Rivers on how we are going to have to deal with climate change.

 

Rivers 100x100By Ray Rivers

August 23rd, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

“Fire situation ‘speaks to the changing environment we live in and the ravages of climate change,’…From flood to fire to flood and then again to fire … and we have had two states of emergency — that’s unprecedented,” (B.C. Premier Horgan)

The US president has a couple of theories about the massive fires ravaging California. An early brain wave focused on all that water, in the rivers and streams, which the authorities allow to empty into the oceans. If only it could be used to put out the fires?

But Trump, ever the stable genius he is, has now come up with another theory. And this one helps with the defence of his trade strategy, which boils down to placing tariffs on everything that moves across the US border. In this case it’s imported Canadian softwood lumber which is the target.

You see cheap imports of Canadian lumber have deterred American home builders from using up those logs left lying on the forest floor. Why go to the pain, bother and expense of gathering those tinder-box termite-eaten and diseased log remnants nestled among the mighty redwoods, when it’s oh so cheap to buy pre-cut Canadian timber, readily trucked to your building site.

Sloppy forestry management, and not climate change, is the real culprit behind the fires, according to the Donald. Apparently tidiness in forest management is next to godliness in his good book. Who would have thought? And we in the great white north must be just as sloppy, cheap lumber of not.

fire 1

Small communities are at serious risk – with 500 + fires in one province.

You see, Canada is also struggling with massive forest fires, almost everywhere. But the ones to worry about are in B.C. where over 500 wildfires were blazing simultaneously, only a few days ago. The smoke from those fires was so thick that weather offices started mapping it with radar, and airports in the interior had to be shut down. Air quality alerts are everywhere in the province, including on Vancouver Island.

B.C. Premier Horgan thinks this is the new normal, thanks to climate change. Perhaps all that smoke in the atmosphere might help block some solar radiation and moderate the greenhouse effect for at least the next year. But that nuclear winter scenario would only be temporary. In the end it will be years, maybe decades, before those fire devastated areas sprout trees and start absorbing and storing CO2… and become forest fires areas again.

It is a pity that Premier Horgan and the federal government are not also picking a convenient scapegoat to blame for Canada’s climate related events. In fact they have a prime culprit ever so close. America has been the single largest contributor to global warming in history, though China has recently assumed that title role.

But at least China has a plan. And China has already met its 2030 Paris carbon reduction target and its emissions are falling at almost seven percent a year, despite its ongoing economic development. By comparison the US has increased its emissions by 2% over the last quarter century. Not much wonder the US has decided to take itself out of the Paris climate change agreement, the only sizeable nation on earth refusing to participate in this global effort.

But it’s going to get worse stateside. Trump is cancelling Obama’s electrical sector coal rules, which would have led to the ultimate phase-out of coal power plants. The US leader is banking on the myth that something called clean coal, an oxymoron if ever there was one, will help scale back the traditional pollution associated with coal. But of course it won’t. Coal is pretty pure carbon. And its continued use will only jack up the 30% of US carbon emissions which come from producing electricity.

Another 30% or so of carbon emissions come from the transportation sector. And here the US federal government is planning to roll back California-inspired and Obama-initiated fuel economy and emission standards. Cancelling Obama’s auto rules, for example will mean that instead of 70% of light trucks being built as a hybrid or EV, there will be virtually none (1 %) by 2026. The rule change would lead to an increase in oil consumption of half a million barrels a day, every day.

This is just another challenge for Canadian authorities negotiating auto rules under NAFTA, given the integrated state of the North American industry. Improved auto efficiency would have been in the equation when we confirmed our own Paris emission reduction targets.

gas - electric pumps

Figuring out how to move from one form of fuel to another is a huge challenge – how are we doing so far?

Canada has always embraced new US environmental standards for autos, though this is the first time the rules are retrograde. Perhaps it is time to revert to the old Can/US auto-trade pact which worked well for us before the Mulroney trade deal with the US. That would enable auto manufacturers to build cars here for a cleaner Canadian market as opposed to accepting relatively dirty American vehicles.

Nobody seriously believes that the US will continue forever on this mad march against science, the environment and humanity. But it is clear that the current dinosaur making America great again is a climate change denier bent on irreparably damaging the planet just to profit his fossil fuel business interests and friends.

Too often climate change has become a political football, a partisan wedge issue which swings one way or the other every time a government changes its stripes. Today the liberals are for it and the conservatives almost everywhere dismiss it, disdain it or don’t give a damn. Such is the case with the new PC government in Ontario, which has taken over the pink palace and thrown out all the old furniture, as if it were worn out and moth-eaten.

Cap and trade graphic

Cap and trade is complex – but it was working. The new Ontario wants to shut it down – without offering anything to replace it. We will pay heavily as a society for this mistake.

In the volatile world of gas pump pricing Ontario’s cap and trade ended up costing less than five cents a litre – less than two dollars more per fill-up for most drivers. Yet it provided new money to maintain our schools, help people insulate their homes and to buy electric vehicles to help reduce auto emissions. And most importantly, cap and trade had been a process for the ongoing mitigation of carbon emissions that cause climate change.

Blame the Liberals for failing to properly educate the public on the benefits of the program they had developed. And they clearly did fail on that account. But blame the conservatives for scrapping the program without a second thought or taking the time to understand how it worked. And pity the poor parent who has to tell their child what to expect about the future.

fire 2

The fires are disastrous enough – the smoke is going to result in major health problems.

Protecting the environment is good for the economy and bad for polluters. There is more employment and potential national income from solar and wind energy than there is from coal and natural gas generation. Cleaner air means healthier people and fewer sick work days. Mitigating climate change earlier would have moderated our climate and avoided the costs we are experiencing dealing with floods and forest fires today. It’s a no-brainer.

Donald Trump has some other notions about controlling fires. For example he suggested more lives would have been saved during 9/11 had the twin towers been insulated with more asbestos. Apparently the Donald also wants to make asbestos great again. Canada, just this year, banned asbestos, including its mining, which had made us a leading exporter in years gone by.

However Trump can still buy asbestos from Russia. In fact for reasons only he and his pal Vlad might know, a picture of his smiling face adorns packages of the toxic product from the land of that toxic dictator. Still, it’ll take more than asbestos to insulate him from the heat he will be getting as the Mueller investigation uncovers more of his evil doings.

Donald Trump is s curious blend of health conscious and living on the edge. He doesn’t smoke or drink, but binges on burgers, chows down on fried chicken and quaffs gallons of diet coke every day – and has a passion for asbestos.. And he likes to bask in the White House tanning bed every morning, soaking up those death rays, before heading to the oval office to save the free world from himself.

It’s no wonder he is nonplussed about climate change.

Rivers hand to faceRay 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.     Tweet @rayzrivers

Background links:

Thirty Years Too Late –    It’s Getting Hotter –    Blame it on Canada

Trump Asbestos –    Vehicle Emissions and Economy –    China’s Carbon Goals

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The public meeting that failed - they forgot to engage the public.

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

August 23rd, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Can they get anything right?

There was to be a public meeting to get public feedback on midrise buildings.  The city’s Planning department wanted public feed back.

A Gazette reader advised us that he attended and is pretty sure he counted five people who attended who weren’t candidates for public office. There were two candidates from ward 5 and Mead Ward running for the Mayor’s job.

“I saw a notice on Twitter” said our reader, “I think 2 or 3 days ago max. I spoke to MMW tonight and she said she only found out late in the day too, and not from the City.

