 By Staff
February 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
In the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump imposing a 10 percent levy against China and pressing a 30-day pause on proposed tariffs to Canada and Mexico, Martin Danahay reflects on the dangerous historical outcomes of past trade wars.
The Professor of English Language and Literature at Brock University specifically notes that the First Opium War, fought between China and the British Empire from 1839-1842, began as a trade imbalance.
 The Opium Ward were fierce and bloody. “When China blocked the British opium trade, British traders successfully lobbied their government to attack China, ultimately forcing the removal of the trade blockade through military action,” he says.
Danahay notes that while the current situation between the U.S. and Mexico/Canada is a reversal of that situation — imposing levies on imported goods to force action on the flow of illegal fentanyl into the U.S. from its two neighbouring countries — the use of tariffs and “belligerent” rhetoric can easily transition into military conflict.
Another notable example, Danahay says, are the British trade restrictions imposed on American ships during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s.
 During the Napoleon War, American seamen were conscripted to serve aboard Napoleons’ ships – much of this led to the War of 1812 “Along with forced conscription of American sailors into the British Navy, the trade restrictions led to the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States,” he says.
Trump’s use of trade war tactics forcing concessions from Mexico and Canada is especially concerning, Danahay says, since U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has publicly shared that military force is still an option against Mexico.
While he says it is unlikely the U.S. will invade Mexico (or Canada), it is certainly possible that an invasion of a smaller country could result from a propensity to use trade wars and violent rhetoric as the basis for foreign relations.
Danahay says that Panama, in particular, seems vulnerable as various U.S. officials (including President Trump) have claimed that China is operating the Panama Canal, a key route in global trade.
“President Trump has also imposed tariffs on China ostensibly because of the production of the precursor chemicals for fentanyl, which is shipped to Mexico, processed and then smuggled into the U.S., where there is a widespread crisis of addiction to the synthetic opioid,” he says. “President Trump has openly expressed a desire to take over the Panama Canal and Greenland, showing an imperialist mindset that is reminiscent of the British Empire.
While many are of the opinion that Trump is unlikely to use military force, history shows that a combination of a trade war and military rhetoric can easily become the basis for war.”
 By Ray Rivers
February 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
 Donald Trump: Look carefully – he blinked. Trump bluffed and then he blinked after his bluff was called. Hardly the lame duck everyone thought he’d be, Justin Trudeau played his cards well in Mr. Trump’s game of chicken. Our PM brought all interests in the country together despite Trump’s intention to tear us apart by a lower tariff rate (10%) given to primarily the oil producing provinces.
Alberta and Saskatchewan premiers had argued that Canada should just lie down and take it. But Trudeau stood firm and showed Mr. Trump that we can return tough love back. In the end the PM was right – standing up for Canada was the right thing to do. Though he’ll be history as PM in a matter of weeks, history will likely record this as Trudeau’s finest moment.
It wasn’t just him though. Ontario’s Ford forcefully clamoured for a strong retaliation, as indeed did most of the other premiers. The normally boisterous Mr. Poilievre, on the other hand, was unusually silent, particularly in the earlier days. He presumably had not wanted to contradict his Alberta ally, so was waiting to see the outcome of Trudeau’s gambit.
 Poilievre – endorsed by Trump’s main man Elon Musk Poilievre stands apart as having been endorsed by Trump’s main man Elon Musk. This was happening even as Trump and his entire entourage, including Musk, were bad mouthing and trash talking Trudeau and Canada.
In the end, Mr. Trump delayed the tariffs for both Mexico and Canada by a month. The betting is that ‘The Donald’ has seen the light and will eventually drop his tariff plan entirely. His vision of returning to the anachronistic and protectionist America First, which he idolizes, would come with a huge price tag for the American consumer.
Still, Trump is nothing but inconsistent and volatile, so we’ll see how he feels about his would-be 51st state in thirty days. Now that his drug and migrant arguments have been exposed as the falsehoods they are, he has turned his sights to Canada’s banking system.
In the meantime his actions have already had consequences – for Mexico, Colombia and Canada at the least. He has given us here in Canada pause to appreciate what we have in this geographically diverse nation of 41 million people and to realize that we don’t want to lose it.
