 By Peter Menet
February 13th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Last Thursday the Program Accommodation Review committee was not presented with a 150 page report on AODA prepared by Snyder Architects. They were given a brief outline of approximately six pages. The full report is to appear on the Board’s website. Let’s wait and see where the devil lies.
The asbestos issue was handled very poorly by Board staff. It is my understanding that since the mid 2000’s all Boards in Ontario have tested for and documented the location of asbestos in their schools. My understanding is that this is a requirement of OHSA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). It is also my understanding, having previously been employed at unionized facilities where I was tasked with removing asbestos material, that there will be detailed reports of any occurrence where asbestos has been disturbed and reports of the remedial actions taken.
So the location of asbestos in all the schools appears to be known and well documented.
Asbestos is not an AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) issue, it is an OHSA issue. Now we get into the meat of the issue which is friable and non-friable asbestos, but we have to wait to see what the full AODA report says.
It is unfortunate that the Board has presented asbestos as an AODA issue. It is not, it is an OHSA issue.
 Parents from high schools that are at risk of being closed listen intently to what the PAR committee members are saying and what staff is telling them. A considerable amount of work has been done in the province to protect the public from asbestos exposure. Again, we must wait to see the full AODA report to see if the Board’s staff did a disservice to the public by raising fears and a disservice to the PARC committee process.
We have to wait for the full AODA report to be posted on the website to confirm if the architects had been given access to the asbestos documents prepared in the 2000’s and to see how these documents were used to estimate asbestos removal costs.
Asbestos is a hot button and was very poorly handled by Board staff.
 By Ray Rivers
February 13th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
If I were Donald Trump I’d have to say that it was the largest crowd ever. There were more people assembled at Nathan Phillips Square than at former US president Obama’s inauguration. And all those white spaces between the people… well that was just snow.
Seriously, there were only a few thousand brave souls who turned out on a bone-chilling February mid-day at Toronto’s city hall this past Saturday. They had assembled to protest Trudeau breaking his promise about how we elect our MPs. And it was a pretty good crowd for such an event given such short notice. Besides, there were as many as twenty of these protests being held across the nation.
 Gazette columnist Ray Rivers publicly protesting the decision Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made to abandon his election promise to never again hold an election where the First Past the Post was the winner. The organizers seemed pleased with the turnout. After all, electoral reform is not top-of-mind for most Canadians. No doubt that was what the Liberals found out recently after polling convinced them that they could safely kill the electoral reform promise. And the whole matter is complicated, filled with unfamiliar terms like first-past-the-post, single transferable vote and mixed-member proportional representation. You won’t find that kind of language every day in the sports section.
The faces in the crowd were mostly young – a generation of first-time voters, once convinced not long ago that Mr. Trudeau was just one of them – that new kind of politician, offering a better political deal for Canadians. Better representation might make politics more relevant to this generation and even the one before, the Gen-Xers, who had largely shunned politics and left voting to their parents.
But there was this proverbial elephant in the midst of the protest. If it was this easy to cancel one promise, what about all the other promises the PM made? Can we have faith that he’ll deliver on any of those other promises now? What about legalizing pot, for example? Or will that be the next domino to fall, because someone in the PM’s office has decided there is no consensus on that issue either?
 Former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty did try to reform Ontario’s electoral system. But wait, weren’t these the same political staffers who once convinced Dalton McGuinty to reform Ontario’s electoral system a few years ago? Yes, they engineered a process so fair and discrete that when it came time for the referendum, most voters had little idea what they were actually voting for – a process designed to fail. Was that benign neglect? Or were they disingenuous or incompetent?
There were voices in the crowd on Saturday yelling out liar, liar, pants-on-fire. But it seems unlikely this is a case of unbridled mendacity. I mean what rational politician would set out to raise expectations in an election, planning to break his word following the victory party? And why, especially when he knows full well the ultimate consequence – the shedding of all those voters who had delivered him his majority government?
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington in 1995. 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:
Electoral Reform – More Electoral Reform – Even More –
 By Staff
February 13th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
On February 12, 2017, 11:00 p.m. the city released the following snow clearing information.
Primary roads have been plowed.
Plowing of Secondary and Residential roads are underway.
Sidewalk plowing and Bus stop clearing are underway.
Road conditions continue to be monitored.
Please make sure that your vehicles are off the road to allow our plows to clear your area properly.
 By Pepper Parr
February 10th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
What began as polite meetings that went from 7 pm to 9 pm have become meetings that go beyond 10 pm and have some pretty stiff comments about how the process being used is working out. There are parents from schools that are at risk who aren’t very happy.
With close to 30 different options before the PARC Scott Podrebarac, the PARC chair knew that there was some whittling down to be done – and the Thursday evening meeting was the beginning of that process.
 Fourteen options are put up on the walls of the meeting room – PARC members begin to reveal what they like and what they don’t like. There were 14 different option put up on the walls of the meeting room Thursday evening.
Each PARC member was given three round red stickers that they could place on whichever option they wished.
The PARC members were being asked to decide if the option met or did not meet the “criteria”
 Every question asked by embers of the PARC and the decisions they make has to fit into the Framework. With 14 PARC members having three dots each – there were 42 of the things to be distributed.
Some of the options got nothing. Option # 19 – the one that would close two of the three high schools in the city got the most – however its total was less than the total of the dots given to the other options.
