 September 12, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. The residents in the Beachway Park have won their battle to keep their homes. At the Community Services Committee of Council, during a mammoth session with more than 20 delegations, Council was given information that some of them just did not have.
Information that Council members should have dug out more than a year ago was brought to the surface by some of the most impressive delegations this reporter has heard in the last three years.
City hall staff were prepared for an overflow crowd and had set up speakers in an adjoining room. While the Council chamber was packed – there was room for everyone.
 Community meetings, lobbying, challenging city hall positions eventually paid off. Here residents talk about the Beachway community as they wanted to see it continue.
On a very sad note, the woman in the orange and green sweater, Charlotte O’Hara Griffin, a long time city staffer who was involved in the Beachway project, died earlier in the week. She would have smiled at the results. A couple of the delegations were at the podium for extended periods of time while complex matters of property titles, willing buyers and willing sellers and zoning were given a thorough going over.
What was clear is that a determined, focused and persistent electorate can bring about changes in early drafts of city policy.
 Laura Durant, on the right, and her husband Glenn Gillespie, center, talking to a meeting facilitator who was prepared to evict them from a meeting. These two were a consistent and persistent part of the community effort to see a change in the minds of city council. It was a full evening and there is a lot to tell. Four points stick out: (1) the draft of a motion Councillor Dennison clearly plans to present, details below; (2) the excellent comments lawyer Katherine Henshell made when she demolished the myth of a willing seller and a willing buyer situation that council members and staff at both city hall have bandied about; (3) the comment Real Estate agent Betty McMahon made when she said the value of property in the Beachway will jump 50% when the zoning mess is cleared up – and finally, this is true: (4) Councillor Craven, whose behaviour was less than sterling was seen being escorted to his car by the security staff. Who was he afraid of?
In the dying minutes of a four and a half hour meeting Dennison read the following: Recognize the continued existence of the residential community as adding value to the park experience and Update the Official Plan and zoning to reflect low-density residential.
Authorize the Director of Parks and recreation to work with the Halton Region and Conservation staff to complete a concept plan, environmental management plan, and detailed design for the Beachway Park component of the Burlington Beach Regional Waterfront Park that focuses on land already in public hands; build a plan based on existing publicly owned lands, with the exception of former residential sites in between private homes on either side of Lakeshore Road. Offer these sites for sale.
Authorize the Director of Parks and Recreation to send correspondence to Halton Region requesting that Halton`s Regional Council support the city of Burlington`s “Vision” for Beachway Park and authorize regional staff to work with the City of Burlington and Conservation Halton on an implementation plan focusing on lands already in public hands.
Dennison told the audience that he had three other Council members who would support his motion when it is formally presented. Councillor Meed Ward and Councillor Taylor will be onside. It was not immediately evident that the Mayor was one of the three but expect him to jump on this wagon very quickly.
On this issue a plan, that was never really a policy but was always thought to be what the city would eventually do, was beaten back. The will of Council responded to the wishes of the people – backed up by some solid data and even sounder common sense.
The Council Committee will resume their deliberations Thursday afternoon at 1:00 pm. They could lose the will that was evident last night and have a change of heart – which would set this city up for a battle royale at city council September 23rd.
It was a good night for the city of Burlington. We will report in more detail on this story once council completes its committee session. We understand Councillor Craven got home safely.
 September 11, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. The cultural scene in Burlington gets busy right after Labour Day – everyone wants you to come to their event.
There is a poetry slam that would love you to show up and there is a dance production that is on for two nights at the Toddering Biped Theatre in Burlington.
We will do our best to publish a small piece on as many as we can. What we have found, ever since the creation of the Arts and Cultural Collective of Burlington, is that there are dozens of artists doing very interesting work. Is it all great? That’s something you will have to decide. Is it worth going to? A sense of adventure is helpful when you embark on something you’ve not done before. Take a chance, call up one of your friends and move out of your comfort zone and see what happens.
Each November the Art in Action group holds a Studio Tour and gather’s between three to five artists in one home with eight to ten homes in the tour. That event is a chance to make a day of it and get a cultural dunking. The Studio Tour is something you have to do at least once.
 It runs for just four hours – tickets available on-line. An event taking place September 19th intrigued us. Dream State is being hosted by No Vacancy; the arts initiative Selina Jane Eckersall created to bring more focus to art and culture in Burlington. Dream State is a multi-artist installation being held at The Waterfront Hotel and featuring the work of ten artists from a variety of disciplines.
The theme of the event is “dreams and dreaming”. All ten artists are somewhat local, all hail from Oakville, Hamilton and Burlington with two taking the GO train from Toronto.
The ten artists are free to interpret the theme in whatever way they wish and each have their own room to create a unique installation.
Selina Jane Eckersall sits on the Board of Directors for The Halton Women’s Centre and wanted to help them raise awareness and do some fundraising – so proceeds from the Dream State silent auction will be divided between the artists who place their work for auction and the Women’s Centre. Additionally, any ticket sale proceeds (after all of the hard venue and catering costs are paid) will be divided equally between the artists and The Women’s Centre.
 Jim Riley does some of the most amazing video work. “Why am I doing this?” asks Eckersall: “Because our city needs more of a thriving art scene with more players. The more the merrier – the grander our culture. Our neighbours (both to the East and West) have much more in the way of funding, events, opportunities, and culture when it comes to art. I really want to see that happen here in Burlington, and I believe it can. I am a fan of all things Burlington and all things community too, so I am always looking for ways to both be of service and to promote the wonderful people, businesses, causes, and places that we have here in our city.”
The event is on September 19th, 2013. It runs from 6pm to 10 pm. The rooms are on the lower level of the Waterfront Hotel.
This kind of event would have been great in the now demolished Riviera Motel. Eckersall wanted to hold the event at the Ascot Motel but there was a complication with a long-term tenant. Going from motel room to motel room would have been a hoot. But the Waterfront Hotel it is – where each artist will have a room to interpret their dream.
There are some exceptionally good artists taking part in this event. You will remember many of these artists and tell your friends about what you saw for some time.
Here’s the run down.
 Xiaojing Yan Xiaojing Yan creates mixed media installations, which express personal ideas of identity, history and communication from the perspective of an immigrant working between cultures. Yan employs traditional Chinese materials and techniques and reinvents them within a Western aesthetic and presentation. In several of her series, Yan uses the reeds and fibre papers of Chinese lantern making to mold the fragile cocoons of an immigrant life – where staying safe and protected within an unfamiliar, often intimidating cultural environment is essential to emerging and adapting with a reincarnated identity.
 Yan mixes western aestheticism and Chinese materials – these are not just Chinese lanterns. Xiaojing Yan is an artist who has migrated from China to North America, both her identity and work pass through the complex filters of different countries, languages, and cultural expectations. Making art is a transmigration of Xiaojing’s ideas, and physical presence. Xiaojing has education from both the eastern and western worlds, with a B.F.A in decorative art, Nanjing Art Institute, Jiangsu, China, as well as a M.F.A in sculpture from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
 Faisal Anwar Faisal Anwar is a digital media artist/ interactive producer / UI/UX expert (Toronto/ Pakistan). He is founder of an interactive art studio, DigitalDip and Co-founder Me A Monster Inc. His project series, Oddspaces, brings together art, culture and technology in an odd configuration to explore our perceptions towards architectural space, private or public spaces and social interactivity in modern urban cultures. He has shown at the Winter Olympics 2010, and performed nationally and internationally.
 The “art” of war. A closer inspection of Anwar’s work and the word horror follows. His project Odd spaces was part of Vancouver Olympics 2010 Code live exhibition. In October 2011 Oddspaces was also shown at Nuit-Blache Toronto and created a real-time installation between Karachi, New York and Toronto. Odd spaces was presented at the exhibition ‘Six Degrees of Separation: Chaos, Congruence & Collaboration’ 2008, curated by KHOJ, International Artists’ Association in Delhi, India and was presented in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh in September 2008.
 Daniel Anaka Daniel Anaka was born in 1978 in Brampton Ontario and currently resides in Toronto, Ontario. Daniel Anaka’s career as an artist has been as controversial as it has been brilliant. He works in the age of nonrepresentational art, much of his work having the look and feel of a Rembrandt, style of a Klimpt, narrative of a Rockwell, and sensuality of fashion photography. Other than attending artist material workshops, he is largely self-taught by studying the works of the masters, examining contemporary works, and working alongside other artists. Daniel now consults artists in materials and process, conservation, and frequently instructs artist workshops in representational and abstract acrylic and oil painting.
 Anaka classic work and classic form – to be appreciated. Anaka is principally known for his monumental, sensual, and emotionally raw depictions of women in his figurative and portrait work.
 Jim Riley Jim Riley is a Burlington, ON, based artist and independent curator. His art practice is a blend of documentary evidence, personal ideology, social commentary and artistic explorations. Riley’s present aesthetic investigations explore time and perceptual memory.
