 By Margaret Lindsay Holton
BURLINGTON, ON November 12, 2012 There is something very grounding about crafting clay into ceramics. Shaped by human hands for over 14,000 years, clay is one of the oldest naturally-occurring building materials we have to create, like stone or wood. When mixed with water, clay develops a plasticity that hardens in shape when dry. When fired in a kiln, permanent physical and chemical changes occur to create a ‘ceramic’. Different types of clay, when used with different minerals and firing conditions, create different types of ceramics such as stoneware, earthenware, or porcelain.
 Attendance during the first hour of a pottery show in Dundas, Ontario – the bi-annual Potters Guild of Hamilton and Region. MLH photo. As humans, we have long distinguished ourselves by preferring to eat our food from a decorative dish, plate, bowl, mug or tea cup. It defines us culturally and, more often then not, socially. As most know, not all soup bowls are created equal …
 Film adaptations of Charles Dickens’ famed Oliver Twist clay crock contrasted with high-end 19th century Sevres and Meissen porcelain from Europe. Photos by MLH During the 1800s, much of the world’s finest porcelain tableware came from Germany, France and England. Companies such as Meissen and Rosenthal in Germany, and Havilland and Sevres in France, became world famous for beautiful ornate designs, while the Staffordshire region of England produced such legendary companies as Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Spode and Minton. The great porcelain manufacturers of the era marked their products with the company’s name, initials or trademark symbols. Today, individual potters from the Potter’s Guild of Hamilton and Region continue this time-honored tradition. Look for their marks or signatures on the bottom of their wares.
 Signature or mark of maker on the bottom of clay bowls. Photo credit MLH North American pottery, first developed by the indigenous coastal people, occurred around 3000 BC. Pots, or vessels, were made using the ‘coil’ method. Strands of clay were coiled one on top of each other then smoothed over to create a seamless bowl shape. Designs were imprinted into the clay using sticks, shells or twisted cording. To date, no evidence has been found of a ‘thrown’ bowl in pre-contact native North American cultures. It seems they never used – or developed – a potter’s wheel.
 Potter’s wheel – Photo courtesy Potter’s Guild of Hamilton. The mostly highly priced base clay for all ceramics is ‘kaolin’. A large deposit exists in the Moose River basin in Northeastern Ontario, but we, as a people, have never mined it. Instead, we, in Ontario, import most of our clay, for decorative and utilitarian purposes, from the States, or Alberta. Interestingly, a unique shale-derived clay well-suited for ceramic production was once found in abundance in both Hamilton and Burlington, but it has long since been depleted, lost to rapid urbanization. Somewhat ironically, potters and ceramicists in the region are now forced to use imported clay mixtures to make ‘local’ pots.
 Burlingtonian potters Barbara Taylor & Kia Eichenbaum show their wares in Dundas. Photos by MLH Over the past weekend, the Potter’s Guild of Hamilton & Region held their unequivocally fantastic bi-annual three day Sale featuring over 100 local potters, (including Burlingtonians Barbara Taylor and Kia Eichenbaum and recently transplanted Dale Marks , at the Lions Memorial Community Centre on Market Street in Dundas, Ontario. An extra-ordinary diversity of shapes, covered in a variety of slips, mottled glazes and highlighted with colourful and pleasing configurations satisfied the aesthetic palettes of all enthusiasts. I have gone to this event for over four years now, and every year I am super impressed by the abundance of product. I highly recommend this sale as a ‘regional sojourn’. Mark your calendars for next years Spring Sale.
A little closer to home, it is well known that the Burlington Art Centre boasts “the largest collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics in the world”. Their collection contains more then 1800 artworks, with over 400 Canadian artists represented. Unlike the utilitarian (and beautifully crafted) eating earthen and stoneware featured at the Dundas show, the BAC collection explores the more abstract artistic possibilities of clay. Illustrative examples from their decades-old Fire & Ice Exhibition can still be seen on the Virtual Museum of Canada website:
The Burlington Art Centre holds its annual Soup Bowl Event, in the Rotary Shoreline Room at 1333 Lakeshore Blvd, Burlington, from November 15th to November 18th. Reserve your seat early for this very popular event. (BAC members pay $35, non-members pay $45). Enjoy a hearty soup and salad, and then take home your locally-crafted soup bowl – made from a mixture of clays from elsewhere.
Margaret Lindsay Holton is both an environmentalist and a community activist. She is an artist of some renown and the designer of a typeface. She is also a photographer and the holder of opinions, which are her own, that she will share with you in an instant. She appears as an Our Burlington columnist every two weeks. All photographs are by MLH unless otherwise indicated.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 12, 2012 The Mayor’s dream could become a bit of a nightmare. More than half of his Council isn’t on board for this one. Those we spoke with did so on an unattributed basis.
The Mayor has engaged Dr. Lance Secretan to facilitate the development of a defining dream for Burlington. “It is my hope” said the Mayor, “that this dream will provide the community with an ambition and determination that brings us together and helps us build a future for which our children will be proud.”
The media release in which the “dream team” idea was revealed was thin on details. Other than knowing a bit about who is paying for the event and that his Council members have noses very much out of joint we still don’t know much. The Mayor’s office has not gotten back to us with any details
 Is this still one big happy family? Or has the idea of working together beginning to fall apart. Council members were told of the Mayors Plan to hold a meeting that would pull together a group of citizens to talk about “Defining our Dream”. The idea apparently came about after the Mayor read Lance Secretan’s The Spark, The Flame, and the Torch, while on vacation last summer. Then, when a local commercial landlord suggested to the Mayor that the city didn’t have a clear sense of where it was going the two streams of thought came together and the event went from an idea to a fully formed event.
The Mayor apparently liked what he had read and liked what he was hearing as well and went ahead with his plan to pull a dream out of a group of citizens the Mayor has chosen.
Council members were first told that just one Council member would be asked to attend. That didn’t go over very well. There was a general uproar from council members which moved the Mayor to change his mind and allow that they could all attend but they would have to take part in the full program which is to consist of:
A half-day session on November 21st to get a briefing on the ground rules and how the two day session that follows will be done.
Then there are two full days of “daydreaming” – that’s on the Thursday and Friday.
Then on the Saturday morning there will be session with city staff, who will attend on a “volunteer” basis, and talk about how this dream might be implemented. How does a staff member say no to the Mayor when asked to help a group of citizens implement a dream?
 Frank McKeown, Mayor’s Chief of Staff, attempts to fix the clock in Council Chambers. There are things that perhaps need fixing on the eighth floor. Once council member was aghast when told this was the plan and made the comment that it is council that determines what is to be implemented.
A number of council members cannot or do not want to devote that much time to a project they apparently had little input on. One asked: Is this the kind of stuff on the part of the mayor what happens when Frank decides to leave the eighth floor?”. Frank is Frank McKeown, the Mayor’s current Chief of Staff who leaves that position December 31st.
 Thinking it through while developing the Strategic Plan. Was the same kind of thinking done with the Defining the Dream initiative? Another council member suggested there may have been a bit of a ”falling out” between the Mayor and his Chief of Staff on directions to be taken during the second half of his first term of office.
That same council member informed us that there was “significant developer” money behind the $50,000 this three days of day dreaming event is going to cost. That may be a bit of a stretch – we are told that all of the funds needed to pay for the event came from the business community, however the Mayor has not said who those business people are. One is the owner of a very significant number of commercial rental properties.
The idea of pulling together a group of citizens to talk about the “big dream for the city first came to public notice when the Mayor put out a press release saying:
“After speaking with and listening to thousands of residents over the last two years I believe we have a need and an opportunity to better define what we want Burlington to be; how we want others to see us; and how we want to see ourselves” … “ I want to generate a discussion about what we do want.”
 Checking over the notes. The dream will start an important conversation with the entire community that will result in a prosperous future for our City. I believe that by creating a defining dream we will have a rallying point, a touchstone, which will bring us together and allow us to make the decisions we have to make with purpose.
The understanding a number of people close to this development have is that a property owner has had a very significant impact on the Mayor’s thinking – more than most of the council members which has them upset. They thought they were part of a team and that this council had gotten away from the Cam Jackson habit of going off on one tangent after another.
There are many noses out of joint over this one. An idea that has some merit but little transparency now has to overcome serious opposition from council members when it should be moving forward very smoothly.
The public doesn’t know who has been invited to take part in the defining of the dream. Is this the Mayor’s circle of “friends” advisers and financial contributors? On what basis were they chosen?
Who is Lance Secretan? Our Burlington did a piece on the man and his book sometime ago when the Mayor mentioned he was going to be reading the book while on vacation.
Secretan is seen as a part of the Tony Robbins “self-help” crowd that advances a theory and an approach to changing the life you live. Secretan has taken that marketing approach to the corporate level. It sells.
