 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 19, 2013 It is usually the city of Burlington handing out an award for something. At times one gets the impression there is a department that does nothing but think of people an award or a certificate can be given to.
But last night it was the city that got the award – given to them by the United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton . City Hall staff were the recipients who last night were represented by Wendy Hough, one of the brains in the IT department. It was nice to see the people who do the work get the credit.
 When it matters, city hall staffers put their backs into it. Community building at its best. Len Lifchus, Chief Executive Officer, United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton, gave the city the Arcelor Mittal Dofasco community award, which in the past has been given to Scotia Bank, Mohawk College, the Spectator and CUMIS; nothing shabby about that crowd.
Lifchus advised Council that he had recently moved to Burlington, which will certainly add to our heft as the second best place to live in Canada, and told city council that Burlington city hall staff had donated more than $985,000 to the United Way in the past ten years.
Council learned as well that many city hall employees that receive service awards donate the value of that award to the United Way.
City hall staff are usually the kick off point for the Burlington United Way campaign each year when they block off part of Brant Street and literally pull a heavy truck or some other heavy piece of equipment down the street. The city departments compete with each other for the shortest pull time. One year the Planning Department had two teams on the street.
Staff gets a bit of a break from their work and set the tone and the pace for the campaign in the city. There is no shortage of criticism about what city hall staffers don’t do – which for the most part are unfounded. The kick off United Way event put on by the city hall staff is the first steps in a campaign that is much-needed in this city. All those civil servants deserve the award they were given by the United Way last night.
Good on all of you.
 City Hall media release:
BURLINGTON, ON March 19th, 2013 –Brenda Heatherington, the first executive director of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre, announced today she will leave in June to spend more time with her family.
“I was brought in three years ago to open this incredible venue,” Heatherington said. “I have watched The Burlington Performing Arts Centre go from a hole in the ground to a theatre with exceptional life and vibrancy. It is a good time now to pass the reigns to someone else.”
Heatherington came to Burlington from The Arden Theatre in St. Albert, Alta. in May 2010.
 Heatherington brought great experience in finding the talent that draws audiences into theatre seats. That talent is going to be hard to replace. “I am truly grateful to everyone who has welcomed me here in Burlington, from the staff and volunteers to the board of directors, members of City Council, the arts community and the many people who have been part of The Centre,” Heatherington said. “It is a privilege to work with you all, and I will miss you as I refocus my time and energy on new adventures and on my family.”
The executive director of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre reports to the board of directors. The Centre will begin a search for its second executive director to replace Heatherington.
“Brenda brought to the Burlington Performing Arts Centre solid community experience, energy and enthusiasm, helping give The Centre its best possible start,” said board chair Allan Pearson. “On behalf of the board, I want to offer my sincere thanks. We will continue The Centre’s positive momentum, presenting high-quality shows, excellent rental opportunities and leading theatre performance and education programs.”
In 2012, the Burlington Performing Arts Centre attracted 68,542 visitors. The Centre won the Award of Merit for Barrier-Free Design from the March of Dimes and received LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification for new construction from the Canada Green Building Council, CaGBC.
“The Burlington Performing Arts Centre is recognized as an excellent venue for culture and entertainment,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “Brenda and her team, together with the board of directors, have done a tremendous job of making The Centre a place where the performing arts thrive and where people can meet and enjoy a lively downtown experience.”
The Burlington Performing Arts Centre’s mission is to provide the people of Burlington with a broad range of excellent performance opportunities that will both inspire and delight, delivering diverse, world-class arts and entertainment to the community and showcasing Burlington and its arts community to the world.
Editors note:
The Performing Arts Centre has been under consistent criticism by citizens of the city and some members of city council for the revenue short falls. While council approved the budget for 2013 they also required both the Performing Arts Centre and the Burlington Art Centre to undergo full business plan reviews in the fall of 2013.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 19th, 2013 Nothing changed but we did get a look at the way this city of ours intends to handle the development of its budgets in the years ahead; where the priorities will be and where the problems that need to be resolved are as well.
We learned that when Councillor Craven was first elected the annual shortfall on infrastructure maintenance was $6 million. That was the annual shortfall more than ten years ago. Craven now tells us that the annual shortfall is now $18 million annually – which put another way means we should be spending $18 million to get our roads up to standard but have not been doing that.
That is a mess that this Council hopes to get out of starting in 2018 when the hospital levy will have been paid down and the city can start spending serious money on getting the roads fixed.
 Councillor Taylor meeting with staff to check up on some of the numbers in the budget binder. Taylor suspects the hospital has another big financial ask of the city up their sleeve. Not so fast advised Councillor Taylor, who pointed out that the city’s $60 million to the hospital will cover phases 1 and 2 – he suspects there is a phase 3 out there which we will have to pay for. No mercy for us at that level.
