 By Margaret Lindsay Holton
BURLINGTON, ON November 22, 2012 Earlier this year I wrote about the BusinessInBurlington MeetUp organized by social media entrepreneur James Burchill. Since that time I’ve been intrigued by the continued proliferation of other Meetup groups in the area. There’s a group now for just about every interest imaginable: books, games, movies, health, pets, meditation, drumming, careers and even odd-ball hobbies. Seek and ye shall find.
 Not quite a WANTED poster at the Post Office but a good representation of the kind of people who show up at meetings of the Burlington in Business MeetUp. Attendance roared up to 300 plus – which is pretty close to the capacity of the Beaver and the Bullfrog pub at the Waterfront Hotel. For those unsure of what ‘MeetUp’ is all about: the idea was started by two New York City techie entrepreneurs, Scott Heiferman and Brendan McGovern. The attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was pivotal to the formation of their ‘meet-in-person’ concept. Meetup co-founder Scott Heiferman says that the manner in which people came together in the aftermath of that traumatic event inspired him to use the internet to make it easier for people to connect with strangers in their community. These young gents launched their ‘interactive’ website in New York in 2001. Now, eleven years later, there are over 11 million registered Meetup users and over 110,000 groups world-wide. In Burlington and the Region of Halton, there are reputed to be over 513 groups. Personally, I found about 40 Meetups catering to a diversity of interests in the area.
 Meetups are all about people and the way they choose to spend their time. In this montage photographer Margaret Lindsay Holton has caught the feel of a Burlington in Business MeetUp organized by James Burchill. It’s easy to start a specific Meetup forum, (a monthly fee of less then $30 gets your group up and running), and easy too to join any other Meetup group for free. Add your personal tastes and preferences during sign up, then off you go. At all times the option to attend any Meetup is entirely voluntary. The point of all this ‘meeting up’ is to find friends and/or associates who share your interests, and then, basically, enjoy yourselves. One of the perks of this kind of ‘focused’ meeting is that a lot of preliminary ‘social sorting’ doesn’t have to occur. All attending know that all attending are there for the same reason, whatever that might be.
A sample of Burlington and regional Meetup groups follows. Once on the group page of any Meetup group, click on the Home Page to find an overview of what that group offers.
FTDTW or ‘Friends to Do Things With’ is a relatively new addition to the Meetup community having formed in January of this year. Yet obviously they’ve hit a nerve, because 87 events later, they now have over 500 members, 30 years of age and up. What do they do? Meet at bars, clubs, the Ribfest, restaurants, movie theatres and cafes.
Sassy Bookworms have been around a bit longer, and have a very loyal following. Started in July 2010, with now over 200 members. Sassy Bookworm Meetups usually occur in members’ residences and are limited to 30 or so sassy bookworms per event. They get together to discuss a new title by a different author once per month. (You’re going to love their Marilyn Monroe-with-a-book logo!)
The Burlington Photography Meetup Group was founded in April, 2010, and now has just under 200 members. Designed for both amateur and professional photographers, the Meetups are social photographic outings in the region.
Looking for alternate cuisine ideas? Try vegetarian with a friendly vegan groups – The Burloak-Vegetarian Meetup Group or Danielle Roche’s inspired Eat Local Burlington group.
 Details Happy Veggie Heads As Eat Local Meetup organizer Danielle says, “After reading the ‘100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating’, I am inspired to eat more organic foods grown within 250 km of Burlington. It has been an amazing experience visiting farms, markets and meeting other local food enthusiasts.” Since August 2010, over 240 locavores have signed up with this Burlington-based Meetup group. There have been over 120 ‘local’ foodie events organized by Danielle. Now that’s commitment!
Interested in Salsa dancing? You’d be surprised the number of Meetup groups within a 250 km radius who have, or are preparing, Salsa dance events. Check out the very popular 400 plus members of the Llamas Meetup group of Mississauga: or, in Oakville, the smaller group – Salsa Night/Noche de Salsa – Don’t want to dance, but want to drum? The 500 strong Burlington-based Naked Beat Drum Meetup hosts frequent events.
Tin ear, no twinkle toes? Never fear. The Halton-Peel Social Group (over 400 members) is hosting a ‘big screen’ event of The 100th Grey Cup – between the Toronto Argonauts & the Calgary Stampeders at Philthy McNasty’s (Oakville location) on Sunday from 4 to 10 pm. A small $2 cover with RSVP is requested. Bar, big screen, beer, passionate fans: what more could you want?
 Too much noise ? Ok. Try ‘urban buddism’, or meditation, with the Centre for Compassion and Wisdom, founded in October, 2011. This group now has 57 members located in Burlington: Don’t like that group? Try Burlington Meditation: OR, join the Quick Brown Fox Meetup group on Novermber 24th at the Appleby United Church on Spruce Ave for a workshop on ‘How to write a Page-Turner’ Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing teacher for more than 25 years. He teaches at Ryerson University and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo. His proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published. The workshop runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fee: $44 paid in advance or $48 at the door.
 If over 50, single, and just want to ‘mingle’ for a bit, try the very popular 500 member strong Singles Mosaic – Founded in 2009 by social director, Diona Szcerbak, she too charges a small cover fee for organizing these socials-for-active-seniors events. Small price to pay, really, to make new old friends.
One of Burlington’s newest Meetup groups, Mommy Connections, just started up on November 1st, 2012. There are only four members. Hard to know whether they’ll be a success or not, because unlike many of the other Meetup groups that charge, if at all, a small ‘admin/entrance’ fee, this group is hoping to have new mums fork out $120 for an 8 week class.
Contrasting that group with the explosive growth in popularity of the Burlington’s ‘League of Extraordinary Ladies’ – (founded in January 2012, with now over 140 members), it would seem that Mommy Connections is off to a rocky start.
Still, that’s the fun of these Meetups. Some ‘click’, while others don’t. Like-minded gravitate towards like-minded. It’s up to YOU how engaged you want to be.
 A member of the League of Extraordinary Ladies A lot of the success of a Meetup group comes down to the personality, passion and administrative attention of the principal organizer. Jessica Dennis of ‘Extraordinary Ladies’ is passionate about “bringing women together for the benefit of gathering ideas, bridging business cultures and changing lives! This group is intended for women from all walks of life.”
Whatever your passion or interest, you’ll find like-minded people on Meetup.com.
Still not sure? Consider this ‘what’s it like’ video.
Some Meetup groups can become victims of their own success. The Business In Burlington (BiB) Meetup frequently has a waiting list now for its monthly get-togethers at the Beaver & Bulldog on the Lakeshore. On average, 120 people get together monthly. Very popular with the small business, IT and entrepreneurial crowd, BiBers are working this social network to ‘get connected’ and ‘get ahead’. So, if you are interested, be sure to RSVP your attendance early.
One additional small note: once you do ‘join’ Meetup, make sure you set your ‘group alerts’ for once a week, or once a month depending, again, on your level of interest, otherwise, you will be bombarded by incoming Meetup mail. This has been a growing problem with the Business in Burlington group. With well over 700 members and an active ‘on-line’ forum, email is frequently clogged with their updates and self-promoting announcements. Still, all said and done, it remains an interesting bunch determined to make their Burlington a better place to live, work and play.
James, the BiB organizer, is such an accomplished enabler, perhaps he could mesh a few other local Meetup groups in the region to generate a ‘living picture’ of the DREAM that is Burlington for Mayor Goldring? There certainly seems a proliferation of paid consultants and INSPIRE events coming from City Hall that are working very hard to determine what Burlington is and should be all about. Maybe it would just be easier (and cheaper) if City hosted a monthly ‘Meetup’ at City Hall.
Sign up with Meetup here.
Margaret Lindsay Holton is both an environmentalist and a community activist. She is an artist of some renown and the designer of a typeface. She is also a photographer and the holder of opinions, which are her own, that she will share with you in an instant. She appears as an Our Burlington columnist every two weeks. All photographs are by MLH unless otherwise indicated.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 21. 2012 Transit Advisory meetings are going much better these days. Joanne Vassell-Pittman ended her stint as chair during which time she did a marvelous job under some very trying situations.
Eric Pilon, formerly with Oakville Transit, is the new chair and they seem to be off to a good start. With Mike Spicer serving as Acting Director of Transit he had some good news and some news that was not so good.
Two buses caught fire in a very short period of time. One was a 2009 New Flyer while the other was a newer 2012 bus from the same company.
 They zip in and zip out of the John Street terminal driven by well trained drivers who know what to do when there is an emergency. Two bus fires in a two week period, while unfortunate, were very well handled by the drivers. The bus manufacturer is working with the transit people to determine why the fires started in the first place. Bus fires are rare, not an everyday event and they certainly scare the daylights out of the passengers when the bus fills with smoke.
Spicer advises that the transit service has a well-honed protocol for handling these situations and in both cases no one was hurt.
The task now is to figure out what started the fires in the first place. While both buses were New Flyers the two fires started in different parts of each bus. The manufacturers of the vehicles had their technical people on site pronto and are working with Burlington Transit and the insurance company to get at the bottom of the problem.
Two buses out of service squeezes the vehicle inventory a bit but Spicer says “we still have more than enough buses in the fleet to meet the service demand”.
Should you happen to be on a bus when there is a fire – don’t panic and listen carefully to the bus driver. They really do know what they are doing – and they will get you off the bus safely.
Serving on the Transit Advisory Committee are: Eric Pilon – Chair, John Fuca – Vice Chair, Joanne Vassell-Pittman, Nicholas Civiero, Kevin Rahmer, Sonia Harrison, Brian Coleman, Jenny Wen and Cecille Wyte.
The Committee meets on the third Tuesday of each month at city hall.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 20, 2012 A project that has been in the works for more than 20 years cleared another hurdle and is one more hurdle away from applying for a building permit, which the city will have to issue. The Committee of Adjustment approved all 15 minor variances asked for by Mayrose Tyco, the company that has worked to put a “landmark” structure at the edge of Lake Ontario.
 What is now a flat empty lot on the south side of Lakeshore road will become a bustling construction site just about the time city council expects the pier to open. During the next three years, three structures will rise from the site – one 22 storeys into the sky. Burlington will finally have its landmark structure. Committee of Adjustment meets to handle minor variances that a citizen wants made to a zoning by-law, usually for something they want to do with their property.
