 By Staff
February 6, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) is launching its new self-guided tour program to assist gallery visitors in enjoying more of what the AGB has to offer. This new approach begins Saturday.
 Chief Curator Denis Longchamps “Chief Curator Denis Longchamps is raising the quality of AGB’s exhibition offerings throughout 2015,” says Interim Executive Director Anne Swarbrick. “This Sunday’s public reception formally launches Of Water and Tides by international artist Lyndal Osborne, linking the environment and the arts. At the same time, visitors will be able to follow the new self-guided tour programme to savour exhibitions in the AGB’s two other galleries, the Permanent Collection Corridor, and reflect upon Sally Michener’s fun ceramic installations with coffee in The Conservatory.”
Lesley McInally’s Passage exhibition in the Perry Gallery possesses evocative powers that drive the viewer to decode the narrative elements which she hints at but never states.
 Thousands of people from out of town visit the AGB every year. HomeGrown, winding through the Permanent Collection Corridor, draws from the AGB’s nationally significant 2,400-piece Collection of Canadian Ceramics. This exhibition by award-winning Curator Jonathan Smith traces the history of ceramics in Ontario over the last forty years. Starting with the refined functional ware of Ruth Gowdy McKinley and her effect on the program at Sheridan College and elsewhere, this exhibition looks at the development of the more sculptural approach by younger artists such as Reid Flock and
Mary Philpott. Flock is the third of the thirteen recipients of the Clay & Glass Gallery’s prestigious Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics whose successful career first started in the AGB’s pottery studio. The others are Kasia Piech and Ying Yueh Chuang.
Gallery visitors will be awed by Osborne’s installation throughout the AGB’s Lee-Chin Family Gallery. Longchamp’s 2015 engaging programme year will also include Naked Craft, an initiative with Canadian and Scottish artists that he has scheduled to tour Halifax and Quebec City; and In Spirit a collaboration with Owen Sound’s Tom Thomson Gallery that will tour work from regional artists throughout Burlington, Owen Sound, Woodstock and Montreal.
The bills do have to be paid. Admission to the AGB has been free for a location that is basically open every day of the year. 
The AGB will encourage visitors to assist through a suggested admission initiative. Noting that approximately 80% of Ontario’s art galleries charge admission fees, the AGB points out that members and children 12 and under can visit all exhibitions, as often as they like, free and take advantage of the self-guided tour. Non-members and new visitors to AGB will be asked to contribute $5 to tour the multiple exhibitions.
You just know that suggested is going to become mandatory – and perhaps that is the way it should go. The people that make the AGB work financially have done a great job without having to put in an admission fee. If it could be kept at $5 for a few years that would work.
 The Art Gallery has grown over the years with pieces added on. It has a charm and a character of its own – and sits on some of the most valuable land in the city. The AGB stages as many as 10 regional, national and international exhibitions a year and is home to the world’s largest, acclaimed collection of Canadian contemporary ceramics and seven fine craft guilds. An interactive and creative space, they provide art education programs and public tours for people of all ages. Spanning over 44,000 square feet, the space boasts seven equipped art studios, three galleries, a one of a kind gift shop, an exhibition courtyard and year-round conservatory.
Gallery Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 9:00 am – 10:00 pm
Friday – Saturday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday: 12 noon – 5:00 pm
The Art Gallery of Burlington is located at1333 Lakeshore Rd, Burlington, ON L7S 1A9
Art Etc Gallery Shop and Art Sales and Rental Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Friday and Saturday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday: 12 noon – 5:00 pm
At $5 a pop – the AGB is one of the best entertainment offerings in the city.
 By Staff
February 5, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Last week Regional Council approved the 2015 Budget and Business Plan with a continued focus on investment in the planning and delivery of infrastructure.
“The Region has made it a strategic priority to invest for the future,” said Regional Chair Gary Carr. “That is why we continue to make investments in Regional assets, infrastructure and facilities a priority. The 2015 budget includes a significant investment in infrastructure and an increase in the Region’s investment in the water, wastewater and transportation state-of-good-repair capital programs, from $69 million in 2007 to $110 million.”
 Tucked into the side of Dundas as it crosses Bronte Creek is a huge pipe that carries water across the Region The 2015 Budget is based on the solid financial planning principles for which Halton is recognized. It continues the Region’s focus on maintaining service levels, making strategic investments and maintaining the tax rate increase for Regional services within the rate of inflation. The 2015 Budget includes a 1.5 per cent increase in property taxes, for Regional programs and services. Highlights include:
 Garbage, water services and the management of waste water are all Regional government responsibilities. Investments to Maintain Existing Infrastructure
The Region has significant infrastructure assets particularly in the water, wastewater and transportation service areas. The 2015 Budget includes:
• $5.7 million towards Water and Wastewater State-of-Good-Repair, including strengthened customer responses and communications for Water and Wastewater programs; and
• $1.3 million for additional staff resources to operate, maintain and optimize Water and Wastewater systems (Water and Wastewater Maintenance Program).
Connecting People to Services
The Region provides a wide variety of important, high quality services to residents. The 2015 Budget includes over $2.9 million of investments to enhance customer services including:
• $1.0 million for additional staff and vehicles for Paramedic Services;
• $200,000 for Crisis Prevention / COMMANDE, a multi-agency initiative committed to the health and safety of the community by providing real-time, coordinated responses to high-risk situations;
• $652,000 for social housing providers, a Rent Geared to Income (RGI) subsidy of $306,000 and $250,000 towards a Comprehensive Housing Strategy;
• $641,000 in increased funding for Waste Management collection and disposal;
• $125,000 representing additional dollars for the Halton Region Community Investment Fund; and
• $224,000 to enhance Communicable Disease Control in Public Health.
Adapting to Climate Change
Weather patterns have changed over the past few decades with more localized storm events of greater intensity occurring with greater frequency, such as the December 2013 ice storm and the August 2014 flood. These events have highlighted the need to continuously review and identify improvements in Halton Emergency planning and response.
The 2015 Budget includes the following strategic investments:
• $5.0 million towards Wastewater State-of-Good-Repair Capital to assist in the implementation of any potential recommendations of the Region-wide Basement Flooding Mitigation Study;
• $5.5 million towards strengthened Emergency Management including emergency generators in warming and reception centres located in each municipality in the Region; and
• $378,000 for a strategic investment opportunity related to Emergency Management to increase the Region’s capacity to respond to emergencies and urgent incidents including severe weather events that impact the community.