Council Craven decided the 2013 budget was one he would vote for – he didn’t vote for the 2011 or the 2012 budgets.
Councillor Meed Ward didn’t vote the 2013 budget but the rest of the crowd did, except for Councillor Dennison, who sent his regrets and was not present in the Council chamber.
 That red light was a sign – Sound of Music didn’t get the $37,000 they felt they needed as fall back money if the weather turned on them and events had to be cancelled. Note that the pier in this 2011 picture isn’t visible because there was nothing to see. The city plans on officially opening the pier during the Sound of Music festival this summer. SOM should charge the city a fee for horning in on their event. Had Dennison been at the horse shoe Meed Ward believes the Sound Of Music would have been given the $37,000 in fall back money they asked for.
Bfast, the city’s transit advocacy group asked that the 8% transit fare increase be deferred until there was a clear policy on new equipment acquisitions in place and when there was decent public input. Other than delegations during the budget process the public was basically shut out of any opportunity to have some input.
Good debate on the why of the fare increase and the usual mumblings about better community engagement but come May 1st – there will be a transit fare increase.
 Councillor Craven wasn’t flashing this smile at Councillor Meed Ward on Monday during the budget debate. It was getting close to ugly between those two  Councillor Marianne Meed Ward: She gave as good as she got in her slug fest with Councillor Craven during the budget debate For reasons that were never clear Councillor Craven had a real “hurt” on for Councillor Meed Ward; they were slugging it out frequently during the evening.
The debate on the budget left things just the way they were at the committee level. The good news was that the Burlington Teen Tour Band won the All-Ireland Championship. The city had put a chunk of change in the budget for the BTTB – can we expect to see an increase of tourists from Ireland this summer?
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 18, 2013 Theatre is alive and well in Burlington and Ireland House is showing the city how it can be done.
Sometime ago, Ireland House got a $32,500 federal grant to promote heritage and commemorate the War of 1812 and has decided to use some of that money to bring a live dramatic production to historic Ireland House.
 So fitting that a theatrical production focused on the War of 1812 should be performed at Ireland House. Tickets are a gift at $10. The 90 minute production will be done in the lower level of Ireland House – sound quality should be very good in a space that is quaint and intimate. It will be a difficult place for people who have ambulatory problems but other than that – it should be an interesting day.
There will be just the two performances on Friday April 5th: a matinée at 2:30 pm and an evening performance at 7:30 pm.
Tickets are very competitively price at $10 each. Call 905-332-9888 to reserve your tickets.
The Dora-nominated Toronto theatre company, Down n’ Out Productions, is bringing heritage, history and solid drama to locations across Ontario. If you don’t know what a Dora nomination is – know that is a mark of superb theatre.
The production – When the Ice Breaks is a new play based on life in Upper Canada during the War of 1812. Exploring the inner workings of an Upper Canadian household during the War of 1812, one domestic servant’s personal story of sacrifice and redemption comes alive in this intimately staged production written by Madeleine Donohue and featuring four professional performers with live early Canadian folk music.
 Construction of Ireland House didn’t begin until twenty years after the War of 1812 when the community was more settled. A close to perfect venue though for a War of 1812 production. The production will run for 80 minutes and is appropriate for audiences ages 10 and up.
If this is as good a production as it sounds – why wasn’t it put on at the Performing Arts Centre? Is $10 a seat out of the question for PAC?
This is a Museums of Burlington War of 1812-1814 initiative supported by the Federal Government’s “Celebration and Commemoration Program” that brought a $32,500 grant to the museum operation.
Down n’ Out Production approached Ireland House and asked if they could put on the performance in their locale. Great idea.
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 15, 2013 Are the people doing this:
 A view of the Adi development on Guelph Line just south of Upper Middle Road is a project with a very contemporary look. Thinking seriously about doing something with this?
 What would an organization like Adi Developments do with Village Square? They appear to be working towards an opportunity to purchase the site and re-develop.
It is clear now that there are talks taking place about what might be done with the Village Square. Jack Friedman’s daughters do not want o continue managing the property and truth be told the Village isn’t working anymore as a destination. It no longer draws the traffic it once did – the set up is dated and a little on the tired side.
 Great presentation – a really inviting look but this commercial enterprise didn’t last long at the Village Square. Many people tried the location – it just didn’t work. Time for new eyes and a new kind of energy and while we cannot confirm that Adi developments are the people kicking the tires they are certainly displaying the gumption and energy that results in modern, upscale projects – and they don’t appear to be greedy.
When Adi Developments took their project to city hall they eased on on the density they were entitled too and instead came up with smaller units in a very compact setting. The plans look good – the proof of course is in the pudding which will become evident once the place is built and the moving trucks are moving residents in.
Burlington has been looking at the downtown core for some time and trying to find a way to bring some life to that part of the city; to get traffic on to Brant Street and the street to the east and west of the main artery – nothing seems to have worked. Will a major redevelopment of Village Square make the difference?
