By Staff
April 23rd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Austin Horton, a Grade 9 student from Georgetown District High School, is using his personal 3D printer to make dozens of personal protective equipment (PPE) to help medical professionals stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When Austin read about the need for PPE on social media in early April, he didn’t hesitate to fire up his 3D printer at home to start making plastic face shields.
 Grade 9 student Austin Horton saw a need for Face Shields – went into production and has delivered 80 so far.
“I found the design online and slightly adjusted it for my printer,” he said. “It feels good to be doing this. I’ll keep doing this for as long as we have materials and it’s necessary.”
He has printed 80 shields so far. Each one takes about an hour and he prints around a half dozen a day. Austin leaves the PPE in a sealed bag at the front of his home and it is picked up by St. John Ambulance twice a week. He says the shields are being distributed to non-hospital medical professionals.
Michael Gallant, Principal at Georgetown District High School, said Austin’s PPE effort brings important hope to the local community.
“Like the residents of Georgetown, GDHS students and staff look for ways to support and improve their community and are committed to the success of all,” he said. “It is this dedication to the welfare of others that makes Georgetown such a special place. Find a way to do something that helps others and you will spread the hope and positivity that will get us through this challenge.”
Austin’s parents Krista and Shaun are very proud of their son’s effort to help people during these challenging times.
“Austin has always been very generous with his 3D printer,” Shaun said, noting he has made items to sell to fundraise for charities. “When it comes to helping others, he is always willing to assist wherever he can.”
“As soon as he was advised of the call for help, Austin offered to help immediately,” Krista said. “We thank (frontline workers) for taking time away from their family and friends to care for those who are not well and unable to have their families with them.”
Tim Bauer, Executive Director of St. John Ambulance, Halton-Hamilton Region, is grateful for Austin’s effort to help.
“The incredible work (Austin) is doing will go a long way toward ensuring public safety in this time of crisis,” Bauer said. “St. John Ambulance sincerely thanks him for understanding the need for PPE and for choosing to make an impact in the Halton community during a time of such great need in the battle against COVID-19.”
By Staff
April 23rd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service’s Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit (CASA) and Halton Children’s Aid Society (Halton CAS) are urging residents to remain vigilant in reporting suspected child abuse.
The majority of suspected child abuse reports normally come from third-party sources, increased levels of isolation in the past weeks have resulted in a marked decrease in the number of reports of suspected child abuse/neglect.
 Children trust – learning not to trust takes their childhood away from them.
“We normally receive concerns from schools, friends, other parents, coaches and daycare providers,” says Halton Regional Police Service Detective Sergeant Crystal Kelly. “With social distancing measures in place and increased stress on families, there is little opportunity for children to interact with or reach out to those they trust.”
The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has responded to eight (8) calls in April, 2020 regarding suspected child abuse, compared to 30 calls during the same time period in April, 2019, a 73 per cent decrease year over year.
Similarly, the Halton CAS has observed as 27 percent decrease in calls in April 2020 compared to 2019. Since the beginning of April, 2020, only 85 new cases have been opened by Halton CAS, compared to 169 during the same period in April, 2019, a 50 per cent decrease year over year.
“At Halton Children’s Aid Society, we are concerned about the increased risk of child abuse and neglect due to families being isolated from the community,” says Jennifer Binnington, Director of Protection Services at the Halton Children’s Aid Society.
“We understand this is a very stressful time for many families and we want you to know that we are an essential service and are open to assist and support children, youth and families 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please call us if you have any concerns or worries about a child during this time.”
The HRPS and Halton CAS are asking that everyone remains mindful of the welfare of their neighbours, their children’s friends and classmates, and their relatives. It is crucial that residents also speak to their children about what to do if a friend confides in them that they are not safe at home.
Victims or friends/family of victims are encouraged to contact the Halton Regional Police Service, Halton Children’s Aid Society or other community resources if child abuse or neglect is happening.
Help is available.
The following is a list of valuable support services and resources in Halton Region for victims of child abuse:
• Halton Regional Police Service Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit 905-825-4777
• Halton Children’s Aid Society 905-333-4441 or 1-866-607-5437
• Kid’s Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 (24-hour crisis line)
• Radius Child & Youth Services 905-825-3242 (Oakville) or 1-855-744-9001
• Halton Women’s Place 905-878-8555 (north) or 905-332-7892 (24-hour crisis line)
By Staff
April 23rd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Foundation today announced the first round of charities that will receive $163,500 from the Covid-19 Pandemic Response Fund since the Foundation announced the fund on March 31; 17 grants were announced.
Through the generosity of donors, the Pandemic Response Fund has grown to over $400,000 to support both community-based response efforts through two phases of granting, and a third phase that will assist charities in their recovery efforts recognizing that this pandemic will have long-term implications for the non-profit sector.
“The Covid-19 Pandemic Fund is designed to be a rapid response solution to the immediate and ongoing challenges facing our front-line charities as they struggle to meet the growing demand of community members impacted by Covid-19,” says Colleen Mulholland, President and CEO of Burlington Foundation.
 Colleen Mulholland, President and CEO of Burlington Foundation.
The first phase of grantees provides a range of much-needed supports to high need, vulnerable people and families including those experiencing food insecurity; isolated seniors; community members with disability or mental health challenges; medical assistance; and safe housing. Second phase of granting will open on May 1.
“We are humbled by the care these front-line charities are providing to our friends and neighbours in great need during these unprecedented times. We are also honoured to partner with our fundholders and donors who are sending a loud caring message that we are all in this together,” Mulholland says.
Here are just a few of the grants being distributed to front-line charities:
• $10,000 to Burlington Food Bank & Open Doors of St. Christopher’s to purchase fresh food and staples for over 135 households increasing at a rate of 20% per month
• $10,000 to Compassion Society of Halton to acquire non-perishable food and hygiene supplies to help support over 1,200 clients a month and increasing
• $10,000 to ROCK (Reach Out Centre for Kids) to adapt virtual therapy programming to support
over 300 clients with need escalating
• $10,000 to YMCA to adapt seniors’ programming to virtual platforms addressing isolation issues for nearly 900 Burlington seniors
• $15,000 to Halton Women’s Place to provide safe housing and healthy meals for 3 families
• $15,000 to Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation to aid in the purchase of PPE, equipment and
related supplies as the hospital continues to battle Covid-19
The complete list of awarded grants is HERE.
Providing these critical emergency grants in this time of tremendous need would not be possible without the kindness of donors. Our heartfelt thank you to our many donors including: The Paletta Family, Pioneer Energy, Randy and Denise Reeve Family Fund, Milne Family Foundation Fund, Pieczonka Family Foundation Fund, LKH Spirit Fund, BDO Burlington Community Fund, Dalton Timmis Group Fund and several community donors.
To learn more about the Foundation’s Covid-19 Pandemic Response Fund, and how to support your community through a donation, please visit the Foundation web site.
By Staff
April 23rd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
 Next COVID-19 Virtual Business Support Forum will be held at DeGroote – on the South Service Road.
The Business Strategy & Planning session with DeGroote School of Business on April 28 has been rescheduled to May 5.
The event is part of the Team Burlington COVID-19 Virtual Business Support Forum Series.

By Christopher Boyd
April 23rd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette uses Malware to secure its web sites. There are any number of software applications that can be used – we found Malware to work well for us.
One of the added values is a newsletter they publish. In the most recent version they published a piece of just what “free” software is all about. Well worth reading.
It’s almost impossible not to rely on social networks in some way, whether for personal reasons or business. Sites such as LinkedIn continue to blur the line, increasing the amount of social function over time with features and services resembling less formal sites, such as Facebook. Can anyone imagine not relying on, of all things, Twitter to catch up on breaking coronavirus news around the world instantly? The trade off is your data, and how they profit from it.
Like it or not—and it’s entirely possibly it’s a big slab of “not”—these services are here to stay, and we may be “forced” to keep using them. Some of the privacy concerns that lead people to say, “Just stop using them” are well founded. The reality, however, is not quite so straightforward.
For example, in many remote regions, Facebook or Twitter might be the only free Internet access people have. And with pockets of restriction on free press, social media often represents the only outlet for “truth” for some users. There are some areas where people can receive unlimited Facebook access when they top up their mobiles. If they’re working, they’ll almost always use Facebook Messenger or another social media chat tool to stay in touch rather than drain their SMS allowance.
Many of us can afford to walk away from these services; but just as many of us simply can’t consider it when there’s nothing else to take its place.
Mining for data (money) has never been so profitable.
But how did this come to be? In the early days of Facebook, it was hard to envision the platform being used to spread disinformation, assist in genocide, or sell user data to third-parties. We walk users through the social media business model and show how the inevitable happens: when a product is free, the commodity is you and your data.
Setting up social media shop
Often, Venture Capital backing is how a social network springs into life. This is where VC firms invest lots of money for promising-looking services/technology with the expectation they’ll make big money and gain a return on investment in the form of ownership stakes. When the company is bought out or goes public, it’s massive sacks of cash for everybody. (Well, that’s the dream. The reality is usually quite a bit more complicated).
