How do you tell the guy? “We need to move on”, “It’s over” “We can still be friends?” Women are asked to share their experiences.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON April 13, 2011 – This is supposed to be the election that is going to be dominated by social media. Everyone is tweeting or posting a message to their Facebook page and this is all supposed to keep us in the loop and know, to the last second, what’s going on. Ok, if you say so – I suppose.

All that ability to communicate with us is a step beyond the telemarketers interrupting dinner – but its happening so I guess we have to live with it. Right?

It isn’t all doom and gloom though – there are some funny things going on. The Raging Grannies have done a song that is available on You Tube. And Eric Williams of Hamilton has created a You Tube section with a feature that is titled: It’s over Steve!

The theme is of women who are talking to some man in their life and telling him that the relationship is over. Women will identify with this one – and some of it is really quite funny.

Williams’ take is asking women who have a camera attached to their computer to do a little piece on how they would end a relationship – in this case with Stephen Harper.

“They are just regular everyday Canadian women.  Strangers I recruited off the street after we setup our shot.  Basically I said, stare into the camera and break up with Steve in 60 seconds or less, just like you have before, or have seen in movies.    The girls did their own acting.” And now they are getting their 15 minutes of fame.

Williams is a communications student at McMaster University where he is doing two undergrad degrees and would like to see his effort go “viral” which in the world of the techies is like taking down all ten pins with one bowling ball – three times in a row. Big stuff.

Williams says he “is not affiliated with any political party and hasn’t  received funding from anyone.  We have big plans for future episodes to be released this week and throughout the election.

“The goal”, says Williams, “is to boost the female turnout on election day.  I’d like to see their turnout be at least 10% higher than the last election. Women are awesome at social networking and I think it’s gonna work.”

“We are having a great time making these! And adds: What an age we live in, eh? Can’t get much more Canadian than that. McLuhan would call it cool!.

You get viral when people see the item and pass it along to their friends – some of these things spread around the world in a matter of hours. Sort of like watching a “wave” at a hockey game.

The “It’s over Steve! Gets a little political at the end – we apologize for that. We pass it on in the spirit of good fun. If you happen to come across something on Ignatieff or Duceppe or Layton in a similar vein – pass them along. We need something to take for the assault on our senses during election campaigns.

 

 

Here you go:  Its Over Steve – Episode 1

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No debating please – we are after all Burlingtonians – but polite questions would be nice.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON April 12, 2011 – The Burlington Chamber of Commerce wants its members to hear what all four candidates running for the federal seat in the House of Commons and have arranged for an all candidates event on Wednesday April 27th – 7:30 am with a continental breakfast to be followed by a Question and Answer session.

All candidates from the four major parties that have registered to run have confirmed their attendance at the meeting.  The meeting features a moderated question and answer session where attendees can ask questions of each of the candidates. Will the moderator let one candidate ask questions of another candidate – or is that too close to a debate?

Registration opens at 7:30am with a continental breakfast running till 8:00am. And the “games” run from 8:00 to 9:30am.  The meeting is free to Chamber members and costs $10.00 (includes HST) for non-members.  You must sign up in advance.

The event is sponsored by the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington.

All four candidates are shown below.

 

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Coming in second isn’t in the play book Brierley reads from. A lot is going to depend on how her leader does on Tuesday.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON April 11, 2011 – She came out of the gate quickly. “My name” she said “is Alyssa Brierley, and I am thrilled to be here today to launch our campaign to win Burlington for the Liberal party on May 2”

Nominated by Paddy Torsney, the last Liberal to hold the federal seat in the House of Commons, Brierley says she was approached by people within the federal Liberal Party to run for the nomination and was then acclaimed when no one else chose to contest the nomination.

Brierley was introduced to the larger Liberal community at a Town Hall meeting in Hamilton and had her picture taken with the man she hopes will help her win the election in Burlington.

Brierley was introduced to the larger Liberal community at a Town Hall meeting in Hamilton and had her picture taken with the man she hopes will help her win the election in Burlington.

Then suddenly, there are those Liberal red lawn sign popping up faster than the Spring flowers. . And the campaign is off to a pretty fast start. So who is this woman and what is she going to do for Burlington? “People look to their elected representatives for inspiration and for solutions to the problems” said Brierley when nominated.

“In short, people look to their elected representatives for hope. I recognized that the political process is the key to change, and that by making smart choices, we could make a difference at home, across the country, and even in faraway places. I’ve devoted a lot of time and effort to the study of political science, economics and law because I wanted to equip myself with the tools to improve the lives of people in my community.

“But look where we are today. Mike Wallace, Stephen Harper and the Conservative government have completely changed the face of federal politics. In a short five years, Mr. Harper has turned federal politics away from a tool for strengthening our country and into a cynical, coldly strategic game. I can’t ever recall a time where the prime minister has so arrogantly manipulated our democratic processes for his own personal gain.”

“We see it time and again in the headlines: Parliament prorogued, important memos surreptitiously altered, Parliament lied to over and over, election laws ignored. The Conservatives have brought to federal politics an unprecedented culture of deceit and corruption. This is the only government in our nation’s history that has ever been found in contempt of Parliament.”

OK – so the lawyer with a PhD is going to run her campaign based on what the Conservatives have done to the country. So far we’ve not heard what she will do for Burlington.

Brierley planting yet another lawn sign.

Brierley planting yet another lawn sign."So who am I?" she asked rhetorically at her nomination. " I am an energetic, young woman with a multitude of experiences who is passionate about making a difference for the people of Burlington and Canada. My roots are in Burlington. It was in Burlington that I developed my passion for public service, and I am deeply indebted to this community for lighting this fire in me. :I have degrees in political science, economics and law. I'm also pursuing a PhD in political science focusing on global politics and international relations."All good stuff – but what will she do for Burlington? We don't know that yet nor do we know how the public will take to her – but there are a lot of those red lawn signs out there."But I'm not just a politico or an academic - I have also developed business insight through my work in both the public and private sectors, and through my work as a lawyer. I've worked in financial services and telecommunications, in corporate and commercial law and in the development of regulatory policy. At the same time I remain true to my commitment to the community through my volunteer work with low income individuals and newcomers to Canada."Campaign office was packed on opening day. Liberals greeting Liberals and getting their marching orders.

Ahh – the stuff of campaign speeches. Rouse the audience, get their blood going – that and a bit of marching music can sometimes win you an election. But it isn’t going to be quite that easy in Burlington this time around. The Liberal Party leader, Michael Ignatieff, is still a bit behind in the polls and we won’t have any real sense of who he is until the debate on Tuesday, April 12. If he comes out of that event a winner – then there will be a real race in this city for the seat in the House of Commons.

There will be a number of debates in the city; one being sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce on April 27th.

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They are getting – silver Porsche car-jacked north of Burlington.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON April 8, 2010 – The driver of a car saw flashing blue lights in his rear view mirror and pulled over at the intersection of Conservation Road and Twiss Road and was approached by a person he believed to be a police officer. Told to get out of the car the driver did so and the person with what was thought to be a police badge jumped into the silver 1999 Porsche 944 CV, black convertible top and drove off.

A person in the car that was thought to be a police car drove off behind the Porsche.

The stolen car was last seen southbound on Twiss Rd, south of Campbellville Road. The suspect vehicle fled the area northbound. The victim was not injured as a result of this incident.

Suspect #1 is described as a male, white, 35 years of age, 6′ 2″ tall, short haircut, a freshly cut chin strap beard and muscular build. He was wearing a long sleeved black shirt, jeans and produced a dull gold badge in a black leather holder hanging from a beaded chain.

Anyone with information on this or any other crime is asked to call 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).

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Halton Board names new school after Citizen of the Year, the late John Boich.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON April 8, 2011 – It is a lovely school John. Pretty big too and construction is coming along just fine. There will be hundreds of kids flooding through the doors next September. I wonder how many of them will even know who the school was named after?