 PARC members were asked to first write down which criteria were met and which were not met and then to indicate which option they supported. Option 7 – to close none of the schools – did well – and option brought forward by the parents at Central high school also did well – but not as well as the option to close Central and Pearson
There are a lot of questions to be asked:
Where does Pearson high school stand in all this and how do the people at Aldershot feel about a bunch of portables being put on their property if Central is closed?
And is Bateman really at risk?
The board has said repeatedly that the decision is not a money decision – it is what is best for the students.
However the cost of getting the high schools up to AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) standards is high. The matter of lead based paint in some of the older schools – and the probability that some of the older schools may have asbestos in them is an AODA issue that is going to add to the cost of getting schools to that standard.
At some point the trustees, who do have a fiduciary responsibility, are going to balk at the suggestion that school board taxes be increased to cover the AODA expenses.
There is a massive 150 + page report on the AODA condition of the schools that was presented to the PARC committees.
Add to the mix – the views of the students which Director of Education Miller though important enough to have him meet with a group of high school students and then bring one of them to the PARC meeting where he asked that the students be listened to.
While the members of the PARC were getting into some serious deliberations the principals from every high school gathered at a table at the far end of the room on standby to answer question – there were none for then at PARC meeting # 3 but there were several significant questions asked at PARC meting number 2 held on February 2nd. .
 Principals or vice principals from each high school sat as advisors. With two people from each high school sitting on the PARC we are beginning to see their interests coming to the surface.
The pair from Aldershot are probably the two best speakers. Ward 2 city Councillor Marianne Meed Ward, who is at the table representing Central high school (she has a son at Central and was chosen by the parent council) worked well with Ian Farwell the oher parent representative. Meed Ward continued her practice of asking a lot of questions.
The pair from Bateman are certainly active in pressing their case. Little is heard from the Pearson high school pair. Even less from the Nelson and M.M. Robinson pair – their schools appear to be safe from any closure plans.
 Parents from high schools were able to listen to the conversation but were not allowed to participate in the deliberations. Several came close to accosting the Director of Education after the meeting. He may want to leave earlier at future meetings. It is a busy process – one that requires more time than originally planned. The board added an additional meting for February 16th – the day after the Central high school parents hold a meeting at the Lion’s club to update their community.
To make the whole process even more interesting – the first phase of census data showed that Milton had a population growth of 30% between 2011 and 2016 – and that is certainly going to call for new schools.
The trustees have their hands full. All four Burlington trustees have been on hand for the meetings – so far none of the other trustees have attended PARC meetings. One of the Burlington trustees explained that there was some concern over the impact their attendance might have on the process – given that all the trustees can do is sit and listen – it was difficult to understand why there is any concern. Burlington has four of the 11 votes that are going to be cast. Six are needed to determine what the decisions are going to decide. Where are the Burlington trustees going to get those two additional votes?
And are the Burlington trustees going to vote as a block.
If one of the choices put before the trustees is to close Bateman – will trustee Collard vote for that choice?
In a follow up article we will drill down into some of the data that got put on the table.
 This is the time table that has been followed. May 17th is decision date. The time line is getting tighter. The PARC report will go to the trustees on March 29th and then a final vote by the trustees on May 17th.
 By James Burchill
February 10th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Studies reveal half us have sought information about ourselves on a major search engine in the last year. More interestingly is the number of us who have gone looking for information about other people (approximately 1 in 3) and the trend continues.
— Turnabout is Fair Play
Businesses and recruiters now regular “look you up online” to see if you are the kind of person they want to work with. That’s correct, it’s not just people vetting businesses anymore, the proverbial worm has turned and now those businesses are looking back at us.
If you aren’t already actively managing your Internet digital footprint you really should because many North American companies now have online personal presentation polices. A shocking number of businesses are now policing how you present yourself on sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even your personal blog.
— Share With Care
Choose the pictures you share with care, be mindful of the videos, audio and blog posts you share with the world because it can have consequences. Remember, what you blog about today can last a lifetime – literally. So what you say on your blog about your favourite religion, political party du jour, or some other seemingly innocuous subject could quite literally cost you your job!
— Damage Control is Too Late
And if there’s nothing bad out there about you right now, and you think you can ignore this – think again. You need to begin proactively publishing your own “approved” content because when someone steps forward after an issue they have less credibility – it’s reactionary not pre-emptive. The same happens online – if you are nowhere to be found until someone says something you dislike, you lose credibility.
— Getting an Accidental Brand
There are many ways to become infamous on the Internet, too many to list here, however be careful of mischievous teenagers wielding video cell phones. In 2007 a video of a drunk David Hasselhoff, sprawled on the floor eating a burger, became hot news when his daughter allegedly published it to YouTube for all the world to see. Type David Hasselhoff into Google and that infamous video is still in the top 10 list (10 years later!)
— Ignorance Is Not Bliss
As the saying goes, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!” Whenever a new frontier opens there are winners and losers, online reputation and personal branding is no exception. For example, if someone spent about 30 minutes being mischievous they could cause you some serious damage to your reputation. The current market rate for reputation repair on the Internet is about $10,000.
Blogging and writing about yourself is free.
 James Burchill is the founder of Social Fusion Network – an organization that helps local business connect and network. He also writes about digital marketing, entrepreneurship and technology and when he’s not consulting, he teaches people to start their own ‘side hustle.’
By Vince Fiorito
February 9th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Let me get this straight. You admire Karina’s increased ability to avoid answering questions and spinning her answers? I think that’s why most people have low opinions of politicians. Shouldn’t a leader’s actions reflect their words?
