 By Staff
August 25th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
 Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce “My ongoing commitment to Ontario families is to use every available tool and pursue every path that keeps students in school. Doing so will mean students are in classrooms learning what matters most: reading, writing and math skills.
“I am very pleased to announce that we have reached a tentative four-year agreement with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) on a process that, if ratified by the union’s members, will keep students in class where they belong.
“If this agreement is ratified, a student who entered grade nine in an English public high school last September will have their entire high school experience free from the threat of teacher strikes. That’s something all of us can celebrate.
“The tentative agreement provides for bargaining to continue without the threat of strikes. If a collective agreement cannot be reached by October 27, 2023, the parties will enter binding interest arbitration to resolve any outstanding issues.
“Through this process, a neutral third-party, will make binding decisions on all outstanding matters.
“To ensure stability across the entire education system, we are inviting all outstanding teacher unions to meet with the government as early as Monday to also enter into a tentative deal ahead of the start of school. Let’s get these deals done and let kids get back to learning in peace and with confidence.”
BACKGROUND
• Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) represents more than 60,000 members in Ontario’s English public secondary schools.
• OSSTF is the first teacher federation that has agreed to not strike while labour negotiations continue. The proposed process will also include education workers that are members of OSSTF.
• The voluntary interest arbitration process will apply to both central and locally negotiated matters.
• Central collective agreements with the teachers and education workers unions expired August 31, 2022.
• Since then, Ontario has successfully concluded new central agreements with the Canadian Union of Public Employees education workers and the Ontario Council of Educational Workers.
• Nearly 2,000 additional front-line educators are expected to be hired in 2023-24 through new investments, helping to bring overall education funding to the highest levels in Ontario history.
• Education funding for 2023-24 includes an increase of $693 million in base Grants for Student Needs funding compared to the prior year, or a 2.7 per cent increase.
 By Pepper Parr
August 25th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
The small group that met at the Appleby Line Ice Rink earlier this week to take part in a visioning exercise on what they wanted to see take place at the former Bateman High School site. A second visioning meeting the following day, during the daytime, drew ten or so people with just two tables set out.
 Community Engagement has come to this: fewer people and empty tables. Things are different these days when it comes to public involvement.
There was a time when large crowds came out to take part in public participation events.
 It was Standing Room Only- people packed the hall to listen and to be listened to. The meeting was held to get input on what people thought could be done in the east end community where a development was being considered brought out a crowd, 350 people – they filled the large space.
Staff hovered over the tables where people were looking at large graphics and asking questions.
Why the difference? In those days we didn’t have the City Communications department that is currently in place. And we didn’t have the city manager we now have either.
KwKwab Ako-Adjei: Director, Corporate Communications & Engagement. He reports to Jacqueline Johnson: Executive Director of Community Relations & Engagement.
 City Manager Tim Commisso  Jacqueline Johnson: Executive Director of Community Relations & Engagement.  Kwab Ako-Adjei: Director, Corporate Communications & Engagement She reports to City Manager Tim Commisso – collectively those three determine the tone and quality of citizen engagement.
The changes that took place were not accidental. Tim Commisso as City Manager runs the City administration. He is the only person hired by City Council.
They delegate everything to him.
Commisso hired the Executive Directors and they in turn hire and direct the people they manage.
In the photographs that follow there is clear evidence on the way things were before Commisso was hired by Mayor Marianne Meed Ward as the Interim City Manager once she fired James Ridge.
The full story on how Commisso came to Meed Ward’s attention has never been told. He was not part of municipal politics when she was the Councillor for ward 2. Meed Ward has yet to hold an open media event where questions can be put to her directly. She has chosen to use events where she basically has control of what gets discussed. Cogeco Cable, Bill Kelly on CHML have all fallen into line and let the Mayor babble away.
Meed Ward didn’t do this all by herself – but at the time she had a six member Council – five of whom were new to politics. They took their cue from the Mayor and during the early days the five relied heavily on the advice and direction Commisso was more than prepared to give them.
Members of Council are a little wiser now and they do their best to argue their point of view. Marianne understands media, when the TV camera lights go on she is like a moth to a flame.
In 2018 when she was first elected Mayor she told the citizens of the city what they wanted to hear – no high rise towers downtown. Things didn’t work out that way.
 A photo of a model created by a developer of the area around Lakeshore Road and Old Lakeshore Road clustered with high rise developments most of which are approved, built or in the process of being built. All within the last ten years. Meed Ward did work hard to move the Urban Growth Boundary further north and focus on having the high rise buildings clustered around the GO station. A new Official Plan was passed – it is currently under appeal at the Ontario Land Tribunal.
What the citizens of Burlington have not seen from the members of Council is an attempt, heck not even an effort, to open things up and create events similar to what has been shown in this article.
 Staff interacting with citizens at a public meeting: this gentleman looks a little apprehensive.  City Staff listening while a citizen explains what he likes and doesn’t like about a proposed design. It has happened in the past and it can happen in the future; before that can happen members of Council have to instruct the City Manager to do things differently.
Don’t hold your breath for that one.
Council recently passed a bylaw that actually threatens the public with Trespass Notices, puts limits on who they can call at City Hall and in some instances diverts email a citizen sends to a Staff member.
 A picture is indeed worth 1000 words. The Mayor declares they Council and Staff are not punching bags but she can do her level best to pound away at a member of Council .
The city now has a Council member who has told a resident that the Council member will not send him material or answer his questions.
The other members of Council say nothing.
This Council has lost its way.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
 By JONATHAN J. COOPER
August 25th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
A camera clicks. In a fraction of a second, the shutter opens and then closes, freezing forever the image in front of it.
 Associated Press When the camera shutter blinked inside a jail in downtown Atlanta on Thursday, it both created and documented a tiny inflection point in American life. Captured for posterity, there was a former president of the United States, for the first time in history, under arrest and captured in the sort of frame more commonly associated with drug dealers or drunken drivers. The trappings of power gone, for that split second.
Left behind: an enduring image that will appear in history books long after Donald Trump is gone.
“It will be forever part of the iconography of being alive in this time,” said Marty Kaplan, a professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communications.