The late John Boich with a favourite neighbour.

The late John Boich with a favourite neighbour.

But, I know that your spirit will infuse the place and by the time they graduate they will understand what it is to be a citizen and to be engaged. They will have graduated and been “boiched” all at the same time.

It was a struggle though John to get your name on the building – it got a little political at the end (are you surprised at that?) and the decision came about when there was a tie vote at the Board and you name was drawn from a hat. You must have chuckled when you saw that happen Johnny Boy! Priya had organized the whole thing with three delegations on your behalf.

They are going to use all your names and call the school the John William Boich Public School. Arlene (she’s doing OK John) said the “whole ‘family’ was present and thrilled at the outcome. It was a nail-biter considering the politics that surround such an event, but we did it!”

Little did the Halton Board know that they would end up with your name on one of their schools. Makes you want to order another plate of sweet potato fries doesn’t it ?

John William Boich Public School will open in September.

John William Boich Public School will open in September.

Arlene met the new Principal and, according to her, “he seems to be a really good guy —a Serb too, if you can believe it! She knew you’d get a chuckle out of that too.

There was much partying at the Mohan’s afterward. Arlene is so happy — weepy too — because she knew how much you wanted this.

Take care fella.

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Tax increase of less than 1%, staff levels frozen and pay increases held to about 2.75% Sharman feels he won.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON April 4, 2011 – Paul Sharman, the guy who fist put the 0% tax increase on the table, says he got what he wanted when the council budget committee settled on a tax increase of less than 1%. “Actually I got more than I wanted” claims Sharman, who then listed the achievements of this council as it crafted its first budget and brought in the lowest tax increase in more than 10 years on the fourth month of their first year in office.

  • We have complement control now said Sharman
  • We have reduced the city hall payroll from the four to five percent increases of the past few years to something in the 2.75% range.
  • We used some of the 2010 surplus to cover the cost of the 2011 contribution to the redevelopment of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. Had we not done that we would have had to make the contribution out of the tax base.
  • A necessary contribution to OMERS, the employee pension plan was made from the surplus.

While these are all great achievements, much of it was possible due to a surplus of $9.3 million from last year which council used to send money to Joseph Brant Hospital and meet the pension fund obligations. Add into that the better than expected return ($1.5 million) on the investment portfolio and this council had a pretty hefty kitty of cash to work with.

Staff salary increase to be about 2.75%

Staff compliment to be frozen at 2011 level.

Part of  2010 surplus used to pay for hospital and staff pension

A large part of that surplus, (more than $3 million) was the result of “gapping”. When a job is created the city budgets for that job for the full 12 months even though the position may not have been filled for that period of time. The “gap” between when the job was open and when it was filled is what they call “gapping’. Neat little financial trick isn’t it? Do you run your household that way?

A council that got re-elected on a 2.5% tax increases delivers a budget with a less than 1% increases.

The less than 1% tax increase is a big step for this council. Ward 3 councillor John Taylor brought up an important point when he spoke of a day when he and Rick Goldring were campaigning on the same street. “I was at the doors talking about a 3.5%`tax increase and Rick was behind me saying the tax increase would likely be 2.5% increase” said Taylor.

Both men had served on the previous council and were working with a number that had been developed by the Cam Jackson council. What neither knew at the time was there was going to be a very significant surplus to work with. Which of course begs the question: Why didn’t council know there was going to be a surplus – surely they can add up numbers.

A step for this council is to implement a process whereby council knows what the city’s position is on a monthly basis. Everyone else works that way. Council had hints that there was going to be a very generous surplus but it took some digging on their part to get the actual number from city staff. It shouldn’t work that way. The seven members of council are the Board of Directors for the city corporation and staff has a responsibility to report to them. This is one you can email your council member on – demand better financial reporting.

This council worked very hard on the budget and in the process got much more control over what happens on the staffing side at city hall.

The staff complement is now frozen at whatever is set out in this new budget. If staff want to create a new position – they have to do so with the money they were given. In the past number of years an average of 18 people were added each year. It was getting out of control and your council wrestled that one down to a freeze on new staff additions.

The discussion on the budget covered three full days. For some reason the bright lights on the management side of the city feel that keeping everyone in the room for a session that runs from 9:30 to 3:30 is good management practice. Things get done partially because people are just work down. Senior staff members come and go during the day but every council member is almost glued to their seat. And then, most of them have constituency matters to deal with at the end of the day. Councillor Taylor wisely asked that next year they work in half day sessions. Wise request John Taylor.

Mayor Goldring prepares to lead the city into the creation of a strategic plan after the budget success.

Mayor Goldring prepares to lead the city into the creation of a strategic plan after the budget success.

With a really solid week of work behind them Sharman is going to do something he has never done before. “I am going dark for a week” he said and added “I am going to Aruba to scuba and will not have a single communications device with me.” We will certainly see a sun tanned Brit returning to Burlington – whether he will be able to function is another matter.

Sharman “goes dark” while in Aruba to scuba.  No contact with anyone but the fishes.

Sharman “goes dark” while in Aruba to scuba. No contact with anyone but the fishes.

For Mayor Rick Goldring this budget was “the most thorough process I have experienced and the longest budget session I have experienced.” Goldring saw it as very demanding but a process that produced the kind of tax increase the taxpayers had demanded. “And”, he added, “there is much more work to do.”

On the toughest day of the budget setting – a session which went from 9 am to 3:30 pm, Goldring then took part in a high school student speech contest. The next morning he did a breakfast with the Burlington Downtown Business Association. He is earning what we pay him – and we don’t pay him enough, not when you measure it against what senior staff are getting.

Once the core budget issues were settled – and those were (1) staffing compliment and just how much the civic bureaucracy was going to be allowed to grow, (2) what the staff salary hike was going to amount to and (3) how the 2010 surplus was going to be handled, council was then able to allocate the funds they had at their disposal. And they did have a lot to play with. More on that in a future story.

It was a good budget session. This council is now working together and doing their job. But there is still not real unanimity at the council table. Ward 1 councilor Rick Craven voted against the budget.

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Sunshine and lollipops and throw in some roses. The cost of running the city.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON April 1, 2011 – The province of Ontario requires all publicly funded organizations to reveal the names of all those who are paid more than $100,000. a year.

The list was revealed the same day Council met with city staff in closed session to go over the payroll for the 2011 budget. The names of what are referred to as “the sunshine people” in Burlington are set out below.

There are a few names on the list that surprised me and a couple that aren’t on the list that I felt should have been on the list. The fire fighters have what appears to be a large number of “sunshine people.”

These numbers are for the 2010 – there will be increases in 2011.

he city says it has about 1000 FTE equivalents, which means full time equivalents. That would have close to 10% of the staff earning more than $100,000.

Council budget meetings are taking place to freeze that staff compliment at whatever they decide the 2011 number is going to be. There are reported to be a number of senior level retirements in this term. Based on the names below – I don’t see that many retirements.