At some point in the near future all this secrecy from the former Miss Transparency, who hold the ward 2 seat at city council will, perhaps, revert to the candidate she said she was when she ran for election, and tell people who is doing what.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON – Manufacturing companies in Burlington face a serious shortage of trained workes with skills that relate to tool and die making.
The Centre, an educational organization that is part of the Halton Board of Education structure offers courses in electrical training, renovation skills development and industrial millwright mechanic/machinist skills. These are “trades” that pay well and offer satisfying work where expertise is built up over time.
The Centre for Skills Development & Training’s (The Centre) gets students trained and earning for career with a future, fast.
 Students at The Centre are trained on equipment they would find in any workshop in Burlington. The Centre is currently accepting applications for the 22-week, full-time program that includes over 70% of hands-on training in over 6,000 square feet of fully equipped shop space. Last year, over 92% of graduates found work in their field. The next start date is March 25, 2013.
 Jamie Fierro-Silva on the right and Omar Taylor practice setting up measuring devices for the very exacting work done on tool making equipment at The Centre. “Today, almost 50% of Canadian companies, regardless of size of location, are facing serious labour and skills shortages. This shortage poses a threat to economic growth; however, it also represents immense opportunity for people interested in working in trades,” said Kathy Mills, Chief Administrative Officer of The Centre for Skills Development & Training. “Our Industrial Millwright Mechanic/Machinist program is comprehensive and includes personalized job search assistance to ensure students land work in industry as quickly as possible.”
Established in 1988, The Centre for Skills Development &Training has two locations in Burlington and Oakville, and one location in Milton and Clarkson. The Centre provides pre-apprenticeship skilled trades training, employment services, services for newcomers to Canada, and customized workplace training and consulting services for companies.
That’s the corporate part of this story; there is a really interesting dynamic going on in the class I watched. The twenty some odd people in the class I looked in on were guided by Al Hossack who would work one on one with students as they set up a machine or worked to solve a problem.
Hossack was steps away for any student working in a shop that had the kind of equipment these students would work with in any workshop they went to – and the vast majority of these students would be employed once they have completed their course.
Mike Harwood is the Job Developer for the trades department. In a phrase – he is the matchmaker – he knows all the students and knows the needs of the employers in his markets. His relationship with the employers is such that they tell him what they need and he looks at what The Centre has coming through the system. Sometimes a student will do a very short placement to see if the chemistry is right.
Harwood refers to his job as “employer dating”.
 Al Hossack, a certified tool and die maker takes a student at The Centre through the set up procedures on a piece of equipment. Hands on and classroom time are part of the course. What the Centre is doing is attracting people who want to learn a trade and then, while training them, are also grooming them for the first job they will go into. It’s not a slam dunk course explained Al Hossack. We aren’t like a community college where students wander in whenever they want and wearing their pyjamas if the choose.
The Centre teaches skills and focuses on good work habits; punctuality and reliability. The students who walk out the door with their certificate in their hands take the reputation of the Centre with them – and that reputation is vigorously protected. Students toe the line – end up with good jobs, not just decent jobs and are known to have come out of a good school.
 Ellen Faraday – den mother to students at The Centre Ellen Faraday, Senior Trades coordinator for The Centre is sort of the den mother of the place. She lives and breathes what they do and sees every student as her project. She knows them all by name and knows where they are probably going to get their first job. These are “her people” and she is heavily invested in their progress. Ellen will tell you as she leads you from one workshop to another that three of the women who work with Mike Holmes – of Holmes on Homes fame came out of The Centre and then she rattles off the names.
The course that will start at the end of this month is being sponsored by the Ministry of Training – they are picking up the bulk of the fees. Great deal, great opportunity for someone who would like this kind of work or who wants to change the career stream they are in.
The Centre – worth looking at.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 14, 2013 You may remember all the hoopla about the collecting of local artifacts and having a plaster casting made of most of what was brought in for Peter Powning to consider as part of the Spiral Stella that will be placed outside the Performing Arts Centre sometime this summer.
People showed up with the darndest things, which Powning made a plaster impression of and then headed back to his secluded studio in New Brunswick where the work of an artist gets done.
 Do you recognize anything? Was something you took in part of this casting? There are more to come. There is part of the city crest in there; is that the key to Brant House? Who owned that tie and who used the paint brush – and that baby’s foot impression – where did it come from? The first glimpse of those castings can now be seen.
Do you recognize anything there? What you are looking at is one of castings that will be attached to the spiral when it is fabricated.
 Dan Lawrie put up a significant portion of the money needed to pay for the creation of the Spiral Stella. It’s coming along just fine and Dan is a happy camper. The sculpture was financed by the city out of its public art fund and a generous contribution by Dan Lawrie, president of a Burlington – Hamilton based insurance corporation.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 14th, 2013 There was chatter starting around 1:30 that there had been a daytime robbery at a home in the Alton community. Late in the day police reported that a lone black male with lighter tone skin and a muscular build had attempted to break into a home.