“There was a notice on the ‘Get Involved Burlington’ notices I get, I got an update re the survey and open houses dated on 20th – two days ago.”

Gete involved logo

The only way to get the Get Involved Notices is if you have registered previously with the city.

There is some information on the city’s web site:

As the city grows, Burlington will continue to receive applications for all sizes of developments, including mid-rise buildings.

What are mid-rise buildings?
Mid-rise buildings are bigger in scale than houses but smaller than towers and have a good relationship to the street. This means that while the walls of a mid-rise are tall enough to provide lots of usable space inside the building, they are low enough to let the sun in and open the view to the sky from the street. A well-designed and placed mid-rise building should also support a comfortable pedestrian environment and make the street come alive by lining the sidewalk with doors and windows that house things like stores, restaurants, services and community uses.

The height of mid-rise buildings varies. In Burlington, mid-rise buildings range between five and 11 storeys. Mid-rise buildings may contain a single use, like an office or residential apartment, but usually contain a mix of uses, which may include things like retail, office, community services, and residential all in the same building.

Our reader added: “It’s a bad time of year to hold this sort of meeting anyway. With great respect to the staff who gave up an evening to attend, and who were universally polite, friendly, professional and helpful, this is a fine example of everything that’s wrong with citizen engagement in this city.

“It’s simply not engagement. The presentation amounted to about 8 Bristol board panels with some limited info about possible guidelines and a few sheets of paper and a pen for suggestions.

“To be honest, there’s literally nothing a resident can provide after seeing a couple of Bristol boards that is going to amount to feedback the city can use. It’s designed to fail. All you’re left with is five citizens who gave up valuable time to try to help build a better city who probably now feel like they were at best wasting their time and at worst had their intelligence insulted.”

Any wonder that the natives are restless.

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Planners looking for public input - too little too late says ward 2 candidate.

opinionviolet 100x100By Roland Tanner

August 22nd, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The City is holding two drop-in open houses for residents to learn more about the mid-rise building guidelines currently being developed.

A mid rise building is defined as any building between five and eleven stories high. The guidelines will be presented to Council on November (after the election, but before the new Council takes office).

1. Take the online survey

2. Attend the open houses

Wednesday, August 22nd from 6pm to 8pm at the Art Gallery of Burlington

Thursday, August 30th from 1:30pm to 3:30pm at the Art Gallery of Burlington

The city advises that “your input will be used to help create the guidelines that will be presented to Burlington City Council in November 2018”.

Mid rise example Tanner

An example of a mid-rise structure

How this affects you

The city guidelines that are adopted will have a large effect on all future development that fall within the ‘mid-rise’ heights. For instance, the tall building guidelines agreed in 2017 set out certain required features for any tall buildings which are planned. These include things like road setbacks, public accessible areas and architectural features. In theory, the guidelines should ensure that new buildings which fall within their remit are designed appropriately and fit well within and transition to the neighbourhoods where they are planned.

Public engagement – too little, too late

As is so often the case, it appears that public engagement on these design guidelines are happening late, at a time of year when many people are away, and with relatively little notice. Residents are being asked to provide informed feedback on design criteria which will have already been planned and considered for many months by city staff and/or consultants.

I feel it is unlikely that bringing in citizens at a stage when so much work has already been done is likely to enable any significant discussion of the guidelines which will result in meaningful adjustment of the guidelines. The decision will be made by council before most residents have even become aware that the guidelines are under discussion. To my knowledge, there has been very little publicity of the public meetings until this week.

What could have happened:

Public meetings at the start of the staff process of drafting design guidelines.
Based on public meeting initial feedback, creation of a short-term citizen-staff committee to research and explore design guideline possibilities.

Citizen committee empowered to reach out and engage further with residents by a range of methods and ensure voices of entire community are heard from all demographic areas, communicate, liaise and interview staff.

Citizen recommendations included as integral part of staff draft guidelines which are then presented to further meetings, via questionnaires, advertised in local media.

Final adjustments made to draft guidelines.
Council considers guidelines which have been developed by staff and residents in a collaborative process.

What’s worse that no engagement? Engagement done badly

I believe that the current City engagement methods actually do more harm than good. By holding ineffective ‘engagement’ sessions where citizens can do little more than provide extremely minimal feedback, late in the process, citizens end up feeling more rather than less resentful of the decision-making process. Not only are they being ignored, but they’ve given up an evening of their lives to be ignored less efficiently. Bad engagement, in many ways, is worse than no engagement at all.

If we are going to ask citizens for their opinions, it’s essential that it happens in a way that those opinions are heard, respected, and built into the development of plans and guidelines from the very outset.

Nevertheless, I encourage all Ward 2 residents to attend the open houses and complete the online survey if you have the time available.

Roland TannerRoland Tanner is a candidate for the ward 2 city council seat.  He was a member of the Shape Burlington report that was adopted by city council unanimously – then never acted upon.

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17 year old male and an 18 year old female arrested for trafficking offences involving a child under the age of 18.

Crime 100By Staff

August 22nd, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The Halton Regional Police Service – Human Trafficking Unit have arrested a male and a female for human trafficking offences involving a child under the age of 18.

On August 21st 2018, members of the Halton Regional Police Human Trafficking Unit initiated a proactive investigation.

As a result of this investigation, police located a child at a hotel in the City of Burlington and have arrested a 17 year old male and an 18 year old female for prostitution related charges.

The 17 year old male from Ajax has been charged with receiving material benefit from sexual services provided by a person under 18 years of age and obstruct peace officer.

The 18 year old female from Ajax has been charged with adult householder permitting prohibited sexual activity and receiving material benefit from sexual services provided by a person under 18 years of age.

Tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See Something? Hear Something? Know Something?” Contact “Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca

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How much can a city council candidate spend to get one of those seven seats?

council 100x100By Pepper Parr

August 22, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

If what we are hearing is true candidates are out there knocking on doors asking for votes.

You get to decide who you want to represent you two months from today. Do your homework and make what you believe to be the best person for your interest and the wider interests of the city.

Many people are still disappointingly unaware that they are voting city council candidates into two jobs: as city Councillors and as Regional Councillors. Half of their income comes from the Regional government.

We were interviewing a city council candidate who had no idea what Regional Council does but said that (gender neutral here) would learn very quickly. I didn’t leave that interview with a lot of confidence an on how (gender neutral) would perform.

Another candidate made an interesting observation. Gender neutral said “people are feeling threatened with some of the changes that are taking place and they don’t understand why this is all in front of them now.”

City hall drank that Money Sense magazine Kool Aid and believed that Burlington was the best mid-sized city in the country and that they were doing their jobs.

Well – that turned out to be less than true. Those that were trusted weren’t doing their jobs and they are now being called to account.

Several months before the 2014 election Mayor Rick Goldring is reported to have said he was very comfortable with the council he had and would be content if they were returned – and they were all returned. That is not likely to happen in 2018. There are far too many really good candidates who bring a lot to the table.

Getting to city council is not cheap: The Clerk’s office provided us with the following spending limits for each ward.

Head of council: $7,500 + $0.85 per elector
All other offices: $5,000 + $0.85 per elector

                                   Number of Electors          Maximum ExpensesCity Hall BEST aerial
Mayor                   126,791                              $115,272.35
Councillor Ward 1   19552                                 $21,619.20
Councillor Ward 2   17547                                 $19,914.95
Councillor Ward 3   17712                                 $20,055.20
Councillor Ward 4   26638                                $27,642.30
Councillor Ward 5   22763                                $24,348.55
Councillor Ward 6   22579                                $24, 192.15

These are interesting numbers. A candidate in ward 1 can spend $21,619.20 to get elected to a job that will pay them slightly more than $100,000 a year for four years. From a personal standpoint – is that a good investment?