Economic Growth
Achieving economic growth includes development of employments lands. A sufficient supply of serviced employment lands is critical to attracting and retaining businesses. The 2015 Budget provides the following investment:
• $1.0 million towards a Pilot Area Servicing Plan Study for economic development and intensification to be undertaken in each Local Municipality for the advancement of employment lands and Urban Growth Centre intensification.
Financial Stability
A number of adjustments were made to the 2015 Budget to maintain financial stability over the next 10 years.
The budget also includes a 4.9 per cent increase in the 2015 Water and Wastewater Rate. Of the 4.9 per cent increase, 1.1 per cent will fund operating costs of Halton’s water and wastewater systems to keep Halton’s water safe and 3.8 per cent is for investment in treatment plants and pipeline systems.
 There are roads that are a Regional responsibility. In some of the regional municipalities there are roads that are part Regional and part municipal. Guelph Line in Burlington is one such road. A reasonable question is – why? “Surveys show that public satisfaction with Regional services has averaged 98 per cent over the past few years,” added Regional Chair Gary Carr. “The 2015 budget will allow these service levels to be maintained, while ensuring Halton’s AAA credit rating, reaffirmed by Moody’s Investors Service on January 20, 2015. Our well maintained infrastructure, AAA rating and competitive tax rates attract companies and ensure that Halton Region is a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire.”
The Gazette will schedule an interview with Gary Carr the Regional Chair and drill down into the numbers, the longer range vision and how the Region can be expected to evolve twenty years out. We might start by looking back 20 years and seeing where we all were then.
 By Staff
February 5, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police are warning the public about a tax-related phone scam that has resurfaced, primarily targeting the Southeast Asian community.
The fraudsters are claiming to be members of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and are making phone calls advising the unsuspecting victims they owe the government large sums of money in taxes. If these taxes are not paid back immediately they will be arrested.
These fraudulent callers instruct the victims to purchase prepaid credit cards in the amount owed and to forward them immediately to the “CRA Agent”.
 Canadian Tax collectors do not call you and demand instant payment for outstanding taxes. Always get a phone number from anyone who calls you – and call them back. The CRA does not request personal information of any kind by email and has a formal process in place for those who owe taxes and would never demand cash payment immediately.
Halton Police have received one to two fraud reports per week from victims claiming they have fallen prey to this scam with losses from $2,000-$5,000 each. Unfortunately any investigation conducted to date has quickly led to overseas suspects.
Your best protection is to avoid taking immediate action and contact the CRA directly to confirm if in fact you are required to make a payment.
If you have become victim to this fraud please contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center directly to file a report.
Further information about this scam can be found on the CRA website
Anyone with information on this scam can contact Halton Police Fraud Investigators at 905-825-4747 ext. 8739 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
 By Walter Byj
February 5, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The anticipated discussion around the letter Karen Lacroix of the Halton Student Transportation Services consortium sent to the Halton District School Board got a couple of minutes discussion before it was shuffled off to the Transportation Committee where Burlington trustee Andrea Grebenc will do her best to come up with some of the answers to the question Lacroix asked.
 Halton District School Board chair Kelly Amos brought up the idea of later start times for high school students. Will it get any traction? Board Chair Kelly Amos put out the idea of later starting times for high school students who apparently don’t function all that well before 9:00 am.
Rather than having a full board discussion on the issues raised by Lacroix, they refereed the discussion to the transportation committee which will meet on Monday February 9th. Should be an interesting meeting. Not sure if the transportation committee is going to be able to fully address all the issues presented by Lacroix.
School boundaries:
While the Toronto school board is incurring the wrath of the provincial government for budgetary problems and is faced with the problem of how many schools it should close, the Halton School Board seems to run like a well oiled machine where defining new school boundaries takes up much of the time.
With two new schools scheduled to open for the upcoming school year, one in northeast Oakville and the other in southwest Milton, the superintendents took the board through the process of arranging school boundaries for the new schools.
In Oakville, with eight parents representing the community, the Boundary Review Committee held a total of six community meetings and at one time had a total of 22 boundary change scenarios which they eventually narrowed to one recommendation.
The new school located north of Dundas and to the east of Neyagawa, would alleviate the overcrowding of nearby schools River Oakes and Sunningdale. This would require some students crossing Dundas Street. This created a number of trustee questions and comments.
 Ward 2 Burlington Councillor Marianne Meed Ward with school board trustee Leah Reynolds on the right share a laugh during a nomination meeting last fall. Is Reynolds developing her political skills as a possible city council candidate in 2018 when Meed Ward is expected to run for Mayor? Oakville trustee Oliver, a proponent of neighbourhood schools and observing natural boundaries questioned why children would be crossing Dundas Street . Burlington trustees Andrea Grebenc and trustee Harvey-Hope of Oakville wanted assurance that students would not need to cross a six lane road and that busing would be available.
Burlington trustee Leah Reynolds questioned if public input was sufficient. Superintendent of Education, Julie Hunt Gibbons, assured the trustees that the committee has made a strong rationale recommendation that best balances enrollment in the three schools that are affected. She also added that another possible five schools could be anticipated in the near future.
The same thought process and community participation was also evident for the new school in Milton. For all three current schools, PL Robertson, Anne J. McArthur and Tiger Jeet Singh, the current accommodation will be somewhat alleviated this year. This committee met four times with the public and narrowed 18 scenarios to one. The current boom in housing is expected to result in an additional new school by 2017.
Much of the balance of the meeting was reviewing an update Closing the Gap report which identified and ranked which schools would receive up to $10 million in upgrades for Information Technology equipment, library services, special education rooms, specialty classrooms and air conditioning for the second and third floors in both elementary and secondary schools.
Plans for new schools in the Region don’t include Burlington – do they. This city is building high end retirement homes for Seniors and looking for ways to attract those high tech, high paying jobs everyone wants. Burlington did however get the complex in Alton that is made up of a high school, a public library and a recreational centre – all of which are heavily used.
Related articles:
Changing bus schedules for later high school start times: more questions than answers.
 By Staff
February 5, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
They weren’t lined up trying to rush through the doors at the Target store in the Burlington Mall but the parking lot was pretty full.
 Security seemed heavier than usual. Crowds certainly weren’t heavy. The line ups at the cash register were decent and, surprisingly, staffs were very pleasant. They are all going to be out of a job within the next eight weeks.
The discounts weren’t great – there were some items marked down 30% but the bulk of the items had 10% discounts.
What was really different was the amount of security – they were all over the place.
