 By Paul W. Bennett
September 7th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Consider these everyday experiences in today’s digitally dependent world rich with artificial intelligence (AI). A convenience store cashier struggles to make change. Your Uber driver gets lost on his way to your destination. A building contractor tries to calculate the load-bearing capacity of your new floor. An emergency-room nursing assistant guesses at the correct dosage in administering a life-saving heart medication.
All of these are instances of an underlying problem that can be merely an irritant or a matter of life and death. What happens when brains accustomed to backup from phones and devices must go it on their own?
Increasingly we are relying upon technology to do our thinking for us. Cognitive offloading to calculators, GPS, ChatGPT and digital platforms enables us to do many things without relying on human memory. But that comes with a price.
 As AI-powered tools become more capable, our brains may be bowing out of the hard mental lift. Leading cognitive science researchers have begun to connect the dots. In a paper entitled The Memory Paradox, released earlier this year, American cognitive psychologist Barbara Oakley and a team of neuroscience researchers exposed the critical but peculiar irony of the digital era: as AI-powered tools become more capable, our brains may be bowing out of the hard mental lift. This erodes the very memory skills we should be exercising. We are left less capable of using our heads.
Collective loss of memory
Studies show that decades of steadily rising IQ scores from the 1930s to the 1980s — the famed Flynn effect — have levelled off and even begun to reverse in several advanced countries. Recent declines in the United States, Britain, France and Norway cry out for explanation. Oakley and her research team applied neuroscience research to find an answer. Although IQ is undoubtedly influenced by multiple factors, the researchers attribute the decline to two intertwined trends. One is the educational shift away from direct instruction and memorization. The other is a rise in cognitive offloading, that is, people habitually leaning on calculators, smartphones and AI to recall facts and solve problems.
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Surveying decades of cognitive psychology and neuroscience research, Oakley and her team show how memory works best when it involves more than storage. It’s also about retrieval, integration and pattern recognition. When we repeatedly retrieve information, our brains form durable memory schemata and neural manifolds. These structures are indispensable for intuitive reasoning, error-checking and smooth skill execution. But if we default to “just Google it,” those processes so fundamental for innovation and critical thinking may never fully develop, particularly in the smartphone generation.
A key insight from the paper is the connection between deep learning behaviours in artificial neural networks (consider “grokking” in which patterns suddenly crystallize after extensive machine training) and human learning. Just as machines benefit from structured, repeated exposure before grasping deep patterns, so do humans. Practice, retrieval and timed repetition develop intuition and mastery.
Atrophy of mental exercise
The researchers sound a cautionary note. Purely constructivist or discovery‑based teaching, starting with assumptions that “students know best” and need little guidance, can short‑circuit mental muscle‑building, especially in our AI world. The team found that when students rely too early on AI or calculators, they skip key steps in the cognitive sequence: encoding, retrieval, consolidation and mastery of the brain’s essential building blocks. The result is individuals whose mental processes are more dependent upon guesswork, superficial grasp of critical facts and background knowledge and less flexible thinking.
 Even techno skeptics see a role for digital tools. Oakley and her colleagues argue for what they term cognitive complementarity — a marriage of strong internal knowledge and smart external tools. ChatGPT or calculators should enhance — not replace — our deep mental blueprints that let us evaluate, refine and build upon AI output. That’s the real challenge that lies ahead.
The latest cognitive research has profound implications for educational leaders, consultants and classroom teachers. Popular progressive and constructionist approaches, which give students considerable autonomy, may have exacerbated the problem. It’s time to embrace lessons from the new science of learning to turn the situation around in today’s classrooms. This includes reintegrating retrieval practice (automatic recall of information from memory), spaced repetition and step-by-step skills progression in Grades K-12.
Using your head
What are the new and emerging essentials in the AI-dominated world? Oakley and her team deliver some sound recommendations, including:
- Teaching students to limit AI use and delay offloading.
- Training teachers to design AI‑inclusive but memory‑supportive curriculums, demonstrating that effective AI use requires prior knowledge and the ability to distinguish fact from fiction
- Guiding institutions to adopt AI in ways that build upon, not supplant, the human brain, such as editing original prose or mapping data.
Using our heads and tapping into our memory banks must not become obsolete. They are essential mental activities. Access to instant information can and does foster lazy habits of mind. British education researcher Carl Hendrick put it this way: “The most advanced AI can simulate intelligence, but it cannot think for you. That task remains, stubbornly and magnificently, human.”
The most important form of memory is still the one inside our heads.
 Originally published by Policy Options.
Paul W. Bennett, Ed.D., is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a director at the Schoolhouse Institute and chair of researchED Canada. Widely known for producing three nationally recognized Canadian history textbooks in the 1980s, he is an executive board member of the Canadian Association for the History of Education and the author of Saving History in Canada’s Schools.
*Composed in a fierce dialectical encounter with ChatGPT.