 Riley captures a thought and then holds you to that thought – riveting. His recent art practice has involved public and gallery video installations. He has a BA from Brock University. Currently, he is on the Media Arts Team of the Burlington Art Centre and is the Chair of Exhibitions and Programming Committee at Centre3 for Print and Media Arts (Hamilton). He has exhibited his art for more than twenty-five years in Canada and the US.
 Grace Loney Grace Loney is an active visual artist living in Southern Ontario. Grace’s work is enjoyed in private collections throughout North America, Britain and Japan. Her paintings are intuitive and alive with colour and rhythm. She uses acrylic, oil pastel, water-colour, and painterly mixed media to create depth in abstract expression.
 A maze? Art to be experienced? Loney seem to push the limits. “As an artist, I have journeyed down many paths to explore different ways of creating and making. My goal is to contribute to human experience by making art for art’s sake and currently I paint compositions. I also love to play with clay. Along the way, I’ve learned to work with new and found wood, fibre glass, cement, soil, and garden growth. I’ve had to learn to represent myself digitally and make acquaintance with cyberspace.”
 Sanjay B Patel Sanjay B Patel is a Canadian of Indian descent, residing in between Hamilton and Toronto. This talented artist is carving a path with his one-of-a-kind commissioned work; a unique experience that offers the client a custom abstract representation of their energy, tastes and personality, while taking into consideration the current colour, lighting, and space in the room.
 Patel bursts with colour – what will he do with a single room. Sanjay Patel is a refreshing artist who perfectly balances himself between classic, fine art fundamentals and modern couture design.
 Reg Moore Reg Moore is a projection and light artist holding unique events under the name Realtime Activities. Realtime turns the clock back and forth with shout-outs to eclectic moments and personalities in motion picture, photography, animation, music and popular culture.
 When Reg Moore adds sound to these visuals – “cool” and “awesome” are the only reasonable responses. Using an existing site and manipulating it, Realtime creates installations that are a visual feast for the average individual and a delight to the more seasoned viewer who recognizes Realtime’s incorporation of such ground-breaking works as “Moth Light”, “Rhythmus 21”, “Dog Star Man”, and “Matrix III”, to name a few. A Realtime installation is both a fabulous live event and a compelling expression of art.
 Kyle Tonkens Kyle Tonkens is a Canadian artist who lives and works in Oakville, Ontario. In addition to completing a Bachelor degree in Sociology at the University of Western Ontario, Kyle has studied Visual Arts and Art History at both the Ontario College of Art and Design and the University of Toronto [Mississauga].
 Tonkens uses colour to create abstract masterpieces. Kyle’s current project 100 Billion Sons&Daughters is an ongoing series of paintings created to celebrate each and every person who has ever lived, and their inherent beauty. Kyle uses colour choices provided by the ‘subject’ of each painting to create abstract masterpieces named in their honour.
 Keith Busher Keith Busher of Precious Mutations is an emerging artist from the Hamilton area who became famous in 2012 for his zombified nutcrackers and mutated thrift store finds. What began as a lesson to his two daughters about what could be accomplished when you are not sitting in front of the TV has turned into the work that he has become best known for.
 Busher’s zombified nutcrackers and mutated thrift store finds. Keith began purchasing thrift store/garage sale ceramic figurines and ‘mutating’ them into humorous, sinister and sometimes downright macabre creatures. His zombified nutcrackers were shipped all over the world to countries like Japan, Australia and the Netherlands. Keith’s work was recently featured at an installation at MANTA Contemporary during the Hamilton Art Crawl. The exhibit was entitled Re-Visions and featured his work alongside the work of award-winning artist David Irvine.
 Lana Kamarić Lana Kamarić is a contemporary surrealist artist. Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, she began painting at a very young age. In 1994 Lana moved to Canada with her family, and made a home in Burlington, ON. She graduated York University with a degree in Art History in 2011, and currently works at the Burlington Art Centre.
 Kamarić’s windows into another world, an escape from the anxieties of reality. Drawing inspiration from various mythologies, folklore and fairy tales, her work often incorporates classical narratives to represent themes of time and identity. The goal of her paintings is to create windows into another world, an escape from the anxieties of reality.
The art we have shown here is not what you will see at the Dream State event. It is, we hope, representative of what these artists have done. We certainly had our favourites.
This will probably rank as the best the city is going to see this year – make the time to see it.
Cost of a ticket is $20 plus a small fee. Go on-line.
 September 11, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON The first we heard of the problem was when city manager Jeff Fielding casually mentioned at a city council committee meeting a couple of months ago that he suspected the city would experience net negative growth with ICI taxes.
ICI taxes is the tax revenue to city gets from the Industrial, commercial and institutional sector. The ICI sector pays more in taxes on their assessed value than residential properties pay.
In a sentence that means the city brings in more money from ICI properties than it does on housing. Just as important to the city is that they spend less in providing services to the ICI sector than they do to the residential sector.
So – from the city’s perspective building more ICI and less housing is a good thing. More money comes in and less money has to be spent.
And that for Burlington is now a problem. There hasn’t been very much in the way of ICI growth – meaning no big tax dollars coming in. Worse still – we are losing some of the big industrial companies. International Harvester will move to Hamilton shortly. There is no one with plans on the table to put up a large industrial, commercial or institutional structure. – and because the city cannot have a deficit it has to either cut costs or get more from some other source. That other source is YOU – the city will begin charging fees for everything that moves.
The one commercial structure that is well past the drawing boards is getting tied up in red tape – the issue on that one is whether there should be affordable housing in the downtown core.
The city can dip into its reserves – and Burlington has very healthy reserves, but the province requires municipalities to maintain high reserve levels so those fat piggy banks can only be looked at enviously. If the reserves fall too low – the city’s cost of borrowing rises.
That “other” source is taxes on residential housing or increases in service fees. And they can only go so far with fee increases – so guess where the ax falls? On the necks of the residential property owners and in cutbacks in services.
In the 2008/09 taxation year the commercial industrial growth was 1.9% over the previous year. In the 2009/2010 tax year the growth was 1.73% over the previous year. In 2010/11 the growth over the previous year was 1.99%. In 2011/2012 the growth over the previous year was .46% and in 2012.2013 the growth was .17%.
 The trend is not good and as Fielding told council, the city appears to be moving to a negative rate of growth – a situation that is not sustainable.
When this issue came up at a Development and Infrastructure meeting earlier this week – there was no sense of alarm – they yammered away about a private tree bylaw.
The data the treasury department has shown that people who live in Burlington have jobs – but those jobs are not in Burlington. They travel to Oakville, Hamilton, Mississauga and Toronto. And they spend their dollars while there are in the communities within which they work.
That point was a key one in the Cultural Directions report the city is using to develop a Cultural Action Plan.
In 1996 there were about 73,000 people in Burlington employed. In 2016 the number of people employed is projected to be at the 100,000 level but in 2031 the estimate flattens severely and is projected to come in at 105,00 people in Burlington with jobs.
In the five-year period between 1996 and 2001 – 8,800 net new jobs were created. In the five-year period between 2026 and 2031, only 1204 jobs are forecasted to be created.
 This sign tells the sad story of Burlington’s commercial development problems. Developers want to take land out of commercial zoning and move it into residential. They fight like crazy to get the zoning changed – all the way to the Ontario Municipal Board – where they all too frequently win. Why are we not creating new jobs in the city? Because corporations and organizations that employ people are not opening offices in Burlington. Why is no one opening up new offices in Burlington? Because no one is building new office space. Why are new offices not being built? Do we not have the land to build offices on? The city has plenty of land that is zoned commercial/industrial but the owners of those properties do not want to build office buildings – they want to build residential housing because there is much more money on residential.
 Zoned commercial, spitting distance to the QEW, minutes from downtown – owner wants to rezone and make it residential. But residential housing costs the city more to service than that city has been able to collect in taxes.
This is pretty close to one of those Catch 22 situations – where the city does not appear to be able to win.
It gets worse. The age of a building determines to some degree the assessment rating applied to the property. About 2% of the housing stock was built before 1946; 26% was built between 1946 and 1969; 22% was built between 1970 and 1979. Between 1980 and 1989 20% of the residential housing we have was built, with 12% of what we now have built between 1990 and 1999. The figure for 2000 to 2005 was also 12% with 6% built between 2006 and 2011.
That’s a lot of numbers but the net result is that the city has a lot of housing, and infrastructure that goes with it, that is going to need to be replaced at a time when the amount of money coming into the city is lessening. That’s a problem that needs a solution.
 Developers don’t want to put up this kind of building – not enough money it. Tye city loves properties like these – they create jobs, keep people in the city and they are less expensive than residential properties to service. Our problems resolving this problem with the developers as us stymied – and in the process of going broke as well. It is just as bad on the commercial/industrial side. At present about 41% of the ICI buildings were put up before 1980. Older buildings have a lower assessment value and that assessment translates into the amount of tax revenue the city receives. Put in different language – the city’s best tax payers are getting older and they aren’t paying as much as they used to in taxes – but the city needs that money now more than ever.