 Mug shot of Donald Trump shows scowling former president during speedy booking at Atlanta jail This booking photo provided by Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, shows former President Donald Trump on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, after he surrendered and was booked at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. Trump is accused by District Attorney Fani Willis of scheming to subvert the will of Georgia voters in a desperate bid to keep Joe Biden out of the White House. (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
Trump has surrendered for a fourth time this year. Here’s where all the cases against him stand
Former President Donald Trump’s supporters gather outside of the Fulton County Jail, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Dozens of Trump supporters cheer him on as former president turns himself in at Georgia jail
In the photo, Trump confronts the camera in front of a bland gray backdrop, his eyes meeting the lens in an intense glare. He’s wearing a blue suit, white shirt and red tie, his shoulders squared, his head tilted slightly toward the camera. The sheriff’s logo has been digitally added above his right shoulder.
Some of the 18 others charged with him in Georgia smiled in their booking photos like they were posing for a yearbook. Not Trump. His defiance is palpable, as if he’s staring down a nemesis through the lens.
“It is not a comfortable feeling — especially when you’ve done nothing wrong,” he later told Fox News Digital about the moment.
NOT LIKE ANY OTHER PHOTOGRAPH
Trump facing charges is by now a familiar sight of 2023 to Americans who watched him stand before a judge in a New York courtroom or saw watercolor sketches from the inside of federal courthouses in Miami and Washington, where cameras aren’t allowed.
This is different.
As Anderson Cooper put it on CNN: “The former president of the United States has an inmate number.” P01135809, to be exact. But until he surrendered to face charges of trying to steal the 2020 election in Georgia, his fourth indictment this year, he avoided having to pose for the iconic booking photo like millions accused of crimes before him.
Never mind that Trump, like all Americans, is innocent until proven guilty in court; the mug shot, and all it connotes, packs an extra emotional and cultural punch.
A mug shot is a visceral representation of the criminal justice system, a symbol of lost freedom. It permanently memorializes one of the worst days of a person’s life, a moment not meant for a scrapbook. It must be particularly foreign to a man born into privilege, who famously loves to be in control, who is highly attentive to his image and who rose to be the most powerful figure in the world.
“`Indictment’ is a sort of bloodless word. And words are pale compared to images,” said Kaplan, a former speechwriter for Vice President Walter Mondale and Hollywood screenwriter. “A mug shot is a genre. Its frame is, `This is a deer caught in the headlights. This is the crook being nailed.’ It’s the walk of shame moment.”
HE IS ALREADY LEVERAGING THE MOMENT
Trump is unlikely to treat the mug shot as a moment of shame as he seeks a second term in the White House while fighting criminal charges in four jurisdictions. His campaign has reported a spike in contributions each time he’s been indicted.
And the imagery itself? Trump hasn’t shied away from it. In fact, his campaign concocted one long before it became real.
Months before he was photographed in Georgia on Thursday evening, his campaign used the prospect of a mug shot as a fundraising opportunity. For $36, anyone can buy a T-shirt with a fake booking photo of Trump and the words “not guilty.” Dozens of similar designs are available to purchase online, including many that appeal to Trump’s critics.
Now they have a real one to work with. Within minutes of the mug shot’s release, Trump’s campaign used it in a fundraising appeal on its website. “BREAKING NEWS: THE MUGSHOT IS HERE,” reads the subject line of the campaign’s latest fundraising email, which advertises a new T-shirt with the image. And this quote: “This mugshot will forever go down in history as a symbol of America’s defiance of tyranny.”
In a show of solidarity, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, a photo of herself smiling broadly in front of a gray background, the sheriff’s logo in the top left corner to mimic the jail’s style — essentially her DIY mug. “I stand with President Trump against the commie DA Fani Willis,” she said, a swipe at the Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney who persuaded a grand jury to indict Trump.
Recent history is full of politicians seeking political dividends from their booking photos. They’ve offered large smiles or defiant smirks and tried to make the best of their predicament.
Yet this is one of just 45 presidents in all of U.S. history — not only someone who held the keys to the most powerful government in the world, but who held a position that for many these days, both at home and overseas, personifies the United States. To see that face looking at a camera whose lens he is not seeking out — that’s a potent moment.
“There’s a power to the still image, which is inarguable,” said Mitchell Stevens, a professor emeritus at New York University who has written a book about the place imagery holds in modern society and how it is supplanting the word.
“It kind of freezes a moment, and in this case it’s freezing an unhappy moment for Donald Trump,” Stevens said. “And it’s not something he can click away. It’s not something he can simply brush off. That moment is going to live on. And it’s entirely possible that it will end up as the image that history preserves of this man.”
 By Pepper Parr
August 24th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
It was an occasion for residents to talk about what they wanted to see taking place at the former Bateman High School site.
A little over 25 people took part in what was described is as a Visioning exercise that asked people to work as a group and come up with what they wanted to see happening in a site that is going to be part Brock University classrooms; part District School Board use with spaces for Tech Place, the library and the triple sized gymnasium is as well is as the swimming pools.
 It wasn’t a huge crowd – but it was a group of people putting their ideas on the table. Before this first opportunity for the public to have input many thought this exercise should have taken place before the city committed to buying the property.
 Some of the ideas that were put forward. There was no clear consensus.  Interesting ideas Denise Beard, Manager of Community Development for the City explained to the people attending that the focus was on what would take place INSIDE the building. Anything done to the track at the back of the site would be covered later in the year. Same with the amount of parking space that would be available.
The objective was for each of the eight tables with 4 to 10 people at each table was to come up with their best idea for what the space should/could be used for.
There were people taking part that had their own vested interests – Beard acknowledged that this was expected and explained as well that once the visioning exercises were completed and all the data analyzed a Staff Report would be sent to Council where the final decision would be made.
Parks Recreation and Culture were given an assignment that got caught up in the politics of the City acquiring the former Bateman High School. They are managing as best they can with the skills they have.
In Burlington Staff reports are sent to a Standing Committee where there is ample time for discussion and delegations to be heard.
So how did the people who were asked to vision do?
 Advocating for an idea. They were given yellow Post It notes and asked to put one idea on a post it Note. Just one idea. There was no limit on how many ideas a person could put forward.
They were then asked to go to the sheets put up on the wall and instructed to put the Post-It notes on the lower part.
Then they were asked to make sure the ideas were Aligned, Desirable and Relevant to what the city was setting out to do.