Secretan espouses what are called the CASTLE principles: Courage, Authenticity, Service, Truthfulness, Love and Effectiveness. He is a physical fitness buff who has a home in Ontario. One can see the similarities in personality traits between the Mayor and Lance Secretan who is basically a motivational speaker.
Here is how Secretan describes what he does:
Over 30 years at the Secretan Center, we have discovered that the common, unifying experience among winning teams, great endeavors and extraordinary achievements—is a dream.
A dream is not the same as the familiar “Mission, Vision and Values” statements favored by so many organizations. A dream is an order of greater magnitude. It is a bold declaration of how we are going to make a difference in the world, what new frontier we are going to establish, how we will redefine the game we play, the new standards we will set, and what we will do to light fires in the imaginations and hearts of all those we touch.
The Secretan Center has developed a breakthrough system that invites leaders to identify, realize and sustain their dreams—their most extraordinary, outrageous, never-before-achieved aspirations. We call it the ONE Dream® Process. We begin by identifying what we call “Permission Space” which is the energy that propels a dream—for an organization, a city, a state or province, or for a country.
The central philosophy that powers the ONE Dream® process is our belief in dreams to inspire organizations and communities and their stakeholders to outstanding performance. Modern organizations have forgotten how to dream and instead have adopted stale, uninspiring statements and slogans. Mission statements often fail to arouse passion, but dreams always do—history is filled with examples of great leaders with big dreams. If an organization aligns its entire cultural architecture and energy behind the realization of ONE Dream®, breakthrough results—big dreams—can happen for people, customers, the organization and the community.
Any dream this city develops needs to be firmly grounded in reality and based on a solid understanding of the dynamics involved.
Is Secretan who the Mayor of Burlington should be using to define the dream for the city? Why – when he had full access to one of the best facilitators and consultants on how municipalities grow in this country.
 Georgina Black, on the right, led Council and senior city staff through an extensive Strategic Plan development process. They weren’t abler to set out the dream then – they weren’t ready. Mayor Goldring thinks the city is ready now. Georgina Black, a partner with the consulting firm KPMG led the city through an at times exhaustive but very thorough process that produced the Strategic Plan the city now has in place. The eleven half day event that was open and involved all the council members and all senior city staff, didn’t manage to define the “big hairy audacious” goal they were looking for, partly because they were not ready.
Creating a meaningful and fully thought out Strategic Plan was not something this Council or most members of the senior levels at city hall had much experience with. Given where they were – they did very well. The smart idea would have been to bring back a consultant with a solid track record with experience in a sector that is complex and considerably different than the corporate world where the bottom line matters more than anything else.
One Council member thought the Mayor “should have done something like this when the Strategic Plan was being developed. “That would have been a good time to get public input. The Mayor could have invited specific people and made the event open to the public as well.”
We have noticed that when the Mayor is listening to people he doesn’t have much time for he can be very short and curt; almost dismissive. We saw this early in the Strategic Plan development when different stakeholders were making their presentations. While the comments made were what was expected, basically the “same old”, the Mayor was less than gracious with these people.
Is Burlington about to create another mini-pier incident and move forward without a solid plan vetted by all the people who should be involved and who are responsible for the outcome? We’ve seen where that approach takes us.
This adventure is being billed as one that isn’t going to cost the city anything. Business people put up funds for things that will serve their purposes; that’s what business is about. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.
When the Workshop has been completed the Mayor has said he will share the results with the community – he is going to have to share much more with the community before the workshop if the results are to have any credibility.
 By Pepper Parr
HAMILTON, ON November 11, 2012 For Len Lifchus, this time of year tends to be all about the numbers – are the giving’s where we need them to be? Are the various teams on top of their targets? Are we going to be able to raise what we need?
 Len Lifchus would like to be in the business of giving people fishing rods and teaching them how to fish and feed themselves but as often as not he is giving them fish because they cannot feed themselves.
 With more than 35 years in the volunteer sector, Len Lifchus guides the Burlington/Greater Hamilton United Way towards raising the $7 million + needed to fund the agencies that provide services needed in the community. For the Burlington/Greater Hamilton United Way, 44% of the 2012 target has been reached. Burlington is a little behind its target. The community has raised $746,834 of the $2.1 million it needs.
Combined Hamilton and Burlington have reached the 44% level but Burlington is lagging and in our part of that pumpkin patch we are at 36% – got more work to do – so if you’ve gotten this far and have not made a pledge – think about what you can give and make the pledge – we will be here when you get back.
Burlington is a very affluent community but there are significant pockets of poverty and Burlington is a more expensive place to live in. Lifchus, who recently moved to Burlington, will tell you “gasoline is more expensive, LINK laundry is more expensive, food costs more”.
Immigrants need help getting settled; there are no major industries in Burlington that need workers. Nutrition is an ongoing problem that comes back to plaque is later when poor health issues become the problem.
The face of poverty isn’t as visible in Burlington; you don’t see it between all the cars parked at the malls. “The faith community is very strong in Burlington” explains Lifchus, but there is only so much they can do. Our food banks are not a fact of life – they were put in place to meet a crisis and the crisis stayed and became a part of life for the poor and now the working poor.
Len Lifchus has been employed by the voluntary sector for over 35 years – more than 16 years with the Canadian Red Cross Society Blood Program and the last 18 years with the United Way.
Born and raised in Vancouver, B.C. and a graduate in political science from the University of British Columbia, Len has spent his adult life on a career path of serving others.
Len joined the United Way in 1995 as the Executive Director of the United Way of the Central & South Okanagan Similkameen and moved to Peterborough, Ontario in 1999 to become the CEO of the United Way of Peterborough & District. After a 10 ½ year career in Peterborough he moved on to become the CEO of the United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton – Canada’s 12th largest United Way.
He has watched changes take place in the way we care of those who are not able to take care of themselves. “Food banks were a stop gap measure during a difficult economic phase – now they are full time operations” says Lifchus. “We aren’t geared to run this type of operation the way we have to but without food banks we would have very serious social problems to deal with.
One of the agencies the United Way funds is a program that makes food available to students who are not getting the nutrition they need at home.
The United Way doesn’t run programs; it funds agencies that run programs and each year at the end of the fund raising driver the really hard work of deciding who is going to be funded and who isn’t going to be funded begin.
 Part of the Burlington campaign cabinet – a group that meets under the direction of the Paddy Torsney, the Burlington campaign chair who co-ordinates with Len Lifchus on a weekly basis. The Burlington/Greater Hamilton United Way funds 133 programs and Lifchus is the first to tell you that the issue of poverty is not going away. He will also tell you that people are giving differently. There is much more one-on-one donor solicitation; that is organizations approaching a donour and soliciting funds. When those individual appeals succeed there is less money available to organizations like the United Way that are not tightly focused.
Also, there are more Family Trusts, financial structures that wealthy people use to channel their funds to specific targets – again lessening the funds available to un-targeted organizations like the United Way.
What the United Way does, and can do because it is much closer to the daily grind that is poverty, is recognize evolving needs and fund agencies that are focused on those new needs.
Teen suicide is a growing concern; one that is growing far too fast and no one is quite sure how to address the problem. Community groups, often started by families that have lost a family member to suicide get formed and as they grow the find they need more in the way of support – the United Way is there to help them create the infrastructure they need to effectively develop these agencies.
Managing the fund raising and then managing the disbursement of the funds raised is the day to day part of what Len Lifchus does. He also teaches in the evenings and sits on more boards than there are on a Monopoly game.
Everyone looks for distractions from the daily grind and for Lifchus it is musicals. He can recite lines from some of his favourites. Les Cages aux Folles is at the top of his list along with Hair and Les Miz – and don’t forget Ragtime, all amongst his favourites.
He has been following the selection of “Dorothy” for the next production of The Wizard of Oz– “of course” declares Lifchus, “there is never going to be another Judy Garland”. Lifchus actually gets a little misty eyed when he talks about the musical productions.
Fun and relaxation only take him so far. The Halton Regional Poverty Roundtable is an think group that the United Way is both funding to some degree and providing some of the administrative support. Lifchus fully understands the need to think about the problem of poverty and take a long, deep hard look at the root causes and begin the search for better solutions. “Change” Lifchus will tell you, “starts here.”
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 10, 2012 They were doing more of that vision thing. They were doing it in the Shoreline Room of the Arts Centre. There were more than 150 people in the room – it was basically packed, with 140 of them citizens taking part in an exercise that was intended to help in the shaping of the city’s downtown core, which many feel is a bit of a mess and at times a disappointment – not THE place you go to for services and supplies.
But our situation is, according to the people who are doing the surveying, not all that bad. Pretty good in some categories, very good in others.