 By Gazette Staff
September 6th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Stage Directions
October 4 & 5, 2025
Two days of strategy, connection, and skills-building for Hamilton theatre and performance makers.
“How can we all build a stronger, more sustainable Hamilton theatre community together?”
In 2014, attendees at the first Stage Directions Symposium gathered to address this question, and the work resulted in partnerships, projects, programming, and planning decisions that continue to positively impact the city’s art scene.
It’s time to re-open the discussion.
Do you want to play a part in shaping the future of theatre and performance-making in Hamilton? Join us for Stage Directions – The Symposium on Day One (Oct 4) and get involved in this vital conversation. Then come back for Day Two (Oct 5) with two incredible skills-building workshops and end the night with the return of The Monologue Slam!
Register Today
Registration Pricing
 DAY ONE | Saturday, October 4, 2025
The Symposium – $40 (includes pizza lunch)
DAY TWO | Sunday, October 5, 2025
From Seed to Story with Chantal Lim (Workshop) – $30
Stage Combat: Introduction to Swordplay (Workshop) – $30
The Monologue Slam (tickets and/or performer application fee) – $15
*Stage Directions All-Access Bundle – $92
Save $23 when you book for all four events!
*Stage Directions Day Two Bundle – $60
Save $15 when you book for all three Sunday events!
*Bundle discounts only apply if you register for multiple events in the same transaction. Discounts cannot be applied retroactively. Questions? Email info@HFTco.ca.
 By Tom ParkinSeptember 6th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Ontario’s unemployment rate continued to run well above the rest of Canada in August, as it has now for more than two years, according to seasonally-adjusted data released by Statistics Canada Friday morning.
In April 2023 rates of unemployment in Ontario and Canada sat at 5.0 per cent. But over the past 29 months, Ontario unemployment has grown to 7.7 per cent while in the rest of Canada the rate has increased 6.7 per cent.
True unemployment rate unclear as 41,000 give up hope
Officially, 807,000 Ontario workers were unemployed in August, according to Statistics Canada. But the true number appears to be perhaps 40,000 higher.
Ontario’s labour market participation rate hit a new low as 41,000 Ontario workers left the job market. Because workers are giving up faster than than jobs are being lost, the official Ontario unemployment rate ticked down 0.2 percentage points in August.
But if the labour market hadn’t shrunk by 41,000 workers last month, Ontario’s unemployment rate would have hit 8.1 per cent.
Media elite continues unconcerned, Ford offers stunts
Auto towns Windsor and Oshawa have the highest rates of unemployment in Ontario at 11.1 and 9.0 per cent, respectively. Toronto, where the local economy has been depressed by unaffordable cost of living, has the third highest jobless rate at 8.8 per cent.
As in previous months, the Toronto Star’s coverage of Toronto’s rising unemployment has been limited to national stories written by Canadian Press. CBC Toronto and the Toronto Sun both do not appear to have posted a story about today’s jobs numbers. Global Toronto assigned a reporter, whose report was based on the Canadian Press story.
Ontario’s economic weakness has been years in the making, and without media attention, the Ontario premier has faced no penalty for inaction. Now into a third year of rising unemployment, Ontario premier Doug Ford is yet to provide a strategy to create jobs.
 Premier Ford pouring the contents of a bottle of Crown Royal whiskey onto the ground. But this week the premier did offer a stunt for news TV cameras, pouring out a bottle of of rye whisky after a Windsor-area bottling plant announced it would shift jobs to the United States. The company’s planned job cuts remained unaffected.
And media was there a week before when Premier Ford announced the Volkswagen battery plant originally announced in 2023 is still going ahead. Less attention from media or Ford has focused on the existing Brampton and Oakville assembly plants where not one vehicle has rolled off the line in more than two years.
However, some close to the labour movement are grouping together to set a plan to push jobs up the political and media agenda.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Centre for Future Work and several other jobs-focused think tanks are holding a strategy summit in Ottawa in mid-September.
And Ontario NDP finance critic Jessica Bell is convening a round table of economists and stakeholders next week to strengthen the opposition’s jobs push when the Ontario legislature returns, which the government has delayed until October.
Discussion about this post
 By Pepper Parr
September 6th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
 Waiting. You had to be in what was the Old Montreal Forum.
He stood there, arm over the handle of his hockey stick. Waiting.
He seemed too big to be a goalie – that thought disappeared when the puck came his way.
He was the starting goalie in Canada’s 1972 Summit Series team that defeated the Soviet Union in the decisive 6-5 victory in Game 8.
He was superb.
We lost Ken Dryden on Friday.
 Few could do what he could do.
 By Gazette Staff
September 6th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington Beach Catamaran Club (BBCC) is holding the 2025 Hobie Cat 14 North American Championships in Burlington September 8-11, 2025.
 The Championship will follow the BBCC BUMS Regatta, which will be held on September 5-7, 2025.
7 days of Great Racing.
Where: At Burlington Beach – follow the trail – you can’t miss the place.