It’s not exactly common for these high-risk gambles to pay off, and what often happens is the company never quite pops. They underperform, or key staff leave, and they expand a little too rapidly with the knock-on effect that the CEO suddenly has this massive service with millions of users and no sensible way to turn that user base into profit (and no way to retain order on a service rife with chaos).
At that point, they either muddle along, or they look to profit in other ways. That “other way” is almost always via user data. I mean, it’s all there, so why not? Here are just some of the methods social networks deploy to turn bums on seats into massive piles of cash.
Advertising on social media
This is the most obvious one, and a primary driver for online revenue for many a year. Social media platforms tend to benefit in a way other more traditional publishers cannot, and revenue streams appear to be quite healthy in terms of user-revenue generation.
Advertising is a straight-forward way for social media networks to not only make money from the data they’ve collected, but also create chains where external parties potentially dip into the same pool, too.
 That advertisement, beneath the headline, offering a free report is an example of an advertiser using the Google AdSense platform to put their advertisement in front of the audience they want. The Gazette earns a couple of pennies for each that someone clicks on.
At its most basic, platforms can offer ad space to advertisers. Unlike traditional publishing, social media ads can be tailored to personalized data the social network sees you searching for, talking about, or liking daily. If you thought hitting “like” (or its equivalent) on a portal was simply a helpful thumbs up in the general direction of someone providing content, think again. It’s quite likely feeding data into the big pot of “These are the ads we should show this person.”
Not only is everything you punch into the social network (and your browser) up for grabs, but everything your colleagues and associates do too, tying you up in a neat little bow of social media profiling. All of it can then be mined to make associations and estimations, which will also feed back to ad units and, ultimately, profit.
Guesstimates are based on the interests of you, your family, your friends, and your friends’ friends, plus other demographic-specific clues, such as your job title, pictures of your home, travel experiences, cars, and marriage status. Likely all of these data points help the social network neatly estimate your income, another way to figure out which specific adverts to send your way.
After all, if they send you the wrong ads, they lose. If you’re not clicking through and popping a promo page, the advertisers aren’t really winning. All that ad investment is essentially going to waste unless you’re compelled to make use of it in some way.
Even selling your data to advertisers or other marketing firms could be on the table. Depending on terms of service, it’s entirely possible the social platforms you use can anonymise their treasure trove and sell it for top dollar to third parties. Even in cases where the data isn’t sold, simply having it out there is always a bit risky.
There have been many unrelated, non-social media instances where it turned out supposedly anonymous data, wasn’t. There are always people who can come along afterwards and piece it all together, and they don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to do it. All this before you consider social media sites/platforms with social components aren’t immune to the perils of theft, leakage, and data scraping.
As any cursory glance of a security news source will tell you, there’s an awful lot of rogue advertisers out there to offset the perfectly legitimate ones. Whether by purchase or stumbling upon data leaked online, scammers are happy to take social media data and tie it up in email/phone scams and additional fake promos. At that point, even data generated through theoretically legitimate means is being (mis)used in some way by unscrupulous individuals, which only harms the ad industry further.
Apps and ads
Moving from desktop to mobile is a smart move for social networks, and if they’re able to have you install an app, then so much the better (for them). Depending on the mobile platform, they may be able to glean additional information about sites, apps, services, and preferred functionalities, which wouldn’t necessarily be available if you simply used a mobile web browser.
If you browse for any length of time on a mobile device, you’ll almost certainly be familiar with endless pop-ups and push notifications telling you how much cooler and awesome the app version of site X or Y will be. You may also have experienced the nagging sensation that websites seem to degrade in functionality over time on mobile browsers.
Suddenly, the UI is a little worse. The text is tiny. Somehow, you can no longer find previously overt menu options. Certain types of content no longer display correctly or easily, even when it’s something as basic as a jpeg. Did the “Do you want to view this in the app?” popup reverse the positions of the “Yes” and “No” buttons from the last time you saw it? Are they trying to trick you into clicking the wrong thing? It’s hard to remember, isn’t it?
A cynic would say this is all par for the course, but this is something you’ve almost certainly experienced when trying to do anything in social land on a mobile minus an app.
Once you’re locked into said app, a brave new world appears in terms of intimately-detailed data collection and a huge selection of adverts to choose from. Some of them may lead to sponsored affiliate links, opening the data harvesting net still further, or lead to additional third-party downloads. Some of these may be on official platform stores, while others may sit on unofficial third-party websites with all the implied risk such a thing carries.
Even the setup of how apps work on the website proper can drive revenue. Facebook caught some heat back in 2008 for their $375USD developer fee. Simply having a mass of developers making apps for the platform—whether verified or not—generates data that a social network platform can make use of, then tie it back to their users.
It’s all your data, wheeling around in a tumble drier of analytics.
Payment for access/features
Gating access to websites behind paywalls is not particularly popular for the general public. Therefore, most sites with a social networking component will usually charge only for additional services, and those services might not even be directly related to the social networking bit.
LinkedIn is a great example of this: the social networking part is there for anybody to use because it makes all those hilariously bad road warrior lifestyle posts incredibly sticky, and humorous replies are often the way people first land on a profile proper. However, what you’re paying for is increased core functionality unrelated to the “Is this even real?” comedy posts elsewhere.
In social networking land, a non-payment gated approach was required for certain platforms. Orkut, for example, required a login to access any content. Some of the thinking there was that a gated community could keep the bad things out. In reality, when data theft worms started to spread, it just meant the attacks were contained within the walls and hit the gated communities with full force.
The knock-on effect of this was security researchers’ ability to analyse and tackle these threats was delayed because many of these services were either niche or specific to certain regions only. As a result, finding out about these attacks was often at the mercy of simply being informed by random people that “X was happening over in Y.”
These days, access is much more granular, and it’s up to users to display what they want, with additional content requiring you to be logged in to view.
Counting the cost
Of the three approaches listed above, payment/gating is one of the least popular techniques to encourage a revenue stream. Straight up traditional advertising isn’t as fancy as app/site/service integration, but it’s something pretty much anybody can use, which is handy for devs without the mobile know-how or funds available to help make it happen.
Even so, nothing quite compares to the flexibility provided by mobile apps, integrated advertising, and the potential for additional third-party installs. With the added boost to sticky installs via the pulling power of social media influencers, it’s possibly never been harder to resist clicking install for key demographics.
The most important question, then, turns out to be one of the most common: What are you getting in return for loading an app onto your phone?
It’s always been true for apps generally, and it’ll continue to be a key factor in social media mobile data mining for the foreseeable future. “You are the product” might be a bit long in the tooth at this point, but where social media is concerned, it’s absolutely accurate. How could the billions of people worldwide creating the entirety of the content posted be anything else?
By Staff
April 22nd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
 Food Banks are now serving the needs of a much different demographic.
Robin Bailey, Chief Cheese at the Food Bank, is shouting out a big thanks to the people who are helping get hampers of food to people who for a number of reasons aren’t able to get out of the house to shop for themselves.
The number of people who need support means needing more food, which we are fortunate enough to have – the amount coming in to meet this new demand needed a place to be stored –Access Storage donated space and is even managing the delivery for us as volunteers themselves. It was perfect timing too with the Feed Ontario support coming in this week.
We had a few clients let us know in advance that they have been diagnosed with or are potential cases for the COVID-19 virus. We let our volunteer drivers know that there is that potential for certain homes and allow them to opt-out of doing the delivery if they don’t feel comfortable.
What we do is drop off food at the door (and we don’t knock) then the driver goes back to their car and phones the client to let them know it is ready at their door and then they come out to get the food – that way there is absolutely no contact. Please let your friends and neighbours know that we are here for them and ask them to reach out to us. Deliveries are up but we are prepared.
If you are in need or know of someone who could use our help have them email us at info@burlingtonfoodbank.ca or call 905-637-2273 to make arrangements to have food dropped at the door. If you live in Burlington, we are here to help.
Robin is a member of the Mayor’s Task Force. “They met last night via Zoom” said Bailey, ” it took hours – so much to deal with right now. We really have a good group on the board that want to do everything they can for the community; nice to see such wonderful people working so hard together but apart.”
Visual update
Donations are the lifeblood of the Food Bank – keep them in mind.
By Pepper Parr
April 22nd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
In a Statement published in the Mayor’s Newsletter – A Better Burlington – Mayor Meed Ward wrote:
City Council, at a Closed session accepted a proposed revised plan for a townhouse and semi-detached development at 2100 Brant Street. The proposal will be decided by the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) at a hearing scheduled in July.
 It is a piece of land that was farmed for centuries. It was pristine – and good have been a model community. The plans do not include anything near the traditional back yard.
The original proposal was for 12 townhouse blocks with a total of 83 units and three condominium townhouse blocks with 150 units, for a total development of 233 units. There was no parkland. Also included in the applications are a woodlot block as well as a natural heritage system block. The proposed development site has a total area of 11.1 hectares (27.2 acres). The developable area is 5.04 hectares.
The land is currently vacant and has been historically used for agricultural purposes.
The former City Council had approved a revised proposal in November 2018, before the new council was sworn in but after the election when 5 of 7 members of the previous council were not returning due to defeat or retirement.