During a discussion with city manager Fielding and city treasurer Joan Ford, Fielding commented that the “platform is certainly not on fire” but these numbers are certainly red flags that we have to pay serious attention to.
 Upper Middle Road looking east towards Burloak – prime commercial. No takers? Interestingly, Fielding made the comment about potential negative net ICI revenue on two occasions but I don’t recall any Council member picking up on it and asking for more information. The numbers part of the city’s business is not a strong point for either Councillors Meed Ward or Lancaster but Sharman, who would have you believe he is the smartest guy sitting around the horseshoe, and Dennison who will remind you frequently that he has an MBA, have yet to mutter a word. Something is amiss.
This year we saw the Alton Village complex go up – that will add to the assessment base won’t it? Nope; schools, public property and churches do not pay property taxes – so while the project was massive – it does nothing to the city’s revenue position.
And the housing in those communities is costing us more than it is paying us.
 The city has been managing the IKEA file for some time now – they recently passed a new by-law relating to the property and repealed one that had passed previously. This photo shows the size of the problems – North Service Road as it is cannot handle the traffic IKEA will draw, nor can the Walkers Line intersection. Mammoth problems to resolve – will IKEA decide they can’t make a move work to the North Service Road and take a walk? It’s a question they have to be asking themselves. The city manager was right to issue a note of caution. He may need a megaphone to get his words into the ears of the seven people who serve as your council. Is this an election issue?
And – what is the city doing to get things actually moving on the economic development side? And – is there a chance that IKEA will decide things are just not going to work for them on the North Service Road and take a walk?
 September 11, 2013
By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. On Saturday, September 14, Halton Region will host the annual Fall Compost Give Away from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Halton Waste Management Site (HWMS) located at 5400 Regional Road 25 in Milton. During the one-day event, Halton Region encourages residents to pick up compost free of charge.
“Through participation in waste diversion programs like the yard waste collection program, Halton households continue to divert 60% of waste away from the landfill, up from 40% in 2007,” said Gary Carr, Regional Chair. “These efforts help to conserve our landfill, a savings of $15 million to taxpayers.”
 Composting – best way to get a garden to really produce – and this time it is free. Through the participation of Halton residents, approximately 31,000 tonnes of yard waste (e.g. leaves, garden trimmings and brush) was collected in 2012 and turned into rich, garden-friendly compost at HWMS. The resulting compost is now ready for residents to use in their own gardens and landscaping projects.
Bring their own bags or useable containers (e.g. garbage bags, yard waste bags, trailer) and shovel. A maximum of seven bags (or equivalent) of compost may be collected during the event.
You are responsible for shoveling and bagging their compost.
You are encouraged to bring a cash donation or non-perishable food items.
In 2012, 4,600 residents came to compost give away events at HWMS and picked up approximately 2,000 tonnes of compost. Residents also donated 6,000 kilograms of food and $10,650 for local food banks.
 September 10, 2013
By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. Safe Start – getting the kids back to school safely was started in 2006 and focuses on education, awareness and enforcement. Tuesday morning was enforcement – and half a dozen police officer gathered on the street with radar guns in hand waiting for some poor luckless driver to come around the curve.
 The Chief of police aims – but the driver in his sights was driving below the speed limit. Better luck next time Chief! Stephen Tanner, Regional Chief of police was on hand as part of the All Hands on Deck part of a program to change established driver behaviour. Officers focus their efforts on speeding and aggressive drivers, proper use of seatbelts and laws relating to the use of hand-held communication devices.
Early in the campaign police stopped a vehicle travelling on Louis St. Laurent Avenue in the area by Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School in Milton. The driver was captured on radar travelling at 103 km/hr. in a posted 50 km/hr. zone. The vehicle was impounded and driver’s license suspended for a period of 7 days. The driver was charged with speeding and racing under the Highway Traffic Act.
Nothing like this happened in Alton Tuesday morning – but it is behaviour like this the police struggle to change. The speeding tickets help as does the notice from your insurance company that the rates are going up until you get all your points back.
 September 10th, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. BurlingtonGreen got themselves selected as one of five organizations that would be part of the Jamieson Vitamins Call for the Wild contest that had a fund of $100,000 that would be distributed to the five contestants based on the number of people they could get to vote for them on a Facebook page Jamieson had set up.
 BurlingtonGreen Executive Director Amy Schnurr with the bike Mountain Equipment Coop donated to the drive to get votes to win as much of the Jamieson Vitamins Call for the Wild Contest. There was $100,000 to be divided between five organizations. The objective was to get people – anyone and everyone – to go to the web site and vote. The organization that pushed the most people to vote for them – would walk away with most of the prize money.
 This is where BurlingtonGreen stood early September 10th. Despite adding a $1000 bike as an additional draw, courtesy of Mountain Equipment Coop, it looks at this point as if BurlingtonGreen is going to place third and see about $12,000 – which in itself is not bad.
I think the city felt BurlingtonGreen would soar to the top of the list and stay there because of its membership base. Heck this is the city that shuts down roads so the Jefferson Salamander can cross during its breeding season.
This is the city that spent $2 million in legal fees to prevent the expansion of the Nelson Aggregate quarry on Colling Road. We were a natural to come out on top of a contest that would put funds into an organization that everyone believes is a great group of people – doing the right thing.
Right?
The numbers shown so far don’t reflect that perception.
BurlingtonGreen is up against some pretty impressive groups. The Vancouver Aquarium in British Columbia, the Calgary Wild Life Rehab organization, the McGill University Bird Observatory and the Nova Scotia Hope For Wildlife
BurlingtonGreen, on its website urge their members to get out their vote saying “we are currently in third place in Jamieson’s Call for the Wild! contest. However, we are barely holding onto this position and we know we need a big surge of votes every day this week if we are going to hang onto this spot .
The number of votes in the early days was pretty low but BG Executive Director Amy Schnurr felt that once the students were back in school there would be a significant uptick – there wasn’t.
 Students are a large part of the BurlingtonGreen operation. They do the grunt work during their CleanUp-GreenUp campaign and they are on site for many city festivals cleaning up. Has this students cohort translated into clout for Burlington Green – both at city hall and within the community? Burlington Green has a strong presence in the schools of this city – and one would have hoped those students would take the message home and get the Moms and Dads and the extended family at the keyboard.
The Burlington Lions Optimists Minor Hockey Association (BLOMHA) got into one of these contests and they pulled in $20,000 for their organization on the Kraft Game Goes on contest. BLOMHA had kids voting while in vans on the way to hockey games. They passed out flyers and turned over every stone they could find to get the vote out.
Is hockey a bigger draw than the environment? For the sake of the planet we hope not.
 This was the contest – it looks like BurlingtonGreen can hold third. Contest begins 12:01 a.m. Monday August 19th, 2013 and closes 11:59 p.m. September 15, 2013.
Voting is a two part process that is clearly explained on the BurlingtonGreen website.
You can vote once every day – more than once if you use different email addresses when you register your vote.
Jamieson Vitamins is a vitamin and natural health product company that has been in business since 1922.
 September 10, 2013
By Pepper Parr
It is going to be very tough to get a private tree by law in this city. The dean of Council, John Taylor, summed it up when he said “the will is just not there”, the public just doesn’t want this” and try as they might BurlingtonGreen and Ward 2 Councillor Meed Ward, who pushed as hard as one can push, could not get this through the Development and Infrastructure Committee that met Monday evening.
Staff took Council through a review of the Urban Forest Management Plan and said basically, that the way to maintain the urban tree canopy we have is to just plant more trees – but didn’t say that it takes decades for the trees we plant, to get to the point where they are a significant part of the urban cover, that we have now in some parts of the city.
In its report the Roads and Parks Maintenance department took the position that “…many view a private tree bylaw as a means to protect trees and the urban canopy. It is one potential component of an effective urban forest management strategy. Recognizing the significant resources required to administer and enforce a private tree bylaw it is recommended that resources are better focused on a continued implementation of the recommendations of the Urban Forest Management Plan.”
In a phrase – a private tree bylaw wasn’t worth the paper and the work it would take to get it up and running.
Staff did support an Annual Symposium that would educate the public and would present a business case for this expense when they get into the budget cycle. Lip service.
Meed Ward and Mayor Goldring picked up on the loss at the July meetings where Council basically said this is not something we want to do. At that time Meed Ward and the Mayor determined to press on and get something on the table.
But Taylor had it right: Council, reflecting the public frame of mind, was not going to require people to get permission to cut down a tree in Burlington.
As a last-ditch effort Meed Ward put forward a proposal that would require nothing more of a property owner than filling in a form so that city hall could at last gather data on how many trees are being cut and where the cutting is taking place.