 Shoreline Room of the Art Centre was packed; close to 150 people participated. Did we manage to move the ball up the field? The event was nicely structured. City hall is getting very good at coming up with ways to involve people. Much more use is being made of large maps that people can work over as they gather around tables and trade comments and opinions.
This event ran just a little on the long side. People were beginning to drift out of the room and there wasn’t a solid wrap up – but there was a lot of input and if city staff can capture that input, interpret it and then work it into the plans they develop – the evening will have been time very well spent.
So what did we learn? The evening began with those necessary(?) introductions. Councillor Sharman wasn’t seen in the room and Councillor Dennison slipped in late in the game. Downtown isn’t Councillor Taylor’s turf.
Defining and then creating a vibrant downtown core is a joint venture between the private sector that takes the risks and city hall that comes up with rules, zoning and regulations that make things possible and a public that buys into what is in place and shows up with their wallets and purses and spends.
 This was a Workshop and people at the tables were certainly active. The session lasted a little too long and there wasn’t time to hear all the table summaries. There are some locations that are close to outstandingly successful. The Works, a high end hamburger joint where four people can spend more than $100 on burgers is very popular – don’t expect to always get a table right away – there are lineups – often. As marketers the people at The Works have figured it out – everything was free the first day they opened. Talk about getting the public’s attention. The folks over at the Village Square have had to put what they had on the selling block because the ability and the desire to really aggressively market that location just isn’t in them anymore. The property is for sale – some say it has actually been sold. The public record doesn’t show a change in the owners of the property.
La Costa did a name change and is now Celli’s Osteria which means authentic food sourced from the local countryside. Melodia is open on the corner of Locust and Elgin, the Prime Rib moved from Brant to Elgin several months ago but has yet to open their doors. So there is some health in the core.
 These could have been tables with family members gathered playing a game of cards – most had a friendly, relaxed mood to them. The meeting was a review of the Strategic Action Plan which Jody Wellings, Planning and Building department, said the committee had delivered on. As a committee they met 14 times and got 520 people to take part in the survey they had done.
As part of the research work done by Urban Metrics for the city, a measurement was taken of all the retail space in the downtown core. Here is what we learned from the 140+ people who participated in the Workshop.
They reported that there was 1.1 million square feet of retail space in the core (which oddly enough was never defined during the meeting) and that 81,000 people lived in the area.
 Notes taken, views exchanged – city planning staff now have to go through all the data and figure out what the public has said. Is there an end result? At some point Burlington will have the vibrant downtown is wants. There are 130,000 square feet of office space in the core. While delivering the data the researcher added that there are companies that would kill for the kind of downtown Burlington has. That view doesn’t quite square with comments made by Sheila Botting. National leader on real estate and financial services for Deloitte, who told a Council Workshop that while the core is appealing the cost of providing parking is prohibitive – business prefers the Burloak area where parking is less expensive. Transit in Burlington doesn’t appear to be an option for the management and executive crowd.
However, people believe there is significant opportunity for smaller boutique operations in the core – problem there is no one defines “boutique” and we have yet to see one choose Burlington.
 Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward had her daughter Miranda, a grade 9 student, shadowing her all day. The workshop was the end of a 12 hour day. The young lady does not have a campaign manager.  Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster was there but didn’t appear to be an active participant. Here she talks with Scott Wallace, proprietor of Burlington Taxi who has an interesting report going to council committee this week. In general boutiques are seen as small groups – that can reach 75 people, who are professionals: architects, law firms, researchers that prefer a quieter community but need very quick access to downtown Toronto. Burlington does have the access to the “big smoke” – it’s just not that fast to get to. An hour on a plugged expressway isn’t the way professionals want to spend their time.
The researchers described our core as stable with commercial space increasing; that would be marginal increase at best.
The commercial space vacancy rate is 11.2% of the existing space which is a little on the high side. We aren’t in trouble but the sector isn’t exactly vibrant.
 Each of the tables was assigned a subject to discuss. Had the people at this table gone shopping. The researcher said that 70% of the people who shop in the trade area live south of the QEW, 20% are from outside the community – which leaves 10% that come from north of the QEW – the folks in the Orchard and the new Alton community aren’t coming downtown as much as the merchants would like them to.
Why do people come downtown? Because they have to; because they live downtown or they work downtown or they have an appointment. 13% of the people who come downtown do so to shop while 9% come downtown to dine.
29% come once a week; 47% drive to the core, 40% walk; 8% use transit and 4% use their bikes.
Asked what downtown should be – the answers from the survey were: festivals, entertainment, meeting people and the place they take visitors.
What kind of retail services did those surveyed want to see? A first run movie theatre; a small supermarket, a hardware store and more restaurants with more in the way of clothing and accessory retailers was on those wish lists.
The Burlington Downtown Business Association (BDBA) has been trying for some time to get a supermarket to open up in the core – Brian Deane, Executive Director of the BDBA, hasn’t been able to land one of them yet. Parking is the biggest problem and because the supermarkets know we all have to eat – we will go to where they are – they don’t have to come to where we are. There will come a time, when the core will have people who will not want to or be able to drive to the supermarkets, and supply will follow the demand. That day hasn’t arrived yet.
The advice the researchers offered was that we need to leverage the assets we have, (most of the retailers don’t know how to do that) and communicating has to be well done. Many of the smaller merchants don’t particularly want to communicate to a wider market; they have their core clientele and they do very well with that – why go to a lot of additional effort at some cost and not be certain they are going to see a return.
The surveys did note an interest in a Farmer’s Market in the core – and the city had one for several months in the summer. It struggled. The one time there was a crowd was during the Chef’s Shootout which could have been a boffo event had it not rained. Even with the poor weather, with a dozen or so umbrellas set up to keep the water off people as they watched two well rated chef’s do their thing with the most rudimentary equipment.
The number of people who showed up for the event suggests Burlington Tourism wants to look at this – it was a good idea that just needed some time and more in the way of promotion – hopefully Barry Imber won’t give up the ghost on the idea – it is well worth doing for at least one more season.
Our Burlington was the only media in the city to continuously follow and promote the event.
The researchers thought public funds and resources were needed to draw in private investment. Those are your tax dollars they’re talking about. Back in 1985 the city permitted a “landmark” structure to be built on the edge of the lake – there is still nothing on the site. The city back then did it’s part – the private sector sat on what they were given and let it improve in value but gave nothing back to the city. Late this year we might see a shovel in the ground to start the building of an eight story structure – they currently have approval to build up to seven storeys – they’re asking the Committee of Adjustment to allow an additional floor.
There are cranes on the horizon in Burlington, there is activity, that tipping point however doesn’t appear to have been reached. Last Christmas season there were major restaurants and retailers on lower Brant who had nothing in the way of seasonal decoration on their locations.
The audience was told to not compromise the vision and expect false starts – does the pier fall into that category? While on the pier – construction progress does take place – albeit at close to a snail’s pace. But what are we going to end up with? A place we take people to and talk about how long it took to get built and how much it actually cost us?
It will be a magnificent structure and it will change the look of the city but will it end up like Ben Johnson, a magnificent athlete who destroyed his reputation by taking drugs; does the pier have too much negative history that we may not be able to live down?
There is certainly a challenge to leverage that asset when it finally opens and communicate the story. Do we have the people with the skill sets needed to do that communication?
We were told to measure performance and then empower the decision makers – that would assume there are enough qualified decision makers in town. It is a challenge. There are some exceptionally good people who work for the city – are there enough of them?
 At some point all the data and all the public input gets placed in front of Burlington’s Planner, Bruce Krushelnicki – who will issue a report and city council will make decisions. Creating the downtown the city wants and needs has not been an easy process for Burlington. The province has a growth plan which calls for 15,000 new jobs in the region by 2031. Burlington is going to limp towards its part of that objective; we just aren’t creating the job opportunities; our commercial assessment for 2012 will be less than it was for 2011 – not a good sign. Once the Economic Development Corporation shakes itself out we will begin to see a change but that could be as much as a year away.
The province wants there to be a “mobility hub” in Burlington, which will centre on the Fairview GO station that is undergoing an upgrade. The site immediately south of the GO station, west of Wal-Mart on the north side of Fairview, is to be developed and have at least four towers. Efforts are being made to have some of that space set aside for commercial use.
With the theory and some of the potential set out for the Workshop audience, the researchers then began an interactive process with the audience. Participants were given hand help devices the size of a package of playing cards, and told to make their choices to questions that appeared on the large screen at the front of the room.
A question would appear on the screen, participants would be given 30 seconds to make a choice – and the results would appear on the screen instantly. It is a remarkable opinion survey tool the city has used in the past. Very effective.
How many of you live in the downtown core:
Of the 130 responses – 2/3rds say they lived in the downtown core.
How many owned a business? 20% of the 133 responses
How many of you think the core has a lot going for it? Most saw the core in a positive light.