 Take the Waterfront Trail – you won’t miss the place.  This is thrilling to watch. Mastering the wind
 By Gazette Staff
September 6th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Vintage Wheels & Wings. See hundreds of vintage vehicles along with our famous vintage aircraft collection!
September 21, 2025 at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
Time: 9 am to 2 pm
Admission: BUY ONLINE & SAVE –
 Vintage cars at the Wheels and Wings event. Adults $16 (Age 18+), Kids $12 (Ages 6-17).
At the door – Adults $20 & Kids $15 (tax included). Free admission for museum members and children 5 & under. Complimentary passes are not valid for this special event.
VINTAGE VEHICLE PRE-REGISTRATION SOLD OUT! We are now at maximum capacity for vintage vehicles. Unregistered vintage vehicles will not be admitted to the show.
A VINTAGE vehicle is one that was manufactured 20 years ago or more (so 2005 or older).
As this is an outdoor event, some car owners may elect to leave early if inclement weather is expected.
 By Tom Parkin
September 5th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Housing costs skyrocketed on low mortgage rates. But some blame immigrants, and it’s mostly partisan hackery.
Housing price surge came during low in-migration period
Average benchmark GTA house price with inflow of immigrant and non-permanent residents
No matter how much the facts show they are wrong, some people won’t stop blaming immigration for the cost of housing.
No doubt some of it is driven by anti-immigrant sentiment. But it often just seems to be sheer partisan hackery. Since immigration is a federal responsibility, blaming the housing price surge on in-migration puts the blame solely on former prime minister Justin Trudeau. As a bonus it neatly exonerates any Conservative premiers.
But the data is crystal clear. The immigrant theory of the housing price surge is flat-out wrong. Unless effects can come before their causes.
Prices surged while in-migration hit historic lows; they fell as in-migration increased
Our chart above shows the surge in housing prices started Q1 2020 and ended Q1 2022. Prices rose fastest in the Greater Toronto Area, up 53 per cent in 23 months, creating space for rents to rise behind them. Since Q1 2022, when the boom went bust, prices have fallen almost 24 per cent.
So if the immigration theory is right, high in-migration would be associated with rising prices while low in-migration would be associated with falling prices. But that’s exactly opposite what happened.
In Q1 2020, as prices began their surge, flows of immigrants and non-permanent residents fell to lows not seen for years (see chart below). This was the time of COVID restrictions. In Q3 2020, in-migration even went negative as a net 67,000 non-permanent residents left Canada and only 9,000 immigrants entered. Contrary to the “immigration caused it” theory, prices surged when in-migration was historically low.
In-migration moved above the historic trendline in Q1 2022. But house prices that quarter didn’t increase, as the immigration theory would predict. They fell. And contrary to the immigration theory, as in-migration increased to a peak in Q3 2023, house prices kept falling.
The immigration theory of the housing crisis is a totally false narrative, probably invented for partisan gain, though the Trumpian deportation urge no doubt also plays a role.
Causality 101: causes come before effects, not after
Some people are so committed to their partisan or anti-immigrant bias they will look at this data and still declare in-migration caused the price spike that preceded it.
Actually, they won’t. If they started reading this post they stopped long ago, the moment they realized it didn’t confirm their bias. All the facts and data in the world will never change instrumentally-geared minds. And there’s always a pandering politician waiting to tell them they’re right and the facts are wrong.
But for those who like causes to precede effects, the below chart goes a lot further in explaining what happened, though other factors, including government action and inaction, played a role.
A $600,000 mortgage amortizing over 25 years at 5.5 per cent interest cost over $3,600 a month. At 2.0 per cent — a rate commonly available from 2020 to 2022 — the cost of that same mortgage was just over $2,500 a month. Suddenly, a lot of people qualified for a mortgage that could buy a house, setting off a buying frenzy.
And maybe it’s just another very wild coincidence, but the very month the 0.25 per cent rates ended with rate hikes, the boom went bust. Odd, that.
House price surged during 0.25% rate, fell on rate hikes
 By Gazette Staff
September 5th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
 Grebenc: Looks like if you want any kind of voice, you will need to be in the French Public board… How is that for equity? Rumours abound about how Education Minister Paul Calandra intends to change Ontario’s school board system.
A source said earlier today that “… I’m hearing he’ll do the following: take all 72 boards and reduce them to just 4: English Public, English Catholic, French Public, & French Catholic.
Andrea Grebenc, a former chair of the Halton District School Board asked: “How is that for equity?”said:
 By Gazette Staff
September 5th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Sometimes it is more than a photo op.
 Mayor Meed Ward and Councillors Kearns and Bentivega took part in raising a flag.  The umbrella helped but not that much. Give them credit for getting soaked while hoisting a flag that makes mention of Children’s Cancer Awareness month.
How did Councillor manage to miss this opportunity?
 By Gazette Staff
September 5th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The Ministry of Transportation is getting better at informing people of road closures on the Skyway Bridge.
