 By Graham Fraser
June 14, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
One of the things I like about this job, that pays me less than nothing, is the responses we get from readers. Elise Box wrote and chided me for what she felt was my giving space to just on side of the French language instruction argument that Halton school board trustees are wrestling with. “I thought since you were in the “pinching,” from the Globe and Mail, you might consider pinching an article that is actually researched based. Perhaps you could assist in sharing the whole picture to the public.” I wouldn’t refer to this as “research based”; it is an opinion from a man I know personally and have a lot of respect for – however it is just an opinion.
For years, I have been listening to the arguments of ill-informed critics of French immersion. The time has come to set the record straight.
Some critics use the percentage of Canadians who are bilingual to argue that French immersion has been a failure. However, percentages are misleading; with Canada welcoming 250,000 newcomers each year, some of whom speak neither official language, it’s not surprising that the percentage of bilingual Canadians has dropped, even though the actual number has increased by more than half a million over the past 10 years.
Others complain that French immersion belongs to a particular chapter of Canadian history. Contrary to what many critics claim, French immersion is not a product of the Trudeau years, but began in the mid-1960s in Quebec, before Pierre Elliott Trudeau was even elected to Parliament. Its goal was to help children acquire language proficiency through the use of French as a language of instruction.
The allegation that it is an elitist program that filters out the children with behavioural problems and special needs is also profoundly unfair. The fact is that when a child in immersion has any kind of learning or behavioural problem, the first response of some schools is to pressure the parents to take their child out of immersion, regardless of whether or not the learning problem has anything to do with the language of instruction. Yet there are studies that show that children with learning problems do just as well in immersion as they do in the English stream.
 Similarly, many schools and school boards actively discourage immigrant parents from enrolling their children in immersion, even though studies show that immigrant students – who often speak a third language at home – adapt smoothly to immersion. Some immersion programs, however, boast a high percentage of children of immigrants, as their parents recognize the value of being able to speak the country’s two official languages.
Moreover, critics often refer to the drop-out rate from immersion. This is partly due to students choosing other specialized programs that are not available in immersion, and partly due to other factors. Some 15 years ago, Edmonton Public Schools was concerned about the dropout rate from immersion. By bolstering support for the teachers, improving communication with parents and establishing comparative evaluations of students’ language skills, the dropout rate diminished dramatically. Edmonton Public Schools is now recognized as having one of the best immersion programs in the country.
Some of the disenchantment with immersion comes from unrealistic expectations. Immersion doesn’t – and isn’t intended to – produce graduates who speak French with the fluency of native speakers. What immersion does provide is an important building block on which graduates can develop their language skills. Language proficiency is both an intellectual and a physical activity; without practice, it diminishes dramatically. I hope that the 150th anniversary of Confederation will see an increase in the number of opportunities for students to spend time in an environment where the other official language is dominant.
One of the problems that the immersion system has faced for a number of years has been a shortage of teachers who fully master French. To address this issue, a government program could be useful in breaking down some of the barriers that prevent exchanges between teachers. It is still easier for a teacher in Quebec to have an exchange with a teacher in France than with a teacher in Ontario, and easier for a teacher in Ontario to exchange jobs with a teacher in Australia than with a teacher in Quebec. This, to put it mildly, makes no sense.
 Halton District School Board trustees. Senior staff sit in the second row and are on hand to answer questions and provide detail. The immersion experience can be life-changing. When Jennifer MacIntyre was a child in a small town in Cape Breton, she insisted on going into immersion, overcoming the reluctance of her unilingual parents. Her reason: she wanted to be able to work at Cape Breton’s National Historic Site, the Site Fortress of Louisbourg. The experience broadened her horizons. Now, several decades later, she is Canada’s ambassador to Switzerland. “Without French, nothing else would have been possible and my dreams would have been much smaller,” she told me recently.
Canadian parents – thousands of whom are themselves graduates of immersion – want their children to have the experience that French immersion offers. It has enriched the lives of millions of Canadians. It is unfortunate that an ideal of perfection is being used to criticize one of the most successful Canadian educational experiences available.
Graham Fraser is Canada’s commissioner of official languages.
 By Pepper Parr
June 13th 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
Halton Board of Education trustees will this evening hear from citizen delegation on what they would like to see in the way of a French immersion program for the 2017-18 school year.
Staff have recommended:
Grade 2 Entry into French Immersion at both dual and single track schools with 100% intensity for the first year and reduced intensity after that as shown:
Gr 2 – 100% intensity
Gr 3 – 80% intensity
Gr 4 – 50% intensity
 David Boag, Associate Director of Education for Halton Board of Education – the man carrying the ball and gathering research for th trustees. “Delaying entry into immersion till Grade 2 and having kids learn French the whole day instead of half when they start. That way, officials hope, parents will think more seriously about whether to put their kids in the program. It’s a sensible idea that could help ease the bandwagon effect – gotta do it or my kid will lose out – that is overwhelming boards.
 Of the 57 Grade 1 kids at Tom Thomson Public School in Burlington, Ontario, 53 are in French immersion. The remaining four are in Ms. Amanda Heilesen’s split Grade 1 and 2 class. KEVIN VAN PAASSEN/for The Globe and Mail This is one of the few occasions when staff does not direct the elected trustees. Many meetings were held, lots of discussion and a three inch binder of research and the trustees were told – they were on their own.
Halton is trying to figure out how to meet the demand from parents along with the limitations on the school/classroom structure and the difficulty in finding the number of qualified French language teachers. Their problem isn’t helped by the price of housing in Burlington – that much touted Best mid-sized city in Canada isn’t going to do anything for us either.
What do the pundit think? There were two exceptionally good columns in the Globe and Mail recently from which we have pinched shamelessly.
Margaret Wente, a regular columnist at the Globe had this to say:
No wonder Canadian parents have gone crazy for French immersion. Who wouldn’t want to raise a bilingual kid? Across the country, demand is soaring through the roof. Schools are scrambling to cope. In some districts, 25 per cent of the primary-school kids are in French immersion. School officials say there would be far more if they could only find more teachers.
 Trustees Papin, Oliver and Grebenc Just one problem. Well, several, actually. For many parents, French immersion is a way to game the system. It filters out the kids with behavioural problems and special needs, along with the low achievers. In short, it’s a form of streaming. Most French-immersion students are from affluent, high-achieving families that work hard to give their children an edge. And who can blame them? It sure beats forking over $27,220 a year for the Toronto French School (and that’s for kindergarten).
Unfortunately, this selfish but entirely natural parental tendency is at total odds with the gospel of the Canadian school system, which strives to be equal and inclusive above all else. For schools, “streaming” is a dirty word. We are constantly assured that high-performing kids actually do better in classrooms that include all those other kids. And vice versa.