 The idea of Canada prevailed through to Quebec referendums. So we say to Mr. Trump, thanks but no thanks. We’re not interested in being your 51st state – especially if you would be our president and Mr. Musk would be pulling the strings.
 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:
Blinks – Tariffs Poilievre Won’t Back Retaliation – Poilievre is Vague – Is Poilievre Musk’s Puppet –
 By Staff
February 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
 Swimming is widely recognized as one of the most effective exercises for promoting health.
The Parks, Recreation and Culture Aquatics team offers several drop-in programs and Lifesaving First Aid courses designed to support your well-being
To register click HERE
 By Pepper Parr
February 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
We erred: Bonnie Crombie has said she will be running for the Mississauga East seat in the legislature.
The focused concern over what the threat of 25% tariffs would do to not only the economy but individual households has taken our eyes off the provincial election campaign that is now underway.
 Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Doug Ford put his foot in it when on the campaign trail Monday he was caught on a hot mic expressing frustration with the president.
“On election day, was I happy this guy won? One hundred per cent I was. Then the guy pulled out the knife and f—-ing yanked it in me,” said Ford.
That comment is going to haunt him throughout the balance of the campaign. The upside for Ford is that the election will have taken place before the 30-day hold on possible tariffs is reconsidered.
Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford said he hoped the situation with Trump “might be a little different,” despite Trump’s prior threats to levy tariffs on Canadian exports.
Ford was captured on video after a news conference Monday saying he was happy that Trump had won the most recent U.S. election — until Trump made threats of steep tariffs that could devastate Ontario’s economy.
“I can work with anyone, I don’t care who it is. I just thought things might be a little different,” Ford said Tuesday when asked why he was happy that Trump was elected, despite Trump’s history of trade threats during his first term.
While polling numbers show Ford with an impressive lead the campaigning taking place in constituencies across the province shows a different scenario.
 Marit Stiles in Quinte, a part of the province where the Progressive Conservatives have always done well. In Quinte, a constituency where political views have been decidedly conservative for a long long time the New Democrats have been pulling out good audiences.
The Liberals can’t seem to get much in the way of traction; party leader Bonnie Crombie has said she will be running for the Mississauga East seat in the legislature.
 Ontario Election to be Held on February 27
 By Staff
February 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport Announces a new strategic airline partner, Porter Airlines.
Porter will initiate service at Hamilton International beginning in early June 2025, introducing daily service from Hamilton to four popular domestic destinations: Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, and Vancouver.
The airport will move now on planned terminal upgrades that will begin immediately.
 The long-term collaborative partnership between the City and TradePort, in place since 1996, has positioned the airport as a critical driver of connectivity, economic growth, job creation, and community partnerships for Hamilton and the surrounding region. Under the new lease, efforts to expand air service, enhance the passenger experience, and deliver safe, sustainable, and efficient operations will continue – starting with planned terminal upgrades that will begin immediately.
Airport enhancements will include an updated exterior frontage with new and expanded canopies to improve curb operations, and a refresh of terminal interiors from check-in counters and passenger screening areas to gate seating and baggage claim. Integration of architectural elements and finishes inspired by the region’s natural geography will lend the airport a unique sense of place, while new digital signage and lighting upgrades will enhance the overall travel journey.
Additionally, future enhancements will include passenger jet bridges to connect the terminal directly to aircraft – a first for Hamilton International – and terminal infrastructure upgrades to position the airport for future expansion to accommodate expected air traffic growth
Airport enhancements will include an updated exterior frontage with new and expanded canopies to improve curb operations, and a refresh of terminal interiors from check-in counters and passenger screening areas to gate seating and baggage claim. Integration of architectural elements and finishes inspired by the region’s natural geography will lend the airport a unique sense of place. New digital signage and lighting upgrades will enhance the overall travel journey.
Future enhancements will include passenger jet bridges to connect the terminal directly to aircraft – a first for Hamilton International – and terminal infrastructure upgrades to position the airport for future expansion to accommodate expected air traffic growth.
 By Staff
February 4rg, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The 50th-anniversary event at the Art Gallery went very well.
 Jonathan Smith, a former curator at the Art Gallery attended.  The event drew a young crowd as well as the patrons who rarely miss a major event. Attendance was excellent and the mood was very upbeat.