Then they were asked to group the individual ideas – creating small clusters of ideas that would become a group idea.
The next to final step was to rank what they had done and come up with the top idea for the group.
After that, each table reported to everyone else the vision that table had arrived at.
One participant remarked that it had been 30 years since he had done one of these visioning exercises adding – “we did this when I was at Sears”
The end result was not all that focused – what was clear was that those participating wanted, whatever the place is going to be named, to be a place where people went to do things that were community based and applicable to every demographic.
 Considering some of the options; each Post It note was an idea someone wanted to see take place. The idea for a repair spot is something being done from time to time by a group in Burlington.
Some of the artists wanted space where groups of people could do their art; opportunities like that are available at the Art Gallery.
Some were surprised to learn that the high school stage was being removed.
The participants learned that some of the space on the second level would be available for five years but that Brock University had an option to take over that space after five years which cuts down the space from 21,000 sq ft down to 14,000 square feet. I think this was the first time those numbers were made public
The Parks, Recreation and Culture people don’t yet have a layout document that could be printed on big big pieces of paper with measurements clearly shown that people could work from.
Some thought the library was too small.
The three gymnasiums that can be opened up into one very large space with each of the three gyms having its own change rooms.
 Joanne had to begin ranking the ideas that were put forward. The word Café came up a number of times: Would the place have a coffee shop where people could gather? No one seemed to know if that had been considered and if a decision had been made.
Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stole was on hand for most of the evening. The Mayor and Councillors Sharman, Bentivegna and Kelvin Galbraith were in London, Ontario taking part in the AMO conference. Councillor Nisan seems to be out of the city taking care of FCM matters.
Parks, Recreation and Culture will be reaching out to the YMCA, the Art Gallery – all the stakeholders they can think of to bounce off ideas and do their best to avoid any conflicts.
 An artist was brought in capture what was happening at the different tables. Was the visioning exercise a necessary experience done far too late? Tough to make that call. Knowing what the people who are going to pay for whatever this is going to cost much sooner would have helped the people at Parks, Recreation and Culture who have to deliver – that opportunity was lost.
Instead of having the converting of a former high school into a community hub be seen as something the Mayor wanted (Council went along with her) it could have and should have been something that was led by what citizens wanted.
This project stumbled its way forward – recall that the Pier went through the same process.
That seems to be the way municipal government works.
 By Staff
August 24th, 2023
BURLINGTON. ON
What was the Gazette writing about on this day in 2014?
Disaster relief committee about to be announced; public can expect to hear and learn a lot more about a damage claims process.
The Flood – remember the event Click on the link – blast from the past when the city was recovering from a summer storm that flooded large parts of the city.
 The flooding was extensive.
 Remember – these were tough days for a lot of people.
 By Staff
August 24th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
 Burlington MP Karina Gould will serve as the Government House leader when the federal government returns to the House of Commons September 18th Burlington MP Karina Gould has to steer the Liberal government’s ship in the House of Commons now that she serves as the newly minted Government House leader.
Gould says conversations with colleagues at the federal cabinet retreat in Charlottetown have been “really informative” in determining the government’s legislative priorities for the fall.
Getting ready for the House’s return on Sept. 18 has been Gould’s focus at the three-day retreat that started on Aug. 21 and will wrap up this afternoon.
“We’re having lots of conversations about issues that are challenging Canadians right now, and the idea really is for us to kind of absorb that information, reflect on it, and come back in September ready to go in the House.”
 By Ray Rivers
August 24th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
Ontario’s Premier must think we are all stupid. Everyone knew he had promised developers that he would open up the Greenbelt in his early days campaigning in 2018. And having come off from an impressive majority victory last year he obviously thought it was now or never to deliver on that original promise to his most keen supporters. Nothing else in this entire fiasco makes any sense.
 Premier Ford and his Minister of Municipal Affairs: Will Steve Clark still have that job at the end of the year? Political staffers don’t undertake this kind of mission without authorization at least from their minister, and in the case of something as politically sensitive as the Greenbelt, from the Premier himself. And this chief of staff for the housing minister’s office was apparently hired by Mr. Ford. So the Premier has to be lying or hopelessly incompetent when he says he was unaware of what he was approving until the last minute. What kind of senior executive gives his approval to something like this without taking the time to review it?
Like in any decent crime story, the staffer, Ryan Amato, has now left the scene, resigned his post. That would allow the mob bosses to escape culpability by laying all the blame on him. Ford isn’t going to back down on his approval, or even reconsider it. Instead he and his housing minister claim it was ‘the process’ at fault.
But there was no ‘process’. Breaking up the Greenbelt was a covert operation, an ad hoc project led by a political staffer and a small cadre of trusted civil servants. The provincial government does have an exhaustive process for policy development, but this wasn’t it. The Auditor General provided an excellent summary of this matter.
It could take up to 20 years to get approvals and the required urban services into these lands, given their location. The developments, in the boonies, are likely to be neither higher density nor affordable. It is wishful thinking that 50,000 homes will actually be built or that this could happen in time to deal with Ontario’s current housing crisis.
 Details on some of the properties shown on the map were handed to the former Ministry of Municipal Affairs Chief of Staff in plain brown envelopes at an industry dinner. This is all just one big lie. It is a mess and it stinks to high heaven. And it’s Ford’s mess – a crisis of his own making. And it will be his undoing. The Green Party and some environmental groups had requested that the OPP conduct an investigation of this affair. But the OPP, wisely, have bumped it up to the RCMP Anti Rackets Branch, to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
The next provincial election is scheduled for June of 2026. Clearly Mr. Ford is hoping that the public has a short memory and that this indiscretion will be forgotten by the electorate. Or like Mr. Amato he too may find it more comfortable to leave the scene. And from a partisan perspective this affair is fodder for the opposition parties.
The Liberals are in the throws of selecting a new leader for their party after disappointing performances in the last two elections. So the Burlington Liberals are hosting meetings for each one and I sat in for the two candidates thought to be leading the pack.
 Nate Erskine-Smith: He was happy to be in the room. Nate Erskine-Smith is a federal MP and former Toronto litigation lawyer. Perhaps his exclusion from Cabinet and the prospects of re-election by an eight year old government now struggling in the polls factored into his decision making. It’s my guess that given what he’s been saying, he fits pretty clearly on the centre right of the party. That is if we need yardsticks to help us understand our politicians.