This tension between the school boards and the parents has created an impossible dilemma. Some schools’ English-language programs are being hollowed out. In dual-track schools, they now have a much bigger ratio of disadvantaged, behavioural, etc. kids than the French programs do. The schools are being accused of entrenching inequality. As one immersion advocate told Maclean’s, “If we’re going to offer this program, how can we justify it if we don’t give kids – from whatever background – the tools they need to succeed?”
Today, the idea of French immersion as a magic smart pill is virtually unquestioned.
Sadly, there’s not the slightest shred of evidence that French immersion has accomplished any of its lofty goals. After 40 years of ever-expanding immersion programs, the percentage of Canadians who can speak both official languages has dropped. At two of the Greater Toronto Area’s largest school boards, half of French-immersion students bail out by Grade 8. By the time they graduate high school, only 10 per cent achieve proficiency in French (which is not the same as fluency).
The reasons for this miserable success rate are no mystery. Their entire world outside the classroom immerses kids in English. They play in English. They live in English. Everybody they know speaks English. If you want them to be bilingual, you’d better take them to live in France or Quebec – or at least make sure you’re married to a French speaker.
 Trustees Gray, Reynolds and Collard The downsides to French immersion, though seldom mentioned, are also real. Kids who struggle with English will also struggle with French – and who needs that?
Yet the dream lives on. As enrolment shrinks, school boards are desperate to keep parents happy so that they don’t defect from the public system. Like all-day kindergarten – which was also supposed to make kids smarter – French immersion turns out to be too good to be true. But too many people have too much invested in it to say so.
Marcus Gee who also writes a column had this to say:
French immersion is a wonderful thing in theory. Plunge kids into French in their early years, when their brains soak up language like a sponge, and they will emerge as confident French speakers. That will be good for them, making them more rounded people and giving them a shot at jobs where being bilingual is an advantage, and good for the country, helping bring the two solitudes of French and English together.
 Trustees Harrison, Harvey-Hope. Associate Director of Education David Boag is on the right. In practice, it hasn’t quite worked out that way, for several reasons. First, kids in immersion aren’t really immersed. The moment they are out the door and into the playground, they are speaking English, not French. In a city such as Toronto – or Edmonton or Vancouver or just about anywhere outside of Quebec – there just aren’t that many opportunities for most kids to use their French outside of school. Even in the classroom, few teachers can enforce a French-only rule at all times.
Second, it’s hard to find French-immersion teachers. The shortage is chronic. Schools scramble to fill immersion teaching posts and end up with a lot of teachers who can’t teach, can’t speak very good French or can’t do either.
Third, many students drop out of immersion as the years pass, some because they aren’t thriving in the French stream, others because they are going to specialty schools that don’t offer immersion. Even those who stay often don’t acquire good French. A surprising number do French for the whole 13 years, from senior kindergarten to Grade 12, and still can’t have more than a halting French conversation when they graduate.
That points to another problem with immersion: It has become a privileged island in the school system, populated disproportionately by kids from better-off families. It is the more educated, more involved parents who tend to choose immersion for their kids, hoping to give them an advantage within the hit-and-miss public system. Immersion classes tend to be whiter than the norm, with fewer students from immigrant families. In some schools, people come to view the English stream as second-rate, a place where poorer kids or kids who struggle in school end up. It’s the kind of division that a multicultural city that prizes equality wants to avoid.
 Director of Education Stuart Miller, Chair Kelly Amos and Vice chair Kim Gervais You can’t blame parents for wanting the best for their children. You can’t blame school boards for wanting to accommodate them either. The goal of French immersion – to give more students command of the country’s other official language – is still a noble one. Knowing a second or third language, a commonplace for Europeans, is an obvious asset in the age of globalization (though Mandarin might be a smarter choice). All my kids say that, whatever the ups and downs of immersion, it gave them a good grounding in French and broadened their horizons.
But the whole program needs a good hard look. Enrolment in immersion is soaring. School boards are struggling to meet the demand. It’s a good time to examine whether it is working as it should.
Will the trustees from Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills find a way to meet the mushrooming demands of the parents, the needs of those children who are not cut out for French Immersion and the and at the same time be able to see the bigger picture?
This is not what any of them expected when they ran for public office. They are going to be fully tested with this issue. Fortunately there are a number of wise women on the board. There are enough of them to make the right decision.
They will decide what they want to see done at a meeting on June 15th, after they have heard all the delegations.
 By Staff
June 13th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It is that time of year again folks – the Sound of Music sort of takes over the city and they bring in millions of dollars in business to the city – so we put up with the problems in getting around and get outdoors and enjoy the music.
Here is what happens street closure wise.
Road Closures for Sound of Music – June 17 to 19
The following road closures will be in place.
• Friday, June 17 from 3:30 p.m. to Sunday, June 19 at 6 p.m., Brant Street from Caroline Street to Lakeshore Road.
• Saturday, June 18, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.,John Street from Pine Street to Lakeshore Road.
Parade Closures
• Saturday, June 18 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Caroline Street from Drury Lane to Locust Street, Elizabeth Street from Caroline Street to Pine Street and Drury Lane from Courtland to New Street.
Road closures will be managed under the supervision of the Halton Regional Police Service and emergency access will be maintained at all times.
By Pepper Parr
June 13th, 2106
BURLINGTON. ON
 Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon – now a member of the provincial cabinet Mary Eleanor McMahon, has been appointed at the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport
Indira Naidoo-Harris has been appointed the Associate Minister of Finance (Ontario Retirement Pension Plan)
McMahon takes over a Ministry that was once held by former Mayor Cam Jackson when he was part of the provincial government. Better luck to McMahon with that portfolio.
Her Share the Road work gets her close to sports – her family day skating party suggests that she might want to spend some time outdoors.
 India Nadoo-Harris, MPP for Halon and now a member of the provincial cabinet Naidoo-Harris has a job as long as the provincial government has to go it along with their plans for a provincial retirement plan. Good management suggests the federal plan and the proposed provincial plan be merged.
McMahon and Naidoo-Harris are two very very different politicians. It will be interesting to see how they turn out.
Big change in the life of Mary Eleanor McMahon.
By Staff
June 13th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Short Term Road Closure: Emerald Street on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Emerald Street will be closed on Tuesday, June 14 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. between Courtland Drive and Victoria Avenue for crane activity.
Signs and barricades will be up and no through traffic will be allowed.
Local traffic to residents in this area of Emerald Street will be maintained, as well as emergency access.
 By Pepper Parr
June 13th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
 Indira Naidoo-Harris  Eleanor McMahon Indira Naidoo-Harris and Eleanor McMahon are appointed to the Cabinet of the Ontario provincial government
That gives the city two Cabinet members.