The committee has a chair and four members appointed to the committee by the city. Each has a vote and the majority prevails. The Committee has to answer four questions in the affirmative in order for the variance being asked for to be granted. Those questions are:
1: Do the proposed minor variances from the zoning by-law maintain the general intent and purpose of the Official Plan?
2: Do the proposed minor variances from the zoning bylaw maintain the general intent and purpose of the zoning by-law?
3: Are the proposed minor variances from the zoning by-law desirable for the appropriate development or use of the land, building or structure?
4: Are the proposed minor variances from the zoning bylaw considered minor in nature.
Get a yes to all these and you’ll probably get what you were asking for – but you have to get that yes from at least three of the five members of the committee.
Last week, we attended our first ever Committee of Adjustment hearing because the Mayrose Tyco Corporation was asking for 15, yes 15 minor variances on the three structure project that is going to be built at the intersection of Lakeshore Road and Elizabeth streets. This one has been a long time coming and except for one more hearing at the Conservation Authority the project will be ready to apply for a building permit and then the digging begins.
It will be the largest construction undertaking this city has seen for some time. A builder hasn’t been appointed yet – the document needed from the Conservation Authority has to be in hand before they make that announcement.
But that Building Permit application is in the process of being drawn up.
The Riviera Motel is now nothing but a memory – the bulldozers were pulling that down last week.
The next step is readying the lot for the construction which is going to take at least three years.
 The rendering needs a really close look to fully understand what the developer had to work with and what is going to be built. Start with the open space in the centre. Due to the grade there is all kinds of terracing necessary to get people from the street level to the waterfront. No one in a wheel chair is going to get down that part of the site. There is a curved roadway to the east of the large condo on the right. There are opportunities for some very upscale commercial on the right side of the Courtyard in the middle. Can Burlington support that level of commercial? All three structures will go up at basically the same time – an eight story Delta four star hotel that will face Lakeshore Road and have an entrance on Elizabeth Street. The building got an additional storey in height to accommodate the 152 rooms that are a must if the hotel is to have a four star rating.
The buzz in the community was that the hotel would be open for the Pan American Games in 2015 – not true.
 The first look for the public at the Delta four star hotel that shaped much of the later design of the project. The entrance to the hotel will be off Elizabeth Street which will be pushed through to south of Lakeshore Road. The 22 storey condo is west of the hotel. An additional seven storey condo will be south of the hotel. The thinking is that the hotel won’t be completed in time and Four Stars in the hotel business that means quality – this one isn’t going to be rushed to completion.
The project is “four to six months behind our original planning” said Ken Dakin, the project planner who has been the project planner since 1999 – he was involved with the project as far back as 1997. He took the committee of Adjustment through each of the 15 variances he was asking for – and explained carefully the wisdom, as he saw it, of the changes he was asking the Committee to make.
There was a couple of what some might call “slights of hand” proposals, such as the decision to treat the hotel restaurant as one of the commercial elements that the Committee agreed to go along with. Another was the decision to convert some of the space on the east side of the hotel into residential rather than commercial. The argument put forward by the project planner, quite persuasively, and we thought correctly, was that commercial just wasn’t going to survive on the east side next to the walkway that leads down to the waterfront.
The 22 storey condo has a slight triangular shape to it; narrower at the south end than the north end which allowed for balconies that will give every unit owner a decent view of the lake. Balconies were not as in vogue when the project was first put forward. At that time the height was a proposed 33 storey structure. That didn’t fly.
 View from Lakeshore Road looking south to the lake – 22 storey condo on the left with the four star Delta hotel on the right. The access to the Courtyard is in between the two buildings. There is also a winding pathway that is already in place on the east side (the left side in this rendering) that leads to the waters edge. The Courtyard will be a series of shortish terraces to accommodate the grade which is actually quite steep. While the public continually said they wanted commercial activity to the sides of the open space that will stretch from Lakeshore Road to the water’s edge the builders are concerned about finding commercial tenants who want to locate and can survive financially in an area where cold winds will roar in off the lake on some of those colder winter days.
The hotel wants the site to be upscale and not have a Tim Horton’s that becomes a 24 hour hangout on the property. Finding the right commercial tenants will be a challenge. The hotel will have a coffee shop of its own but the site could probably support a second one that is part of the open space at the centre of the three buildings. A family restaurant would probably fit in as well – but where does one go from there? Maybe the Art Centre could be convinced to open up a retail outlet – but the rent would have to be a bit of a gift.
The entrances to the three levels of parking space that will serve all three structures will be at the second floor level and there will be just the one entrance which is going to mean some very tight scheduling for vehicles wanting to get in and out of the garage.
The zoning bylaw called for 3 metres of space between the edge of the southern part of the hotel. Given changes required by the Conservation Authority there wasn’t as much room as the planners originally had in mind. But at the early stage the plan was for a 125 room hotel. The need to move that up to 152 rooms – meant something had to give somewhere and that give is at the southern end of the hotel. Look carefully at the illustration to see the challenge the architects faced.
 The pathway to the east of the Mayrose Tyco project has been in place for a number of years. It was part of a land transfer that gave city land to the developer in exchange for the pathway and the walking space along the edge of the lake. The 22 storey condominium will sit beside the pathway. The developer asked that the requirement for 272 commercial parking spaces be cut back to 152 raised some eyebrows. The project planner explained the changes that have taken place since 2006 when the parking requirements were put in place.
In 2006 the property was not within the city’s Defined Parking area. That Defined Parking Area is a part of the downtown core that “shares” parking space in the several city parking lots. Properties within the Defined Parking Area can forgo the installation of on-site commercial parking and instead pay a levy to the city to guarantee access to the municipal lots and parking garages within the Defined Area.
Somewhere between 2006 and today that Defined Area boundary got moved to include the Mayrose Tyco development and with that stroke of a pen – there went the need for all that on-site commercial parking.
The 188 parking spaces for the residents who will eventually live in the condos still stands. What this means is a real tightening of parking space in the area around the site.
Accessible parking spaces also took a hit. There were to be 9 – the developer asked that it be reduced to 5. The argument was that if the commercial space was being reduced by 60% (that was the 272 down to 152) then it would follow that the accessible spaces would also be reduced by 60%. Explain the logic of that rationalization to people who need parking closer to the entrances of buildings.
There were a bunch of other small changes that made sense to the adjustment committee members who spent relatively little time on this application. Much more time was spent on an applicant who wanted to put an addition on a house that a neighbour felt would intrude on their privacy. That one didn’t get Committee of Adjustment approval.
The Bridgewater project will be a welcome addition to the city – it will be a wonderful site to spend time on and will open up a pathway from east of the Waterfront Hotel through to where the pier will be located and on into Spencer Smith Park.
 This picture taken from close to the walkway that leads to the waters edge with the now demolished Riviera Motel in the background give some sense of the rather steep grade the architects had to work with. A lot of terracing was needed to accommodate the drop from the street level to the waters edge. What is missing however is any sense of grandness to it all. The condo towers will soar into the sky and be the biggest thing this city has ever seen but on the ground it will be kind of cramped, small in scale and nowhere near what we see in European cities where public places are grander in scale.
The sad part is that the money behind this project is Austrian in nature. Pity that they didn’t bring the tradition of grand public places to Burlington.
There were four people taking part in the Committee of Adjustment meeting. Their concerns seemed to be related to how the structures would impact on their view of the lake. There are literally hundreds of people in the immediate area who are going to see a hugely different architecture in front of them and many will be very upset. Nothing they can do now – the appeal period is close to ending. Next step is a document from the Conservation Authority and then on to city hall for the building permit – which the city must give them.
 A view of the drop the architects had to work with as they redesigned the site when the larger hotel became part of the project. The hotel will come very close to the concrete pathway. It is a very challenging site. The Riviera Motel has been demolished. The developers have had this property in their hands for more than twenty years during which time they have seen little return on their investment. When the major changes to the original proposal were made in 2006 the thinking was that we would see construction equipment on the site within a year. The recession in 2000 put the bollocks to that plan. It was basically impossible to get anyone to become a partner in the project. Minto, a highly regarded developer in Toronto and Ottawa pulled out around 2010. Mayrose Tyco was then squeezed by the Conservation Authority who advised them that there were some regulatory changes about to come into force that would result in a deeper set back from the edge of the water. That would have changed far more than the developer wanted to even think about coping with.
They landed Delta as the hotel operator and re-worked the site to give the hotelier what they needed and still keep the condominium part of the project financially viable. Now all they need is a robust economy through to 2015 when the condo units will be very much in demand. Getting to this point meant some compromises from the original dream.
They chose to create a tight site rather than go for the expansiveness that we appreciate in Spencer Smith Park.
But twenty years is a long time to wait for a return. And it will be a wonderful place to live if you can afford one of the condo’s – especially in that 22 storey tower. Wonder what they will go for?
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 20, 2012 It was a bit of a mystery to many people. Everyone knew why they were there, many attended because they were invited. Some weren’t sure if they could just show up; there was apparently no security for the event which was an occasion to recognize the 35 years of service Cam Jackson had given the city as a School Board trustee, a Member of the provincial legislature and finally as the Mayor of the city.
 Controversial and perhaps out of place at city hall, Jackson was recognized on the weekend by his friends for his service. His most important contribution, the Shape Burlington report which he commissioned, brought about a change in the way the city wanted to see its citizens participate. It was an important report and should be seen as the biggest part of his legacy to the city. To give the occasion a lasting sense of occasion the walkway between the Locust Street parking garage, which was put in place by Jackson’s erstwhile foe Rob MacIsaac, and the Performing Arts Centre was named the Cam Jackson Accessibility Walkway.
Many remembered the work Jackson did while at Queen’s Park on behalf of many in the dis-abled community.
We are told there were between 300 and 400 people in attendance with plenty of food and drink. Our commentator said he didn’t know who paid for the refreshments or for the use of the space at The performing Arts Centre. The event was clearly a Tory Blue day; one with the Conservative faithful paying their respects to the work Jackson had done.
There was a mention of Jackson’s work as a lobbyist on behalf of an organization in the optical business but our commentator advises us that Jackson is no longer employed there but that his former administrative assistant while he was Mayor, is still listed on the web site staff directory.
No one is sure either, as to how the Walkway came to get Jackson’s name put on it. The garage is owned by the city, the Performing Arts building is owned by the city – which would then mean that the Walkway is also owned by the city – no?
