 By Pepper Parr
May 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Part 2 of a multi-part series
 The park is close to massive in scale – at least for Burlington. City View Park is probably smaller. It will be a collection of destinations – most of which the public knows nothing. The Beachway Park Master Plan is essentially five different parks all rolled into one. It begins at the western edge of Spencer Smith Park and ends at the canal.
Its development has been controversial. That part of Burlington was once a thriving, albeit a bit of a down at the heels community
 1032 Lakeshore Rd. ; a cottage demolished in 1994  1174 Lakeshore Rd.; a cottage demolished in 1992.  Beachway house located at what was once 1066 Lakeshore. It too has been demolished. There have been Master Plans for the Beachway as far back as the early 70’s. The current plan is looking at a different reality: the population of the Region is going to increase significantly and the Region wants and needs additional park space – not necessarily for the people of Burlington.
The squabble over the thirty some odd homes that are still in the Beachway park – and these are no longer cottages that look like they need a little work – will work itself out. Expect it to cost the Region quite a bit more than they budgeted for property acquisition.
In part 1 of this series we took a closer look at the first part of the Beachway Park – the Living Shoreline which begins at about where the Joseph Brant Museum stands.
 The Strand part of the planned Beachway Park will be where most of the aquatic activity takes place. It is also the point at which Lakeshore as it exists now will end and shift to the north. To the west is what will be called The Strand. It will be the part of the park where most of the aquatic activity takes place.
It is also the part of the park that will pay homage to the native life that was prevalent when Joseph Brant was given the property and for many years before that.
Several of the War of 1812 battles took place just off the shore line. That part of Burlington reeks with history and the intention appears to be to capture as much of that history as possible and display it in this part of the park.
There will be three parking lots – one will hold 67 cars, the next 78 cars and the third 106 cars. None of these parking lots will be in places where there was housing.
This will be the main swimming area, there will be ramps for non-motorized boats. The Catamaran Club will be in this area; the Pump House is within this area, and there will be a rental building in the area. The water sewage treatment plant will be on the other side of Lakeshore Road screened by large cedar trees.
The Pavilion, which hopefully gets a major upgrade, will also be in this part of the park.
It is as this point in the park that the Lakeshore Road in place now, takes a close to 90 degree turn to the right and begins to align with the QEW.
 The blue squares indicate properties the park planners have said they must have if they are to complete the planned development. It is these homeowners who are most threatened. This is where what were some of what were described during the public meeting as “priority houses” are located.
The area will be populated with play areas, exercise areas, space for Food Trucks, the large outdoor fireplace that has the potential to become a significant focal point will be in The Strand. The fireplace will be fed by a gas line.
 Some parts of |Lakeshore will have parking space – others will not have any room for cars. Shuttle buses will be used to move people from parking lots to different parts of the park. Shown here are two proposed road alignments – one with parking, one without.  The intention appears to be to keep some of the quiet trail areas – maintaining this feature will depend on how much pedestrian traffic there is. The Waterfront Trail will continue through this area. There will be spaces that are created for parking and spaces that have nothing but trees and other vegetation
Moving west there is Wind Beach which will extend right up to the canal and include much better use of the canal area – park benches and perhaps some lighting.
There will be a number of interpretive centres and a Dune Boardwalk.
 The Wind Beach – a part of the Beachway that the public doesn’t get to very much – will undergo the most significant change and incorporate the canal area The Waterfront Trail will extend and curve to Eastport Drive, go under Eastport and on to the federal pier area. This part of the lakefront does not see much in the way of traffic now – that will change.
Lakeshore Road which will no longer come through the middle of the park – but will have been shifted to the north and closer to the QEW – opening up what was the road to recreational uses.
All of the homes in this part of the Beachway will have to be taken out for this to happen. What is currently known as Lakeshore Court looks as if it is going to disappear.
Is the battle over what is going to happen to the 29 homes over? Three have been sold in the past year – two were Estate sales.
Will most of them still be there ten years from now?
Is there a time line for the development of the park?
Is there an approved budget?
Related article:
Part 1 of a multi-part series.
 By Pepper Parr
May 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Mayor is not in his office this week.
He is out of the country along with Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster taking part in the celebration of Canadian troops liberating Holland seventy years ago.
 When the announcement was made at a council meeting it was done very quietly. They Mayor wasn’t sneaky about it – he was just unusually quiet. Municipal politicians in Ontario were once infamous for the junkets they took at taxpayer expense.
Ever since those glory days politicians have been very, very quiet about their trips out of the country.
There was no media release about the trip. For a Mayor who rarely gives up a photo opportunity there was no picture of the group that left for Apeldoorn heading for the airport.
Nothing in City talk magazine about the trip – but there was a notation of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding that led to the twinning of Burlington and Apeldoorn.
 The citizens of Holland crowded the streets of the cities and town when the Canadian army came through seventy years ago. Some of those people immigrated to Burlington and made us a bigger and better city. Burlington has a very engaged Dutch community that has served the city well. Our twinning with Apeldoorn is something to be proud of as is our twinning with Itabashi in Japan.
It would be just be nice if the Mayor’s office would be consistent in his understanding of what transparency actually means.
There was no mention of who from the Dutch community took part in the trip nor was there any mention of the senior staff members who are along for the ride.
Nothing wrong with the trip – Canadians are amongst the most welcome people in Holland – they have never forgotten what our troops did for them. It is fitting that a city that has been twinned is there to be part of the celebration – just be open about it.
And publish the expenses soon after you return.
 By Pepper Parr
May 3, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Part 1 of a multi-part series
There is still a lot of wind in the sails that drive the arguments about what should be done with the homes in the Beachway. While the current Council seems content to let things continue with the policy of having the Region getting possession of the properties on a willing buyer/willing seller basis – when it is patently obvious that there is just the one buyer – it is going to be sometime before the public sees any actual park construction taking place.
 It was a public Meeting to show off a new park for the Beachway – it got high-jacked by the people who live in the homes that have to be torn down to make the park possible. From a policy perspective – not much is going to happen until funding for the park is in place. That may not happen before the end of this term of Council. There is some work that can be done before the completion of the hospital in 2018. The rebuild of Lakeshore Road won’t get started until the hospital is close to ready to take patients.
The park design itself isn’t something the public, for the most part, knows very much about. City hall has done a terrible job of informing people.
There were a little over 75 people at the presentation, Cogeco had a camera in the room and there were more than 15 staff members from the Region and the city telling everyone how wonderful this was.
The Gazette obtained a copy of the presentation that was made before maybe 80 people earlier this month. Unfortunately most of the time that evening was taken up with what is going to happen to the homes. The actual park design didn’t get the intention it deserved.
We set out below a number of the illustrations to give the public a better sense of what the city and the Region have in mind.
 Anne McIlroy,the planner who led the team that designed the proposed park and Stirling Todd, the Regional Planner overseeing the development of the park for the Region. The design was prepared by Anne McIlroy and Associates, a Toronto firm that has done a lot of work for the city in the past. They were the firm that headed up the Character Studies for the Indian Point community, Roseland (that one is still working its way towards a conclusion) and a third study that will be done on the Shoreacres community.