The Ontario Art Council speaker told the audience that they have been a large part of the funding the Gallery receives for the past 50 years – they were there at year 1 – and that the Arts Council fully expected to continue supporting AGB.
That was the good news – the not-so-good news was the damage done by the postal strike. Donations that would have normally come in – didn’t. The postal strike meant cheques didn’t make it to the mailbox.
 Curator Suzanne Carte checks out the largest piece in the 50th anniversary exhibit. Suzanne Carte Art Gallery explained: “Back in November, we set an ambitious goal to raise funds to support impactful programs, events, and exhibitions at the AGB. We are thrilled to share we raised over $38,000, but with your help, there is still time to reach the $40,000 milestone!
The federal government has extended the donation deadline for the 2024 tax year. For AGB donors, this means you can still make a donation until February 28, 2025, and claim it on your 2024 taxes.
We are genuinely grateful for the incredible support we received in 2024. Your generosity means so much to our community.
Two things you can do: Send along whatever you can afford and make a point of taking in the Time Isn’t Real. It is mind-stretching and runs through to April 27th.
By Staff
February 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
What a news whirlwind yesterday.
A photographer took some time in the late afternoon to see what was happening at the LCBO outlets.
Some of the shelves were bare.
 Whiskey shelves were a lot more empty at the end of the day. A clerk at the LCBO said there was a bit of a rush during the day.
 The wines from California were almost cleaned out. With the 30-day hold on the imposition of any tariffs, life at LCBO outlets should return to normal – or will people stock up – fearing that Trump will at some point create huge damage to the economies of both Canada and the United States.
By Staff
February 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Times change. Living next to Donald Trump is a crisis. It was always clear his people would try to disassemble the American federal government in his second term, and that he intended to seek revenge. And it was clear he was coming after his allies, Canada included.
 David Frum We have gone through the first crisis – and we made it. For the next 30 days Ottawa and the Premiers will work to figure out just how much more they have to give. Whatever they decide – it won’t be enough. David Frum, one of the better analysts on Canadian/American affairs described Trump as a predator.
Frum worked in the White House as a speechwriter for the second Bush. He is a man worth listening to.
Arlene Dickinson, part of the TV Dragon’s Den crew had this to say:
Everyone is trying to figure out the endgame. What does Trump really want? What’s his strategy? What’s his angle? How do we work with him to give him what he really wants? People keep asking how to make him stop coming at trade with tariffs.
Here’s what he wants: He wants money. He wants power. He wants control. It’s that devious, and it’s that obvious.
 Arlene Dickinson This isn’t about trade imbalances. It’s not about fairness. It’s not about drugs, immigration, or national security. Those are just the stories he tells to justify what he’s really after—leveraging fear and economic pressure to serve his own interests.
If it really were about those things, then negotiating honestly and fairly with a friend, ally and neighbor would be the obvious and most productive way to accomplish those goals. But that’s not what’s happening. Because this isn’t about solving problems—it’s about creating leverage.
And who pays the price? Not him. Not the politicians who stand beside him. Its workers, families, and businesses on both sides of the border. It’s people on both sides watching their costs go up, their jobs disappear, and their futures get thrown into uncertainty—all while the ones in power play the long game for themselves.
We can spend time debating the strategy. Or we can focus on the truth. This isn’t about protecting America. It’s about protecting Trump. And the sooner we see that clearly, the sooner we can stop letting him dictate our future.
He may control his tariffs, but we control our wallets. Buy Canadian. Support Canadian. Invest in Canadian. Celebrate Canadian.
Trump truly, wrongly believes tariffs will enrich the United States. He is an incompetent blusterer, and even though Canada got Trump to back off his tariff threats, the idea of annexation is planted. That threat won’t vanish.
We will come back to that annexation issue in a different article.
At this point, the individual Canadian can do one thing: Buy Canadian wherever you can.
 Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc, the current Minister of Finance told an interesting story on CBC radio this morning. He said that New Brunswick has some toll crossings at the New Brunswick-American border. They decided that vehicles with American license plates would pay a higher toll.
Small matter but very satisfying.
We made it through the day – tomorrow is another day – the focus will be on preparing for that phone call in 30 days.
Between now and then LeBlanc will be meeting with the Secretary responsible for imposing tariffs – some sense may get determined during that meeting.