Current City Council rescinded that plan in December 2018 in an effort to give residents, staff and the applicant additional time to improve the plan and come to a consensus on a revised development.
A group of citizens, primarily representing residents in the neighbourhood north of the development, formed Vision 2100 Brant Neighbours Association, an incorporated group that received Party status at the LPAT hearing to present evidence on behalf of residents.
Representatives of the townhouse condominium board immediately to the south of the project had earlier issued a letter of support for the November revised proposal, considering their issues (primarily around setbacks and drainage) to be settled.
City Council and Vision 2100 received a revised proposal in March 2020. This proposal was provided directly to the Vision 2100 citizen’s group at a meeting March 10 with the applicant and Ward Councillor. The proposal was further discussed April 2 via teleconference with Vision 2100 representatives and the Ward Councillor and Mayor, to seek citizen input on the proposal.
To date, Vision 2100 has not provided any suggested changes or feedback on the proposal, but did raise additional questions around parking, snow storage, traffic, and storm water management. These were answered by the applicant by email to the residents (see background below), and addressed in the revised proposal to the city’s satisfaction.
The new proposal improves on the original application as well as the November 2018 proposal with the following changes:
Reducing the unit count from 212 to 210 (down from 233 in the original proposal)
In the Northwest area of the development on both sides of the Almonte Drive extension, replacing six 2-storey townhouse units with 4 semi-detached 1.5 storey bungalofts
Increasing setbacks from the homes to the north, from 9 metres to 10 metres; in some areas the setback is 11 metres
Increasing the senior-friendly units with ground floor bedrooms to aid accessibility, from 7 to 16 units
Provision of a 0.3 hectare (0.76 acre) centrally located Public Park.
City council voted to accept the revised proposal at the council meeting of April 20, 2020.
The details of that March plan, and the planning justification for supporting it provided by city staff, are included in the planning staff analysis here: 2100 Brant Planning Analysis
 The orange is where the proposed 233 units were to go – that has been reduced to 210
Unlike the vast majority of municipalities, Burlington releases the planning analysis for matters which the municipality is supporting approval of by the LPAT, in advance of the hearing. This policy change was implemented by the new City Council to ensure maximum transparency with residents about the basis of our decision-making.
The final decision on the revised proposal will be made by the LPAT. The city and applicant will appear in support of the proposal.
Vision 2100 is a registered Party to the hearing which gives them the right at the hearing to call evidence (witnesses, studies or both) to refute or support the proposal, cross examine city or applicant witnesses, or suggest further modifications to the proposal. The City of Burlington, the applicant (National Homes) and the Region of Halton are the other registered Parties to the hearing. There are two registered Participants to the hearing who can provide feedback at the hearing as well.
Details on the original application submitted in 2017, revisions to the proposal, and details of the LPAT hearing are available on the project page for the development here created when the application was received: Current Development Applications, Ward 1, 2100 Brant St
Below is additional background, answers to some questions and a statement from the Mayor and Ward councillor.
Statement from Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith on 2100 Brant:
 Mayor Marianne Meed Ward
Resident input over several years, including the work of Vision 2100, has improved this application for the better, and we thank them for that.
Though the most recent proposal may not be exactly what residents or Councillors were hoping for, it does include more green space than the original proposal, including a new park, fewer units, less height and density, more variety and senior-friendly options, increased setbacks and better transition to the neighbourhoods to the north and south. The recent questions raised by residents around parking, traffic, snow storage and storm water management have been addressed.
 Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith – working part time as a DJ?
In accepting the revised proposal, council considered a number of factors, including public input, the improvements made that addressed some of the concerns raised, the planning justification provided by staff, and advice from legal counsel.
Our decision also factored in some practical realities, including the inability to secure a planning witness that was of the opinion that the November 2018 proposal did not overall represent good planning, the likelihood that a hearing would not produce a different result, and the possibility that city taxpayers could be required to pay the entire costs of the applicant at a lengthy hearing. In addition, city staff who supported the November proposal would likely have been required to testify on behalf of the applicant, at city taxpayers expense.
We also considered that notwithstanding council accepting a revised proposal, there remain options for continued public input, especially for Vision 2100, which can provide feedback or modifications on the revised proposal, and/or proceed as a party to the hearing and call evidence and witnesses.
We believe we achieved the best outcome possible for residents in this case, and your input directly made that happen.
Background and Answers to Questions:
How has public input been gathered on this application?
This application has been under review since 2017, with multiple points of public input along the way. A citizen’s group, Vision 2100, was formed to represent the concerns of residents primarily north of the development site. A citizen’s group was formed to the south to represent the interests of the townhouse development to the south. They submitted a letter of support for the November 2018 revised proposal.
The applicant met with the public over 12 times in that period, in either organized public meetings or smaller resident meetings.
There was a neighbourhood meeting Oct. 12, 2017, a statutory public meeting April 3, 2018 where residents presented detailed feedback and suggested modifications to council. Some council members at the time remarked that they were the best and most comprehensive presentations they had heard. There was a further open house to discuss revised plans July 17, 2018.
Throughout 2019 there have been numerous additional consultations with the applicant, city staff and Vision 2100, individually or as a group, to address the remaining concerns of the community. They included general over development of the site with related issues, and the interface of the development to the single family neighbourhood to the north, at Almonte Drive/Belgrave Court/Havendale Blvd.
In February 2020 the applicant advised it was prepared to make changes to the plan to address the resident concerns. In March they submitted a revised proposal to Vision 2100, and city staff. City Council received the proposal in early April.
How is public input reflected in the final proposal?
Since the original application, there have been at least 11 major revisions as a result of public, staff and council input, including a reduction in units, increased parkland, increased setbacks from the neighbourhoods to the north and south, reduced height of some units and conversion from townhouses to semi-detached, and provision of accessible, senior friendly semi-detached bungalofts. There have been three different proposals including the most recent one.
The proposal was provided directly to the Vision 2100 citizen’s group at a meeting March 10 with the applicant and Ward Councillor. The proposal was further discussed April 2 via teleconference with Vision 2100 representatives and the Ward Councillor and Mayor, to seek citizen input on the proposal.
To date, they have not provided feedback on the most recent proposal, but they did raise several outstanding questions via email related to traffic, parking, snow storage and storm water management. These questions were raised with the applicant by the Mayor and Ward Councillor on residents behalf, with the response as follows:
Traffic on Havendale, Fairchild and Brant St. Was a traffic study produced and taken into account? ANSWER: A traffic study was provided to Vision 2100 previously with the analysis describing the difference of a single family development and a townhouse development completed by a professional traffic engineer, outlining that a single family home development would generate more traffic. City staff reviewed and supported the findings of the study.
Parking, no street parking on private roads and limited visitors parking. Where do visitors park? ANSWER: Visitor parking is provided in the development on both public roads interior to the site and private roads as detailed in the attached site plan (also provided to Vision 2100).
The Zoning By-law requires 54 visitor parking spaces, whereas 59 are proposed. In addition 25 on-street parking spaces could be accommodated along the Almonte Drive extension.
Snow removal. There is no room to pile snow. Does the City have a plan to resolve that problem? ANSWER: The site plan attached to the revised proposal identifies areas where snow storage will be designated, in the bottom left and top right areas of the development.
Storm Water management. This has been a serious issue for the residents, based on actual flooding experiences where the empty lot at 2100 Brant served as a sink which helped to mitigate the flooding. Now there will be no sink because the area will be developed. The proposal is for an underground collection system with tanks which can be drained into the existing stormwater sewer at Brant Street. The question is, will there be enough capacity to accommodate two major rain storms in a row and will the system work properly? ANSWER: The design was prepared by a professional engineer based on their experience and history of developing many projects within the GTA with a similar design. Burlington City engineering staff had their professional engineers along with the Region of Halton’s professional engineers review the design of the system and both have been satisfied.
Why was this appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal?
Developers and residents have equal legal right in Ontario to appeal any decision of city council on a development matter to the LPAT, to seek a different decision.
Further, an applicant can appeal to the LPAT if the municipality exceeds the provincially mandated timelines to make a decision, which at the time of this application were 180 days.
The applicant, residents and staff agreed to continue to work together on the project beyond the 180 day time frame to try to come to a better outcome, thus setting aside the deadline. This application is now in its third year of review.
However, this changed when the previous provincial government announced it was making changes to the LPAT (then called the Ontario Municipal Board) to restrict what could be appealed and giving more priority to local council decisions. The current provincial government rolled back those changes so the LPAT functions essentially the same as the OMB did.
However in that transition period thousands of applications across the province, were preemptively made to preserve rights to a hearing under the old OMB rules, including this one which appealed using the tool of “non decision” within the deadline, because council had not made a decision within the 180 day time frame.
What happens now?
This application and the proposed revised plan will be heard by the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) at a 12-day hearing scheduled to begin July 27. At that hearing, the applicant and city staff, based on City Council’s instructions, will jointly be requesting that the LPAT approve the revised application.
Due to COVID19, the province has cancelled all hearings till the end of June, but that does not apply to 2100 Brant Street as it is beyond that window of time. As such, all parties to the hearing, including Vision 2100, are required to produce evidence and experts to refute the application and revised proposal if they wish to challenge it.