I’d not experienced that level of experience during previous visits to the same store. I didn’t shop Target all that often – the selection wasn’t what I was looking for.
The sale will go on for a number of weeks – everything is to be sold – inventory, furniture, fixtures and whatever isn’t nailed to the walls.
There might be some bargains in the closing days.
The Starbucks in the Burlington Mall location was closed as was the pharmacy.
By Staff
February 5, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
On the overnight hours of Jan. 15th, 2015 two unlocked vehicles parked in the driveway of a Campbellville home were entered. Cash, lottery tickets and electronics were taken from the vehicles.
An investigation by members of the 1 District Criminal Investigations Bureau identified a male who was captured on video surveillance after the incident.
On February 3rd a search warrant was executed at a Burlington residence. The man involved the theft was present in the home and was arrested. A stolen tablet computer and clothing was recovered.
Accused:
Daniel SAUNDERS (31 years) of Burlington
Charges: Theft Under $5000, Possession Stolen Property, Fraud Under $5000, Breach Probation (3 counts)
On Feb. 4th Saunders appeared in Milton Court. He remains in custody pending a bail hearing.
Anyone with information is asked D/Cst. Pierre-Luc Saucier of the 1 District Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825-4747 ext. 2418, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting ‘Tip201’ with your message to 274637(crimes).
 By Staff
February 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Beer Festival – a two season event – will be holding it’s winter season at the Waterfront Hotel Friday and Saturday of this week.
 Two programs – a full scale beer tasting and pairing event – tickets are $125 each and then the Saturday session from noon to 11 pm – where you can taste a solid section of craft beers.
No American big brands names at this event.
Friday February 6 – begins at 6 – runs till 11 guests will participate in an exclusive three-hour tutored pairing, where they will be guided by an esteemed panel of speakers through seven small dishes, each accompanied by unique beers from premium craft breweries. The Master of Ceremonies for this evening is Bill White from Niagara College, who will share his passion and knowledge of beer over the course of the event. This special event will provide beer connoisseurs with a unique opportunity to engage with members of the craft beer community, and get a more in depth look into the craft beer industry. $125 a ticket.
Saturday February 7th – Winter Beer Fest – noon-11 pm
$25+HST [Includes five 4 oz. samples and a Winter Fest tasting mug]
On Saturday, the indoor/outdoor space of the Waterfront Hotel Ballroom will be transformed into a beer fans paradise, where Festival-goers are invited to sample an array of products offered by 10-12 talented local brewers, warm up with winter comfort foods and enjoy live entertainment all day.
Wayne Brown is the mind behind this event. While relatively new to the city – it has attracted a growing following.
 By Pepper Parr, Publisher
February 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Time to count the chickens and see just who the readers are and what they think.
There is a graphic on the right hand side – Please click on it and respond to a very short survey – 7 questions.
 The survey will be up for a month. When you respond to it from a particular computer you can’t respond a second time. We would prefer that each person respond to the survey just the once. We don’t want to skew the numbers.
We will do a report on the survey results – and yes we will tell you what you tell us. We get more positive comments than negative comments but there are people who don’t have as much as the time of day for what we do.
The Mayor used to like us but of late he has decided we are not quite his cup of tea.
For the most part we reflect the community and the community talks back to the editorial team and the other readers. At times there are some very healthy debates – and yes at times there are some pretty dumb comments made. We moderate the comments and strive to keep it lively and polite.
Let’s see what the survey tells us!
 By Ray Rivers
February 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
I never cared for John Baird. I remember sitting in the public gallery at Queen’s Park watching with disgust as he single-handedly created disorder, yelling at the Liberal government from his opposition bench like a spoiled three year old. He was one of those over-zealous immature partisans who liked to hear himself yell, mistaking noise for progress. Even with age and the experience of senior governance, I believe that little spoiled boy is still in there. People like that just don’t change.
 His first Cabinet role was as a pit bull in the Harris government, oppressing the poorest and most vulnerable Ontario residents during the mid 1990’s recession. As Minister of Community and Social Services, he was the ruthless Tzar of Harris’ reactionary WorkFair program.
As Minister of Energy in the Eves government, he totally mismanage the energy file. He was responsible for Hydro One (remember Eleanor Clitheroe). The file was so badly bumbled that the Eves government had to subsidize and re-regulate electricity rates, which had sky-rocketed to record levels and had been accompanied by rolling power blackouts. And then there was that huge province-wide blackout in the summer of 2003.
I always found it strange to see Baird welcomed into Harper’s Cabinet. After all there were so many homophobic Tories engaged in a rear-guard action to ban same-sex marriage, which the Liberals had made law. It is to Baird’s credit he managed to turn the PM and the rest of the party around on that issue. And it took courage, as he has shown on occasion to vote against most of his party on this issue.
 Baird’s legacy is a wasteland of de-funded and disempowered agencies and non-profit organizations. His first responsibility in Harper’s Cabinet was introducing the much heralded ‘Accountability Act’, only years later to watch the Tories become the most secretive government in modern history. Despite his passion for human rights, Baird’s legacy is a wasteland of de-funded and disempowered agencies and non-profit organizations, which had ostensibly been pursuing that very objective.
He was an embarrassment as federal Minister of the Environment. Canada’s environmental agency put an end to undertaking much research and scientific knowledge, climate change in particular. Hear no evil, see no evil – ignorance is bliss. Columnist Andrew Coyne summed up Baird’s job in the environment portfolio, referring to the new Minister as “the man sent to kill the issue”.
Baird was the trigger-man who ended Canada’s commitment to climate change by taking us out of the Kyoto Protocol. Not only was Canada no longer interested in trying to reduce greenhouse emissions, it was opposed to developing serious alternatives to Kyoto. Government policy now included obstruction and subversion of any collective international action on climate change (Bali and Cancun climate change conferences).
 Under Baird Canada’s foreign policy underwent a more partisan self-serving transformation. Perhaps that is what qualified him in Mr. Harper’s mind, to be promoted to Minister of Foreign Affairs. And he didn’t disappoint. One of his first actions was to close the Iranian embassy, to the puzzlement of just about everyone. Baird has been praised for his strong protestations against Ugandan and Russian attacks on the GLBT community, which is consistent with his record on this issue.
But most importantly Canada’s foreign policy underwent a more partisan self-serving transformation. Foreign affairs became subservient to domestic political pandering. Supporting Israel was seen as the key to attracting the Jewish vote in Canada away from the Liberals. There was not a single Israeli military act which the Harper government didn’t fully endorse. And almost before Israel did so, Canada rejected Palestinian efforts at statehood, notwithstanding our official two-state policy.