Watching Karina Gould evolve since the election, feels like a political version of “Breaking Bad”. I like the old Karina better when she made statements like these:
 Karina Gould, then just a Member of the House of Commons. Karina Gould June 2016
“Electoral reform is the next step in this evolution toward a more inclusive system. We can build a better system that provides a stronger link between the democratic will of Canadians and the election results.”
Karina Gould Sept 2016
“The first-past-the-post system that we have is pretty good at producing majority governments but it’s often considered to be a false majority because our government and the previous Conservative government didn’t really go above 39%, 42% of the vote yet would have much more than 50% of the seats in the house.”
Now, she says Canadians don’t have consensus on electoral refrom. What asked what would be a consensus, she couldn’t answer that either,
For the record, consensus is when everyone agrees. IN a large group, consensus is a super majority (2/3) or better. Consensus is where people working together to solve a problem end up. Its not where they start. Not achieving consensus means the job isn’t over.
I can’t know what Karina was thinking when she accepted this bag of excrement from Justin Trudeau. I hoped when I heard the bad news that she’d stand up to Trudeau and show everyone who voted for her in good faith, that their trust was well placed.
Speaking of Trudeau. Why didn’t he break the bad news himself, considering his words:
 Justin Trudeau during the election campaign in which he announced this would be the last election where the first past the post was the winner. Justin Trudeau, December 2016
“I make promises because I believe in them. I’ve heard loudly and clearly that Canadians want a better system of governance, a better system of choosing our governments, and I’m working very hard so that 2015 is indeed the last election under first-past-the-post. Canadians elect governments to do hard things and don’t expect us to throw up our hands when things are a little difficult. ‘Oh, it’s more difficult than we thought it could be’ and therefore we’re just just going to give up. No, I’m sorry, that’s not the way I was raised. That’s not the way I’m going to move forward on a broad range of issues, regardless of how difficult they may seem at a given point.”
 Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould at her first news scrum. Yet when it came time to break the bad news, where was Trudeau? He sent Karina out by herself. He didn’t even have the guts to stand behind Karina in symbolic support. That’s cowardly imo.
I also thought the timing of release was a little rushed, like they were trying to hide the news about breaking their promise to reform our unfair electoral system behind a bigger news story around the same time that got far more national coverage.
While you might admire these qualities in politicians, I don’t. IMO, Politics doesn’t get much sadder, self-serving or cynical than this. The Trudeau Liberals never had any intention of reforming our election system or taking action on environmental issues. They were just empty words they used to steal support from the Green Party of Canada.
I feel sad for Trudeau’s and Gould’s gift of political cynicism he gave to all the young Canadians who believed them. I doubt many of them will vote in the next election. Why would they?
Background links:
Rivers on breaking election promises
The evolution of a politician
 Vince Fiorito was the Green Party candidate for Burlington 2015. He has not stopped trying to reform Canada’s electoral system or taking action on the environment. Fiorito was the recipient of a watershed stewardship award from Conservation Halton. 
By Ray Rivers
February 9th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
The fundamental elements of a successful democracy are an informed public, a free press and an electoral system which best reflects the will of the vast majority of the voters.
At the time the disparate Canadian provinces undertook confederation, voters had but two federal political entities to choose from: the Liberal Party founded in 1861 and the Conservative Party established in 1854.
 With just two political parties First Past the Post made sense. So it was natural for Canada’s election system to be premised as a choice between only two parties. The candidate with the highest vote count would win their election poll in a system called first-past-the-post (FPP). Since the national popular vote typically coincides with the number of seats in a two party system, the public was well represented.
150 years later a lot has changed. Additional political parties representing a more diverse population with more complicated issues and demands have emerged. Recently 100% of Canadians have been governed by political parties which claim a majority of parliamentary seats, regardless that their popular support amounts to less than 40% of the voters.
At the 2012 federal Liberal convention in Ottawa, former leader Stephan Dion chaired an electoral reform policy session, also attended by Justin Trudeau. Although many present, including Dion expressed a preference for proportional representation, there was a consensus to promote a ranked/preferential ballot as a transitional or first step.
 Former Minister of Democratic Institutions and Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef addresses the crowd during a town hall meeting on electoral reform. Jessica Nyznik -Peterborough Examiner/Postmedia Network Three years later, as Mr. Trudeau was struggling his way up from third place in the election campaign, he added another vote-getting promise – that this would be Canada’s last federal election under FPP. However once the election was over and the brass ring was firmly in his hand, the urgency seemed to have vanished. He appointed a relatively inexperienced MP as his minister of democratic institutions. She was slow off the mark, proceeded to organize an unfortunate on-line survey, and mis-managed her special parliamentary committee.
The committee finessed the government by recommending a proportional representation approach but only if subject to a referendum. But there is simply not enough time left in the electoral term for that to reasonably happen. So the PM shuffled his junior ministers and announced that he was breaking his promise because there didn’t appear to be a consensus for change.
Except there is consensus. Mr. Trudeau’s own party wants it – they had in fact passed a policy resolution calling for this kind of change. The third parties (NDP, Greens, BQ) are almost unanimous in their desire to adopt proportional representation. And that just leaves the Tories who like the status quo, knowing that FPP is the only way they could ever win majority government again.