To date, neither the city, nor Vision 2100, were able to find a planner to refute the proposal. This would leave the city without a witness at the hearing, compromising any ability to reach a different outcome at a hearing than the proposed application. In addition, city staff would most likely be called by the applicant to support the proposal, as they initially recommended approval of the November 2018 proposal. This factored into council’s decision to accept the third revised proposal as the best outcome possible, and an improvement on both the original and November proposals.
Entering a hearing without a witness could have also led to an award of costs against the city for the applicant’s expenses of the entire 12-day hearing, saddling taxpayers with a significant bill with no improvement in the outcome of the development. This also factored into council’s decision.
What are the opportunities for further public input on this application?
The next steps and opportunities for further public input at the hearing are detailed below, and were outlined via email to Vision 2100 from the Mayor and Ward Councillor April 10.
Vision 2100 has party status at the hearing. They can present evidence at the hearing regardless of whether any other party enters into a settlement. As such, they retain the opportunity (and obligation as a party) to call evidence against the revised proposal if they are opposed.
An issues list identified for the hearing outlines the issues raised by the various parties. The list is available on the project page on the city’s website. Issues list, attachment 3
There are four parties to the hearing: National Homes, City of Burlington, Vision 2100 and Region of Halton. On the issues list there are 16 issues cited by the city and Vision 2100 (Items 1-12, 14-17); 4 issues cited solely by Region of Halton (Items 13, 18, 19, 21), one issue cited by Region of Halton and Vision 2100 (Item 20), and 2 issues cited only by Vision 2100 (Items 22, 23).
We understand that Vision 2100 has wanted to see the city’s response to various issues and concerns to use in their own efforts at a hearing. Given that city staff previously approved the initial, and the modified (Nov 2018) application, and recommended approval of the March 2020 proposal, any concerns can assume to have been resolved to the city’s satisfaction.
The bulk of the issues raised by the city relate to planning justification matters. These were resolved to the city’s satisfaction, as outlined in the planning justification analysis
Any party can withdraw its issues or settle. Where issues are jointly raised, if one party withdraws from an issue, the remaining party to that issue can still raise it as an issue at a hearing.
Thus, regardless of the actions of the other parties, Vision 2100 retains the option in a hearing to call its own evidence on any of the issues they are listed under, as noted above.
According to the LPAT procedural order, where there are multiple parties listed beside a single issue, those parties have the option to call one single witness together to deal with that issue. This has led to some confusion that the city would call evidence and pay for it on behalf of Vision 2100. That is not the case, as each party remains separate. The City has been clear with Vision 2100 throughout the appeal process that each party, although having the same issues, was separate and should prepare to call its case separately in the event that one of the parties reached a settlement of the appeal.
If the city chose to call evidence on a particular issue, Vision 2100 could rely on that evidence themselves, rather than hire a second individual. If the city did not choose to call evidence, Vision 2100 would then be required to do so themselves. Each party retains independence, with the option to collaborate.
If one of the parties withdraws an item as an issue, or deems it settled and taken care of, the responsibility would be with the remaining party to call its own witness at the hearing, if that party believed that issue has not been resolved, based on their own expert review.
The format of the hearing is that each party must call its own witnesses to support their position of whether or not the application as presented should be approved; each party has the ability to cross-examine the witnesses provided by any other party. The documents in support of the application have been publicly available online since 2017, and residents can review this in advance of a hearing to plan their response. The planning analysis from the city is now also available to residents to plan their response.
A party to the hearing can produce their own evidence to refute the application, and would have opportunity at a hearing to ask questions of others. Regardless of whether there is a settlement, Vision 2100 has this opportunity to ask questions at a hearing, but also an obligation to produce its own evidence for any issues that Vision 2100 has identified on the Issues List.
Summary of options for continued public input:
1. Vision 2100 can undertake to hire their own experts to respond to the material that has been provided by the applicant and is publicly available online. This review may satisfy the concerns raised, or lead to suggested modifications which could in turn be requested of the applicant. Understandably, this is a significant financial undertaking, and may not be feasible.
2. As a resident’s group and as a party to the hearing, Vision 2100 has a unique opportunity to provide a direct public voice on the revised proposal, which they have not done yet. Vision 2100 has an opportunity to review the revised proposal, determine if it satisfies the concerns raised and if not suggest modifications.
3. If the proposed modifications are not accepted, Vision 2100 also has the option to proceed to a hearing, with the obligation to hire experts to refute the applicant’s material (which is publicly available online) and present new evidence in support of any additional proposed changes.
Did the city follow proper planning process on this application?
In dealing with this application, the city has followed the provincial planning process, which is not unique to Burlington but is required across Ontario. The process allows any party independently to determine whether or not its issues have been resolved.
The process allows any party to determine that its issues have not been resolved and proceed to a hearing, but in that case would need to present its own evidence to refute the application.
What is City Council’s role?
City council has an obligation to review and consider any revised proposal. In reviewing the proposal, we consider input from our planning and legal team, the applicant, as well as resident’s groups or individuals. The public is represented in this process in a variety of ways, including through your elected representatives and our voices carrying your input/questions forward, as well as any direct input you have provided to the city, applicant and elected representatives.
Your elected representatives also undertake to ensure that outstanding questions/issues have been addressed in making any decisions.
All means of public input described above have occurred throughout the processing of this application.
 Think traffic flow onto Brant – and pity those that want to make a left hand turn on Brant in the morning rush hour.
By Staff
April 22nd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Somewhere in Germany – food is put in a plastic bag and left for people who need it.
Simple, almost elegant.
If you tried that in Burlington – it would probably be a bylaw infraction or Legal would find a way to say – that it can’t be done.
Nice idea though – eh! Makes you feel good
By Staff
April 22nd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Proposed Development
A proposal has been submitted for the development of 12 townhouse blocks with a total of 83 units and three condominium townhouse blocks with 150 units. Also included in the application are a woodlot block as well as a natural heritage system (buffer) block. The proposed development has a total area of 11.1 hectares (27.2 acres). These lands are currently vacant and have been historically used for agricultural purposes.
LPAT Appeal Update – April 22, 2020
Is this progress?
At its meeting of April, 20, 2020 Burlington City Council approved the recommendation of Confidential Legal Report L-10-20 to accept an offer to settle the issues in dispute between National Homes (Brant) Inc. (“National Homes”) and the City with respect to National Homes’ appeal currently before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (“LPAT”).
As part of this approval, Council approved the recommendation that the planning analysis attached as Appendix ‘B’ to L-10-20 be released publicly and posted on the City’s webpage under Planning and Development Applications for Ward 1, while retaining solicitor/client privilege over the balance of this matter in its entirety.
The settlement between the City and National Homes resolves the issues in dispute between the City and National Homes on the basis that National and the City will seek LPAT approval of a revised development proposal for the subject lands.
The revised development proposes 210 dwelling units in townhouse, street townhouse, and semi-detached dwelling forms abutting public and private roadways, surrounding a 0.31 hectare centrally located Park block.
In particular, the revised development plan makes changes to where the proposed development inferfaces with the existing residential neighbourhood to the north, reducing the unit count in the area and replacing proposed 2-storey townhouses with 1.5-storey semi-detached bungaloft units. The revised development plan also increases the minimum building setback for the proposed semi-detached units backing on to existing lots on Havendale Boulevard from 9 metres to a minimum of 10 metres.
A copy of the planning analysis is available on the development application webpage, along with a copy of the conceptual site plan and proposed plan of subdivision for the revised development.
How does this impact the hearing scheduled to commence on July 27, 2020?
While the City and National Homes have settled the City’s issues in the appeal, there are two other parties to the hearing- the Region of Halton and neighbourhood association Vision 2100 Brant. As a result, the appeal hearing will proceed on July 27, 2020 with the City and National Homes attending to seek LPAT’s approval of the revised development plan and to respond to the evidence called by one or both of the other parties in opposition to the revised development.
Should the remaining parties both individually reach a settlement with National Homes in the appeal, the parties could seek to have a settlement hearing scheduled in advance of July 27, 2020 in order to present the settled plan to LPAT for approval. If that were to occur, the hearing scheduled to commence on July 27, 2020 would not be held.
The City’s development application webpage for 2100 Brant Street will be further updated to advise of any additional settlements between the other parties and National Homes or the rescheduling of LPAT hearing dates.
If the LPAT hearing proceeds, the good people in the Havendale community are going to find themselves city at a table with the city on the other side opposing what they want.
The Vision 2100 document and the delegations that were part of the protest against the development was one of the very best the Gazette has seen in the past ten years. A new city council was elected to oppose this kind of over-intensification.
It would be nice to know just how each Councillor voted on this matter in that Closed Session of Council.
By Pepper Parr
April 22nd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Anita Cassidy, Executive Director of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation gave city council and very thorough briefing on just what the commercial sector was up against.
The focus was on the hospitality and tourism sectors.
It was not a pretty picture.
 Anita Cassidy, Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation.
Cassidy reviewed just how that wave that has engulfed us got here. It all started in China last November. We have all heard the rate at which this spread and the impact it has had – what’s important at this point is to realize that this pandemic is going to change the way we do business – quite what that shape the change takes is something we will be determining.