More to follow
 By Staff
June 13th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
In a significant change of events – the last place in the league Burlington Bandits managed to outlast the first team in the league and outlast Panthers in extra-inning win
It wasn’t pretty, but the Bandits outlasted the Kitchener Panthers to win 9-8 in 10 innings Sunday night.
The Bandits scored two runs in the eighth and ninth innings and produced the winning run in the 10th after the Panthers made their sixth error of the game.
 Photo by Sean Moffitt Justin Gideon had a home run, two RBI and two runs for the Bandits. Jim Martin had two hits, including a home run, an RBI and run. Adam Odd went 3-for-5 with an RBI and run, and Nolan Pettipiece drove in a run and scored once.
Odd picked up the win, throwing three scoreless innings of relief. He scattered five hits and struck out two without issuing a walk.
Branden Kuzyk started and went four innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits, walking four and striking out two.
Burlington made four errors in the field.
For Kitchener, Mike Gordner homered and had four singles to drive in a pair of runs while scoring twice. Sean Reilly had three hits and an RBI, Tanner Nivins singled twice and drove in a run, and Darren Saunders and Colin Gordner each had an RBI. Terrell Alliman had two doubles and a single and scored once.
Andrew Simonetti took the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits in two innings, walking one without striking out a batter. Matt McGovern started and went seven innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on seven hits, striking out two and walking one.
Burlington improved to 3-10, and Kitchener fell to 11-2.
Elsewhere in the league …
The London Majors scored 10 runs in the first two innings and rolled to a 13-5 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday afternoon.
Cleveland Brownlee had two hits, including his fifth home run of the season, three RBI and scored twice. Keith Kandel, LeJon Baker and Elis Jimenez each had two hits, two runs and an RBI, while RJ Fuhr had three hits and drove in a pair of runs. Carlos Arteaga had two RBI, Michael Ambrose, Tristan Buntrock and Kyle Gormandy all drove in a run. Humberto Ruiz singled, doubled and scored twice.
Oscar Perez (2-1) went eight innings for the win. Perez struck out seven and walked three, allowing two runs on seven hits.
Connor Lewis and Grant Tamane each had three hits and an RBI for the Leafs. Jonathan Marra drove in two with two hits, and Julio Guzman had a single RBI.
Dillon Mulhollond (1-2) took the loss after giving up 11 runs (10 earned) on 14 hits over five innings. He walked four and struck out three.
London improved to 10-4 and moved within 1.5 games of first-place Kitchener, and Toronto fell to 7-6.
Celestijn paces Cardinals past Red Sox
HAMILTON – Dre Celestijn singled twice and tripled to lead the Hamilton Cardinals to a 10-3 win over the Brantford Red Sox Sunday afternoon.
Celestijn, the Cards’ cleanup hitter, drove in a run and scored once. Callum Murphy and Jason deVos each had two hits and an RBI and combined to score three times. Tyler Hardie and Jake Osborne singled and scored once.
Robert Wilson (1-1) went five innings for the win, scattering three hits over five innings and allowing two runs (one earned). He struck out three and walked two.
For the Red Sox, Nate Burdett, Lee Delfino and Benjamin Bostick all had an RBI. Rick Murray added a pair of singles.
Matt Martinow (0-1) took the loss. He lasted 4.2 innings and gave up three runs (one earned) on seven hits, striking out two and walking three.
Hamilton improved to 5-11, and Brantford dropped to 7-7.
Future games
Monday, June 13
Brantford at Kitchener, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 14
Guelph at London, 7:35 p.m.
The Gazette thanks the Inter County Baseball league for the news and game results.
By Pepper Parr
June 12th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
GLOBAL WARMING –
We hear about it every day.
There are still those who think it isn’t happening.
It is happening – the two pictures that follow make that clear enough for the most doubting.
This isn’t a theory – these are facts.
 Alaska’s Pedersen Glacier has retreated steadily over the past century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. This photo, taken during the summer of 1917, shows a lagoon filled with icebergs. The bottom photo, dated August 2005, shows the same lagoon now filled with sediment, grasses and shrubs.  Alaska’s Pedersen Glacier has retreated steadily over the past century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. This photo, dated August 2005, shows the same lagoon now filled with sediment, grasses and shrubs. The projections are dire: glaciers will continue to shrink, heat waves will be more frequent and the oceans will get warmer and more acidic. A large majority of environmental scientists warn that if global temperatures rise by more than 2 C above pre-industrial levels, the consequences will be severe and, in some cases, irreversible.
By the end of the century, the panel says, CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions must register near zero — a mighty feat that some observers say is simply not achievable.
What happens then?
Vince Fiorito, one of the most committed environmentalists we know once said to me: Pepper, don’t worry about the planet – it will survive. It is we human beings hat may not be able to survive on the plant we create because of our poor stewardship.
CBC has published an interactive WORD on their web site
CLICK HERE to get to it.
Every household in the city would be well served if they spent half an hour on this instead of watching a television show. At this point it is still our world – do we get to keep it and pass it along to our children and their grand children?
 By Pepper Parr
June 11th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
If you like to paint (… and who doesn’t?) said the notice from the Friends of Freeman Station then please join us for our next Saturday Volunteer Work Days —
SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2016, from 8am to mid-day
And again the following weekend:
SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2016 – from 8 am to mid-day
You will be joining a bunch of guys who just like to get out of the house and do something – get their hands on some tools and make something or repair something.
 The Station Master’s office – knots in the pine are sealed – and the walls are ready for their first coat of paint. Twenty five years from now you will take your grandchildren on a tour and show them the job that you did. You may not have been inside the Freeman Station. It is going to be a large part of the pride of the city when it is complete – and here is an opportunity for you to be part of that pride.
 The Waiting Room – it is ready for its first coat of paint.
By Staff
June 10th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
 New Street torn up for the installation of new water and waste removal pipes. New Street is undergoing a major upgrade with new water and waste pipes being put in and the road re-paved. The stretch of New Street from Guelph Line to Burloak will have bike lanes added.
For those living at the New – Guelph Line intersection east to Drury Lane – it has been a miserable couple of weeks – dust, dust and more dust and roads that are rough to drive over.
The paving equipment was laying down a nice thick bed of asphalt – no more dust for us. The construction crews are moving east to the Drury Lane to Martha section.
 It is one seamless operation – from the truck into a piece of equipment that prepares the asphalt and pours it into the machine that lays down a thick coat of brand new road. After that the construction crews begin the Guelph Line west section of the road.
Along that section there is a family that has decided they want to go back to the city’s roots when it was the produce capital of the country – to a time when the railway line into the city was doubled to handle the volume that was loaded at the Freeman Junction.