By Staff
February 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Most voters aren’t in love with their choice – three-in-five say they ‘dislike the other options more’
Ontario Premier and Progressive Conservative Party leader Doug Ford has become a regular fixture on national television at the head of Canada’s response to American tariffs. The threat of President Donald Trump also provided the fuel for Ford’s justification to bring the province into an early election campaign.
 But threats from Trump, and Ford’s response to them, has done little to warm Ontarians to the premier after years of chilly assessments.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds that Ford’s personal unpopularity continues to have little impact on Ontarian vote intentions. If an election were held today, more than two-in-five (43%) say they would support Ford’s party, while the Ontario Liberals (26%) and Ontario NDP (21%) fight for second place.
Ford is viewed the most negatively of the major party leaders (-27 net approval), who are contending with relatively low profiles. At least three-in-10 say they don’t know enough about Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie (28%), NDP leader Marit Stiles (30%) or returning Green leader Mike Shreiner (37%) to say if they have a negative or positive impression.
Both Stiles (-2 net favourability) and Crombie (-9) are also wrestling with more unfavourable views than favourable ones of those who offer an opinion.
Altogether, voters appear disenchanted with their options in what might be a sequel Battle of the Bleah. Three-in-five (59%) say they’re supporting who they are now because they don’t like the other options on the ballot, while two-in-five (41%) say they “really like the party” they’ve chosen and what it stands for.
Link to the poll here: www.angusreid.org/
By Staff
February 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
 Tough place to patrol. News flash via Apple –
U.S. tariffs on hold for 30 days after Canada commits to beefed up border security.
Poilievre wants to send army troops to ensure that drugs don’t get smuggled into the United States and that people don’t find a way to slip across the border into the United States.
President Trump is going to jerk the Canadian government around like this for as long as he can.
 By Staff
February 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Who said you can’t play golf in the winter.
Andy Griffiths has been doing disc golf for more than a year.
Check-in with the Conservation Authority to see what is open.
Related news story.
Disc golf – how it works
By Staff
February 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
That trade war that gets real on Tuesday has everyone waiting to see just how bad it will get.
For weeks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could not get through the President Trump.
 To be a fly on the wall when these two speak sometime today. Today there appear to be two back-to-back calls.
Premier Doug Ford said in a written statement: “Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy.”
In New Brunswick the provincial government is reported to have boosted the tolls at one entry point into the province for cars with American license plates.
It is going to get messy for the next 24 to 36 hours.
The Canadian government is standing firm – the President still has a bit of time to ease up.
It will be interesting to see how this works out.
 By Pepper Parr
February 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Part one of a two-part series
Superintendent Dave Costantini from police district number three, which is the Burlington detachment started the presentation that explained what the police do on a day to day basis.
He opened by saying that the credit for good work done belonged to Superintendent Sue Biggs, who’s gone on to other things at headquarters,
 The police officers that take care of Burlington. Inspector Dwayne Perron delivered the presentation. Introducing the rest of the team he added that manager of our Criminal Investigations Bureau is Detective Sergeant Derek Moyes; Manager of Community Mobilization is Chris Clarke. Team leader of the District response unit is Sergeant John Edolls.
Constable Sarah Rudall does a lot of outreach within the community.
At the moment, there’s some promotional processes, so command of three district may or may not change. When that happens, we should know in the next week or two when that happens
Inspector Dwayne Perron: “It was 23 short years ago that I started my career here in Burlington, actually just down the street on Locust where the police station used to be located.
“I arrived back in Burlington last year as the Operations Inspector. My goal is to provide an overview of some of the work were done in Burlington.
“I want to highlight some of the challenges that might propel us into 2025 and some things that we are looking to do and try to accomplish, some of which will probably come as no surprise to each of you.
“I’m going to talk a lot about collaboration, because we know that we can’t do this alone. We have a community that is very supportive of our police service. Last year, we attended seven different public town halls. I have promised transparency
“You heard Superintendent Costantini talk about our Criminal Investigation Bureau as well as our District Response unit and our Community Mobilization Bureau.
“Focusing on the District Community Mobilization Bureau, they are the ones that are boots on the ground that are in all the meetings and are working directly with their community.
“We try to do that through what we call a CSWB lens – Community Safety and Well Being. We don’t look at something from a police perspective or an enforcement perspective, but we try to look at the underlying root causes of what exactly is happening because it may not necessarily always be just a police matter. We may be just one small slice of the pie.