The people who attended the public meeting on the Beachway park design were taken through a good presentation.
The presentation started out by explaining that the “The Burlington Beach Regional Waterfront Park is an extraordinary resource in the Region and the city, and a major source of pride that contributes significantly to the identity and culture of downtown Burlington.”
And if the park every gets built and look anything like the plans the public was shown – it will be extraordinary. But they are not there yet.
“It is an inviting and publicly accessible waterfront park” explained Anne McIlroy, “that supports a range of recreational, educational, cultural and tourist opportunities, while respecting its environmentally sensitive and complex ecosystem. New and enhanced park uses, activities and facilities will be carefully balanced with the need to protect and preserve and restore the unique natural beach and dune features.”
She added: “Improvements to Lakeshore Road and the Waterfront Trail will enhance connections to the broader community and support healthy living through the promotion of active transportation.”
Active transportation is a stretch – getting people in and out of the park will be a challenge. Shuttle buses are proposed and that is part of the solution – where the cars that brought people to the shuttle bus embankment point will park is not set out in the plan.
Enough of the complaints and concerns: Let take a close up look at the plan and you decide what you think.
What was once a vibrant but run down at the heels community that had houses yards from the railway line that once rant along the edge of the lake is to become a Regional Park with five distinct areas. If it ever gets built Burlington will become a significant destination for people who want to spend time near the water – another Wasaga Beach? The vision starts at Spencer Smith Park in the east and includes some changes to that park as well.
 There are really six different parks rolled into one park that people can move through freely.
The Master Plan has six areas. Working from the west there is the Skyway, Wind Beach and The Commons.
Then there is the Strand which is where most of the water based activity will take place. Working east there is the Living Shoreline that will focus on protecting the environmentally sensitive parts of the Beachway and then Spencer Smith Park itself
 The typology of the land lakeside of Lakeshore Road is environmentally sensitive with plant life that doesn’t exists anywhere else. It is also a dynamic beach whose sands shift over time. The park planners have put together a design that allows for a secure future of the different typologies. The typologies of the Beach are environmentally critical and the park designers were adamant in their desire to protect what nature has given us. Unfortunately there was little opportunity for McIlroy or her team to get that point across. The mood in the room, set by those who stand to lose their homes, was about their housing.
McIlroy took the position that the Beachway is a flood plain and the sand dunes are constantly shifting and have to be protected. Her mandate did not include the homes – from her point of view all she was concerned about was what she described as “priority properties” land that had to be obtained if the park was the work.
The view at the Region has been – that decision has been made. City council is going along with that decision.
A closer look at the different Master Plan areas:
 The Living Shoreline is the park the public is likely to experience first. It is passive in nature and will feature a boardwalk and a launch area for non-motorized boats. The Living Shoreline begins basically where Spencer Smith Park ends and where Lakeshore Road gets widened. The Joseph Brant Museum rests on one side of the road with the significantly upgraded shore beginning on the other side of the road.
 The sloped land leading to the waters edge is environmentally fragile. work will have to be done to protect this part of the park. The graphic of the Living Shoreline shows a boardwalk built in this area. There will be a significant stretch of new boardwalk built; a shuttle bus stop, ten parking spaces, a multi-use shelter and a non-motorized Boat Launch area.
 It will be a gas fed fireplace – Joseph Brant will shudder the first time they light it – but the feature has the potential to add to the sense of outdoors and native meeting places. It is on land Brant himself would have walked upon. There is nothing to stop the development of this part of the park. The planners might decide to wait until the construction of the hospital is complete before making the Boardwalk available to the public. The reconstruction of Lakeshore Road may delay development – the biggest impediment is that at the point in time there is no budget for any work.
This is not the first design that has been created for the Beachway Park. There are plans that go back as far as the ’70’s – all the others went nowhere. It will be sometime before any park construction begins – the hospital has to be completed and the issue of the homes that are now in place has to be resolved. Lots of active, noisy public meetings ahead of us.
 The early design plans call for additions to Spencer Smith Park where it will merge into the Beachway Park. This shade structure will allow for seating at Pebble Beach, one the locale for one of the jumpingist (it could be a word) jazz joints this side of Montreal.
 By Staff
May 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Every once in a while a police officer does something that is out of the police box and certainly not in the rule book.
That has happened in Burlington’s police station where D/Constabe Bulbrook came up with an idea that was used when he was with the Toronto Police Service. Bulbrook worked in Toronto from 2006 until 2013 when he joined the Halton Regional Police Service.
“We used to have a Wanted Wednesday program and I got the idea of turning that into a Fugitive Friday – an occasion when we would use the media to get out the word on people the police wanted to catch.
 The Halton Regional Police, Burlington station is launching a new initiative to help locate wanted persons and hold them accountable for their actions.
Al Albano, Superintend for the Burlington Station, took to the idea and the first Friday Fugitive story was published last week. Somehow the Gazette missed that media release – the police haven’t nabbed their man yet – so we have told that story below.
The second Friday special hasn’t been caught yet – but according to D/Constable Bulbrook “these things take time. If we get the pictures out there – people just might be able to tell us something.”
There are numerous people who continue to evade the police and the court system and continue to live out in our communities while having a warrant for their arrest in place.
Every Friday, the Burlington Offender Management Unit will share information on a wanted person in hopes that the public can assist in locating the individual.
The first Fugitive Friday poster boy the Halton Regional Police are looking for is:
Raymond Lloyd FRENCH, 45 years from Brampton
 Raymond Lloyd FRENCH – featured as Burlington’s first Friday Fugitive. In May 2010, FRENCH stole $15,000.00 in cash from an elderly female’s home in Burlington. The accused pled guilty to this crime and was ordered to pay restitution to the victim. The accused has neglected to pay restitution and has breached his probation order.
The accused is wanted for Fail to comply with probation x 3, and is known to frequent the Halton, Brampton and Haliburton areas.
Description:
5’10, 280lbs, grey hair and hazel eyes.
Anyone with information on the accused’s whereabouts or have information that would assist investigators in identifying him are encouraged to contact Detective Constable Bulbrook – Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau – Offender Management Team at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2305 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com, or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
The policed are sharing “Fugitive Friday” information on their website and via social media through Twitter @HRPSBurl and @HaltonPolice.
The Gazette of course will send you the latest every Friday.
By Staff
May 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service is investigating several night time break and enter incidents at three units of a townhouse complex on Glendor Avenue in the City of Burlington.
During the early hours on May 2nd, 2015, an adult male entered a townhouse unit through an unlocked window. Once inside the male stole movies, electronic gaming console and games.
A second incident occurred when the male culprit then entered another townhouse unit through an unlocked sliding door. The male went to a bedroom where an adult female was sleeping. The male began to touch the female as she slept. When the female was awakened and yelled and the male culprit fled the residence.