 Lush looking gardens to the side of New Street. This family has a nice little crop doing just fine. There was a time when all of what is now New Street was farm land.
It was certainly a different time.
By Staff
June 10th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
On Thursday June 9th police in Milton and Halton Hills launched Project “Safety through Compliance” targeting dangerous commercial motor vehicles that operate within both towns.
 Assisted by officers from Peel Regional Police and Guelph Police, experienced traffic officers focussed their efforts on identifying vehicles that may present a safety hazard to road users. This targeted approach typically produces a high rate of inspection failures and this was true during this project.
On Thursday June 9th officers patrolled Georgetown and the surrounding areas. The inspection results were as follows:
34 Trucks inspected, 19 were taken out of service (56%), 109 charges were laid and two sets of plates were seized.
On Friday June 10th officers patrolled Milton and the surrounding areas. The inspection results were as follows:
21 Trucks inspected, 16 were taken out of service, 81 charges were laid and 1 set of plates were seized.
Halton Police recognize that heavy vehicle traffic is a concern to residents and we will continue to work hard to ensure our roads are as safe as possible.
To report individual driver behavior, residents can complete a Road Watch complaint form. CLICK HERE
By Pepper Parr
June 10th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
One of the pleasures of walking along Lakeshore Road is experiencing the breeze coming in off the lake, seeing the horizon stretch to the edge of the earth and from time to time see a ship heading for the canal and into Hamilton harbour or leaving the bay and heading for destinations unknown.
 A stroll along Lakeshore Road offers a view of the pier and the lake and the ships that steam in and out of Hamilton harbour. But what is that bit of screening on the right hand side? During the year there are various events that take place –Canada Day; the Rib Fest, Children’s Festival and the annual Sound of Music.
For those moving about the city and walking along Lakeshore road the music can be heard and one can, normally, look at the crowds and plan to drop in on what is for the most part a fee free event.
But things are changing with the Sound of Music – and there are now ticketed event. Sponsorships doesn’t appear to cover all the costs.
That’s business – the volunteers that make the Sound of Music happen each year have to manage the event as best they can.
 Long stretches of screening block the view of Spencer Smith Park and the lake. What are people doing behind that screening – and why is it place ? The park and the lake are public – totally public. But putting screen up so that people can’t see the lake because there is a ticketed event taking place? Where do they get permission to do that?
The view of the lake is public – who lets a screen go up.
There are fences to prevent entrance into ticketed events – that’s acceptable but a screen to block the view?
 By Pepper Parr
June 10th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
What is it about a city that can have hundreds of people out planting trees but can’t manage to pass a bylaw that would prevent people from cutting down a tree on their property just because they didn’t like the tree anymore?
This weekend there will be a crew out on Colonial Court doing some tree planting
 More than 100 people turned out in the Beachway to plant trees. Last weekend there were was a small crowd planting trees in the Norton Park in Alton.
The week before that there were close to 100 people doing a GreenUp in the Beachway where thousands of seedlings are being planted as part of a multi-year program that will give some stability to the sandy soil that much of the park is made up of.
The Appleby Line tree planting activity runs from 10 – 2 on the 11th – gather at 103 Colonial Court – Burlington.
Mayor Goldring’s private tree bylaw initiative seems to have ground to a halt – there was some traction in the Roseland community a few years ago but it didn’t get much beyond a community committee level. In a Roseland Community Organization report Don Baxter said:
At the Community Services Committee of Council, in 2012 – yes 2012, a positive recommendation was approved to accelerate a study regarding the potential of a Tree Protection By-law on private property within Burlington.
Roseland Community Organization supported this recommendation, and made a presentation to Committee to that end. This action by RCO was brought about by a growing concern about the alarming rate at which mature trees are being brought down in our community. In a recent memo, one resident quipped, “We will soon need a by-law to ban loud sneezing or else another tree will come down in Roseland.”
At the Committee, there were a number of key issues that need to be carefully considered in the staff research, including:
Effectiveness – will the by-law stop unnecessary removal of trees? What has been effectiveness of such by-laws in other jurisdictions? Some of the presentations and concerns raised at Committee dwelled on this question – should we take away property rights for something that may not do the job? While no regulation can be totally effective for this kind of situation, can we at least introduce a “second sober thought” into the process before a century old tree is taken down?
Different Needs – will the by-law deal with the different situations that arise around trees, including:
– Where a developer clears a site of trees before proceeding to apply for development approvals, and thereby, avoiding tree protection through the site plan process?
– Where the home owner a large lot takes the trees down prior to making a land division application to ensure the preservation of trees does not become either a neighbourhood or a site plan issue
– Where the home-owner who, for no reason other than their personal preferences, decides to remove a significant tree
 These apple trees were cut down because the apartment building to the south and the church to the north didn’t like the way geese were attracted to the apples and were pooping on the roadway. Promises were made to plant different trees – nothing yet. Obviously there is no intent to stop all tree removal particularly where safety is an issue, but there should be a process where these issues are raised prior to the tree coming down – too often our wake up call is the early morning sound of chain saws, and by then, it is too late to do anything.
Liability – There were concerns that a Tree By-law may increase the liability of the City. Of course trees are a liability in that sense. The absolute safest route would be to take all trees down, but that is why we have risk management. The municipalities who already have tree by-laws have same insurance companies as Burlington, and they will advise the City on how to address this issue. The City already deals with risk management for trees on public property, so this new by-law could be an extension of that approach.
Budget – Implementation of a Tree By-law will generate costs but does this mean taxes will need to be increased? Perhaps, but the more managerial approach would be to decide if this is a needed service? what priority level does it have in relation to other services? and then, set a tax rate needed to generate the revenues required to deliver necessary services. Burlington is not on the edge of a fiscal cliff, and it has exercised sound fiscal management in the past.
Sustainability – While the focus of the Committee discussion was on the Tree By-law for private property, there were a staff review proposed on a broader range of tree issues. Much of the tree loss in Roseland is on public property for trees that are becoming hazards. The issues are ones of both maintenance and replacement procedures, and possible role for more community involvement.
The city was “studying the “feasibility” of a private tree bylaw. That was in 2012 – The study was one of the 40 recommendations included in the city’s revised Urban Forest Management Plan, approved by city council in 2012.
The plan recognized the many benefits trees provide to the community and their importance to current and future generations, according to a press release issued by the city.
 Residents in Alton turn out to plant 400 trees in Norton Park. “Burlington’s urban forest grows predominantly on private property” said Cathy Robertson, director of roads and parks maintenance in the release. “We realize that the residents and other stakeholders who own or manage land in the city have the greatest ability to influence our urban forest. However, we also realize that there is a broad range of opinions on this subject.”