“An example I can give you is Reimer common, a small townhouse complex just off of Queensway Boulevard. Early last year we had some challenges that were based on different mental health challenges as well as drug addictions that was causing a lot of calls to our community that were affecting all of the residents in that area.
“Our Community Mobilization Bureau then partnered with our Criminal Investigation Bureau, and they tackled this through a CSWB lens.
“They looked at foot traffic that resulted in the setting up of fences, which enabled us to slow down some of the challenges that we are facing.
“We also tackled it from an enforcement lens to understand, is there something that we are missing that we can do to try to help the residents that are living in that area, to make sure that at the end of the day, that they feel safe?
“We faced some challenges at the GO station in Burlington in terms of individuals staying there overnight which resulted in some petty crime and some mental health challenges that were affecting our community.
“Working with them we were you able to come up with a compromise and a solution that met exactly what we’re trying to achieve.
 Homeless people were gathering at the Burlington GO station. “Our team does a lot of outreach for our unhoused. Every Thursday they partner up and go out with Halton Housing; they actually go out and they meet those individuals that are facing challenges and trying to provide resources and outreach to find out if there’s anything that we can do, or at least connect them to those that have the potential solutions for them to get them off of the streets,
 “It would be easy for an officer to go out and just do random traffic enforcement -we try to shy away from that. We try to make all of the business that we do, whether that’s traffic enforcement or criminal investigations, based on intelligence led so that we are not only receiving information from the public by way of traffic complaints, which I know we had approximately 2,500 last year, but those are the ones that are greatly impacting our citizens. By using our collisions data and determining where the accidents actually happening we can really direct and focus our enforcement
“In the rural areas, the issue is not the amount of traffic but the speeding.
“The ultimate goal is not about trying to issue a ticket to an individual. It’s trying to prevent deaths and serious injuries from happening on our roadways.
The traffic enforcement we’ve been able to accomplish with our strategic policing, is aggressive driving, or careless and distracted driving.
“Last year, just to provide some context, our district response team, arrested 131 individuals for impaired driving.
“The District Response Team, in terms of distracted driving, laid 176 different charges.
“Project noise maker. We do receive a lot of complaints about the level of noise This issued 386 offenses – loud, noisy mufflers, which causes not only issues the environment, but also causes challenges for our residents who are living in the downtown core and trying to be able to sleep at night.
“I want to talk about some crime trends. There are three types of crimes that are the most prevalent in Burlington. Auto theft – we are facing an epidemic. Last year in Burlington, we had a total of 431 vehicles stolen, which is a significant number for us. Believe it or not, it’s actually down from the year before.
“We built a regional task force that operated in the city of Burlington. It was a pilot program that we started to try to focus all of our enforcement efforts on auto theft, and not just auto theft as a singular crime, but organized crime as a whole because we know that auto theft is directly connected to organized crime. That pilot was so successful, not only in terms of arrests but in reducing the number of vehicles that we had stolen, and as a result, we’re able to now move that forward as a full-time team as part of the hall Regional Police.
By Staff
February 2, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The Reform Gravel Mining Coalition (“RGMC”) congratulates Sarah Harmer on last week’s announcement that she will receive the 2025 Humanitarian Award at the JUNO Award ceremony this Spring.
Harmer has woven her environmental passion into her music, as exemplified by her 2005 song Escarpment Blues, which brought widespread attention to conservation efforts on the Niagara Escarpment.
 Sarah Harmer has woven her environmental passion into her music, as exemplified by her 2005 song Environmental Blues. Photo credit Stephanie Montani An important part of Sarah’s volunteer work is acting as Co-Chair of the RGMC. The RGMC advocates for aggregate mining reform, the preservation of safe well water to drink, protection of endangered species (especially in the Greenbelt), and modern air quality standards.RGMC objectives also extend beyond aggregate extraction, to include protection of First Nations’ rights, public health and safety, farmland, significant wetlands and woodlands, and endangered species.