 

 
Name Position Salary Taxable Benefit
ALLDRIDGE BRIAN  Platoon Chief       $115,960.19 $644.11
ANSELL DANIEL T. R.  Captain  $110,173.32 $595.64
ARMSTRONG PETER  Manager of Field Services  $144,577.00 $4,779.34
BAKOS MICHAEL  Captain  $108,014.30 $569.59
BARRY PHILIP  Captain  $105,990.53 $569.13
BAVOTA ANTHONY  Deputy Fire Chief  $123,536.06 $2,124.94
BAYLOR MARK  Captain  $109,594.49 $583.54
BAYNTON STEVE T.  Captain  $108,373.30 $585.73
BEATTY DAVID N.  Deputy Fire Chief  $128,411.27 $1,438.60
BENNETT RANDY  Manager of Info/Technology   $110,690.75 $637.89
BIELSKI BIANCA  Manager Develop/Planning  $129,068.29 $767.34
BIRCH CHARLES T.  Captain  $112,648.29 $585.73
CAUGHLIN DEBORAH  Man. Council Services  $100,296.04 $569.83
CIORUCH DAVID K.  Chief Fire Prevention Officer  $114,188.45 $662.98
COULSON ANN MARIE  :Manager Budgets  Policies  $121,251.84 $660.22
COVERT MARK  Manager Field Services  $110,390.29 $650.55
CRASS JOHN  Manager Traffic Services  $105,806.46 $614.07
DALGARNO DOUGLAS R.  Manager Design/Construct  $134,991.19 $5,114.98
DELOYDE LEO  General Man Develop/Infr $150,302.76 $5,997.45
DI PIETRO ITALO  Manager Infrastr/Data Man. $117,820.67 $678.84
DOWD TIMOTHY  Captain  $108,662.76 $582.01
EICHENBAUM TOOMAS  Dir Engineering  $161,058.76 $925.53
EVANS FRANCES  Manager Halton Court Serv. $103,193.20 $600.12
FORD JOAN  Deputy Treasurer  $145,139.84 $804.06
GLENN CHRISTOPHER  Man.Business Services  $119,231.57 $659.97
GLOBE DARREN  Captain  $105,259.54 $567.08
GOTTSCHLING FRED  Coordinator Site Engineering  $102,471.99 $599.16
GRISON GREGORY J.  Captain  $108,373.33 $585.73
HAYES DENNIS M.  Captain  $108,662.27 $582.01
HEBNER PETER B.  Captain  $112,609.83 $595.64
HURLEY BLAKE  Assistant City Solicitor  $124,702.03 $640.83
JACKSON CAM  Mayor/ Regional Councillor  $145,451.15 $1,421.89
JAMES MICHAEL  Training Officer – Fire  $100,223.77 $588.55
JONES SHEILA  City Auditor  $109,257.39 $644.35
JURK ROBERT  Senior Project Leader  $104,359.40 $600.64
KELL DONNA  Manager of Public Affairs  $106,024.52 $622.95
KELLY JOHN  Captain  $107,875.07 $586.08
KELLY PHILIP  Man Develop/Env and Trans  $111,861.38 $660.96
KOEVOETS MATT  District Supervisor  $100,668.92 $1,450.33
KRUSHELNICKI BRUCE  Director of Planning/ Building $157,104.07 $916.62
KUBOTA ERIKA  Assistant City Solicitor  $130,666.54 $662.46
LAING BRUCE K.  Captain  $108,373.33 $585.73
LASELVA JOHN  Sup Building Permits  $101,182.40 $585.72
LONG MARK  Captain  $107,544.32 $586.89
MACDONALD GARY F.  Captain  $110,173.33 $595.64
MACDOUELL ROBIN A.  Deputy Fire Chief  $155,645.20 $6,398.13
MACKAY MICHAEL J.  Captain  $110,173.34 $595.64
MAGI ALLAN  Ex Dir Corporate Strategic  $160,528.99 $943.41
MALE ROY E. Executive  Director Human Resources  $185,663.87 $1,008.01
MARTIUK ROMAN  City Manager  $214,859.60 $3,423.97
MCNAMARA MICHAEL J.  Captain  $113,731.46 $602.19
MINTZ SHAYNE  Fire Chief  $148,271.95 $6,507.63
MONTEITH ROSS A.  Platoon Chief  $112,644.06 $606.45
MORGAN ANGELA  City Clerk  $116,928.62 $683.84
MYERS PETER R.  Captain  $108,373.33 $587.65
NICHOLSON J. ALAN  Captain  $111,577.48 $591.68
O’REILLY SANDRA  Coordinator of Accounting  $101,498.92 $590.19
PEACHEY ROBERT  Man Parks Open Spaces  $109,885.51 $615.54
PHILLIPS KIMBERLEY  Gen Manager of Corp Serv $170,484.37 $1,005.30
REILLY PETER  Captain  $107,564.16 $582.01
ROBERTSON CATHARINE  Dir Roads-Parks Main  $132,664.11 $1,458.54
ROCK JEFFREY M.  Captain  $104,734.96 $582.01
ROTSMA BERNHARD  Fire Prevention Officer  $105,142.98 $595.64
SCHMIDT-SHOUKRI JASON Manager of Permit Services $126,377.36 $728.03
SHEA NICOL NANCY City  Solicitor  $161,275.08 $780.97
SHEPHERD DONNA Director of Transit  $173,820.54 $922.53
SHIELDS LISA Assistant  City Solicitor  $126,761.73 $647.08
SLACK CRAIG D.  Platoon Chief  $123,295.17 $662.98
SMITH CLINT  Platoon Chief  $124,386.06 $668.63
SMITHSON PAUL Manager of Planning/Policy  $114,700.81 $4,852.49
SPICER MIKE  Transit Manager  $116,629.98 $651.84
STEIGINGA RON  Manager of Realty Services  $115,664.71 $643.83
STEWART SCOTT  Gen ManCommunity Service  $191,150.30 $3,692.16
SWANCE JEFFREY W.  Captain  $110,226.64 $595.64
SWENOR CHRISTINE  Dir of Info Technology Serv  $150,309.38 $868.89
TWISS GREG  Firefighter  $100,822.06 $521.86
WEBER JEFF  Deputy Fire Chief $124,327.62 $8,174.62
WEIR KENNETH  Field Services Supervisor  $111,535.32 $541.50
WONG BETTY  Controller/Manager Fin Serv  $125,685.95 $729.58
WOODS DOUGLAS S.  Captain  $110,173.34 $595.64
YOUKHANA DAVID  Quality Control Coordinator  $103,404.24 $0.00
ZORBAS STEVE  Ex Director Finance  $180,772.72 $3,300.12
 

 

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What’s next for us? A Walk of Fame perhaps? – I think we’d settle for a Pier.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON March 30, 2011 – This is really hard to believe but maybe they didn’t know about the “mistake on the Lake”. Whatever, Burlington is still seen as the third best place to live in Canada by MoneySense. This is the second time we have been given this award.

In a city press release we are told that “The City of Burlington is fortunate to have the Niagara Escarpment, a world-recognized natural feature, as well as Lake Ontario in our backyard,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “We are a city with low crime, and high community engagement. Our citizens get involved and help make Burlington the beautiful city it is, and a great place to live, work and play.”

Could this be the third best place to live in Canada?

Could this be the third best place to live in Canada?

Burlington came in Ottawa-Gatineau and Victoria, BC and is the only GTA city to appear in the top 10. In 2010, Money Sense also named Burlington the third best city in Canada, up from fourth in 2009 and eighth in 2008.

“We keep getting better,” said Kyle Benham, Executive Director of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation. “Economies succeed based on the availability of a talented workforce. When you are one of the best places to live, it helps to attract and retain the work force needed for today and into the future.”

Money Sense measured 180 cities, up from 179 last year. To come up with the ranking, Money Sense gathered information on Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) and Census Agglomeration areas that had a population of 10,000 or greater (and for which the required data was available). They then broke up the CMAs of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Quebec City, Hamilton, St. Catharine’s-Niagara, Oshawa, Edmonton and Kitchener into their component cities of 50,000 or more in population.