He spoke in opposition to universal basic income; doesn’t like the idea of buck-a-ride subsidized public transit; will not promote ending Catholic school funding; and would only implement proportional representation after another referendum, like the failed McGuinty effort. In all fairness he supports meeting federal emission targets, protecting the Greenbelt and restarting the renewable energy program.
 Watch where you put your feet. Bonnie Crombie, was widely expected to be the front runner until she put her foot in her mouth, being quoted as labelling herself right-of-centre and apparently musing the it was OK to move some land out of the Greenbelt under the right conditions. She claims she was misquoted and has since come down hard on keeping the Greenbelt intact.
Crombie is a natural politician, personable, engaging, warm and very relatable, somewhat in contrast to the more matter of factly Erskine-Smith. So it is surprising that this three time mayor of one of Canada’s largest cities and former federal MP could have erred so easily this early in the game. Perhaps she was just testing the waters and found herself in the midst of sharks.
It appears these two candidates haven’t yet learned the oldest lesson for getting elected and succeeding as a Liberal. Govern from the centre but campaign from the left.
The election for leader will be later this year and there will be a series of public debates among candidates before that. Only party members can vote but membership is free and on-line, though the deadline to join is only a couple weeks away. The ballot will allow ranking by preference for candidate and the leader announced early December.
 Ray Rivers, a Gazette Contributing Editor, writes regularly applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Ford’s Record Greenbelt-Gate Greens Call for Police Investigation
Bonnie’s Error Leadership Debates Nate’s Policies RCMP
By Staff
August 24th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The Arts and Culture Council of Burlington in collaboration with the City of Burlington are looking for local talent for a Culture Days Event on Friday Sept. 29 at the Burlington Seniors Centre.
We are looking for any type of Arts and Culture professionals from Burlington to perform/present one 15 min set between 6:30-9:30 pm.
This could include music, dance, spoken word, theatre, a cultural presentation or anything related to Arts and Culture in our City.
We are also looking for 3-4 Artists, photographers, potters or the like to have a table in the Seniors Centre to showcase and sell your creations throughout the evening.
All of these will include an honorarium for being involved.
 ACCOB – family portrait. Please email us a quick outline of what you can present and some technical details with the size of the group that will be performing/presenting to info@artscultureburlington.ca and please share with any local performers/artists you think should know about this!
Deadline for this call is Aug 31. We look forward to hearing from you!
By Staff
August 23rd, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The run for the role of the Ontario Liberal Party leader is daunting.
Fund raising and getting out to as many communities as possible is easier said than done.
Bonnie Crombie was scheduled to be in Burlington for an event scheduled for between 6:00 and 8:00 pm at the Tansley Woods Community Centre on Monday. She was a couple of minutes late and dove right into greeting people which she followed up with a short speech on what she saw as the major problems. Her top priorities were Health – Long Term Care, Education, Housing and the Greenbelt.
What the people organizing the event were not fully aware of was that Crombie was scheduled to be in Oakville for a 7:00 PM event to be followed by another event at 7:30.
That resulted in a hasty, unannounced and awkward retreat by Crombie and the people travelling with her.
In a policy paper released by Crombie she outlined her plan to Support Ontario Students
 Bonnie Crombie speaking to Liberals in Burlington. “Ontario has the lowest fraction of post-secondary support at 30%. Doug Ford’s government cut operational funding for post secondary education in Ontario leaving colleges and universities scrambling for revenue. International students have been unfairly compensating for this shortfall without adequate care or housing. Doug Ford’s policy decision to shortchange our post secondary institutions is driving up the cost of housing and putting strains on provincial and municipal services – especially in university and college hubs. Bonnie supports increasing the provincial contribution of operating revenue to better balance our cost-sharing model so we can continue to support domestic and international students who fuel our economy.
“With the high cost of living – from groceries to rent – students and prospective students have enough to worry about. Students deserve a government that will support them.
“A post-secondary education should be accessible to anyone who wants it.
“I have heard some excellent ideas on how to make post-secondary education a reality for more students – here are the ideas that I believe Ontario Liberals should debate and consider:
“Eliminating the provincial portion of interest on OSAP loans, including for former students who are still paying off student loans.
“Increasing the annual income threshold for OSAP repayment to $40,000 and extending the grace period for the provincial portion of OSAP to two years, providing new graduates with time to find jobs and be in a better financial position to cover the cost of repayments.Increasing OSAP funding for all eligible students, with a particular focus on supporting low-income and underrepresented groups.
Delivering academic programs that are aligned with the needs of the labour market, hands-on training and expanded experiential learning opportunities such as co-op and paid internships.
Increasing the provincial contribution of operating revenue to better balance our cost-sharing model.
Supporting increased tenure-stream faculty hiring and positions, while keeping tuition fees low and ensuring the sustainability and quality of Ontario’s post-secondary institutions.
Supporting proactive measures towards addressing sexual and gender-based violence on postsecondary campuses.
Crombie is travelling across the province to hear from Ontario Liberals, students and stakeholder groups on opportunities to improve the post-secondary education system.
Do you have an idea? Email us.
By Pepper Parr
August 23rd, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Minister of Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clark spoke to municipal leaders starting with “our province is leading the nation in job growth with more than 700,000 full time jobs created in the province since 2018. Over the last two and a half years Ontario has attracted more than $25 billion in investments in the auto and the electrical vehicle battery sector alone, including investments in Windsor just down the road from here with the exciting news that Volkswagen is making the historic investment in St. Thomas.
 Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark telling AMO members about how well the province was doing. He introduced new programs to help municipalities cope with the demands that the huge increase in housing are having in planning departments across the province.
He announced that the government will be unveiling a slate of regional facilitators in Durham, Halton, Niagara, Simcoe County, Waterloo and York by September 11 of this year.
These facilitators will be tasked with reviewing the structures that are in place in these fast growing areas to ensure that they’re up for the job in delivering efficient effective and accountable government that residents both expect and deserve.
 Never used the word Greenbelt in his speech – might use it when he uses the word ‘resigning’. There is much more to report on and that will follow.
What we didn’t hear once during the twenty minutes address was the word Greenbelt.
Maybe it will be uttered when he uses the word ‘resigning’.