An unknown suspect, reported the police, attempted to break into a residence in the Alton Village community of North Burlington. The lone suspect initially approached the front of the residence and knocked on the main door. After receiving no response he then forced the door open.
As the suspect entered the residence he encountered the homeowner inside and he immediately fled from the residence without further incident. The homeowner was not injured during the incident and nothing was stolen from the residence.
The suspect involved in this offence is described as follows:
Male black with lighter skin tone, approximately 6 feet tall with a muscular build. He appeared to be 30–35 years old and was clean-shaven. He was wearing a black toque with a long sleeve shirt which was covered with a camouflage green coloured vest.
Anyone who has information pertaining to this incident is asked to call the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825 4747 ext. 2312, alternatively call Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-TIPS (8477).
Police are reminding Burlington residents to be vigilant of any suspicious activity occurring near their homes and to call police regarding any concerning behaviour they encounter.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 14, 2013. When city manager Jeff Fielding left London, ON, where he was also city manager, they were the sixth best managed city in Canada. Little did the people in Burlington know that Fielding had every intention of getting Burlington to something better than the sixth best managed city in the country.
He has put together a program with McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business that will have upwards of 200 people from city hall taking courses at McMaster. Some of that 200 will come from the local boards, which is a great opportunity for people who serve in advisory capacities.
The curriculum for these courses, which are very close to an Executive MBA program, was put together by McMaster and sold to Burlington at a “very, very decent price”. One wonders if Fielding didn’t exact a price for the “dirty” McMaster did when they pulled the planned McMaster building program out of the downtown core and plunked it on the South Service Road.
Fielding also arranged for 20% of the curriculum to be under his control. McMaster might know the fundamentals on executive management – but it is Fielding who really knows the municipal world.
A fifth of the classroom load will be courses directly related to municipal management. If you have friends who work at city hall, expect to see less of them socially for the next while. Probably less golf this summer as well.
It is now much clearer why Fielding was given the Award of Excellence from Western University’s Local Government Program Alumni Society. That event wasn’t given all that much attention at the time other than the reference the Mayor made to it at a city council meeting. Fielding’s colleagues in London clearly saw something that was worth recognizing that is going to be a significant benefit to this city.
 City manager Jeff Fielding ran a tight ship in London, ON and is doing the same thing here. We are all going to be better for his time with us. For Fielding the task he has undertaken amounts to a cultural shift in the way city hall is run. Staff are currently putting together an inventory of the services they deliver and attaching a cost to each of those services.
Then staff will be asked to do a business case for each service delivered; what is it costing and what are we doing. Senior staff tells of a service that was getting a 94% satisfaction rating from citizens yet city hall was still putting fresh money into the service. “If you are getting 94% why are we spending any more money someone asked: because it was in the budget. Ouch. .
 That number is not his age, closer to the number of years he has been working in the municipal sector. Fielding is one of the better net-workers in the city; he can work a room as well as any of the politicians in the Region. Fielding realizes that if you change the language you change the way people think. So instead of talking about spending he wants his staff to think in terms of “investing” and then determining how they are going to measure the return on that investment.
If the return and the need for the service pass the business case test then Fielding wants to see the item included in the base budget.
That’s a different kind of thinking which Fielding thinks is going to require about 18 months to work its way into the minds of staff and onto the work they do. Staff have, in the past, thought in terms of what has to be spent ever since the structure on Brant street was first opened – that was the way municipal people thought.
Fielding is saying to them; “There is a better way to do this” and he is in the process of showing his staff how to do it and investing significant dollars in the process.
Burlington’s boards, the Library, Performing Arts Centre, the Art Centre, the Economic Development Corporation and the Museums (did I miss any) are separate from city hall but attached to the place by the equivalent of a umbilical cord. “The Boards are extensions of city council which delegates certain responsibilities and service delivery tasks to them but they are not separate in that they can just go their own way”, explains Fielding.
During the budget delegations this year the chair of the library board had her nose very much out of joint when city finance people began asking a lot of questions about their financial needs before their delegation to the Budget and Corporate Services committee which suggested that perhaps there wasn’t a full appreciation as to just what the relationship between a board and city council is.
 City manager Jeff Fielding doesn’t win every time. Joe Lamb, negotiating for the Seniors’ Centre basically took Fielding to the cleaners with the deal he talked the city into. Fielding who is a friendly, open, accessible but no pushover (except for the time the seniors worked him over) and capable of coming down with a very firm hand. He may appear to wear a velvet glove but don’t let that fool you. There are a number of people at city hall who have learned that lesson.