The feasibility study will include a variety of engagement opportunities for affected stakeholders to actively participate in developing options and alternatives that provide a balance between the ability to use and enjoy private property, and the desire to protect trees.
The city did conduct a citywide telephone survey, along with a number of online surveys and a community workshop.
The idea has gotten nowhere and isn’t going to go anywhere until there is a change in the makeup of the current city council – the will to pass such a bylaw just isn’t there.
 Will streets in the Roseland community begin to look like this – with trees trimmed back to stumps for “public safety”? Meanwhile several thousand people spend their time planting new trees – the residents of Roseland must look at some of those towering trees in their community that have been around for close to 80 years and wonder if they are in any better shape than the two willows that were cut down in Spencer Smith Park earlier this week.
Much of the value of homes in Roseland is directly related to the canopy of trees. The picture set out below is of Belvenia – image that street without those trees? How much would their loss reduce property values.
 The value of the houses on this street is determined to a large degree by the tree canopy. So where do things stand now? There is a 184 page staff report gathering dust where these report go to die. The Executive summary read thusly:
This report has been prepared to provide a summary of the Private Tree Bylaw Feasibility Study. Based on council discussions at Development and Infrastructure Committee on May 27, 2013, recommendations have not been included. However, the report provides options for council’s consideration and advises which ones are supported by staff. Unless council approves one or more options at this meeting or provides direction for staff to take no further actions related to these options, it is staff’s intent to bring a supplemental report with recommendations for consideration at the next meeting of Development and Infrastructure Committee in September 2013.
 By Pepper Parr
June 10th, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
We first saw Eleeza at the Mainway arena last December during a meeting at which the public learned about what was being done to support the bringing of Syrian refugees to Canada.
There was some concern at the time that there might be some vocal opposition to helping the refugees – it turned out to be a quiet, informative meeting at which everyone learned what could be done if we all worked together.
 What started off as a single $5 donation grew to a total of $410 in a few short minutes; people just kept stuffing money into her hands. During the meeting on young lady spoke of the fund raising she was doing to buy Beanie Boos that would be given to refugee children that were arriving in Canada. It was a simple decent thing to do – and that a child of Pakistani heritage whose parents were born in Canada took the initiative was admirable in the minds of many. Before the end of the meeting people were stuffing $10 and $20 bills into her hands,
Eleeza had learned at an early age how to give back.
 Eleeza and her Ramadan Ranges expect to fill cartons like this numerous times – they want to exceed their five SUV’s full that they collected last year. She has now enlarged her circle and created what the calls – the Ramadan Rangers and drafted her brother Waseem and their six close friends, Ammani, Ayaana and Ammad from Burlington, and Imaan, Zaara, and Aiza from Ancaster who re running a food drive to collect food and money for charity!
They ran this drive last year and collected five SUVs full of food and over $2000 in donations. The kids call themselves the Ramadan Rangers and are at it again this year and looking to surpass their accomplishment from last year.
The drive is running from June 5th until June 26th 2016. At the end of June, they are going to divide the food; some will go to Food for Life Burlington and some will go to Muslim Welfare Centre. All monetary donations will go to Islamic Relief Canada.
 They created a certificate for Ramadan Rangers. Drop off points for food donations are:
4674 Irena Avenue Burlington ON L7M 0K3
3316 Stoneware Road Burlington ON L7M 0K3
31 Camp Drive Ancaster ON L9K 9A7
People can leave food donations on the porches. For monetary donations they can contact Sehr Wyne at sehrwyne@yahoo.ca to arrange a funds transfer.
 The background story:
Eleeza watches a $5 donation grow to$410
By Staff
June 10th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Karina Gould, Member of Parliament for Burlington and Parliamentary secretary to the Minister of International Development spoke in the House of Commons on the funds being dedicated to supporting our humanitarian work in Syria.
Daesh is the name now used to describe what has in the past been called ISIS, or Islamic State, IS or ISIL. This linguistic sea change is said to be intended to delegitimize the mock the organization. We appear to have an enemy that we cannot name.
Mr. Speaker:
I believe that I am not mistaken, as I start, by saying that all members in the House are outraged by the pervasive and unrelenting violence in the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Our government is outraged by the deliberate targeting of health facilities, as we have seen in Aleppo and in Kamounia camp, near the border with Turkey.
Canada deplores the deliberate targeting of civilians and the continued disregard for international humanitarian law. The continued cost in the lives of innocent men, women, and children from such attacks is unacceptable and further demonstrates the need for an urgent de-escalation of violence.
 Ruins in Aleppo, Syria. The appalling acts of violence perpetrated by Daesh have resulted in the deaths of thousands of people of all faiths in Iraq and in Syria. The atrocities and widespread abuses perpetrated by Daesh against religious and ethnic communities, including Yazidis, Christians, Shiites, and Sunnis, is an affront to human dignity and Canadian values of peaceful pluralism and respect for diversity.
Freedom of religion and belief and the ability to worship in peace and security is a universal human right. Human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated and must be enjoyed by all people, without discrimination and without distinctions of any kind. Canada stands in solidarity with those facing oppression as a result of their religious beliefs.
I am outraged, and Canadians are outraged, by the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war. Sexual violence as a specific tactic, as well as the enslavement of women and girls, is not unique to the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. However, its systematic employment by Daesh in Syria and Iraq needs to be recognized, and its perpetrators will ultimately need to be held to account.
We are equally outraged by acts of violence against individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In February, the UN commission of inquiry on Syria reported that Daesh continues to target sexual minorities for execution. The report contains shocking examples of Daesh’s intolerance and brutality. This includes a video that shows two men being thrown from a building. Why? It was because they had been accused of committing homosexual acts. Our government deplores this violence and any kind of discrimination or intolerance based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
 At least 30 people, including women and children, were killed when Kamounia camp in Idlib province, northwest Syria, was hit by either Syrian or Russian air strikes. Let me reiterate that our government strongly condemns the terrorist acts committed by Daesh, and we firmly support investigations into their crimes and the prosecution of perpetrators. However, while we respect the emotion behind this motion, and what fair-minded person would not, unfortunately, democratic governments cannot only be guided by emotion.
I understand that members opposite disagree with the approach we are following, namely to arrive at a legal determination and not simply a political or emotional one. Why are legal determinations important? It is so we do not risk acting in a manner that undermines our intent.
As part of our broader engagement in the Middle East region, Canada is taking substantial and concrete actions that contribute to preventing and halting war crimes, and possibly genocide, by Daesh.
Our participation in the international coalition, our provision of humanitarian, development, and security and stabilization assistance, and our diplomatic engagement all support the protection of vulnerable populations.
To this effect, on February 8, the Prime Minister, the Minister of National Defence, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie shared Canada’s commitment to deliver a multi-faceted response to the crises in Syria and Iraq and their impact on the surrounding region. This commitment includes $1.1 billion in much-needed humanitarian and development assistance over three years.