Money Sense grades cities in categories that include:

  • Walk/Bike to Work: This represents the percentage of people who walked or took their bike to work.
  • Weather: Ideal volume of precipitation is considered to be 700 ml per year. Source: Environment Canada.
  • Air quality:  Data was from monitoring stations in or nearest to each city as reported by the National Air Pollution Surveillance Network.
  • Population growth: Higher creates problems, lower means less opportunities. Cities with negative growth received 0 points. 2006 figures from Statistics Canada.
  • Unemployment: 2010 data from Statistics Canada when provided and 2011 estimates derived from Canadian Demographics.
  • Housing: Average house average prices from reports and listings by MLS, Canadian Real Estate Association, and the Real Estate Boards of Toronto, Fraser Valley, Vancouver and Quebec. Time to buy was derived from average price divided by average 2011 estimated household income sourced from Canadian Demographics.
  • Household income: 2011 estimates as per Canadian Demographics.
  • Discretionary income: Discretionary household income as a percentage of total household income derived from 2011 estimates as per Canadian Demographics.
  • New cars: 2008-2010 model year vehicles as a percent of total vehicles as per Canadian Demographics.
  • Income taxes: Cities ranked (lower is better) according to the rate of combined federal and provincial (or territorial) income tax paid on a single person income of $50,000 as per www.taxtips.ca.
  • Sales taxes: Cities ranked (lower is better) according to the rate of provincial or territorial sales tax.
  • Crime: Violent crime rates, total crime rates per 100,000 people and crime severity rates for 2009 from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. (Lower is better in all three cases.)
  • Doctors: Number of general practice and specialist physicians per community provided by the Canadian Medical Association and converted to doctors per 1,000 people.
  • Health professionals: Percentage of people in each city who are employed in health occupations according to the 2006 census.
  • Transit: Based on the percentage of the workforce utilizing public transit according to the 2006 census.
  • Amenities: One point each for a hospital, university and college.
  • Culture: Based on the percentage of people employed in arts, culture, recreation and sports.

Not quite sure how many points we got for people taking transit to work – that doesn’t seem to fit with the conversations around transit at council committee meetings.

Now, if that Pier were built can you just imagine – we could have been THE best place to live in Canada – and what if the Ti-Cats had decided to call Aldershot home? We would have become just impossible to live with.

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On a very bright sunny day, in June of 2013, the parade will lead us all out onto the Pier. It’s going to happen.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON March 31, 2011 – They are about to book the Burlington Teen Tour Band for sometime in June of 2013 to march down Brant Street and out onto the Pier to mark the official opening.

Words like “celebration” and Grand Opening” were floating around the Council Chamber Wednesday evening as Council got an update on just where things are with the Pier – and it would seem that things are pretty darn good.

Scott Stewart has stick handled the Pier project through some tough phases.  He knows now that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Scott Stewart has stick handled the Pier project through some tough phases. He knows now that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

There is clearly a new, much more professional level of file administration behind this one. You will be pleased to know that 17 contractors picked up a copy of the RFP. Those interested have to get their numbers in by April 7th which will be followed by a “short list” meeting on April 11th and meetings with those who make the short list on the 13th of April. Things are moving right along.

One council member said to me recently that his concern was that no one would choose to bid on the project. The city however isn’t sitting still waiting for someone to decide they want to complete the building of the Pier. The city has hired a “procurement specialist” who is overseeing every step. The site has been inspected by civil, structural and electrical inspection engineers to ensure that no damage has been done. A “condition” survey will get done by the middle of April and then an underwater inspection to make sure that the pier foundations are solid.

While the city is in the business of issuing building permits to others they have to comply with a tight set of rules for their own projects and all the work done has to be surveyed to ensure that it is up to all the codes. The city is going to make sure that there isn’t another construction “accident”.

Expect to see work crews out there any time soon.  Be in town for the Opening June of 2013

Expect to see work crews out there any time soon. Be in town for the Opening June of 2013

The words “design phase” gets used but the Pier isn’t going to be re-designed. Engineers have advised the city that the Pier can be built using the original design but that some steel beams have to be removed. Lots of paper work to get done but in the fall of this year the site will be prepared for removal of the steel that was found to be sub-standard. While the old steel is being removed the new steel will be fabricated and prepared for deck and beam construction the Spring of next year.

It does seem like long time but ensuring that what is in place is sound and then getting all the drawings that will be needed drawn and available to the different trades who will be doing the job does take time and all kinds of permits and inspections have to be done.

The site will have to shut down in December of 2012 for the winter but the plans call for an opening in June of 2013.

The city’s public affairs staff have already started planning for the probably week long celebration that will see the Pier open to the public. The city intends to “inform and consult” the public throughout the months that construction is to take place. They will be creating an “Ask the Engineer” section on their web site that will have Tom Eichenbaum, Director of engineering, answer questions about what is being done through the various stages of development. The mood around the Pier is upbeat and positive.

All the pessimism and doubt that has plagued the city and this council began to fade away a bit Wednesday evening. Things were happening, a contractor will be in place very soon and it wouldn’t be long before we hear the sound of construction crews hammering away.

Those who wanted the thing to be town down failed to understand the grit and determination this council brought to finishing the Pier. It is actually going to happen.

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It is the stealthy that stay the course. And politics is a stealth game.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON March 30, 2011 – For those who are new to the business of running for elected office an election campaign can be quite overwhelming and it takes a bit for even the most experienced to get up to speed.

For those running as candidates for the provincial seat in the October election the challenge is greater than normal. They have to find a place to be seen and heard when there is a federal election going on and at a time when Burlington is in the process of figuring out its budget.

Earlier this week the provincial government delivered its budget, the last one before the October election. We felt it good news policy to ask each candidate for a short comment on the budget. We did not seek a comment from the sitting member, Joyce Savoline, because a) she doesn’t communicate with us and b) she is not running in the fall election. So we went our request for comment to each of the known candidates: Brian Heagle and Brad Reaume for the Progressive Conservatives, Karmel Sakran for the Liberals and Peggy Russell for the New Democrats. The response was disappointing.

Getting the hang of provincial politics.  Treated the budget as a political document.

Getting the hang of provincial politics. Treated the budget as a political document.

Russell came back with: Not available this evening…I was tied up all day with my 3 grandchildren and will need to do some research tomorrow to get caught up. The chances of Burlington electing a New Democrat to the Legislature are thin, extremely thin – but Bob Rae did form a government in 1990 – so you never know.

Brian Heagle got back to us with: The Provincial Liberals tabled a budget which tells us much about their style of leadership. In particular, the McGuinty budget increases spending, adds debt and delays the hard decisions – yet calls that being fiscally responsible. It also sets the stage for even more tax hikes. Ontario deserves better.

The budget reflects why we need a change in leadership to Tim Hudak and the Ontario PC Party.

Sakran needed time to prepare a comment on the provincial budget – lawyer needs to catch up with his reading.

Sakran needed time to prepare a comment on the provincial budget – lawyer needs to catch up with his reading.

Heagle is learning to play the game. He was once a serious Liberal being groomed as the Liberal candidate but underwent a ‘conversion’ and is now a blue, blue, blue Tory.

Karmel Sakran said he needed a few days respond.

The Liberals felt that with the incumbent, Joyce Savoline, deciding not to run again and The PC’s not having a clear heir apparent – that maybe the Liberals had a shot at winning the seat.

Well, needing a couple of days to figure out a response to a provincial budget that was clearly a political document as much as it was a budget won’t cut it for any of the candidates.

Stay tuned.

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The wind in city staff sails may have shifted. And the hand on the tiller may not be as firm as we thought it was.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON March 29, 2011 – It was a long, long, long day but your city council managed to approve its Capital Spending budget – and we will have detailed numbers on that for you later in the week.

There were then nine delegations looking for money – ranging from an ask for free use of a room for the Civic Rose people, to a bit of a break for the synchronized swimming people, The Age Friendly Burlington people wanted $30,000 which they said would be matched by the United Way. It wasn’t clear to several council members just what the Age Friendly people were going to do with their money.

Creative Burlington needs $65,000. to stay alive. Ward 1councillor Meed Ward asked what that could be ground down to and was told $40,000. would help. More later in the week on how Creative Burlington wants to morph itself from a support group for artists to an Arts Council which would be in the grant dispensing business.

The city does not currently have a grants policy and city Manager Roman Martiuk advised council not to dispense any money until there was a policy in place. “Without a policy” he advised “all you do when you give out any money, is encourage others to ask for funding.” Council felt it had to at least listen to the delegations.