 Councillor Paul Sharman, centre in the blue shirt, has been a staunch and consistent advocate for having verifiable data in hand before making any decisions. Given an opportunity to gather that data at very little cost to the city, the Councillor folded and let his ideology get in the way of common sense. Even Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman, often referred to as Mr. Data (he just will not make a decision without adequate data) would go along with this one.
The best those who wanted to see something proactive done to protect the urban forest in Burlington could get was a Symposium at which some public education could take place.
 BurlingtonGreen president Ken Woodruff found himself admitting that he had not read one of the reports that was being discussed by a city council committee. A no, no – gotta do the homework. There were two delegations: BurlingtonGreen, who found themselves admitting that they had not read one of the reports they were delegating on and Albert Facenda, a local developer, who has yet to find a situation that cannot be stretched into a pretty wild exaggeration. Last night he brought up a problem in Oakville that involved a city owned tree and the difficulty he had in getting it removed for his client. Albert had the cost to his client exceeding $10,000. He was aided in his efforts by Councillor Sharman who kept asking leading questions helping Facenda make a point about an issue in Oakville when the committee was talking about Burlington’s trees. Go figure.
Councillor Meed Ward did introduce the idea of creating Tree Protection Areas – the idea had merit but got beaten back when too many Councillors complained about the paper work that would be involved.
There was the suggestion that residents could use the Heritage Protection process we have and take the tack that trees and vegetation are part of a landscape and that landscape is part of Heritage. City Planning Director Bruce Krushelnicki did say that might be possible but that he’d never seen it done anywhere. He certainly didn’t champion that idea.
Councillor Taylor did like it and one can expect him to follow-up on that one.
The long and the short if it is that Burlington is not going to see any kind of a bylaw that calls for the public to get permission to cut down a tree on their property. If a person owns a piece of property that has a tree and the owner doesn’t like it – they can cut it down – even if the reason is that they don’t want to have to rake the leaves.
My Mom had a phrase for doing things like this. “So you’re going to cut off your nose to spite your face are you?” It looks like that’s what Burlington is going to do. Both the Mayor and Councillor Meed Ward, not natural allies, are pulling together on this one, but the wagon they are pulling isn’t going to budge. There is more politics and ideology behind the reluctance of the other councillors to doing anything. Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven, who chaired the meeting, offered no opinion or comment whatsoever. He knows where his bread is buttered.
 This is what most people in Burlington want; a gorgeous urban tree canopy that shades our streets, improves property values and gets some of the pollutants out of the air. But at the same time people want to be able to cut down a tree on their property if they don’t like them. We can’t have it both ways – can we? We frequently use a photograph of Belvenia Street with that gorgeous canopy of trees that are both private and public that line the street. This is what Burlington has and what most people want to keep. Many think that the direction we take now may get us to the point where we don’t maintain this kind of urban canopy.
A symposium might not be enough.
There may be one last effort on the part of BurlingtonGreen to get more information in front of Council at its September 23rd meeting. It won’t make a difference. The city is getting prepared to go down the municipal election road and anything that impedes on the perceived rights of the property owners doesn’t get the vote returning them to office these Council members need. Rather than argue this issue on the door steps next summer this council is going to tuck it under the rug hoping it will stay there.
Council voted to receive and file the report.
Perhaps in 2015 it can be revived.
 September 8, 2013
By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. A 42-year-old female lost her balance near a lookout in an area on top of the escarpment and was pronounced dead at the scene early this afternoon.
The victim’s family has asked that the identity not be released.
At approximately 1:00 p.m. on September 8th, 2013, Halton Police received a 9-1-1 call about a hiker that had fallen at the Mount Nemo Conservation Area. Officers responded, along with members of the Burlington Fire Department and Halton EMS.
The victim was located at the bottom of a cliff in very rugged terrain. Police officers performed CPR on the woman for a significant amount of time, until relieved by EMS personnel. The victim was eventually pronounced dead at the scene.
The Burlington Fire Department assisted with the recovery of the victim from the base of the cliff.
The investigation has revealed that the 42-year-old female victim lost her balance near a lookout in an area on top of the escarpment.
A post-mortem examination will be conducted on September 9th 2013 at the Hamilton General Hospital.
 September 8, 2013
By Milla Pickfield
BURLINGTON, ON. I’m so jealous. I fell asleep in the middle of my math exam in June of 2012. Why did I fall asleep? No air conditioning. Well at Dr. Frank J. Hayden High School they won’t have that problem. They have air-conditioning and I’ve heard it’s absolutely gorgeous. The whole school is new; and new is spectacular! This huge high school located in the Alton Village opened last week and now houses grades nine and ten students from the surrounding area.
Alton is one of the last undeveloped residential lands in Burlington and it could be assumed that they recognized the potential growth of the community would exceed the capacity of existing high schools.
 Hayden High, Burlington’s newest high school built as part of a complex that includes a Recreational Centre and a public library with a skate park right across the street. If I had to sum up the new school in one word I would use impressive. Built as one part of the community center -. Hayden High School is huge. The complex has eight competition-sized gyms and a library, and a skate park just outside the school!
Just imagine – you’re in grade ten and you’ve been moved to a brand new high school. Your first day of school – wake up, get dressed, brush your teeth – normal routine in the morning. But this is anything but a normal morning. Today, you get to sleep in a little later than the year before because your new school opens a little later. This morning you don’t have to rush out the door to catch the bus because your school is just a short walk away. This year… at least half of your school friends will not be waiting in front of the school doors to greet you… they go to a different school across town.
One student commented on how he felt when he first entered the school, “Being at a brand new school is very exciting, and it’s also really interesting to be the first ones to see the school to its full extent.” But when asked about what it felt like to be going to school without some of his friends he said; “Having only half of my friends around simply doesn’t feel right. I made at least three good friends last year who had to stay at Nelson, and it feels very unusual without them around.”
 The complex from the rear with the high school cafeteria on the left overlooking the sports field. The Haber Recreational is at the end on the right. Those students who were at Nelson and going into grade 11 stayed at Nelson because Hayden was offering just grades nine and ten. Transition from old to new can be difficult but at the same time exciting. On one hand you miss those old run-down specialties that made your school feel like home… but then again, look at those perks! Everything is new. New computers, up-to-date software that actually works and aligns with the software on your home computer, air-conditioning (remember I’m jealous), internet that operates all the time, a new sound system throughout the school so it doesn’t sound like people speaking underwater … the list could go on and on.
Okay, I am going to go on and on: it’s the food. Since it’s a high school and a community center, rumour has it that a big name food provider will be opening its doors. Did I tell you I’m jealous? Oh, right, I did.
But there is a downside. While the new eye-popping catchy attractions may make you jealous (maybe that’s just me) you lose a sense of tradition. As many know, a lot of the excitement that surrounds school is knowing that you aren’t the first ones there; your parents may have gone to that school when they were younger. Sometimes just knowing that gives you a sense of comfort and familiarity. Remember in the movie The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock when Michael Oher is being questioned on why he chose the University of Mississippi? Michael simply responds with “Because it’s where my family goes to school. It’s where they’ve always gone to school.”
Michael chose the University of Mississippi because the sense of unity and pride, knowing that he will follow in his parents and their parent’s footsteps. Going to a new high school breaks that tradition. You are not walking the halls your parents walked before you: instead you are walking halls that no one has ever walked before. You are creating new tradition and perhaps walking the halls your children may walk someday.
For the next couple of months I will be exploring what it is like being at a new school – from the perspective of teachers, administration, the architects, parents, but most importantly from the students – the individuals who walk the halls every day trying to navigate education and relationships – no mean feat.
 Milla Pickfield is a Nelson High graduate who is taking a year off before going to university to do community work and gain experience with people and places that are well outside her past experience and comfort zone. She expects to follow the creation of the legend that will become Hayden High School in the Alton Village.
 September 6, 2013
By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. If the weather we are having today holds for the weekend there won’t be too many people in the waters of Lake Ontario at the foot of the city – and that’s probably a good thing because the Regional Health people tell us the water is not all that safe to swim in.
 Swimming in this city isn’t the smartest idea this weekend.
 September 6, 2013
By Ray Rivers
BURLINGTON, ON. Pierre Trudeau was the father of multiculturalism, and in 1971 Canada became the first nation in the world to adopt that policy. Coming off the October 1970 FLQ crisis, Trudeau needed something to bridge the two solitudes, which Canada had become, and which made fertile ground for the separatists to argue for independence. Inclusion of Canadians regardless of their origins, respect for their cultural heritage and the richness that comes with diverse cultural backgrounds helped change the focus of minority rights in Canada and Quebec.
Multiculturalism is fundamentally a liberal philosophy – the right of individuals to freely express themselves and pursue their conceptions of the good life. The Liberal Party subscribes to it, so it shouldn’t be any surprise that Justin Trudeau immediately rejected Marois’ proposed charter. But conservatives also subscribe to this philosophy, particularly the more libertarian wing, though they are conflicted by their desire for control. For that and other reasons the PM is mostly staying out of the discussion at this time – but he’ll have to find his tongue if, and when, the Charter sees the light of day.