The decision to put the name of a former Mayor on the walkway was never approved by Council – it was never even taken to city Council. Was the fear that a decision would be one of those infamous Jackson 4-3 votes with the direction of the yea or nay never really certain?
Mayor Goldring was asked if he would attend a private event to recognize Jackson’s service and being the decent human being he is Goldring said yes.
 Always there to help the “Sally Ann” former Burlington Mayor Cam Jackson, recognized for 35 years of community service on the weekend, continues to head up the Salvation Army Food Drive Jackson was controversial as a Mayor. There are still many who voice some very hard feelings about the way he served as Mayor. One former council member who has been in place almost as long as Jackson was at Queen’s Park made the observation that “Jackson took on the job of Mayor as if he was the Prime Minister of the city” and that did not ride very well with most of the senior level of the civic administration.
Part of the historical and the political process is to bind the wounds and remember that the purpose is always the betterment of the community. There are times when you have to hold your nose while doing so – but Cameron Jackson did represent the people of the city at Queen’s Park and racked up some impressive wins as well as some close calls. Controversial he may have been but there was a day when he took 70% of the vote – not something to be ignored.
Jackson continues to serve as chair of the Salvation Army Food Bank drive.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 19, 2012 We know a bit more about that Defining the Dream idea the Mayor has been toiling away at. About 30 people will be taking part. The Mayor seems to have his Council members more on side than they were when he launched the idea.
We know there will be two former Mayors involved, Walter Mulkewich and Rob MacIsaac. (Can you imagine if it had been Cam Jackson and Rob MacIsaac?) There will be two developers; Angelo Paletta – the developer the city has the most difficulty with. One participant in the “dream team” suggested the Mayor has decided to have his biggest problem in the room rather than outside. Might be an awkward day for Angelo Paletta. Will Rick Craven be there to argue for at least some employment land development in Aldershot? Any guesses as to who the other developer will be?
There are a number of “business people” who have contributed enough to cover the cost of the event. What is disturbing is that the Mayor expects to see some new ideas come from the core “establishment” of the city. Sort of like expecting a different answer but always asking the same question of the same people.
When discussing the event with the Mayor – it wasn’t a formal interview – we asked if he had any “oddballs” attending and reminded the Mayor of the idea former Toronto Mayor David Crombie passed along to Goldring at a meeting of the about to sunset Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory Committee more than a year ago.
 Former Toronto Mayor David Crombie speaks at a Waterfront Advisory meeting and tells them to “look for some oddballs to sit on your design committee”. Mayor Goldring says he doesn’t know any oddballs to put on the committee he has formed to Define the Dream. The Mayor said he didn’t know any oddballs and hadn’t invited anyone that might have been described as a loose cannon. Burlingtonians tend to wax eloquent about the waterfront and the Escarpment and crow about our being the second safest city in the country with the lowest expected growth rate between now and 2031. That’s all within our comfort zone. We don’t talk about the poverty.
The names of the people invited to take part in the event haven’t been released yet. The Mayor explains that some of the invited participants have yet to confirm their attendance. Maybe the public will get the transparency they deserve next week when all the participants are confirmed and the Mayor issues a second press release.
There is too much about this planned event that is being treated in a very tight lipped manner. It is always politically foolish to talk about funding being provided by “business” people without naming them. We are aware of a large commercial property holding company that manages a number of strip malls along Fairview as well as holdings up and down Brant Street, who is reported to have contributed a large amount and to have been a major influence behind the idea.
 Angelo Palleta is expected to take part in Mayor Goldring’s Defining the Dream. Will Paletta remind the Mayor that he could have had a massive dream had he gone along with Paletta’s move to get the Tiger Cats into Burlington. Property owners have close dealings with city hall- it is just politically stupid to get into bed with them. Go public the moment as much a dime changes hands and thank them profusely for their contribution.
Mayor Goldring has said that he will report to the public on what comes out of the two solid days of meetings with the 30 people. He will add to that what city staff, who have volunteered their time, think has to be done to implement some of the ideas that percolate up from the discussion being run by a very high powered facilitator.
We are aware of at least one participant who bought facilitator Lance Secretan’s book The Spark, the Flame, and the Torch and was quite impressed with the content and is looking forward to taking part. This individual bought his copy – have the rest of the participants been given any background? Our source said he was impressed enough with the content to give the book a second read.
 Lance Secretan will lead Mayor Goldring’s two day private event with 30 citizens while they attempt to define the dream for the city. Secretan holds a PhD and has written a number of books. The Burlington event is being based on The Spark, the Flame, and the Torch, which one participant in the event has read and says he was impressed with. Our source said Secretan calls into question the Strategic Plan approach to creating the way a city works. Secretan apparently doesn’t have much time for mission statements and “visions”, unless they are driven by a very specific mission and a lot of passion. Secretan looks for “cultural change”.
Good luck on changing the culture of this city. Goldring put it all pretty well when he said “Burlington is complacent”. When the “establishment” in this city realizes it is about to have its lunch eaten by someone else they will go through a very swift cultural change. Until then they will do everything they can to ensure that the other guys don’t get to eat their lunch. Complacent indeed.
The Mayor has said that he has been reluctant to release the name of the participants because he “wants them to have a safe place” where they can discuss different ideas – which struck me as a bit of a crock as I listened to Goldring.
One has to assume there will be a report from the event and that the Mayor will take it to the larger community and then eventually to a council committee.
This initiative doesn’t seem to have a clear communications plan attached to it.
While the Mayor does his “thing” BurlingtonGreen, never slouches when it comes to showing initiative, will be holding a “Think Tank” session of their own at their Annual General Meeting on Thursday of this week at the Central Library.
“We are inviting our members and the general public to attend our Annual General Meeting which will include a “Think Tank” forum to gather strategies to support a brighter future for Burlington.”
“Our City is quickly running out of room to grow, making planning decisions even more important. We must ensure that intensification plans that forever change the landscape of Burlington and many of our neighbourhoods respect the environment and the rights of future generations. We are inviting the citizens of Burlington to share their ideas on neighbourhoods and what they need to make them more liveable & environmentally sound. The input gathered will be included in a report we will be submitting to the City as part of their Official Plan process.” said Ken Woodruff, President of BurlingtonGreen.
 BurlingtonGreen president Ken Woodruff will chair the BurlingtonGreen AGM and participate in the “Think Tank” session they plan to hold. He is reported to be also participating in the Mayor’s Dream Team that is meeting earlier in the same day. Busy man.. Is Woodruff making sure the BurlingtonGreen agenda is clearly heard and not muffled by whatever the Mayor “dream Team” comes up with.
What`s really interesting is that Woodruff is also reported to be taking part in the Mayor`s two day event.
The BurlingtonGreen event is open to everyone, and will be held on Thursday November 22, 2012 in the Holland Room at Burlington Central Library located at 2331 New Street. Doors open at 6:30pm, with the presentation beginning at 7pm.
 Colleen Mulholland was apparently the force behind the decision to publish a Vital Signs report that some in the social services community thought was a little “spotty” and on the weak side. Colleen Mulholland Executive Director of the Burlington Community Foundation is taking part, hopefully not on the basis of the Vital signs report they recently produced. That report is seen by some in the city as a “rushed effort”; done by Burlington Community Development because almost every other city had put one out and Burlington needed a similar report just to be seen as being in the game.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 19, 2012 It is always interesting when a person who operates a business in the city; one that requires licensing and is overseen by a city department, suggests to the city that they might be able to offer an additional service and would like to try out a new idea.
Scott Wallace, president of Burlington Taxi did that last March when he took the idea of setting up a taxi shuttle service that would get people, who shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a car, home once the bars in the downtown core closed and to drive people from bar to bar during the evening.
It worked, sort of, and well enough for Wallace to ask if he could run the same type of service between late November and the first of the new year. After very little discussion council committee said “sure, why not” and moved it along to a full council meeting.
What was disappointing was that the committee didn’t give the idea a lot of attention and no one thanked Scott Wallace for the idea and the initiative he took. The least he deserved was a “thank you”. Maybe he’ll get that at the council meeting.
 Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster chats with Burlington Taxi president Scott Wallace during the Downtown visioning exercise recently. The idea was brought forward last March when Burlington Taxi made a formal request to Community Development Committee to operate a shuttle taxi service for the downtown restaurant and bar patrons. The proposed pilot was to operate during peak times of the year on Saturday nights from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. after which time the City of Burlington would evaluate whether this would be a long term viable.
Council approved the pilot.
Overall, while the pilot project was not a huge success, the idea that there are options available for people to move about the downtown and to take people home during the peak times was seen as an important move forward in the area of alternative transportation said Manager of By-law Enforcement and Licensing, Tracey Burrows, who has the letters C.P.S.O., M.L.E.O. (c) behind her name; heaven only knows what they mean.
The goal of the Pilot, which ran from May 5, 2012 to September 1, 2012, was to evaluate operating larger capacity vehicles in the downtown core to assist in moving patrons between downtown bar locations during the late evening (11pm -1am) hours and then out of the downtown core in a more timely fashion during the bar rush period. (1 a.m. – 3 a.m.)
The Service Area for this pilot was bordered by QEW in the west, the Guelph Line in the east, Fairview Street in the north and Lakeshore road in the south. All patrons requiring rides outside of this area would use standard taxi services or other transportation of their choice.
Two Multi-passenger vehicles (Ford club vans) between the hours of 11PM and 3AM every Saturday night. beginning on May 5.
One van was used to shuttle people between different bars and began at Emmas Backporch at 11PM and drove a route:
1. Proceed to Pearl Street (Poacher)
2. Proceed to Elizabeth Street (Martini House/Dickens/Honey West)
3. Proceed to Brant Plaza using John Street Access (Joe Dogs)
4. Proceed South on Brant Street to Lakeshore Road. (Queens Head/Rude Native/Pepperwood)
5. Turn East on Lakeshore Road to Waterfront Hotel (Beaver and Bulldog)
6. Return to Old Lakeshore Road (Emmas)
The vehicle stopped for passengers at any point on the route but would not take passengers to any destinations off the route. This bar to bar service ended at 1AM. When the vehicle began to deliver patrons to any destination within the designated Service Area concluding service at 3AM.
 Older Ford club vans, which were technically not licensed as taxis, were used during the pilot with the full consent of the city. The multi-passenger service worked well enough for Burlington Taxi to ask for a second pilot with a view to making this a permanent service. After the first six weeks Wallace found there was little demand for the bar to bar service so he revised the offering to allow both vehicles to be available to transport anywhere in the City of Burlington including bar to bar downtown.