With over a million Canadians of Ukrainian descent, the largest diaspora of those folks anywhere (except Russia), Canada unleashed its vitriol on Russia’s Putin. In fact Canada was so strident in its criticism of the Russian leader that we were shut out of participating in NATO’s Ukrainian policy (too scary), and dispatched to fight ISIS in Iraq instead.
John Baird will be best remembered by his last posting and he has received a number of very positive accolades, from his staff, his caucus colleagues, opposite members, journalists and even members of the public. It’s true that Canada has climb back a little from those early Harper days when our application for a seat at the Security Council failed, and no doubt the minister has built up some international credibility after four years in the job.
But there are no Pearson, Axworthy, Mulroney or even Joe Clark break-through moments in foreign matters which would merit anyone calling him great. I’ve heard that he was disappointed that his boss wouldn’t let him go further in support of Ukraine, so he is quitting. More than likely he may just be tired of public office after 20 years. Life is short and there are many opportunities for someone who has built a career the way he has. Whatever the reason, at 45, he would be a very marketable commodity in many other sectors.
Leaving now would qualify him for the early (55 years) MP pension before it changes to 65. It is in his economic interest to leave now, if that is his heart’s goal – but I don’t buy that. This is a man who has spent his entire life wanting to get to the top of the political ladder – and he is so close – with only one thing stopping him.
 Baird: He can read the political polls and tea leaves. It is probable that Stephen Harper will not win a majority in this coming year’s election. He can read the political polls and tea leaves. It is probable that Stephen Harper will not win a majority in this coming year’s election. And it is possible that the Conservatives will end up in opposition. In either of these scenarios the famous Tory knives will come out and Mr. Harper will be on the plate.
So I’m betting that this walk in the snow is all about taking a break, a hall pass, so he can recharge his batteries, organize his supporters and get ready to come back refreshed, if not fresh – after Harper gets the big heave-ho. This was the game that worked for Jean Chretien and Jim Prentice. I’d mentioned that I never cared much for John Baird, neither as MPP nor MP. How do you think I’d feel about him as P.M.?
 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 where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province.
Background links:
Baird
Protecting Baird Open Secret More Baird Hydro One
Harper Needs Him Even More Baird Post Retirement Five Facts
By Staff
February 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison knows a good local issue when he sees one: Coyotes.
The creatures are showing up with more regularity than usual. One city resident watched in horror as a coyote killed her pet.
 Coyote about to pounce on a mouse scurrying beneath the snow. It’s an emotional issue – and there is nothing more effective than an emotional issue to get the folks out for a meeting. A good politician can make good political mileage out of emotional issues. Dennison’s Ontario Municipal Board hearing later in March will be another that ward four residents will be watching; many would have liked that hearing to have taken place before the municipal election.
Dennison is holding two public meetings on the issue – he has held this kind of meeting before – the Gazette has reported on these in the past.
Dennison has positioned the meeting as an “opportunity for you to provide feedback on a proposed new by-law that would prohibit the feeding of nuisance wildlife (i.e. coyotes, raccoons, skunks, chipmunks, foxes) in our city.”
There will be a meeting in North Burlington on Wednesday, February 25, 2015; 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Tansley Woods Community Centre, 1996 Itabashi Way, Community Rooms 1 and 2
Another in South Burlington: Thursday, March 26, 2015, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Central Arena, 519 Drury Lane.
There are some that might take issue with Tansley Wood being described a “north” Burlington. The northern part of ward four would be more correct.
Previous articles on coyotes.
 By Karina Gould
February 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Every baker knows that making a cake is easy and predictable so long as you follow the recipe. It took me a number of years while growing up to figure this out. One day, however, when I was away at school, I decided to bake banana bread by the book. I precisely measured each ingredient in the recipe and voila – perfect banana bread.
 Karina Gould is a very direct person – little doubt what she thinks on a subject. Public will get to know her better when the federal election campaign begins in the Spring Now you may wonder why I’m telling you about my baking habits in a piece about the long-form census. Good question. Here’s my question to you: Could you imagine making banana bread with only 68.6% of the ingredients? You could argue that you’ll just make 68.6% of the recipe, right? Fair point. So how about we completely change the recipe and give you 68.6% of the total ingredients, but don’t give you proportional quantities to the recipe. You’ll take something out of the oven, but it certainly won’t be banana bread and it will be very hard to compare to your previous banana breads for which you followed the recipe.
That’s the issue with the abandonment of the long-form census: the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) had a response rate of 68.6% and changed the questions asked; neither are we getting all of the ingredients or the right proportions when it comes to one of the most fundamental aspects of a well-governed country: understanding our societal make-up.
Recently, I spoke with the director of a local community development organization. The first issue she brought to my attention was the long-form census. “We don’t know who we are as a country anymore,” she lamented, “we can’t tell who needs services in our communities and whether those services are adequate.” Shortly thereafter I spoke with a high-ranking businesswoman, “I can’t identify potential clients because I have no idea what the current market make-up is.” The NHS results weren’t worth a penny she explained.
The elimination of the long-form census has had a significant impact on our country’s ability to make and plan good policies for the future. This isn’t an issue that impacts one particular segment of our society. This is pan-Canadian. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Medical Association and numerous other organizations have endorsed a return to the mandatory long-form census.
The current government will tell you it’s about privacy. That was the argument they used in 2010 when they axed this basic foundational instrument of policy-making. It is ironic then that they are so keen to introduce their anti-terror legislation as well as their internet surveillance legislation neither of which seem particularly concerned with an individual’s privacy… it is noteworthy that Jennifer Stoddard, Canada’s privacy commissioner at the time, found the census was exemplary when it came to dealing with privacy concerns.
 Karina Gould is the federal Liberal candidate for Burlington. Finally, let’s think about costs. You’ve made your not-so-delicious, far from perfect banana bread and you now know you can’t serve it. So what was the point of wasting $22 million more than the cost of the long-form census on a voluntary survey with a low response rate and poor results? For a government that is committed to cutting cost and reducing waste, it seems they missed the mark on this file.
But TODAY, Tuesday, February 4th, there is an opportunity to fix this mess. Bill C-626, a Private Member’s Bill, will be up for second reading in the House of Commons. The opposition parties have committed to supporting it. Let’s hope a few government members will as well.
Not bringing back the long-form census, to me, is bananas. Bringing it back makescensus.