A third incident occurred when the male culprit then entered into another townhouse unit through an unlocked sliding door. The male stole packages of cigarettes and prescription medication. The male then entered a bedroom and began to touch an adult female while she slept. The female awakened and yelled at the male culprit and he once again fled the residence.
The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) were notified of these incidents and responded to the area, located and arrested the male culprit in the area of the townhouse complex.
The investigation was continued by the HRPS Sexual Assault and Child Abuse bureau in conjunction with the Burlington Criminal Investigations bureau. No victims were hurt during these incidents but they were alarmed at having an intruder in their residence.
Arrested and held for a bail hearing is:
Serage ARBAD (21 years) of Burlington
Charges:
• Sexual Assault (two counts)
• Break and Enter (three counts)
Police remind people to ensure their windows and doors are properly secured especially during the warmer seasons as this is a desired point of entry for culprits to commit a break and enter.
Anyone who may have witnessed this suspect in the area or has information that would assist in this investigation is asked to call the HRPS Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit at 905-825 4747 ext. 8970 or the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825 4747 ext. 2315 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800 222 8477 (TIPS), or through the internet at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com, or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
Halton’s Emergency responders kick off Emergency Preparedness Week at First Responder’s Day celebration
 By Staff
May 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The only time an emergency matters – is when that emergency is on your doorstep – and far too often that is just a little too late.
Being prepared – without getting bent out of shape is what the Region is promoting with the emergency responders events planned for the celebration of First Responder’s Day and kick off the 2015 Emergency Preparedness (EP) Week -May 3 to 9.
This year’s Emergency Preparedness Week theme is: I am Ready. We are Ready.
 Back row (left to right): Firefighter Kevin Dudek, Captain Trevor Edmond, Firefighter Mano Kruger, Firefighter Alex Shipley, Halton Regional Police Chief Stephen Tanner, Halton Paramedic Services Deputy Chief Christine Barber, Oakville Fire Department Deputy Chief Brian Durdin, Regional Chair, Gary Carr Front Row (from left to right): Zerezghi Haile, Raine Montgomery (age 9), Andrea Montgomery, Jayden Montgomery (age 7), Don Goshgarian “Community safety remains a top priority for Halton Region and I would like thank all of Halton’s first responders for their ongoing efforts and for helping to keep Halton the safest community in Canada,” said Regional Chair, Gary Carr.
“This year’s Emergency Preparedness Week theme serves as a great reminder that emergency preparedness is everyone’s responsibility. I ask all our residents to reach out to others who may be vulnerable or unable to support themselves during an emergency, including family, friends and neighbours.”
Reaching out to others means knowing your neighbours and letting them know about you.
The Province of Ontario designated May 1 as First Responders’ Day to celebrate the sacrifices and hard work of First Responders who have devoted their lives to public service. Emergency Preparedness Week is a national awareness initiative that encourages residents to take steps to be prepared for a range of emergencies. It aims to raise awareness of the three key steps to being prepared for an emergency:
Step 1: Know the hazards and risks in your area;
Step 2: Make a plan to protect your family in the event of an emergency; and
Step 3: Get an Emergency Go-Kit so that you and your family are self-sufficient for at least 72 hours.
Do you think that you could survive for 72 hours in the home you live in now? Do you have what you need? Think what would happen if you were suddenly told that you could not leave your home for the next three days due to some catastrophe?
For more information on instructions and what should be included in the emergency kits you should have. You do have one – don’t you?
In photo
Back row (left to right): Firefighter Kevin Dudek, Captain Trevor Edmond, Firefighter Mano Kruger, Firefighter Alex Shipley, Halton Regional Police Chief Stephen Tanner, Halton Paramedic Services Deputy Chief Christine Barber, Oakville Fire Department Deputy Chief Brian Durdin, Regional Chair, Gary Carr
Front Row (from left to right): Zerezghi Haile, Raine Montgomery (age 9), Andrea Montgomery, Jayden Montgomery (age 7), Don Goshgarian
 By Staff
May 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
It will be the weekend when the gardeners go nut2 – the 23rd and 24th of May. They will be flooding the gardening stores and working away in their gardens – and if there is a parent that is a gardener the kids are going to have to fend for themselves.
 The kids like getting up close to this kind of heavy equipment. It’s an inexpensive day out for a family. How about getting out and Touching a-Truck? Each year the city holds a celebration for National Public Works Week – public works people are the men and women who fix the pot holes, shovel the snow and clean the catch basins – the unsung heroes who keep the wheels of the city going around.
 Anyone who has nothing better to do is invited to the city’s roads and park maintenance facility to get an up-close look at a variety of city vehicles.
At the Touch-a-Truck event, families are invited to:
– Get close to city vehicles, including a fire truck, street sweeper, and
snowplow
– Sit in a backhoe simulator to experience what it’s like to be a driver
– Enjoy a free barbeque (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.)
So come on out to this year’s Touch-a-Truck event and get a unique look into our city vehicles. Saturday,
May 23, join the City of Burlington for the third annual Touch a truck event
11:00 AM – 02:00 PM
Location:
Burlington Roads and Parks Maintenance Facility
3330 Harvester Road
Burlington, Ontario, L7N 3M8
By Staff
May 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington is the kind of community where many of the commercial organizations look for a way to give something back to their community. There are hundreds of examples of this kind of thing happening all the time.
Recently an organization, Food4Kids, that works at making sure kids who come from homes that just plain need help spoke to city council explaining what they do – they ensure that kids always have a lunch when they go to school. The Gazette did a piece on this organization a couple of months ago.
Somehow Food4Kids found the Keller Williams Edge Realty, Brokerage or maybe it was the other way around – whichever the real estate company decided their annual RED Day will be spent organizing a city-wide Food Drive in support of Food4Kids, Compassion Society of Halton, Reach Out Centre For Kids (ROCK) and Partnership West Food Bank.
 How would real estate agents run a food drive?
To generate as many donations as possible, Keller Williams associates will be canvassing area homes on the days leading up to RED Day and will return to Burlington neighborhoods on RED Day (May 14) to personally pick up non-perishable food items and toiletries, which are requested to be left on front porches by 9am
RED Day, which stands for Renew, Energize and Donate, is Keller Williams Realty’s annual day of service. Each year on the second Thursday of May, Keller Williams associates across the globe spend the day away from their businesses serving worthy organizations and causes in their communities.
This year, it is the seventh year they have held A RED DAY program, their focus is on hunger and food insecurity.
Donations can also be dropped off from May 11-14 at the Keller Williams office at 3027 Harvester Road, between 9am-7pm, and at the Royal Bank branches at Walkers Line/New Street and Appleby Line/Dundas Street during their regular business hours.
By Staff
May 1, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The smart catchy phrases are usually created by advertisers – people wanting to sell you toothpaste or laundry soap that gets things whiter than white.
Halton’s Regional Police Service appears to have brought in someone with a flair for words – not something the police are noted for by the way.
It’s Fugitive Friday, Please Help Us Find Curtis Komp” announced the headline on the media release.
This is going to be a tough week for Mr. Komp – the police provided a picture.