The Gazette knows of one candidate who has committed $9000 of his own money to his election.

How many people pay that much to get a job?

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Widespread rainfall and the potential for imbedded Thunderstorms later in the day expected Tuesday.

News 100 redBy Staff

August 20th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

Flood conditions - yellow

 

Conservation Halton advises that a large low pressure system over the Great Plains will be moving into our area by tomorrow morning, bringing with it widespread rainfall and the potential for imbedded Thunderstorms later in the day. Numerical weather models suggest rainfall amounts between 20-40mm, with higher accumulations if Thunderstorms develop and persist.

Water levels in watershed creeks will rise significantly during the weekend. Caution around the edges of creeks - especially with children.

Water levels in watershed creeks will rise significantly during the week. Caution around the edges of creeks – especially with children.

Widespread flooding is not anticipated, however fast flowing water and flooding of low lying areas and natural floodplains may be expected.

Conservation Halton is asking all residents and children to keep a safe distance from all watercourses and structures such as bridges, culverts and dams. Elevated water levels, fast flowing water, and slippery conditions along stream banks continue to make these locations extremely dangerous. Please alert children in your care of these imminent dangers.

Conservation Halton will continue to monitor stream and weather conditions and will issue an update to this Watershed Condition Statement –Water Safety message as conditions warrant.

This Watershed Condition Statement will be in effect through Wednesday August 22, 2018.

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Trapped mosquitoes have tested positive for West Nile virus in Burlington, Oakville and Milton

notices100x100By Staff

August 20th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Three batches of trapped mosquitoes have tested positive for West Nile virus: two in Burlington and one in Oakville. A batch of mosquitoes trapped last week in Milton has tested positive for West Nile virus (WNV).

This is the first batch of WNV positive mosquitoes for Milton this year. A total of four WNV positive mosquito batches in Halton to date.

The

The

“Halton is committed to being safe and healthy and reducing West Nile virus in our communities through both education and preventative programs like larviciding,” said Dr. Daniela Kempkens, Halton Region’s Associate Medical Officer of Health. “Until the hard frosts of fall set in, people should continue to protect themselves against mosquito bites and remove mosquito breeding sites.”

Urban areas are more likely to have mosquitoes that carry WNV. The types of mosquitoes that transmit WNV to humans most commonly breed in urban areas in places that hold water such as bird baths, plant pots, old toys, and tires.

The following are steps that residents can take to protect themselves and their families from mosquitoes:

• Cover up. Wear light-coloured, long-sleeved shirts and pants with tightly-woven fabric.
• Avoid being outdoors from early evening to morning when mosquitoes are most active and likely to bite, as well as at any time in shady, wooded areas.
• Reduce mosquito breeding sites around your home by getting rid of all water-filled containers and objects, where possible. Change the water in bird baths at least once per week.
• Use an approved insect repellent, such as one containing DEET or Icaridin.
• Make sure your window and door screens are tight and without holes, cuts or other openings.

A map showing the locations of standing water sites that have had larvicide applied this year is available at halton.ca.

To report standing water at public facilities or for more information about West Nile virus, please visit halton.ca, call 311or email wnv@halton.ca.

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Burlington Progressive Conservatives face another messy nomination meeting.

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

August 20th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

Is there something completely dysfunctional about the Progressive Conservatives in Burlington?

jane-michael

Jane Michael lost the nomination for the 2018 provincial election, appealed the decision – lost that as well. Sought the nomination for the 2019 federal election. That was reported to be messy as well.

We received a note from a Gazette reader who said:

“I would like to discuss how Jane Michael was acclaimed as the federal PC candidate for Burlington in the upcoming federal election 2019. Which occurred on August 14th; it’s on her Tweeter account.”

The Gazette was not aware that the federal Progressive Conservatives were holding a nomination meeting.

Our reader added that: “Ross Noble of Burlington put his name forward to enter the race. But was ignored.

“The PC nomination committee acclaimed Jane Michael without due process. The members are suppose (sic) to elect the candidate through a voting process but were never given the opportunity to do so. The nomination committee just acclaimed Jane Michael without members input or vote??
“Check out Jane Michael’s Tweeter account to confirm.
“She is going to the conservative parties election event in Halifax next week.”
“What happened to the Democratic process.”
“Happy to discuss further.”

The reader signed her name and provided a telephone number.

NOTE that she makes no mention about the information she sent us or anything about her identity being confidential.

We sent a note saying we would check out the information and get back to her.

The reader got back to us and said: “Please note if you decide to do anything re my email I want and need it to be private.

“You do not have the right to disclose my name anywhere.’

We have the right to identify a person unless they advise us from the start that the email and or conversation is confidential and off the record.  The reader, who is a paralegal who works for a prominent law firm, should know that.

In our final note the Gazette said: “You did not put that condition at the front of your original email – I used the information to reach out and confirm what you said – now you want to hide who you are?

“Have the courage of your convictions or keep you thoughts to yourself.

The Progressive Conservatives have a history of nomination meetings that are “fuzzy”

Rene Papin

Rene Papin could not get the provincial Progressive Conservative nomination in 2011. He has decided to run for the ward 1 city council seat. Here he talks with Jane McKenna who is the current Burlington MPP

Back in 2011 when the Progressive Conservatives were looking for a candidate to run provincially Rene Papin waited patiently to have his nomination papers accepted. They never were.

Brian Heagle also wanted to be the nominee – he wasn’t accepted.

The provincial Progressive Conservatives found Jane McKenna, fell in love with her and gave her the nomination in one of the shortest nomination meetings this reporter has ever seen. There was a member of the association nominating committee in the room mumbling something about the constitution but he wasn’t being listened to.

McKenna became the candidate and bless her soul she won the seat in what is known as the Hudak loss. Jane was a member of the Opposition.

The next time out McKenna faced a competitor for the nomination. Jane Michael decided she could do a better job than McKenna and entered the nomination race.

She lost to McKenna, by 41 votes; she was never told how many votes were cast and she didn’t have scrutineers in the room when the votes were counted.

Michael contested the nomination committee decision and lost that as well.

McKenna went on to face Eleanor McMahon who proved to be a stronger candidate. McKenna was out,

mcmahon-talking-bbq

Eleanor McMahon, at the time the MPP for Burlington in conversation with a constituent. She was made a member of the Wynne government Cabinet.

McMahon was now the MPP for Burlington.

In the 2018 provincial election McKenna reversed the election result and beat Liberal Eleanor McMahon handily.

Michael wasn’t going to just sit on the side lines.

She decided to run for the federal nomination. Her nomination was accepted and she was off to the national meeting of federal progressive candidates and those nominated taking place this week In Halifax.

Michael will be up against Karina Gould, federal Minister of Democratic Institutions and very popular in Burlington. The bottom will have to fall out of the Justin Trudeau government for Michael to win. But that has been known to happen.

Whatever nobility there might be in politics; the idea of serving the public and gaining public office in an open public, transparent process seems to have lost its way in whatever world the Burlington Progressive Conservatives reside in.

 

Background links:

Rene falls on his sword

Heagle doesn’t get a phone call

Jane McKenna get nominated for the 2011 election

McKenna defeats Michael in messy nomination meeting for the 2018 race

McKenna seeks nomination to face McMahon a second time – she wins – messy.

McKenna defeats McMahon in the 2018 provincial election.