“Reforming the gravel mining industry in Ontario isn’t just about reforming rock extraction, it’s about diminishing real risks to human health and biodiversity loss across the province. I’m honoured to help shine a spotlight on this poorly regulated but powerful industry”, said Sarah Harmer, who has campaigned for environmental issues and sustainable aggregate for over two decades.“Time after time and case after case, Sarah Harmer has answered the call for the environment and communities facing threats from the aggregate to their drinking water, air that they breathe, and species at risk.
 When support was needed – Sarah Harmer was there with her guitar. As a co-founder of Green Gravel decades ago, her movement has grown into the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition, one of the most influential and coordinated environmental movements in Canada. Sarah has also helped to raise the profile of the need to protect the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve,” said David Donnelly, counsel to the RGMC and co-founder of the Green Gravel movement. “Sarah is one of Canada’s most important voices for the environment”.“Sarah provides RGMC with unwavering, wholehearted leadership,” said Doug Tripp, President of RGMC. “With her tireless advocacy, she shines a spotlight on our grassroots groups and brings the power of music to our movement, helping to inspire the RGMC community. We are thrilled to see Sarah receive this well-deserved recognition,” he added.
 By Pepper Parr
February 3, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Ron Dennis, an ink-stained wretch who now lives in Ottawa, has returned to his reporter roots and advises the citizens of Burlington to take action now if they wants to have access to what the late Eric Cunningham called Adult Beverages.
The Americans have slapped a 25% tariff on a long list of goods Canada exports.
On Tuesday Canada will impose a tariff on goods bought from the the Americans.
This is what a trade war is about – no one wins.
The Prime Minister has asked that Canadians buy Canadian – which means looking at the label and putting it back on the shelf if it isn’t Canadian.
It will be interesting to see if we can exercise that kind of discipline.
Get ready for some serious sticker shock when you shop.
 By Nate Erskine Smith
February 1st, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
We should all be embarrassed that we’ve let shameless politics kill a system that cost-effectively reduces pollution and ensures the poorest are overwhelmingly made better off.
 Policies need popular support to be sustained. I get that. And the carbon pricing + rebate system is now dead, killed by Conservatives in a dedicated campaign of lies.
We failed to defend it successfully.
Singh already walked away from consumer carbon pricing months ago. And now all LPC leadership candidates are ready to do the same.
We should all be embarrassed that we’ve let shameless politics kill a system that cost-effectively reduces pollution and ensures the poorest are overwhelmingly made better off.
 We forget too easily that Harper, Poilievre, Manning and politicians who otherwise express unending devotion to free markets all previously supported carbon pricing.
Why? Because it’s a market-based mechanism for reducing pollution, by internalizing a negative externality and driving innovation.
Too many too easily accept the lie that carbon pricing makes Canadians poorer.
Yes, it could have been better designed to recycle revenues in a more targeted way to working class families rather than universal payments. But the rebate system clearly made the poorest in our society better off.
So what happens now?
1) Fighting climate change gets more expensive for the taxpayer. Consumer carbon pricing only represented around 10% of emission reductions in the overall plan, so it’s thankfully not fatal. But alternative subsidy approaches to reach the same cuts to pollution will cost us more.
2) The poorest will now be worse off. The rebate made most families whole on a fiscal basis, but the poorest in our society were much better off. Without the price on pollution, there’s no revenue for the rebates.
I’m not new to politics. I understand the need to win to implement good ideas. But it’s shameful that we’ve gotten to this place, where good ideas must be sacrificed to sustained lies.
Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) leadership contestants need to step up with better ideas now: on affordability, productivity, inequality, democratic reform, and climate action.
Nate Erskine Smith is the current Minister of Housing and the MP for Beaches East York; a Toronto community
By Pepper Parr
February 1st, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Just what does Detainees lodged mean?
Set out below is the work being done by the American Immigration and Custome Enforcement organization that is conducting raids throughot the United Sattes.
Tens of thousands of people live in fear of being arrested and lodged.
This is the kind of government we are dealing with. So we need to keep our heads up and be very very cautious as we deal with this man
By Pepper Parr
February 1st, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The practice at City Council meetings is to have each member of Council comment on what is happening in their ward. They have up to two minutes.
 It was all good news delivered through rose coloured glasses. At the last Council meeting City Chief Administrative Officer Hassaam Basit got five minutes to report on what he has been doing and what Staff have done.
He started by assuring Council that he wouldn’t be more than five minutes
“ I’m going to start by reading an email that came in just two weeks ago, January the 13th.