 By Pam Pitz
September 5th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
I am writing in the spirit of goodwill, responsibility, and respect for the City of Burlington. I ask that you carefully review this complaint and take appropriate action to address the concerns raised.
This note relates to the recent developments involving the Burlington Aquatic Devilrays (BAD) and the Golden Horseshoe Aquatic Club (GHAC).
 Pam Pitz I am a Burlington resident and a 73-year-old grandmother with a lifelong love of sport, particularly swimming. Four of my grandchildren have swum with BAD, three of them quite recently. While I am not a BAD parent, I feel compelled to speak out due to the impact these developments have had on my family and Burlington’s broader swimming community.
BAD has operated successfully in Burlington for more than 40 years as a not-for-profit club, supported by skilled coaches, committed volunteers, and strong community partnerships. Traditionally, the City allocated pool time sufficient for approximately 400 swimmers, with a residency requirement to ensure the vast majority were Burlington families. BAD has long been recognized as a trusted, well-run program dedicated to swimmer development and competitive opportunity.
This year, when pool contracts were renewed, GHAC was allocated Burlington pool time. While competition between clubs can be healthy, I believe GHAC’s actions—and the City’s handling of the matter—raise serious concerns that require investigation.
Elements of a Successful Swim Program
- Building a quality club takes years. Success depends on a broad base of swimmers across age groups, a long-term development model, and resources to attract strong coaches to sustain operations.
- Team Spirit and Trust: Swimmers, coaches, and families build deep bonds over time, and continuity is essential for growth and wellbeing.
- Volunteers: BAD relies on hundreds of volunteers who dedicate time and resources. Their efforts are sustainable only in a stable, reliable environment. Families cannot be expected to rebuild these bonds in another club, especially under duress. Many swimmers enter clubs at 7 or 8 years of age and continue until their late teens.
Concerns Regarding GHAC and Current Arrangements
 Some of the following issues fall within Swim Ontario’s jurisdiction and unique interests. However, the comments and nuances contained in my separate communication to Swim Ontario, ]which are shared below, are important for the City to consider, since municipal pool allocation decisions directly affect fairness, community impact, and the long-term viability of Burlington based programs. GHAC’s actions may be inconsistent with the usual Swim Ontario sanctioning protocols for regional expansion and for hosting meets outside a club’s traditional home base.
- Expansion into Burlington: GHAC, traditionally a regional club, has actively recruited Burlington swimmers for years, well before securing pool access. GHAC’s website was recently amended to move Burlington to second place among its service areas, despite its official address being in Dundas. There appears to have been a calculated approach to building a base of Burlington swimmers in advance of their bid for Burlington pool access. While families are free to choose where they swim, this strategy seems questionable when measured against Swim Ontario’s expectations/protocols regarding expansion and the well understood and accepted swim club etiquette of respecting other established clubs and communities. There is no benefit for the swimmers to move to GHAC — not from a coaching, reputation, or cost point of view.
- Club Structure and Governance: BAD operates under a traditional not-for-profit model with independent volunteer oversight. By contrast, GHAC appears to follow a more fee-based, volume-driven model, with administrative and coaching roles concentrated within a single family. While families are entitled to choose programs that suit them, this approach—combined with aggressive expansion—raises questions about governance, transparency, and whether growth is being pursued in a manner aligned with community values and not-for-profit principles.
 Residency Requirement: At the time of renewal, 79% of BAD’s swimmers were Burlington residents—slightly under the 85% target but within historical fluctuations. Reduced pool time has since forced enrolment down from nearly 400 to 163 swimmers, although this number fluctuates, especially in the face of uncertainty. GHAC, by comparison, had only 28% Burlington residents yet was reportedly given months of flexibility to improve its numbers. Applying the residency rule unevenly disadvantaged BAD while benefiting GHAC.- Capacity and Costs: Burlington pool capacity is finite. For every Burlington GHAC swimmer who has been training elsewhere, and will now swim in Burlington, a Burlington BAD swimmer is displaced. The overall result is duplication of overhead, increased costs for families, and weakened stability for both programs. Many swimmers have already dropped out in the face of uncertainty and betrayal. It’s difficult to find training in other communities who have their own residency requirements. BAD swimmers are facing rising costs which are prohibitive for many Burlington families who previously enjoyed BAD’s lower fee structure. Overall confidence in Burlington’s commitment to a sustainable competitive swim club that gives the City of Burlington undivided attention, pride and community support is declining. The destruction of BAD’s 40 year history does not bode well for the future as swimmers worry about a similar circumstance at the next contract renewal. Their sense of stability and trust has been severely weakened.