Wallace fully expected problematic behavior to be a major concern. He is “ happy to say that it has not been an issue at all. Our drivers have reported to us that for the most part the passengers have not caused any major issues.”
“The impact on Taxi Drivers Income was a major issue when we debated this type of service”, reports Wallace. “ We closely monitor driver income to ensure they can also make a decent living. When we compared driver revenue per hour from the same time last year there was no significant change. Additionally we had no complaints from our drivers about the vans being on the road.”
The total Revenue for the pilot was $3,425.00. The total Expenses for the pilot was $5,152. This only includes driver wages, fuel and insurance. It does not include vehicle depreciation or repairs and maintenance.
Wallace also reported that the pilot had limited impact on service levels. “They averaged around 80% which is considered good for this specific PEAK period. The use of the service was very limited with less than 5% of all calls using the service while having to be subsidized by Burlington Taxi.”
However the pilot did have some successes. “People were generally satisfied with the service and having another option of getting home at peak times. Additionally while the pilot operated during some peak months a good part of it ran during slower months skewing the ridership volumes. We had extreme high volumes of business during the Sound of Music festival and usage was very high, ” said Wallace
Wallace believes that “ if marketed properly and operated only during the peak months of November, December, May and June that this service could be successful.”
Wallace wanted pricing to be $5 per person anywhere in the City of Burlington.
Wallace likes what he learned enough to advise the city that he is in the process of finalizing a proposal to the city for peak period taxis to operate on Saturday nights throughout the year.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 19, 2012 Burlington, like many other municipalities across the province, looks to its citizens for advice, guidance and fresh ideas.
Among those currently looking for people who want to serve and feel they have something useful to offer are:
Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee
Burlington Civic Recognition Awards Committee
Burlington Cycling Committee
Burlington Inclusivity Advisory Committee
Burlington Mundialization Committee
Burlington Public Library Board
Burlington Sustainable Development Committee
Burlington Transit Advisory Committee
Heritage Burlington
Heritage Umbrella Group (HUG)
Burlington Seniors’ Advisory Committee
Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory Committee
The Board of Directors of Burlington Hydro Electric
 Members of the Inclusivity Advisory Committee who put on a Civic Square BBQ event to draw attention to an initiative they developed. Advisory committees are not just attending meetings – lots of fun as well. The Waterfront Access committee has been sunset by the city – shouldn’t have been on the list, but if the waterfront interests you – get in touch with Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward and take part in the ad hoc committee that she formed when the Waterfront committee, formed by Cam Jackson before the 2010 municipal election, was shut down effective December 31st.
While we have not attended meetings of every Advisory committee we have been to enough of them (the only media in the city to do so by the way) and we can tell you that some work very well while others are walking disasters where people shout at each other, throw documents at each other and get precious little done.
At the same time there are others that are close to sterling in what they do and the advice they pass on to city council committees. The city actually outsources much related to heritage in the city to Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee. It is an exceptionally well run committee but it has some deeply rooted differences of opinion on property rights and the role heritage plays in the creation of a balanced community.
The differences are real and for the most part respected – it is a pleasure to watch the dynamic created when different opinions work towards a solution they can all live with.
Working in that kind of an environment takes a level of maturity not seen on some committees. So if you decide serving your city in an advisory capacity is for you – think about leaving your emotional baggage at home and go to meetings prepared to hear new ideas that might move you out of your comfort zone.
You’ll be a bigger and better person if you can do that – and the city will have the benefit of a public that has some skin in the game.
Terms vary from one to four years, with monthly meetings. Volunteering on one of our local boards or citizen committees is a great opportunity to meet new people, share your talents, and develop your skills while addressing a common interest.
The city also appoints people to various boards and agencies. Several of these are reserved for members of Council. If you’re interested – check into the city’s web site and look over the forms – and if you’re still interested – look up the names of the people who currently serve on an advisory committee and have a chat with them. That won’t be easy because the city doesn’t make their addresses or telephone numbers available (they call that protecting a person’s privacy – if you want to be private then don’t get involved in public matters is our view on this)
Each of the Advisory Committees reports to a committee of city council and reports to them at least annually. The more active advisory committees are in close to continued communication with the city.
It can be fun, it can be exciting and it can also be very exasperating. But if you want to make a difference – this is as good a place as any to start. If you do decide you want to try this – leave your ego at home.
Still interested? Here’s where you start.
 REVISED
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 19, 2012 If you’re looking for any of the city council members this morning or the city manager either for that matter – stop looking. They are all at a closed meeting of city council to talk about what they refer to as a Human Resources matter – which means the hiring, or the firing of someone, or dealing with a very serious complaint.
We goofed.
A guy at city hall who is a lot smarter than I am called to point out that I had things mixed up. There are TWO closed meetings – one this morning, the 19th, which was a CLOSED Workshop at which Linda Moore took Council and senior staff through an exercise intended to “improve teamwork, raise the bar and expand on the expectations”. They did that I was informed under Section 239 (3.1) of the Municipal Act. That event took place at the McMaster University DeGroote School of Business.
The other meeting, the one that has to do with the hiring and the firing – that one takes place NEXT Monday.
Finding out where the meeting were taking place was clearly a challenge I didn’t meet. The city’s web site shows two locations – one document says it is to take place at the McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business while another document says it will take place in the `Cabinet Room at a local hotel. I clearly got it all mixed up.
Doesn’t matter which, you’re not allowed in anyway – but it does point to a problem with the way information shows up on the web site, which is to undergo a significant and badly needed upgrade. I am on the city web site close to a dozen times in any one day and know it as well as most. It isn’t all that friendly. There is a Request for Proposals put out by the city for someone to do the upgrade that closes early in December.
 Doctors viewing data on a web site – done right the internet allows for a very smooth and fulsome display of data and information. Burlington isn’t there yet – but they are at least moving in the right direction. Whoever is chosen will take on the task of re-building the web site. This is an opportunity for the city to “shine” by choosing the right firm and not getting stuck with a lowest bidder situation. Please – not another pier. Hopefully, when the job is done, we will see a source of information that is user friendly and holds everything you ever wanted to know about the city. Showing two locations for a meeting you are not allowed to attend isn’t quite what is meant by useful information.
Friends sent us a link to a piece that gives a glimpse of where the future could take us. Have a look. Burlington could have something like this; the city could provide transit information on the web that would be real time to let me know where the bus is and how long before it gets to my stop. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to make an appointment with your council member via the web site.
The city has decided it wants to move all its information out to a web site and let the public interact with the city at that level rather than deal with people face to face or over the telephone.
Properly designed getting what you want via a web site can work very well. Unfortunately much of what Burlington has in place right now – just doesn`t work all that well.
What kind of experiences have you had? Leave a comment.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON November 15, 2012 A pedestrian crossing North Shore Blvd, in the vicinity of the Burlington Golf and Country Club was killed when struck by a vehicle at just after 5:00 pm this evening.
On Thursday November 15, 2012 at approximately 5:09 pm a motor vehicle collision occurred on North Shore Blvd East west of Edgewater Court in the City of Burlington.
Initial information received indicated that male pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle while crossing North Shore Blvd in the area of the Burlington Golf and Country Club. The vehicle, a black 2009 Mercedes Benz was travelling west on North Shore Blvd East. The driver a 37 year old male from Ancaster was the lone occupant of the vehicle.
Information obtained at the scene indicates that the pedestrian was crossing from the south to north side of the road. The pedestrian was struck in the westbound lane. There is no official pedestrian crosswalk in this area and artificial light was limited.
Burlington Fire and Halton EMS attended the scene and provided medical treatment to the victim, however due to the severity he succumbed to the injuries and pronounced dead at the scene.
Alcohol is not a factor in this collision.
At the request of the family the victim’s name will not be released.
The collision is still under investigation by the Halton Regional Police Service Collision Reconstruction Unit. Witnesses are requested to contact D/Cst Greg Cormier at 905-825-4747 ext 5066
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 14, 2012 Mayor Rick Goldring got the surprise of his life, when he learned that the province expected him to come up with $60 million to pay for a portion of the re-build of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. In the old days, when Goldring was getting his tonsils taken out at JBMH, health care was a provincial matter.
 Paid for by 2018 – they promise you that. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to end the hospital levy in 2018. Taxpayers are going to be the gift that keeps on giving. Times do change. The city sucked it up and looked at its taxpayers and said: we have to hit you for $60 million, but we are going to have a great hospital, when this is all said and done. The fact that the new Family Medical centre and the parking garage are being built on a flood plain, doesn’t seem to factor into how “great” that hospital is going to be.
 Those numbers above are your dollars. It represents the amount the city gives to the hospital to pay for building the additions. While the city is collecting a special hospital levy from you now – they tuck that into a bank account and earn interest. At some point the city has to borrow money to make the payments. No matter – the good people of Burlington sucked it up and told every polling organization that chose to ask them that the hospital was THE top priority. That the JBMH Foundation also had to come up with their $60 million seemed to make it all a little easier to bear.
 Here is what this means – the number that matters is on the far right. For every $100,000 of assessment value on your home you will pay an amount ranging from $4.28 to as high as $14.98. That’s just what it is going to cost to re-build the hospital that everyone says they want. Continuing to take what started out as hospital levy money after the hospital is built and paid for is what might seem unfair or misleading to taxpayers. The tax levy column, second from the right, isn’t as clear as it might have been. It should read – Tax levy in millions. Learning too that the cost came down to a paltry $3.99 for every $100,000 of assessment on your house made it sound like easy credit. That $3.99 does balloon to $7.49 then to $11.24 and up as high as $14.98 – but those are just details. By the year 2028, when we are assured the Pier will be finished, the hospital will be paid for and we can all visit our family members who are being cared for in a state of the art medical facility.
Not so fast, my Mother used to say as I was scooting out the door to find some mischief.
 Do you know why they’re smiling? It isn’t because Santa Claus is coming soon. They figured out a way to continue taking the special hospital construction levy out of your pockets. If you managed to pull off a stunt like that you too would be smiling. Turns out that the Significant Seven that serve as your Council are not going to lift that hospital levy come 2028. It will just get rolled over and become part of what you pay in taxes every year.
Call it a sneaky tax grab if you want. Call it misleading the taxpayers, which is what at least one Council member thought of the plan. Councillor Sharman, who positions himself as one of the better financial minds on Council did say that “rather than give it back (the hospital levy) we are going to re-assign it.