 

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Drummond on the new provincial government - How are they doing so far?

opinionred 100x100By Andrew Drummond

August 20th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Last Tuesday, the Doug Ford government’s first legislative session came to a close. It was clear from the outset of the session that Ford wanted to accomplish much and was willing to endure widespread public opposition to do it. However, it was also abundantly clear throughout the session that the government was being run top down from the Premier’s office and Ford’s ministers were frequently unprepared to discuss government policy until they had been briefed, even when it was regarding decisions within their own department.

Tory Education Minister Lisa Thomson

Education Minister Lisa Thomson: Old sex ed program to be used.

One of the areas that has been the source of the most confusion has been the Ministry of Education and Minister Lisa Thompson. One of the government’s first acts was to announce that they would be removing the current curriculum for Health and Phys Ed (colloquially known as Sex Ed) and replace it with the 1998 version from Mike Harris’ government. This decision was immediately met with near universal condemnation, as the 20-year-old curriculum does not cover topics such as cyberbullying, consent, sexting, or same-sex relationships.

The government’s reaction showed how unprepared they were for this decision. They have flip flopped four or five times, and eventually Minister Thompson ran from reporters rather than be forced to give further non-answers to what the government’s plans are. To this point, the government still has not communicated to school boards what the expectations are, and the Elementary Teacher’s Federation as well as many school boards have announced that they will continue teaching the existing curriculum.

The debate on what the curriculum should include notwithstanding, it is the chaos and lack of direction from the government that is most troubling. Minister Thompson seems to not have any idea why she is changing the curriculum, what she is changing it to, or how to implement such a change. Students in Halton are now going to be at risk of losing valuable lessons that have been recommended by police, health professionals, and social workers because the government is dysfunctional enough on this file to ensure no one knows what to do.

Another important area of education is school repair. During the election campaign, it was identified by the group Fix Our Schools that Ontario had $15.9 billion in overdue school repairs. Many Conservative MPPs signed a pledge to address this. The pledge specifically commits the MPP to “Support the provision of adequate, stable funding needed to ensure that by 2022 all Ontario schools meet this “State of Good Repair Standard”.” Burlington MPP Jane McKenna and Minister Thompson signed the pledge (it is worth noting that Effie Triantafilopoulos did not). One of the government’s early actions was to announce the cancellation of the Cap and Trade program, one part of which included $100 million in school repair funding annually. In response to the public uproar on this, Minister Thompson announced 3 days later the program would be reviewed before being cancelled, but has not commented further in the month since.

Following through on this pledge is critical for Halton, which on its own has hundreds of millions in needed repairs. But it is important from a different perspective as well. Citizens are cynical about politics. Many believe that politicians will say anything to get elected and then only act in their own best interest once in power. We need to all fight that assumption. But it starts with the ones who were elected on June 7th. They need to follow through on their word. If Jane McKenna signed a pledge, she needs to act on it. Even if she is not strong enough within the government benches to accomplish change, she needs to stand up and say she is trying. Or stand up and say anything. Silence makes you complicit in the deceit.

Tory buck a beer

Buck a Beer program gets announced – few craft brewers sign on.

Another of the flagship promises of the government was to lower the regulations on the minimum price of beer from $1.25 a bottle to $1. This was a very popular promise from Ford on the hustings, but another that was short-sighted in practice. The first point that the Conservatives failed to consider was that although the current mandated minimum price is $1.25 a bottle, no beer in Ontario was actually selling at that price. The lowest price for 24 bottles of beer is currently $35.50 at the Beer Store (or $1.48/bottle). If no beer company could afford to sell at $1.25 why would they at $1?

To avoid the PR problem that it would cause, Ford lined up a single brewery in Prince Edward County to commit to selling beer for $1 (despite their current cheapest beer selling for $2.95). He also offered the “Buck-a-Beer Challenge” to breweries where they would be given priority marketing spaces at the LCBO free of charge in exchange for lowering their beer price. To date, I am not aware of any other brewery taking him up on it. Buck-a-Beer by itself is a relatively minor issue, but it again showed a government not ready for governing and making poor decisions without forethought.

When Finance Minister Vic Fideli said on radio that the government needed to get Buck-a-Beer in place for the Labour Day long weekend so they could then focus on other priorities, it reinforced the image of a government that is out of touch with the things that people actually need. This was followed up with local opposition from nearly every craft brewery in Ontario. Burlington’s own Nickel Brook Brewery put out the following statement:

“Nickel Brook will not take part in the proposed “buck a beer” plan. We’ve always been about quality & don’t aim to change that now, or ever. We have no intention in joining a race to the bottom. We stand with our fellow craft brewers in opposing this gimmick by Ford.”

Tory Staffers applauding

Tory staffers paid to clap during media events to drown out questions from reporters.

All of these decisions have been hasty and ill conceived. There has also been a variety of “Trump-style” attempts to control or discredit the media. Throughout August, the Ford government sent paid government staffers to Ministerial press conferences to loudly applaud and drown out reporter’s questions. They have also used government money to construct “Ontario News Now” in order to produce their own news-type content. Possibly the worst example of this was Minister Lisa McLeod claiming that the Toronto Star was reporting “Fake News” when they pressed her on the Conservative pledge to see through the Basic Income Pilot. Minister McLeod has since apologized, but all of these actions show a dangerous disregard for the public and media as necessary in democratic government. It also will ring hollow any claims the Conservatives make regarding a lack of government funds. If staffers can be paid to stand around and clap, surely there is enough money to fund the programs we need? Actors were hired to be at a location to applaud when the Premier was giving a speech.

The Basic Income pledge again shows a troubling lack of influence and honesty from our local MPP. Jane McKenna stated clearly during the election campaign that she and her government would see the Basic Income Pilot through to completion. However, her government announced within a month of taking office that it was cancelling the program. Again, there are many, many reasons to want to see this program through to completion. The data collected would be invaluable to anti-poverty strategies for a generation. But, Minister McLeod cancelled the program for ideological reasons. “It really is a disincentive to get people back on track,” she said of the cancellation.

McKenna

Burlington MPP Jane McKenna in campaign mode.

Which means that the government is making an ideological decision that our MPP disagrees with (unless she was being disingenuous during the campaign, which would be worse) and she is unwilling or lacking the strength to say anything about it. Twice in the first month of this government, Ford has taken actions that directly contradict Jane McKenna’s public promises. Twice, Ms. McKenna has said nothing to defend herself or residents of Burlington.

The Ford government was elected to bring a certain kind of change to Ontario. And Jane McKenna was elected to fulfill her promises to the people of Burlington. Two months since their election and their actions do not live up to this obligation. So far, all Burlington has seen is a government that will accept crumbling schools when students return in September. Burlington has seen a government that is hurting the most vulnerable in our society because they have ideological problems with helping them. Burlington has seen a government rush to get cheap beer out in time for a holiday and say they will focus on other issues later. Burlington did not deserve this kind of change.

Andrew Drummond HeadshotAndrew Drummond was the NDP candidate for Burlington in the last provincial election.

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Director of Education will have his hands full this school year: negotiating a salary increase won't be one of them - province has put a wage freeze in place.

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

August 20th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Directors of Education from school boards across the province met in Toronto last week to look into their crystal balls and try to determine just what might be in their future.

Spending cuts loomed large in the conversations which was followed closely by the realization that they would not be getting any salary increases this year.

The Directors experienced a seven year wage freeze that was lifted last year and then dropped back into place less than a month ago. They will learn to live on $200,000+

The concern over just how teachers are going to work with a sex education curriculum that is both dated and out of tune with the times is a concern.