While GHAC may suggest it can satisfy Burlington’s expectations by keeping Burlington-addressed swimmers in Burlington pools and directing swimmers from other communities elsewhere, this is unrealistic. Their recruitment has taken the total number of Burlington swimmers, between BAD and GHAC, to well beyond Burlington City capacity. Obviously, some will be displaced or be unfairly forced to swim outside of Burlington. In addition, as swimmers progress, they require higher-calibre coaching, stronger peer support, and access to the best facilities. Just as importantly, for a club to operate efficiently and effectively, senior swimmers must be consolidated under the highest-level coaches in the strongest facilities. Naturally, senior swimmers from both Burlington and beyond will migrate to train together at the City’s premier venues—particularly Centennial Pool. This pattern is consistent across all clubs: senior swimmers with similar needs inevitably come together at the strongest facility available. It will be impossible for the City to monitor or restrict this, yet the effect is clear: for every non-Burlington swimmer training here, a Burlington swimmer is also displaced. If GHAC truly had the swimmers best interests in mind, any Burlington resident expressing interest in competitive swimming over the last several years should have been referred to BAD in the first place — rather than bringing into the GHAC program and having them and their families endure inconvenient travel to training facilities outside of Burlington.
 Swim Meet Sanctioning: Nelson Pool has been awarded to GHAC for an outdoor swim meet— historically a BAD signature event (14+ years), drawing clubs from across Ontario and beyond (e.g. Newfoundland and Mexico). It serves as a key fundraiser supported by hundreds of Burlington volunteers and is a source of tourism for the City. GHAC’s efforts to secure this event, despite Burlington not being its traditional home base, appear to be a further calculated step in consolidating its presence in the City. If sanctioned by Swim Ontario, this would severely undermine BAD’s ability to sustain its operations.
Community Impact: BAD, a community pillar for over four decades, is now at risk. Families are disheartened, children are leaving the sport, and Burlington’s swim culture is being eroded. This outcome serves no one—not the athletes, not the families, and not the City.
Requested Action
I respectfully ask the City of Burlington to conduct a thorough review/audit of this matter to ensure:
- GMAC, and all Swim Ontario sanctioned clubs, are required to confirm they are in full alignment with Swim Ontario’s rules, sanctioning protocols and codes of conduct. It’s important that communities and Swim Ontario encourage and embrace a spirit of cooperation for their mutual benefit.
- Residency requirements are enforced fairly and equally.
- Not-for-profit governance remains transparent and accountable.
- Longstanding community-based clubs like BAD are protected and supported.
- Burlington families are provided a sustainable, cost-effective environment for swimming.
- Traditional commercial RFP processes/documents are no longer utilized for children’s sports facility allotments. Contracts should be extendable to ensure stability and sustainability unless, of course, there are breaches in contract requirements such as proper facility treatment, etc.
Closing
This is not simply about pool time or BAD —it is about fairness, community, and the future of sport in Burlington. I strongly believe GHAC’s tactics, combined with the City’s approach, warrant a complete and independent review. The BAD contract, and I assume the GHAC one, has a clause that allows either party to cancel subject to a 90 day notice period. With this in mind, and the strength to do what is right, a reinstatement of BAD’s previous allotment of pool time is necessary to restore and preserve its longstanding position within Burlington and the overall swim community, and to give the swimmers confidence that they will have the protection and stability they deserve. GHAC’s approach and eventual encroachment into Burlington facilities is simply not acceptable.
 Burlington needs an Olympic-level pool For transparency, in addition to filling a complaint to Swim Ontario based on their unique interests, I have copied this email to City Council, the Integrity Commissioner, the Burlington Sports Alliance, and other relevant stakeholders. There is concern among many sports clubs in Burlington and beyond that the current situation, if not remedied, will set a precedent detrimental to their sustainability.
While I am reluctant to involve myself in controversial matters, there comes a time when one must act in the best interest of children, families, and the community. Therefore, I respectfully repeat my request that this matter receive the scrutiny it deserves.
Thank you in advance for your attention. I trust you will act in the best interest of our athletes, families, and the sport of swimming.
 By Gazette Staff
September 5th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The Performing Arts Centre has created a Burlington Local Participation Program
These are events or opportunities that are local in every sense of the word.
They are an addition to the MainStage and Community Stage events – and they are usually less expensive.
One of the events that come under the program is the Nutcracker Suite; a traditional event in the GTA – not sure about other parts of the province.
Nutcracker Youth Participant Program gives young dancers the opportunity to perform with a professional dance company. They will interact with professional dancers and gain invaluable performance experience as they dance roles in
Ballet Jörgens Dance: The Nutcracker: A Canadian Tradition
 Jörgen’s Ballet: Photo by Jim Orgill
Audition Registration is Open!
Saturday, September 27: 9:30am-12:45pm
Dancers cast in the production will learn their roles over the course of the audition weekend & then rehearse weekly on Sundays.
Detailed schedule with live updates available here.
Performances
Tuesday, November 25 – 7:30pm
Wednesday, November 26 – 7:30pm
*Please note that the Wednesday afternoon show is part of our Education Series, and is not on sale to the general public
 By Ray Rivers
September 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
It was an interesting development this week as India’s Modi, Russia’s Putin and North Korea’s Kim exchanged hugs and kisses with China’s president Xi.