The “Fugitive Friday” initiative is how the HRPS are reaching out to the public to help locate wanted persons and hold them accountable for their actions.
There are numerous people who continue to evade the police and the court system and continue to live out in our communities while having a warrant for their arrest in place.
Every Friday, the Burlington Offender Management Unit will share information on a wanted person in hopes that the public can assist in locating the individual.
It will be interesting to see how this works:
Regional Police are looking for: Curtis Henry KOMP , 50 years old, of Hamilton.
It is alleged:
In July, 2014, the accused attended several residences of seniors in the City of Burlington posing as a police officer or firefighter, in attempts to collect money/donations on behalf of several charitable organizations that support causes such as; Easter Seals, Autism and Cerebral Palsy
– The accused was located and arrested near the residence of one of the victims, in possession of several pledge sheets as well as pamphlets to various charities
– The accused was already on a Probation order for similar offences committed in Hamilton
– The accused was released on a Recognizance and was required to attend court in March of 2015 at which time he failed to attend
 Is this the look of a worried man? The police have made Curtis Henry Komp their featured Friday Fugitive. Curtis Henry KOMP is wanted for:
Fraud under $5000 (5 counts)
Fail to Comply Probation (2 counts)
False Representation
Fail to Re-Attend Court
The accused is also wanted by Hamilton Police Service for Fail to Comply Probation
Description:
He is described as 6’2”, 230lbs, with brown greying hair and blue eyes. The accused has numerous tattoos including a (Sun-Moon w/face) on the right side of his neck and an Oriental symbol on the left side of his neck. KOMP is known to frequent Hamilton, Burlington, Toronto and Ottawa.
Anyone with information on the accused’s whereabouts or have information that would assist investigators in identifying him are encouraged to contact Detective Constable Bulbrook – Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau – Offender Management Team at 905-825-4747 Ext. 2305 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com, or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
 By Ray Rivers
May 1, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Was Dr. Benjamin Spock the father of us all? His ‘Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care,’ published simultaneously with the birth of the first postwar baby boomers, set the path for child development for my generation and, at least, for the one that followed. Spock held that sex-education, including its spiritual aspects, should be part of a broad health and moral education, from kindergarten through the end of high school, ideally carried out harmoniously by parents and teachers.
 Isn’t that exactly what the updated provincial sex-ed curriculum is trying to do? Spock has his detractors but there have been scores of pedagogical disciples who mostly followed in his footsteps and adhered to his general principles. And after a couple of generations it is hard to criticize what we have grown to know and appreciate.
Of course the ‘spare-the-rod’ clan, and those newer-Canadians who were steeped in a traditional authoritarian family cult, object to what they see as the self-actualizing child. They consider sex-education, any of it, an insult and a case of the state interfering in their personal lives. Some hold, and others worry, that what they call ‘juvenile permissiveness’ will lead to a more violent and sexually perverted society, even if the numbers don’t support that linkage.
But the elephant-in-the-room is whether sex-education encourages sex? Spock and his disciples argue that the more children learn about sexuality from authoritative sources (parents, teachers, accurate literature), the less they will feel compelled to find out for themselves. We’re talking about where they get their facts (friends, violent movies, the internet, sexting or worse).
G. W. Bush ushered in an era in US education where sex-education became nothing more than preaching abstinence. A decade later, the results have been shown to be dismal, at best. In the US there are 750,000 teen pregnancies each year, 82% unintended, and almost 60% percent of these result in children bearing children. The rest of the teen pregnancies are either aborted or were miscarried. And then there are the sexually transmitted diseases.
Obama overturned Bush’s failed initiative, and now the US only funds programs which have been proven effective at reducing teen pregnancy, delaying sexual activity, or increasing contraceptive use. Abstinence, no doubt, remains a topic of discussion within these comprehensive sex-education programs, but their primary purpose is to prevent negative sexual health outcomes.
Ontario’s new sex-education curriculum is to be implemented starting this September, which will land it just in time for the expected federal election this autumn. Some pundits have speculated that this might be a factor among voters who are unable to distinguish between federal and provincial policies and responsibilities.
 For many parents talking about sex is just not something they can do – a classroom can provide the information young people need – we cheat them if we fail to inform them. I recall canvassing, when I ran provincially in Burlington, and being accosted by voters angry over the implementation of the federal long-gun registry at that time. So that should be a consideration for the Liberal leaders. Though, the push-back on the curriculum is coming mainly from the religious-right, who identify mainly with the Conservative party anyway. And then there are the new Canadians who often find common ground with the Tories on this issue.
Of course if the parents could all be trusted to objectively teach their kids the essentials about sex, this might not even be an issue. But they don’t, do they? How many parents take the time or have the courage to discuss sex in the context of a modern diverse society – and beyond the elementary birds and bees?
Parents have no prepared curriculum and generally no training. And even if they did, the topic is likely way too personal for most of them to handle it in an objective and balanced manner. Kids find their way through the internet, on the streets or in somebody’s recreation room when the parents are still at work.
As for those angry, complaining parents who think they know better than professional educators and psychologists, the apple usually falls near the tree. Tolerance and respect for others is as important in sexuality as the lessons on anatomy, I would think – but what do I know.
I’m an economist, went to a one-room school, was raised on a farm and I got my education out behind the barn.
Background links:
Notable Quotes Dr. Spock How Dr. Spock Destroyed America
Effectiveness of Sex-Ed Programs Teen Sources of Sex Information Anti-Sex Ed Coalition
Wynne and the Federal Election Conservative Protests Canadian Pregnancies
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran as a Liberal against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province.
By Walter Byj
May 1, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
While some parts of the Halton region are experiencing high growth spurts, others have remained stable. In one part of the Region, schools need to be built to accommodate the growing population while others areas face shrinking school populations. This is the case for a number of areas in established geographical areas of Burlington.
For elementary schools, Burlington has 10 areas that are identified by an ERA -Elementary Review Area – (remember the acronym – it gets used frequently) number and capacity is measured by OTG – on the ground – (same with this one) seats that do not include portables. Each of these areas has their unique situations.
ERA 100 (Aldershot and Tyandaga) is in western Burlington and is represented by Aldershot Elementary, Glenview King’s Road and Maplehurst, the utilization of the totality of the schools is in the 63% to 68% range and will remain so for the next 10 years. Aldershot Elementary is currently at 46% and will continue at that rate for the next 10 years while King’s Road will decline from 66% in 2014 to 52% by 2024.Maplehurst is currently at 71% while Glenview stands at 93% for the current year.
The enrolment should be somewhat consistent for the next 10 years with a potential uptick for Glenview pending the development of the northern Aldershot community north of the QEW.
 Central High School enrollment is expected to increase ERA 101(Downtown) covers the downtown core of Burlington and includes Burlington Central, Central Lakeshore and Tom Thomson schools The overall utilization rate is currently 91% and should remain in that area for the next 10 years. The number is highly influenced by Tom Thomson which in reality is overcapacity as it has 10 portables (mainly due to French Immersion) and will continue their use for the next 10 years. Burlington Central is at 65% currently and is projected to increase to 73% by 2024. Central is at 84% and projected to fall to 72% by 2024. Lakeshore should grow from its current 63% to 73% in 2024.