Say what you wish. By the time 2028 rolls around none of the rascals who put their hands even deeper into your pockets will be on this earth and with one exception, probably not even on Council. They expect to be able to get away with it.
Is it fair? No – they should be telling you or even better they should be asking you if this is the way you want to be taxed. They won’t ask you directly but, come the next election – you might want to ask a question or two as to how they think they can pull this one off.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON November 14, 2012 A 34 year old male, involved in an accident with a GO train last Saturday, November 10th, has died at the Hamilton General Hospital.
The 34 year old Burlington resident had been in critical condition since the 5:45 pm collision with a westbound GO train east of Guelph Line.
The Collision Reconstruction Unit continues to investigate this incident.
The name of the man will not be released.
 By Margaret Lindsay Holton
BURLINGTON, ON November 12, 2012 There is something very grounding about crafting clay into ceramics. Shaped by human hands for over 14,000 years, clay is one of the oldest naturally-occurring building materials we have to create, like stone or wood. When mixed with water, clay develops a plasticity that hardens in shape when dry. When fired in a kiln, permanent physical and chemical changes occur to create a ‘ceramic’. Different types of clay, when used with different minerals and firing conditions, create different types of ceramics such as stoneware, earthenware, or porcelain.
 Attendance during the first hour of a pottery show in Dundas, Ontario – the bi-annual Potters Guild of Hamilton and Region. MLH photo. As humans, we have long distinguished ourselves by preferring to eat our food from a decorative dish, plate, bowl, mug or tea cup. It defines us culturally and, more often then not, socially. As most know, not all soup bowls are created equal …
 Film adaptations of Charles Dickens’ famed Oliver Twist clay crock contrasted with high-end 19th century Sevres and Meissen porcelain from Europe. Photos by MLH During the 1800s, much of the world’s finest porcelain tableware came from Germany, France and England. Companies such as Meissen and Rosenthal in Germany, and Havilland and Sevres in France, became world famous for beautiful ornate designs, while the Staffordshire region of England produced such legendary companies as Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Spode and Minton. The great porcelain manufacturers of the era marked their products with the company’s name, initials or trademark symbols. Today, individual potters from the Potter’s Guild of Hamilton and Region continue this time-honored tradition. Look for their marks or signatures on the bottom of their wares.
 Signature or mark of maker on the bottom of clay bowls. Photo credit MLH North American pottery, first developed by the indigenous coastal people, occurred around 3000 BC. Pots, or vessels, were made using the ‘coil’ method. Strands of clay were coiled one on top of each other then smoothed over to create a seamless bowl shape. Designs were imprinted into the clay using sticks, shells or twisted cording. To date, no evidence has been found of a ‘thrown’ bowl in pre-contact native North American cultures. It seems they never used – or developed – a potter’s wheel.
 Potter’s wheel – Photo courtesy Potter’s Guild of Hamilton. The mostly highly priced base clay for all ceramics is ‘kaolin’. A large deposit exists in the Moose River basin in Northeastern Ontario, but we, as a people, have never mined it. Instead, we, in Ontario, import most of our clay, for decorative and utilitarian purposes, from the States, or Alberta. Interestingly, a unique shale-derived clay well-suited for ceramic production was once found in abundance in both Hamilton and Burlington, but it has long since been depleted, lost to rapid urbanization. Somewhat ironically, potters and ceramicists in the region are now forced to use imported clay mixtures to make ‘local’ pots.
 Burlingtonian potters Barbara Taylor & Kia Eichenbaum show their wares in Dundas. Photos by MLH Over the past weekend, the Potter’s Guild of Hamilton & Region held their unequivocally fantastic bi-annual three day Sale featuring over 100 local potters, (including Burlingtonians Barbara Taylor and Kia Eichenbaum and recently transplanted Dale Marks , at the Lions Memorial Community Centre on Market Street in Dundas, Ontario. An extra-ordinary diversity of shapes, covered in a variety of slips, mottled glazes and highlighted with colourful and pleasing configurations satisfied the aesthetic palettes of all enthusiasts. I have gone to this event for over four years now, and every year I am super impressed by the abundance of product. I highly recommend this sale as a ‘regional sojourn’. Mark your calendars for next years Spring Sale.
A little closer to home, it is well known that the Burlington Art Centre boasts “the largest collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics in the world”. Their collection contains more then 1800 artworks, with over 400 Canadian artists represented. Unlike the utilitarian (and beautifully crafted) eating earthen and stoneware featured at the Dundas show, the BAC collection explores the more abstract artistic possibilities of clay. Illustrative examples from their decades-old Fire & Ice Exhibition can still be seen on the Virtual Museum of Canada website:
The Burlington Art Centre holds its annual Soup Bowl Event, in the Rotary Shoreline Room at 1333 Lakeshore Blvd, Burlington, from November 15th to November 18th. Reserve your seat early for this very popular event. (BAC members pay $35, non-members pay $45). Enjoy a hearty soup and salad, and then take home your locally-crafted soup bowl – made from a mixture of clays from elsewhere.
Margaret Lindsay Holton is both an environmentalist and a community activist. She is an artist of some renown and the designer of a typeface. She is also a photographer and the holder of opinions, which are her own, that she will share with you in an instant. She appears as an Our Burlington columnist every two weeks. All photographs are by MLH unless otherwise indicated.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 12, 2012 The Mayor’s dream could become a bit of a nightmare. More than half of his Council isn’t on board for this one. Those we spoke with did so on an unattributed basis.
The Mayor has engaged Dr. Lance Secretan to facilitate the development of a defining dream for Burlington. “It is my hope” said the Mayor, “that this dream will provide the community with an ambition and determination that brings us together and helps us build a future for which our children will be proud.”
The media release in which the “dream team” idea was revealed was thin on details. Other than knowing a bit about who is paying for the event and that his Council members have noses very much out of joint we still don’t know much. The Mayor’s office has not gotten back to us with any details
 Is this still one big happy family? Or has the idea of working together beginning to fall apart. Council members were told of the Mayors Plan to hold a meeting that would pull together a group of citizens to talk about “Defining our Dream”. The idea apparently came about after the Mayor read Lance Secretan’s The Spark, The Flame, and the Torch, while on vacation last summer. Then, when a local commercial landlord suggested to the Mayor that the city didn’t have a clear sense of where it was going the two streams of thought came together and the event went from an idea to a fully formed event.
The Mayor apparently liked what he had read and liked what he was hearing as well and went ahead with his plan to pull a dream out of a group of citizens the Mayor has chosen.
Council members were first told that just one Council member would be asked to attend. That didn’t go over very well. There was a general uproar from council members which moved the Mayor to change his mind and allow that they could all attend but they would have to take part in the full program which is to consist of:
A half-day session on November 21st to get a briefing on the ground rules and how the two day session that follows will be done.
Then there are two full days of “daydreaming” – that’s on the Thursday and Friday.
Then on the Saturday morning there will be session with city staff, who will attend on a “volunteer” basis, and talk about how this dream might be implemented. How does a staff member say no to the Mayor when asked to help a group of citizens implement a dream?
 Frank McKeown, Mayor’s Chief of Staff, attempts to fix the clock in Council Chambers. There are things that perhaps need fixing on the eighth floor. Once council member was aghast when told this was the plan and made the comment that it is council that determines what is to be implemented.
A number of council members cannot or do not want to devote that much time to a project they apparently had little input on. One asked: Is this the kind of stuff on the part of the mayor what happens when Frank decides to leave the eighth floor?”. Frank is Frank McKeown, the Mayor’s current Chief of Staff who leaves that position December 31st.
 Thinking it through while developing the Strategic Plan. Was the same kind of thinking done with the Defining the Dream initiative? Another council member suggested there may have been a bit of a ”falling out” between the Mayor and his Chief of Staff on directions to be taken during the second half of his first term of office.
That same council member informed us that there was “significant developer” money behind the $50,000 this three days of day dreaming event is going to cost. That may be a bit of a stretch – we are told that all of the funds needed to pay for the event came from the business community, however the Mayor has not said who those business people are. One is the owner of a very significant number of commercial rental properties.
The idea of pulling together a group of citizens to talk about the “big dream for the city first came to public notice when the Mayor put out a press release saying:
“After speaking with and listening to thousands of residents over the last two years I believe we have a need and an opportunity to better define what we want Burlington to be; how we want others to see us; and how we want to see ourselves” … “ I want to generate a discussion about what we do want.”
 Checking over the notes. The dream will start an important conversation with the entire community that will result in a prosperous future for our City. I believe that by creating a defining dream we will have a rallying point, a touchstone, which will bring us together and allow us to make the decisions we have to make with purpose.
The understanding a number of people close to this development have is that a property owner has had a very significant impact on the Mayor’s thinking – more than most of the council members which has them upset. They thought they were part of a team and that this council had gotten away from the Cam Jackson habit of going off on one tangent after another.
There are many noses out of joint over this one. An idea that has some merit but little transparency now has to overcome serious opposition from council members when it should be moving forward very smoothly.
The public doesn’t know who has been invited to take part in the defining of the dream. Is this the Mayor’s circle of “friends” advisers and financial contributors? On what basis were they chosen?
Who is Lance Secretan? Our Burlington did a piece on the man and his book sometime ago when the Mayor mentioned he was going to be reading the book while on vacation.
Secretan is seen as a part of the Tony Robbins “self-help” crowd that advances a theory and an approach to changing the life you live. Secretan has taken that marketing approach to the corporate level. It sells.
Secretan espouses what are called the CASTLE principles: Courage, Authenticity, Service, Truthfulness, Love and Effectiveness. He is a physical fitness buff who has a home in Ontario. One can see the similarities in personality traits between the Mayor and Lance Secretan who is basically a motivational speaker.
Here is how Secretan describes what he does:
Over 30 years at the Secretan Center, we have discovered that the common, unifying experience among winning teams, great endeavors and extraordinary achievements—is a dream.
A dream is not the same as the familiar “Mission, Vision and Values” statements favored by so many organizations. A dream is an order of greater magnitude. It is a bold declaration of how we are going to make a difference in the world, what new frontier we are going to establish, how we will redefine the game we play, the new standards we will set, and what we will do to light fires in the imaginations and hearts of all those we touch.