By Staff
August 23rd, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Saturday, September 16 there will be a “Downtown Heritage Study” booth at the City’s annual Food for Feedback event, which takes place in Central Park from 12PM-4PM. City staff will be at this event to answer questions and accept feedback about the project.
Food for Feedback is a community engagement BBQ where City staff can get feedback from residents regarding projects, initiatives and programs at the City. Residents are welcome to attend this free drop-in and provide feedback in exchange for a free meal from one of the participating food trucks.
On Monday, October 2nd, staff and the consultant team will hold a final consultation event at the Art Gallery of Burlington in the Shoreline Room from 7PM-8:30PM. This event will be open to all residents and final recommendations for each study area will be shared at this meeting.
 City wants to retain some of the heritage and culture left in the downtown core – there is a lot of resistance from property owners. Work on the Downtown Heritage Study has been progressing over the summer with the consultant team carefully considering the feedback received from June Stakeholder meetings and refining research and analysis. A final report presenting study recommendations will be released publicly at the end of September prior to the October 2nd public meeting. An email blast will be sent once the report is posted on the City’s website.
The consultant team is expecting to present the final report to the Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee in October, then Community Planning Regulation and Mobility Committee and City Council in November/December.
Related news stories:
Second meeting with property owners opposed to Heritage designations
Does city need Cultural heritage districts
By Pepper Parr
August 23, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The heat just got turned up a notch.
Police in Ontario tend not to touch much in the way of misbehaviour on the part of politicians at the provincial level.
The potential for conflicts is just too high.
The Ontario Provincial Police has been keeping an eye on the way the Greenbelt land swap is playing out. When it became evident to them – they passed the file along to the RCMP.
The OPP said it: “has received a number of inquiries regarding an investigation into the Greenbelt.”
“To avoid any potential perceived conflict of interest, the OPP referred this matter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,”
“In order to protect the integrity of the process, it would not be appropriate to provide any further comment. Questions should be directed to the RCMP.”
The OPP got in touch with the Mounties and said there was a thick file coming their way.
 The “buck stopped” at the Premier’s desk. Is that statement enough to bring an end to the problems? The decision on the part of Doug Ford to accept the resignation of Ryan Amato who was blamed by the Auditor General for the way lands were removed from the Greenbelt to allow housing developments.
Amato was Chief of Staff to the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Steve Clark who said he was not aware of the decisions Amato made about lands being removed from the Greenbelt
The move came the morning after Ford’s government parted ways with Ryan Amato, who was blamed in the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap controversy.
Ivana Yelich, Ford’s deputy chief of staff, said Tuesday afternoon that: “The premier’s office has accepted Ryan Amato’s resignation as chief of staff to the minister of municipal affairs and housing, effective immediately,”
 Auditor General Bonnie Lysak issued a scathing report – is it to bring about the resignation of the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Steve Clark Auditor General Bonnie Lysak issued a scathing report that set out just what happened: prominent developers” getting 7,400 acres of environmentally sensitive land in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area opened up to build 50,000 homes adding that the usual guardrails provided by bureaucrats and planners, and personally selected 14 of the 15 parcels of protected land to be removed from the Greenbelt.
Lysak said that could mean an $8.28-billion bonanza for the landowners.
Integrity commissioner J. David Wake, who is also doing a probe of the Greenbelt land swap, is investigating whether Amato breached the Public Service Act.
 Burlington MPP Natalie Pierre has yet to make a statement on the Auditor General’s Report. Amato, who has retained counsel, has not been available for comment.
It is not unusual for the OPP, which is funded by Queen’s Park, to refer potentially politically sensitive cases to other forces.
This isn’t the end of this story.
People in Burlington are still waiting for a statement from their MPP Natalie Pierre – promised “soon” more than a week ago.
 By Mia Gonzales
August 23rd, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
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By Pepper Parr
August 22, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Would someone explain to the Premier of the province that municipalities do not build houses.
They approve developments and issue building permits when all the required conditions are met.
Some developers don’t like that process and take their case to the Ontario Land Tribunal holds things up for a couple of years and often, most of the time give the developer at least a part of what they want.
 Of the five categories only those waiting for site plan approval have an outcome determined by the city. Ford, under a lot of pressure is as a result of the Greenbelt land swaps announced a $1.2-billion fund to encourage municipalities to build more housing.
 Hopefully he will give them rubber stamps so they can put approval on development applications.
The announcement was made to delegates at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in London on Monday.
 The surprise move, was a new three-year, $1.2-billion “building faster fund” that would reward cities and towns that try to meet the housing construction targets the province has imposed upon them.
 This is a really dismal bit of information. “This new fund is an incentive program that supports municipalities to build more homes,” the premier said, citing Pickering, Vaughan and Brantford as examples that would receive increased cash for “infrastructure and community-building projects” because they are exceeding their mandates.
“Municipalities that reach 80 per cent of their target each year will become eligible for funding based on their share of the overall goal of 1.5 million homes,” he said, warning those failing to meet the 80 per cent threshold won’t qualify.
The Progressive Conservatives want to build those homes 2031, with Ford conceding it is an “ambitious” aim because this year there will be about 110,000 housing starts; well below the average of more than 150,000 that need to be constructed each year.
“It’d be the first time in over three decades that we surpassed the 100,000 threshold. From there, we’ll ramp up over time until we’re on track to build at least 1.5 million homes”, said Ford
 Do you see anything positive about these numbers? Municipal leaders welcomed the new funding, which comes as they are coping with reduced revenues from development charges that the province removed to spur construction of more affordable housing.
We have yet to hear a single municipal leader explain how the money is going to move the development applications any faster.
 By Pepper Parr
August 22, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
She entered the room and dove right into the crowd.
Shaking hands, saying hello – nice to see you again.
Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga and a candidate for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party is just itching for a chance to run against Premier Doug Ford in 2026 and form a government.
Bonnie Crombie addressing Burlington Liberals She talked about revitalizing the Ontario Liberal Party, finding first class candidates and defeating Doug Ford in 2026.
The woman has a lot of energy and puts on a very polished performance. The small crowd liked her – they applauded frequently during the one hour event.
Doing the one on one with people is usually, based on what I saw last night, Crombie on her best. Gloria, a Personal Care Worker explained at some length what she was up against day to day. Gloria made the very poignant remark – “please don’t forget us if you are elected.”