 The night Rene Levesque lost the first referendum in Quebec. The province would try a second time to leave the country in 1995. The NDP are socialists and have little time for religion or religious symbols, although Mulcair appears to be siding with Trudeau – but then he used to be a Liberal. The Parti Québécois (PQ) is also a socialist party and favours secularism. They still remember the Duplessis years and how the Church helped to oppress Quebecers – je me souviens. And, of course, the PQ prefer any policy which would enable them to reach their end-goal of independence.
Quebec has always been opposed to multiculturalism. Half a century after it became national policy, Quebec’s minority government is proposing a ‘Charter of Quebec Values’, a racist, at least in the broadest sense of the word, attempt at shutting multiculturalism down. Much like the French Language Charter, Bill 101, introduced in 1977 by René Lévesque, the proposed charter Pauline Marois is proposing discriminates against those who are different – those who threaten the notion of a distinct society in the nation of Quebec.
It is just another brick in the wall for the separatists – a wall to further divide Quebec from the rest of Canada. Former premier Jacques Parizeau blamed the ethnic minority in Quebec for the narrow defeat of his 1995 referendum on sovereignty. Premier Marois claims her goal is to unite Quebecers, a euphemism for stripping them of their individuality and re-engineering Quebec to deal with Parizeau’s complaint.
Pierre Trudeau discovered multiculturalism in the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1963). And Ms. Marois has a commission of her own, The Bouchard-Taylor Report on Cultural and Religious Accommodation. If we thought multiculturalism was a complex topic, Taylor and Bouchard promote an even more complicated hybrid called ‘interculturalism‘.
A nation with diverse cultures is not one that rallies predictably for a common cause, such as Quebec sovereignty. So Premier Marois wants to instill Quebecers with a set of common values before the next referendum. If she needed a model, she might have looked to the Japan of the shogun era. For over 200 years the Japanese people were isolated from foreign influences; foreigners were expelled and their religions banned; trade and contact with the outside world was restricted; and a common language and social mores were forced on the people. The results of that unification process were impressive as we saw in the Second World War.
Europe, like Canada, once embraced multiculturalism, so much that chicken tikka masala has replaced fish and chips Chips as England’s most popular dish. However, Europeans, like some folks in Quebec, are concerned about the impending clash they envision with their traditional cultures. France is in the forefront of the fight against religious symbols, though the French government is perhaps more worried about ethnic ghettos, where streets and even suburbs have become enclaves and no-go zones.
Of course that isn’t the case for Quebec which has less ethnic diversity than B.C. or even Ontario. Toronto is now the most ethnically diverse city in the world. Quebecers are a minority within Canada and the downward spiral of discrimination is a human characteristic. So Quebec treats minority groups in the province less kindly than they themselves expect to be treated in Canada. The many freedoms Quebecers enjoy, being a part of Canada, they withhold from the cultural minorities they govern.
 The referendum in 1995 was a battle to keep Quebec in Canada but also to keep Canada a multicultural country. Finally and most importantly, Bill 101 and the emerging Charter of Values are just foundation blocks for the next sovereignty vote. Only a third of Quebecers have ever wanted to create a separate nation out of the province. But they recently elected a minority separatist government with that unwavering agenda as an end goal. Marois may appear to be pandering to a handful of intolerant voters with her charter, preying on their worst emotions. But she is just setting the stage for the bigger battle to come. She needs to deal with Parizeau’s complaint – even if that makes her look like a racist.
 Ray Rivers was born in Ontario; earned an economics degree at the University of Western Ontario and earned a Master’s degree in economics at the University of Ottawa. His 25 year stint with the federal government included time with Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Agriculture and the Post office. He completed his first historical novel The End of September in 2012. Rivers is active in his community. He has run for municipal and provincial government offices and held executive positions with Liberal Party riding associations. He developed the current policy process for the Ontario Liberal Party.
 Jeremy Hayman, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND) will be writing a regular column for the Burlington Gazette. ND is a professional medical designation earned following an undergraduate pre-medical degree and four years of post-graduate medical training at a fully accredited (CNME) naturopathic medical college. All licensed Naturopathic Doctors practicing in Ontario have been fully regulated under the Drugless Practitioners Act.Upon completion of regulatory board examinations, Naturopathic Doctors, as primary health care providers, are required to maintain their competency by meeting continuing education requirements as well upholding naturopathic medical association standings.
In comparison to a Medical Doctor designation (MD), a Naturopathic Medical designation (ND) is comprised of an equivalency in term of basic science education hours. Where an MD focuses more time on pharmaceutical medicine, NDs also study pharmacology and its drugs, however extensive training in natural medicine (such as botanical, Oriental, nutritional, physical, and homeopathic medicine as well as lifestyle, counseling and herb-drug interactions) is adjunctively studied as well. In Ontario, a naturopathic doctors is considered a primary care physicians. NDs cannot prescribe pharmaceutical medications in Ontario as MDs are able to, and are only covered under extended health plans and not OHIP billing, however they are able to employ conventional laboratory testing and diagnostic imaging as necessary.
September 5, 2013
By Dr. Jeremy Hayman
BURLINGTON, ON. September 5, 2013 When it comes to understanding the meaning of the popular phrase “too much of a good thing”, we all too often overdo our ideal balance by taking this idiom to the extreme. It’s common practice to believe that if something is healthy, then more is better. We have all experienced, in one way or another, too much of something we believe is “good” often times turns out not to be as “good” or as pleasant as we first thought.
 There are limits – or at least there should be some limits we observe. How many of you have ever basked under the healthful vitamin D filled sunrays on a warm summer day only to regretfully suffer the agonizing (and burning) result of “too much of a good thing”? Ok, so we agree, in our own unique and sometimes retrospective way, too much of a “good thing” may in fact result in the complete opposite of what we originally thought. This consideration has forced us to accommodate moderation into our daily lives, correct?
Well, not always in reality, but the true meaning and moral does allow us to consider the wise choice that everything in life should be experienced in balance. Although, when it comes to natural health and contributions to natural health, I sometimes, beg to differ. When it comes to balance and happiness within our children’s mental health, I beg to differ without question.
The mental health status of children constitutes a need for balance, however the more happiness, balance and support toward a child’s mental health, argument cannot be justified that too much of a good thing is ultimately “too much”. Mental health of children is of utmost value, and the more support that can be provided naturally, the better. So let’s talk mental health within our most impressionable population, and let’s learn what it takes to naturally keep the mental health of our children balanced.
According to Health Canada, one in five Canadians will experience some type of mental illness over the course of their lifetime, many of whom will never fully recover. The other four will have a friend, family member, or colleague who will experience a mental health issue. Children, within this statistic, are sadly, not excluded. So what is sound mental health as it pertains to our children and how can the balance toward such a “good thing” be realized? Mental health in children refers to the mental state of how one thinks about, feels, associates, and responds to the world within and around him/her. Depression, anxiety, general stress, attention deficit, autism, panic, and bi polar are mental health states but to name a few. Achieving consistent happiness, positive adaptation, awareness and balanced thought and feeling is what exemplifies mental health to its ultimate degree. When mind and body become occupied and clouded with an ongoing interference of thoughts and feeling, mental health state begins to decline. Once it acclimatizes to this state of mal-adaptation, psychiatric “disorder” may inevitably ensue. Continued psychiatric distress does nothing more than lend itself to a continued spiraling of ill-health, physically, mentally and otherwise.
 Interestingly enough, many children affected are being diagnosed simply as an illness due to genetics, “chemical imbalance”, or “predisposition” (which by the way isn’t necessarily an accurate preceding diagnosis at all). It is, however, becoming more and more striking, yet accepted, that mental health issues can also arise from psychosocial stress, unhealthy diets and food production, environmental and toxin influences, as well as from the use (and overuse) of pharmacological medications. Although the contributing source which underlies how a child feels mentally and emotionally may not always be undeniably determined, we do know that focusing on the basics will help make a child feel better.
When a mental predisposition or illness in a child is typically diagnosed, there is a tendency not to turn to creative solutions for support, but rather to quickly medicate our children. Medication does have its place, however, from a natural and primary care perspective, what should be done is to address a child’s environment, parental stress, nutrition, lifestyle, and an overall comprehensive evaluating view of a child’s life. As stated, medication does have its place (pending individual circumstances, no doubt), however by simply medicating our children as first line treatment, in all circumstances, what’s being done is simply disempowering children, inducing a biochemical imbalance in the brain (not altering or fixing one) and simply guiding children into believing that coping and self-regulating cannot be accomplished without drugs. If all aspects of a child’s life is addressed, medication may still be required, but potentially at a later date, a lower dose, for a shorter time, and may in fact create a better result, given all other supporting aspects have been addressed.