From this funding, $840 million will help provide much-needed humanitarian assistance, such as food, urgent health services, water, shelter, education, and protection, including from sexual violence, for the most vulnerable people affected by conflicts in the Middle East.
On April 13, the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie took the first step in delivering on this commitment by announcing $100 million in humanitarian assistance funding to support the responses to the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.
 One wave and choppy waters and most of the people in this raft would drown – they nevertheless take the risk to flee their war torn countries. This announcement included $31.8 million to UNICEF to match the generous donations of Canadians to charitable organizations responding to the crisis.
This funding will increase education opportunities, provide child protection services in Syria and Jordan, and support immunization efforts for children in Syria, responding to critical needs and building the resilience of conflict-affected communities.
The funding announced is also supporting our humanitarian partners to provide emergency physical and functional rehabilitation services to people injured by the violence in Syria and Iraq, psycho-social support to people traumatized by violence, and clean water, food, shelter, and primary health care to people who have fled the violence in Syria.
In addition, this government is supporting the provision of confidential medical assistance, case management, and referral services to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
Canada’s humanitarian partners work in some of the most dangerous and challenging environments. Every day, humanitarian staff, many of them Canadians, put their lives on the line to make sure that vulnerable civilians affected by conflict around the world, including in Syria and Iraq, get the assistance they need. The price they continue to pay for their dedication to their mission is tragic. Since the conflict began in Syria, over 87 humanitarian personnel have been killed.
One need not travel far from the House of Commons to appreciate the dedication of Canada’s humanitarian community.
Given the inherent challenges in delivering humanitarian assistance, Canada’s long-standing practice is that Canadian humanitarian funding is provided to experienced humanitarian partners to meet the life-saving needs of civilians caught in the middle of conflict.
 Thousands of refugees wait to cross the border from Serbia to Tovarnik in Croatia as they fled Syria With decades of experience, our humanitarian partners have developed practices and processes to ensure the integrity of the assistance they deliver. Canada’s humanitarian partners adhere to the principle of humanity, meaning that all victims of conflict or civilians affected by conflict deserve protection and assistance, no matter where they are found.
In order to fulfill this goal, our partners also adhere to the principles of impartiality, neutrality, and independence so that they can work wherever those in need are located. This is an essential point. The ability of humanitarian workers to have access to people in need is predicated on their actions being neutral. This means providing assistance with no military or political objective, only the objective of saving lives and alleviating suffering.
In many contexts, the safety and security of aid workers depends on their ability to demonstrate that they have no other motive than providing assistance to those in need. Humanitarian principles remain the foundation of this trust, and we must be careful to protect their integrity.
Canada is committed to promoting and enhancing respect for humanitarian principles, international humanitarian law, and the protection of civilians.
We must uphold the spirit and the letter of the law, improve compliance, and hold violators to account. For this reason, our humanitarian partners and the Government of Canada are extremely careful that humanitarian assistance is provided in full respect of humanitarian principles and in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
 Karina Gould at the World Humanitarian Summit, in Istanbul, Turkey. Last month, I participated in the World Humanitarian Summit, in Istanbul, Turkey. I represented Canada at an event entitled “A Call to Action for Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies”, because we continue to be concerned about the fact that there is an increased incidence of sexual and gender-based violence during a humanitarian crisis. Women and girls, in particular, continue to face increased protection risks, such as sexual violence, trafficking, and child, early, and forced marriage during crises.
I wish to reiterate this government’s commitment to helping the most vulnerable and this government’s commitment to do so in a manner consistent with humanitarian principles.
I understand that members opposite disagree with the approach we are following, namely that we be guided by principles, principles that have served Canada for decades, under governments of all stripes, and not by emotion or politics.
 Karina Gould, Burlington MP, speaking in the House of Commons We all abhor what Daesh is doing. We all want it to stop and to hold the perpetrators to account. To do this, we must work with our allies through the international legal process. To not do so both elevates the structure of Daesh to something it is not, a government, and risks having Canada condemn it in a manner not consistent with how our country approaches addressing such acts. This is the appropriate process, and we are following in line with our allies and the international bodies responsible in that assessment.
This government stands with the United Nations and its international partners in calling for a judicial investigation and an end to impunity for the perpetrators of serious international crimes.
 By Pepper Parr
June 10th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Fine Arts Association (BFAA) in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Burlington, is presenting three exhibitions to celebrate its 50th anniversary
The public opening reception for all three exhibitions will be Wednesday June 15, 5pm-7pm.
There are three different and separate exhibits; one of which opened on June 1.
Burlington Urban & Rural
June 16 – September 5, 2016 Lee-Chin Family Gallery
A multidisciplinary exhibition, Burlington Urban & Rural explores Burlington’s surrounding landscape and history from a rural and urban perspective; be it social, architectural, cultural or environmental.
The Gazette has been given an exclusive peek at one of the pieces in this exhibit; a series of painting with a bar separating each that has hand lettering explaining the relationship of the paintings. It is titled: Progress. There perhaps should have been a question mark after the title.
This is a distinctly different Bateman. In the past the public has seen finely detailed painting of animals or serene natural setting. The “Red Fox” sold at the recent AGB Auction is an example of his natural settings work.
Progress is a statement, a derisive statement, a damning statement, in which Bateman shows us what we have done to ourselves through the use of three paintings with hand lettering relating one to the others. Ouch!
Is there more of the Robert Bateman work in the exhibition that opens June 16th? We hope so – having someone with the authority and social clout Bateman has just might move the saving our heritage dial in a different direction.
 Robert Bateman’s “Progress” Power of Passion
June 16 – August 14, 2016 RBC Community Gallery
This exhibition features the work of BFAA artists, past and present, who achieved solo gallery shows at the Art Gallery of Burlington.
Presidents’ Wall
June 1 – July 25, 2016 Fireside Lounge
Featuring the works of past Presidents of the Burlington Fine Arts Association.
By Staff
June 10th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
They are still in the basement and they are still in the game.
The Burlington Bandits will be playing twice this weekend:
Upcoming games
Friday
Burlington at London, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, June 11
Toronto at Burlington, 1 p.m.
By Staff
June 10th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The real Monarchists were up at 5:00 am this morning to catch the CBC broadcast of the festivities surrounding the celebration of the Queen’s 90th birthday.
Queen Elizabeth II has visited Canada on 22 occasions and is reported to have kept herself up to date on Canadian affairs.
Many of the Canadian Armed Forces regiments have the Queen as their Colonel in Chief. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, who are head quartered in Hamilton, is one such regiment.