Council felt they were no longer in the grant game but former Mayor Walter Mulkewich informed them that they were in that game and gave them a nice, concise backgrounder on why they had to be in the grant game.

All the requests were noted and at some point, in the line by line look at the budget. My guess is that some of the groups will get some money and then there will be a direction to staff to come back with a policy so that council doesn’t get caught up in a situation like this again.

The council meeting, which went from 9 am to 3:30 pm – did get a little testy as the day wore on. Chaired by Ward 4 councillor Paul Sharman, his gavel got passed over to the vice chair a couple of times when Sharman, who can be very direct – one might say blunt – at times, was determined to get his two cents worth in.

Spoke to his council and explained that no one is going to get everything they want but that everyone should get some of what they want.

Spoke to his council and explained that no one is going to get everything they want but that everyone should get some of what they want.

The meeting started with Mayor Rick Goldring explaining that he realized there was not complete agreement on what the tax increase should be but after speaking to each council member he felt it was possible, if there was some give and take all around the council table, that they could arrive at an increase that would keep everyone happy.

Earlier in the year Sharman made it quite clear he wanted a 0% tax increase in year 1 while the Mayor was on record as seeing a 2.5 increase as what would be needed. There appeared to be enough votes for Sharman to have his way – but that appearance is a little like ships sailing in a fog. They appear to be there – but then suddenly they aren’t there.

This council has a little caucus of three – Sharman, Taylor of Ward 3 and Dennison of Ward 4 that are strong fiscal conservatives and they can usually bring Lancaster of Ward 6 along with them – which is enough votes to carry an item.

But we are now getting into the nitty gritty and council is learning it isn’t quite that easy. Partly because the budget document they are working from was based on the premise that 2.5% was going to be the tax increase. Sharman has thrown a wrench into those gears and in doing so really stressed staff. Roman Martiuk, City Manager, who is a bit of a magicians when it comes to “working the numbers” is at times totally perplexed with what staff asks him to do.

Goldring was more assertive in trying to bring his council around to the point where they could get something done.  It had been a long day.

Goldring was more assertive in trying to bring his council around to the point where they could get something done. It had been a long day.

And he isn’t always able to come back with the response council wants as quickly as some council members would like him to. It was getting a little testy in the afternoon and then downright ridiculous late in the afternoon. For the first time, Goldring was louder than I’ve ever heard him before and very assertive.

He wanted council to “get out of the way” and let staff do their jobs. “all this nonsense, there is no relevance to it. Staff` gave us what we asked of them. We are just going to have to hold our noses and live with what we have”.

Staff indicated they needed nine to ten months to create a budget, which drew a stern glance from Sharman. They are going to have to produce budgets in a much shorter time frame in 2012 – and that seems to be what this council is going to do.

They appear to be heading for a situation where the city will have a budget that requires quite a bit less than 2.5% but it doesn’t look as if Sharman is going to get his 0% – even though with the very significant $9.3 million surplus from last year, it looks as if a 0% increase could be achieved. Sharman argues that this council was elected to lower taxes and cut costs.

Well they will certainly do that and in the process push staff in a way they have never been pushed before – and they will be a better staff for it. Credit for that does belong to Sharman who is well supported by Taylor and Dennison.

Goldring doesn’t lead that way. His style, which is still evolving, seems to be to let people have their way and to listen carefully to what they want to see accomplished and then to create an environment in which the wishes of each council member can be met.

Goldring is not an iron fist in a velvet glove kind of leader – but he does lead. He is not confrontational in the way Sharman is and he does not get as emotionally attached to issues the way Taylor does. There is a humanness to Goldring that is becoming clearer.

Sometimes you have to pause and think about where you want to get to.

Sometimes you have to pause and think about where you want to get to.

That didn’t go down very well with a couple of the guys with sharper pencils on council. The city has hired an average of 18 new people every year for the past ten years and this council realizes that has to stop. Sharman wanted to freeze that staff compliment at the 2010 level. He got voted down on that but council did agree that the staffing compliment would be frozen at the 2011 level and before a new hire was made, city hall staff` had to figure out who was not going to be in place. No one talked about firing anyone but it was very clear that the city manager had to work with what he had in terms of staff compliment and still deliver the same service and program levels.

There was a lot of deep breathing being done by Roman Martiuk. He is supported by a good staff who know their numbers and while they tend to be cautious – no venture capital people in the building, they are administrators who haven’t been stretched the way this council is stressing them. They know, or they should know, that they are being led and that council is focused.

Ward 1 councillor Rick Craven wasn’t able to get much in the way of traction on any of his issues and when he was “pronouncing”, which he is want to do, he doesn’t seem to get heard. He can get a little acerbic at times and at one point told his fellow council members that they were “naive and simplistic” and that we were headed for “civic chaos”.

There isn’t going to be any civic chaos. What there is going to be is a budget that could be at 0% for year 1, will probably be at 1% – maybe a lit less. And this is the really significant part of what your council is doing now. They are positioning themselves to be able to put together very solid budgets for the following three years of their four year term that meets the real needs of a changing city. This council wants to get this budget behind them – even if it means holding their noses for parts of it – and get into the Strategic Plan,through which they will figure out, with the citizens of this city what we really want – and then they will craft a budget that makes the wants possible.

The day the capital budget was approved and the day the operating budget was gotten into Money Sense magazine declared that Burling was the #3 best Canadian city to live in. and the only city in the GTA in the top ten. Take that Oakville!

Now that award is not all that it seems, but for a city that just loves getting and handing out awards – they will milk this one mercilessly

Ward 2 councillor Meed Ward is still in learning mode – she asks more questions than anyone else and isn’t the least bit shy about letting you know what she doesn’t know. And if what she says come out as a bit silly – she just laughs it off. She is there to serve her people and to learn – and she certainly has her fan club. How effective is she – too early to tell.

Blair is Blair. Blair Lancaster, a quiet, well intentioned woman who wants only the best for everyone and will go to considerable lengths to quiet troubled waters. She seems to have been given the role of the “person with the microphone” at any public event where someone has to lead. Lancaster is Burlington’s girl; their Beauty Queen who is serving her citizens. At that level she is very effective. She is also very fiscally prudent and will not let this city get itself into financial disarray.

The showdown issue for the first significant session on budget making was a vote on a Direction that was to go to staff which read:

That for 2011 Council consider each of the budget proposals and approve, decline or amend

That for 2012-14 staff develop budgets:

    At the 2011 approved complement level

    For each additional position a reduction be identified

The budget documents outline the service impact for Council’s consideration

Increases in FTE be considered should higher cost positions be replaced with lower cost positions.

An FTE stands for a Full time employee.

Not a particularly elegant document but it showed that the clout Sharman has been using up until now may not have that much heft to it. Sharman wanted future budgets to be based on the staffing compliment of 2010 – and except for Councillor Craven no one else voted for using the 2010 number. But don’t count that 0% tax increase out yet.

Eighty percent of the city’s budget goes into payroll. If there are going to be savings it has to be at the payroll level. Sharman wanted the level that everything gets started at to be 2010. He has had to settle for the 2011 numbers and that is what the battle will be over the next few days.

Tracy Burrows, by Law enforcement officer, taking citizens through a budget input session held at the Burlington Arts Centre

Tracy Burrows, by Law enforcement officer, taking citizens through a budget input session held at the Burlington Arts Centre

Council is not all that driven to reduce spending – and much of that is based on the results of the community input meetings that were held. These were staff` led events that were really very poorly attended – less than 50 people at one Saturday morning event. Included in the Agenda for the Budget and Corporate Services Committee was three and a half pages of comment recorded by staff. The list is a mix of ideas and thoughts but there were no burning issues brought to the surface. There was no anger evident. The group just wanted better administration and value for the money being spent but there was no suggestion that spending had to be reduced hugely.