Consent

Facts don’t seem to impact the province’s decision to use an older curriculum.

The Board’s still don’t have clear directions from the province and many teachers are concerned that the directions they get will clash with what they see as their responsibility to prepare students for the society they are going into.

Consent is a different word today than it was when the curriculum that is to be used was first written. That the difference even exists is a shame on all of us.

Miller prep at Central

HDSB Director of Education Stuart Miller

Stuart Miller the Director of Education for the Halton District School Board said that school boards have been down this path before when the Harris government cut spending on both schools and hospitals. With more pressure coming from the seniors sector than the parents – we can expect more to be cut from education when the cuts come – and they will come.

Miller will be meeting with all his school principals in the week ahead giving them a sense of what lies ahead.

The Mathematics curriculum is under review – the fear is that the Premier will insist that an older approach to teaching math will be brought back. The current government is not seen as all that friendly with advances in education.

Also in the line-up of problems is the number of collective bargaining issues that come up in February and March of next year. The government might see this as an easy place to reduce spending – so what if there are strikes – they tend not to last very long and the savings would be significant.

MMR Clair Proteau

MMR principal Clair Proteau checking out the design changes being made to her school.

At a more purely local school level – there are concerns about the number of students who are moving with the French Immersion program when it is taken out of Hayden High School and transferred to MM Robinson. Some of the feeder school are very much on side – 100% of the students will move with the program; at another school the number is close to zero prepared to make the move.

The situation was described as a “messaging” problem.

The really good news is that the transfer of Pearson high school students looks as if it will run very smoothly. A lot of work and effort had been put into making the transfer as seamless as possible for the students who will have to change their hoodies.

HDSB sign with flagIn Burlington Director Miller has a pressing problem coming his way with the accommodation that houses the Administrative Staff. The building on Guelph Line is not AODA compliant and has to meet the standard by 2025.

Upgrading old buildings is often more expensive than starting from scratch. The Board has land immediately to the south of the existing building that will meet the need – but the current crop of trustees weren’t all that keen on keeping the Administrative building in Burlington. Four of the eleven trustees are Burlington residents; four are from Oakville; two from Milton and one from Halton Hills.

The Milton people do have a bit of a drive, especially in the winter when Board meetings end well after 10 pm. Also the number of trustees from Milton is expected to climb due to their population growth.

The education beat is going to be active.

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Public school board trustee candidates just as important as those who want to be members of city council

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

August 20th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The election that will decide who the Mayor of Burlington will be for the 2018 – 2021 term of office is attracting a lot of attention. The high profile offices usually get a lot of attention when an incumbent just might be getting the boot.

Burlingtonians have two very different choices if they decide that current Mayor Rick Goldring has done his bit. Ward 2 city Councillor Marianne Meed Ward has her hat in the ring and former city Councillor and Member of Parliament Mike Wallace are candidates for Mayor. Aldershot resident Greg Woodruff has also announced his candidacy.

While those top spots are important – the critical level of municipal government for households with children is our school board which is Regional in nature.

The Board that is seeking re-election is the Board that voted to close two of the city’s seven high schools when it was not crystal clear that those schools had to be closed.

t-shirts-central-strongThe school closings are what the Board administration wanted. The Director of Education changed his position once he had compelling data from Central high school parents. It isn’t clear why the Board staff did not spot what Central parents discovered.

Because of the doubt the Board trustees did have the option of voting to not close any of the high schools at the time and to wait for a few years to see just what high school enrollment was going to be.

The very significant intensification Burlington is going through makes it clear that we are going to see more people living in Burlington. Some of those people will be families and some of those families will have children and some of those children will be high school students.

In the process of closing Robert Bateman and the Lester B. Pearson High schools the trustees did two things that have done almost irreparable harm to the community. Bateman had a Community Pathways Program that provided an essential educational program for students that deserve as much opportunity as any other student.

Moving the program to Nelson is filled with problems.

Few, other than the parents who had children in the program, knew about the vital role CPP played in the lives of disadvantaged students.

Bateman - crowd scene with BullOn the several student events that the Gazette covered at the school we didn’t hear a word about CPP; but as the PAR process rolled out it became clear that the program was essential for a group of families.

PAR HDSB Parents at BatemanWhen the decision to close Bateman was announced those parents erupted as well they should have. Had they made their case earlier in the process a different outcome might have been possible.

The Central high school parents did their homework and pointed out how expensive (never mind how disruptive to student life) it was going to be to bus their students. The Board looked at the numbers Central provided and agreed and took Central off the close list.

They then put Bateman on the list; their response was to claim the Central parents had “thrown them under the bus”.

The closing of Bateman has been pushed back two years.

Collard Amy

Ward 5 Halton District School Board trustee Any Collard

With nominations closed – parents now know who has come forward to serve at the Board of Education level. There are a couple of bright spots. The acclamation of Amy Collard in ward 5 assures the public that there will be at least one strong voice coming from Burlington.

Diane Miller Admin review delegation

Parent Diane Miller delegating to Administrative Review Facilitator Margaret Wilson.

The entry of Diane Miller for the ward 3 seat is good news. Ms Miller made a very strong delegation to Margaret Wilson, the Facilitator appointed by the province to carry out an Administrative Review of the process used by the Halton District school Board to arrive at it’s decision to close two of the city’s seven high schools: Lester B.Pearson and Robert Bateman. Ms Wilson found for the Board of Education saying there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the process that was used.

Her public report said: “Based on my review and consultations, I conclude that, while there were violations of the Board PAR Policy, they were such that they had no material effect on either the deliberations of the PARC or on the final decisions of the Board.”

One wonders what the Board administration would have to do to draw a different response from the Facilitator.

Jason BartlettJason Bartlett, who is running for the Ward 1 and 2 seat is an active participant of the Special Education parents group and can be expected to advocate for the parents with children that have special needs. Those children need all the advocacy they can get

One can only wish that those parents had been more active during that period of time when the decision to close Bateman was made.
One hopes that the debate for the school board trustees can hear sound arguments and strong positions from the trustees and do away with that “we were thrown under the bus” claim by Bateman parents.
There is the potential to elect trustees that can do the job they are elected to do.

This is the time for voters to look over the candidates and ensure that the direction the school board takes is sound and meets the needs of the children that will be heading back to school in a couple of weeks.

Salt with Pepper are the opinions, reflections, observations and musings of the Gazette publisher

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The symbolism is brilliant - Meed Ward to open campaign office on site of the Freeman family home.

council 100x100By Pepper Parr

August 18th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

A reader has asked where the Freeman House is located.  At 906 Brant Street on the west side just before the grade separation..

The symbolism is brilliant – Meed Ward announces the opening of her campaign office on the site of the Freeman family home.  Her first motion as a city Councilor was to do everything possible to save the station.

dfer

She brought petition after petition to city council before she first ran for election.

The Gazette watched Marianne Meed Ward when she was an active community member in ward 2 focused at that time on Save our Waterfront. That organization proved to be the base from which she launched her 2010 campaign for the ward 2 seat handily beating Peter Thoem.

Two terms of office later and Meed Ward is reaching out for the brass ring – something she had her eyes on before the was really a candidate.

During the 2010 election one of the concerns Cam Jackson had when he was running for a second term as Mayor was that Meed Ward would be gunning for him when he went after a third term

Unfortunately for Jackson, he didn’t get a second term, but Meed Ward did and she wants her third term on city council to be as Mayor leading a city she feels has been poorly led.