What are the top three things you like about the downtown core?
The waterfront, the restaurants, the places to walk. 137 responses
Things that need the most attention?
Neighbourhood shops; better places to live, more entertainment locales. – 133 responses.
What would you like to see added? You can add your views to the city’s on line survey.
https://urbanmetrics.fluidsurveys.com/s/burlingtonsurvey/
 One of the prime places to just enjoy the city is on the north side of Lakeshore looking out over ther lake. This could be a social spot in almost any one of the prime tourist destinations in Europe or North America – but it is right here in Burlington. More entertainment destinations, restaurants and cafés, retail stores and parks. That last one, parks was odd; Burlington has the equivalent of 333 football fields in public park space. Central Park has to be one of the largest in any city of comparable size.
The audience was told that all the data collected will be up on the city’s web site. Most of the questions are shown but the responses aren’t there at least not as of Saturday afternoon.
The Downtown vision team will be going over the data and determining what to do next. That means more meetings. Ugh!
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON November 10, 2012 Halton Police are currently investigating a collision between a westbound GO train and a pedestrian in the City of Burlington. This collision occurred at approximately 5:45pm just east of Guelph Line along Fairview Street.
Police and other Emergency services were called to the scene and located a single male in critical condition. He has been transported to Hamilton General Hospital for treatment. His prognosis is unknown and his identity is being withheld at this time pending notification of next of kin.
Due to the apparent seriousness of the injuries, the Halton Regional Police Collision Reconstruction Unit took carriage of the investigation with assistance from GO Transit Safety Officers and CN Police. No foul play is suspected at this time.
The tracks at this location have been partially reopened to rail traffic at restricted speeds.
The involved Go Train was carrying approximately 300 passengers, none of whom were injured in this incident.
This is the second serious accident involving a pedestrian and a GO train at a place other than a regular traffic crossing.
Any witness or person with information is asked to contact Detective Constable Chris Heffernan at 905-825-4747 ext. 5420.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 5, 2012 The Council Chamber was close to filled with dozens of young women in sports sweats, many wearing medals that clinked together as they walked. Were they there to delegate to Council? All of them? That would be unusual. They were polite and when Mayor Goldring announced why they were there they trooped to the podium and gathered while the Mayor explained.
 Burlington Bayhawks Under 14 girls soccer team, pose for the camera after being recognized by city council for an outstanding season This was the 50th anniversary of the Burlington Youth Soccer Club and the two groups; the U14 and the U16 Burlington Bayhawks soccer teams were there to be recognized for an outstanding year on the soccer field. They won at every level they played at.
 Burlington Bayhawks wearing their “bling” and waiting to be called to the podium. During the presentation, the members of each team were given a pin with the city crest on it – they were photographed and told they didn’t have to stay for the rest of the Council meeting – they left immediately – these kids know a dull show when they see one.
The club has done very well with its program. Five of the women who played on Canada’s Olympic Soccer team came out of the Burlington program; probably more from Burlington than any other club in Canada. A record for which they have every right to be very proud.
The Burlington Bayhawks Girls Under 16 came out on top in the Ontario Youth Soccer West Division; the Ontario Youth Soccer level; the Ontario Cup, the National Cup and added to that five first places in competitions that took place in the United States.
The team record for the season was 45 wins; 3 ties and 1 loss.
 Burlington Bayhawks – girls under 16 soccer team took every level they played at during the season. The Burlington Bayhawks Under 14 Girls did just as well. They triumphed at the National Cup level, the Ontario Youth level and the Ontario Cup level.
Their season record was 27 wins, 4 ties and five losses with 115 goals earned and 31 against. These 14 year olds will move on to the U16 level where they will be a very competitive team.
With five, 2012 soccer Olympians coming out of the Burlington club – Canadians are likely to see our teams in the finals much more often. We may just begin to see a winning streak we have not seen for some time.
Mayor Goldring suggested that the teams’ success was a direct result of the “pep” talk he and Councillor Sharman gave the two teams before they left to compete in Vaughan and Prince Edward Island. Watching those girls stride to the podium to be congratulated, left little doubt in the minds of all that they didn’t need much in the way of “pep” talks to win. These girls were champions!
By Mark Twain
Twain wrote The War Prayer during the US war on the Philippines. It was submitted for publication, but on March 22, 1905, Harper’s Bazaar rejected it as “not quite suited to a woman’s magazine.” Eight days later, Twain wrote to his friend Dan Beard, to whom he had read the story, “I don’t think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth.” Because he had an exclusive contract with Harper & Brothers, Mark Twain could not publish “The War Prayer” elsewhere and it remained unpublished until 1923.
 Remembered, respected It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and county and invoked the God of Battles, beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpouring of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half-dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety’s sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.
Sunday morning came – next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams – visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! – then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag or failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation – God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest, Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword! Then came the “long” prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to flag and county imperishable honor and glory –
 “O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their un-offending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander un-friended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it – for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. AMEN.
After a pause: “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits.” It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 7, 2012 The event won’t take place until March of next year but that wasn’t enough to stop Diane Leblovic, who delegated to a City Council meeting letting them know she had a real problem with the use of the word “limited” in a letter that had been sent by the sponsor of the Chilli Half Marathon and Frosty 5K Half Marathon Chilli Run.
She also had a problem with the public consultation process as well. Leblovic explained that she and her “ neighbours were restricted from leaving their homes for over three hours during the event.” She went on to say that last year the restriction lasted four hours.
 Leblovic residence – family is locked into their home for as much as four hours during the Chilli Half Marathon. Leblovic lives on Birett Drive, a street that exits onto Lakeshore Road where, according to Leblovic, access during the races is far too limited for her liking and that of her neighbours.
Mrs. Leblovic, a former school board trustee and one of the organizers behind the 35 year recognition event for former Mayor Cam Jackson to take place November 18th at the Performing Arts Centre, took issue with the public consultation process and the change in the route in 2010.
 The only way out of their community is onto the Lakeshore which is apparently blocked for as long as four hours during the Chilli Marathon race each March. Diane Leblovic is looking for some relief. There was a point when the route went out along New Street to Burloak and then back along Lakeshore (we may have the direction wrong) and was changed to using two lanes of Lakeshore because there were fewer problems with people wanting to get to church. There were 39 complaints on the New Street/Lakeshore route and just 12 when the event went to just Lakeshore Road.
Councillor Jack Dennison, who lives on Lakeshore Road said that while he lives on Lakeshore he was quite prepared to share that road with people who are out there doing something that will benefit the community.
Leblovic focused on two points: The use of the word ‘limited’ access to Lakeshore by those who live north of Lakeshore and the lack of a fair public input process.
Councillor Dennison thinks the problem for people north of Lakeshore has been resolved. “All they have to do is drive onto Lakeshore, turn right and make another right up the first street they come to and they are clear.”
Also, he added, the race organizers have said they “will pick people up and get them to where they want to go”; they are prepared to do whatever it takes to keep people happy.
Leblovic wants her public input process and Council has gone along with her. A Staff Direction was agreed upon that will gather public opinion but it won’t have any impact on the flow of traffic next March. That chilli is going to give Diane Leblovic more heart burn.
“In my view” said Mrs. Leblovic “it is inappropriate to have one area of the city bear the inconvenience resulting from this event every year and that consideration should be given to altering the race route … to alleviate this inconvenience.”
 The 4000 people who run the half marathon seem to have a great time – but they land lock people who want to access Lakeshore Road for as much as four hours. Mrs. Leblovic noted that Pete Peebles, the organizer of the event “has finally put forward a proposal which provides for public consultation … and a consideration of route changes…” While the suggestions were seen as a good start Leblovic had a “number of concerns with the proposal including, in particular, the manner of, and the short time for, public consultation.” The proposed exclusion of those living on the north side of Lakeshore Road and the absence of other possible strategies such as earlier start times
 The runners that make it to this point in the Chilli Half Marathon may not realize they are keeping people in their homes with no access to Lakeshore Road. The promoter of the event had said he would hold a public meeting, more than once, but there hasn’t been a public meeting yet. The city decided to step in and ensure that a public meeting takes place and staff was directed to “hold a public meeting to gather public input on the routes and timing and other matters related to the Chilly Half Marathon and include the results of that feedback in the festival and events recommendations for 2014”.
Diane Leblovic lives on a lakefront property with a single access to Lakeshore Road. The runners would limit that family’s ability to get instant access to Lakeshore Road.
Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison, who lives on Lakeshore Road, pointed out that more than 4000 people take part in the event and that the city and its citizens benefit from the event. Leblovic apparently doesn’t share that view.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 7, 2012 The media release said: Mayor Goldring is pleased to announce that he will be hosting Inspire Burlington Leadership Workshop – Defining Our Dream on November 22, 23 and 24th.