The Secretan Center has developed a breakthrough system that invites leaders to identify, realize and sustain their dreams—their most extraordinary, outrageous, never-before-achieved aspirations. We call it the ONE Dream® Process. We begin by identifying what we call “Permission Space” which is the energy that propels a dream—for an organization, a city, a state or province, or for a country.
The central philosophy that powers the ONE Dream® process is our belief in dreams to inspire organizations and communities and their stakeholders to outstanding performance. Modern organizations have forgotten how to dream and instead have adopted stale, uninspiring statements and slogans. Mission statements often fail to arouse passion, but dreams always do—history is filled with examples of great leaders with big dreams. If an organization aligns its entire cultural architecture and energy behind the realization of ONE Dream®, breakthrough results—big dreams—can happen for people, customers, the organization and the community.
Any dream this city develops needs to be firmly grounded in reality and based on a solid understanding of the dynamics involved.
Is Secretan who the Mayor of Burlington should be using to define the dream for the city? Why – when he had full access to one of the best facilitators and consultants on how municipalities grow in this country.
 Georgina Black, on the right, led Council and senior city staff through an extensive Strategic Plan development process. They weren’t abler to set out the dream then – they weren’t ready. Mayor Goldring thinks the city is ready now. Georgina Black, a partner with the consulting firm KPMG led the city through an at times exhaustive but very thorough process that produced the Strategic Plan the city now has in place. The eleven half day event that was open and involved all the council members and all senior city staff, didn’t manage to define the “big hairy audacious” goal they were looking for, partly because they were not ready.
Creating a meaningful and fully thought out Strategic Plan was not something this Council or most members of the senior levels at city hall had much experience with. Given where they were – they did very well. The smart idea would have been to bring back a consultant with a solid track record with experience in a sector that is complex and considerably different than the corporate world where the bottom line matters more than anything else.
One Council member thought the Mayor “should have done something like this when the Strategic Plan was being developed. “That would have been a good time to get public input. The Mayor could have invited specific people and made the event open to the public as well.”
We have noticed that when the Mayor is listening to people he doesn’t have much time for he can be very short and curt; almost dismissive. We saw this early in the Strategic Plan development when different stakeholders were making their presentations. While the comments made were what was expected, basically the “same old”, the Mayor was less than gracious with these people.
Is Burlington about to create another mini-pier incident and move forward without a solid plan vetted by all the people who should be involved and who are responsible for the outcome? We’ve seen where that approach takes us.
This adventure is being billed as one that isn’t going to cost the city anything. Business people put up funds for things that will serve their purposes; that’s what business is about. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.
When the Workshop has been completed the Mayor has said he will share the results with the community – he is going to have to share much more with the community before the workshop if the results are to have any credibility.
 By Pepper Parr
HAMILTON, ON November 11, 2012 For Len Lifchus, this time of year tends to be all about the numbers – are the giving’s where we need them to be? Are the various teams on top of their targets? Are we going to be able to raise what we need?
 Len Lifchus would like to be in the business of giving people fishing rods and teaching them how to fish and feed themselves but as often as not he is giving them fish because they cannot feed themselves.
 With more than 35 years in the volunteer sector, Len Lifchus guides the Burlington/Greater Hamilton United Way towards raising the $7 million + needed to fund the agencies that provide services needed in the community. For the Burlington/Greater Hamilton United Way, 44% of the 2012 target has been reached. Burlington is a little behind its target. The community has raised $746,834 of the $2.1 million it needs.
Combined Hamilton and Burlington have reached the 44% level but Burlington is lagging and in our part of that pumpkin patch we are at 36% – got more work to do – so if you’ve gotten this far and have not made a pledge – think about what you can give and make the pledge – we will be here when you get back.
Burlington is a very affluent community but there are significant pockets of poverty and Burlington is a more expensive place to live in. Lifchus, who recently moved to Burlington, will tell you “gasoline is more expensive, LINK laundry is more expensive, food costs more”.
Immigrants need help getting settled; there are no major industries in Burlington that need workers. Nutrition is an ongoing problem that comes back to plaque is later when poor health issues become the problem.
The face of poverty isn’t as visible in Burlington; you don’t see it between all the cars parked at the malls. “The faith community is very strong in Burlington” explains Lifchus, but there is only so much they can do. Our food banks are not a fact of life – they were put in place to meet a crisis and the crisis stayed and became a part of life for the poor and now the working poor.
Len Lifchus has been employed by the voluntary sector for over 35 years – more than 16 years with the Canadian Red Cross Society Blood Program and the last 18 years with the United Way.
Born and raised in Vancouver, B.C. and a graduate in political science from the University of British Columbia, Len has spent his adult life on a career path of serving others.
Len joined the United Way in 1995 as the Executive Director of the United Way of the Central & South Okanagan Similkameen and moved to Peterborough, Ontario in 1999 to become the CEO of the United Way of Peterborough & District. After a 10 ½ year career in Peterborough he moved on to become the CEO of the United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton – Canada’s 12th largest United Way.
He has watched changes take place in the way we care of those who are not able to take care of themselves. “Food banks were a stop gap measure during a difficult economic phase – now they are full time operations” says Lifchus. “We aren’t geared to run this type of operation the way we have to but without food banks we would have very serious social problems to deal with.
One of the agencies the United Way funds is a program that makes food available to students who are not getting the nutrition they need at home.
The United Way doesn’t run programs; it funds agencies that run programs and each year at the end of the fund raising driver the really hard work of deciding who is going to be funded and who isn’t going to be funded begin.
 Part of the Burlington campaign cabinet – a group that meets under the direction of the Paddy Torsney, the Burlington campaign chair who co-ordinates with Len Lifchus on a weekly basis. The Burlington/Greater Hamilton United Way funds 133 programs and Lifchus is the first to tell you that the issue of poverty is not going away. He will also tell you that people are giving differently. There is much more one-on-one donor solicitation; that is organizations approaching a donour and soliciting funds. When those individual appeals succeed there is less money available to organizations like the United Way that are not tightly focused.
Also, there are more Family Trusts, financial structures that wealthy people use to channel their funds to specific targets – again lessening the funds available to un-targeted organizations like the United Way.
What the United Way does, and can do because it is much closer to the daily grind that is poverty, is recognize evolving needs and fund agencies that are focused on those new needs.
Teen suicide is a growing concern; one that is growing far too fast and no one is quite sure how to address the problem. Community groups, often started by families that have lost a family member to suicide get formed and as they grow the find they need more in the way of support – the United Way is there to help them create the infrastructure they need to effectively develop these agencies.
Managing the fund raising and then managing the disbursement of the funds raised is the day to day part of what Len Lifchus does. He also teaches in the evenings and sits on more boards than there are on a Monopoly game.
Everyone looks for distractions from the daily grind and for Lifchus it is musicals. He can recite lines from some of his favourites. Les Cages aux Folles is at the top of his list along with Hair and Les Miz – and don’t forget Ragtime, all amongst his favourites.
He has been following the selection of “Dorothy” for the next production of The Wizard of Oz– “of course” declares Lifchus, “there is never going to be another Judy Garland”. Lifchus actually gets a little misty eyed when he talks about the musical productions.
Fun and relaxation only take him so far. The Halton Regional Poverty Roundtable is an think group that the United Way is both funding to some degree and providing some of the administrative support. Lifchus fully understands the need to think about the problem of poverty and take a long, deep hard look at the root causes and begin the search for better solutions. “Change” Lifchus will tell you, “starts here.”
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 10, 2012 They were doing more of that vision thing. They were doing it in the Shoreline Room of the Arts Centre. There were more than 150 people in the room – it was basically packed, with 140 of them citizens taking part in an exercise that was intended to help in the shaping of the city’s downtown core, which many feel is a bit of a mess and at times a disappointment – not THE place you go to for services and supplies.
But our situation is, according to the people who are doing the surveying, not all that bad. Pretty good in some categories, very good in others.
 Shoreline Room of the Art Centre was packed; close to 150 people participated. Did we manage to move the ball up the field? The event was nicely structured. City hall is getting very good at coming up with ways to involve people. Much more use is being made of large maps that people can work over as they gather around tables and trade comments and opinions.
This event ran just a little on the long side. People were beginning to drift out of the room and there wasn’t a solid wrap up – but there was a lot of input and if city staff can capture that input, interpret it and then work it into the plans they develop – the evening will have been time very well spent.
So what did we learn? The evening began with those necessary(?) introductions. Councillor Sharman wasn’t seen in the room and Councillor Dennison slipped in late in the game. Downtown isn’t Councillor Taylor’s turf.
Defining and then creating a vibrant downtown core is a joint venture between the private sector that takes the risks and city hall that comes up with rules, zoning and regulations that make things possible and a public that buys into what is in place and shows up with their wallets and purses and spends.
 This was a Workshop and people at the tables were certainly active. The session lasted a little too long and there wasn’t time to hear all the table summaries. There are some locations that are close to outstandingly successful. The Works, a high end hamburger joint where four people can spend more than $100 on burgers is very popular – don’t expect to always get a table right away – there are lineups – often. As marketers the people at The Works have figured it out – everything was free the first day they opened. Talk about getting the public’s attention. The folks over at the Village Square have had to put what they had on the selling block because the ability and the desire to really aggressively market that location just isn’t in them anymore. The property is for sale – some say it has actually been sold. The public record doesn’t show a change in the owners of the property.
La Costa did a name change and is now Celli’s Osteria which means authentic food sourced from the local countryside. Melodia is open on the corner of Locust and Elgin, the Prime Rib moved from Brant to Elgin several months ago but has yet to open their doors. So there is some health in the core.
 These could have been tables with family members gathered playing a game of cards – most had a friendly, relaxed mood to them. The meeting was a review of the Strategic Action Plan which Jody Wellings, Planning and Building department, said the committee had delivered on. As a committee they met 14 times and got 520 people to take part in the survey they had done.
As part of the research work done by Urban Metrics for the city, a measurement was taken of all the retail space in the downtown core. Here is what we learned from the 140+ people who participated in the Workshop.
They reported that there was 1.1 million square feet of retail space in the core (which oddly enough was never defined during the meeting) and that 81,000 people lived in the area.