Karina Gould, is the Liberal Party of Canada candidate for the constituency of Burlington
 By Pepper Parr
February 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
An email from a colleague said he was going to be in town – and could he buy me lunch.
The immediate answer was – of course you can buy me lunch – the follow up question was: What did he want?
James McLean, holder of a PhD in communications studies currently on a Sabbatical from Concordia University in Montreal, is working on his next book: Minority Media and the Journalistic Entrepreneur.
Lunch was relaxed; two old time media types swapping tales and working at impressing each other. I noticed there was a grey file folder on the table we occupied at Spencer’s on the Waterfront; it wasn’t very thick.
 Academic wants the views and thoughts of an on-line publisher. Does he have any idea what he is getting into? Dr. McLean wants to include the Burlington Gazette as one of four or five on-line publications he will be researching. He is using on-line sites in both Canada and the United States doing in depth interviews a couple of times a year during which he certainly took us to task on some of the approaches we used. He also digs into the analytics and who our readers are; what they read, how long they stay on line and some detail on the demographics of our readers.
The waiter asked if we wanted our beverage glasses re-filled – McLean was picking up the tab so my answer was a quick yes – but I wanted to know what was in the file folder. McLean opened it up – he had a release he wanted me to sign giving him permission to use quotes from me in his book and to refer to some of our data.
The waiter was serving 9 oz. glasses of a very nice California Chardonnay so I of course said yes, reached for my pen and signed on the dotted line.
No publication date yet – but when the book does come out we will do what we can to get Dr. McLean back into the city; perhaps he can be a guest speaker at those Insight Burlington events the Mayor used to hold.
Heck – a book about Burlington’s on line media will help us keep that title of the Best Mid-Sized city in Canada. That should help – shouldn’t it?
By Walter Byj
February 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Kelly Amos, Chair of the Halton Region District School Board mentioned to her colleagues a study done by the American Academy of Pediatrics that recommended schools delay the start of classes to no sooner than 8:30 am.
That brought about some lengthy comment and close to a can of worms of problems.
 Amos took the information she had found a little further and recommended that the Halton Student Transportation Services (HSTS) research the possibility of realigning busing to all high schools to accommodate a later secondary school start time to any time between 8:45 and 9:15 am. Currently, secondary school start times in Halton vary between 8:05 am and 8:40 am.
Many pediatricians have argued that since students are not getting the up to 9 hours of sleep that is recommended, school start times should be moved back as students tend to be up late in the evenings. This is a greater concern in the US than in Canada as many US students have school day starts in the 7:00 am to 8:00 time period.
Was there unified opinion by the principals on this issue? Not yet.
How would this affect after school activities. To be determined.
Did an American study pertain to Canada? Maybe, we are not that different. Would this include the elementary students? Not at this time. Would this include the Catholic School Board? Talks are still in the preliminary stages.
The Transportation services would need to do, what could be a lengthy study on how to best realign the busing services. The busing handles both elementary schools and the Catholic board. A change to one would affect busing timetables and perhaps costs to the entire system. The school board is hoping for a report hopefully in March with the details and ramifications of any changes. They didn’t get a report – they got a letter that asked a lot of questions the trustees might have thought about before they passed the motion. Somehow the HRSB managed to place the cart before the horse with the following motion:
Be it resolved that the Halton District School Board request the HSTS to do a study that would look at high school start times and to realign busing to all high schools to a start time roughly between 8:45 a.m. and 9:15 a.m., and attempt to bring an interim report back to the Transportation Committee in March 2015 with the details and ramifications.
Shouldn’t the entire school boards, elementary, secondary and Catholic all be in agreement before further analysis? What percentage of principles would want a time change before changes are made? And what about the students, should they be consulted?
Along with the Motion were two recommendations:
Be it resolved that the questions identified in Appendix A be forwarded to the Transportation Committee in order to provide direction on the parameters required to complete the study.
Be it resolved that the Chair of the Halton District School Board contact the Chair of the Halton Catholic District School Board to assess their interest in participating in the study.
Karen Lacroix, General Manager of the Halton Student Transportation Services (HSTS) sent Lucy Veerman, Superintendent of Business Services and Treasurer a memo; it’s a beauty.
The purpose of this memo is to request clarification and direction regarding Halton District School Board (HDSB) Report #14154 and the associated motion M15-004 requesting HSTS undertake a study of high school start times with the intent of moving all high school start times between 8:45 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. The motion also contained a request that an interim report be brought back to the Transportation Committee in March 2015 and that the report include details and ramifications.
As you are aware, the home to school student transportation system in Halton is fully integrated with the Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB). This means that virtually every bus route in Halton is shared between the HDSB and HCDSB in one way or another; either students from both boards ride together at the same time or the bus route consists of bus runs servicing one or more HDSB schools and one or more HCDSB schools.
Prior to undertaking a study of this scope and nature there are assumptions that must be confirmed and parameters that must be set. Unless otherwise directed, it will be assumed that the study will exclude the small bus routes that service students with special needs and that no changes to HCDSB school hours will occur as a result of this study.
In order to assist the board with setting parameters, HSTS staff have developed a list of questions:
1. What is the earliest and latest start time for both elementary and secondary schools?
2. Is there one preferred start/end time for secondary schools or is there flexibility to work within the range outlined in the report (8:45 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.)?
3. Can we continue to use a 30 minute drop off/pick up window for secondary students? (This is the standard across the province and the window that HSTS currently uses for secondary students)?
4. Can elementary start/end times be changed to accommodate the secondary school hour changes?
5. If elementary schools can be changed, what is the acceptable (maximum) time change, e.g. up to 15 minutes?
6. Are there specific schools that cannot be changed?
7. Should the secondary student average ride times be maintained or can they be increased but kept within the maximum travel time guidelines of 75 minutes?
Outlined below are other factors the board may want to consider:
1. There is a school bus driver shortage in Ontario, it is particularly challenging in the GTA. If the number of routes increase significantly, the level of service will most likely be felt across the system, which may result in late buses, different drivers and a potential for rolling route cancellations if there is no driver available.
2. There are many secondary runs that are shared between the boards. The shared runs will have to be eliminated if the HCDSB is not included in the study, this will result in a loss of some routing efficiencies.
The requested study is very complex in nature and there is not an easy or quick way to provide a summary or overview. In order to provide the board with a report that will allow them to make an informed decision a full review of all school start/end times and a full optimization of the bus routes should be performed. Once the bell time/route optimization study is complete, an accompanying financial impact study will have to be undertaken to understand the associated financial impact/savings on the HSTS operating budget.