Expect Fielding to have city hall align more significantly with the boards and work with them to develop connections between each other. The Art Centre and the Performing Arts Centre should almost be sleeping with each other – they are looking to the same core markets for their revenue and could be looking for ways to share promotional and marketing expenses.
Last weekend there were more than 3,500 people running through the streets of the city; at 3 in the afternoon you could have shot a cannon ball up Brant Street and not hit a soul. Why wasn’t someone putting together programs that would keep enough of that crowd in town for an event at the Performing Arts Centre. And by the way it doesn’t have to be the PAC people doing this – no reason why someone couldn’t have rented the place and put on a show geared to the running crowd. Then maybe put together dinner packages for this crowd as well.
We saw an example of how this works, in a very small way, with the private sector when the Different Drummer put a copy of a PAC promotional poster on his web site and then tied a promotion of a book on The Gruffalo performance to the books of the same name. The Drummer ran a contest for four tickets to The Gruffalo performance; all you had to do was drop by the bookstore and fill in the forms. The private sector calls that cross-promotion which Fielding just loves to see; expect him to push for this kind of initiative from the people he works with.
Ian Elliott, proprietor of The Different Drummer does these things or he doesn’t get to eat.
Our Mayor used to tell people that Burlington was the second best city to live in. Now he says ‘everyone knows Burlington is a great place to live, work and play’ which are nice verbal bromides. By the time he ends his second term of office he just might be able to say that Burlington is the third best managed city in the country. THAT is something substantial and worth talking about.
Expect Jeff Fielding to pull it off.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 14, 2013 The guy with the monster house doesn’t want the guy in the bungalow a few doors down operating a Home Based Business where he grooms pets in the back yard or has a lawn mower repair business.
Burlington currently has a bylaw that limits what you can and cannot do in terms of business in your home; however don’t expect to see the bylaw officer going door to door snooping around.
In this city by law enforcement is a – “if you call us we will look into it”. They are not pro-active but rather re-active. When you call they do look into the concern you have quite promptly and more often than not manage to resolve the problem.
 Is this an acceptable home business? What if the hairdresser is doing a wedding party and there are 10 cars parked outside the house? Someone at city hall said “Home based businesses are a growing and dynamic part of Burlington’s local economy.”, which is a bit of a stretch. Examples of home-based businesses include hairdressers, music lessons and pet grooming. We take our lawn mower over to a place west of us for repairs where the work is done in the garage of a home in an average community. The man we use asked us not to say anything because “his daughter works at city hall”.
City hall has decided to look into what is happening in the home based business sector and recently held a focus group where they took part in a 1 ½ -hour focus session about home-based businesses in Burlington. The participants got $50 for their efforts. There was one person from each ward, people who operate a home-based business, people who live next door to, or near-by to a home-based business and people who live in single detached, semi-detached, or multi-residential units including townhouse, condo, or apartment.
The focus group was held early in February and the results are in the hands of the planners who want to now get input from a wider audience and are talking to the Business in Burlington crowd that is herded by James Burchill. Many of his 2000 plus members work out of their homes. Some certainly carry inventory and perhaps ship from their home address.
The planners want to hear from people who work from their homes. The bylaw that governs all this is set out below:
The following regulations for home occupation uses are set out in the bylaw:
The residential appearance and character of the dwelling must be maintained and no exterior alteration is permitted;
The home occupation is not permitted in a garage, but is permitted in a basement or cellar;
The home occupation is restricted to 25% of the floor area of a dwelling above grade;
The employees of the home occupation must be residents of the dwelling;
Retail sales are not permitted unless the goods are ancillary to the main home occupation use;
Outside storage and display is prohibited although goods may be stored in a garage provided they are not visible from the outside.
No equipment or process is allowed which may become a public nuisance in regard to persistent noise, odour, fumes, vibration, glare, electrical interference, traffic or parking.
In addition, the zoning regulations stipulate: music, dance, singing and physical fitness activities are only permitted in detached dwellings; the following uses are only permitted in detached dwellings located on streets with a deemed width of 26m or larger: medical or health care office, hairstylist, aesthetician or complementary health care.
City hall staff felt there was a need to update and clarify the home occupation zoning regulations and wanted to review the following:
Was a definition of “personal service;” needed?
Should home occupation uses be permitted on all streets?
Should there be a limit to the number of customers present at one time at a home occupation use?
Should uses such as dog grooming, dog daycare and dog training be permitted as home occupation uses?
Whether to allow on-line sales where there is no home pick-up and restricted inventory.
 One of the Art in Action events that take place in private homes as part of their annual Studio Tour. Clearly not a home business but their event confused people at city hall. Did it need a license? A few years ago the Art in Action group, that holds a Studio Tour where several artists gather in a home and display their art and sell from the location, ran into problems with city hall and had to put out dollars for a license. That problem got resolved and last year’s tour had one group of artists meeting in the home of the Mayor. Clearly there are exceptions. The Mayor wasn’t given a favour – but that situation drew attention to the need for clearer regulations.
