes. Should you have any questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.”
One would hope that the lawyers representing the city are on top of what has taken place since the application was first filed and the issue when the application was taken to the OLT.
Goodman is a formidable law firm and their lead counsel on the file, David Bronskil, is seen as one of the best there is at OLT hearings.
The City has a strong case – Vrancorp has a very smart lawyer but the lawyers Burlington has hired did catch the very expensive mistake Bousfield made in not getting supporting document in on time to have their application “made”.
Related news stories:
The word “made” was a critical part of the city’s argument
Waterfront: Part of the torturous route to get to where we are today
Minister approves moving Urban Growth Centre north to Caroline.
By Pepper Parr
February 12, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
 One of Canada’s greatest business leaders at the turn of the 20th century was John Waldie; a man with humble beginnings and amassed unbelievable wealth, and became one of Canada’s most powerful lumber barons was also a true philanthropist, a refined gentleman, and a man who was passionate about calling Burlington, his home.
John Waldie married twice. His first wife was Mary Ann Thompson. Mary was born in 1841, but died at the age of 43 in January 1884, just three weeks after giving birth to her 13th child Mollie.
John’s second wife was Sarah Ann Jarvis from Milton, a young lady of 29, who married the 53 year old widower in December 1885. Sarah Ann, at the age of 61, suffered a stroke and died June 6, 1918.
Back in 2015 Mark Gillies wrote a number of articles on the people who built the foundation of the city we have today.
If you have ever wondered who Spencer Smith Park was named after – check the archives, Gillies did an excellent series on Spencer Smith.
The Gazette keeps everything it publishes in the Archives section of the newspaper which is read by never less than 50 people on any given day.
Beth Beynon, person who spent some time going through the archives, wrote us last week saying: “I am William Waldie’s great granddaughter and I just read this article. While I appreciate that it’s nearly a decade old, I wanted to point out some inaccuracies.
My great grandparents – William Sr and Sarah Waldie – did not move out west to expand the business. The family disapproved of Sarah and they moved to live their own lives. There was no ongoing connection.
Also, they are both buried in Nelson BC. (It’s a shared marker)
Thought you might be interested.
Original article
The March 13th, 2015 article
 By Ray Rivers
February 11th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
“Spending under the Ford government has consistently been higher than it was under Wynne—whom Ford criticized frequently as a big spender during the election in 2018. Between 2017 and 2022, per-person spending (inflation-adjusted) has grown from $12,151 to $12,969.” (The Fraser Institute)
Ontario was already one of the most indebted jurisdictions in Canada. According to the the conservative think thank, The Fraser Institute, last year we paid out over $12 billion in interest payments alone. Even worse, that is projected to climb to over $15 billion annually by the time we head to the polling stations again. That is close to a 25 per cent increase over that three year period.
Ontario’s debt is approaching $400 billion, more than double that of the US state of California which has a population about equal to that of all of Canada. There was a modest surplus during the first year of the pandemic, when Mr. Trudeau’s feds were paying for just about everything. But Mr. Ford is planning to run deficits of almost $6 billion over the next two years, rivalling or exceeding those of the previous Liberal government.
 According to the Fraser folks….”The irony for Ford, the deficit fighter, is that had he only maintained the inflation-adjusted per-person spending at the same level he inherited from the Wynne government, he would be closer to running a surplus today.” Our growing economy has seen revenues increasing, but they have failed to keep pace with government spending. Over $10 billion of new net debt was created last year alone and another $24 billion is expected to be created over the three year period.
So Mr. Ford has decided on a new gimmick. He’s creating an infrastructure bank, along the lines of the federal infrastructure bank. The province will ante up a few billion into the kitty and then the bank will rely on deposits from private investors. The money will be spent on provincial priorities like more long term care spaces, public transportation, etc. But, it will be arms length so the decisions about those investments will be made by a board of governors rather than our elected officials.
The federal bank, established in 2017, has been anything but a success. Then again, it was created to enable the federal government to participate in economic development for activities which might be argued are exclusively provincial or municipal. That is not a constraint for Ontario. Even so, Mr. Poilievre has called for the elimination of the Canada Infrastructure Bank. So why does Mr. Ford think his provincial bank is such a good idea?
It’s really just sleight of hand, a shell game – a simple application of smoke and mirrors. By pushing provincial spending into this new bank, he can take it off the provincial books, And the new bank will pick up all that liability instead and shrink the province’s deficits on paper, but not in reality. It’s kind of now you see it, now you don’t.
This scheme will not be cost free. Private investors, who will provide the bulk of the funds being dispersed by the bank, will demand to be paid market interest, which will be higher than what the government is currently paying on its debt. After all, this will not be provincial borrowing per se backed by the provincial government. Thus, the risk to investors will be higher. And to compensate for that risk, investors will want higher interest premiums than the government would normally have to pay.
 Since more of the banks funds will thus be going into servicing the bank’s borrowing, less will be available for the various purposes for which it was created, such as funding long term care construction. Additionally, there are the not insignificant costs of establishing and operating the new bureaucracy, as well as rewarding its highly salaried staff to run the bank. Bottom line – this fancy financial dancing is the least efficient and most costly way to deliver provincial programs.
It would be less expensive for taxpayers if Mr. Ford just used the existing resources of the provincial government to pay its bills, rather than hiving those bills off onto an another costly bureaucratic agency. And of course, it certainly would be better if Mr. Ford simply reduced deficits and debt as he had promised to do back in 2018.
But that would involve revisiting taxation rates for some of the wealthiest Ontario residents. And most importantly, it would involve cutting out costly ‘pet projects’ such as the proposed Highway 413 and relocation of the Science Centre.
 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:
New Bank – Why A New Bank – Who Benefits – Federal Bank –
Fraser Institute – More Fraser – Even More Fraser – The Science Centre –
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