November 2019 – First Case Wuhan China
March 14, 2020 – Burlington Parks & Rec Facilities and Agencies closed to public.
March 16 – All City Facilities closed to public,
March 17 – Ontario declared emergency and closed
• All bars and restaurants to take out only
• Schools and Childcare
• Recreation facilities, libraries and theatres
March 21 – Federal Government Closed Border to non-essential travel
March 21 – Mayor Meed Ward Declared an Emergency in City of Burlington
March 24 – Province mandated closure all non- essential businesses for 14 days.
March 30 – Province extended mandated closure all non-essential businesses until April 13.
April 3 – Province reduced list of essential businesses.
Less than three weeks and the world as we knew it had been turned upside down.
The Premier moved into overdrive and has been transparent in making information available.
Cassidy, relying heavily on Toronto Board of Trade, set out what we know and what some people expect.
 Well over half don’t think they can last more than three months.

Speaking for what is being called Team Burlington – representing the Chamber of Commerce, the Burlington Downtown Business Association, the Restaurant and Hospitality group and the Economic Development Corporation Cassidy pointed to the Team Burlington COVID-19 Virtual Business Support Forum Series, a video conference series to provide businesses of all sizes with an opportunity to ask questions and hear from subject matter experts, as well as key leaders and decision-makers from all levels of government.
Business Strategy & Planning with DeGroote School of Business – April 28.
 Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna
Angelo Bentivega, a small business operator and the Councillor for ward 6 asked Cassidy how council could help. “I realize,” he said “that for many of the small business owners that this is not only their business that is at risk – their major investment is also at risk.”
Everyone realizes that some operations that locked their doors three weeks ago may never get to open those doors again.
Moral support is about all the city can offer – the province and the federal government have programs – they all seem to ave strings attached to them.



By Staff
April 22nd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Senior City staff provided an update on the financial impacts of COVID-19 to a city council that was meeting virtually. The Mayor, the City Clerk and a third person in the audio visual room were in the Council Chamber.
Council was asked to endorse a three-month strategy that prioritizes City services to be provided through to the end of June 2020 to maintain critical and essential services for the city.
Council also approved the recommendation that Committee of the Whole meetings be scheduled to help City business continue and moving forward, virtual delegations will now be allowed for members of the public at City Council meetings.
In addition, Council also approved adding an increased penalty of $250 to specific parking infractions that violate COVID-19 bylaws and orders.
Financial impacts of COVID-19
The strategic management of the City budget and finances continues to be a priority. City Council and staff remain committed to fiscal responsibility and accountability and are focused on offsetting all of the COVID-19 related City revenue losses to June 30, 2020 and are looking ahead past July 2020 to mitigate a shortfall at 2020 year-end. The City is closely monitoring and carefully managing the financial impacts of the COVID-19 emergency while at the same time ensuring taxpayers receive good value for City services that continue, as outlined in the three-month work plan.
The city expects to spend less due to facility closures, not having to pay part time workers plus a significant amount on discretionary spending. They will incur costs of $300,000 on COVID-19 costs
That story is best told in chart form.
 These are funds the city will not be getting due to the shut down of city hall and the closing of many of the services.
 These are funds the city will also not get but for which there are reserves that can be drawn upon.
 These are operational savings. Gapping is money budgeted for a job that is vacant.
 This suggests the city is short just $200,000
 Projections are just that – projections. There are all kinds of things that can happen between now and July. Canada Day has been cancelled.
Keep in mind – these numbers get us to end of June – early July.
Will the curve be flattened by then or will the virus make a return when people are permitted to congregate?
Municipalities are required to approve a budget that is balanced, however, the City can have a shortfall or surplus in a given year. A shortfall can be offset by:
• using reserve funds
• increasing taxes in the next year; or
• reducing expenditures during the year of the anticipated shortfall. This is what Burlington is attempting to do to mitigate a shortfall at year-end.
Three-month work plan for COVID-19 Emergency Response Strategy
The City of Burlington COVID-19 emergency response strategy defines the City’s resource needs over the next three-month operating period, to June 30, 2020, to deal with the effects and impacts of the virus on our community and staff. The COVID-19 emergency response strategy and the three-month work plan will be reviewed on a regular cycle to ensure relevancy for operations given the situation and circumstances of this dynamic environment.
Increased parking fines
Council also approved adding an increased penalty of $250 to specific parking infractions that violate COVID-19 bylaws and orders. Current parking penalties related to public health and safety issues such as blocking fire routes, accessible parking, idling and blocking snow operations range from $120 -$400. The add-on $250 penalty is in line with this range and is meant to act as a deterrent to parking in areas that are closed under the City’s COVID-19 State of Emergency. Enforcement officers have been given authority to decide when to apply the additional fee with the goal being education and compliance.
Virtual delegations
At the April 20 meeting, City Council also approved a recommendation to allow virtual delegations from members of the public at Council meetings, beginning in May 2020. For future council meetings, delegates can make a request to delegate to council using the online form or send an email to clerks@burlington.ca. Delegate speaking notes will need to be submitted to Clerks before the meeting in case there are connectivity issues. Delegates will speak to council virtually via phone or internet connection.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, City Council meetings will continue to be held virtually. During this Council meeting, Mayor Meed Ward was the only member of Council present in Council Chambers along with the City Clerk/designate and an information technology technician. All members of Council participated in the meeting remotely and no members of the public were in attendance.
By Ray Rivers
April 22, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
 Peter Mackay – at full bore.
Peter MacKay had a point – that the Conservatives needed to get a real leader to head their party. Though he may not have put it that way exactly. And he was adamant the Tory leadership convention should proceed, coronavirus or not.
That would have been foolhardy and the party wasn’t having any of it. You just don’t assemble a thousand or more party members for that kind of passionate event in the midst of a deadly epidemic.
But if MacKay didn’t get the memo neither did Andrew Scheer. For him parliament was just another day’s work – and everyone should be there daily – business as usual. Perhaps he could be excused for his devotion to the highest political temple in the country. Working for government was the only real job he’d ever had.
 Andrew Scheer
But hello, Mr. Scheer – there is a contagion raging throughout the land. Canada’s chief medical officer has told us that everyone’s health is important and MPs like everyone else need to exercise social distancing. As Britain’s PM, Boris Johnson, demonstrated, just because you’re an MP doesn’t mean you are immune from COVID-19.
But it’s pretty clear Scheer has trouble understanding what social distancing means. For example, when the government sent a nine person plane to pick up Scheer and two other MP’s, he insisted on bringing his whole family including all five of his children. Unmasked, they flew together sharing the same breathing space, and were packed-in like sardines in a can.
Unlike Scheer, the other three party leaders do get it. Green MP Elizabeth May believes they can hold the government to account without showing up in Ottawa. MPs from some provinces are required to quarantine after leaving their home province, making it difficult for them to attend. Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said the average person doesn’t care much about what MPs are up to in Ottawa [anyway].
So, stapled onto the first of a number of emergency funding bills was a request by the Liberals that they be given emergency authority to approve money bills without full parliamentary approval. That, they argued, would expedite the upcoming tranches of emergency funding bills to follow. Trudeau got royally hammered for trying that on.
 The House of Commons Chamber that the members work in while the Centre Block undergoes a ten year re-build.
To be fair the government probably was just trying to be expeditious and avoid having MPs co-mingle as a group greater than five persons. In a minority situation the opposition could always work together to defeat the Liberals should they feel it necessary. And besides, as we all expected, the funding bills went through pretty much unchanged – so the debate was essentially a rubber stamp. But that was a war measure and this is not war – or is it?
And the funding did take longer to get in place as a result of having to follow due process – something Scheer later complained about, ironically. Though, in fairness, he wasn’t the only one to hold up the emergency response.
 Erin O’Toole
MacKay has been adamant that the Tories need a new leader. Of course he is currently the odds-on favourite, even though there is a rising tide for Erin O’Toole in western Canada. There are a lot of things wrong about Scheer but it was probably the mean spirited and miserable campaign last election that wrote his ticket.
Even though he had won the most seats in the House, everyone knew it was only because of western alienation. Some people prefer not to face the truth, even if it is in their best long term interest. Another pipeline or two are of no value if nobody is buying oil. And when the price of even West Texas oil falls so low that the oil companies are paying people to take the oil, it’s time to get out of Dodge…and your gas guzzling Dodge too. The future is clear.
Knowing Scheer had to go, the Tories must have been hopeful to pick amongst the wealth of potential candidates at their pleasure. But it didn’t turn out that way. Rona for personal reasons, Lisa because her neck wasn’t red enough. And Michael because he was just a nice guy – and we know where they finished.
And even Kevin was up to his ears after he and his wife got up to that nasty business with their yacht. Oh, if only Maxime was back in the game. Jason Kenny has his hands full at the moment. And Doug Ford… well….
So it’s Scheer for the interim and that’s a pity for all of us. He’s actually relented now and agreed to a new consensus plan, including virtual meetings. Still you’d think he’d get it. The only reason he’s still in that job is because COVID-19 postponed the Conservative leadership contest. But he still doesn’t take social distancing seriously. I wonder what Peter MacKay thinks about all that.