Some of the thoughts the bureaucrats are having don’t square all that well with the real world of people who work out of their homes. What is positive about this process is that city hall is reaching out. It is now up to those people who work out of their homes and have opinions to make their views known – this is a two-way street.
If you have a viewpoint let city hall know. The staffer on this file can be reached at: Rosalind.Minaji@burlington.ca
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 13, 2013 Some history might get “righted” and Burlington just may see a plaque somewhere in the city telling the true story about the “Burlington Races”, which despite the name, tell of a critical part, perhaps the most critical part, of the War of 1812 as it related to the Great Lakes.
Many believe that the country that controlled the Great Lakes would win that war. And the battle that took place in 1813 right off the shores of Burlington and up to the entrance to Hamilton harbour was clearly won by the British.
 Rick Wilson, a member of the Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee, points out what he believes is a glaring error on a historical plaque, located in Hamilton overlooking Burlington Bay. Wilson hopes there can eventually be a plaque in Burlington correcting the error. It’s an exciting story that is seldom fully told – Burlington seems to have that problem with its history.
Local amateur historian Rick Wilson has for some time taken umbrage with a plaque that sits up at the Burlington Heights, which is located in Hamilton, that tells of the naval battles that were a part of the War of 1812 during which the British repelled American efforts to invade the country and who knows what they would have done with us. Perhaps we would all be singing Yankee Doodle Dandy today.
 After years of telling anyone who would listen that this plaque was historically incorrect, Rick Wilson, an amateur historian who has focused on the War of 1812, just may have succeeded in getting the plaque corrected and having a plaque placed in the city of Burlington with the true story. The offending plaque was put up, Wilson thinks, sometime in the 70’s. Wilson found that most people agreed with him – that the plaque was wrong – but no one knew what to do to correct the error.
For Wilson the offending part of the plaque begins with:” After a sharp engagement, the British squadron was forced to withdraw toward Burlington Bay where it could take refuge under the batteries on the adjacent heights. A close chase ensued but by the skilful seamanship, Yeo was able to bring his ships through the shallow channel in the sand bar to the safety of this bay.”
That never happened according to Wilson. The draft in the channel was such that a ship could not have gotten into the bay.
Wilson would take his story to anyone who would listen. His persistence paid off when, it is believed, that Councillor Craven brought up the matter up at the Joint Bay Area committee where Hamilton agreed the plaque was incorrect and they undertook to do something about it.
Because there cannot be two plaques in the province about the same event in two different places, the Burlington Heights sign has to come down and then a Burlington plaque can go up. The expectation is that Hamilton will put up a new plaque with the correct information.
Wilson has been fighting this issue for a couple of years. He said he “got blown away” by MPP Jane McKenna, who was no help at all. And while he got all kinds of support from MP Mike Wallace, there was not much Wallace could actually do. The plaque is provincial and Wallace explained to Wilson that federal people never intrude on provincial historical stuff even though the federal government poured a tonne of money into War of 1812 events. Figure that one out!
Wallace did get Wilson an invitation to an event being attended by the Prince of Wales at Fort York in Toronto. There wasn’t an opportunity to chat up the Prince explained Wilson.
Burlington now has to find a location and work with the provincial branch that handles these things. To the surprise of everyone, and to the absolute delight of Rick Wilson, the project is moving faster than anyone imagined.
There doesn’t appear to be any animosity with the Hamilton people, who have agreed their sign is factually incorrect. The Heritage Committee expects to ask for a Staff Direction to get this project moving on our side of the Bay.
Where would a plaque telling the story be placed? Wilson thinks somewhere in Burloak Park would be about right but no one really knows where that critical battle took place. All we know is that it did take place and the British won it.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. March 13, 2013 If you were in the Mapleview Mall Wednesday afternoon and were wondering why the EMS were scurrying all over the place – they were responding to a twelve-year-old female in medical distress. The female was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Family members were with her at the time of the incident.
The incident took place at the Mall just before 4:00 pm
At this time, the cause appears to be related to a pre-existing medical condition. Her prognosis is currently unknown.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 13, 2013 Heritage along Lakeshore might take a hit. Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison wants to sever a lot off his heritage designated property and produce a lot – 56feet wide, that will probably be the smallest along that part of Lakeshore Road that has more than its share of mansions.
The news broke at a Heritage Burlington meeting where Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward advised the meeting that she “had met with the property owner and was aware of the plans”. She did not say the property owner was Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison who lives in a designated property on Lakeshore road. Dennison is always quick to point out that he asked for the designation and is very proud that his home is recognized as historic.
It wasn’t until another member of the advisory committee asked for the address and then some else mentioned that was the Dennison home. It was at that point that Meed Ward drew a copy of the architect’s plans for the lot severance from her purse and passed it around the table. It was not made available to the public.