She set out her priorities: Climate Change, Education, Health Care with a tight focus on improving Long Term Care and the Greenbelt.
She was generous about the other four candidates. The five people running for the leadership consist of two MP’s, two MPP’s and a Mayor.
 Sandra had some hard questions for Crombie.  Animated, engaging and direct for the most part. Crombie took questions from the audience – but something seemed to change when a woman named Sandra asked Crombie questions about positions she had taken in the past. Surprisingly, Crombie almost got into an argument with the woman, saying on three occasions: “I didn’t say that”.
She was fully aware of what the woman was talking about – but didn’t appear to handle the interaction all that well.
The polished performance – and make no mistake – Bonnie Crombie knows how to engage an audience, slipped for a few moments.
She pivoted and asked: “Does anyone know who Veronica is? No one knew. Crombie said “Veronica is my Mom”. She told the audience about her two daughters who are engaged and soon to be married and that they will need good child care and excellent schools with teachers focused on students.
 Crombie knew how to listen carefully. The audience learned that Crombie was a successful woman in the private sector and worked for Fortune 500 level corporations and was the Mayor of a City with a $4 billion budget and that she had been a Member of the House of Commons; became a City Councillor during a by-election.
She told the audience she had released policy papers and put out one today on how the University Community College sector should be helped.
The meeting was scheduled to run from 6:00 to 8:00 – but by about 7:10 Crombie was out the door leaving an audience that wanted more of her and from her.
There was no explanation – like I’m tired – can I go home.
We were later advised that Crombie had a back to back schedule, an event in Oakville that started at 7PM and then another event at 7:30PM.
She has been on the road for weeks – visiting every town that will make time for her.
The Burlington audience was asked to stand and have a group picture taken – most wanted to be in that picture. Sandra didn’t.
The race for the leadership is going to play itself out during the fall when there will be at least five debates giving the public an opportunity to see the candidates in a setting they don’t control.
 Bonnie Crombie was almost Imperial when she walked to the event provincial Liberals were holding in Hamilton. People spoke of her taking a majority of the ballots on the first round of the ranked voting. Thursday, September 14
Thunder Bay – 7:00 PM
Sunday, October 1
Stratford – 1:00 PM
Tuesday, October 24
Toronto – 7:00 PM
Wednesday, November 8
Ottawa – 7:00 PM
Saturday, November 18 OR Sunday, November 19 (TBD)
Brampton – 1:00 PM
The Liberal Party of Ontario has an open membership. Be 14 years of age and you can vote for the leader of your choice.
Party members will cast ranked ballots on Saturday, November 25, 2023 and Sunday, November 26, 2023.
Voting will be available in-person for almost all constituency associations, student clubs, and women’s clubs, with a small number voting by mail.
Ballot counting and the announcement of round-by-round results will take place on Saturday, December 2, 2023 with the OLP’s new leader announced the same day.
Based on what I have seen during the Meet and Greet events and the interviewing I have been doing, this race is going to be between Nate Erskine- Smith and Bonnie Crombie.
Crombie can beat Doug Ford but she has to beat Erskine – Smith first.
By Pepper Parr
August 22, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
This evening, at the Appleby Line Ice Arena, people will have an opportunity to voice their views on the plans for the former Bateman High School property is as it gets converted into a community hub that is looking for a name.
A project that has a $100 million price tag – the Mayor said that, I didn’t make it up.
 Getting to where we are with this project has been an awkward and very poorly handled process. Here is what the city has to say about the event this evening:
The City of Burlington is ready to start engagement related to the former Robert Bateman High School building.
These opportunities for engagement and input are only for the use of the inside of the building, and not about greenspace or parking.
Input on greenspace and parking will come at a later.
By Alan Harrington,
August 21st, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Inspired by this August 14 article in the Gazette, I clicked the link to learn more about flying on one of the heritage aircraft at the Warplane Museum in Hamilton.
It was surprising to see that some of the flights were quite affordable – a couple hundred instead of thousands of dollars.
The Warplane Museum is an excellent institution – that does Hamilton proud! Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum – Canadian Aviation History | Wartime Vintage Aircraft
It is known for having one of only TWO flying WWII Lancaster bombers in the world. (The other named “Thumper” lives in the UK)
This very large (for its time), four-propeller airplane would cost a family of four $ 14,600.00 to fly for an hour.
Too much for my budget.
 Harrington gets a different look at the pair The museum has ten other flying vintage aircraft to choose from, so I selected the “mini-Lancaster” Beechcraft Expeditor. It has a similar split tail section and dark green colour like the Lancaster.
These Beechcraft airplanes were built from 1937 to 1970 in Wichita Kansas where they made 9,000 of them. This particular one marked “BAE” was built in 1946.
I booked my “flight for one” with take-off scheduled for August 20 at 10:15 am.
It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning and I arrived at 9:00 am just as the museum opened. Got checked in. Watched as about 5 airplanes were rolled out of the hangar and onto the tarmac. Met my fellow passengers and pilots, signed our papers, walked to the runway and jumped in the tiny plane.
There’s room for two pilots and four passengers who each get a window seat.
After a full preflight check of everything including oil, fuel levels, safety checks, etc,… the starboard side propeller was started up.
 Harrington was in the air and loved every minutes of it. You can feel its power while seated inside the craft. Next, the prop on the port side started spinning and created more shaking.
The pilots got the props synced so they’re in harmony and the taxi down the runway began.
There were not many airplanes on the runway that morning so we were cleared for takeoff.
The noise level amped up and the old bucket of bolts got shaking – but you would too at age 77. The earth fell below the wings and we were up in the air – smooth as the breeze.
This particular plane tends to yaw – (move left and right) – something called the “Wichita Wiggle” due to its short length.
If the plane was a bit longer – it would lessen the wiggle.
We rose up over Hamilton – then Aldershot and Burlington to get a good view of the pier.
Quick bank over to the Skyway Bridge and Lift Bridge below it..
 The only thing missing was a ship passing through the canal. The steel mills and then Canada’s WWII warship HMCS Haida were in our sights in the harbour.
At only about 1000 feet altitude it was easy to get a bird’s eye view of all kinds of local landmarks including the Hamilton airport itself.