“After speaking with and listening to thousands of residents over the last two years I believe we have a need and an opportunity to better define what we want Burlington to be; how we want others to see us; and how we want to see ourselves”, said Mayor Goldring. “Basically, what is our dream?”, he asked.
 Mayor Goldring and his Council plus many staff members spent eleven half days thinking through a Strategic Plan that didn’t quite come up with a defining goal. Goldring on the left with the top Human Resources guru at city hall, Roy Male and two of the KPMG staffers who facilitated the event. The Mayor also said: “ We all know that Burlington is a great place to live, work and play. We have had 25 years of growth and prosperity which has led Burlington to be recognized as one of the very best places to live in Canada. In order to sustain our prosperity and quality of life and to meet the needs of our ever changing community we also recognize that we must challenge the status quo and continually challenge ourselves.”
“We have an excellent foundation to build our dream on. We have an engaged community, a strong local government, a strategic plan, a great location and environment with the lake and escarpment, and a diverse local business community. Defining our dream will bring this all together.”
The Mayor has engaged Dr. Lance Secretan to facilitate the development of a defining dream for Burlington. “It is my hope” said the Mayor, “that this dream will provide the community with an ambition and determination that brings us together and helps us build a future for which our children will be proud.”
 Mayor Goldring: Taking part in a Community Engagement Charter meeting. He needed that coffee at this one.  Mayor Goldring is a thoughtful, considerate, caring person. Are “political smarts” really part of his make up? “This Leadership Workshop is a starting point. I would like to sincerely thank the participants that have agreed to commit selflessly their time and effort to this project. I am excited to be developing this defining dream with community leaders and am equally excited to have the opportunity to share the dream with the community afterwards.”
The media release leaves a lot of unanswered questions:
Who chose the people who are going to participate in this workshop? Did the Mayor make the decisions? How balanced is this group of people? Marketing people do this sort of thing all the time; they choose a group of people they know will give them the answers they want and then claim they have “research” that tells them everyone likes their product.
The city deserves more in the way of transparency on this one.
The city has a Strategic Plan. It used eleven half days of meetings with an excellent facilitator but at that time was unable to come up with a clear goal – what they all referred to as that “BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal”. Those Strategic Planning meetings included all the council members and most of the leading thinkers and operators on staff. It was during the creation of the Strategic Plan that the Mayor and his Council realized how out of step the city manager at the time was with the thinking being done by Council. That city manager was gone less than six months later.
Creating a vision is a delicate business. Keeping a balance between the various interests in a community is what politics is all about. No harm in going out to the community – just let the community know who it is doing the “dreaming”. One can be certain that this isn’t a meeting of a group of developers – we don’t have that kind of Mayor. But what kind of a Mayor do we have? He doesn’t seem prepared to tell the people he will ask to put him back in office in less than 20 months who he has asked to dream with him.
Not very transparent.
How many people are participating?
Is there an agenda; a format the participants will follow?
Why hold the event now?
Is the pier part of the dream or is it an expenditure that will have to be explained during the next municipal election?
 Summer reading – winter dream? We know why the Mayor chose Lance Secretan to facilitate this dream session. While on vacation last year the Mayor took along a copy of Secretan’s book, The Spark, the Flame, and the Torch and was “inspired”; a word the Mayor is partial to – using it for the excellent series of speakers he has sponsored since becoming Mayor. His next Inspire speaker is Senator Art Eggleton, who will speak on The Great Divergence: Income Inequality in Canada”
Senator Eggleton has served the people of Canada and the city of Toronto in public office for over 37 years, including 11 years as Mayor of Toronto and 11 years in the House of Commons as the member for York Centre.
In 2005, Eggleton was appointed to the Senate of Canada. He currently serves as Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology and is a member of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communication.
He is Co-Chair of the Liberal Social and Economic Policy Caucus and Co-Chair of the All-Party Anti-Poverty Caucus.
In his blog the Mayor gave us a look at some of his thinking. On November 6th he said: ” Thirty years ago Hamilton provided many of the jobs for Burlington residents. The steel plants were booming. The auto sector in South Western Ontario provided many well paid secure jobs which supported our community. Manufacturing was king as Ontario led the Canadian economic boom.
During the late 70’s and 80’s many Canadians moved from Quebec to the Toronto area bringing jobs, and prosperity came with them. Our economy supported the tremendous quality of life that developed and has been sustained for the last 30 years.
Our situation has changed. After steady growth, Burlington is now slowest growing community in the GTA. We are only expected to grow by another 19,000 residents in the next 20 years; this pales in comparison to the growth we have experienced in the past.
 The Escarpment is certainly part of the dream. Is Burlington going to be able to keep the dream? Can we afford to keep this dream? The community made a decision that it was important to protect the rural and environmentally sensitive lands in Burlington. This rural area represents about 50% of Burlington. This decision has an impact on other areas of the city.
 Is this a big part of the dream the Mayor is looking for? How big a part of the city is the waterfront? Is it more than just something to look at? We are competing to attract businesses and residents not only with other Ontario municipalities, but also other cities in Canada and even other international cities. What makes us unique and distinguishes us from others that will make Burlington the location of choice?
These factors are leading to community discussion about what we don’t want. I want to generate a discussion about what we do want.
After speaking with and listening to thousands of residents over the last two years I believe we have a need and an opportunity to better define what we want Burlington to be; how we want others to see us; and how we want to see ourselves. What is our dream?
The dream will start an important conversation with the entire community that will result in a prosperous future for our City. I believe that by creating a defining dream we will have a rallying point, a touchstone, which will bring us together and allow us to make the decisions we have to make with purpose.
After the workshop I will be sharing the results with the community. We will be able to have a conversation that is inspiring and about what we want to be as a collective community.”
We can’t wait – let’s hope that the results aren’t lumps of coal in our Christmas stockings.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 7, 2012 — Twelve students from Burlington area high schools have been selected as Burlington Transit Youth Ambassadors (BTYAs) for the 2012-2013 school year.
Last year, the ambassador program with six teens from three city schools joined the BTYA ranks. This year the number of students has doubled with two representatives from Aldershot; Robert Bateman; Nelson; M.M. Robinson; Central; and Corpus Christie high schools.
 An orientation meeting was held at Burlington Transit on Oct. 29 with this year’s Burlington Transit Youth Ambassadors. From left to right: Madelon Haantjes (Aldershot); Nicole Volk (Corpus Christie); Maha Hussain and Abbie Wiggin (Robert Bateman); Katie Reynolds and Chloe Simpson (Central); Corinne Bulger (M.M. Robinson); Kale Black (BurlingtonGreen Environmental Association); Jill Mulveney (Nelson) and Sandra Maxwell (Burlington Transit) Six of nine Burlington secondary schools are now involved in the BTYA program.
“Teachers whose students were involved last year are spreading the word to their classes and the response has been great so far,” said Sandra Maxwell, Burlington Transit’s marketing co-ordinator who oversees the BTYA program. “Many new schools have heard about the program and are inviting us to present to students in their eco-clubs.”
And why wouldn’t they? The Burlington Youth Ambassador program has many learning and social benefits for students. Highlights of the program include:
The BTYA program provides peer-to-peer teaching opportunities where students can learn and talk about public transit and promote taking the bus as a healthy, environmentally-friendly transportation choice.
Youth ambassadors run promotional programs and special events in their schools and teach others about the benefits of public transit, spreading “how-to” information as well as information about the environmental impact of people using cars instead of taking the bus.
Students run promotions fully supported by Burlington Transit with information and materials.
Students earn points and rewards in exchange for their involvement. Schools can win cash for their eco-clubs.
Students are preparing to launch a Green Monster campaign, where they will ask students and teachers to make a “monster” statement and a commitment to bike, walk or bus to school the week of Nov. 19th.
 Paul Carvahlo (Burlington Mall Representative) with Dr. Jane Goodall and event sponsor, Joe Saunders of Burlington Hydro. Burlington Mall is a sponsor of the program, donating prizes and providing a $1,000 annual cash donation in June to one school’s Eco-club to recognize the efforts of the BTYAs from that school. Paul Carvahlo, the guy who makes things happen at the Mall, has been a leading advocate for a more environmentally involved commercial sector.
The BTYA program was jointly developed by Burlington Transit and the BurlingtonGreen Youth Network.
 One of the new buses added to the Burlington Transit fleet. There were buses that had more than 15 years on their tires – those old ones certainly rattled down Guelph Line when I was on one of them. Burlington Transit has been upgrading its fleet with newer buses coming on line. Transit has been a problem for the city – the volume is nowhere near what it should be but getting people out of their cars is not a simple matter in Burlington. Students are for the most part a captive market and creating the “hop on the bus” mentality will increase ridership.