This unlikely group of (mostly) autocrats represents almost half of the world’s population, rapidly increasing economic power, and an enormous collection of massive war machines, collectively surpassing that of the USA, the G7 and NATO. Only Donald Trump was missing.
For the first time in five generations, America is no longer the global leader which can command the respect of the global community. And the prognosis is sadly negative for the western coalition of the democratically minded – as third world nations look to China for leadership and support in their development aspirations. Trump cancelling US AID may have been the icing on the cake.
It’s only been a few months since the US presidency changed, but America has already changed more than anyone could have imagined. Trump has broken with tradition and the inviolable US Constitution to put American armed soldiers on America’s streets.
 Masked police officers on the Street of America arresting people.  Masked police officers are detaining people until they can be deported. His deportation policy echos the early days of the third Reich, as even legal immigrants are snatched from their homes, workplaces and the streets to be sent to concentration camps at home and abroad. He has raged Putin-like revenge on his political opponents, though apparently not assassinated any yet.
 The Gaza Strip left in ruins by the Israelis with almost complete support from President Trump. Trump stupidly attacked America’s neighbours, friends and historical allies in a unilateral and unprovoked economic war. And his abandonment of what little the US was doing to curb Russian aggression in eastern Europe has branded him as an unreliable security partner. And finally his support for the ethnic cleansing ambitions of the Israeli fascist leadership reveals a man whose moral status is bankrupt, which should not be a surprise to anyone.
This should all be very troubling to us in Canada, who have long felt secure in the belief that America was a like-minded adult in a world that occasionally goes berserk. It is clear Canada should no longer rely on the US to help us defend our homeland. In the end, we’re on our own.
In that vein, we should argue for America, Hungary and Slovakia, to leave NATO unless they change their perspectives. Canada needs to seriously rethink all of its policies regarding American military supplies and defensive arrangements, including NORAD. We need to build and buy Canadian.
We must learn to defend ourselves. There will be a significant cost – and we are going to have to find a way to pay for it. It may require military conscription of some sort, a discussion we need to have. And we need to face the global confrontations sooner, including Ukraine. The lessons of the Second World War are there to instruct us. We should look to Scandinavia and Poland, of late, for inspiration. They know that good fences make better neighbours.
 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:
America Collapsing Making US Foes Great Again Conspiring Against USA
By Gazette Staff
September 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Library reports on their Big Borrows stories which is now an annual tradition, as “we explore what Burlington readers are borrowing most from their public library. Now that our Kids Summer Reading Club is wrapped up for another year, it’s a great time to check our borrowing statistics to see what titles are tops with kids so far this year. Here’s what we found.”
The BIGGEST Borrows
 There were 29 children’s titles borrowed at least 70 times, for a whopping 2,433 total borrows “We’re so impressed with the incredible enthusiasm our young customers have for reading this year! The breakdown of the most borrowed physical books (includes children’s fiction, graphic novels, children’s readers & pre-readers, and picture books) goes like this: five titles were borrowed 100 or more times; three titles were borrowed 90-99 times; six titles were borrowed 80-89 times; and 15 titles were borrowed 70-79 times—that’s 29 children’s titles borrowed at least 70 times, for a whopping 2,433 total borrows January through August!
“And here’s the best thing: the kids exceeded last year’s numbers—by a lot. From January to August 2024, BPL members borrowed 37 children’s titles at least 50 times for 2,256 total borrows. In comparison, if we counted children’s physical titles borrowed at least 50 times since January 2025, they would number over 100, with nearly 6,800 total borrows. Wow!
“Let’s take a look at the books that are inspiring these super-readers.”
Top Children’s Fiction
“Not surprisingly to us, Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series saw lots of check-out action, with Diary of a Wimpy Kid Double Down taking top spot with 125 borrows and Cabin Fever (tied with a Dav Pilkey graphic novel) at #3 with 103 borrows. Fifteen books by the author landed in the top 20 children’s fiction titles borrowed since January.
“Respectfully removing Kinney’s titles from the list since they are always mega-hits with the kids, here are the most borrowed physical children’s fiction titles so far this year, each with 50 or more loans.”
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Geronimo Stilton. The Haunted Castle by Geronimo Stilton
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Dork Diaries. Tales from a Not-so-Secret Crush Catastrophe by Rachel Renee Russell
Diary of a Pug. Pug Blasts Off by Kyla May
Dragon Masters. Power of the Fire Dragon by Tracey West
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Dork Diaries. Tales from a Not-so-Happy Heartbreaker by Rachel Renee Russell
The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Magic Tree House. Soccer on Sunday by Mary Pope Osborne
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown
 By Gazette Staff
September 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
While getting the Bateman Community hub to the point where the public can use the space has moved at glacial speed, the folks at the library have their act together.