 With HMCS Haida in his sights Harrington might consider the Senior Service – I should take him aboard and show him where I slung my hammock. Twenty minutes in the air went by quickly – but that was all the time that was really needed.
One final turn put us back in the path for the runway and we slowly touched down.
Modern planes have their third wheel in the nose while these old planes have their third wheel in the rear which requires a certain skill from the pilot to land.
 Pilot line up for a landing at the Hamilton International Airport: Harrington is hooked for life? We jumped out – thanked the pilots and scooted back to the hangar to get our certificates.
It always stirs my senses to think we sent our young aviators up in these tiny metal boxes in WWII – knowing many would not return.
Amazing also is that this airplane was built only 43 years after flying began in 1903 – and now we’re 77 years further in technology.
Big thanks to all the volunteer pilots and mechanics at the Warplane Museum for putting our safety foremost and all the years of maintenance to keep these birds flying.
Thank you to the Gazette for the excellent suggestion.
I have already selected the C-47 Dakota for my next trip – which is a bigger plane and a longer flight @ 50 minutes..
Just need to find 10 fellow passengers.
Related news story:
Warplane Museum offering flight in vintage aircraft
By Staff
August 20th 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
In the midst of Canada’s worsening housing crisis, a collective of industry experts has drafted a blueprint to build two million new purpose-built rental units in the next seven years.
The National Housing Accord, led by the PLACE Centre, the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH), and the Real Property Association of Canada (REALPAC), put forth 10 recommendations to the federal government that would restore affordability and protect vulnerable sectors of the population who bear the brunt of the crisis.
The recommendations are the result of a roundtable discussion between numerous industry stakeholders and experts, including The Minto Group, TD Asset Management, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, and Options for Homes Limited.
 Dr. Mike Moffatt, Founding Director of the PLACE Centre. “We’ve been saying for years that we need to lock everybody — the non-profit sector, builders, developers — in a room until they come up with a plan to solve this crisis. And it dawned on us, why don’t we just do that? So we got together and hashed out a plan,” Dr. Mike Moffatt, Founding Director of the PLACE Centre, told STOREYS.
“We tried to do a lot of the heavy lifting [for the federal government.] We’re hoping they like some of our recommendations and that we’re able to start moving forward on them.”
A lack of “accessible, climate-friendly, affordable, and market-rate purpose-built rental units” has led to a rapid rise in rents across the country, the most significant impact of which is felt by the lowest-income Canadians, including students, newcomers, and single-parent households.
Rising rents are also threatening economic growth and driving a new wave of homelessness — according to the report, the number of people who lose their homes due to unaffordability is now on the same scale as those who lose their homes due to large natural disasters.
For each of the past 13 years, the average monthly rent on a one-bedroom apartment has increased at or above Canada’s 2% inflation target, according to data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Over the past seven years, rent on a one-bedroom has risen by 32%, while average weekly earnings have risen by less than 23%.
Increase in average rents for a one-bedroom apartment in Canada/The National Housing Accord
While the National Housing Accord notes that there is no one single cause for the rise in rents, one factor is that the population of renters is growing faster than the number of purpose-built rental properties.
 Over the past seven years, rent on a one-bedroom has risen by 32%, while average weekly earnings have risen by less than 23%. In order to restore affordability, Canada needs to build 5.3 million homes between 2024 and 2030, two million of which need to be purpose-built rental units. This requires the tripling of home building over the next seven years.
To arrive at these figures, the National Housing Accord drew upon a June 2022 report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), as well as recent data on housing completions and purpose-built rental completions.
In order for this “ambitious” goal to be met, the federal government must work with its provincial and municipal counterparts, as well as builders, developers, the non-profit sector, and the higher education sector to prioritize innovation in home building, address bottlenecks that are slowing down construction, and provide support to those who are experiencing homelessness.
The Accord’s recommendations include creating an industrial strategy consisting of targets and accountability measures, creating a national workforce and immigration strategy on housing, and developing a robust innovation strategy that includes procurement policy and innovation centres for construction.
The federal government should revamp the National Building Code to drive innovation, and help reform CMHC fees and the federal tax system, including eliminating the GST and HST on purpose-built rental housing, to incentivize the construction industry.
The CMHC approval process should be streamlined, and include a catalogue of pre-approved designs to allow for the construction of purpose-built rental housing to be fast-tracked.
With the creation of a Homelessness Prevention and Housing Benefit (HPHB), immediate relief could be provided to up to 385,000 households that are at imminent risk of homelessness, and over 50,000 people could be helped out of homelessness. The Canada Housing Benefit should be replaced with a Portable Housing Benefit (PHB) that would better target individuals and families with the greatest housing needs.
The Accord also recommends that the federal government provide low-cost, long-term fixed-rate financing for the construction of purpose-built rental housing, and create a property acquisition program for non-profit housing providers to help purchase existing rental housing projects and hotels, and to facilitate office-to-residential conversions.
While some of the recommendations can be undertaken quite quickly, like removing HST and GST on purpose-built rentals, others, such as creating a national innovation strategy, will be more long-term, Moffat explained. Some, like a pre-approved catalogue of designs at CMHC, have been implemented during housing crises past.
“I don’t think we should understate the challenge of building these two million homes. But absolutely it’s something that Canada can do. It’s necessary. Because the alternative is worse,” Moffat said.
“If we don’t solve this affordability crisis we’re going to have more of the same. We’ve seen homelessness increase substantially over the last decade or so. We need to turn a corner. And the only way we’re going to do that is by building more housing.”
The recommendations address six core challenges the National Housing Accord has identified as preventing the construction of affordable purpose-built rental housing.
These include a lack of coordination between all levels of government, builders, developers, the higher education sector, and the non-profit sector, and insufficient labour, materials, equipment, land, and capital to get homes built.
Projects must be economically viable for for-profit builders and developers, productivity and innovation must improve, and the regulatory environment must speed up, safely, while still protecting the environment.
There are housing needs that can’t be met by the market. These gaps create a need for governments and not-for-profits to build everything from supportive housing units to student residences.
In addition to the aforementioned core challenges, the recommendations, namely the calls to create the Homelessness Prevention and Housing Benefit and replace the Canada Housing Benefit, address the need to support low-income renters.
If all the challenges are addressed, and all the recommendations adopted, Moffatt is optimistic that Canada can build the two million purpose-built rentals needed to restore affordability.