The city cut back the frequency on a number of routes last year as part of an attempt to re-assign transit assets and get better value for the significant amount spent.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 7, 2012 The sunshine chose not to appear but the event went well nevertheless as art patrons from across the city drove to the ten studios that were part of the Art in Action’s 10th annual studio tour.
 Teresa Seaton’s Poppies stained glass piece highlights the red leaves on the tree outside the studio she was showing in as part of the Art in Action Studio Tour – this was their tenth event. There were a number of the regulars at the different studios and there was some talent that was international in scope. We saw jewellery that is being featured in some high fashion magazines and glass work that draws top prices.
The 36 artists in the ten studios, conveniently grouped into east end, west end and downtown locations, had groups of people who came in small waves. A studio would be empty one minutes and the suddenly quite full. In one house a neighbour dropped in with the comment “I didn’t even know this was going on” and stayed to look over the jewellery.
 Jessica Gneth, last year’s scholarship winner takes part in her first Art in Action studio tour. Water colourist Sarah Carter works in the background. Jessica Gneth, one of the scholarship winners last year, took part for the first time. There was some nervousness, a little awkwardness as well but the more experienced artists were on hand to help out and give some advice. Gneth, an MM Robinson student, will be back again.
Some studios worked better than others but all were active. We ran out of time this year and got to just eight of the ten. Problem with going every year is that you meet artists you met the year before and you get to see the growth in their work and appreciate just what they have to offer.
 A very attravtive set of small oil paintings that were also very pleasantly priced were part of the Cheryl Goldring offering. Cheryl Goldring has certainly grown as an artist. Her watercolours are much larger and more ambitious than in previous years and while small birds are likely to always be a passion for her – the offering this year was much broader. There were some very well executed small oils offered this year.
Cheryl Laakes had much more fabric on display this year. Tammy Hext, as she has in the past, painted while patrons looked at her previous work.
 Helen Griffiths, who did very well on the selling side had a large selection on display. The paining at the top right sold during the day. It was a delight to photograph Helen Griffiths and the walls covered with her art and then realize that one of the paintings that was there when the picture was taken, wasn’t there anymore – it had been sold. The oil painting was of colourful houses on a street in St. John’s Newfoundland, and was sold to a Newfoundlander now calling Burlington home.
Kyle Brooke did a nice, close to brisk business, at the Ed Roy Gallery across the street from the Royal Botanical Gardens entrance on Plains Road. This is a ceramics artist to watch.
Aubrey Denomy, in a Belvenia Road studio, was perhaps the most eclectic in her offerings. She has sculpture, paintings and what she called “Christmas tree bling” available.
Peter Schlotthauer has moved into smaller items with a couple of rings on display that show considerable promise.
 David Cockell, a whimsical illustrator, painted while patrons browsed at the Artist’s Walk in the Village Square. Doug Cockell worked away at one of his whimsical paintings, almost oblivious to the people who were walking through the studio in the Village Square, which we have heard has been sold. If the rumour is true, that was one of the fastest commercial sales in the history of this city. Rumours abound as to what will happen to a property that was once a favourite spot for Burlingtonians.
I would put any sale down to wishful thinking on the part of the owners.
 Kyle Brooks, a ceramic artist with work that is international in scope, writes up a sale. Her studio across the road from the RBG is well worth a visit. An artists worth watching. Teresa Seaton, the artist that seems to do most of the organizing of the event (she does have a committee working with her) said that sales were up but the visits were down a little. Most of the ten sites got between 350 and 400 visitors but there were a few that were quite a bit lower.
The Art in Action people have been doing this for ten years now and while the event has grown it isn’t quite where many had hoped it would be. “We’ve tried everything” said Seaton. “We even advertised on the Weather Channel and the numbers are OK but the hope was that they would be higher than they are.”
 Monica Bell, a quilter taking part in the Studio Tour for the first time. The ten studios can be covered in a day. We found that a number of people travelled around together in a van which made it something of an outing.
Does Art in Action grow the event and have even more than 10 studios? They aren’t sure yet. Would it make some sense to have a collection of artists at the Village Square? That could happen but they would need better cooperation from the family and that hasn’t transpired so far.
Artists can’t afford retail rents – they have always set up in parts of a city that aren’t fashionable where the rents are low. With the artists in place the places become fashionable, the rents go up and the artists have to move on to less expensive digs.
There is an opportunity here for whoever buys the Village Square – set aside some space for those “starving” artists and let them be the draw. The place could certainly use the traffic.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 6, 2012 As of last Friday, the Burlington arm of the Burlington/Hamilton United Way Campaign had realized 31% of its target because thousands of people do something; they give money, they put in hours of volunteer time and they cooperate with their peers to make something happen.
 The purpose of a corporate logo is to catch your attention. Now that we have your attention – what will you do this week to help the United Way met its target of $2.1 million? Savvy Couture uses this piece on their web site.   We wrote of a Fashion Show held at the Rude Native Sunday before last. What we had not been made aware of was the remarkable level of cooperation between seven retail operations that compete for the same customer but joined together to make an event happen for the greater good of the community.
As of Friday, November 2nd, Burlington has raised 31% of its $2,100,000 goal. Hamilton has reached 39% of its target. A lot more work to be done but when you get retail merchants working together the way this group did – the potential to not only reach but exceed the target is possible.
Who are these merchants and why did they do what they did?
 We can tell you who they are – best way to do that is to put their corporate logos in front of you – you’ll recognize them immediately.
While Fashion certainly pulls people into an event – getting rid of electronic equipment you don’t want or need is something that you might want to give some thought to as well. Not as sexy as fashion – but keeping electronic stuff out of landfills is more important than what you wear.
  November 24th, area electronic retailers will be accepting electronic equipment you don’t want or need anymore. In Best Burlington Buy on Brant Street will be taking in what you don’t want between 10:00 AM AND 4:00 PM.
 Later in the month the United Way leadership team will be holding a small event to recognize the contribution made by those food trucks – that was an astounding event. Maybe, just maybe the Gorilla Cheese truck will be open for business when the recognition event takes place. Those are great grilled cheese sandwiches.
Middle of December William Shatner of both Startrek and Boston Legal fame will be in Hamilton at the Copps Coliseum December 15th, for a show that will see funds going to the United Way campaign. There will be two performances – one at 2:00 pm and a second at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available through HECFI
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 6, 2012 — The environment, global warming – yeah, yeah, I know. Those icebergs that are falling apart way up north. And the hot summer – it all means something – at least that’s what they tell us…but then there are those who tell us it is just a phase the earth is going through.
I know there is something different about the weather – it was certainly hotter last spring and that false signal all the tender fruit trees got put a big dent in the fresh fruit market. But was that global warming or was it just a weird stretch of weather?
Sometime we need a big bold signal. And that was what Bloomberg’s Newsweek magazine said with its cover this week.
It was also a part of what Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig said recently about GO transit capacity and the crucn we are facing as the Region grows by 100,000 people each year. Then he made a statement that stunned me. He said “A full 70% of residents in the GHTA never use transit.”
GHTA means the Greater Hamilton Toronto Area. I checked with the GO press relations people to be sure that number was right. It was.
GO ridership has increased 21% over the past five years and at peak times is operating at 110% of capacity. McCuaig adds that “without at least doubling transit mode share, the average daily commute will jump from 82 to 109 minutes in 25 years. In rush hour, using the QEW to get to downtown Toronto the commute is easily 90 minutes. Being able to use the HOV lane cuts that quite a bit – but that lane is certainly not anywhere near its capacity.
After reading the McCuaig comments my mind went back to that Newsweek cover and suddenly the dots were connected. It is the environment – and we are stupid.
 Bloomerberg Newsweek magazine cover – has the point been made yet? The article in the magazine set out the point and the problem.
When mainline media take on an issue and use their ability to put up stunning graphics you know something is amiss.
New York magazine had a very strong visual showing New York city with part of it in close to total darkness while other parts of the city had power.
Parts of Burlington were without power for a period of time – not short to those who had no light and a fridge that would only keep its temperature for so long.
What does a single person do. If you’re one of the 70% in the GHTA who hasn’t taken transit – there is a simple step you can take.
 New York city. This is what it looks like when the lights go out in a major city. Global warming? If you live in Burlington and you don’t drive and you are attending a city council meting and want to take part in the debate as a delegation you want to hope that you are up early if the list is long. I have seen situations where d delegation has had to leave because if they did not they would miss their bus.
Last budget the city took thousands of dollars out of the transit side of the budget and used it to “shave and pave roads that were said to be in serious need of repair.
We close down bus routes and limit the schedule. And we continue to build communities where a car is essential.