But the Conservatives poll less than 40% of Canadians at best. So the government doesn’t need a referendum to change our political system, it already has the numbers. Besides, changing from FPP was an election promise, and Trudeau won the election.
 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaving a stage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Politicians break promises at their own peril. I’d bet that electoral reform is one that will come back to haunt Mr. Trudeau. It is unknown how many NDP, Bloc and Green supporters walked their votes to the Liberals largely because of the promise of electoral reform. Judging by the reaction among the media and those commenting on social media, if they did, they won’t make that journey again. Mr. Trudeau has just lost a huge chunk of personal credibility and trust. That will cost him in support come election time.
There are also Liberals who now feel betrayed and alienated by a leader in whom they had put so much faith and trust. Once lost it is almost impossible to regain the hearts of his once loyal supporters. He can expect to see party unity suffer and membership start to decline. Volunteer workers will become less available, and contributions will start to dry up. Come voting day it will be that much harder to get out the vote and fewer volunteers will be there to help get it out.
Mr. Trudeau has been overexposed in his first year in office, and most of that has been positive, at least up until now. Both main opposition parties will have new leaders for the 2019 race and as they energize their party faithful expect to see them stick Trudeau with this issue until the votes are finally counted.
Finally, what will become of all those reluctant millennials who thought they were voting for a different kind of politics and politician? Perhaps some of them will show up at the National Day of Action for Electoral Reform at Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, this Saturday 2-4 PM. See you there?
Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington in 1995. 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:
Trudeau Lying? – More Lying? – Liberal Policy Resolution –
Breaking His Promise – National Day of Action on Electoral Reform –
 By Pepper Parr
February 8th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
My how we have grown. The population of the country exceeds 35 million.
Burlington grew at a % rate that is higher than what your bank is paying in the way of interest – but a little lower than the municipal tax hike.
Is the population increase enough intensification for city hall?
 This is what we look like in the eyes of Census Canada. What impact will it have on the intensification plans?  If the Nautique can get the Ontario Municipal Board to approve their project at the corner of Lakeshore and Martha the next census number will be even higher. The new population numbers released by Census Canada today show that there has been a very decent jump – and that doesn’t include the six development projects that are under construction and the half dozen that are a twinkle in the eye of local developers – it doesn’t even include the 26 storey structure that the ADI Development groups wants to build at the corner of Martha and Lakeshore Road.
The numbers reflect growth of 4.28 % more in the way of population between 2011 and 2016.
What does it mean?
What does it say to the planners at both the Regional and municipal levels?
That is going to take some time for the politicians and the planners to get there heads around the numbers.
By Pepper Parr
February 08, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Policing is profitable. I know – I’ve paid more than my share of tickets.
The Court for provincial offences –as opposed to criminal code offences or financial claims is located in Burlington.
It is and is known as the Halton Court Services and it makes a bundle of money that is split between the four municipalities in the Region – Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills.
 Site plan for the new court house to be built in the Alton Village. The offences taken to this court are from Halton Regional Police Service, OPP, Ministry of Transportation, Conservation Halton – any offence that is set out in provincial legislation.
It is a busy place – so busy that a new court house is being built in the Alton Village – shovels were expected to be in the ground by now.
 Plans for the new court house were on display for those interested in the design – build – lease back the city wanted. Emshih Developments people check out the plans. The new court house will be a Design-Build and Leaseback agreement with a 30 year lease to be negotiated.
A total of 55,437 charges (75.9% of target) were filed with HCS by end of third quarter and it is expected that charges will reach 95.9% of target (70,000) by year-end. This is due to a slight decline in number of charges filed by local police (HRPS, OPP and MTO) and no filing of red light camera charges during the impending mail strike.
The place is busy enough to require an additional permanent part-time Prosecutor.
On the income side this is a nice piece of business:
The following are the financial results for HCS at end of third quarter:
• Gross revenues of $6,909,402 (81.0% of budget)
• Overall expenditures of $3,283,653 (72.9% of budget)
• Year-to-date net revenue of $3,625,749 (90.0% of budget)
 The court house on Plains Road will close when the new building is constructed in the Alton Village. Given the continuing growth in population, a moderate increase of 1,000 charges (71,000) is projected for 2017. Gross revenue for HCS in 2017 is budgeted at $8.82 million as compared to $8.53 million during 2016.
Included in the report was mention of “red light” cameras – they produce offence notices that pull in an excess of $300 for those who chose to run that red light at two in the morning.
All this goes to city council on February 13, 2017
.
By Staff
February 8th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Healthy Kids Community Challenge Burlington is encouraging local businesses to become free water bottle refill locations in the community. Organizations can register at www.bluew.org.
The Blue W is a unique community-based program dedicated to promoting municipal tap water as a healthy, easily accessible alternative to purchasing bottled drinks. We provide mapped details on where to find clean, free, public and commercial sources to fill your reusable bottle without compelling you to make additional purchases – just look for the Blue W decal in participating shop and restaurant windows.
 The idea is for you to be able to walk into any location that has a Blue W in their window and get your water bottle refilled.
Residents can locate free water bottle refill locations in the city by looking for the blueW decal on the doors and windows of businesses or by visiting www.blueW.org.
 Burlington is one of 45 communities selected to take part in the Province of Ontario’s Healthy Kids Community Challenge program, created to support healthy and active lifestyles in children zero to 12 years old.