Leadership – it means walking the talk. That is another reason why the Tories need a new leader.
Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, 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:
Scheer on COVID 19 – COVID Emergency Bill – Scheer Flight –
Economic Response Plan – Who Held Up Government –
Weekend Indoors: How Burlington Residents Can Create a Stylish Night Out from the Comfort of Home and get caught up on some entertainment and political gossip.
By Claire Nash
April 21st, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Another weekend – during which you will be home-bound.
It doesn’t have to be a grim weekend.The weekend is almost here. It may not yet be time to get out for a walk in a park – but you can get creative and spend home time doing fun things.
Check out these three innovative ideas for creating a night out on the town right at home, so you get the best of all worlds over the weekend.
 Think creatively when you set up a bar.
Turn Your Kitchen into a Cocktail Lounge
Hesitant to hit the bar? You can create your own state-of-the-art cocktail lounge right at home. Start by gathering up the essential home bar ingredients, making sure to grab any flavors and mixers you can’t live without. You don’t want to get stuck with a boring combination, so plan your purchases ahead of time to suit your tastes. Likewise, pick up some tried-and-true cocktail snacks to munch on like cornichons, mixed nuts, or candied fruit.
Once you’ve gathered all your necessities, break out your most lavish cocktail glasses to give your drinks some flair. This is important, as it means the difference between creating a cocktail lounge atmosphere and settling for a kitchen counter vibe. After that, simply don your fanciest garb and get to mixing. You’ll have to be your own bartender, but you’ll be able to rest easy knowing that your drinks will come exactly the way you like them.
Host a Casino Night on the Couch
Missing the casino? A night at your favorite venue can be a thrilling way to pass the time on the weekend. Of course, you don’t have to head outside to get your game on. Thanks to Canada’s friendly iGaming laws and a plethora of web-based venues, it’s easy and safe to create a casino night right at home. Online casino providers like Unibet offer the full gambit of games and sports betting options to choose from, so you’ll find something to fit your preferences no matter what you like to play.
Create a Movie Theater Cinema at Home
You can’t drive downtown to CineStarz Theater? But you can create a home cinema experience that’s worth staying in for. However, you should keep a few tips in mind to get the optimal experience.
In need of some cinema entertainment? There’s no reason to pay big bucks for the theater when you can have your movie night at home
 Make it personal – give your theatre a name.
Set the scene by rearranging your furniture. You can organize everything to have a bit more space around the coffee table for snacks, or you can create classic movie rows for your audience. Either way, make sure the screen is viewable from every seat in the house.
It’s also a great idea to put out some classic cinema treats for your fellow moviegoers to enjoy. Popcorn is a tried-and-true munchie that gets everyone in the mood, but you can go all-out with nachos, extra-large iced sodas, or anything you like. Food is a major aspect of the movie theater experience, so pick your refreshments wisely.
Ready to have the perfect night out indoors? If you’re willing to put in a bit of effort, you’ll be able to create that perfect cocktail lounge, casino, or movie theater experience without leaving the living room. All you need is a bit of imagination, and you’ll be on the road to home-based bliss in no time flat.
By Staff
April 20, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Public Health Unit releases data on a regular basis. This is the data up to end of day on April 19, 2020
Cases over time
37 COVID-19 cases reported to Halton Region Public Health since the last update (27 confirmed + 10 probable)
439 COVID-19 cases reported to Halton Region Public Health to date (383 confirmed + 56 probable)


Figures above show the 439 COVID-19 cases that had been reported to Halton Region Public Health by end of the day on April 19. All cases have been graphed according to the date they were reported, which is often several days after the onset of symptoms. Top shows the number of new cases per day, while bottom shows the cumulative cases over time. Among the cases in these figures, 37 were reported since the last update (meaning they were reported between April 16 and April 19, 2020).
Individuals who are lab-confirmed cases are shown in green. Individuals who are probable cases are shown in orange. Probable cases are epi-linked cases, which means they are presumed to have COVID-19 because they are symptomatic close contacts of cases or returning travelers who have COVID-19 symptoms.
Case demographics
70 cases were residents or patients of an institution experiencing an outbreak (16% of all cases)
62 cases work in health care (14% of all cases)
 Figure shows that by end of the day on April 19, the most COVID-19 cases were among Halton residents aged 40-59 (with 160 cases, or 36%). 256 of the 439 cases (58%) were female.

 Covid cases by municipality
Figure shows that by end of the day on April 19, the greatest number of COVID-19 cases were among residents of Oakville (with 144 cases, or 33%). Please note this figure shows counts, and therefore does not take into account the different population sizes or age structures of the four municipalities. Counts in municipalities can also be inflated by outbreaks that have occurred within institutions in their boundaries.
Case exposure source
Figure shows that by end of the day on April 19, 188 of Halton Region’s COVID-19 cases (43%) had no known travel or contact history, and therefore were believed to have acquired the virus within Ontario, making them community cases. 146 cases (33%) had contact with a confirmed case that was believed to be the source of their infection. 90 cases (21%) had a history of travel that was believed to have been the source of their infection. Information on exposure source was pending for the remaining 15 cases (3%).
Case outcomes
57 cases who have ever been hospitalized to date (29 listed as currently in hospital)
188 cases who have recovered to date
16 cases who have died to date (9 of the deceased were residents or patients of an institution experiencing an outbreak)
Institutional outbreaks
9 confirmed institutional outbreaks of COVID-19 are currently ongoing in Halton
10 confirmed institutional outbreaks of COVID-19 reported to Halton Region Public Health to date
Among the ten confirmed institutional outbreaks reported to date, five (50%) have been in retirement homes, three (30%) have been in long-term care homes, and one each have been in a hospital and a group home. Nine of the outbreaks remain ongoing. Please note these counts do not include any suspected outbreaks that remain under investigation.
Lab testing
>6,000 Halton residents are known to have been tested for COVID-19 to date
Comparison to Ontario
11,184 total confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in Ontario to date
 Figure shows age-specific rates of COVID-19 for Halton and Ontario. Rates take into account the population size of each age group to make it possible to compare between different areas. Halton’s age-specific rates are similar to the provincial rates for all age groups (for example, while Halton has 29.8 cases per 10,000 residents aged 80+, this is not statistically significantly different from the 34.0 cases per 10,000 residents aged 80+ in Ontario). It is important to note that these rates will fluctuate as numbers increase throughout the pandemic, and that differences between age groups may reflect differences in the likelihood of developing symptoms and being tested.
There are people who are concerned about the validity of some of the Regional data. One resident wrote the Public Health Unit and got the following response:
Confirmed cases are posted frequently to Halton.ca. Confirmed institutional outbreaks including facility names and date outbreaks declared can be found listed below the “Current Cases in Halton” section of our webpage. Having said that the confirmed cases there are a reflection of the residents/patients within each facility. It does not reflect the staff affected in those numbers at this time. Confirmed cases are reported by municipality of their residence. Of which, there is no reporting structure that reports this without breaching privacy and confidentially mandates in protecting an individuals identity. The reporting structure now used on the Halton.ca webpages reflects changes to reporting made at the Provincial level.
Rest assured, our case numbers in Halton Region are updated daily as we conduct a risk assessment for every COVID-19 case. Based on the risk assessment, high-risk exposures are followed up on according to Ministry and Public Health Ontario guidance. Any individuals deemed close contacts of COVID-19 positive cases will be notified directly. If an outbreak is declared at the long-term care home, there are specific measures must be taken. Positive clients and their close contacts are being case managed and monitored closely by Public Health.
Your concerns are valid and I would direct you to share your ideas at the Provincial level. The government of Ontario is welcoming ideas from businesses, organizations, and individuals to help address the spread and impact of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) on our communities. Click this link to submit a proposal for ideas, other products or services to help Ontarians:https://www.ontario.ca/form/submit-your-ideas-to-help-fight-coronavirus
The demands on staff at the Public Health Unit are extreme. They are doing the best they can with what they have. A little more transparency on what is really happening at the long term care facilities would help people feel more assured.
Data limitations & data sources
Halton case data: integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), extracted at 7:00 AM on April 20, 2020, to reflect data entered by the end of the day on April 19, 2020
Halton lab data: COVID Data Information System, extracted on April 20, 2020.
Ontario case data: Public Health Ontario, Epidemiologic Summary, COVID-19 in Ontario: January 15, 2020 to April 19, 2020, posted on April 20, 2020 to https://www.ontario.ca/page/2019-novel-coronavirus
Denominators for Halton and Ontario age-specific rates: Population projections [2020], IntelliHEALTH Ontario, extracted on April 8, 2020.
Data notes
All cases of diseases of public health significance diagnosed in Ontario are entered into iPHIS by local public health units. iPHIS is the Integrated Public Health Information System. It is a dynamic disease reporting system which allows ongoing updates to data previously entered. As a result, data extracted from iPHIS represent a snapshot at the time of extraction and may differ from previous or subsequent reports as data are updated.