“I’m just writing to send a very heartfelt thanks to the people in the event I witnessed this past weekend, I was so touched I had to ensure I reached out to share. My elderly neighbor needed to go to the hospital during the heavy snow on Saturday morning. So this was two weeks ago when the fire department arrived. They shoveled the entire driveway, including the sidewalks of their property during this time, the snow plow had come and cleared snow on that side of the road, but had to skip my property and that of the neighbors. Shortly after the ambulance left, the snow plow returned and cleared the snow on our side of the street. I was so blown away by the immense care and compassion, and I’m hoping that my message gets passed along to those involved. Thank you so much to the fire department and the snow plow driver. My children learned an important lesson about caring for others, as well as taking initiative in your community from watching the whole thing unfold at the window. Thank you so much, City of Burlington.
Basit continues: “A few other quick updates. Healing Forest is now being featured at the Paletta Mansion, and it’s open for the community to enjoy. There’s information on our website. Just like to again, thank city staff who worked with a community organization to make that happen.
 Future Presto cards will be branded with the city logo “The City of Burlington has been providing transit services since 1975 which makes this our 50th year. To commemorate this event there will be a Burlington Transit branded PRESTO Card.” Basit suggested that these cards might well have some value in another 50 years. He did not say who was covering the cost of these branded cards nor did he say how people acquire one of these cards.
On the RCC, Recreation, Community and Culture side. “The City of Burlington youth programs was successful in securing nearly $30,000 from Halton Region for building safer communities project by Public Safety Canada. These funds will support enhancing the youth belong program with new furnishings for equipment and for youth friendly spaces, staffing to boost youth engagement and social events, connecting youth with community partners in our services.
 Police delivered a lengthy report on what they are doing for the residents of Burlington. “You heard the importance of reaching out and connecting with the community from the Police Services this morning. Even though a lot of social services responsibilities are with the region, the city does play a role, and it’s important to highlight when we are successful.
“Over the holidays, the Burlington Teen Tour band performed in 12 Christmas parades across southern Ontario, with each drawing about 25,000 attendees, and the one in Toronto attracting an estimated 750,000 spectators.
“Switching gears to HR, equally fun, the city filled 191 full-time regular contract positions in 2024. We’ve heard from council that when funding is approved for positions, they need to be filled and we’re endeavoring to do that.
“The city has moved the needle immensely over the past 12 months on that front; to give you an idea, filling 191 full-time regular application jobs meant going through 18,000 applicants. Those are being boarded onto our Work Day system, which is making things much more efficient. We are continuing to see these recruitment process improvements in the part-time hiring process as well, especially within the RCC group, leading with faster hiring, minimizing the amount of manual entry, and improving candidate experience. The city is committed to employee development and growth and continues to offer a variety of opportunities.
“I’m pleased to share that in 2024, 34 employees qualified to receive tuition assistance, up to a maximum of $2,000 to help support educational pursuits that were identified as increasing both the individual and the city’s capabilities, especially on Legal and Legislative Services Division. That may sound like it’s not good news, but it actually is.
“The City legal team, working with the building department staff, was successful in obtaining convictions on 13 charges relating to building code violations at a single high rise building. This was a significant result, both in terms of obtaining compliance with the building code and thereby increasing the safety of the building’s residents. Significant as well was the significant fines imposed by the court: $150,000.
What Basit didn’t say was – who the developer was that got whacked with the fines. Any Guesses?
“The Committee of Adjustment meetings are now hybrid. I would like to congratulate everybody that worked on that,
 The Ontario Land Tribunal did not approve the application to proceed with the proposed development. The 2020 Lake Shore Ontario Land Tribunal hearing (Waterfront Hotel site) decision favoured the city. I know you’ve all read the detailed decision that was released. The thing of note is that the tribunal confirmed that the objective should not be to maximize the number of persons and jobs that can be accommodated on any particular parcel of land, but rather it is about finding the right balance as to what represents good planning. These reasons will assist the city in evaluating and responding to other development applications within the downtown and elsewhere.
 A significant part of what makes Burlington the city it is – is the beautiful canopies that grace many of the streets. Scenes like this will not be part of the developments that take place around the GO stations. “Canada’s community canopies fund from Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which I’d like to thank councilor Nesson for bringing to our attention.