With that kind of evidence in their pockets council members can feel free to tinker and tighten and leve it at that. Sharman seems to be the only one who wants to go down deep and cut.

What Sharman has managed to do is shake up city hall staff in a way they have never been shaken before. This crowd has burned a lot of midnight oil with dozens of Sunday afternoon phone calls. They got a good taste of the corporate world this round.

To be fair to staff – and on this everyone agrees – staff has done a great job of complying with the demands of council. Their job isn’t over yet – but the wind has shifted a bit and they are no longer sailing into icy winter winds blowing off Lake Ontario. There is a hint of that warmer wind that has been out there teasing us into believing that Spring is truly here.

… staff has done a great job of complying with the demands of council.

And when the Toronto Maple Leafs win a crucial game against Buffalo to keep the hope for a Stanley Cup playoff spot alive – well who knows. There just may be a new day coming. The Big smoke to the east of us will become unimaginably insufferable should they actually make it to the playoffs. They aren’t going to win – are they? Meanwhile, Burlington will become a little more smug with its third place ranking and city hall staff will stand taller knowing they have met a significant challenge.

What would Toronto do if the Stanley Cup was paraded down Yonge Street? Implode probably.

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We’ve got $18 million ‘in the bank’ so the lights shouldn’t go out.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON March 29, 2011 – It was certainly the shortest full City Council meeting in this term of office and is probably one of the shortest on record for the city of Burlington. Les than two minutes.

All those power lines along the west Beach bring power to your door step.

All those power lines along the west Beach bring power to your door step.

But it had a huge chunk of change attached to it – the city approved and is therefore on the hook for $18 million in interim financing made available to Burlington Hydro Inc, which you the tax payer own. Now we didn’t spend that amount of money, in fact we didn’t even have that amount of money – what the city did do was set up a line of credit with the TD bank so that we could pay our hydro bill.

We had to have “money in the ban;” to pay for any hydro we may have had to buy from an organization that is in place to buy and sell hydro between the different hydro organizations. And apparently they don’t take cheques.

So if for some reason we here in Burlington can’t provide the hydro power needed than we have to move real quick and buy some power from someone who has a bit extra. This all happens in mere minutes. The folks who are selling us the power want to be sure we can pay for it.

There are literally hundreds of hydro corporations involved in this set up. We had to show that we had the cash to pay the bill. $18 million in total. The resolution didn’t say if it was Canadian or US funds.

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Just how does someone “steal” your identity”? They collect information about you.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON March 28, 2011 – The internet has made it possible for us to communicate almost instantly with people we know and care about. We can read our newspapers on line; we can shop and make purchases; we can do our banking on line. We can also have our identities stolen and find our bank accounts empty because someone has learned enough about us from papers that we innocently threw out in the garbage.

Crime Stoppers Halton came up with a program that had them partnering with Shred-It, that allowed people to bring in their confidential documents and have them shredded for a small donation.

Kelly Gorven, on the right side of this picture, is a Crime Stoppers Board member who has served on the organization since her days as a Sheridan College student.  The Shred it trucks chewed up documents in a matter of seconds. Shown with Kelly are two citizens who took advantage of the shredding opportunity.

Kelly Gorven, on the right side of this picture, is a Crime Stoppers Board member who has served on the organization since her days as a Sheridan College student. The Shred it trucks chewed up documents in a matter of seconds. Shown with Kelly are two citizens who took advantage of the shredding opportunity.

Trucks were located at malls in both Burlington and Oakville. The response was a little on the limited side in Burlington due for the most part to the weak promotion but those that did know about the event and took part in the program were very pleased.

The event was successful enough for the Halton Crime Stoppers to decide that they would hold another event in the fall. Cal Millar, chief Crime Stopper, said the organization is looking into the idea of holding a Shred It day internationally. “We’d like this to be something that happens on the same day in cities around the world.” They are certainly thinking big enough.

In Burlington/Oakville Crime Stoppers raised $4200. in $5 and $10 donations.

The Halton Regional Police Service had an information booth set up in the Burlington Mall and traffic to that location was quite good. Detective Constable Keith Nakahara with the Regional Fraud unit, was on hand to explain to people what steps they could take to protect themselves from having their identities stolen.

Det. Sgt Keith Nakahara, at the Crime Stoppers booth at Burlington Mall last weekend explains how to protect yourself from identity theft.  Robert Strutt of Shred-It is in the background.

Det. Sgt Keith Nakahara, at the Crime Stoppers booth at Burlington Mall last weekend explains how to protect yourself from identity theft. Robert Strutt of Shred-It is in the background.

“The people who want to steal your identity are a pretty sophisticated bunch and they are persistent” explained Nakahara, who added that ” plain common sense is the best defense you have. If it sounds to good to be true – chances are it isn’t true. If you’re in doubt don’t and call the police and report the incident to them.”

Nakahara explained that when people call the police a pattern of behaviour quickly becomes evident to the police and that allows them to take action because they know there is something going on in an area.

The technology can work two ways. The police are now able to alert people by instant email. Information, used properly can make the lives of all of us safer and more productive.

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A devastated Japan sends funds to Burlington for woman at risk. Let’s hope we are as generous with our disaster aid to them.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON, March 25, 2011 – The spirit of generosity was at the heart of a cheque presentation that took place at Burlington City Hall on Friday. With Japan struggling to get back on its feet after experiencing a massive earthquake followed by a crippling tsunami, one would have thought the cheque would be going from Burlington to Japan.

But that’s not the way things worked out. Friday afternoon, Halton women’s Place accepted a cheque for $1,200 that was donated by a Japanese benefactor, Taroo Enomoto, a Japanese citizen from Burlington’s sister city of Itabashi.

“Each year since our city’s twinning with Itabashi, Mr. Enomoto has donated to a charitable cause in our community,” said Blair Lancaster, Ward 6 Councillor and Council representative of Burlington’s Mundialization Committee. “This year he wanted it to go to a charity that benefits at-risk women and children in the Burlington and surrounding area.”

Halton Women’s Place’s development manager, Carm Bozzo was thrilled to accept the cheque on behalf of the organization, “We are honoured to be the recipient of this donation,” she said. “Mr. Enomoto’s kindness has touched us and the donation will be used to help support our many families in need.”

From left to right: Carm Bozzo, development manager, Halton Women’s Place; Councillor Blair Lancaster; Mayor Rick Goldring; Ed Dorr, Chair, Burlington Mundialization Committee.

From left to right: Carm Bozzo, development manager, Halton Women’s Place; Councillor Blair Lancaster; Mayor Rick Goldring; Ed Dorr, Chair, Burlington Mundialization Committee.

Several members of council were on hand as Burlington’s Mundialization Committee presented a cheque in the amount of 100,000 Yen (approximately $1,200 CAD) to Halton Women’s Place.

This year marks the 22nd anniversary of Burlington’s twinning with Itabashi. In 1989, a twinning agreement was signed between the two cities and the relationship has since developed through regular citizen visits, official delegations and anniversary celebrations.

Mayor Goldring recognized Mr. Enomoto for his unwavering spirit of generosity and commented on the long-standing friendship between Burlington and Itabashi. “My hope is that residents of our city will be inspired to show the same generosity, kindness and support that our friends in Japan have bestowed upon us here in Burlington,” remarked Mayor Goldring.  “I encourage residents to do what they can to help support relief efforts in Japan during this very difficult time.”

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He is getting better. And he is developing a vision and wants wide public input on. Will we give it to him?

BURLINGTON, ON March 24, 2011 – He sat there wearing an orange shirt that must have been a Father’s day gift, sitting in a large, leather covered, wing back chair and answered the more than 30 questions put to him by a room filled with the city’s economic leaders at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast held at the Burlington Golf and Country Club. And he did just fine. Better, said some, than he did at the State of the City address he gave a number of months ago.