It is global warming and we really can be stupid – this time our stupidity has the potential to make it impossible to live on this planet.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON November 6, 2012 The kids attending John Boich school won’t be affected but there are parents who are going to need to find a different way out of their community at Sutton Drive and Dundas the weekend of November 9th and 10th.
The Region is re-paving the intersection after extensive water main work at the intersection.
 Sutton Drive and Dundas Road intersection to be closed November 9 and 10 Sutton Drive in north Burlington will be closed at the Dundas Street intersection on Friday, November 9 at 7 p.m. until Saturday, November 10 at 7 p.m. as the intersection is repaved by Halton Region.
 The John Boich Public School hadn’t been built when this picture was taken – but it is very much a part of the community today. Boich passed away almost two years ago.
The intersection will be closed for the weekend of November 9/10 Paving work is being done overnight on a weekend to limit the disruption to local residents and John William Boich Public School. If the work is not completed, due to unforeseen circumstances, the same overnight closure will occur the following weekend on Friday, November 16 to Saturday, November 17.
The work is part of a larger water main installation project on Dundas Street (Regional Road 5), stretching from Appleby Line (Regional Road 20) to Bronte Road (Regional Road 25).
The project is part of Building a Better Halton, the Region’s infrastructure construction plan for roads, water, wastewater, and waste management projects across Halton Region.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON November 5, 2012 City hall staff were in a bit of a hurry on this one – they wanted to know what you thought of the current sign by-law and were looking for feedback as it prepares to review its sign bylaw regarding the use of banner-type signs throughout the city.
 Is this the kind of thing the city wants to change? The city’s current sign bylaw outlines the use of signs throughout the city, including guidelines regarding the colour, size, design and location of signs. It also limits the use of banner- type signs to charitable organizations only. These signs are considered incidental signs and do not require a permit.
“We have heard from the sign industry and local businesses that they would like to see some changes to the city’s current bylaw,” said Tracey Burrows, manager of bylaw enforcement and licensing. “We are looking at how these signs are being used on private property and the issues around size, location and the length of time the signs can be displayed.”
The City of Burlington is gathering input on possible amendments to the bylaw. An online survey is available on the city’s website www.burlington.ca/bylaws. People who don’t have Internet access that are interested in providing comments can call 905-335-7731 to complete the survey over the phone. The comments received from this questionnaire will be used to develop a recommendation to the city’s community development committee. Input and comments must be received before Nov. 5 to be included.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 1, 2012 You want to talk to someone at city hall; you know the department but you don’t know the full name of the person you want to speak to. Or you know their name but don’t know their phone number.
Learning who does what at Burlington city hall is a challenge – and that’s the way the city wants it. They don’t want you calling people, who are in meetings more often than not. Kim Phillips, a city general manager who oversees Budget and Corporate affairs wants to drive the public to the city web site, which if you haven’t noticed, hasn’t won any awards for ease of use.
 City General Manager Kim Phillips will handle the e-government file – is she a true believer in getting useful data into the hands of citizens or is she more concerned about cost containment and keeping her staff off the telephones? Phillips once said to a committee meeting that she didn’t want to see the city staff directory on the web site. Her preference is to drive traffic to the web site where citizens can learn what they want to know. Have you ever tried to navigate that web site? Have you ever tried to do a search for something? It’s easier to just call someone – they can usually give you a fast answer – if you can catch them at their desks.
City Manager Jeff Fielding thinks his staff hold far too many meetings and that the meetings they hold last far too long. And if you ever find yourself in a meeting with Fielding – don’t expect to be there very long. This guy wants you in and then he wants you out. Nice guy, friendly, very helpful but he isn’t there to talk about the weather.
 When you want to find someone in London, Ontario, former roosting spot for our city manager. It was easy to find any of the rascals. Don’t expect to be able to find the same level of access in Burlington. London does it quite a bit differently. Go to their web site and just pick out the staff directory from the city’s web site; it’s there on the main menu. Type in the name and you get the person, the title, the telephone and the local and which floor of the building they are on. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Burlington put in a new telephone system a while ago – it was chaos for more than a month. At one point the women at reception had to deal with three different telephone sets.
Any other corporation installing a new telephone system would never tolerate this level of service. Crews would arrive on the Friday to install everything and it would be fully operation on the next work day. For some reason the municipal world seems to be able to get away with this kind of really sloppy service.
It is not all doom and gloom. There are services that are fully electronic – and they work very well. Just not enough of them. One that we found to be excellent, was getting an on-street parking permit while the drive way was being paved. Went on line at 2:00 am, (insomnia) and it was a breeze. The only hitch was that it wanted the second part of the Street name (Ie: Drive, Avenue, Crescent) which wasn’t immediately evident to me. After that I just typed in the data and got a document to put on the dash board. These permits allow you up to 15 days a year of on street parking at night. The document you get tells you how many days you have left. That’s service, which perhaps makes Kim Phillips’ point – drive them to the web site. Fine – but deliver top level service so that I don’t have to phone anyone.
City Manager Jeff Fielding was very recently awarded the first ever Local Government Program Alumni Society Award of Excellence. There just might be some bright days ahead for Burlington taxpayers.
Hope they are working hard on making it real easy to vote on line. No more election night lineups – easier to get rid of the rascals.
The City is providing adequate online service delivery in comparison to other municipalities, but needs to evolve its model to remove the risk of falling behind. The e-Government Strategy proposes that Burlington be positioned as a Digital City – a city that uses technology to its full potential and fully engages the community in delivering excellent, innovative and efficient customer service. This innovative model will provide Burlington a competitive advantage for attracting knowledge and technology based business and community initiatives.
The city`s e-Government Strategy presents four strategic cornerstones for successful delivery of an effective e-Government program:
1. Build a Customer First Service Delivery model. Design and build programs and services in a truly customer first way.
2. Build a Customer Centric Technology Architecture. Build a core foundation based on new and enhanced portal
technologies that deliver more robust, flexible and updated functionality and provide integration to a Customer Relationship Management system.
3. Prioritize an Internet First model, while supporting channel choice. Design services so that the Internet is the primary service channel over other costly channels, while supporting and enabling delivery through conventional channels.
4. Embrace Open Government, Citizen Engagement and Government 2.0. Embrace Open Government and Open Data initiatives to encourage participation, interaction and transparency. The strategy requires an investment of approximately $2 million in technology and resources over the next three years. This will build the technology platform to power the e-Government and online service programs for the future.
There a lot of those buzz words bureaucrats like to use. But the essence is that they want you to go to the web site and get your water from that tap and don`t come into the kitchen with your cup in hand. It costs the city too much to provide the number of staff needed to answer all the questions.
That`s good cost containment talk but it doesn`t do much for the citizen wanting information. Burlington has a population that is aging and at the same time there are sections of the city with young families and parents on the go with smart phones in their hands far too often – even as they drive. Dumb.
 Christrine Iamonaco, on the right, was brought in to develop a Citizen’s Engagement Charter for the city – her document goes to a Council Committee this month – don’t expect it to be smooth sailing. Much of that spending on e-government got the chop in the 2012 Budget – the civic administration wasn’t really ready, and at the time they weren‘t effectively staffed up. A former IT type who did one round of changes on the city web site found greener grass at the federal level and moved on. Cuts at the federal level brought him back to Burlington.
This file gets back to the committee – let`s see what we can get done this time around.
The Citizen`s engagement Charter comes up at about the same time. Some had hoped that e-government, a process that would make tons of data available and result in a citizenry that had everything they needed to work with city hall to advance their fondest hopes and dream, gets to put its best effort on the table as well. We will keep you up to date on how that one goes.
 Will the zeal that he had in his early days as part of the Shape Burlington committee still be there when the Citizens Engagement Charter gets put before council?  Councillor Blair Lancaster was an original member of the Shape Burlington Committee; left to run for public office. Will we see any serious commitment to the concept of citizens having strong rights and access to the information they want? Is Lancaster positioning herself for a shot at the top job when Goldring decides to retire? Many of the people who were heavily involved in the development of the document think it is too long – will real life get breathed into it before the end of the year? Don`t hold your breath. City Council as a group isn’t feeling all warm and fuzzy about the idea of an Engagement Charter – most went along with it as a motherhood and apple pie issue – they didn’t know how to say no to what the Share Burlington report was recommending.
The two council members who were members of the original Shape Burlington committee that produced the report went on to bigger and better things and now sit on city council where they will determine the fate of the Charter that is being put forward.
It will be interesting to see how Councillors Lancaster and Sharman stick handle this one.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 5, 2012 There was a banquet recently at which awards were given out by the Automotive Journalists of Canada association. Burlington`s Lorraine Sommerfeld always wins an award for something – there`s that sense of entitlement she has to which you have to add that she is really pretty good. Damn good actually.
She brings to her columns as an automotive writer a sparkle, a sharp wit and more technical knowledge than some of the guys over at Canadian Tire.