So how exactly do we treat a mental illness in a child? First and foremost, a professional medical assessment needs to be performed in order to determine where along the “spectrum” a child’s mental state rests. Many diagnostics are determined using a firm array of clinical signs and symptoms, depending of course on the mental state in question. With anxiety for example, a child’s anxiety and worry state would need to be associated with at least three of seven symptoms (sleep disturbance, easy fatigue, and being “on edge” for example). And more importantly to note, just because a child “displays possible symptoms”, doesn’t automatically conclude a mental illness is at hand, however, it also does it mean that there is not. A whole picture approach would need to be considered, as many symptoms of mental health illness can very well be generalized symptoms in and amongst themselves. Yet, a single symptom can also be a key clue that an initial mental illness may be at play. So rather than diagnosing or treating a mental illness based on a limited clinical picture, a comprehensive and total life picture of the child, as a person, needs to be considered and sought out (as addressing a person and not just an illness, is truly what medicine and its management should be all about).
 Vast approaches to mental health can be employed, however utilizing a comprehensive medical approach, encompassing natural sound and evidenced based medicine, combined with primary care practice often works best. Once a mental status has been determined, natural support in the way of botanical medicine, correction of nutritional deficiencies and a therapeutic approach to diet, stress, and environment, in conjunction with primary health care can be successfully accomplished. Realizing and diagnosing a mental illness in a child at any age is not something that sits well with anyone. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be a life sentence of unhappiness, instability or illness either. The evidence is there, that natural medicine works, and by incorporating the essentials in terms of what makes our children better, success with mental illness can be realized.
Functioning of a child to the degree which satisfies society’s expectations alone is not the element to success. Fundamentally supporting a child’s mental health issue(s) at its root IS the only management tool to propel mental and emotional stability from a life of uncertainty to that of making “too much of a good thing” worth living.
Dr Jeremy Hayman is an Ontario and Board licensed Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, practicing at Back On Track Chiropractic and Wellness Centre in Burlington Ontario where he maintains a General Family Practice with special interest in Psychiatric as well as Pediatric health. Dr Hayman can be contacted at drjeremynd@gmail.com
 September 5, 2013
By Gordana Liddell
BURLINGTON, ON. Where should I go? Good Question. Actually, while this is one of the most common travel inquiries I get, it’s a terrible question. It’s far too general and can’t possibly be answered until you answer some questions yourself:
Let’s use the W5 approach, shall we?
 The world is your stage – what part of that stage do you want to walk on? WHO are you? Are you the type of traveller that wants to go to a popular destination; one that is deemed to be the most current and hip – where you are most likely to spot celebrities who go to the most fashionable spots in order to be spotted? Or do you want to travel to a place a little more out of the ordinary? Do you enjoy telling people where you have been in order to get the reaction…”where”? Would you prefer to see a destination in its genuine form or would you prefer to hit the parties and the crowds? You get my drift, I’m sure.
Your budget is also a tremendous factor in determining exactly where you will be able to go. Are you a prince? Or are you a pauper? The amount you wish to spend will not only help to determine your destination, it can also limit how you get there as well as the time of year you can afford to go. But there is usually a solution for everyone, as long as the limits are reasonable and the minds are open. Everyone should be able to get a way – your budget will help to define your parameters.
WHAT do you want to do when you get there? Lie down and not get up for a week, apart from getting yourself a fresh drink? Do you prefer to be active and, oh I don’t know…climb a mountain, or go horseback riding, or climb a mountain on horseback? Are you interested in history and architecture? Or is an endless coastline just about all you need to study?
WHERE do you see this all taking place? Before you choose the country you need to choose the setting. Beach? City? Ranch? Countryside? A combination of the above? There are many destinations that are blessed with more than one attribute. Would you like to focus on your favourite or do you like a little variety?
 Nature travel is always interesting and can be quite adventuresome as well. Is it expensive? WHEN do you plan to go? If you have decided that you wish to go on a beach vacation in the South of India and you have time off work in the beginning of July…I would advise you that it is monsoon season and it may dampen your experience. Time of year is very often a factor with regards to destination. It is also a huge factor in the price of tickets; these go hand in hand. Understandably so, higher fares are often directly related to the more “desirable” time of year.
WHY are you traveling? Because it’s awesome! Still, there are many reasons that people plan to take that plane/train/bus/boat/car out-of-town. Business, family vacation, girls’ getaway, some much-needed r&r, a-soul-searching-just-like-in-the-movies-journey, etc. ( I would never advise that last one to pack her bags and head to Vegas. ) Determine your motives and you are another step closer to nailing down that perfect location.
If you can answer at least some of the above questions I’m sure I can help you figure out some good options as to where you should go on your next trip.
 Venice has always been a favourite – do you go direct or as part of a tour? There are truly endless possibilities for travel in the world; there is always someplace we have not been and a unique way for us to experience it. Ask a million people who have gone to New York City and you will get a million different variations of how they experienced it. This is part of what makes traveling so wonderful and why we can never be “finished”.
There are countless questions related to travel; questions about the planning, booking, the journey and the destination. Have you got one? I would love to help make your next trip a little simpler, a little more enjoyable and perhaps even a little less stressful. Please send your questions to JustAsk@bgzt.ca and I will be happy to help.
 Gordana Liddell is our resident travel writer and Art Centre guru. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto, a travel industry veteran of nearly two decades, freelance writer, and most recently book editor. She is fortunate enough to live right here in Burlington with her family.
 September 4, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. The whole idea of a farm – that place where the food is grown and the livestock cared for is something many of today’s young people just don’t get.
For today’s kids – food comes from the supermarket or more basically – it’s in the fridge isn’t it?
There was a time when Burlington was the fruit basket for the city. All of what we know today as Maple Avenue was fruit farms; there is a reason for calling part of Burlington The Orchard and Pepper Drive wasn’t after me – it was a place where peppers, red, green and yellow were grown.
Burlington Mall was farm land where fruit was grown.
All those farms were in time bought up by developers and either commercial operations or housing was constructed. The “old money” in Burlington is in the pockets of those farmers who suddenly found themselves wealthy beyond their wildest imaginings when the developers came calling.
 This is what Burlington was once all about. All the farmers put their produce on wagons and, before they all had tractors, the fruit and some vegetables were taken by horse-drawn equipment to what we today call Freeman Station but what was then the Burlington Junction station located right beside the large Freeman property.
How do you teach people what farming was all about? It was hard work and the crop you took in depended totally on the weather, which didn’t always cooperate.
The Region has saved a couple of locations that were once very prosperous farms. The Regional Museum is built into what was once a barn.
The Alexander Family Farm takes place each year just after school goes back. Takes place Sunday, September 8, 2013 – 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Halton Region Museum.
 There was a time when much of Burlington was orchards or fields of vegetables. The orchard is on the north side of Dundas, west of Guelph Line. Admission: Children – Free; Adults (18 & older) $5.00
What will they do when they get there? Create – Play – Explore – Dance
There will be a “Nose-to-Beak” Birds of Prey show. Kids will get a chance to help create the Museum’s piece of the Quilt Trail. There will be a Geocache Challenge, a Discovery Hunt, a Farm Game challenges.
 What was once a family farm is now the location of the Regional Museum and where Halton’s annual farm day takes place. A chance to do some “Pioneer Chores” – no live stock at the museum so there won’t be any mucking out of stalls and there are no chickens so hen houses don’t have to be cleaned out.
A chance to do some farm crafts and a visit to the Blacksmith Shop – and if they don’t know what that is – explain that it has nothing to do with face painting.
And finally there will be a Pond Study
Food and beverages are being provided by the Rotary Club of Milton. Food & beverage subject to additional charges/fees.
There will be dancing and singing along to tunes of: Groovin’ Toons, original & familiar kid’s tunes with a groove and Turkey Rhubarb.
If you’re one of those that gets to events like this early in the day you will see the start of the a mass-participation cycling event that is expected to bring 3,000 recreational cyclists to Halton Region for its inaugural event.
 September 4, 2013
By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. It’s those first few days of the back to school period; when the kids are not thinking about traffic – their minds are on getting to school and meeting their friends. And the drivers aren’t used to all those kids at the cross-walks and wandering across the street without looking both ways – and those buds in their ears don’t help.
Back in 2006, the Regional Police realized that some educating was necessary and created a multi-faceted campaign that focused on both awareness and enforcement as key components in changing established driver behaviour.
During those early days of school each September police officers focus their efforts on speeding and aggressive drivers, proper use of seat belts and laws relating to the use of hand-held communication devices.
Earlier today a Milton District Response Officers stopped a transport truck with a float trailer passing P.L. Robertson Public School on Scott Boulevard. The driver was not wearing a seat belt and had a large piece of machinery on the trailer that was not secured. The driver was issued three provincial offences notices for Highway Traffic Act violations.
Another vehicle stop was conducted involving an overloaded dump-style truck pulling a large two-axle trailer, as it passed by Our Lady Victory School Catholic Elementary School on Derry Road and Commercial Street. The vehicle was found to have improper brakes, overweight and a multitude of administrative offences. Both the truck and trailer were taken out of service and the driver was issued 12 provincial offences notices.