So – what do we know about this Mayor and the city he leads? Well first – he addresses issues head on and when he doesn’t know the answer to a question he just says he doesn’t know. When asked about THE Pier, and he is always asked about the Pier, says that the city is in the process of hiring a new contractor and that he is hopeful to have the Pier opened in 2013. He was asked if the design could change – nope, he replied, the design was seen as build-able by the experts – so at this point in time, no design change.

No one asked about the delays in getting an RFP out to the construction community. Had that question been asked there would have been an awkward answer. And no one asked what the city would do if no one responded to the RFP. There is one council member who is afraid that no one will want to even look at the job. We may have attracted a bit of a reputation on this one. No fault of the Mayor’s but he is the goat carrying the can on this one. What many don’t realize that most of the people who got the city into this mess are no longer on staff, city hall doesn’t announce the departures – just the arrivals.

Mayor Goldring wants everyone to get a copy of this workbook and do their homework.

One of Mayor Goldring’s favourite topics is the Strategic Plan process and he touts the Workbook the city ha prepared and actually asks people to get together in small groups and go through the document and feed their ideas back to the city.

Burlington has prepared Strategic Plans for seven terms of office. Goldring wants to put together a 20 to 25 year vision for the city and as part of this process he has created a Workbook that can be down loaded, as well as a well thought out questionnaire that you can complete online. The questionnaire will tell you a lot about your Burlington.

The Mayor has never been through an Official Plan revision. Given that the next revision we do in 2012 will be critical to how we handle sensitive parts of the city – the downtown core and the West Beachway, our Mayor has some homework to do. Does he want to rely on what old timers Craven, Taylor and Dennison will tell him ? These are the guys that approved a 22 story “landmark” building right on the waters edge

He is going to travel. He has a trip planned to Portland Oregon where they have instituted some innovation transit ideas and our Mayor, who understands better than most on city council how tough a job we have to, as he put it, retool suburbia to meet the times we now live in. Goldring uses the phrase “…we build this city fifty years ago when land and gas were cheap…” and we now have to deal with urban sprawl that requires a car to get around.

Mayor is going the intellectual route; bringing in deep thinkers to inspire the locals.

The Mayor also touted the Inspire Burlington series he has planned for the year with the first event taking place April 12th, 7 pm at the McMaster University deGroote School of Business, South Service Road campus. Featured speaker will be Christopher Hume, the Architecture critic for the Toronto Star. Registration forms are at: https://cms.burlington.ca/Page6907.aspx

Is Burlington a tourism destination one man asked? We are in between Niagara Falls and Toronto explained the Mayor and it is difficult to stand out with lights that bright on either side of you, but we do have something to offer people. Lunch on the waterfront and walk up Mt Nemo; take in a performance at the Performing Arts Centre and if the elite sports cycling event manages to overcome its problems it has the potential to make Burlington a destination for those who cycle – and there are apparently loads of them, although some of the numbers tossed out were nothing more than exaggerations.

It was a pleasure to learn that Goldring has not yet become a slick politician with answers to or evasions for every question tossed at him. When asked about traffic light synchronization he said he had a complete “non-answer:. The best he could do he said was “dodge that bullet”. For that he got a laugh.

Asked if he liked his job, the response was immediate – “this is an awesome job. If it was easy it wouldn’t be fun, if there were no challenges it wouldn’t be fun. This is a really, really fun job.” This mayor just may have a speech writer working for him when he delivers lines like that.

There were some tough questions. What asked Keith Hoey, President of the Chamber of Commerce, was the 2010 surplus ? $9.3 million was the answer and the follow up question was – what are you going to do with it ? The Chamber wants the city to commit half of any surplus to the hospital re-development fund so that hospital funding doesn’t have to appear on the tax bill, which Chamber members pay a large part of.

Others in the room wanted the city to be administered in such a way that the surpluses are lower with better financial administration.

We have a Mayor who thinks he could serve for at least two terms. If there were an election today he would run un-opposed. Ooops, forgot about the Greek hair stylist. OK, so he’d win in a landslide.

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Halton Liberals pick their Beauty Queen. Two mothers will battle it out for the seat in the House of Commons.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON March 24, 2011 – For those Burlingtonians who live north of Upper Middle Road – you have a Liberal candidate, nominated and ready to run in the federal election race that may start as early as this Friday when the Leader of the Opposition puts forward a motion in the House of Commons stating that the government no longer has the confidence of the House.

When that kind of a vote is held and the government loses the Prime Minister is obliged to call on the governor General and ask that an election be called.

Connie Laurin Bowie wins Halton nomination. Why the red jacket? She's a Liberal.

Connie Lauren Bowie, a 20 year Halton region resident was nominated at a meeting in Oakville Tuesday evening

The Burlington federal Liberals have yet to determine who their candidate is going to be but that hasn’t stopped the current federal member in Burlington from getting his ducks lined up.

So, for the political junkies, life takes on a whole new meaning. A federal election as early in May and then a provincial election early in October. They will be in seventh heaven.

However, in the world of politics a day is a month and a month is a year – you just never know. The players though are making it look as if an election will be held and Connie Lauren Bowie is now nominated to run against Lisa Raitt, the current member of the House of Commons for Halton, who has a bit a hole to get herself out of. Her press hasn’t been exactly positive the last while.

Connie Lauren Bowie, a 20-year Halton resident, brings a background that includes international experience as the Executive Director of Inclusion International, a global Non-Governmental Organization that has fought for the rights of those with disabilities and their families with great success for over 50 years.

Hockey Mom with international experience in the field as the Executive Director of Inclusion International.

Laurent Bowie has successfully secured tax relief for families who have children with disabilities, advocated for the extension of maternity leave to one year, and helped to negotiate an inclusive approach to a federal/provincial agreement on early childhood care. Connie Laurin-Bowie has experience in government, working in a senior role for a cabinet minister in the Government of Ontario. She has helped craft solutions to issues related to education, criminal justice, health, tax relief, and immigration – and translated them into policies that made sense for Canadians. Connie is fluent in both official languages and speaks conversational Spanish.

To the best of our knowledge Laurent Bowie does not claim to walk on water but she did win a three way nomination battle that had her glued to a cell phone for a couple of months.

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As impossible as the odds are – the train just might have a station to pull into.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON March 24, 2011 – It was thought that the thing would just rot where it is in the fire hall parking lot on Plans Road but – there is a pulse, albeit very weak and the group of citizens who took on the task of saving the Freeman station now are in a position to collect donations and issue tax receipts.

That they have to actually go out and raise money when there was all kinds of cash actually on the table is a monument to the everlasting shame of those members on council (Taylor, Dennison. Goldring and Craven) that could not find a place to put the station when the funds to make a move was in the bank. One hopes that if there is ever an Official opening that these council members will have the good grace not to show their faces. Leadership seems to have vacated all four of them in the historical side of building community.

The citizen volunteers have formed a board for a non profit corporation and have begun to thunk through ways they think this piece of Burlington history can be saved.

Waiting for a new home. Some are hoping it just rots away where it is.

Ward 5 council member Paul Sharman was polite to the group that appeared before a council committee awhile back asking (pleading actually) for time to come up with a plan. No one on council felt they had a hope in Hades, but none had the courage to tell them to all go home and look for something else to do.

Sharman asked each of the delegations if they would accept the fact that it wasn’t possible to come up with a viable plan that did not include any of the locations that were already decided against – would they then give up. And each, very reluctantly agreed that if they didn’t have something concrete by April – then perhaps the station’s time had come. It was humbling to watch Les Armstrong’s shoulder sag when he answered the question.

Sharman admits to be quite amazed by the efforts of the committee which includes, Jane Irwin, Les Armstrong, James Smith, with councillors Marianne Meed Ward and Blair Lancaster serving as liaison to the group that is now organized as a non profit corporation.

The group seems to have found the pluck that council never had and while their efforts to date are not really concrete their spirit is solid and one hopes that Council, come April, will see their way to giving this group another six months to come forward with a plan that is concrete.