 The Jack Dennison residence on Lakeshore Road is a designated property that the owner wants to have severed with one lot measuring 56 feet in width. The request for a severance will go to the Committee of Adjustment where neighbours can attend and comment. Because there are heritage implications it is expected that Committee of Adjustment will look to Heritage Burlington for some comment.
If Committee of Adjustment denies Dennison the severance he wants he has the right to take the Committee of Adjustment decision to the Ontario Municipal Board.
Peter Thoem, a member of the Committee of Adjustment and a former Ward 2 member of Council may choose to recuse himself from the decision-making at the Committee of Adjustment level.
The Roseland Community Organization was formed recently to oppose the several severances taking place in the community. Don Baxter. An RCO director said Dennison was very direct with the community association and invited its directors to tour the property and get a full understanding as to what he plans.
It wasn’t clear if the RCO was opposed – it may want to poll its membership before it takes a position. RCO does expect to attend the Committee of Adjustment meeting when it takes place.
Creating a lot as small as 56 feet will certainly be different for Lakeshore Road and the fear within the community that it would be precedent setting and not in the best interests of the community.
Dennison does not want to talk about his plans at this point. He said: I don’t want to be treated any differently than anyone else – this will come out at the appropriate public meetings and I would like to leave it at that.
Anyone can take that position and we certainly respect Jack Dennison’s position. Perhaps he shouldn’t have given Meed Ward a copy of the architectural drawings.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 13, 2013 The talk of Village Square being sold is not just idle chatter. There was the view that the FOR SALE sign was to get a value of the property for tax and estate valuation purposes but there is a real buyer with a real interest who has had conversations with Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward and Heritage Burlington Advisory chair Jim Clemens.
 Once the best attraction in the city, Village Square was a destination for tour buses. The management of the property wasn’t in tune with what commercial operators and retailers required and the location began to lose tenants and is currently seeing significant changes in tenants. City council had asked Heritage Burlington to report on the historical value of three of the buildings on the property. That report is in its second draft and Randy McLaughlin, a member of the advisory committee, isn’t satisfied with the quality of the report, which he felt was basically a “boiler plate” document and he wanted it to go back and include the zoning implications and some guidance. “I am disappointed with parts of this report” said McLaughlin. “They could do a better job”, he added
 The Dickens Pub, one of three properties in the Village Square that are being looked at by a consulting firm hired by Heritage Burlington, a city Advisory committee. The concern with the quality of the report and the time needed to get a document that satisfied Heritage Burlington mattered because at this point the three buildings at issue are not designated properties and as such owners of the property could ask for a demolition property and be given one within sixty days if the city did not take steps to designate and, even then if the owners of the property want those buildings to come down and are adamant about it – the city can’t really do very much to prevent demolition – other than delay the actual issuing of a permit to demolish.
Jim Clemens, who has met with the prospective buyers said “they are eager to work with us”, which is his impression. There are good developers and not so good developers. Because the public doesn’t know who they are – the public can’t make a decision.
If Meed Ward knows who the developers are then the rest of council knows. The community activist the people of ward 2 people voted into office would have been delegating to city hall and demanding to know who the developer was and what their plans were and when were they going to consult with the people in the community.
The meaning of transparency for the ward Councillor seems to have changed in the last two years. Pity.
For the first time in our experience an Advisory committee went into closed session to discuss conversations that had taken place between the people who are the prospective buyers, the ward Councillor and the chair of Heritage Burlington.
Due to the different meeting schedules of city standing committees and the advisory committees there was some juggling of dates that Heritage Burlington would report to the Development and Infrastructure committee as to what their recommendation on the properties would be. Meed Ward seemed to want to talk about the prospective buyers but wasn’t prepared to make their names public.
It isn’t completely clear if an Advisory Committee can go into closed session because none of the members of that committee are sworn and, there were a number of conflicts of interest in the room at the time. That decision has the potential to get a little sticky.
Ward 2 Councillor Meed Ward told the committee chair that he could go into closed session but needed a motion to do so. Chair Clemens got his motion and into closed session they went – which means a reporter has to leave the room.
Meed Ward has been cautioned in the past as to what she can and cannot do as a member of council. A concern with her advising and speaking for a resident in a committee of adjustment matter early in this term of council resulted in a memo from the city solicitor and the no, no’s in terms of where a council member could insert themselves.
So what we have is a report coming from an Advisory committee to a city council committee on the merits of designating three of the buildings that make up the Village Square.
Jim Clemens wasn’t entirely clear on what the city council committee was expecting of Heritage Burlington. . “What is council expecting”, he asked. Meed Ward advised the committee that council would want a recommendation supported by reports from experts. Council will want to know if the buildings are worthy of designation and if they are “of that class”
Getting a report from the experts with that kind of information is proving difficult.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. March 13th, 2013 Doug Brown of Bfast believes the city is trying to pull a fast one with the trains fare increase of an across the board 8% hike due to go into effect May1st, if city council approves the Budget and Corporate Services recommendation at its Council meeting on the 18th.