“There is now an invasive species fund for remote sensing technologies to monitor invasive species across the city.
“We were also successful in receiving baseline funding for Burlington transit, which many of you were at that announcement.
“The Finance department has compiled the total funding dollars earned by the city through these types of grants for 2024 – they are just over $16 million for 2024
 The postal strike resulted in the city putting City Talk online “On the communication side, I know that all of you contribute to City Talk. During the postal strike, staff pivoted and released a digital version of it that increased traffic to the City Talk website, web page by 1100 so people do read what you write in those newsletters.
“We had 800,000 City Talk ad views across the website.
“Burlington’s website experienced significant growth among active users, increasing by 7.1% to 1.55 million active users; sessions increasing by 4.1% to 3.2 million sessions – previously the number was s3 million sessions.
“On the engagement side, RCC and com staff have launched a new public feedback automated device that’s in place, which is generating lots of strong engagement. We’re going to pilot and expand that project across other areas of the city.
“The city’s communication and engagement efforts resulted in almost 100,000 visits to city initiatives on the Get Involved Burlington page with an engagement rate of 18.6% to give you a benchmark, the industry average is 10% so that’s almost 20,000 surveys, completed documents, viewed, items, downloaded and questions asked between the city and its residents. That’s outstanding engagement.
“Switching to Finance. I know, through Permit to Pipeline and other metrics, we’ve all heard about the number of units that are that have been approved. So the other side of that, or related to that, the city in 2024, collected $11 million in development charges, that will assist the city, with the development of growth growth-related infrastructure,
“Tax staff have successfully completed the first interim billing utilizing our new property tax software, and they are now in the process of generating 69,380 tax bills. About a third of our residents, 35% of the properties right now are registered for pre-authorized payment plans – we’d certainly like to see that percentage go up significantly.
“On the Burlington Digital Services (BDS) side investments continue. Of note, the BDS team continues to reduce our technology debt, and that’s one of the recommendations that came out of the audit committee. They have decommissioned several systems, three in particular, just in the last month. They are also continuing to upgrade our network across various city locations, and one that may not come to mind, the Greenwood Cemetery. It’s important to have digital services connectivity networks there as well. So they’ve done that.
“We’ve also continued to invest in our cyber security, bringing on the Microsoft Sentinel deployment, which will allow us to better capture events across our architecture.
 The City CAO covered his presentation within the five minutes he was given “And lastly, City staff hosted a design charrette with key landowners and urban design professionals to discuss opportunities for the future development of Appleby go MTSA. Appleby go MTSA represents an important growth node for the city. A Charette, which is a fancy word for a collaborative design workshop, allowed multiple developers, including the city, to work together to explore how specific design elements can be incorporated into forthcoming developments to get the best possible outcomes from mobility, walkability and place making for this important growth. Note, that initial feedback from this pilot from participants has been very positive, and there was general agreement among the landowners around the need for specific design considerations to be built into future development plans to actually achieve these outcomes. This approach is a new one for the city.
And with that Chief Administrative Officer Hassaam Basit ended his presentation – there was no applause – that kind of behaviour is not permitted in the Councl Chamber
By Pepper Parr
January 31st, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The B’nai Brith has formally called on The Burlington Convention Centre to cancel the scheduled appearance of Mr. Hijab.
Thank goodness someone had the courage to speak out.
We have a report that the Chamber of Commerce had no interest in taking a position on the event that has horrified many people.
 Part of the statement released by Bnai Brith Canada 
B’nai Brith Canada is the country’s oldest Human Rights organization. We are a principled grassroots voice, dedicated to eradicating racism, antisemitism and hatred in all its forms, championing the rights of the marginalized, while providing basic human needs for members of our community.
Mohammed Hijab is a philosopher of religion and the co-founder of Sapience Institute. His debates and discussions representing the Islamic viewpoint.
Related news story:
Mayor doesn’t roll out the welcome mat
By Staff
January 31st, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Is there a place for rent control?
 Residents who face significant rent increases want controls.  Politicians appear to be exploiting a difficult problem tjhat doesn’t have an easy answer The conversation around rent control in Ontario is a loaded one. While tenants certainly benefit, some say that the protection disincentivizes rental construction and makes operating costs for some landlords unfeasible.
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