Encouraging healthy lifestyles is included in the A Healthy and Greener City direction from the City of Burlington’s 25-year Strategic Plan.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care launches a new theme related to physical activity or healthy eating about every nine months and Healthy Kids Community Challenge Burlington works together with local organizations to develop programs, policies and initiatives that promote and enable healthy behaviours.
 When horses mattered there were water troughs along main streets. Anyone remember where these things might have been in Burlington? The current Healthy Kids Community Challenge theme, Water Does Wonders, is all about encouraging children and families to drink water as a healthy alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages.
Chris Glenn, director Parks and Recreation hopes local businesses and organizations will register with blueW and welcome people into their stores and offices so that people can get tap water anywhere in the community for free when they need a refill.”
Interesting: Log into www.blueW.org and see if this is something you would take on.
 By Pepper Parr
February 8th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
There is a CBC radio program I seldom miss – “The House” every Saturday morning at 9:00 am
Certified political junkies never miss it.
Last Saturday, Chris Hall interviewed Burlington’s MP and Cabinet Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould.
 She was just a local girl, went to M.M. Robinson, then to McGill University where she decided the wanted to be a Member of Parliament. I have covered Karina since the day she announced her candidacy. I watched her actually pry away the Burlington riding from Mike Wallace which she did by creating a team of people that were out on the streets almost every weekend.
They would meet at Emmas Back Porch and then head out in teams and do the door knocking. Gould won by being the better campaigner.
On a door step her energy and just plain likability came through.
She once explained what tended to happen when she got to the end of a street she was door knocking on. “People would tell me”, explained Gould “that they intended to vote Liberal but weren’t going to put up a lawn sign.”
On one street Gould said she wanted to shout out: ‘You’re all Liberals” and they were – or enough of them to make her a member of the House of Commons.
 Gould with her campaign team during the election that took her to Ottawa – they ran a superb campaign. She performed well. She loved the moment when then American President Barak Obama recognized her when he paid a visit to Canada.
Gould has that genuine youthful energy – she is just a likeable person who also has the ability to back away from the political rhetoric and ask how a person is doing when she knows they are struggling.
Watching her do the “opening pitch” at what was then the Burlington Bandits was something to observe. It didn’t look as if baseball was a sport she excelled in – but she did get the ball over the plate.
 The local baseball team didn’t need a pitcher – they did change their name the following season. When word got out that Prime Minister Trudeau was going to shuffle his Cabinet everyone was pretty sure that Maryam Monsef was on her way out. But few predicted that Gould was on her way in.
She was given Democratic Institutions – and within days of getting back to the House of Commons she announced that the First Past the Post promise made during the election was dead in the water.
When Gould was interviewed on CBC’s The House, it was evident she had grown into the role of a Cabinet Minister quite quickly and was pretty good at dodging some of the questions. She gave the pretty pat statement that her job as Minister was to “protect, improve and make the election process more accessible” and she stuck to it.
Hall wanted to know when she learned that the Prime Minister was not going to make good on his election promise.
Gould explained: “We’ve listened to the public; there is no consensus so we are not going forward with this initiative.”
“When you took this job as minister of democratic institutions” asked Hall, “ did you know at that time that it was looking like the proposal to change the election system would fall ?”
 Mike Wallace, former Conservative MP, paying homage to Karina Gould on election night. Gould responded: “When the Prime Minister asked me to join cabinet and when he asked me to take on this portfolio what he said to me was that he wanted me to make sure that I protect improve and make more accessible our Democratic institutions.”
Hall came back with: “The question was did you know at that time that you would be pulling away from the promise to have a different election system?”
Gould, sticking to her guns said: “My mandate letter was made public on Wednesday so I’m happy and looking forward to delivering on it.”
That 29 year old, with less than a month’s experience as a Cabinet Minister behind her performed admirably as a politician.
Nathan Cullen, NDP member for Skeena-Bulkley Valley in British Columbia, met with Gould the day before she as made a Cabinet minister and asked for some advice on what the Parliamentary committee could and should do next in its attempt to change the way we elect our governments.
Cullen did not know that she was about to be made a Cabinet Minister and Gould was not in a position to tell him.
What we are seeing is a young woman who has all the traits needed to become a strong politician. A good one; only time will tell.
 Some thought this junior minister was being made a sacrificial lamb when made Minister of Democratic Institutions – she got past the barrage or criticism rather well. The Prime Minister will be keeping a closer eye on her. While Burlington is very proud of her – the citizens needs to keep in mind the quote from Junius that appears at the top of the Globe & Mail editorial page.
“The subject who is truly loyal to the Chief Magistrate will neither advise or submit to arbitrary measures.”
The complete mandate letter an be found at:
https://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-democratic-institutions-mandate-letter
 By Staff
February 15th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
For readers of The Book of Negroes, Bound for Canaan, House Girl and The Illegal comes the story of a fifteen-year-old escaped slave named Cecelia Reynolds, who slips away to freedom in Canada while her Kentucky owners holiday at Niagara Falls.
Kaarolyn Smardz Frost will be talking about her book, Steal Away Home, at Central library on Tues., February 21, 7 p.m.
 Kaarolyn Smardz Frost In this compelling work of narrative non-fiction, Governor General’s Award winner Karolyn Smardz Frost brings Cecelia’s story to life. Cecelia was a teenager when she made her dangerous bid for freedom from the United States, across the Niagara River and into Canada. Escape meant that she would never see her mother or brother again. She would be cut off from the young mistress with whom she grew up, but who also owned her as a slave holder owns the body of a slave. This was a time when people could be property, when a beloved father could be separated from his wife while their children were auctioned off to the highest bidder, and the son of a white master and his black housekeeper could become a slave to his own white half-sister and brother-in-law.