Undertaking a study of this nature is complex and labour intensive; the study will require a thorough review and optimization of the student transportation system. At this time of the year when staff are not dealing with their daily transportation priorities, their main focus is on route planning for the upcoming school year which starts in February and continues through August.
In order for the board to make informed decision they must be provided a true picture of the impact, from both a school community/hour and financial perspective. HSTS staff has expressed concerns that a study of this nature will result in time and resources being diverted from their normal daily activities, including annual route planning, which is not ideal and could have a negative impact next September.
In order to have a report back to the board in April or May, HDSB may want to consider contracting out the route planning portion of this study; HSTS staff would undertake the financial impact portion of the study. In 2009 First Student Planning Solutions performed a similar study of secondary school hours for the HDSB. This approach would allow HSTS staff to focus on the daily operations and September 2015 route planning.
In conclusion, with the above approach the board could be provided a report in the spring that would provide them with the information required to make an informed decision.
Expect this issue to occupy hours of coffee chat between parents, even more hours of telephone calls between parents and trustees and perhaps some noisy delegations at school board meetings.
 By Pepper Parr
February 3, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
It wasn’t the best show in town and it certainly wasn’t the only show in town but it was a solid presentation by city hall staff that explained how they want to tax you and how they plan to spend the tax money they collect.
The only public open house on the budget took place on a typical Canadian winter night when the hockey rink next door was full but the town hall meeting was close to empty.
Staff explained that the purpose of the workshop was to inform about the proposed 2015 budget, process. Budgeting is really about planning. The city must balance the provision of quality services while maintaining property taxes at a reasonable and affordable rate. Decisions are made that directly relate back to our community functions and services that Burlington residents receive. Developing the city’s capital and operating budgets requires managing events happening today and preparing for events five, ten and more years away.
Public participation is essential since a municipal budget is more than just numbers. The City of Burlington continuously looks for ways to improve on and increase their transparency efforts to improve public confidence and increase public engagement with the City.
The first, and only public meeting on the 2015 budget didn’t get us very far down the engagement road – blame the weather?
No point in beating that horse – it’s dead.
 The city moved from a departmental approach to financial management to one that focuses on the service being delivered. Ideally the taxpayers will be able to relate what is being spent to what thy are getting. We aren`t there yet. Through the magic of the internet – you can log into the Gazette and read it all when it is convenient.
The city is taking a new approach to the way it accounts for what it spends. In the past budgeting was done on a departmental basis. The practice is now going to have budgets built around the service provided.
That is going to mean significant change at the department level – in the past each department worked in a silo – each department doing their thing. The city created a “portfolio” of services – an approach that sets out all the things they do for the public and group work done by the different departments under each service.
 The services the city delivers fall into six categories – one of which is internal.
 The city wants the public to see that they are getting value for the taxes they are paying with an engaged city hall staff and a satisfied taxpayer. Let`s see how well this works out. Why is the city doing all this?
They want both staff and the people paying the tax bills to know what they are getting for their money. The ‘information age’ has created a public that wants to know more and expects to be kept informed. They city wants the public to see the taxes they pay as part of a value chain that is made up of engaged city employees and satisfied customers.
Everything is centered around the services the city delivers. City hall attaches three questions to everything they do:
How much did we do?
How well did we do it?
Is anyone better off?
A question they don’t put out but one that is nevertheless critical to city hall is: Should we be providing this service and should we be allocating funds to cover the cost of the service?
 Everything is now centered on the services being delivered. The numbers are supposed to let the public see what they are paying for the service they are getting. The change is going to take some time to work itself into the fabric of how staff perform. This approach to managing the way a municipality spends tax money isn’t new. Former city manager Jeff Fielding brought the idea with him – got it started and then left for Calgary where he now works for a Mayor who has been named the top Mayor in the world.
Fielding put together a team that loved the idea and they’ve done a fine job delivering on the promise. The new approach to managing the money collected is combined with a significantly better web site that offers much more information that is relevant. The old version of the web site was terrible.
Another feature in the new approach is ownership of a service. The public will know which staff member is responsible for the efficient delivery of a service. That will create a little indigestion for some staff. “You mean I’m responsible for delivery efficiently, effectively and within budget” are words that get muttered on occasion by some staff.
 The objective is to be able to continuously improve and implement changes where they are seen to be needed. There are a bunch of guys at city hall who are expected to try – once again – to come up with the details for “smart” parking meters. The first two requests for proposals got withdrawn.
So we know they aren`t perfect. The Results Based Accountability (RBA) is a good step in a new, sensible direction being managed by a team of smart people. Let`s see how well they do this first time around.
While all this “doing the numbers differently” is taking place – the city should have a new city manager in place before the end of the month.
In a previous piece on the creation of yet another interim city manager the Gazette erroneously said that city solicitor, Nancy Shea Nicol, the latest interim, reported to Scott Stewart the only General Manager the city has left and who is a finalist for the post of city manager.
Shea-Nicol reported to the previous interim city manager – how she now reports to herself boggles the mind.
By Staff
February 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON.
Burlington has a practice of recruiting citizens to sit on Boards and committees that are involved in the operation of the city. There are advisory committees and Committees that the city must create as well
The city sees the appointing of citizens as part of its strategic direction for Excellence in Government as identified in the City’s Strategic Plan.
Through its citizen committees and municipal boards, the city says it is forging strong community relationships with open dialogue and citizen involvement in municipal issues.
Citizen committees offer Burlington residents the opportunity to provide Council advice and recommendations on various matters and/or organize activities that strengthen the community’s connection to the municipality.
The Clerks department conducts a recruitment process during the fall of each year. Recruitment opportunities are advertised on the City website as well as in local media.
This time around the Clerks department organized a volunteer fair where the public was invited to learn about all of the various opportunities available; more than one hundred applications were received from individuals expressing interest in the committees and boards.
The interviews for the citizen committees and boards were held in December 2014 and January 2015. The interview teams for each were comprised of the Chair or Vice Chairs of the Committees, staff liaisons and Council members.
The interview teams made their selection recommendations based on the respective committee’s needs as well as the applicant’s knowledge of the role, relevant skills and experience, expressed dedication/commitment/time availability, and communication skills.
The terms of reference for the citizen committees specify the duration of the appointments and provide for staggered terms to ensure continuity in the operation of each committee.