We first met Sommerfeld at a Shape Burlington community event and then got to know her a bit better when we realized she and her boys were a part of the Boich family and was a best friend supporter to Arlene Miller, the late John Boich`s wife. She`s the kind of person that is `there ‘when you need her. During some of the darker days at the Boich household Sommerfeld would show up with a car that only a high maintenance wife would get to drive around and she and Arlene would head up into the Escarpment to give Arlene a sense of what it meant to really own the road.
A couple of weeks ago was – well let her tell the full story. “Last night was the AJAC banquet, where they name annual winners in the automotive journalism world. There are 5 writing categories, one photography one and one layout. I won a writing one. I really wanted to win one for my picture of the red car with the stork thing, but, they were having none of that, apparently.
“Wakefield/Castrol offers an award in Technical Topics. I submitted several of my pieces and one of them won.. It was a column of mine that has a Ferris Bueller quote in it. And the word ‘penis’.
“The problem was, I was at a table chatting away with friends, and we weren’t paying attention. Then they said my name. And we all started laughing. I finally got up and prayed I wouldn’t catch my heel on the table cloth or something, and was giggling like an idiot. After I sat down, I decided to look and see what I’d won, because of that not paying attention thing. When I read ‘technical topics’ I realized why the room had gotten so quiet. I got told later even my editor looked shocked. And my other editor told people it was because of the headline I won. He writes the headlines.
 Lorraine Sommerfeld, learning to dance. she’s normally in a pair of jeans and behind the wheel of a car Sommerfeld can be found in the Globe and Mail, the Spectator and on Rogers Cable. Maybe she will write for Our Burlington? She never offered to take me for a spin in one of those really fancy cars she gets to drive as an automotive journalist.
That`s Lorraine Sommerfeld – oh, she dances too.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON November 4, 2012 November sort of seems like a lead up to the coming holiday season. The time is busier; work makes more demands of us and our social lives get busier. Life around us is more active; there is so much more to do. That lazy summer weekend seems so long ago.
 It’s a small, independent bookstore that has been in business for more than forty years and continues to draw top level authors. Burlington is one of the few Canadians cities that consistently offers these events. We human being seems to go through these cycles and our friends over at the Different Drummer are adding to the mix of all the things we can do, want to do and would like to do.
Ian Elliott, proprietor at the bookstore on Locust Street has put together a November program you are going to want to take part in.
Globe and Mail writer Doug Saunders, will talk about his new title, The Myth of the Muslim Tide: Do Immigrants Threaten the West? at the Burlington Public Library on New Street Monday, November 19th at 7:00 pm – tickets $10.
Very few Canadians understand the change that is taking place in our society with the immigration influx. Will these new people change our core values; what will they bring to Canada that we don’t already have? It is time for more Canadians to begin to understand what these new Canadians offer – more than you may realize.
 A broadcasting career that ran for more than 40 years during which tens of million Canadians learned what had gone on during the day. Lloyd Robertson was the most popular news anchor of his time. On Monday, November 26th at 7:00 pm Lloyd Robertson, former news anchor with CTV News, and many may not know, a onetime lead broadcaster with CBC will be at Royal Botanical Gardens 680 Plains Road West Burlington, 7:00 pm to talk about his illustrious career as a news anchor and reflect upon his six decades as a journalist. The Kind of Life It’s Been is a personal look at a career we all watched take place. Robertson will offer wonderful insights and some laughs as well. Tickets to the event are $10. The event is being sponsored by A Different Drummer and Bryan Prince, Bookseller.
Clair Carver Dias will be at the Different Drummer Sunday, November 11th at 2:00 pm. An Olympic medal winner Dias will talk about her novel; a riveting chronicle of six athletes staking everything and battling personal and professional odds for the ultimate goal – a chance to compete at The Games. Ian Elliott tells us that Dias is an accomplished writer, a superlative speaker and wonderful company.
 Dr. Neil Turok will deliver the CBC Massey Lecture for 2012. He will be speaking at the McMaster University Club. Neil Turok, the person giving the Massey Lecture this year, at the McMaster University Club, 1280 Main Street West, in Hamilton on November 27th; 7:00 pm. Tickets are $10. The Massey subject this year is : The Universe Within: From Quantum to Cosmos. Turok, Director of the Perimeter Institute, presents a vision of the future based on the workings of the human mind.
This is pretty heavily stuff but highly relevant – tickets will go quickly. The event is being put on by A Different Drummer in partnership with Bryan Prince Bookseller and House of Anansi Press.
All the speakers are informed, highly engaging and well worth the time. A Different Drummer Bookstore.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 5, 2012 With less than a year under his belt as city manager, Jeff Fielding gets a call from his old stomping ground and is told he is the recipient of the first ever award given by the Local Government Alumni Society at Western University to a civil servant for excellence in his field.
The award was announced at the annual conference held at Museum London. Fielding, served as City Manager for the City of London from 2004-2012, was honoured for his 30 years of significant contributions to municipal administration.
 City Manager Jeff Fielding has been at his desk for close to a year now and has figured out who the performers are and who isn’t pulling their weight. He recently admitted to council that he is understaffed at the top levels but has yet to find the person he is looking for to fill the third General Manager position that is waiting to be filled. Fielding would rather go with too few people than find himself with people are aren’t going to deliver. Refreshing. The Local Government Program Alumni Society Award of Excellence was established to honour and recognize an individual who inspires others and demonstrates public service excellence. The award is presented each fall at the Local Government Program Alumni Society conference.
In presenting the award, Jody Johnson, Local Government Program Alumni Society President said: ” Jeff is a leader who has consistently demonstrated public service excellence through his longstanding commitment to improve the quality of life for all citizens,”
Fielding said the usual obligatory remarks in his response when he was given the award: “I am honoured to be the first recipient of the Award of Excellence from Western University’s Local Government Program Alumni Society. I consider being a public servant a privilege, and I thank the alumni society for this recognition”.
But behind those words is a tightly focused manager who expects nothing but excellence from those he leads. When he arrived in Burlington he took up the vacant city manager office on the eighth floor of city hall but soon moved down to the sixth floor where the two city managers and other members of their team work. Being around the corner from the Mayor on the eighth floor was not the way Fielding was going to lead his team – he was going to be right in the thick of it with them.
 City Manager Jeff Fielding on the lift with General Managers Kim Phillips and Scott Stewart. Fielding moved from the floor he used to share with the Mayor to the floor in city hall where his General Managers keep the city running. Being with them isn’t enough for him though; he leads by example; he expects to make mistakes and when he does (and he has made a few) he apologizes and learns from his mistakes. He expects the same of his staff.
Fielding managed to squirrel away $80,000 for staff training that will be delivered through a curriculum being prepared by the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University on the south Service Road in Burlington. The classes are for staff from Supervisor level up – and they are mandatory – and don’t fail the course.
“The Local Government Program Alumni Society is one of Western’s most influential and active alumni groups. The establishment of an award of excellence for both alumni and non-alumni is another example of their leadership in recognizing and honouring great public service throughout Canada”, said Josh Morgan, Recruitment and Development Officer, Western University.
Mayor Goldring said: “We are fortunate at the City of Burlington to have someone like Jeff Fielding who is wholly committed to excellence in public service. Western University’s Local Government Program Alumni Society clearly recognizes Jeff’s contributions to inspiring those around him and creating an environment of innovation”. That demand for excellence applies not just to the staff Fielding leads but the council that serves as his board.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON November 2, 2012 Many of us are still cleaning up after the hurricane that devastated large parts of the American eastern seaboard. The wild winds that blew through Burlington brought down whole trees and a lot of twigs and branches as well – those branches CANNOT be added to the piles of leaves the city will be picking up.
 Twigs and branches cannot be part of the fall leaves pick up. They have to be bundled separately.  Cathy Robertson who runs the Parks and Recreation Maintenance program for the city and tells everyone that the branches that came down during the wind storm CANNOT be put out with leaves the city is collecting. Cathy Robertson, director of roads and parks maintenance explains that: “The equipment we use to collect loose leaves is not capable of managing sticks and branches.”
“If there is anything other than leaves in the leaf piles, the operator will have no choice but to leave the piles behind.”
The city collects loose leaf piles, the Region manages the yard waste paper bag program in Burlington.
In urban Burlington, the Region will pick up branches and twigs during standard yard waste collection every other week until Dec. 14, 2012. Brush must be tied in bundles no larger than 1.2 m x 0.6 m (4 ft x 2 ft) wide, with branches a maximum of 7.5 cm (3 inches in diameter).
In rural areas of Burlington, branches and twigs may be brought to the Halton Waste Management Site. Standard fees apply. Visit https://halton.ca/cms/One.aspx?portalId=8310&pageId=12662 for more information.
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