They had every reason to be smiling. Councillors Meed Ward and Lancaster pose with five members of the Friends of Freeman Station after the Council meeting that approved the entering into of a Joint Venture that would have the Friends moving the station and taking on the task of renovating the building.

They had every reason to be smiling. Councillors Meed Ward and Lancaster pose with five members of the Friends of Freeman Station after the Council meeting that approved the entering into of a Joint Venture that would have the Friends moving the station and taking on the task of renovating the building.

Of the four candidates running for Mayor Meed Ward has the strongest natural media skills. She is like a moth to a flame when the TV kleg lights come on. She has a quick answer for every question and she makes extensive use of social media. She is pretty good on the drama side as well.

All three serious candidates for the office of Mayor are setting up campaign offices. Rick Goldring opened his early in the week, Mike Wallace opened his today and Meed Ward will open hers on or about the 8th of September.

DSC01464

The Freeman family home had its name given to Burlington – the local railway station; a fitting site for the campaign office of woman who saved the station.

Where?
In the building that was once the home of the Freeman family; a name that got attached to a local railway junction. Saving what is known as Freeman Station (it was originally Burlington Junction) was a long struggle for the people of the city that cared about their history and their heritage.

The first city council motion Meed Ward brought forward as a member of a new city council was to make one last effort to save the station. The city had already decided to demolish the building.

Sitting on some "cribbing" with a sign badl in need of several coats of paint, the Freeman Station gets ready for its big move.

Sitting on some “cribbing” with a sign badly in need of several coats of paint, the Freeman Station gets ready for its big move.

The motion was put forward by Meed Ward and Councillor Lancaster. They didn’t work together on motions all that often after that first burst of collaboration

Why the Freeman location ?
The motion to have the city do everything it could to save the Freeman Station was the very first motion Meed Ward put forward as a city Councillor.

The structure was described as something that would fall over if anyone tried to move it.  The city couldn’t sell it for fire wood.  Every location that was considered as a new home was shot down.  There was one disappointing session of council where ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman explained to delegators that if a location wasn’t found then they would have to give up on the idea of saving the building

 

MMW motion for Freeman

Making motions is what government is all about. You make changes by making motions and working to get your colleagues on council to support your motion.

Meed Ward is using that very first motion and the Freeman family household as the launching pad for her campaign.

The symbolism couldn’t be more graphic.

There were two motion passed that January 31st evening in 2011. The second was to look into evaluating night club regulations downtown. Ms Lancaster didn’t join Meed Ward on that one.

End

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First Rider program for those taking the school bus to class - on Saturday at Corpus Christ High School 9:00 am.

News 100 yellowBy Pepper Parr

August 18th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

That first ride to school on a school bus can be a big adventure or an experience that has a child close to terrified of being on their own.

The organization that manages the school bus service that services both the Halton District School Board and the Halton Catholic District School Board has organized a First Rider Program to be held on Saturday, August 25, 2018

The First Rider Program” (previously referred to as School Bus Orientation Day) will begin at 9:00 a.m.

School buses

Safely getting on and off of the bus and proper behaviour on a school bus are part of the First Rider program.

Parents of all first time riders are encouraged to bring their children to the free sessions, which will feature a classroom presentation on school bus safety, including Off We Go! a special video on school bus safety and a demonstration on a school bus.

School bus company safety officers and bus drivers will talk to the children and their parents about safely getting on and off of the bus, proper behaviour on a school bus, crossing the street to get to a waiting bus and overall school bus safety.

In addition, a handout will be provided to all young riders with tips on school bus safety. Both HSTS and the school bus operators hope this program will help students and their parents feel more comfortable riding a school bus before the first day of school.

The hour long sessions begin at 9 a.m. on August 25, 2018 at the following five locations throughout Halton.

To register students parents must contact the host bus company at the phone number listed below:

For Burlington the presentation takes place at Corpus Chris Catholic Secondary School 905-333-4047 (Attridge Transportation)

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Rivers: Driving Dangerously - Tanks, Teslas and Tweets.

 

 

Rivers 100x100By Ray Rivers

August 17th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

“Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups… Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.” (Hillary Clinton)

Word is out that Elon Musk has an offer he can’t refuse from the Saudis, to help him take back Tesla from all those critical public share holders. The question is why. Is it possible that Allah had bestowed an enormous endowment of battery quality lithium in the Arabian desert, as well as all that petroleum.

Rivers Musk

Elon Musk

One suspects Saudi King Salman must be up to something fishy. Otherwise why would a nation whose economy virtually runs on oil be buying into an electric car company? Perhaps the kingdom, sees Tesla as a threat to the gas guzzlers and is planning to buy it up only to shut it down – sort of like what US Steel did to Stelco. But why spend good cash buying a money losing car company. Odds are good it’ll go bankrupt all on its own.

If they can be taken at their word, this foray in buying an auto company may be just the start. They’ll still have ready cash available in their two-plus trillion heritage fund – enough to buy other perennial money losing auto companies like Chrysler. Or perhaps there is a deeper method behind this seeming madness.

Rivers Tesla cockpit

Cockpit of a Tesla electic car

How much simpler life would be for the misogynous state if the new Saudi Teslas could be engineered somehow so that only males could operate them. After all Elon Musk is a genius. Tesla pioneered autonomous drive as well as battery power. How difficult could it be to differentiate between males and females, and everything in between? Wouldn’t that bring a whole new slant to the term intelligent drive?

What then would be the point of those female protesters demanding equal rights to drive when they are not gender-capable of doing so anyway? Women in Saudi Arabia have finally and grudgingly been given the right to drive, provided they are accompanied by a male and/or have submitted an acceptable flight plan to a male relative or guardian. Hardly what we’d call freedom, but then that is Arabia.

Rivers Raif

Protesters demanding the release of Raif Bedawi; his wife is now a Canadian citizen

Human rights are subservient to male rights in this backward sexist monarchy and all rights are subservient to the wishes of the royal family. Back almost a decade ago Saudi authorities apprehended an independent humanitarian blogger, Raif Bedawi, for having the gumption to write on the internet about something we call freedom of speech.

For that heinous act he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes to be administered at the rate of 50 a week.

The Harper government and its foreign minister Baird roundly criticized the Saudis back then, trying to influence them through diplomacy and even twitter. But since then Bedawi’s wife has managed to flee to Canada and become a citizen. So when Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign minister, out of desperation and as duty to a Canadian citizen, tweeted to the Saudi government that they should immediately release Mrs. Bedawi’s husband and the other imprisoned peaceful protesters, all hell broke loose and the rest is modern history.

The Saudi will accept nothing less than an apology for calling them out for exactly what they are. But Trudeau is not going to apologize for speaking out on women’s human rights, even if the Conservative opposition members, who have apparently forgotten what they did as government, are now making sounds like they think he should. After all he is the feminist PM of Canada.

And Canada is not going to play tit-for-tat trade. Our $15 billion contract to export armoured cars is wrong on several counts but $15 billion is a lot of money and jobs, and besides if we cancelled, General Dynamics would just transfer production from their Ontario plant to someplace else. Morality has never been an insurmountable issue when it comes to selling weapons for the Americans, Brits or French either.

Rivers Freeland + prince

The Crown Prince wants Canada to apologize for the tweet Chrystia Freeland sent.

It is embarrassing that over the thirty years since Trudeau the elder promised a national energy policy, we’re still importing oil from Arabia.

Perhaps once the jurisdictional matter with B.C. is resolved we will move forward on the Energy-East pipeline. Or we could start making more electric cars – like Tesla is doing.