Cecelia found a new life in Toronto’s vibrant African American expatriate community. Her rescuer became her husband, a courageous conductor on the Underground Railroad helping other freedom-seekers reach Canada. Widowed, she braved the Fugitive Slave Law to cross back into the United States, where she again found love, and followed her William into the battlefields of the Civil War. Finally, with a wounded husband and young children in tow, she returned to the Kentucky she had known as a child. But her home had changed: hooded Night Riders roamed the countryside with torches and nooses at the ready. When William disappeared, Cecelia relied on the support and affection of her former mistress—the Southern belle who had owned her as a child.
 Only five of the letters between Cecelia and her former mistress, Fanny Thruston Ballard, have survived. They are testament to the great love and the lifelong friendship that existed between these two very different women. Reunited after years apart, the two lived within a few blocks of each other for the rest of Fanny’s life.
Steal Away Home, is the riveting true story of escaped slave Cecilia Reynolds and her lifelong friendship with her former mistress.
 By Pepper Parr
February 7th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
You will have heard the phrase – sector disruption” – which is when someone comes up with an idea that shakes up a sector of an industry.
 Apple did that with their iTunes service – record stores took a huge hit. Newspapers took it between the eyes when Craig’s List and decimated the classified advertising business that kept many newspapers alive.
These advances in technology have had massive impacts on the way we get things done.
Pause now – and agree with me – you can talk 200 words a minute can’t you? You probably know others who can as well and wish they didn’t continue to do that when you are around.
Can you type 200 words a minute? Most of us can’t – at least not with much in the way of accuracy.
 The screen you work from – but all you have to do is talk and your words appear on the screen. What if you talked 200 words a minute and your computer captured those words which you could drop into a report or send out as an email.
You can talk into your cell phone and see the words come up on the screen. That feature is in actuality the Google speech to text feature that is built into Android phones.
Nine guys who have a converted store front they call their head office in the north west part of the city where the rents are low and parking usually isn’t a problem – and there is a decent coffee shop steps away, found a way to port that same Google speech to text feature to a desk top or lap top computer.
They called it LilySpeech and are marketing the service that costs $2.49 a month and you can cancel it any time you like.
Download and install it and then whenever you want to use the program you click on the icon that will get dropped into your computer when you set up. All you have to do is talk away.
You do have to be quite specific.
You say:
The specifications are quite specific and the costing has been done period new line
You have to dictate the punctuation.
 There is nothing fancy about the head office set up. Lots of empty pizza boxes in a corner plus hours and hours of pouring over code to get LilySpeech just right. Type at 200 words a minute – and it works. Jonathan Adams, one of the nine partners, believes he and his colleagues are on to something – they have completed the all the beta testing and have ironed out the bugs. “We keep adding additional features – small things that just make it better” he said.
How does it operate?
Once you’ve downloaded and registered a small icon will appear – on your computer – you click on that and LilySpeech shows up on your computer screen.
Then you start talking and LilySpeech generates the text in real time. When you have finished you click to transfer what you dictated to wherever you want it to appear; it could be a WORD file or an email.
LilySpeech is really a productivity tool – that has features that will save you a lot of time – especially for those tasks that are repetitive. You can set up a list of words that might be difficult for the speech to text software to pick up; scientific phrases that you use often. You’d say special word 5 and whatever that special word is will appear on the screen.
You can give the special word any definition – choose whatever works for you.
 This is a productivity tool for anyone who uses the same material over and over; marketing people will just love this feature. You create the message and save it – and when you are using LilySpeech you just go to the “Canned Answers” section click on the one you want, it drops into your document and you continue with your dictation.
Like anything new, it takes a little fiddling to get just what you want – but it comes easily.
LilySpeech is something well worth looking into – and at a price of $2.49 a month you can’t go wrong. A newspaper or a cup of coffee costs more than this service.
Log into www.LilySpeech.com and give it a go – there is a one month free trial.
You will be on your way to saving hours of time each day.
By Staff
February 7th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
The provincial government isn’t going to take too much guff from Patrick Brown, leader of the Progressive Conservative opposition party.
Brown, MPP for Simcoe North and leader of the opposition was speaking to the Ontario Road Builders Association where, according to the Ontario Ministry of Transpiration he “made a number of false statements about the province.
“Facts Still Matter in Ontario”, said the Ministry spokesperson, “especially when it comes to the historic amount of transportation infrastructure being built right now across the province.”
Brown said: “We want to make sure that historic infrastructure $130 billion is actually spent on infrastructure not spent simply on, on promises, on press releases”
Fact: Cost of the new GO station in Richmond Hill: $22 million, cost of the press release announcing it was open: $0, cost of catching Patrick Brown making up facts: priceless
Brown said: “We have become the capital of red tape in North America”
Fact: The CFIB nominated has nominated the Ontario government for its golden scissors award for cutting red tape 3 years in a row. This year the government received two nominations.
Brown said: “Projects need to start within mandate… It’s an insincere commitment promising something for 2019 or 2031”
Fact: Meaningful projects take longer than 4 years to build. If Patrick Brown won’t build anything that takes longer than 4 years that means he wouldn’t build any new subways or LRT’s.