 Tecumseh is in an area where several schools have gone beyond their built capacity. ERA 102 (Roseland and Shoreacres) is bound by Guelph Line to the west, Appleby to the east with the QEW to the north and the lake to the south. It includes John Tuck, Pauline Johnson, Ryerson and Tecumseh. This area has a utilization rate of 88% which will drop to 77% in the following 10 years. Both Tuck (134%) and Pauline Johnson (117%) are over overcapacity and currently rely on portables to accommodate students. By 2024, Tuck is projected at 107% and Pauline Johnson at 110%. Ryerson currently is at 49% and is expected to grow to 53% by 2024. Much of this growth will come from phasing in the gifted program from Charles R. Beaudoin. Tecumseh will drop from the current 57% capacity to 51% by 2024.
It should be noted that there are no French immersion classes in this area as the students attend either Tom Thomson or Pineland.
 Enrollment at Mohawk is expected to decline going forward. ERA 103 (Appleby) covers the area between Appleby line and Burloak with the QEW to the north and the lake at the south. There are three schools in this area, Frontenac, Mohawk Gardens and Pineland and has an overall utilization rate of 78% which will remain steady to 2024. Mohawk has a rate of 71% but this is expected to drop to 63% by 2024. Frontenac, at 56% is expected to grow to 76% by 2024. This will mainly be due to Pineland becoming a French Immersion school with the English stream moving in some part to Frontenac or Mohawk. Pineland, at 111% is well over capacity and has six portable to cover the overflow. As the transition to a French Immersion school only continues, the utilization rate will slowly decrease to 88% by 2024.
ERA 104 & 105 (Brant Hills, Headon and Tyandaga) is bounded by Dundas to the north and Upper Middle to the south with Walker’s Line being the eastern boundary. The four schools in this area are Brant Hills, Bruce T. Lindley, CH Norton and Paul A. Fisher and have a current utilization rate of 87% which will decline to 76% by 2024. Brant Hills has the lowest utilization rate at 59% and is projected to drop to 57% in 2024. Bruce T. Lindley is healthy at 93% and will remain stable for the next 10 years and is projected to be 89% in 2024. C.H. Norton is healthy at 91% but will slide to 73% in 2024, while Paul A. Fisher is currently at and will remain in the low 60 percentile for the next 10 years.
ERA 106 (Mountainview and Palmer) holds four schools with highway 407 on the west, Walkers on the east with Upper Middle on the north and the QEW to the south. The utilization rate for this area is 87% and should fall to 76% by 2024. Although each school currently has a strong utilization number, they will each experience decreasing numbers in the upcoming years as follows;
Clarksdale – 94% to 77% (2024)
Dr. Charles Best – 92% to 84% (2024)
Rolling Meadows – 78% to 68% (2024)
Sir E. Macmillan – 96% to 77% (2024)
ERA 107 (Millcroft) has two schools, (Charles R. Beaudoin and Florence Meares) and is between Walkers Line and Appleby and Dundas to the north and the QEW to the south. This area is currently at 105%, but is expected to drop to 86% by 2024. Charle R. Deaudoin will drop from its current 114% to 80% in 2024 while Florence Meares will drop from 95% to 91% during the same time period.
ERA 108 (Orchard) contains three schools (Alexander’s, John William Boich and Orchard Park) and lies between Appleby and Bronte and Dundas to the north and the QEW to the south. This area is currently at 115% of OTG and will slowly decline to 93% by 2024. Both J.W. Boich and Orchard Park are over utilized and will continue until 2024. Alexanders, which is currently at 119% is expected to drop to 70% by 2024.
 The public school in Alton is already beyond capacity; Hayden High School is now operating with all the high school grades. ERA 109 (Alton) has one school, Alton Village, and is bound by the 407 to the north, Dundas to the south and Walkers to the west and Tremaine to the east. This school is over utilized at 124% and this could rise to 153% by 2024.
ERA 110 (Rural Burlington) has one school also, Kilbride, and has a current OTG of 77% which will drop to 73% by 2024.
These numbers reflect a bleak future for some of the elementary schools in Burlington. Forecasting is not an exact science, but unless Burlington has a major change in its population makeup Burlington might be looking at some consolidation.
 By Staff
April 30, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Bureau have completed an investigation into allegations of historical sexual assault against a now retired school teacher.
It is alleged that the accused was teaching at Fairview Public School in the City of Burlington over the years 1969-1975 and sexually assaulted a male student during that time.
Charged:
David COTTERELL, 67 years, of West Grey, Ontario has been charged with Indecent Assault on a Male, scheduled to appear in court on May 20, 2015.
Police encourage anyone with information related to this investigation to contact Detective Constable Wendy Clayton at the Halton Regional Police, CASA Bureau – 905 825 4747 Ext 8970 or wendy.clayton@haltonpolice.ca
By Pepper Parr
April 30, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
For an event that is critical to how Burlington decides to grow and of concern to a lot of people who aren’t all that excited about the idea of intensification – Mayor Goldring had some hurdles to get over.
Fortunately he had some good news – Burlington is going to handle the intensification that has to take place very well.
 Mayor Rick Goldring speaking to a full house at the Performing |Arts Centre about intensification. The speech was the first Mayor Goldring has given to a large public audience since his re-election and he took the podium at the Performing Arts Centre as the first speaker in his Inspire events. The Inspire events were begun during the Mayor’s first term and have proven to be one of the brightest things he has done. Taking the podium himself put him in the same league as some of the best thinkers in the province.
The public didn’t hear anything astonishingly new during the presentation – basically it was told that intensification is going to take place because it is something we have to do and that Burlington’s traditional neighbourhoods are not going to see significant change.
 The bulk of that magnificent tree canopy in the center of this project on |Ghent east of Brant met with chain saws – it didn’t have to happen. That statement doesn’t square all that well with the development nearing the final stage of construction on Ghent Avenue where 8 houses were taken down and 58 homes built. But let us not quibble over details. The properties did have a hold designation and they were going to be assembled – there was the chance to do something magnificent but the developer chose to cut down more than 100 trees and build back to back townhouses. That was what they determined the market wanted.
The Mayor explained that the federal government handles immigration and determines how many people are going to be taken in. While the federal government can’t tell the 250,000 people who arrive on our doorsteps where they have to go but it does know that they head for the major urban centres. Burlington is within in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area – we call it the Golden Horseshoe and they come here by the thousands.
The province told the Region how much its population had to grow; the Region took that number and began to allocate it amongst Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills.
Burlington’s population now is at about 178,000 – we have to grow to 193,000 by 2031 – the information available at this time suggests Burlington is on track to reach its targets – the suggestion is that we are a little bit ahead.
Mayor Goldring talked about the opportunity along Plains Road and Fairview. He acknowledged that Aldershot residents are concerned about how growth in their community is likely to change their life styles; he pointed to the very significant potential for better use of land along Fairview.