And then there are some 800 Saudi medical students who’ve been told by their homeland to pack up and go home. Sure we’ll lose the money they bring with them, but that is about the best news ever for young Canadian medical graduates still waiting for a resident position.

Most concerting in this unfortunate tussle though was the image released by a group of Saudi whacko nationalists portraying an Air Canada plane heading for collision with our CN tower. There was a retraction and apology, but nobody thinks threatening another nation with the kind of terror we saw on 9/11 is at all funny. And, of course, 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi nationalists, as indeed was bin Laden

Rivers LAV-700-icon

We manufacture them in London, Ontario ship them to Saudi Arabia

So this little tempest over a tweet will become a game of ‘who blinks first’. Or like a game of road chicken, American Graffiti style, except the Saudi’s are racing at us with their new Tesla and Canada is driving one of those General Dynamics tanks. And our foreign minister, a woman, is doing the driving.

Background links:

Saudi Arabia –    Tesla Sale –    Saudi Driving Ban

Women Protesters–    Freeland Tweet –    Saudi Medics –    Saudi 9-11 pic

 

Rivers hand to face

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.     Tweet @rayzrivers

 

 

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Macbeth as a murderous conspiracy: Copp and his cast make it work.

artsblue 100x100By Pepper Parr

August 16th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Trevor Copp’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is not the way we heard the play in high school.

It is however a production well worth watching.

2018 audience

Summer outdoor theatre at its best.

There are some exceptionally good performances.

Lady Macbeth and Macbeth

Lady Macbeth arguing with Macbeth

Alma Sarai did a wonderful job as Lady Macbeth – the depth of her “out out” scene and the way in which she carried Macbeth off the stage in her arms was pure poetry and a demonstration of physical strength as well. DeSousa-Coelho who played Macbeth is not a man of small stature.

Copp has a core of experienced cast members that have ben a part of the RBG program for the past three years. My personal preference would have been to see Mika Hannigan as Macbeth – however Shawn DeSouza-Coelho did good work dealing with the mental emotional torment Macbeth was going through.

Kaylyn Valdez-Scott as was very good as Lady Macduff; she was a bright light to keep an eye on.

One could bank on the Banquo performance given by Jesse Horvath.

The murders - offing Duncan

Macbeth dispatches Duncan

Zach Parsons played Macduff and Malcolm very well.

Claudia Spadafora did a nice Ross – what we’ve not experienced with her before was the quality of her singing voice. It was a pleasant surprise .

The murderers reminded one of the way the Sûreté du Québec, that province’s provincial police service, has behaved in the past. It was sometimes hard to tell the difference in Quebec between the criminals and the police.

The choreography was the typical Copps work – he understands movement; the scene in which the murderers formed a chain of people stabbing one of their victims was brilliant.

Copp had a merry band of murders on stage who were very comfortable thrusting knives into almost anyone at hand or putting pistols to the heads of those they had to deal with and pulling the trigger. I lost count of just how many people were “offed” on that outdoor stage.

This second performance of the three week run went well; it was humid.

Outdoor theatre means coping with the weather – which is now climate in a constant state of change.

band of murderers

Some of the murderers having a drink after work.

The closing scene before intermission and the and the opening scene in the second half had everyone on the stage and involved in an operating room that was part Abu Ghraib and what we used to do at summer camp skits. Electric drills, tools that defied ones imagination were all part of a gruesome scene.

Hannigan dryly commented to Lady Macbeth that he was unable to help Macbeth: “he is beyond my practice”; this after he had taken every tool imaginable to “fix” Macbeth.

For those who make room for Shakespeare in their entertainment choices it is the language the draws us back again and again.

“Resolve thyself” … “filty witness” … the “bell that invites me” … “almost at odds with the morning”. There were people in the audience mouthing the words being said on the stage. “Let us make medicine of our revenge.”

Couple reading - flashlight

Reading a script during an intermission.

One patron said after the performance that “it took me a bit to get into it but I soon found myself feeling very emotional.

During the intermission one couple, using a flashlight to read a script they had were debating the wording and thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The play runs again on Friday and then Monday to Friday the week of the 20th and the week of the 27th.

There are no performances on Saturday or Sunday.

 

 

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Police Marine unit has a fleet of three craft that patrol the lake from the Peel boundary to the canal.

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

August 16th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Policing is much more than officers handing out Highway Traffic Act tickets.

There is a homicide unit

There is a fraud unit

There is a Mobile Command that the Gazette did a feature story on.

There is a K9 unit

There is a unit that handles sexual assaults.

And there is a Marine Unit that works out of Bronte Harbour in Oakville.

Oakville harbour

The Outer Harbour at the bottom of Bronte Road in Oakville – HQ for the HRPS Marine Unit.

Their area of jurisdiction is from the border with the Region of Peel, basically at Winston Churchill and out into the Lake up to the International boundary then west to the canal.

The Halton Marine unit works very tightly with the Hamilton marine unit – Halton has the larger of the two fleets.

The Halton boats are run by a team of six people – 5 male and a single female. “Women haven’t sought out the opportunity to serve in the marine unit” said Csanyi.

The Gazette met with Sergeant Paul Csanyi and PC Jeff Thurston at the office they share with a community patrol unit.

Csanyi at the wheel

Sgt Paul Csanyi at the helm of Marine 2 – a screen with a depth measurement sits in front of him on the right with a screen that lets him zoom in and out of a map.

Csanyi is an 11 year veteran with the Marine unit and has been a police officer for 28 years. Thurston has been with the unit for five years.

They oversee the operation of a three boat fleet that includes a 40 foot boat, a 26 foot boat and a 17 foot boat. Oddly, the boats don’t have names: just Marine 1, 2 and 3 or as Sgt Csanyi puts it – “the big guy, the fast one and the little guy.”

There is a 4th boat called Marine 4 that is an inflatable dingy which is used for inland waters/ponds)

Marine 1

Marine 1 – the biggest boat in the fleet has better handling than Marine 2 the boat this is used most often

The Halton Regional Police Service Marine unit is in place to enforce federal Department of Transport regulations.

“We have an area we are responsible and we do our patrols – we come under the direction of Canadian  Coast Guard  for Search and Rescue only.

 

All the regulations that apply to using a boat on the water are federal.”

The two bigger boats have sonar that tells then what is beneath the boat; we were 24 feet above the bottom during our run.

A second screen in front of the person at the wheel is a map of the area they are working that can be expanded and contracted. They have all the technical whistles and bells they need. Radar is also part of what they have to work with.

Marine 2 is very open – not much getting out of the weather on that boat. The command deck is partially enclosed.

The boats are on the water right up until freeze up.

Each boat has life boat of its own that opens automatically when it hits the water.

The work of the Marine Unit amounts to making sure people have the safety gear and that they have a license to use a boat and that the boat is registered.

During our tour Marine 2,  the 26 footer, came up on a man on a paddle board who didn’t have a fanny pack. Constable Thurston went forward to explain what the regulations were while Sgt Csanyi took the wheel.

Cautioning a paddler

Sgt Csanyi at the wheel while Constable Thurston cautions a paddler who was on the water without all the safety equipment required.

The man was on the water paddling away; his daughter was in Oakville at a hockey school.

No ticket (saved the paddler $125) just an explanation on what the rules were.

The boats have very powerful engines – twin Volvo engines on Marine 1 and dual 250hp Evinrude outboards on Marine 2.