While there are still more conversations to be had, he is already seeing inklings of interest from the powers that be.
“It feels like something has changed, at all orders of government. I think there’s a recognition that may not have existed a year or two ago that some bold thinking and action is going to be needed to push this forward,” Moffatt said.
“We’re hopeful that the federal government can take the lead that we did, where we had people who don’t always agree come together and find common ground. Let’s hash it out. We’ve got a blueprint here, let’s work together and make this happen. Let’s get rid of the finger pointing and the questions about whose responsibility is this, and just recognize that it’s up to everybody to fix this housing crisis…. It’s going to be really hard. It’s a big audacious goal. But we’ve got to do it.”
Reproduced in full from Storeys, the most-read real estate news site in Canada.
 By Staff
August 21, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The City of Burlington is commissioning an artist to create a sculpture for the new Skyway Community Centre.
A citizen jury shortlisted three (3) artists to submit design proposals and now we want you to tell us what you think! Your feedback will help the citizen jury with their final selection of the winning artwork.
Skyway Community Centre Public Art Projects Goals:
1. Create a contemporary sculpture that is part of the new community centre.
2. Act as a beacon to help guide visitors towards the main entrance of the building.
3. Reflect on the theme of sustainability through the artwork materials and/or artwork subject matter.
4. Complement the design of the community centre.
Give us your feedback
Skyway Community Centre Public Art Feedback
Share your feedback on three proposed designs
Please review the three proposed designs and submit your feedback. Your comments, along with the technical and design proposals, will inform the jury’s final selection.
By Staff
August 21st, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Friends…It’s great to be back here in the wonderful city of London…Alongside my caucus and cabinet colleagues for the 2023 AMO Conference.
I want to acknowledge Regional Chief Glen Hare and Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell as well as our host mayor Josh Morgan.
It’s my sixth time speaking at this conference and as I’ve said before this event is one of the highlights of my year. It’s always a privilege to join you to not only talk about the challenges we’re facing but also talk about the great progress we’re making together.
 Premier Ford’s sixth time speaking to an AMO crowd. And friends Ontario is growing at an unprecedented pace. Last year alone our population grew by more than 500,000 people. At this rate Ontario will add five million more people in the next 10 years. That’s like adding two new cities nearly the size of Toronto in a decade.
Ontario is now the fastest growing jurisdiction in all of North America…Bar none! We’re growing faster than both Texas and Florida. Hundreds of thousands of families are coming to Ontario because here in Ontario we have endless opportunity.
We’re seeing new businesses set up shop. We’re attracting billions of dollars in new investments…And new jobs…Across all sectors…In all regions of the province.
And I have to tell you as Premier nothing brings me more joy than joining you in your communities to welcome a new investment.
Another factory or a new shift. Another production facility or a state-of-the-art manufacturing lab.
 In April…I joined Mayor Vrbanovic and Mayor McCabe to break ground on the University of Waterloo and City of Kitchener’s new Innovation Arena for health-science start-ups.
In May I was thrilled to join Mayor Liggett to celebrate Moderna’s major investment to make vaccines in Cambridge.
And I’ll never forget last year standing shoulder to shoulder with Mayor Dilkens to celebrate Canada’s first large-scale electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor.
Or this past Spring in St. Thomas alongside Mayor Preston to announce that Volkswagen was following suit with their first overseas gigafactory.
And friends…I just want to take a moment to talk about our growing auto sector. We’re building a home-grown electric vehicle supply chain…That’s going to benefit every community in this province for generations to come.
 Rendering of the Volkswagen plant to be built in St. Thomas We’re connecting critical minerals in northern Ontario and clean steelmakers in Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie. We’ve attracted over $25 billion in auto and EV battery investments.
Ontario is the only jurisdiction in North America where the world’s six largest automakers have set up shop.
Last month alone Ontario added more than 7,800 manufacturing jobs to our economy. That’s more new manufacturing jobs than all 50 U.S. states combined.
Ontario manufacturing sector now employs over 820,000 people, the highest it’s been since December 2008.
Across all sectors…700,000 more people are working today, than when we took office in 2018. as our economy grows our population grows…
We need to make sure our infrastructure keeps up. That’s why we’ve embarked on the most ambitious capital plan in our province’s history. We’re investing nearly $50 billion to support more than 50 new hospital projects across Ontario.
We’re investing $28 billion in roads and highways…
And more than $70 billion in transit…
As we build the largest transit expansion in North America.
 The Bradford bypass Shovels are in the ground to build the new Ontario Line.
Work is underway…On a bridge crossing over the future Bradford Bypass. We’re building the new Highway 413… stretching across Halton, Peel and York regions.
In Windsor we’re widening and expanding Highway 3 from two to four lanes between Essex and Leamington and building a new interchange to connect Highway 401 to Lauzon Parkway. We’ve purchased three new train sets as part of our plan to bring back the Northlander connecting Timmins and Cochrane with Toronto.
And we recently approved the terms of reference for the First Nations-led Environmental Assessment to finally build the all-season roads to the Ring of Fire.
Together, we have to ensure that Ontario is a place where our shared potential is limited only by the scale of our ambitions.
We have to ensure that Ontario is a place where we can do and build big things. We can’t talk about building without talking about homes. As everyone in this room knows We’re in the midst of a housing crisis. I hear it everywhere I go. People are struggling. Struggling with affordability, with the rising costs of buying a home and with high rents.
This struggle is being felt most by young people and newcomers who are priced out of the dream of home ownership. Even one of our own mayors, Mayor Salonen from Wilmot Township can’t afford to buy a home in the municipality she leads. That’s why it’s so important, that we work together to build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031.
Failing to act would worsen the housing supply and affordability crisis. Failing to act would hurt everyone in Ontario by driving up the cost of goods and services and by hampering new job creation and investments.
Failing to act…
 The gag was about the time he swallowed a bee. The Premier continued with one of the better Chamber of Commerce boost business speeches read in some time. He mentioned the
A Housing Supply Action Plan…
The Building Faster Fund.
Extending strong mayor powers to another 21 municipalities.
Urging the federal government to renew and expand the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
It wasn’t until the Premier got to saying “thank you again for inviting me here today” that we realized he didn’t use the word Greenbelt once in his address to the Mayors.
Only in Ontario
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