This year’s campaign will run until September 13th and serves to enhance overall safety within our communities.
Keep your eyes on the road, pay attention and stay off that cell phone.
 September 4, 2012
By James Burchill.
BURLINGTON, ON. Ever wonder what the most controversial topics on Wikipedia are? The crowd-sourced and edited online encyclopedia is home to a lot of contention. Entries on the site can change in seconds, especially in the more controversial subjects, while others may be horribly written and stay that way for months because it’s not a topic of interest to most editors on the site.
So what are the subjects most likely to be controversial and see the most changes by the most editors? What are the topics that suffer the most revision as points of view clash?
 Controversial? Worth getting more information on? Well, I wasn’t the only one to wonder that. Some students and faculty at the University of Oxford (yes, that Oxford) wondered too. Lead by Taha Yasseri, the team decided to analyze Wikipedia to find out which topics were most controversial based on the intensity of their “editing wars.”
Not as easy as it sounds, though. Wikipedia is home to about 22 million articles in 285 languages with about 77,000 contributors working on it on any given day. Not happy with just the four million English version articles, though, Yasseri and his team decided to break down the controversies by language as well, looking at all 22 million articles to do it.
First, they had to define “controversial” as it applies to Wikipedia. Going by edits alone wouldn’t indicate contention as it could also mean that it’s a “live” subject that is rapidly changing or evolving, such as a current news event (e.g. a current television series or a current legal trial). So they focused on “reverts” instead, which are edits which are made by one person and then undone or removed by another. These are relatively common, though, but “mutual reverts” where an editor restores an earlier edition and then another editor (often the one who made the new changes that got reverted) changes it back to the new version again. These “edit wars” can go on for days in a back-and-forth struggle as editors duke it out over how things on the site are worded.
That definition works well for what the Oxford team wanted to measure. Using that, they were able to analyze Wikipedia and, after separating articles by language, create a “Top 10” list for them. The ten most controversial topics in English are:
1. George W. Bush
2. Anarchism
3. Muhammad
4. List of World Wrestling Entertainment
5. Global Warming
6. Circumcision
7. United States
8. Jesus
9. Race and intelligence
10. Christianity
 At least people are asking questions: still far too many people saying it’s bunk. Some of those are not surprising, of course, but others come out of nowhere. The top entry is a real surprise, since Bush has been out of office for over five years and is now relatively ignored by the news media. The second is a contentious but not often considered political philosophy that most of us might not even know exists. The third makes sense, as does the fifth, but who would have known that the WWE was so controversial?
 Go figure on this one: wrestlers? Indeed, this is a very interesting list. The team says that in every language, topics of religion are nearly always represented in the top five, as are topics like Israel, Adolf Hitler, and God. For the most part, though, these commonalities are overshadowed by the vast differences in what’s controversial in one language versus another. This often involves controversial war topics or native cultural topics, but can also be celebrity topics specific to the region the language is most commonly associated with.
You can read Yasseri et al’s work on Wikipedia measurements here.
 James Burchill creates communities and helps businesses convert conversations into cash. He’s also an author, speaker, trainer and creator of the Social Fusion Network™ an evolutionary free b2b networking group with chapters across southern Ontario. He blogs at JamesBurchill.com and can be found at the SocialFusionNetwork.com or behind the wheel of his recently acquired SMART car.
 September 4, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. They’re back in school, and the whole tempo of the city changes. All those people with community wide programs are holding their committee meetings and timetables with task assignments are being handed out.
One of the signature events for Burlington is the Terry Fox Run for Cancer Research. The number of people who run is well over 1000 – 1200 last year. They raised over $80,000 Each year the number grows and each year more people find personal meaning in the run – many choose to walk and use the occasion to think about and appreciate someone they lost to cancer.
The event takes place this year on Sunday, September 15th.
Burlington has been doing this for 33 years and in that time has collected more than $1.5 million for cancer research.
 Part of the crew that did the door to door distribution of flyers to promote the Terry Fox Run.
Kevin Slovacek, Katherine, Kevin and Jack
The Gazette did some joint promotional work with the Terry Fox Run people and distributed more than 5000 flyers door to door in the city announcing the run and introducing people to the Gazette.
We certainly saw a significant bump in readership and assume there will be a corresponding bump in the number of people who take part in the Run.
 Daughter Kate, who now wants to be called XXX, on the lft with wife Bryana centre and Casey on the right figuring out which streets in Alton were covered. That distribution effort got done by Casey Cosgrove and his family. They were out on the streets, of Alton Village for the most part, because this is a new community with people from Mississauga and Milton moving in.
The people organizing the run wanted to include this community and tell them about this signature event that comes close to defining Burlington.– we will see how many of them decide to take part.
Cancer is a large part of the Cosgrove household. Casey has been battling this disease for a number of years and has taken part in a number of trial medication programs. He went as far as he could at the Juravinski Cancer Centre and is now on a program at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.
Casey doesn’t know what the outcome is going to be. He lives each day being who he is: expecting the best and prepared for the worst.
Last year there was a Cosgrove contingent in the Terry Fox Run and this year Casey took on the task of getting more people out.
A former candidate for public office (Ward 5), Cosgrove will tell you that had he won in 2006 Rick Goldring wouldn’t be Mayor today. The Mayor doesn’t see it quite that way.
Casey Cosgrove is showing this city what it means to give back – when you barely have enough to get by on yourself. His being out on the street in blazing sunshine, walking briskly from door to door while his wife and their daughter Kate, who has advised the world that she now wants to be known as Katherine, were doing the same thing a couple of streets, over is what Casey believes he has to do.
He believes fervently that there s a cure for cancer but knows all too well that it costs a fortune to pay the scientists and the researchers to find that cure.
We have made huge progress but the battle is not over.
Be part of that battle – show up on the 15th – at the Pavilion on the Beachway. Starts at: 11:00.
 September 3, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. Trees – do they belong to just the person on whose property they are rooted or do they belong to the community with the owner of the property on which they are rooted serving as a steward?
The moment you suggest city hall can tell you what you can and can’t do with your property all hell breaks loose – and with some justification. The bureaucrats can at times be particularly insensitive and thick-headed. The city has hundreds of people who will tell you stories of their woes and complaints.
 This is what a tree canopy should look like and this is what the people on Belvinia enjoy most of the year. But there are large parts of Burlington where mature stands of trees like this don’t exist because too many trees got cut down when development was done. An attempt to create a bylaw that would govern the cutting down of trees on private property in June was defeated on a 5-2 vote. A staff report suggesting the city not create a private tree by law didn’t help.
If there is going to be a change in the way Burlington looks at when we cut down trees it will take quite a bit more in the way of public education; a process that is hindered by the interests of the development community. A private tree bylaw would prevent developers from cutting down trees on properties they have purchased and want to assemble and develop.
 Known as the Joseph Brant oak, the tree, now more than 100 years old was a boundary marker for the grant of property given to Brant for his service to the British during the American Revolutionary War. Resulted in just the Mayor and Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward voting for the idea. The rest of Council sat on their hands and let their individual ideologies fill in that space where common sense should have prevailed.
At the time the Mayor came to the realization that there was some educational work to be done. Meed Ward saw the situation the same way and has announced that she will be bringing forward a series of motions to provide the citizens of the city reasonable options.
Meed Ward has advised her fellow Council members that she plans to put forward a number of motions that will cover:
1. A No-fee permit requirement for cutting five or more private trees at one time.
2. Notification and consent of adjacent properties for cutting private trees on the boundary of the property (Adjacent properties would be those on either side, and backing onto the property in question). Similar protections exist under the site plan process; this option would extend those same protections to trees in the absence of a formal development application.
3. No fee city permission required to cut any tree on private property larger than 20cm in designated Tree Protection Areas. Tree Protection Areas (TPA) are streets and districts where neighbourhoods have opted in to tree protection, via a petition and 2/3 majority survey. A minimum of 10 households required for implementation of a TPA. Items 1 and 2 above would also be part of a TPA.
4. Requirement to replant on private property or designated city property (to be determined by city staff) any private trees cut, on a one to one basis.
5. An annual report to council on the number of permits granted and trees cut, as well as TPAs established. A review of the tree protection plan at least once per term.
The intent of these motions, said Meed Ward is four-fold:
She wants to enhance tree protection for boundary trees and multiple tree cutting in the advance of a development application. She also wants citizens who support her view the opportunity to enhance private tree protection in their neighbourhoods.
Meed Ward believes the city needs some mechanism, to determine just how many trees on private property are being cut down and would like to see data tracking and enhanced tree protection options for residents.
Mayor Goldring got himself elected as Mayor on a platform that included doing more for the environment – getting the traction he had hoped for took a hit when he voted to take the wind turbine out of the final version of the pier and when he changed his mind on creating separate bike lane for Lakeshore Road.