Each boat has a communications system that put them in direct contact with the Halton Communications people who can reach almost anyone anywhere in the world. They are also tied into the communications at the Oakville detachment and they are part of a VHF frequency that the boats use to communicate when they are on the water.

Engines on Marine 2

Twin 250 hp Evinrude engines can move Marine 2 at a 40 knots clip – that is fast for travel over water. The white box at the bottom of the picture, partially visible is the life raft for the boat.

And of course they have their cell phones with them.

Whenever a member of the Marine unit boards a boat they have a large bag with everything they need including wet suits if they have to go into the water.

“Should we come across a boat that is on fire our job is to ensure that anyone on the boat is helped. We are not there to put out the fire.”

“There was an occasion when we were involved in helping to raise a boat that had sunk; we were able to suck out some of the water to get the boat up and then get flotation devices underneath so the boat could be taken into a harbour.”

Marine 2

Marine 2 – the work horse of the fleet can be out on the water in minutes should there be an emergency.

The biggest problem for the Marine unit is weather: when the waves get to the six foot level it is heavy boating. Few people know how to handle that kind of weather; it takes an experience boat user to make way in heavy weather.

“A lot of our calls involve racing to aid a boater who is in over their head and are having difficulty handling a boat. We have had to tow boats in the past. We put a line out or we can pull them in alongside our boat and get them back to a harbour” explained Csanyi.

Related news story:

Mobile Command Unit

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Intercounty Baseball League records the first ever no hitter in a playoff game as it begins the semi-finals.

sportsred 100x100By Staff

August 16th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The InterCounty Baseball League moved into the semi-finals where four teams will play to determine which two will be in the finals.

Getting to this point was covered in history.

The IBL is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

To make that event really significant the Toronto Leafs defeated the Guelph Royals 6-2 for the first playoff no-hitter in IBL history.

No hitter game IBL

An historic game. Photo credit: RS Konjek

Zach Sloan (1-1) started and went six innings, walking five and striking out seven. Both runs allowed were unearned. Marek Deska pitched the last three innings for the save, striking out three.

The last IBL no-hitter came in 2003, when Barrie’s Derek McDaid kept St. Thomas hitless in a seven-inning game.

Rob Patterson was the last Leafs’ pitcher to throw a no-no, doing so in 2000 in another seven-inning game against London.

The last nine-inning no-hitter was thrown in 1977, when future major leaguer Jesse Orosco blanked Guelph in a 15-0 win.

Offensively, Garret Takamatsu went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and two runs. Aaron Hornostaj had three hits and two runs, Marcus Knecht had two hits, two stolen bases and an RBI, Zach Orchard drove in two, and Connor Lewis singled and scored.

Ethan Mohan and Sean Reilly scored for Guelph as the Royals scored twice in the sixth inning thanks to a pair of Toronto errors.

Yomar Concepcion (1-1) took the loss, giving up four runs on eight hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out three.

The Best-of-seven Dominico Cup semifinals will have Hamilton playing against Barrie; Kitchener playing against Toronto.

Burlington Herd was defeated by the Barrie Baycats in the quarter finals.

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Three Halton District School Board students earn perfect scores on an important test.

News 100 blueBy Pepper Parr

August 16th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

She, along with two of her peers, have given the Halton District School Board bragging rights.

Dasha Metropolitansky served as a student trustee on the Halton District School Board where her performances were better than several of the publicly elected trustees.

Three students in Board of Education schools earned perfect scores in their International Baccalaureate (IB) programme.

Dasha Metropolitansky, Brian Guo and Hanson Liu achieved rare perfect scores in their International Baccalaureate (IB) programme. All three are students at White Oaks Secondary School in Oakville.

IBL student pics 2018

Brian Guo, Dasha Metropolitanskyand Hanson Liu got perfect scores on IBL tests.

The IB programme is an internationally recognized, two-year diploma, which provides a challenging curriculum for highly motivated students. It offers additional academic rigor in languages, mathematics, humanities and sciences and emphasizes personal development for students. It is offered at 5,000 schools around the world, including three in the Halton District School Board: Georgetown District High School, Robert Bateman High School and White Oaks Secondary School.

The IBL program is scheduled to transfer to Central high school when Robert Bateman high school closes.  The date for that closing keeps getting extended.

According to the IB organization, only 13 students in the ‘Americas’ region achieved a perfect score (45 points), and three are students from the same school in the Halton District School Board.

“I owe my peers, teachers and White Oaks administration so much for providing me with excellent resources and counsel, without which my accomplishment would not have been possible,” Guo says. “I am honoured to have received a 45, but I am most appreciative of the IB for its formative impact on me as a learner and as a global citizen.”

“Aside from feeling extremely grateful, I am very proud that the three of us can represent White Oaks,” Lui says. “I hope this showcases the quality of the HDSB staff and resources that paved the road to our
achievement, and encourages more students to pursue this wonderful educational opportunity.”

“I’m extremely proud that I’m one of only 13 students in North and South America who achieved a perfect score in such a demanding program,” Metropolitansky says. “The fact that approximately a quarter of North and South America’s perfect scores came from the Halton District School Board is extraordinary and a testament to the quality of our schools.”

“The Halton District School Board is very proud of the scores Brian, Dasha and Hanson achieved in the IB programme,” says David Boag, Associate Director of the Halton District School Board. “For many of our students, the IB program is a great complement to the high level of education they already receive in our Board. We wish Brian, Dasha and Hanson the best of good luck, as we are confident they will achieve much success in their future endeavours.”

This fall, Guo is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Duke University; Lui is studying Health Sciences at McMaster University; and Metropolitansky is attending Harvard University.

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Armed Man Robs Domino's Pizza in Burlington

Crime 100By Staff

August 16th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Police in Burlington are investigating an early morning armed robbery at Domino’s Pizza located at 495 Walkers Line.

Dominos on Walkers Line

Suspect left the pizza shop on foot after taking the cash – he appears to have known when the cash count was going to take place.

On August 16th 2018 shortly after midnight, a lone male suspect entered the business armed with a handgun and confronted two employees, one of which was in the process of counting money.

The suspect demanded cash and then removed an undisclosed amount from the till tray that was being counted before fleeing the business on foot.

The suspect is described as a white male, 25-30 years old, 5’7″ to 5’9″ tall wearing a blue and white bandana covering his face with a red baseball cap, maroon hoody, light colour jeans andblack running shoes. He was armed with a black revolver handgun. (See included photo)

Anyone with information regarding this robbery is asked to contact Detective Steve Siomra Burlington Criminal Investigation Bureau – Robbery Team 905-825-4747 ext. 2343

Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See something? Hear something? Know something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS)or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.

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Down down down goes the city's ranking in a magazine list of best places to live; electioneering taking place!

council 100x100By Pepper Parr

August 16th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

If you thought the municipal election was going to be quiet until Labour Day – think again.

Each of the candidates for Mayor has been lining up their teams, opening their campaign offices if they decided to have one.

Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward who wants an upgrade and decided to run for Mayor this election has come out swinging with a xx on Facebook that was waiting for you on your Facebook page.

Money sense graph

She is punching hard.

The swing is directly at the current Mayor. She tells you where she thinks he has gone wrong and what she is going to do about the mistakes that were made.

Numerous references are made to how Oakville got it right and where Burlington got it wrong.

Meed Ward has always seen herself as one of the few politicians in Burlington who knows how to make social media work.

The last line of her Facebook message is an invitation to go to her web site and learn even more about what she can do for you.

Her base will love it.

Is Rick Goldring the person Meed Ward has to beat?

 

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