 Getting the books on the right shelves. Construction is almost complete on the relocated New Appleby Branch. Library staff are busy shelving books, creating displays, and preparing the branch for its upcoming opening day.
A note on the name of the newest library. It is on New Street but it isn’t named New.
The library ranch that is being replaced was known as the Appleby Branch.
The addition to the library service that will be part of the Bateman Community Centre will be known as the New Appleby Branch
September 15 is the first day of operations at the new branch at 5151 New Street. The branch will open at 9am, and you can enter through the front door of the community centre to access the library space.
Starting October 1, the branch Program Room will be available to rent for interested individuals, non-profits, community groups or businesses.
Check Out These Features
- Browse a large collection of fiction, non-fiction, magazines, and other materials to borrow.
- Get cozy with our comfortable seating and study space.
- Host a meeting by booking one of three free meeting rooms.
- Access services like our printer/copier, 3D printer and public computers.
- Book time to work on your multimedia project in our free sound-proof digital media rooms for recording and editing audio.
- Have fun in our children’s area with books, colouring, and digital games for learning!
Sneak Peek!
 Row upon row  Book shelves clearly marked. We’re working hard to get the branch ready for opening day. Here’s a taste of what’s to come!
Mark your calendar to visit New Appleby Branch starting Monday, September 15—we can’t wait to show you around your new neighbourhood branch!
By Gazette Staff
September 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) today announced a transformational gift commitment of $1 million from longtime Foundation supporters and Burlington residents Ralph and Susan Sgro.
 These funds will support a new donor-advised fund, the Lindsay’s Loves Fund, created in honour of the Sgro’s late daughter, Lindsay (Sgro) Bridge, who passed away in 2024 at the age of 44.
Lindsay had an unmistakable enthusiasm for life that brought people together. Her deep love for the arts and the Burlington community remains a hallmark of her life and an enduring part of her legacy.
 Lindsay (Sgro) Bridge “Through ‘Lindsay’s Loves,’ charitable causes that she championed will continue to be supported, with a special focus on providing children and youth with access to art programming,” Susan said.
The fund will also support well-being for families and children.
A dragonfly, the symbol of this legacy fund created by the Sgro family in Lindsay’s honour, beautifully reflects her spirit. Dragonflies represent change, inspire creativity, keep dreams alive, and remind us that anything is possible.
“BCF guided us through this journey with compassion and thoughtfulness,” Ralph said. “They took the time to understand our vision and provided the support and structure we needed along the way. Through BCF, we were connected with many meaningful organizations that can now be supported through the Lindsay’s Loves Fund.”
 The Sgro family The Sgros, retired owners of McDonald’s Restaurants in Burlington and Waterdown and current owner, their son Ryan Sgro, have long been generous supporters of charitable causes. Since 2007, the Sgros have been fundholders at BCF, with Susan serving on the Foundation’s Board of Directors for six years, including a term as Chair from 2004-2006.
In 2014, the couple was named Philanthropists of the Year by the Foundation.
“We are honoured to receive this gift from the Sgro family and partner with them to honour the legacy of their beloved daughter, Lindsay,” said Megan Tregunno, Foundation CEO. “Thanks to their generosity, numerous children will benefit from access to activities that Lindsay loved.”
The fund is expected to provide its first grant later this month.
By Gazette Staff
September 4th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Municipal spending seems to be a problem across the province.
Niagara Region councilors voted down the largest ever grant request for a developer in the upper-tier municipality’s 55-year history — a $40-million request through the City of Welland. The request was made to build luxury condos which would have cost local taxpayers for many years.
 In a report from the PTA we learn that”
“The denial of this request is a victory for Niagara taxpayers. It’s still very concerning watching a number of members of regional council support this project, in light of homeowners and businesses who have watched property taxes rise at multiples of inflation year-after-year while homeowner incomes have been rising at just the inflation rate (or less). As we see the number of people falling into arrears with their property tax increases, some tone deaf politicians continue to support giving millions of tax dollars to developers to build luxury homes.
“The support by council members is despite the KPMG study which noted there was no evidence these grants/incentives generated any additional revenue for the municipality. Despite this some members of regional council continue to support these grants. Mayor Sisco, who has been a strong supporter for these grants, noted his internal finance staff were able to show these incentives generated a 220% return on investment.
I”t is interesting and concerning the contrast between KPMG’s independent findings of no benefit and the city finance department’s findings of a 220% return. The City finance department is not independent and has a vested interest in seeing the development go forward. Mayor Sisco’s statement about a 220% return clearly lacks credibility. His vote in favour shows a shameful disregard for the people’s hard earned property tax dollars.
“Mayor Sisco was the deciding vote in the largest ever property tax increase for the City of St. Catharines. Maybe before we start providing incentives/grants to developers for luxury homes, we should get our own internal finances under control. Maybe the Mayor of St. Catharines can have his finance staff figure out how to come up with a zero-budget increase for a change.”