 Notes taken, views exchanged – city planning staff now have to go through all the data and figure out what the public has said. Is there an end result? At some point Burlington will have the vibrant downtown is wants. There are 130,000 square feet of office space in the core. While delivering the data the researcher added that there are companies that would kill for the kind of downtown Burlington has. That view doesn’t quite square with comments made by Sheila Botting. National leader on real estate and financial services for Deloitte, who told a Council Workshop that while the core is appealing the cost of providing parking is prohibitive – business prefers the Burloak area where parking is less expensive. Transit in Burlington doesn’t appear to be an option for the management and executive crowd.
However, people believe there is significant opportunity for smaller boutique operations in the core – problem there is no one defines “boutique” and we have yet to see one choose Burlington.
 Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward had her daughter Miranda, a grade 9 student, shadowing her all day. The workshop was the end of a 12 hour day. The young lady does not have a campaign manager.  Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster was there but didn’t appear to be an active participant. Here she talks with Scott Wallace, proprietor of Burlington Taxi who has an interesting report going to council committee this week. In general boutiques are seen as small groups – that can reach 75 people, who are professionals: architects, law firms, researchers that prefer a quieter community but need very quick access to downtown Toronto. Burlington does have the access to the “big smoke” – it’s just not that fast to get to. An hour on a plugged expressway isn’t the way professionals want to spend their time.
The researchers described our core as stable with commercial space increasing; that would be marginal increase at best.
The commercial space vacancy rate is 11.2% of the existing space which is a little on the high side. We aren’t in trouble but the sector isn’t exactly vibrant.
 Each of the tables was assigned a subject to discuss. Had the people at this table gone shopping. The researcher said that 70% of the people who shop in the trade area live south of the QEW, 20% are from outside the community – which leaves 10% that come from north of the QEW – the folks in the Orchard and the new Alton community aren’t coming downtown as much as the merchants would like them to.
Why do people come downtown? Because they have to; because they live downtown or they work downtown or they have an appointment. 13% of the people who come downtown do so to shop while 9% come downtown to dine.
29% come once a week; 47% drive to the core, 40% walk; 8% use transit and 4% use their bikes.
Asked what downtown should be – the answers from the survey were: festivals, entertainment, meeting people and the place they take visitors.
What kind of retail services did those surveyed want to see? A first run movie theatre; a small supermarket, a hardware store and more restaurants with more in the way of clothing and accessory retailers was on those wish lists.
The Burlington Downtown Business Association (BDBA) has been trying for some time to get a supermarket to open up in the core – Brian Deane, Executive Director of the BDBA, hasn’t been able to land one of them yet. Parking is the biggest problem and because the supermarkets know we all have to eat – we will go to where they are – they don’t have to come to where we are. There will come a time, when the core will have people who will not want to or be able to drive to the supermarkets, and supply will follow the demand. That day hasn’t arrived yet.
The advice the researchers offered was that we need to leverage the assets we have, (most of the retailers don’t know how to do that) and communicating has to be well done. Many of the smaller merchants don’t particularly want to communicate to a wider market; they have their core clientele and they do very well with that – why go to a lot of additional effort at some cost and not be certain they are going to see a return.
The surveys did note an interest in a Farmer’s Market in the core – and the city had one for several months in the summer. It struggled. The one time there was a crowd was during the Chef’s Shootout which could have been a boffo event had it not rained. Even with the poor weather, with a dozen or so umbrellas set up to keep the water off people as they watched two well rated chef’s do their thing with the most rudimentary equipment.
The number of people who showed up for the event suggests Burlington Tourism wants to look at this – it was a good idea that just needed some time and more in the way of promotion – hopefully Barry Imber won’t give up the ghost on the idea – it is well worth doing for at least one more season.
Our Burlington was the only media in the city to continuously follow and promote the event.
The researchers thought public funds and resources were needed to draw in private investment. Those are your tax dollars they’re talking about. Back in 1985 the city permitted a “landmark” structure to be built on the edge of the lake – there is still nothing on the site. The city back then did it’s part – the private sector sat on what they were given and let it improve in value but gave nothing back to the city. Late this year we might see a shovel in the ground to start the building of an eight story structure – they currently have approval to build up to seven storeys – they’re asking the Committee of Adjustment to allow an additional floor.
There are cranes on the horizon in Burlington, there is activity, that tipping point however doesn’t appear to have been reached. Last Christmas season there were major restaurants and retailers on lower Brant who had nothing in the way of seasonal decoration on their locations.
The audience was told to not compromise the vision and expect false starts – does the pier fall into that category? While on the pier – construction progress does take place – albeit at close to a snail’s pace. But what are we going to end up with? A place we take people to and talk about how long it took to get built and how much it actually cost us?
It will be a magnificent structure and it will change the look of the city but will it end up like Ben Johnson, a magnificent athlete who destroyed his reputation by taking drugs; does the pier have too much negative history that we may not be able to live down?
There is certainly a challenge to leverage that asset when it finally opens and communicate the story. Do we have the people with the skill sets needed to do that communication?
We were told to measure performance and then empower the decision makers – that would assume there are enough qualified decision makers in town. It is a challenge. There are some exceptionally good people who work for the city – are there enough of them?
 At some point all the data and all the public input gets placed in front of Burlington’s Planner, Bruce Krushelnicki – who will issue a report and city council will make decisions. Creating the downtown the city wants and needs has not been an easy process for Burlington. The province has a growth plan which calls for 15,000 new jobs in the region by 2031. Burlington is going to limp towards its part of that objective; we just aren’t creating the job opportunities; our commercial assessment for 2012 will be less than it was for 2011 – not a good sign. Once the Economic Development Corporation shakes itself out we will begin to see a change but that could be as much as a year away.
The province wants there to be a “mobility hub” in Burlington, which will centre on the Fairview GO station that is undergoing an upgrade. The site immediately south of the GO station, west of Wal-Mart on the north side of Fairview, is to be developed and have at least four towers. Efforts are being made to have some of that space set aside for commercial use.
With the theory and some of the potential set out for the Workshop audience, the researchers then began an interactive process with the audience. Participants were given hand help devices the size of a package of playing cards, and told to make their choices to questions that appeared on the large screen at the front of the room.
A question would appear on the screen, participants would be given 30 seconds to make a choice – and the results would appear on the screen instantly. It is a remarkable opinion survey tool the city has used in the past. Very effective.
How many of you live in the downtown core:
Of the 130 responses – 2/3rds say they lived in the downtown core.
How many owned a business? 20% of the 133 responses
How many of you think the core has a lot going for it? Most saw the core in a positive light.
What are the top three things you like about the downtown core?
The waterfront, the restaurants, the places to walk. 137 responses
Things that need the most attention?
Neighbourhood shops; better places to live, more entertainment locales. – 133 responses.
What would you like to see added? You can add your views to the city’s on line survey.
https://urbanmetrics.fluidsurveys.com/s/burlingtonsurvey/
 One of the prime places to just enjoy the city is on the north side of Lakeshore looking out over ther lake. This could be a social spot in almost any one of the prime tourist destinations in Europe or North America – but it is right here in Burlington. More entertainment destinations, restaurants and cafés, retail stores and parks. That last one, parks was odd; Burlington has the equivalent of 333 football fields in public park space. Central Park has to be one of the largest in any city of comparable size.
The audience was told that all the data collected will be up on the city’s web site. Most of the questions are shown but the responses aren’t there at least not as of Saturday afternoon.
The Downtown vision team will be going over the data and determining what to do next. That means more meetings. Ugh!
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON November 10, 2012 Halton Police are currently investigating a collision between a westbound GO train and a pedestrian in the City of Burlington. This collision occurred at approximately 5:45pm just east of Guelph Line along Fairview Street.
Police and other Emergency services were called to the scene and located a single male in critical condition. He has been transported to Hamilton General Hospital for treatment. His prognosis is unknown and his identity is being withheld at this time pending notification of next of kin.
Due to the apparent seriousness of the injuries, the Halton Regional Police Collision Reconstruction Unit took carriage of the investigation with assistance from GO Transit Safety Officers and CN Police. No foul play is suspected at this time.
The tracks at this location have been partially reopened to rail traffic at restricted speeds.
The involved Go Train was carrying approximately 300 passengers, none of whom were injured in this incident.
This is the second serious accident involving a pedestrian and a GO train at a place other than a regular traffic crossing.
Any witness or person with information is asked to contact Detective Constable Chris Heffernan at 905-825-4747 ext. 5420.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 5, 2012 The Council Chamber was close to filled with dozens of young women in sports sweats, many wearing medals that clinked together as they walked. Were they there to delegate to Council? All of them? That would be unusual. They were polite and when Mayor Goldring announced why they were there they trooped to the podium and gathered while the Mayor explained.
 Burlington Bayhawks Under 14 girls soccer team, pose for the camera after being recognized by city council for an outstanding season This was the 50th anniversary of the Burlington Youth Soccer Club and the two groups; the U14 and the U16 Burlington Bayhawks soccer teams were there to be recognized for an outstanding year on the soccer field. They won at every level they played at.
 Burlington Bayhawks wearing their “bling” and waiting to be called to the podium. During the presentation, the members of each team were given a pin with the city crest on it – they were photographed and told they didn’t have to stay for the rest of the Council meeting – they left immediately – these kids know a dull show when they see one.
The club has done very well with its program. Five of the women who played on Canada’s Olympic Soccer team came out of the Burlington program; probably more from Burlington than any other club in Canada. A record for which they have every right to be very proud.
The Burlington Bayhawks Girls Under 16 came out on top in the Ontario Youth Soccer West Division; the Ontario Youth Soccer level; the Ontario Cup, the National Cup and added to that five first places in competitions that took place in the United States.
The team record for the season was 45 wins; 3 ties and 1 loss.
 Burlington Bayhawks – girls under 16 soccer team took every level they played at during the season. The Burlington Bayhawks Under 14 Girls did just as well. They triumphed at the National Cup level, the Ontario Youth level and the Ontario Cup level.
Their season record was 27 wins, 4 ties and five losses with 115 goals earned and 31 against. These 14 year olds will move on to the U16 level where they will be a very competitive team.
With five, 2012 soccer Olympians coming out of the Burlington club – Canadians are likely to see our teams in the finals much more often. We may just begin to see a winning streak we have not seen for some time.
Mayor Goldring suggested that the teams’ success was a direct result of the “pep” talk he and Councillor Sharman gave the two teams before they left to compete in Vaughan and Prince Edward Island. Watching those girls stride to the podium to be congratulated, left little doubt in the minds of all that they didn’t need much in the way of “pep” talks to win. These girls were champions!