Brown said: “The biggest announcement was for Hydro One, government said we’d get money for infrastructure. Of the first $4 billion sold, 0 went into infrastructure, money has been diverted to general revenue”
Fact: All of this money went into the Trillium Trust to be spent on projects like like GO Regional Express Rail, Mississauga and Hamilton LRT’s and the recently announced natural gas expansion.
Brown said: “I believe we’ve seen lip service to infrastructure over the last 10 years but we’re not seeing shovels in the ground”
 Waterloo LRT under construction  Eglington LRT in Toronto Fact: Here are some pictures of shovels in the ground
 Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne Do you get the impression that the political parties are moving to an election footing. Premier Wynne just might call a snap election if she can find an issue to run with.
Stay tuned
By Staff
February 6th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Live – from the QEW.
Visuals taken from the cameras along the QEW.
At 6:00 pm this evening this is what it looked like.
  A two-vehicle accident on the QEW earlier this afternoon shut down all the westbound lanes – traffic was funneled to the Guelph Line exit.
 A collision between a cube van and a Toyota passenger resulted in the female driver of Toyota, being trapped. The OPP said it took some time for the woman to be extricated.
 By Staff
February 6th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Paper is given life through the works presented in the two Art Gallery of Burlington shows: A Safe Haven: Raphael Vella and Visual Poetry: Contemporary Woodcuts.
As a time honoured medium for artists, paper allows for the expression of thoughts, observations, reflections and statements. Artists Raphael Vella (Malta), Tom Hammick (United Kingdom), Donna Ibing (Burlington, ON) and Naoko Matsubara (Oakville, ON) use this medium to explore a variety of subject matter from contemporary politics to everyday life.
A Safe Haven: Raphael Vella combines his two series of drawings, For the Welfare of All Children alongside ten works from No Place Like HOMeS. For Vella, the role of the artist is not to create an object, but to engage people by sparking discussions and questions. In For the Welfare of All Children, Vella questions society’s supervision of children and the imposed social structures to protect them. For the series No Place Like HOMeS, Vella combines iconic buildings with the ravages of the Syrian War, bringing to the fore the power of war over peace and destruction over construction, while questioning the act of reclaiming such sites.
Visual Poetry: Contemporary Woodcuts looks at the work of Tom Hammick (United Kingdom), Donna Ibing (Burlington, ON) and Naoko Matsubara (Oakville, ON). Each artist works in a different style, though all execute their work on a grand scale producing multiple layers of meaning, creating unique and thought provoking work.
 Raphael Vella Raphael Vella is an artist, educator and curator based in Malta. He obtained a PhD in Fine Arts at the University of the Arts London in 2006, and is currently Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta. He has exhibited his works in important international exhibitions and venues, including the Venice Biennale, Domaine Pommery (Reims, France), Modern Art Oxford in the UK and the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland. For many years, he has also been active as a curator, having directed the Valletta International Visual Art festival (VIVA) in 2014 and 2015, and is currently co-curating the Malta Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of 2017. He has also directed the project ‘Divergent Thinkers’ for emerging artists in Malta since 2011.
 Tom Hammick Tom Hammick is a British artist based in East Sussex and London. He is a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, Painting and Printmaking at the University of Brighton, and a Visiting Lecturer of Fine Art at University of Ulster, and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD University). He has work in many major public and corporate collections including the British Museum (Collection of Prints and Drawings), Victoria and Albert Museum, Bibliotheque Nationale de France (Collection of Prints and Drawings), Deutsche Bank, Yale Centre for British Art, and The Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
 Donna Ibing Donna Ibing of Burlington is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art, and is considered one of Ontario’s leading artists in painting and printmaking. Her work has been shown in major cities across Canada including Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. Ibing’s work can be found in collections across Ontario including the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Kitchener/Waterloo Gallery and the Toronto Public Library and Archives.
 Naoko Matsubara Naoko Matsubara graduated from the Kyoto Academy of Fine Arts, and was a Fullbright scholar at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh where she received her MFA. Subsequently she studied at the Royal College of Art in London. In 1981 she became a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and in 2009 she received an honourary doctorate of Fine Art from Chatham University in Pittsburgh. She continues to create single-sheet woodcuts, paintings and murals from her Oakville studio. Matsubara’s work can be found in private and public collections around the world including the British Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Cincinnati Art Museum; The White House; the National Museums of Modern Art, Tokyo and Kyoto; Staatliche Museum zu Berlin, Germany; Royal Ontario Museum; and Yale University Art Gallery.
The exhibition runs from February 10 to April 2, 2017 Art Gallery of Burlington in the Lee-Chin Family Gallery.
There is a public reception Thursday February 9, 5pm-7pm
By Staff
February 6th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Next to the weather and the amount of traffic on the QEW the upload and down load speds of your internet connection could well be the most WORDS
The map set out below is something you can access and see just what the upload and down load speeds are for where you live.
 Dark blue has the best speeds. On balance the quality of service looks kind of patchy – not exactly a selling point for the city. Odd that a part of the city the map labels as Freeman has the highest speeds – surprising is the speed available in the rural part of the city.
The city and the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) are working in partnership to test Internet performance test for the city.
You can test your Internet connection by visiting
https://performance.cira.ca/Burlington.
The test takes just a few seconds. So far 1833 tests have been run.