The interview team for the Committee of Adjustment (which includes the Property Standards Committee and Committee of Revision) recommended five individuals for appointment and three alternates. The Terms of Reference for the Committee of Adjustment however, stipulate that there are to be five members and only one alternate.
Staff are recommending with the guidance from the Legal department that a member of Council be appointed to act as an alternate member on the Licensing Committee. Should a member of the Licensing Committee have a conflict of interest, the alternate member would be required to participate in Licensing matters.
City hall has put a very positive spin on the process of involving citizens. There is some information that doesn’t get passed along; an oversight perhaps.
There is no longer a Transit Advisory Committee – yet transit is one of the most pressing problems the city has. The subject is seen as important enough for a citizens group to have formed a committee of their own that delegates to Council regularly – they are seldom actually listened to yet it is made up of people with an excellent understanding of transit and how it is managed in the Greater Toronto Area.
Many years ago when the Orchard community was being developed provision wasn’t made for a lot of space to park cars. At the time the thinking amongst planners was that public transit would be developed and families wouldn’t need two and three cars.
Well public transit wasn’t developed and parking in the Orchard is a mess. The ward Councillor for that part of the city, Paul Sharman, has done as much as he can to create solutions to a messy problem which might not exist if there were a well thought through, properly financed transit policy.
Matters of confidentiality plague at least one of the Advisory committee. Heritage once found itself having to go into a closed session without the members of the committee fully understanding what that meant.
The city does have some exceptional Advisory committees. Heritage was a mess until decent leadership was put in place and solid policies implemented. The Heritage Advisory actually got a close to standing ovation from council for the excellent work they had done.
Then a council member, whose name shall go unknown, began to talk about bringing that function back into city hall.
They sometimes just don’t know when to leave well enough alone.
City Council approved the following appointments citizen committees and boards.
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Kate White
• Howard Bohan
• Dorothy Kosinska
• Daniel Boag
• John Vice (Alternate)
• Pauline Laing (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Arthur Rendall
• Ashley Taylor
• Brian Ouellette
• Adam Spencer
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Sustainable Development Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Carolyn Barnes
• Julian Riano
• Sumit Kumar Tangri
• Tim Park
• Katherine Miller
• John Thompson
• Emma DeFields
• Anthony Zhou (Alternate)
• Michael Leone (Alternate)
• Albert Faccenda (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Cycling Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Lindsay King
• Jeremy Santucci
• Brad Slade (term to expire 2016)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Inclusivity Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Michael Demone
• Dana Anderson
• Katelan Dunn
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Mundialization Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Chuck Morris
• Arnold Koopman
• Rob Lyng
• Bill Stafford
• Kevin Visser
• Sai Ramanathan
• Mary Vuk
• Neal Patel
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Seniors Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Robert Lovell
• Kim Routlege
• JR Gauthier (Alternate)
• Peter Cowman (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Public Library Board for a term to expire at December 31, 2018:
• Gloria Baxter
• Micki Clemens
• Nancy Douglas
• Maciej Jurczyk
• Brian Kenny
• Denise Maraj
• Catherine Benzie (Alternate)
• Shelley Easton (Alternate)
• Chris Gauthier (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Committee of Adjustment for a term to expire at December 31, 2018:
• Malcolm Ramsay
• Rob Bailey
• Lindsay King
• Alexandra Rawlings
• Terry Kay
• Grant Newbury (Alternate)
• John Calvert (Alternate)
• John Vice (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Audit Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2018:
• Peter Maher
• David Tait
• Brian Goard
• Maciej Jurczyk
• Paul Vetrone (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Conservation Halton Board of Directors for a term to expire at December 31, 2018:
• John Vice
• James Sweetlove
• Gerry Smallegange
Approve the following citizen for appointment to the Downtown Parking Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2018:
• Joe Henning
 By Staff
February 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The city shut down a lot of its facilities but the Region has decided they will ensure that essential services remain open on February 2, 2015 despite winter storm conditions.
Administrative buildings are open, but with minimal staffing. However, due to the reduced visibility and hazardous travelling conditions resulting from the winter storm, Halton Region has suspended several services including waste collection services scheduled for February 2, 2015 in Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville.
All waste collection services in Halton Region will be postponed one day for remainder of the week, including regularly scheduled collection for Friday, February 6, 2015, which will now happen on Saturday, February 7.
Residents in any areas who did not receive collection on Monday, February 2, are asked to remove their Blue Box, GreenCart and garbage material from the curb and place back at the curb, no later than 7:00 a.m., on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 for collection.
There are some exceptions:
 Our Regional Councillors will do almost anything for a photo-op; this time they are showing you the new 2 gallon blue boxes which they don’t want you to put out on the street today. • The Region will maintain Tuesday and Friday designated BIA collection services.
• There will be no change to commercial locations scheduled for Thursday and Friday collection
In addition to the changes in waste collection, the following Regional offices have also been closed:
• All health clinics and locations: Those with appointments are being contacted and alternate arrangements will be made.
• Regional Clerk’s Office
• Halton Region Small Business Centre
• Halton Region Museum
• Planning Services and Public Works Office, located at 1075 North Service Road West, Oakville.
Halton Region is closely monitoring the weather forecast and it is anticipated that all regular Regional services will return on February 3, 2015. Should this change, up to date information will be posted at Halton.ca, on Twitter at @RegionofHalton, or dial 311.
By Staff
February 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
They basically shut the town down. Families can spend the day at home playing M9onopoly while Dad toys away with his snow blower.
A media release from city hall said: “All City of Burlington buildings, with the exception of City Hall, Burlington Transit and services related to emergencies and storm management, will be closed today.
Regularly scheduled meetings and recreation programs will be cancelled due to yesterday’s snow accumulation and expected additional snow this morning.
“We want to ensure public safety, which means encouraging people to stay home unless it’s absolutely necessary to travel,” said Scott Stewart, the city’s general manager of development and infrastructure.
Recreation
Recreation programs and services are cancelled today. The city will provide an update at 3 p.m. today regarding evening programs. Discovery Landing and the Brant Street Pier will also be closed.
 After capacity crowds for the Super Bowl Game – things were quiet at Joe Dogs Monday morning. They’ll get around to clearing the sidewalk. Burlington Transit
Burlington Transit will continue to operate today on a reduced schedule. Handi-Van will be available for medical appointments only.
Transit users are encouraged to stand at a corner near the bus stop rather than climbing on any accumulated snow. Visit Burlington Transit.for updates.