He added to that the eventual residential development at Eagle Heights at the western end of Aldershot and the interesting way development is taking place in mid-town.
The city has come to realize as well that there is a lot of room for intensification within both the Burlington and Mapleview Malls where some medium rise buildings could be placed with commercial at grade and three to six floors of residential above.
 Intensification that complies with the existing Official Plan and the zoning on the property will begun construction early next Spring on Brant Street just south of Ghent The addition of well over 100 residential units to the Brant Square Plaza is a fine example of intensification that will add value to a community. In this instance it will anchor the new northern boundary of the Burlington Downtown Business Association.
At some point someone is going to do something with the Lakeside Plaza in eastern Burlington.
There was potential along Tremaine Road north of Dundas and some room left in the Alton community.
Mayor Goldring did say that we would not be expanding the urban boundary – that is developing north of the Dundas – 407 border – the statement didn’t come across as a ringing statement – it sounded just a little on the limp side. We will watch the Cogeco broadcast and pay closer attention to the strength of his comment.
The reality is that Burlington cannot on its own change the urban boundary – we would have to convince the Region to let us do that and then we would have to work within a provincial policy and the Niagara Escarpment rules and regulations.
However, during a drive around the Burlington properties that could be developed with then Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation Kyle Benham, he made the statement that the land on the north side of the 407 was just too good from a commercial exposure point of view to be used for just growing hay. This city knows what developers have been able to pull off in the past.
 The height of the Bridgewater condominium at the edge of the Lake is going to stun the public as the watch it rise storey after storey. It may well prove to be the justification for an even higher building yards away. That point will get driven home when the Bridgewater condominium begins to rise twenty stories on the edge of Lake Ontario yards from the downtown core.
The Mayor told the audience that the average sale price for a single dwelling was $565,000 – which is great for all those seniors who are approaching the point in their lives when they will want to sell and move into a dwelling that doesn’t require the effort to cut the grass or blow the snow away; a place they can lock up and head to Florida for a couple of months in the winter.
The flip side of that of course is finding younger families who can afford to pay $565,000 for a home.
 The Brock condominium was opposed by the community – it was approved and is now selling – it fits into the community – but that wasn’t the way the public saw it two years ago. The Mayor pointed out that there have been developments the public didn’t like but were approved nevertheless. He mentioned the Strata project on Maple. He could have mentioned he Brock Project as well when he explained that these projects were opposed by the pubkic but they were built and and it didn’t take long for people to move in and like the buildings.
Burlingtonians tend to not like anything that is new or different – they want the city to remain the way it was when they were raising thi r families; those people are growing older and the houses they were raised in are growing older as well.
 The proposed Maranatha retirement home on New Street, approved by the city and now before the OMB is an example of the kind of growth Mayor Goldring believes the city should be looking at. Goldring took the position that the Maranantha project proposed for New Street, now before the OMB, is something people in the immediate community will want to live in – he said at the time that he thought some of the people opposed to the project now will eventually be residents in that building.
The phrase the Mayor said he heard again and again during the election was that everyone loved the city just as it is – one of the things they didn’t want more of was congestion.
 Rick Goldring – Mayor of Burlington explaining the why of justification to an audience of close to 200. Mayor Goldring was the 17th Inspire speaker – did he Inspire? Well he didn’t get a standing ovation – it was more than just polite applause. Goldring speaks better in front of an audience than he does at Council. There he tends to be stilted, a little awkward, reads from a script and is certainly not relaxed.
There is a quote: “You can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy.” It will be interesting to listen to Rick Goldring if there is every a day when he leans on a podium and talks from his heart about his vision and lets us see if the boy has outgrown at least some of the country that is in him.
The future concern for Burlington is how many people are we going to have to grow by between 2031 and 2041 – and what kind of people are we going to grow by. The Regions has been told that it has to grow by 220,000 people between 2031 and 2041 – how much of that growth is Burlington going to have to absorb?
Milton has been growing at an exceptionally rapid pace – can it be expected to take more.
GO train service is going to upgrade to every 15 minutes in the not too distant future and our infrastructure appears to be capable of handling a significant amount of growth.
The Region just might be asking Burlington to swallow a large chunk of that 220,000 projected population growth – Rick Goldring didn’t mention that earlier this week.
He will not be Mayor when that shovel full of if hits the fan.
By Staff
April 30, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
On April 22, 2015, the Province committed to compensating Halton Region $2.8 million for response and recovery efforts related to the December 2013 severe ice storm. The storm left thousands of Halton residents without power for days, including Christmas day, resulting in significant impacts to the Halton community and the local environment. For several months following the storm, Halton Region provided special bulk brush and yard waste collection services to ensure resident safety, and to help clear streets and yards throughout the region.
 It was more than the trees that got bent during the ice storm in December of 2013. Senior staff were working Christmas Day with work crews doing double shift to get power lines back up and electricity flowing. At one point hydro had to run a new line though some pretty rough terrain – but the lights did go back on. “The December 2013 ice storm had a serious impact on our community, causing substantial damage to residences and businesses,” said Regional Chair Gary Carr. “We are very pleased that the Province is providing the funding we claimed which will help recover the significant cost from the storm response efforts.”
In April 2014, the Province announced the creation of the Ontario Ice Storm Assistance Program through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The program is intended to provide financial support to municipalities and conservation authorities for ice storm related expenses. In early April of this year, Halton Region received an initial payment of nearly $1 million from the Province. The remaining $1.8 million is expected to be received by May 8, 2015.
“This is great news for Halton!” said Halton MPP Indira Naidoo-Harris. “With this support, the Ontario government is delivering on its commitment to assist those municipalities severely impacted by the 2013 ice storm. This funding is vital to helping cover damage-related costs and will go a long way to keeping our local communities strong.”
 It was close to around the clock for hydro crews who had to cut down large branches that had fallen on hydro wire. Crews worked well into the evening several days. “In 2013, a devastating ice storm swept much of our province causing significant damage to Burlington and surrounding communities. Municipal governments responded swiftly to help keep our residents safe by cleaning up debris and establishing warming shelters for those without power to light or heat their homes. While the need to better prepare for increasingly-common extreme weather events is apparent, this one-time disaster relief program will alleviate the financial impact of this storm on our region,” said Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon. “I am pleased that our government is making this investment to assist with the cost of the storm, and I would like to thank and recognize the municipal and regional staff whose immediate and ongoing assistance helped residents in need.”
City of Burlington submitted a claim for approximately $3.3 million and received an interim payment of $1.16 – the balance of what is a very complex claim is being reviewed – so that cheque isn’t in the mail.
By Staff
April 28, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) distributed more than $897,000 in grants to charities and not-for-profit organizations, the largest amount since the Foundation was founded in 1999. Since its inception BCF has provided more than $3.18 million in grants.