The data only represent cases reported to public health and recorded in iPHIS. As a result, all counts will be subject to varying degrees of underreporting due to a variety of factors, such as disease awareness and medical care seeking behaviours, which may depend on severity of illness, clinical practice, changes in laboratory testing, and reporting behaviours.
Cases are included if their “diagnosing health unit” in iPHIS is Halton Region, which means counts include only individuals whose primary residence is in Halton Region. The case may not necessarily have been managed by Halton Region, if they were temporarily residing elsewhere during their case management period. Cases managed by Halton Region who normally live elsewhere but who were managed by Halton Region staff because they were temporarily residing in Halton during their case management period have not been included.
Cases for which the Disposition Status in iPHIS was reported as ENTERED IN ERROR, DOES NOT MEET DEFINITION, DUPLICATE-DO NOT USE, or any variation on these values have been excluded.
Figure 1 distinguishes between lab-confirmed and probable cases. Since April 7, probable cases are defined as epi-linked cases, meaning they are symptomatic close contacts of cases or returning travelers who have COVID-19 symptoms and therefore are presumed to have COVID-19. All other figures and numbers include both confirmed and probable cases combined.
In subsequent reports, counts in Figure 1 may increase as cases are added from past dates due to delayed data entry or new arrival of lab results. To minimize such retrospective changes, cases have been graphed according to case reported date, which does not reflect onset of illness.
Cases are considered to live in an institution if the name of a facility (e.g. a long-term care home, retirement home, prison) has been entered for their address in iPHIS.
Cases are considered to work in health care if they are known to have an occupation that involves caring for patients, e.g. physician, nurse, occupational therapist, recreational therapist, chiropractor, paramedic, midwife, orderly, etc.
Exposure type is determined by examining the MISSING
By Nicki St George
April 21st, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Nicki St George is part of a Team that details how their weeks goes as parents do their best to cope with the Corono virus and take on the task of educating their kids. Nicki has two children; a nine year old boy and a six year old girl. Husband Dan is working from the house – office in the basement. Nicki has completed her chemo therapy and is happy with her cancer recovery.
 Daughter – a work in progress.
WEEK 5
MONDAY, April 13
Bea storms out over a disagreement about Candy Land. She says she is going to find a new home. I suggest that she pack a bag. Leo watches from the window. It’s so windy that her umbrella blows inside out. We laugh until she comes back inside and then feign concern. She is a character. She comes back inside to tell me that from now on she is going to live in the car except for meals. She will take her iPhone, but she promises not to use it until the scheduled time (3:30pm). I point out that the Wi-Fi is crap in the driveway, so she relents and has her iPhone time inside the house. Tomorrow, when Dan takes the car to the grocery store, she will ask why dad is driving away with her new home.
TUESDAY, April 14
This week I have resolved to go for peaceful walks by myself every morning when I wake up for sanity’s sake. This will last two days. I miss going for walks with my friends; it’s boring all by myself. In the afternoon, the kids insist on going for a bike ride, which I’m opposed to because it is so cold. On our ride I pass some friends of my parents and stop to say hi. Leo warns me against talking too long, in case we get a ticket like that lady whose friends drove by her house to wish her a happy birthday.
 Out at the grandparents farm where there is acres of space to run and roam
WEDNESDAY, April 15
On our weekly pilgrimage to my parents’ property we listen to a podcast about Weird Al Yankovic’s appeal (I’m actually quite curious about this). My parents are having some trees cut down from their property, so we stand in the brisk, April wind and watch the men take down a tree. This is the most exciting thing that will happen to us all week. The kids nearly miss it because they are wrestling on the ground.
Every mum I talk to is tearing their hair out today. I empathize. I often wonder if Bea has been sent to test me. Our conversations go something like this:
Bea – so is the answer 3
Me – no, it’s 4
Bea – That’s what I said! Whines and storms out of the room.
THURSDAY, April 16
Dan and I finish watching Unorthodox on Netflix. I am envious of how long that girl’s hair is. (In case you haven’t seen it, it is a very short pixie cut.) Every day and I check the progress of my hair regrowth. I examine my pathetic eyelashes and eyebrow hairs which I can count individually. Then I draw on a new pair. I am tired of looking like a sick person. Bea sees me doing this and now she does her eyebrows every day too. I do really love that kid. I have my appointment at the hospital today and when I get home, I cannot be bothered to do any schoolwork with the kids. We spend the day doing a puzzle and playing Mario Kart.
 Nine now.
FRIDAY, April 17
We listen to the Kidsnuz podcast and today they announce Leo’s birthday (all the way from Burlington, Ontario!). His excitement at hearing his name through my iPhone brightens my day. At 6pm, Dan emerges from his work cocoon and makes delicious homemade pizza. I prepare a foot bath and give Bea a full nail salon experience including a face mask. She is in heaven.
SATURDAY, April 18
Today is Leo’s 9th birthday. Instead of the new bike and new bed that he had been promised, we get him a couple of games for his Nintendo Switch and a few t-shirts with witty captions. He spends the day playing Roblox while on messenger with his friends. At around 1pm, a few of his friends (and their parents who are our friends) stop by and we all try to catch up while keeping our distance on our front lawn.
Leo approaches me and tells me that the closeness is making him uncomfortable and he is worried that we will get fined. Seriously where did this child come from? I sometimes forget that Leo has inherited Dan’s sensibility, but I’m grateful for it in this moment, because he is right. I politely ask everyone to get back in their cars and we slowly disperse the crowd. I think we were all so starved for some socialization and Leo’s birthday provided the perfect window to have some face to face contact.
After everyone leaves, Leo opens the gifts they brought – cupcakes, seafood, homemade cards and pictures, and some gift cards. We are all touched by the effort everyone has gone to, considering the circumstances. Later we make his meal of choice and a chocolate pavlova for dessert which we serve up over Houseparty with my extended family. Leo hasn’t complained once about his COVID19 birthday and I feel very proud of him.
SUNDAY, April 19
 The cat just seems to go with the flow.
I pet the cat, do some of my puzzle, read something, knit, repeat. This is how I spend the day. I am feeling bored and restless. I want this period of social distancing to be over. I would settle for just knowing when it will be over. My newsfeed is depressing -a mass shooting in NS and idiots protesting social distancing measures in Michigan.
Bea’s behaviour has become intolerable and I refuse to live under her regime any longer. Everything is a battle with her, including the basics such as getting her to wash her hands. Dan and I decide to enact Marshall law which involves no treats, no smiles and no iPhone until there are three consecutive days of good behaviour. She is receptive so far and we have a pretty good day with Dan enlisting her help doing yard work. I guess fixing Bea will be my project for the upcoming week. She’s still a work in progress, but I guess we all are…
By Pepper Parr
April 20, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The City has put out an update on what it expects of its citizens.
The parks are closed and are going to remain closed.
City staff are focused on delivering essential services.
With the arrival of warmer weather, residents will start to see City of Burlington staff begin spring maintenance work in City parks and roads:
 Expect to see equipment like this on the streets
• Street sweeping has begun on arterial roads and crosswalks with residential roads scheduled to begin mid-May
• Park and roadside litter clean up where needed prior to grass cutting
• Grass cutting will begin but will not include the usual trimming around trees and other objects
• Repair work for grass that has been damaged by sidewalk snow plows will begin the week of April 27with a contractor visiting the sites to fill areas with soil and grass seed
 City wants to keep pedestrian traffic to a minimum.
Staff are only doing essential work to maintain City parks, facilities and assets until further notice. Wood chips at the Operations Centre on Harvester Road are not available for pick up during the pandemic and community gardens will remain closed as they have been deemed non-essential by the Provincial government. The City has delayed Community Garden openings until further notice.
To help keep everyone safe during the provincial emergency order, Spencer Smith Park is only available for walk-in traffic. The parking lots are closed and only walking is permitted in Spencer Smith Park, including the Promenade and the Brant Street Pier.
Visitors must keep a two-metre distance from other walkers. No other activities are permitted until further notice: no running, no rollerblading and no biking through Spencer Smith Park. This is to reduce the volume of people in Spencer Smith Park and to help walkers maintain physical distancing.
Physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most important steps everyone needs to take. The COVID-19 virus doesn’t move on its own; it needs people to move it.
Remember to:
• Keep two metres away from others – about the length of a hockey stick
• Move to the right on pathways to make room for others to pass safely
• Carry out your garbage whenever possible
Respect the caution tape and keep off playgrounds, sports fields, skateboard areas, tennis and basketball courts. The City has signage and barricades in the entrances of parking lots to block vehicles from parking. Vehicles left in parking lots will be towed at the owner’s expense.
Residents who see groups of five or more people gathering or individuals using outdoor recreational facilities can call the Halton Regional Police Service COVID hotline to file a report at 905-825-4722.
Local enforceable orders include:
• Closure of places of non-essential businesses
• Prohibiting events and gatherings of more than five people
• Closure of public places and establishments
• Closure of all outdoor recreational amenities and parks
Burlington Transit
As an essential service, Burlington Transit continues to operate on a modified schedule for essential trips only. Essential trips include going to medical appointments and picking up medication or groceries. Extra buses will be added if needed to help protect drivers and allow passengers to practice physical distancing from other riders. Please use the back doors to enter and exit the bus, keep behind the marked area and follow the recommendations of public health professionals. For more information on Burlington Transit, visit www.burlingtontransit.ca
 Not much work for the parking control people.