Burlington Public Library
Burlington Public Library branches will be closed today. For more information, visit
Snow clearing updates
City of Burlington staff worked through Sunday night to prepare roads for safe travel. About 27 centimetres of snow has fallen since Sunday, with another seven centimetres expected by noon along with blowing and drifting snow for the rest of the day.
The city had plowed main roads and secondary roads but will need to plow main roads again.
Snow clearing updates are posted three times daily HERE Please check for snow closure information.
 By Staff
February 1, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Follow up on the accident at Guelph Line and Mountainside Drive in Burlington on Thursday afternoon
A 55-year old female who was involved in a two-vehicle collision has since died. The female was pronounced dead at Hamilton General Hospital late Friday.
It is believed that the female – a Burlington resident – suffered a sudden medical episode and this led to her vehicle colliding with a silver sport utility vehicle that was stationary at a red traffic light. The driver of the other vehicle was not injured.
Halton Regional Police will not be releasing the name of the decedent.
By Staff
February 1, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Passage. The wok of Lesley McInally opened at the Art Gallery of Burlington late in January. The Opening reception takes place on February 8th along with another exhibit that might well take up all the attention. It would be a mistake to not find time to slip over to the Perry Gallery and spend some time appreciating the slab built paper clay vessels.
 A Lesley McInally slab built paper clay vessel. Born and raised in Scotland, Lesley McInally got her degree in ceramics and printmaking from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee University. She immigrated to Canada over a decade ago and settled in the Georgian Bay area, in Cookstown, in a landscape that reminded her of her homeland. Her slab built paper clay vessels, while functional in form are inspired by the landscape of both Canada and Scotland, especially the historic stone structures that show the accumulated layers of age.
McInally’s forms take on the soft rounded contour of stones that have faced the effects of weathering over time. These forms are often pierced with openings so that pinpoints of light illuminate dark interiors.
Her surfaces range from mists of colour to glaze that resembles cracked, blistered, and peeling paint. In the last couple of years she has developed a technique where she uses her old printmaking techniques. She layers ceramic pigments and hand coloured porcelain engobes to create complex textural surfaces that reveal hidden burst of colour similar to lichens.
McInally’s work possesses evocative powers that drive the viewer to decode the narrative elements which she hints at but never states.
Lesley McInally will be showing at the AGB until March 22, 2015
By Ray Rivers
February 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
It’s a nice change to see gasoline prices down. We’re pretty used to them going the other way and tired of all the excuses offered by the oil folks for why they have no choice. Global political instability or natural disasters are the classics. When hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans the oil industry got to double-up on excuses, blaming both the natural disaster and the storm-related destruction of the refineries and oil platforms.
 Pipeline capacity was sometimes the reason for higher gas prices. Typically the oil giants claim their hands are tied, blaming inflated selling prices on the tax man, or the speculators – derivatives, futures and hedge funds. They spit out this line as if they are innocent, even though they do much of the speculating themselves. And when the economy is healthy and growing, it’s inadequate refining capacity, depleted oil fields and limited pipeline capacity that are to blame – as if the industry has no control over these factors.
The price of oil is currently of huge importance to us. We are a free-trading, transport-intensive economy built on the automobile. The price of oil can mean the difference between economic boom or bust. Those of us old enough will recall how the late 1970’s Arab oil embargo gave us third-world-style gas pump shortages. North America and the world were plunged into recession and then wrenched back into near hyper-inflation – and then into something called stagflation.
More recently in the run-up to the 2008 recession, oil prices skyrocketed towards $150 per barrel, becoming the proverbial ‘straw breaking the camel’s back’, and triggering the debt-driven economic collapse that year. But what goes up also comes down and the price declined to one third of its value as quickly as it had risen. Then, as night follows day, prices rose again in sync with the recovering economy.
Today most of us are cheering the prices at the pump. Some experts attribute this phenomena to Saudis flooding the market in an attempt to drive American horizontal drilling hydraulic fracturing (fracking) entrepreneurs out of business. Others speculate it is the Yanks and Saudis collaborating to inflict damage on the oil-export dependent Russian economy. Since almost a fifth of Russia’s GDP and half of its budget come from oil revenues, falling oil prices may be more effective than sanctions have been at stopping the armed aggression in Ukraine.
 Fracking has certainly had a huge impact on where Americans get the gas from – the damage to the environment is becoming a little clearer and it doesn’t appear to be good news. America used to be the world’s biggest oil producer, until the low-hanging fruit in the oil fields was nearly exhausted and cheap middle-east oil came begging for a market. Thanks to ‘fracking’ the US is poised to regain that title and become self-sufficient. Of course that has implications for Canada, given that the US is virtually our only export market.
The very first oil in North American came from a well in Ontario in 1858. Today production is largely from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland. The federal government has supported the oil industry in one way or another over the years, including the governments of John Diefenbaker, Pierre Trudeau and Stephen Harper. In addition to direct subsidies and accelerated capital write-off, the government plays a significant role in oil transport, exploration, investment, international trade and environmental management.
But, if Stephen Harper saw the development of the vast ‘tar sands’ as a solution to the vagaries of Canada’s business cycle, he couldn’t have been more wrong. Oil is as volatile as… well just look at it today. And as the US becomes self-sufficient and even competes with Canada for export markets, that volatility will just get worse and markets dry up. And then there are the new supply-side technologies, such as ‘fracking’, which will enable countries from China to Ukraine to start producing more of their own oil.
What is really exciting, though, is demand-side technology. Electricity is a better alternative for propelling an automobile, whether in pure or hybrid vehicle format. Electric motors are safer, cleaner, virtually maintenance-free, more reliable, quieter, and more powerful – as we see with the Tesla all-electric sports cars or the economical Nissan Leaf. Electric vehicles were common-place in the mid 19th century, even holding the land speed record until the turn of that century.
Oil will always be part of our economy – for fertilizer, plastics, and the other myriad of uses – but 70% of all the petroleum used today is for transportation. And those days are limited. Even the lower pump prices we see today should not forestall the inevitable move away from petroleum. The smart money is on the alternatives.
We know the roller-coaster ride in petroleum pricing will continue, lifting prices again once the industry gets its act together following this current crisis. The oil industry is a largely unregulated oligopoly (limited number of sellers), and so long as they can work together (collude), and avoid political minefields, they will manipulate the market to their financial advantage. And we can expect to hear those old excuses crop up again as they do.
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 where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province.
Background links:
Energy 101
Oil Busts USA Oil Price of Oil
Shale Gas US Energy Reserves Canada’s Energy Policy
Oil Sands Environment Tesla
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