BurlingtonGreen came close to swallowing their tongue when the wind turbine got lopped off the design; there were so many good reasons for keeping the wind turbine in place – unless of course there were design problems that would come to light if the turbine was installed – but that’s another story – isn’t it?
What we may be seeing at city council is a significant public issue slipping out of the grip the Mayor should have on it and seeing it slide into the hands of a council member who, while not popular with her colleagues, is proving to be quite adroit at capturing the public’s imagination.
Her comments during the unveiling of the Spiral Stella sounded much more “mayoral” than those of Rick Goldring’s.
Meed Ward plans to bring this matter forward at the Development & Infrastructure Committee on September 9th, during the evening session.
There have been well thought through delegations to city council on the number of trees being lost – Council does not appear to be listening. Colin Brock, speaking for BurlingtonGreen said in a delegation that “Some council members commented that tree removal is not an issue in their ward, while another suggested it may be a problem in theirs. Viewing this as a ward by ward issue is confusing to us. Just like the proposed escarpment highway or the proposed quarry expansion where the implications affect ALL citizens, so too is the preservation of our tree canopy in every ward, throughout the city. This decision needs to be looked at from a city-wide perspective.”
 This glade of trees on the east side of City View Park is to be cleared of these trees to create space for the construction of Maintenance space. BurlingtonGreen didn’t think this was necessary. That city-wide perspective is not in place yet. Burlington is still working its way through whatever relationship it is going to have with trees. The city recently cut down a small grove of tree at the City View Park where a maintenance facility is to be set up. There was nothing particularly outstanding about the trees and the city felt that given the very extensive tree planting done on the park property –this small grouping of trees would not be missed.
 with the trees taken down and the stumps being pulled out the space at City View Park can be readied for the construction of maintenance space. Did the city lose some vital trees on this project? There is a small property on New Street west of Guelph Line on the south side that has several magnificent trees on it. The houses look to be rentals, not particularly well-kept – and seem to be waiting for a developer to move on them.
 Does development mean that trees like this have to be taken down? Probably. The houses are poorly kept, the three properties are ripe for assembly, if they have not already been assembled. We would not be surprised if the properties are not already in the hands of one owner.
 If development is all about location, location, location this property on New Street at Guelph Line is just waiting for the chain saws and the back hoes. Is is possible for a different kind of development on this location? A private tree bylaw would at least prevent the trees from being cut down arbitrarily – and that’s something the development community does not want. The location of the property and the homes that surround it make this an ideal location for a small development. But what about those trees? Do they have to go – and sometimes the answer is yes – perhaps some can be saved but most of those trees will at some point have a close encounter with a chain saw.
There is a development on Ghent where more than 100 trees are slated to be cut down. The Ghent project is a close to total failure of progressive planning. The property that has been assembled is one that offers stunning opportunities but the developer has chosen the easy approach to a return on investment and wants to put in more than 50 homes in a set of properties that once had eight homes.
The planners weren’t able to come up with suggestions or solutions and what gets built on Ghent will never become the Roseland or Indian Point of Burlington three generations from now. What we build today – is what we have to live with for a long time. The way we are developing suggests there will be far fewer trees for the average family in Burlington.
That is not progressive planning.
 September 2, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. Local boards and committees, the place where many political careers have started, is a vital part of the way Burlington works.
The city looks for volunteers to sit on a number of Boards and committees that range from the Accessibility Advisory Committee to the Burlington Museums Board.
Mayor Goldring maintains “The volunteers who serve on a board or committee help to create a vibrant community,” and some of those boards are certainly “vibrant”; noisy and disorganized might be a better way of describing the way some have operated.
Others have had a profound and lasting impact on how the city has developed. The Heritage Advisory Committee did such a good job of resolving the mess the city had on its hands with the historical designation of properties that they got close to a standing ovation from Council when they turned in a report and have gone on to basically create and them implement the policies that determine how recognizing and preserving historical properties is going to be done in Burlington.
Heritage was given a substantial budget to carry out their work and operate, to a considerable degree, as an extension of city hall.
The Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory committee did not fare as well and was sunset by the city before they managed to get very much done.
The city wants to fill positions on the following:
 Museum Board has plans for a major upgrade to the Brant Museum – is this a place for you and your skill set? Burlington Museums Board
These people oversee the operation of the Joseph Brant Museum and Ireland House. With the Brant Museum moving towards a point where they fund raise to make very significant changes this will be a busy board.
Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee
Accessibility has always been strong in Burlington.
Burlington Cycling Committee
This committee needs some fresh blood; they did their best but were not able to get the city to go along with bike lanes on lakeshore road. They did their best – but it wasn’t enough. Some pretty disappointed people who need new energy and new ideas.
Burlington Mundialization Committee
This Committee manages our relationship with sister cities in Japan and Holland. Might be time for some people who do not come from those countries to be on this committee.
 Is transit important? Do we spend enough on transit? Do people really want to pay for a transit service that is not all that well used? Have you experience with transit and could you contribute to the Transit Advisory Committee. Burlington Transit Advisory Committee
There is a new regime at transit now and their advisory committee is a lot more civil. Lots of work to be done here to make transit useful to more people.
Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee.
Probably the best Advisory Committee the city has.
Burlington Seniors Advisory Committee
With a growing seniors population this committee can play a very significant role in how best to be aware of the concerns, understand them and provide Council with some direction.
Sustainable Development Committee
New leadership on this committee will see some changes. Former chair served a full term and has left a strong team in place. Good place to be if the environment and matters of sustainability matter to you.
 Every year the Civic Recognition Committee goes through nominations for the Best Burlington has in the way of volunteer service. Is this something you could be part of? Burlington’s Best (Civic Recognition Committee)
This is the committee that handles recommendations for citizens that have excelled in their community contribution and deserve special recognition. The recognition evening could do with some improvement and getting the word out on what the city means by Burlington’s Best should bring in more nominations. These aren’t popularity contests –the city wants to recognize the truly deserving
2014 Doors Open Burlington Organizing Committee.
This committee needs new energy and a stronger sense of direction. If you’ve a passion fo helping the city tells its story – and it has a great story to tell – this might be a good place to dig in.
Terms vary from one to four years, with meetings held monthly. The application deadline is Friday, Sept. 13, 2013. Applications are also available in person from the clerks department at City Hall, 426 Brant St, first floor.
“Volunteering on a board or committee is a great way to share your talents and develop your skills,” said Danielle Pitoscia, the city’s acting manager of committee services. “It’s a great way to really dig deeply into your area of interest.” Comments like that from one of the best committee clerks this city has, gives you some sense of the energy the city wants to put behind its boards and committee. There is staff who are there to help; each committee has a Clerk assigned to it. The good ones are very good. Count Pitoscia among the good ones.
The comments we’ve made are the result of our experience with several of the committee and our observations of the others.
In the past the city has recognized a number of people who have made major contributions. John Boich, Jane Irwin, Amy Schnurr, Trevor Copp are just a few of the recipients that come to mind.
Go one line and download the application forms. Might be something that interests you and that you can make a difference on.
For more information on a specific committee, or to apply online.
 September 2, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. The buses will begin pulling up in front of the spanking new Frank J. Hayden High School which will quickly become Hayden High.
Some students don’t know which room will be their home class but most know their locker number.
 Hayden High, named after a Burlington leader in the development of sport for the disabled. Grades 9 and 10 show up on Tuesday. Teachers have been briefed, the principal and his administration staff hope they have covered all their bases – because at 8:40 the bell will ring and the history of Hayden High begins.
Day 1 at Hayden High is going to be a BBQ – nice touch. The school has quite the pedigree to build on. It’s sports team name has been determined and they should be out on the field real soon.
 Rear of the high school with the cafeteria windows on the left looking over the playing field. There may well still be the smell of fresh paint in the hall ways. A lot of stuff won’t be quite finished but the school will open and the Village of Alton will take on a whole new tone.
So – what are they going to walk into? We’ve not been through a tour of the building yet; the Haber Recreation Centre will see its first official event take place early in October. Bookings are being accepted now.
The library got its shelves last week and the books followed a day or two later. Library staff have been working long hours to have the space ready. Library CEO Maureen Barry said she would like to see the Library open by the middle of September and certainly before the end of the month.
From the outside the three parts of the structure are impressive. The Haber Recreation Centre, Hayden High School and the Public Library collectively form this newest addition to the infrastructure that people actually get to use as opposed to just driving on.
Immediately across the street from the complex is the Norton Skate Board Park, a number of tennis courts, a splash pad and soccer fields.
 Playing field at the rear of the complex. AstroTurf laying was not complete when picture taken. Alton Village, a location that still has new homes being built, has its elementary schools in place and is becoming a much more complete community with a history it’s residents now know more about.
There is plenty of parking space at the side and rear and of the building with an impressive playing field at the back of the school with natural stone seating. The high school cafeteria is at the back of the school overlooking the playing field.
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