Burlington has its own issues with taxes that rise well above the rate of inflation.
By Gazette Staff
September 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
In their 2024 Customer Satisfaction Survey, Burlington Public Library staff learned that one of the most common requests related to Library space was a need for quiet study or work areas.
The request got turned into something real: an online system to book free meeting spaces at BPL.
 Opens on the 15th of September Starting September 15, the existing workspaces will switch from first-come, first-served availability to online booking, allowing you to reserve your spot in advance. And we’re adding three brand-new spaces at our relocated New Appleby Branch!
The work spaces include:
Central Branch
- Two quiet pods ideal for virtual meetings
- One meeting room for individual or group work
New Appleby Branch – Relocated branch opens September 15
- Three meeting spaces equipped with a whiteboard and screen, ideal for group meetings and collaboration
Tansley Woods Branch
- Two small glass-walled spaces with a whiteboard, ideal for quiet study and working
Workspaces will be available to book up to seven days in advance. Due to the high demand for these spaces and to ensure equitable access for all library users, bookings are limited to four hours per week. If you require more time, please consider our room rental service, with rooms available at all branches for a small fee.
New Workspaces at New Appleby
The relocated New Appleby Branch in the Robert Bateman Community Centre (5151 New Street) will open on September 15—and we’re thrilled to welcome you to our new branch! Check out the photos below for a sneak peek at the new meeting rooms that will be free to book starting September 15.
 Meeting Room A, near the entrance of New Appleby Branch.  A view of Meeting Room B, which will seat up to eight people. How to Book Free Space
The new booking system will make it easier and more convenient to access free workspaces for individual quiet study, virtual meetings, phone calls and group collaboration.
To learn more, check out our web page on free workspaces.
By Gazette Staff
September 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
 City Hall wants to hear from you. The City since 1998, this biannual survey helps Burlington staff and Council measure and improve quality of life and services and programs in the City.
Burlington residents are invited to share their thoughts on life in the City.
How to give your feedback
Third-party researchers will contact a statistically relevant sample of homes in each ward. A total of 750 telephone surveys will be completed, with a combination of land and cell phone numbers randomly called. The caller ID for the survey will show the text as “BurlON Survey”.
Residents are also invited to complete an online version at Get Involved Burlington. This online survey gives residents whose telephone numbers were not chosen an opportunity to provide input. Residents are encouraged to take part online.
The survey results will provide the City of Burlington and City Council with valuable insights on items such as:
 Yes – just how will the results of the survey be used? And can we know who is doing the survey? Satisfaction with City services and quality of life in Burlington
Value of City services for property taxes
Preference on municipal property taxes: to increase, decrease or maintain
How survey results will be used
City of Burlington residents share their feedback in many ways year-round. The Community Survey is one important source of feedback that helps inform City business plans, communication initiatives and public engagement programs, budget and spending decisions, and strategic focus areas. The Community Survey also provides the opportunity for benchmarking and to monitor progress of community responses compared to previous years.
The most recent Community Surveys were completed in 2011, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023. The Community Survey is now conducted every two years.
2023 Community Survey Results Key Highlights
- 92 per cent of respondents were “Somewhat satisfied” to “Very satisfied” with the services provided by the City of Burlington
- Quality of life was rated highly with 79 per cent of respondents ranking Burlington “Very good” or “Excellent”
- The City of Burlington outperformed both the Ontario and national averages for both quality of life and overall satisfaction with services
- Services that were identified as strengths through community feedback are Fire Services, parks, sports fields and trails, recreation facilities and festivals and events
- Survey respondents would like to see road safety and traffic, cost of housing, over-development, public transportation and pedestrian infrastructure and infrastructure improvements prioritized
The full 2023 results and results of past Community Surveys can be found at Burlington.ca/CommunitySurvey.
The running of a survey has to be put into context. The tax increases for the past four years shown below, set out how much it has cost for the services that are provided. If people are prepared to pay for the services they are getting, they should at least know what it is costing.
 A 44% plus cumulative tax increase is hard to swallow when inflation is at just over 2%. The city has some explaining to do as to why this was necessary.
By Pepper Parr
August 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
 The Naval Ships’ Memorial Monument in Spencer Smith Park was unveiled on May 14, 1995, marking the 50th anniversary of VE Day and honouring those lost at sea during the Second World War. The monument was funded by public donations and is dedicated to the memory of Canadian naval and merchant navy personnel and ships lost during the war. The Armed Services are recognized annually – Remembrance Day was created for that purpose.
The Merchant Marine will be remembered today at a short ceremony at the Memorial in Spencer Smith Park.
The statute of a seaman stands atop the memorial. On the north side there is a list of all the merchant ships that were lost. These are the ships that carried the supplies that Great Britain relied upon to feed the British people during the war.
Seventy-five ships were lost.
 The names of the merchant ships lost during WWII are listed on the north side of the monument.
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Labour-oriented groups and politicians setting strategy