 Angelo Paletta, the Honorary Chair of the BCF Gala last year with President and CEO Colleen Mulholland. The Gala is one of the major fund raising event for the Community Foundation “We are grateful to our current 74 fund holders who continue to partner with us and increase their gifts every year so we can grant to so many outstanding organizations,” says Colleen Mulholland, CEO and President of BCF. “We can attribute our increase in granting to an overall increase to BCF’s endowment fund, stewarding a wide variety of fund models to meet the various needs of our community, and to a healthy economic climate.”
In 2014 BCF’s community grants focused on needs identified in the Foundation’s Vital Signs Report. This research and subsequent report are designed to provide key data to better understand where success and progress is being had while also highlighting pressing needs. After analyzing the data contained in the Vital Signs Report grants in 2014 largely focused on mental health, poverty, and youth.
“Our role is to be a 360 degree grantor,” says Mulholland. “We take a holistic view of our community through our Vital Signs Report and aim to support to all community needs while honouring the philanthropic wishes of our donors.”
 The number of children in low income families has been at a consistent since 2006 – are we missing something here? A key part of BCF’s holistic view is hearing back from various grant recipients to better understand the impact of our grant making initiatives.
Community Development Halton presented data to the team that will create a Strategic Plan for the next four years – in that report they highlighted two critical choke points in the city – the number of children that are defined as low income and the number of people who live in poverty.
The Community Foundation addresses each of these through the funds they distribute.
 By Staff
April 29, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
For those of you who are absolutely certain there will be no more snow – this is good news.
For the pessimists – and after the winter we’ve had being a pessimist is not such a bad thing – you might want to wait and see what thing look like the long May weekend.
 Composting – best way to get a garden to really produce – bring your own bags, boxes and gloves. From Monday, May 4 until Saturday, May 9, 2015, Halton Region will once again host its popular spring Compost Giveaway between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Halton Waste Management Site (HWMS) located at 5400 Regional Road 25 in Milton. This event provides residents with an opportunity to pick up free compost (maximum seven bags or equivalent) created from Halton’s leaf and yard waste composting program.
“Halton is committed to working with residents to make the Region a more sustainable place to live,” said Regional Chair Gary Carr.
“Residents continue to divert 60 per cent of single-family household waste by participating in Blue Box, GreenCart, reuse, household hazardous waste and yard waste programs – an incredible achievement.
The annual Spring Compost Giveaway is just one way that we can thank residents for helping to divert yard waste away from Halton’s landfill.”
During last year’s Compost Giveaway events, 4,000 residents visited the HWMS and picked up approximately 2,000 tonnes of compost created from the leaves, brush, tree and garden trimmings collected curbside and dropped off at the HWMS.
The event is also used to raise money and donate non-perishable food items for local food banks and residents are being encouraged once again to contribute. In 2014, Halton residents generously donated over 5,000 kilograms of food and $9,041 for local food banks.
Residents attending the event are reminded that they are responsible for shoveling and bagging their own compost and bringing their own shovels, bags or reusable containers (maximum seven per household).
For best growing results, compost should be mixed with topsoil or another gardening fill, with a ratio of 60 per cent topsoil and 40 percent compost.
By Staff
April 29, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
On Tuesday 28th April uniformed officers got a call from a Burlington Home Depot location who wanted to report a female who had just made a fraudulent purchase and was leaving the store.
The officers arrived and located the female in the parking lot of the business and she was subsequently arrested without incident.
Home Depot Fraud investigators advised the officers that this female who was previously unknown to them had been conducting similar fraudulent activity across the GTA over the past several months.
Members of the Halton Police Fraud unit were called in to assist in the investigation and the female has been charged with a total of 24 criminal offences including multiple counts of impersonation and fraud over $5,000 dollars. The offences have all occurred at numerous Home Depot locations across the GTA including London, Richmond Hill and Toronto as well as Oakville, Burlington and Milton.
Charged is Nicole ROUSE of Toronto.
She did not go home that evening.
By Pepper Parr
April 29, 2015
Burlington, ON
It is coming up – Mother’s Day is not that far away. That means another breakfast in bed with toast that is dripping with syrup that will get spilt all over the sheets. The kids will love it and you will, eventually be happy they did what they did.
As they get older though – what about something a little more adventurous, a little more exciting and different.
Moms are Superstars. Maybe the kids could be superstars – for just a couple of hours.
 The Mother’s Day gift that just keeps on giving. What can’t they do?
Robin Pauhl who has one of those sultry voices knows how to get a tune across – the rest of us – well a Karaoke sound track is about as far as we get.
Pauhl came up with a really good idea.
She and her husband run BTown Sound, a studio where some pretty big names in the music world have laid down there sound tracks.
Pauhl is inviting families – everyone except Mom to come in and lay down a sound track of a Mother’s day greeting.
It will be unique, it will be different – the kids will have a great time putting it together and Mom will love and treasure it and want to play it for all the other Mother’s.
 For those that get into it – they really get into it. The young lady on the right got a little distracted. All the songs dedicated to moms will be recorded at $40 per hour instead of our regular fee of $60. This is perfect for all ages and a special present from kids and husbands. You can record to karaoke tracks, guitar, piano, violin, trumpet or even a full band.
Music lessons are an amazing way for kids to learn and grow, and on that note we’d like to introduce the Studio’s newest enterprise: B Town Sound School of Music.
There are only so many hours in a given day and only so many days left until \Mother’s Day – so pull everyone together, make your plans – maybe even write your song and book your time.
Don’t forget to take the IPhone and record it all.
Great idea Robyn –
 A last minute sound check before the tracks leave the studio. Give them a call – we just might manage to convince a family to let us publish one of the recording sessions. BTown sound is located at 919 Fraser Drive, unit 10 Burlington, ON, Canada – 905 616 7500 or email at robyn@btownsound.ca
Wish I’d known about this when my Mom was still with us.
 By Pepper Parr
April 29, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The creation of the strategic Plan for the next three years began Tuesday morning at the LaSalle Pavilion. Council and senior city staff met as a Committee of the Whole and while these occasions are public meetings – there wasn’t a member of the pure public in the room.
The Gazette was the only media in the room as well. There were two representatives from community Development Halton taking part in the presentation of a social profile of Burlington.
 What became clear quite early is that the development of the Strategic Plan and the completion of the Official Plan are being done hand in hand – each is going to inform the other.
Who lives in Burlington; who is going to live in Burlington and where will they want to live? These were the prime questions put before the meeting of about 40 people.
Community Development Halton put together a very detailed profile of who we are and what we are worth. This data was set out as the base upon which both the Official Plan and the Strategic Plan are going to be created.
None of this is going to happen in 90 days – the public may not see a completed Strategic Plan until sometime in October.
There will be more public involvement in the 2015 Strategic Plan than there was in the 2011 Plan. The city created a workbook that was made available to anyone who asked. At one point there were just 35 completed but that number “zoomed up to 90.
Knowing what is probably going to be needed in the way of housing tells the planners what kind of development they want to encourage – and developments do get encouraged.