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) manages the .CA top-level domain on behalf of all Canadians. CIRA also develops technologies and services that help support its goal of building a better online Canada. The CIRA team operates one of the fastest-growing ccTLDs, a high-performance global DNS network, and one of the world’s most advanced back-end registry solutions.
By Staff
February 6th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
If skating isn’t your thing – then you might want to try swimming – you get to do both on Family Day – when the Red and White Fun Swim and Public Skate takes place: Monday February 20, 2017
The city has decided to “market” the event and play up the sesquicentennial year we are now in. Show your Canadian pride; wear red and white and pay an admission of just $1.50/person.
 Mayor Rick Goldring with his red and white attire. Will hundreds show up at Appleby to skate and swimming pools with red and white ? Bonus…wear red and white AND show a photo of a Canadian flag posted in your window at home and your admission is FREE!
Don’t have a flag? Download one under “Resources” at burlington.ca/canada150.
They might want to offer an additional bonus for all those who can spell sesquicentennial and also tell you what it means.
They clearly want you to have a Canadian flag in your window. With this kind of hype in February one can only imagine the size of the blow out on Canada Day in July.
Fun Swim:
Angela Coughlan noon to 2 .pm.
Aldershot pool 10 a.m. to noon
Public Skate
Appleby pad 1 noon to 2 p.m.
Appleby pad 2 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
 By Pepper Parr
February 6th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It was late in the day, slightly overcast and cold. Nevertheless there were two boys and their Dad on the ice; the boys practicing their shot on the empty net.
 The only thing missing from this picture is a goalie in the net. The rink was put up in the Alton community. The rink was set up by residents in the community; there has been tremendous local business support but not enough “labour” support. The few people who take care of the rink spend a lot of nights out there.
It’s a decent 50 x 64 size rink that has suffered some damage to the liner. Folks have been waiting for it to get repaired.
There are no lights the community decided lights would mean kid on the ice late into the evening that might result in a lot of noise.
 That one went where it was supposed to go. A goalie would have made it a lot harder. The Alton rink is a pure community effort – the city created a local rink program that called for residents to look after a rink that the city would set up.
The following communities qualified for a rink because there was water access.
There are now 14 community rinks throughout the city – which is higher than last year.
It’s a program that works – and with decent weather the water actually gets to freeze. There was a point at which some people thought they were going to end up with splash pads.
Ken White and Mike Collins are spending a lot of their time on that rink -and they aren’t skating.
They rented a pump and draw in water from the creek.
“The task has been frustrating since the children have caused some inadvertent holes in the liner allowing water to leak out before it gets fully filled.”
Among the communities that qualified for a community rink are:
• Brant Hills Park (2 rinks possible)
• LaSalle Park
• Sherwood Park
• Bridgeview Park
• Nelson Park
• Tansley Woods Park
• Central Park
• Orchard Park
• Ireland Park
• Sheldon Park
 By Staff
February 3rd, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Asked what were the driving forces that got her into serving the public at the school board level Leah Reynolds provided the Gazette with a rather lengthy list of what shapes her involvement in the education of our children.
 Trustee Reynolds, centre with Collard on her left and Gray on her right. “I understand the public wants to know how I will vote on this issue. I will wait for the PAR committee to complete their work, for the Director’s Final Report and to hear from the public throughout this process and more formally in April, before committing to any option as I believe the best option has yet to emerge.”
The driving force behind entering public office is my passion for education as evidenced by my long-serving school volunteerism through reading club, breakfast club, chairing school councils, participating in community discussion of elementary school closing and helping lead numerous school capital fundraising enhancements and initiatives. These experiences equipped me with the skills to navigate the school board and I realized that I could be helpful to parents and community.
I also understood that there were population challenges and should a Program Accommodation Review (PAR) be held, I wanted to be a part of the conversation because schools are the heart of the community.
Reynolds pointed out that “this is a full time job, serving parents and families days, evenings and often weekends, one that trustees gladly take on in service to students and their education.”
Trustees attend far more meetings than city Councillors do.
 If Central high school is closed – for whatever reason – can Leah Reynolds get re-elected? Reynolds said her “top priority and philosophy is focused squarely on what is in the best interests of students.” She did make clear that “schools are the heart of the community”.
Her decision matrix, said Reynolds will consider more than the three factors the Gazette set out. Her considerations include the 13 factors identified by the PAR policy which are:
I. Range of mandatory program
2. Range of optional program
3. Viability of Program – number of students required to offer and maintain program in an educationally sound and fiscally responsible way
4. Physical and environmental state of existing schools
5 Proximity to other schools (non-bus distances, natural boundaries, walking routes)
6 Accommodation of students in permanent school facilities and minimal use of portable classrooms
7. Balance of overall enrolment in each school in the area to maximize student access to programs, resources and extra-curricular opportunities and avoid over and under utilization of buildings.
8. Expansion and placement of new ministry or board programs.
9. Stable, long-term boundaries to avoid frequent boundary changes
10 Cost effectiveness of transportation
11 Fiscal responsibilities
12 Existing and potential community uses and facility partnerships
13. Goals and focus of the current multi-year plan
 Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward and school board trustee Leah Reynolds the night Meed Ward launched her re-election campaign. Are these two joined at the hip on the school closing issue. There may be additional factors that bubble up as a result of the PAR committee’s discussions. But the lens through which all these factors will be viewed is what is best for students at our schools.
Every person added Reynolds “has an opportunity right now to make their voice heard to help shape the options that emerge for trustee consideration in the spring.
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By Peter Menet