By Mark Twain
Twain wrote The War Prayer during the US war on the Philippines. It was submitted for publication, but on March 22, 1905, Harper’s Bazaar rejected it as “not quite suited to a woman’s magazine.” Eight days later, Twain wrote to his friend Dan Beard, to whom he had read the story, “I don’t think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth.” Because he had an exclusive contract with Harper & Brothers, Mark Twain could not publish “The War Prayer” elsewhere and it remained unpublished until 1923.
 Remembered, respected It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and county and invoked the God of Battles, beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpouring of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half-dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety’s sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.
Sunday morning came – next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams – visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! – then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag or failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation – God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest, Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword! Then came the “long” prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to flag and county imperishable honor and glory –
 “O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their un-offending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander un-friended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it – for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. AMEN.
After a pause: “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits.” It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 7, 2012 The event won’t take place until March of next year but that wasn’t enough to stop Diane Leblovic, who delegated to a City Council meeting letting them know she had a real problem with the use of the word “limited” in a letter that had been sent by the sponsor of the Chilli Half Marathon and Frosty 5K Half Marathon Chilli Run.
She also had a problem with the public consultation process as well. Leblovic explained that she and her “ neighbours were restricted from leaving their homes for over three hours during the event.” She went on to say that last year the restriction lasted four hours.
 Leblovic residence – family is locked into their home for as much as four hours during the Chilli Half Marathon. Leblovic lives on Birett Drive, a street that exits onto Lakeshore Road where, according to Leblovic, access during the races is far too limited for her liking and that of her neighbours.
Mrs. Leblovic, a former school board trustee and one of the organizers behind the 35 year recognition event for former Mayor Cam Jackson to take place November 18th at the Performing Arts Centre, took issue with the public consultation process and the change in the route in 2010.
 The only way out of their community is onto the Lakeshore which is apparently blocked for as long as four hours during the Chilli Marathon race each March. Diane Leblovic is looking for some relief. There was a point when the route went out along New Street to Burloak and then back along Lakeshore (we may have the direction wrong) and was changed to using two lanes of Lakeshore because there were fewer problems with people wanting to get to church. There were 39 complaints on the New Street/Lakeshore route and just 12 when the event went to just Lakeshore Road.
Councillor Jack Dennison, who lives on Lakeshore Road said that while he lives on Lakeshore he was quite prepared to share that road with people who are out there doing something that will benefit the community.
Leblovic focused on two points: The use of the word ‘limited’ access to Lakeshore by those who live north of Lakeshore and the lack of a fair public input process.
Councillor Dennison thinks the problem for people north of Lakeshore has been resolved. “All they have to do is drive onto Lakeshore, turn right and make another right up the first street they come to and they are clear.”
Also, he added, the race organizers have said they “will pick people up and get them to where they want to go”; they are prepared to do whatever it takes to keep people happy.
Leblovic wants her public input process and Council has gone along with her. A Staff Direction was agreed upon that will gather public opinion but it won’t have any impact on the flow of traffic next March. That chilli is going to give Diane Leblovic more heart burn.
“In my view” said Mrs. Leblovic “it is inappropriate to have one area of the city bear the inconvenience resulting from this event every year and that consideration should be given to altering the race route … to alleviate this inconvenience.”
 The 4000 people who run the half marathon seem to have a great time – but they land lock people who want to access Lakeshore Road for as much as four hours. Mrs. Leblovic noted that Pete Peebles, the organizer of the event “has finally put forward a proposal which provides for public consultation … and a consideration of route changes…” While the suggestions were seen as a good start Leblovic had a “number of concerns with the proposal including, in particular, the manner of, and the short time for, public consultation.” The proposed exclusion of those living on the north side of Lakeshore Road and the absence of other possible strategies such as earlier start times
 The runners that make it to this point in the Chilli Half Marathon may not realize they are keeping people in their homes with no access to Lakeshore Road. The promoter of the event had said he would hold a public meeting, more than once, but there hasn’t been a public meeting yet. The city decided to step in and ensure that a public meeting takes place and staff was directed to “hold a public meeting to gather public input on the routes and timing and other matters related to the Chilly Half Marathon and include the results of that feedback in the festival and events recommendations for 2014”.
Diane Leblovic lives on a lakefront property with a single access to Lakeshore Road. The runners would limit that family’s ability to get instant access to Lakeshore Road.
Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison, who lives on Lakeshore Road, pointed out that more than 4000 people take part in the event and that the city and its citizens benefit from the event. Leblovic apparently doesn’t share that view.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 7, 2012 The media release said: Mayor Goldring is pleased to announce that he will be hosting Inspire Burlington Leadership Workshop – Defining Our Dream on November 22, 23 and 24th.
“After speaking with and listening to thousands of residents over the last two years I believe we have a need and an opportunity to better define what we want Burlington to be; how we want others to see us; and how we want to see ourselves”, said Mayor Goldring. “Basically, what is our dream?”, he asked.
 Mayor Goldring and his Council plus many staff members spent eleven half days thinking through a Strategic Plan that didn’t quite come up with a defining goal. Goldring on the left with the top Human Resources guru at city hall, Roy Male and two of the KPMG staffers who facilitated the event. The Mayor also said: “ We all know that Burlington is a great place to live, work and play. We have had 25 years of growth and prosperity which has led Burlington to be recognized as one of the very best places to live in Canada. In order to sustain our prosperity and quality of life and to meet the needs of our ever changing community we also recognize that we must challenge the status quo and continually challenge ourselves.”
“We have an excellent foundation to build our dream on. We have an engaged community, a strong local government, a strategic plan, a great location and environment with the lake and escarpment, and a diverse local business community. Defining our dream will bring this all together.”
The Mayor has engaged Dr. Lance Secretan to facilitate the development of a defining dream for Burlington. “It is my hope” said the Mayor, “that this dream will provide the community with an ambition and determination that brings us together and helps us build a future for which our children will be proud.”
 Mayor Goldring: Taking part in a Community Engagement Charter meeting. He needed that coffee at this one.  Mayor Goldring is a thoughtful, considerate, caring person. Are “political smarts” really part of his make up? “This Leadership Workshop is a starting point. I would like to sincerely thank the participants that have agreed to commit selflessly their time and effort to this project. I am excited to be developing this defining dream with community leaders and am equally excited to have the opportunity to share the dream with the community afterwards.”
The media release leaves a lot of unanswered questions:
Who chose the people who are going to participate in this workshop? Did the Mayor make the decisions? How balanced is this group of people? Marketing people do this sort of thing all the time; they choose a group of people they know will give them the answers they want and then claim they have “research” that tells them everyone likes their product.
The city deserves more in the way of transparency on this one.
The city has a Strategic Plan. It used eleven half days of meetings with an excellent facilitator but at that time was unable to come up with a clear goal – what they all referred to as that “BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal”. Those Strategic Planning meetings included all the council members and most of the leading thinkers and operators on staff. It was during the creation of the Strategic Plan that the Mayor and his Council realized how out of step the city manager at the time was with the thinking being done by Council. That city manager was gone less than six months later.
Creating a vision is a delicate business. Keeping a balance between the various interests in a community is what politics is all about. No harm in going out to the community – just let the community know who it is doing the “dreaming”. One can be certain that this isn’t a meeting of a group of developers – we don’t have that kind of Mayor. But what kind of a Mayor do we have? He doesn’t seem prepared to tell the people he will ask to put him back in office in less than 20 months who he has asked to dream with him.
Not very transparent.
How many people are participating?
Is there an agenda; a format the participants will follow?
Why hold the event now?
Is the pier part of the dream or is it an expenditure that will have to be explained during the next municipal election?
 Summer reading – winter dream? We know why the Mayor chose Lance Secretan to facilitate this dream session. While on vacation last year the Mayor took along a copy of Secretan’s book, The Spark, the Flame, and the Torch and was “inspired”; a word the Mayor is partial to – using it for the excellent series of speakers he has sponsored since becoming Mayor. His next Inspire speaker is Senator Art Eggleton, who will speak on The Great Divergence: Income Inequality in Canada”
Senator Eggleton has served the people of Canada and the city of Toronto in public office for over 37 years, including 11 years as Mayor of Toronto and 11 years in the House of Commons as the member for York Centre.
In 2005, Eggleton was appointed to the Senate of Canada. He currently serves as Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology and is a member of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communication.
He is Co-Chair of the Liberal Social and Economic Policy Caucus and Co-Chair of the All-Party Anti-Poverty Caucus.
In his blog the Mayor gave us a look at some of his thinking. On November 6th he said: ” Thirty years ago Hamilton provided many of the jobs for Burlington residents. The steel plants were booming. The auto sector in South Western Ontario provided many well paid secure jobs which supported our community. Manufacturing was king as Ontario led the Canadian economic boom.
During the late 70’s and 80’s many Canadians moved from Quebec to the Toronto area bringing jobs, and prosperity came with them. Our economy supported the tremendous quality of life that developed and has been sustained for the last 30 years.
Our situation has changed. After steady growth, Burlington is now slowest growing community in the GTA. We are only expected to grow by another 19,000 residents in the next 20 years; this pales in comparison to the growth we have experienced in the past.
 The Escarpment is certainly part of the dream. Is Burlington going to be able to keep the dream? Can we afford to keep this dream? The community made a decision that it was important to protect the rural and environmentally sensitive lands in Burlington. This rural area represents about 50% of Burlington. This decision has an impact on other areas of the city.
 Is this a big part of the dream the Mayor is looking for? How big a part of the city is the waterfront? Is it more than just something to look at? We are competing to attract businesses and residents not only with other Ontario municipalities, but also other cities in Canada and even other international cities. What makes us unique and distinguishes us from others that will make Burlington the location of choice?
These factors are leading to community discussion about what we don’t want. I want to generate a discussion about what we do want.
After speaking with and listening to thousands of residents over the last two years I believe we have a need and an opportunity to better define what we want Burlington to be; how we want others to see us; and how we want to see ourselves. What is our dream?
The dream will start an important conversation with the entire community that will result in a prosperous future for our City. I believe that by creating a defining dream we will have a rallying point, a touchstone, which will bring us together and allow us to make the decisions we have to make with purpose.
After the workshop I will be sharing the results with the community. We will be able to have a conversation that is inspiring and about what we want to be as a collective community.”
We can’t wait – let’s hope that the results aren’t lumps of coal in our Christmas stockings.
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