 Burlington population growth has flat lined, Milton is sky rocketing and Oakville is pulling ahead. These projections have significant political and economic implications – the Region may well decide that more of the population coming into the Region should land in Burlington. A presentation of 24 slides told the story – the first was a look at the historic population of the municipalities in the Region
There was a time said Mayor Goldring when Burlington was bigger than Oakville however since then Burlington’s growth has basically flat lined while Milton has grown very rapidly.
 Our portion of the Region’s population is shrinking while that of Milton has skyrocketed. When the 2016 census data is available the Region is required to look at where people live and re-balance the political representation at the Region. Burlington’s political clout will be based on the number of Regional Councillors. Right now every member of city council is also a regional Councillor. The make up of out city council could undergo a significant change.clout The way population was shared within the Region was interesting.
The change in where people lived is shown in #3. Some communities remained stable while others experienced significant growth. The red dot in the upper half is the creation of the community of Alton.
A large part of the discussion around population was the provincial requirement that population grow in the Region. The province requires Halton to grow and the Region determines where that population was going to go in each municipality.
Each municipality then determines where it is going to put the population growth in its municipality.
One point that got made several times was that Burlington’s growth would be done by intensification and that the older traditional communities would not undergo any intensification.
Mayor Goldring talks about the city being built out – Ward 2 Councillor Meed Ward says the city has hundreds of acres of land. One would expect they would both have access to the same data – apparently not.
Every conversation about population growth refers to the seniors and how that demographic is growing. The Molinaro Paradign project that will have five towers next to the GO station on Fairview is not going to house than many seniors – but the mental focus is still on the seniors.
 Burlington clearly has the largest percentage of seniors and at the same time we have some of the highest rents and the lowest vacancies. The need for some deep understanding of the demographics of the community became obvious. Here is what we know: The senior population increased by 17% to 29,720 between 2006 and 2011. The seniors represent 16.9 % of the population seniors over 80 have increased by 21% More than 62% of older seniors are female and 1 in 4 seniors live alone.
What kind of money do these people have? The median income for seniors is $33,280 and the median income for everyone is $40,180
In 2010, 64% of female seniors had incomes of less than $35,000; of the male population that percentage was 38.
The number of children living at home had some surprises – the definition of children for this exercise included people more than 25 years of age.
 There were more female seniors with incomes of less than $35,000 than there were male seniors. Income was defined as that which is shown on tax returns. With older children living with their parents the number of people in a household by themselves was close to astonishing.
 The number of people over 25 living with their parents is a little on the alarming side. The discussion on this data centered around whether or not this was going to continue or if it is a short term situation.
Some of the growth in Burlington is going to come through immigration. The Community Development Halton Development identified the sources of that immigration – it amounts to less than 2000 people
 Immigration into the Region by country of birth. The total is in the 2000 range which the bulk coming from the United States How is income distributed in Burlington? Everyone has always said Burlington is a wealthy city – the data supports that belief.
On the flip side of the very wealthy is identifying the poor; 9.5% of the population in Burlington is poor.
 It would be useful to understand why the number of low income children has remained close to static even though population has grown. The number of low income children has been pretty consistent the past seven years – why? That question did not come up. We seem to have accepted that we just have them.
The prevalence of low income people is also interesting. It shot up during the recession in 2009 but never really came down to pre-recession levels.
 The numbers beside the dots indicates the level of growth. That big red dot reflects the growth in Alton. Where does that low income population live? In Burlington we can’t say below the tracks – there are tracks all over the place – but there are clearly identified pockets of low income families
 There is a link between the working poor and the amount of affordable housing in the city. That link is not fully understood by the community.  Rents are experiencing excellent growth – great if you are a landlord. Many of the new developments are being marketed as condominiums that are bought by investors and rented.  Apartment vacancy rates are very tight throughout the Region and is Hamilton as well. Burlington’s working poor as a percentage of the population compared with other jurisdictions – Burlington is low on that scale – at 4.2% – which is 3,500 persons.
Owning an apartment building is a solid investment in the Region. Rents have experienced a solid climb – well in excess of inflation. The difference between Burlington and Hamilton explains why people will drive to get to Burlington every work day.
The vacancy rate is very tight throughout the Region and in Hamilton as well. A 3% vacancy rate is seen as a healthy, balanced market.
 The number of people who commute TO Burlington from Hamilton is very high. A deeper understanding of the dynamics behind these commutes is probably needed. The number of trips made by people in Burlington to their jobs outside Burlington and the number of people who drive to Burlington to work is really interesting.
What isn’t clear is the why of those trips. Do people drive to Burlington from Hamilton because rents are cheaper in Hamilton.
Do people drive from Burlington to other places because that is where the jobs are?
 The traffic out of the city is due in some degree to employment opportunities. The city has yet to find the formula that will attract employers and reduce the commutes out of the city.
The belief is that people who work outside the city are less likely to be engaged with activities in the city – which was put out as part of the reason voter turnout is so low – it has been a consistent mid thirty percent range.
And yet the percentage of people who volunteer is very high in Halton – at the 50% level. The population is relatively generous – a smidgen lower than the Ontario average and lower than Oakville
Understanding the shifts that take place in population: immigrants coming into the country; seniors moving out of large homes into smaller townhouses or condos; young people renting their first apartment and the working poor looking for affordable housing is the work of demographers – Burlington doesn’t have one.
Windsor, a city with a population of 600,000 has six demographers on staff which prompted planner Bruce Krushelnicki to extrapolate that and come to the conclusion that Burlington should have two – Krushelnicki would settle for one.
A solid understanding of what Burlington has in the way of population, how that population is likely to shift and what future population might be are the building blocks on which the Official Plan and the Strategic Plan will be built.
That process has now begun – by the end of the year city council and the public will have had the time needed to ensure that everyone at least understands what those plans are – getting them to agree is another matter.
 By Phil Davis
April 28, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
In the discussion of the Hydro-One sale the focus has been on its impact on customer cost. There is another reason why the sale is a bad choice, flexibility for adding future technology. We are currently on the cusp of a revolution in power electronics that has the potential to reduce pollution, increase jobs, increase energy diversity and reduce cost.
 The ability to use new generation like solar and wind and new transmission technology will critically depend on the flexibility of the transmission system as an active part of the total system. The transmission system of the future will be a distributed system and have imbedded energy storage, ‘smart’ energy switching and remote load sensing and similar technology to optimize the total energy system; not the ‘top down’ system we have today.
We don’t know exactly what the future transmission system will look like and that is why it needs to be under public control, so that it will adapt as new energy sources become available.
If the transmission system is privately held there will be no incentive to invest or take the risk needed to modernize the system. It is likely the new owner of a privatized transmission system would also control generating plants and would protect their generation equipment profit by not modernizing to allow new generation equipment.
 This would mean that Ontario would not only lose access to improving technology but would be locked in to higher energy prices for both ‘old’ power generation and distribution. We only need to remember the Enron debacle to see where this could go.
If electric transmission is privatized then Ontario will be stuck with a highway407 like energy infrastructure which will be optimized for the short term benefit of the few against the potential of new technology and the needs of the many. The proper approach is private generation competing to generate electricity at the lowest rate and public transmission to insure that all generation sources have access to customers.
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