Ron Foxcroft, a retired Honourary Colonel of the regiment developed a close relationship with the queen when he WORDS on behalf of the regiment
Foxcroft sent best wishes from the regiment to the Queen earlier today saying:
Your Majesty, Colonel in Chief:
On behalf of your regiment, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, we wish you a heartfelt birthday wish on the occasion of your 90th birthday.
It is with great admiration and respect for your wisdom , loyalty , passion and sensitive leadership that we send our best wishes for continued good health on this most joyful occasion.
Ron Foxcroft, Honourary Colonel (retired) Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada.
 When Foxcroft had the audience with the Queen in May of 2015, they talked about the Canada geese that were fouling the lawns at the back of Buckingham Palace. He is reported to have given the Queen a Foxcroft 40 whistle to scare away the geese.
Foxcroft serves on the Senate of the regiment where he keeps a close eye on the welfare of Marcus, the son of Cpl Nathan Cirillo, the soldier who was gunned down and killed while doing sentry duty at the War Memorial in Ottawa.
 By Staff
June 10th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
Up up and away in a beautiful balloon.
 This Saturday, June 11th from 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Mohawk Park on Kenwood Ave, Mayor Rick Goldring and Councillor Paul Sharman will rise from the ground in a tethered hot air balloon – part of the MorganMerry Experience Annual Yard Sale in support of SickKids Foundation through Children’s Miracle Network.
You can ride in the RE/MAX hot air balloon (weather permitting). The balloon will be tethered to allow passengers a secured ride, up and down. Each ride is $2 per person, with proceeds going to SickKids Foundation.
What if someone cuts the rope? Will the Mayor and the Council member just fly off into the wild blue yonder?
By Staff
June 9th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Lisa Raitt is one of three women that represents the citizens of Burlington in the House of Commons. Raitt is the Member of Parliament for Halton, which includes the northern part of Burlington. Earlier this week Ms Raitt spoke at some length in the House of Commons on the budget implementation act.
Raitt is seen as a possible Conservative leadership contender.
Here is what she had to say.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to address Bill C-15, the budget implementation act.
I will note that the hon. member opposite indicated in the introduction to his speech that this was part one of budget implementation. Therefore, we look forward to part two of the budget implementation act when that arises.
For many weeks, we in the official opposition have had many opportunities to take a look at the legislation. We have actually had a lot of opportunity to also question the Minister of Finance and the government on their fiscal plan. Unfortunately, it appears that the more we ask for clarification the less things become clear for us. That is why I would like to focus today on the aspects surrounding the credibility of the minister in delivering this budget.
 Most of Burlington above the 407 highway is part of the Halton constituency – NOT all of it. This plan, or really the lack thereof, his projections, and his assertions are incredibly important to the veracity of this budget. The Minister of Finance is continuing to battle serious questions about his fiscal credibility and his lack of transparency.
We in the opposition would much rather be working with the government to make amendments to the legislation. However, we cannot support a plan for massive borrowing and massive spending when it is based on such flawed assumptions. The fundamentals of the legislation were simply not sound from the beginning.
During the committee of the whole on May 30, the Minister of Finance stated the following, “We found ourselves in a low-growth era. That is what we are facing right now.” Indeed, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance repeated the concept of the low growth the Liberals were handed.
This simply is not the truth.
 Conservative MP Lisa Raitt asks a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. In a briefing prepared for the Minister of Finance, his own department advised him that Canada’s real income per capita growth was the strongest of all G7 countries in the 2000s, compared to the weakest growth in the 1990s.
It also showed that we had the healthiest middle class of our G7 cohorts.
More importantly, it was proven by the OECD that income was evenly distributed during this period of time.
It is indeed concerning that the Minister of Finance and his Liberal budget appear to be so out of touch that his budget is based on a false assumption.
The history and the current state of the Canadian economy are important factors, and the way in which the Liberals are characterizing it is simply incorrect. Indeed, the excessive spending that is set out in this budget is wholly inappropriate for the actual state of the economy of this country.
The facts are very clear that we are not in a recession, yet the government continues to act as though we are.
During the committee of the whole, the Minister of Finance also said, “The ‘Fiscal Monitor’ in 2015 shows clearly in the month of March that in fact the government before us left us in a deficit. That is our starting point.”
Once again the facts do not support this claim. The evidence shows clearly that the minister was actually left with a surplus by the Conservative government and that it really is his own spending decisions that have set it off track. Our government balanced the budget in 2014-15, as we said we would, and there was a $1.9-billion surplus. The parliamentary budget office has confirmed that the 2015-16 budget was left in a surplus by our Conservative government. We have still yet to see the full extent of the Minister of Finance’s March madness, but it is clear that in this spending spree he worked really hard to spend away Conservative surpluses, and he refuses to take the responsibility for this reckless spending.
Credibility is key and trust is a key as well. The current government’s inability to answer simple questions asks us to question both credibility and trust.
When we look at the budget implementation bill and reflect on the testimony in the committee of the whole, we actually gave the Minister of Finance about four hours to answer some pretty basic questions about his plans, but our questions were often met with silence, and that is a very revealing indication of problems with respect to the implementation of this budget.
Revealing, as well, were our questions about the $6-billion contingency fund the minister built into the budget. During this particular exchange, the minister was actually unable to provide any details at all as to what kinds of factors were taken into consideration when determining the size of the fund. I would add that one of the witnesses before the finance committee indicated to the members of the committee that applying this contingency fund was, in essence, projecting oil to be at a price of $20 per barrel, and we know that not to be the fact.
More concerning was the fact that the minister revealed that he already had plans to spend this $6-billion contingency fund. The next day, in question period, the minister doubled down. Again, he committed to spending this $6 billion, regardless of whether it was needed, instead of returning it to taxpayers. This is not responsible and is simply not acceptable.
 People could understand it if it were put in simple terms of dealing with their own credit cards. For example, a person asks for a $6,000 credit card increase but has no need and no plan as to what to buy but knows that he or she is going to buy something, the only factor being that every single last cent of that $6,000 will be spent. Even Canadians going to a bank for a loan these days are asked to explain why they need the loan, whether they are students looking to invest in their educations or young families wanting to make improvements to their homes. Any responsible institution would ask why they are applying for the loan.
Canadians also expect that when someone promises to do something, that person will follow through on the promise. The Liberals have made many promises, but those promises lack credibility. The Liberals have broken their election promises, and their out-of-control spending will end up hurting families, small business, and hard-working Canadians, because we know where this ends. It ends in the form of tax increases.
The Liberals were elected on a platform of modest deficits capped at $10 billion. They were elected on a platform of reducing the ratio of debt to GDP, with a goal of returning the budget to balance. However, almost immediately after taking power, they changed their minds. At a time when Canada is not in a recession, they have nearly tripled the deficit, admitted that they cannot control the debt to GDP ratio, and decided that balancing the budget was really not that important after all.