Parking
Parking enforcement is currently limited to safety-related issues such as fire routes, accessible parking, no parking/stopping areas and blocked areas, including parking lots at Spencer Smith Park, Lowville Park and all other City parks. Time limit restrictions have been relaxed to help those working from home or self-isolating. Parking permits and exemptions are not required until further notice. For more information on parking, visit www.burlington.ca/parking.
Service Burlington
Customer Service staff are available by phone and email for residents’ questions. Online forms can also be submitted via our website. Only in-person services, such as marriage licences, are not available during the pandemic.
 Not going to tie that know this month – maybe not in June either.
The City of Burlington is not issuing marriage licences while City Hall is closed. Residents needing a marriage licence can call Service Burlington two weeks before their intended marriage date and if City Hall has re-opened, will be accommodated as close to their wedding date as possible.
Municipalities issue marriage licenses on behalf of the Province of Ontario. Current legislation requires original signatures and documentation. City staff have asked the Province to review this legislation and make some interim amendments to allow for electronic signatures and documentation. Staff is also asking the Province to extend the licenses that were issued prior to the COVID-19 shutdown beyond the normal 90-day expiry dates.
In-Home Activities
The best thing residents can do to protect themselves and the community, is stay home. The City of Burlington and its partners have put together a list of activities people of any age can do while staying home at burlington.ca/programming. The list includes:
• Virtual fitness
• Free music
• Ebooks, emagazines and online resources from Burlington Public Library at bpl.on.ca
• Videos for recreation programming such as games, activities and crafts.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward cautions people. “As the weather gets warmer we know it will be harder to follow the provincial emergency orders, and the directives from Burlington City Hall. But we must continue to stay apart, and stay in our own neighbourhoods, so we can get through this sooner. Please resist the urge to congregate in groups, stay 6 ft. away from anyone you don’t live with and please stay in your own neighbourhood and local parks for your walks.
“Walk, don’t stop, and stay off playgrounds, benches and other park amenities. In particular, please do not come downtown to the waterfront where there has been some crowding in Spencer Smith Park and Beachway Park. We have taken extra measures to restrict the use of these areas.
“We know how difficult this has been so far for our residents, but it will only get more difficult the longer we have to keep these directives in effect. The longer we stay apart now, the sooner we can safely come together.”
By Staff
April 20, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The Paletta family announced a donation of $500,000 to support pandemic relief efforts that is to be split equally between Hamilton and Burlington.
This major donation is intended to address the needs of vulnerable people and families including those experiencing homelessness and poverty, isolated seniors, people with disabilities and other marginalized communities.
It is the largest donation yet to the fund and will also support agencies to adapt their services or operations as needed, as a result of COVID-19.
“Though each of us is affected by the current crisis, the impact is far greater on some citizens than on others. We wanted to make a difference for those who are already in difficult circumstances,” says family spokesperson Paul Paletta. “We feel blessed to be able to help in this unprecedented situation.”
“This donation is just one of many examples in the Paletta’s long history of philanthropy and community leadership, of stepping up whenever and wherever they can and inspiring others to do the same. Their remarkable gift will help reduce uncertainty for our city’s most vulnerable at this critical time and in the months ahead.”
In Burlington, the Paletta family’s donation will support Burlington Foundation’s Covid-19 Response Fund which prioritizes food security, medical assistance, mental health and safe housing.
“In this overwhelming time, remarkable generosity like the Paletta’s offers hope and inspiration,” says Colleen Mulholland, President and CEO of Burlington Foundation. “As the number of vulnerable community members needing help grows, their gift will have meaningful impact.
“It’s a challenging time for everyone but it’s also heartening to see people contributing in their unique ways,” says Paul Paletta. “We encourage everyone to step up in whatever way they can because we can only get through this pandemic together.”
By Pepper Parr
April 20th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Everyone knows who the St. John Ambulance organization is – they are the people who give the First Aid course – or is that the Red Cross?
During this time of physical distancing, their Therapy Dogs of course cannot provide their usual canine comfort and care by visiting in person. However, they can still help break the sense of isolation and show the people we service how much we care, through ‘virtual visits’.
 Therapy dogs make the days of people who are in a long term care home when they visit.
In mid-March, they set up a St. John Ambulance Digital Therapy Dogs YouTube channel and invited our volunteers to submit video ‘letters’ about their dog. This was a chance to show the activities the dogs like to do when not being a Therapy Dog, as well as express how much we miss the people we’d normally visit.
The response had been tremendous, with over a hundred videos already uploaded, with more to come. We sent the word out to facility recreation program staff, and they’ve been loving the videos very much! They play them on a large screen in some cases, or help residents watch them on a tablet or computer.
Some of our teams have also sent regular newsletters that are printed and shared, while others send their video directly to the home they visit, in addition to uploading it on the YouTube channel. The diversity of the ‘virtual visits’ is part of the magic – you can take a sunny walk with Buddy and Charlie at the beach, watch Harvey unroll his yoga mat, see Bailey play with Piper, laugh while Ken battles Victoria for the ball, and be smitten by Finn as he shares his talent for fashion.
Discover your favourite Therapy Dog by visiting the YouTube Channel CLICK HERE
With almost 2000 therapy dog teams in Ontario, serving over 3100 facilities across the Province the Therapy Dog Program reaches out to thousands of people on a daily basis, bringing comfort, joy and companionship to those who are sick, lonely and residing in full-time care facilities. Clients reap the therapeutic benefits of the unconditional love of these four-legged friends.
 Kids who need some distraction cab be taken away from their problems by playing with a therapy dog.
“St. John Ambulance Therapy Dogs offer assistance in programs for youth at risk, and help build self-esteem for those in correctional facilities. They can provide relief and a welcomed distraction to those waiting for radiation or chemotherapy treatment, and very sick children being treated in hospitals, as well as to people who are displaced and frightened during an emergency evacuation.
“And there is no doubt that people find it easier to express their deepest emotions and put into words their hopes and fears while hugging a dog, so we find our teams working with the Military, Police and Fire Departments, social workers, psychologist and psychiatrists to help victims of critical incident stress, crime, tragedy and abuse, overcome their challenges.”
 At almost every major public event – there is a St. John Ambulance on standby.
St. John Ambulance offers a free on-line First Aid Awareness course to all Ontarians. In times of social distancing, accidents and injuries can still happen in the home or at the cottage. Right now, St. John Ambulance offers a free on-line course entitled: First Aid Awareness.
Their aim is to keep First Aid knowledge fresh in the minds of those who cannot take part in classroom training. Knowing what to do in an emergency can save someone’s life, and often, that life is someone you know and love.
By Staff
April 20th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The Longo supermarket people are said to be surveying their customers to determine if they are comfortable with store staff wearing masks and if customers would please in future wear a mask while in the supermarket.
The use of masks seems to be mixed – many people do wear them. Some are very elaborate while others are the “made at home” version which is just fine.
 They are becoming fashion statements.
Any day now we can expect facial masks to become fashion statements.
Are masks necessary? There are arguments on both sides of wearing them on the street and in the office.
Better to be safe than sorry is one argument we hear – the other is that they are only needed in medical situations or where you are working closely with people.
 In Hong King face masks have become political statements.
It wasn’t long ago when we saw tens of thousands of people on the streets of Hong King demonstrating. Many wore the masks to keep the tear gas out of their eyes – while others wore them in social setting as a political statement.
Mask are clearly a symbol of these times – and there must be a demand for them. Difficult to find any in the stores – hundreds of women in the city are making masks and handing them out.
 Expect to see pictures like this on Christmas cards this year.
By Pepper Parr
April 20th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
There is a group in one of the downtown condos on Lakeshore Road who gather up the wine bottles and beer cans in the condo recycle room and regularly drop them off at the Beer Store. The money they get is a fund raiser for various Social Committee functions and events.
With the Beer Stores no longer taking in empties regularly the cans and bottles were beginning to become quite a pile.
A resident tells us that it was his wife’s turn to take the bottles and cans in; having checked on line she learned that the only Beer Store accepting returns was the one at Upper Middle Road and Appleby Line.
After dropping off two SUVs worth of returns (This isn’t that big a condo – impressive number of cans and bottles, but I digress.), the wife came home with an interesting story.
The Beer Store had two staff disinfecting carts outside and staff inside spraying the bins.
There were two areas to line up outside – one for those purchasing and one for those returning.
As well, there was an ability to simply drop off returns as a donation to the Joseph Brant Hospital. This helped to cut down on social distancing and the line up! Brilliant!
“Kudos to the staff at this store on Sunday April 19th at 3 pm as they were friendly, efficient and helpful – my wife managed to break two bottles in the parking lot which they quickly came out to cleaned up.
“What started out as a daunting task – there was a four week supply to return – and usually a “ho hum” journey turned out to be actually enjoyable.
“Recycling (i.e. climate change) + Potential charity + friendly Public Service seems to me to be a win-win-win”, reports a condo resident.
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