Jane Irwin showed council what Aurora did with their historical station and argued Burlington had an even better building.

It would be nice to see Councillor Dennison get as excited about saving some history as he did about the elite cycling event – which may be on its way down the tubes as it were.

The community organization is about to be incorporated as a non profit and plan to be back before a council committee at the end of April with a vision, sign posts to show where they want to go and how they propose to get there. “We expect to kick some of this back to council and ask for some guidance and direction from then as we go forward with this”, is the way James Smith an architectural technologist who works in the field of computer aided design CAD, and certainly knows the field.

Burlington Green also has a proposal.

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City to consider old media as part of its outreach program. Town crier might be added to the mix.

By Pepper Parr

Burlington’s Committee of the Whole is going to get a chance to decide if the channels through which they communicate with the public and people who visit Burlington should be increased.

What do you think of the city having an Official Town Crier? Oh, and you want a council member in wooden stocks outside city hall as well? I’m afraid the wooden stocks will not be in any budget that gets created for this.

The committee will be given a report suggesting four possible choices:

  1. Adopt an Official Town Crier Program and ask that it be run through Museums of Burlington
  2. Appoint an Official Town Crier to a Volunteer Position
  3. Rely on the Ontario Guild of Town Criers
  4. Do not adopt an Official Town Crier and rely on Student Theatre to provide performers.

City council to be given four options for a Town Crier. One is to do nothing; one will cost next to nothing. Which will they choose?

We thought the city was going to hold a contest but city hall staff don’t seem interested in that route. So appointing someone is OK – but who decides and what the criteria will be in making a decision?

The Museum people could certainly run the program. Going with the Ontario Guild of Town Criers will cost more than Councillors Taylor or Dennison will want to shell out.

Using a student would be nice but that would mean coming up with the several thousand it costs to stitch together the uniform.

City council to be given four options for a Town Crier. One is to do nothing; one will cost next to nothing. Which will they choose?

David Vollick, who hails from the Aldershot part of the city, delegated to council with the idea. Showed up in full costume and cut quite a figure. If we end up with a Town Crier – credit for the idea has to go to him. Looks like a pretty goof Crier but we don’t know yet what else is out there.

Anybody with a good set of lungs and a bell – plus the uniform of course.

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0 for 11 – sounds like the Maple Leaf’s box score but its really what Councillor Sharman wants levied in taxes.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON March 24, 2011 – It started out being a 10%`tax increase over the four year term of this council – which Mayor Goldring thought would play out at 2.5% each year. That was the “policy” the former council left in place for the new council put in office December 1st.

Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman didn’t see it that way and at a Committee meeting he chaired early in February, he dropped a bit of a bomb – 0% was possible and Sharman wanted to give city hall staff a direction then to craft a budget that would result in a zero percent increase for the 2011 tax year.

Staff gulped when he dropped that bomb and Mayor Goldring scrambled to convince Sharman not to put the question to the rest of council. Sharman was amendable to that.

But that didn’t stop Paul Sharman and his actions seem to have moved the Mayor a couple of percentage points. At a Chamber of Commerce Q&A session the Mayor said that he expected the increase to come in at maybe 1.5% or perhaps as low as 1%. Sharman is clearly having an influence.

Pushing for no tax increase in 2011

Pushing for no tax increase in 2011

At a council committee meeting earlier this week Sharman issued a prepared statement o his fellow council members in which he set out his thinking. He trotted out some numbers “10 years of 57% tax increases or 4 years of 27% tax increases” and suggested part of why many members of council were elected was because tax payers were saying “enough”.

Sharman agrees with that “enough” statement and added that tax increases and significant staff pay increases “in the context of what has been dubbed ‘the great recession’ was something that was brought to our attention as we knocked on doors during the election campaign”. Sharman adds that “the current Mayor campaigned to some degree on a platform of fiscal restraint.” Sharman adds that “fiscal restraint and accountability is central to my being here.” Nice to hear a council member say he feels accountable isn’t it?

Then Sharman, ever the numbers man trots out some statistics: “Seniors and those living in poverty account for 25% of the population; unemployment is at 2.5%; generous pay increases for non union staff over the last six years have been significantly better than the private sector and city hall benefits are better still.”

Can you see where Sharman is going? He drives his knife in even deeper when he mentions the $9.3 million surplus in 2010 and before that $3.3 million in 2009. For Sharman a tax increase of any kind in 2011 makes no sense. He points out that the city does not yet have a Strategic Plan in place and does not know yet what its long term spending requirements are going to be.

“Now is a good time” declares Sharman “to take a break and give the taxpayers a one year rest from tax increases” – the city coffers can afford it.”

Sharman supports the Mayors 10% over four years but he “sees no merit in taking an increase before we have completed the Strategic Plan”. He adds: “We have not identified our priorities yet.”

“Further” he adds, “I see no reason to take a tax increase when city coffers have been supplemented by two years of significant surplus and when salaries and headcount are perhaps overly comfortable.”

He wanted the committee to take the initiative “right now” and issue a Staff Direction to forget the 2.5% tax increase and bring in a zero budget for 2011. Well, his fellow council members weren’t biting at the bit quite as firmly as Sharman was and Mayor Goldring said he couldn’t support such a Direction at this point in time.

That didn’t stop Sharman. His proposal (and it gets quite technical from here on in folks) was to have staff pay increases that reflect the state of the economy giving consideration to the generosity of the last few years.

Big on providing services. Political enough to be on the winning side?

Big on providing services. Political enough to be on the winning side?

Implement a headcount cap equivalent to 2010 budget, less the 12 existing positions that have been acknowledged as surplus, to encourage a better assignment of staff and productivity improvement. Translation: Not enough work being done by staff for the money we are paying them.

What does it all come down to? Its not clear yet if Sharman has the support of enough council members to make this happen. The Mayor has certainly moved down from his 2.5% and both Councillors Taylor and Dennison are on for less tax. Lancaster can be convinced.

The most risk adverse member of this council. She might want to keep all the surplus in a piggy bank, but she does listen to her peers.

The most risk adverse member of this council. She might want to keep all the surplus in a piggy bank, but she does listen to her peers.

Craven and Mead Ward – hard to tell. Craven tends to spar with Sharman on the numbers. Goldring has begun to let himself think in terms of being a two term Mayor and he is surely mindful that Sharman did have his hat in the ring for the office of Mayor for a short period of time. Once you’ve tasted the forbidden fruit you tend to want more of it.

What is interesting from a purely political perspective is that several of the council members don’t see or appreciate the political optics of coming in with no tax increase. The city can well afford it. Sure there are others who want something different done with that surplus – the Chamber of Commerce wants city council to pass a resolution that has 50% of all future surpluses going directly to the hospital development fund. Good luck on that one fellows.

It will all come out in the wash but, given that it is your wallet going through the ringer – you might want to give your council member a call and pass along your views.

Telephone numbers for each are listed below:

Mayor Goldring 905-335-7607

Ward 1 – Rick Craven 905-335-7600 Ext 7587

Ward 2 – Marianne Meed Ward 905-335-7600 Ext 7588

Ward 3 – John Taylor 905-335-7600 Ext 7459

Ward 4 – Jack Dennison 905-632-4800 Ext 211

Ward 5 – Paul Sharman 905-335-7600 Ext 7591

Ward 5 – Blair Lancaster 905- 335-7600 Ext 7592

They all have voice mail – leave a message, but be polite.

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Federal Liberals to choose candidate on Sunday. Only one name is public so far.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON March 25, 2011 – Burlington federal Liberals will hold their nomination meeting on Sunday ; 2 pm, at the Burlington Library. That suggests an election is a real, real possibility.

By the end of Sunday then the three major parties will have chose their candidates. Then the games begin.

The New Democrats chose their candidate, David Laird, last May. And the Progressive Conservatives hold the seat. No word yet from the Greens.

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