Not only is the minister breaking his promise, but as we know, he is suggesting that Conservatives would do well to get past this whole budget balance thing. However, the Conservatives will not simply get past the whole balanced budget thing, because we know that budgets do not balance themselves. We will continue to voice our concerns, as well as those of Canadians who want to see balanced budgets, not broken electoral promises and out-of-control spending.
We should take a closer look at some of the broken electoral promises. The Liberals have absolutely shattered their promise to small businesses to proceed with a small business tax rate reduction to 9% by 2019. While the Liberals promised to stand by this commitment during the election period, since taking power, it has become clear that small businesses are not the government’s priority at all.
Budget 2016 lays out the Liberals’ plan to tax small businesses at 10.5%, but they cleverly say that plans for any other small business tax cuts will be deferred. I know what the definition of “deferred” is. For the record, it is “withheld for or until a stated time”.
The finance minister indicated, when he appeared before the finance committee, that he actually has no further information about any planned date to restore this tax reduction, as promised. He refuses to own up to the fact that this tax cut has been clearly cancelled.
The president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Dan Kelly, has expressed his disappointment and his shock as well. According to the CFIB,“This decision will cost small firms over $900 million more per year as of 2019”.
The parliamentary budget office, in a report from May 10, “estimates that by 2020-21, Budget 2016 changes to the small business tax rate will reduce real GDP by $300 million”, and this Canadians will really understand, “and the level of employment by about 1,240 jobs”.
Not proceeding with the planned implementation of the tax rate, in fact cancelling it, will have a long-term effect on employment in this country and on our GDP. This will clearly not help grow the Canadian economy.
We know that the Liberals will have to raise taxes to pay for all of this out-of-control spending. However, when we reflect upon it, it really is disconcerting and unfortunate that 700,000 middle-class small business owners, who employ 95% of working Canadians, were the first target of this finance minister.
 When it increases taxes on job-creating small businesses, the government is discouraging success and discouraging entrepreneurship, and that has an effect on the entire country. It is not helping the middle class. It is absolutely hurting the middle class.
I, along with my constituents and the Conservative Party, have a long list of concerns about this budget. We have the ballooning deficit, with no sign in the future of what the cap will be. The Prime Minister famously gave an interview in the United States, and when he was asked how big the deficit will grow, he said he did not really have a number in mind. That is not prudent management.
We also have concerns about eligibility for old age security being lowered from 67 to 65. I have two points on that. First, it was this country’s finance minister who indicated no more than three years ago that this was the right thing to do, and now he has done exactly the opposite. Second, when we actually did this in the former Conservative government, we were lauded as having the courage to do the right thing by the Secretary-General of the OECD. We joined a list of 29 out of 38 countries in the OECD proceeding down this road.
I am concerned about the fact that this budget has no plan to create jobs.
There is the notion that if the Liberals sprinkle the money out into the economy, it is going to actually take root and there will be growth. The reality is that there are a lot of things that can happen between the sprinkling of the money and the creation of a job. My concern is that there is no plan to actually nurture the creation of jobs.
I am very concerned that there is no plan to promote business investment. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The government’s version of promoting investment by private businesses is taxing them more, creating more regulation, and giving far greater uncertainty in decision-making within this country when it comes to the movement of our natural resources.
That does nothing to help our economy. That does nothing to help us with the commodity shock we are feeling right now in this country that is actually putting so many people and Canadians in pain, in several provinces, as a result of something that is completely out of their control.
I am very concerned that the Liberals have repealed the balanced budget legislation. There were provisions within this legislation to take into account in emergency situations. Instead, the Liberals have decided to just remove it, because they do not want to be tied to a fiscal anchor that every Canadian household can completely understand and should absolutely live to attain.
We can look at studies that have been produced by the parliamentary budget office. One that came out in January that was of most importance to me looked at household indebtedness in our country. It may be surprising to note that household indebtedness in our country is projected to rise to about 174% of debt to household income. That is a very large number. It means that Canadians are gathering in more debt. They have higher debt than they did before the recession hit in 2008-09. The government is now getting on that bandwagon and saying that debt is good, and it is going to go into debt now too, as their government. However, it is not doing it on its own behalf; it is doing it in combination with provinces that are doing the exact same thing, going into greater amounts of debt. We have households with increased debt. We have provinces really racking up the debt, especially in my province of Ontario.
By the way, Ontario is the number one sub-national government in the world in terms of the size of the debt. We are number one, Ontario. That is fantastic.
The other aspect of debt is the reality that at the end of the day, this debt actually does matter. It takes away the flexibility of a government to act when things get very difficult with respect to the economy.
The bill also targets tax credits we introduced, as the previous government that actually helped families. One of the aspects of the fitness and arts credit I appreciated the most was the fact that it was actually recognizing Canadian families for doing something good for their children’s health in the future, their mental health by taking arts and their physical health by getting involved in fitness. That incentive has been taken away by the government.
Changes to EI are of great concern.
However, the small business tax cut cancellation will, of course, have a long-term, long-run effect on our Canadian economy.
 When people realized that the government had actually increased taxes on higher income earners in our country, a lot thought that should be okay and that it did not really mean a lot, because those people make so much money that it does not matter. I asked the minister’s officials at the finance committee whether there had been any studies done to indicate difficulties in having a combined tax rate of over 50% when we are trying to attract to Canada world-class talent for our Canadian companies. Not a single study had been done to determine what the effect would be. That is just another example of rushing to implement parts of a platform without thinking about the total effect.
The only things the government is going to grow in the coming years are two-fold: it is going to grow our debt, and it is absolutely going to grow the size of government. Coming from Cape Breton, I can say that big government is not here to save us. Big government is not something we should be reliant upon. We should be reliant upon ourselves, our families, and our communities to ensure that we live a prosperous life and can contribute to the economy of Canada.
With all of these concerns in mind, Conservatives will not forget that Canadians voted for responsible fiscal management on election day. Those who voted for the Conservatives and NDP in both cases voted for balanced budgets. We will not forget those who voted for the Liberals either, because they voted on the basis of small, moderate deficits that would primarily go to infrastructure. That is far from what the Liberals have delivered so far.
 Milton MP Lisa Raitt at an Air Park social event. Many o her constituents thought she was a little too close the he airport ownership and didn’t listen all that well to the residents of north Burlington. We will hold the government accountable. We will fight for lower taxes, we will fight for a balanced budget, and we will fight to get a plan that will actually keep Canada growing and thriving.
She is certainly a scrapper and she will do everything she can to hold the current government to account – just the way the Liberals and the New Democrats held the Harper government to account.
|
|