Bfast (Burlington for Accessible Affordable Transit) a group in Burlington that advocates for better transit service and more prudent allocation of resources with a bigger focus on public transit.
Doug Brown, probably the one person in the city that has a solid understanding and depth of knowledge on transit matters and is a passionate and devoted user of public transit, says that the proposed increase “would take adult cash fares from the current $3.00 to $3.25. Such an increase would give Burlington Transit users the privilege of paying the highest fares in Ontario while receiving the lowest service levels.”
 BFast, a Burlington transit advocacy group wants city council to defer the planned May 1st bus fare increase The 2013 budget submission from Burlington Transit included no fare increase in the short-term, but did include the development of a process for adjusting fares. Bfast would support the development of such a process to fairly make periodic fare adjustments taking into consideration such factors as: affordability, inflation, impact on ridership levels; compatibility with fares in other Ontario municipalities; and comparability to other fee increases for municipal services.
Brown maintains the 8.4% fare increase is an arbitrary figure, unrelated to any of these factors.
“This fare increase”, said Brown “has been justified by the mistaken belief that the approved 2013 transit budget contains significant additional transit expenditures. This is not the case.”
Brown adds that: “Transit is still under-capitalized, and will continue to suffer from the $500,000 decrease in transit’s share of the Gas Tax money made by City Council one year ago. A few weeks ago, Council rejected Bfast’s request to restore transit’s share of the Gas Tax funding. Therefore, the reality is that net transit spending by the City has decreased.
Transit spending per capita in Burlington, continues to be only one half of the average spending by GTA municipalities
Residents in northeast Burlington, are still coping with the service cuts of mid-2012 which have resulted in one hour headways between buses on the #11, #12, and #15 on weekday schedules.
Bfast will be requesting Council defer the proposed fare increases at the March 18 Council meeting and that a process be developed, with public consultation, for future fare adjustments.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON Burlington, Ont., March 12, 2013 — The slimy little creature that brought a halt to the opening of a second quarry on the Escarpment is expected to begin his migration to his breeding ponds between the middle of March and the middle of April. The city of Burlington shuts down parts of King Road while the little creature slithers across the road.
 Details on the King Road closure. Dark line at the base of the mountain brow indicates where traffic cannot use the road for about a month. King Road will close from the base of the Niagara Escarpment to Mountain Brow Road, March 18 to April 8 to allow the endangered Jefferson salamander safe passage during its annual migration to lay eggs.
In Canada, the Jefferson salamander is found in Southern Ontario in a few small pockets of deciduous forest; mostly along the Niagara Escarpment. Burlington is home to one of those small pockets.
 Now an endangered species and the mascot of the environmental community in Burlington. Jefferson salamanders spend the winter underground, then seek temporary ponds formed by spring run-off, sometimes crossing King Road to do so. They lay their eggs in clumps attached to underwater vegetation. By midsummer, the larvae lose their gills and leave the pond and head into the surrounding forest.
The Jefferson salamander is a protected species and is a nationally and provincially Endangered Species at Risk.
Conservation Halton is committed to preserving native biodiversity and protecting species at risk through activities such as protection of natural heritage systems, the creation of wildlife corridors, and increased public awareness through education, outreach and partnerships with local organizations.
In 2012, the city closed the same section of road completely for a three-week period. “The closure was a success last year. There is evidence to make the city and our partners believe that the Jefferson salamanders were able to travel safely across the roadways,” said Bruce Zvaniga, director of transportation services.
“The reaction was positive towards the road closure last year and shows how the community will support steps to protect the local environment,” said Rick Craven, Ward 2 councillor.
“Conservation Halton commends the City of Burlington for once again undertaking a full closure of King Road. It is also encouraging to note the support of area residents who are keen to help ensure the long-term survival of the Jefferson salamander, by taking steps to protect its habitat,” said Ken Phillips, Conservation Halton CAO. “Our studies showed that last year’s road closure was a tremendous success allowing the salamanders to safely traverse the roadway on their way to the breeding ponds.”
Adult salamanders migrate to their breeding ponds in mid-March or early April during wet rainy nights. They show strong fidelity to their birth pond and can be very determined to reach it.
The salamander played a much larger role in the community effort to stop the opening of a second quarry on the Escarpment. Burlington heroine Sarah Harmer was a significant part of that effort when she testified at the Joint Board hearings that made the decision not to issue an additional mining permit.
Harmer saw her first salamander in the basement of her home on an Escarpment side road when she was a young girl; little did she know then of the career she would have in the future and the role that slimy little guy would have on the community she was raised in.
PERL, Protect Escarpment and Rural Lands, of which Sarah and her mother Isabelle were a large part, went on to oppose the quarry application and saw the Tribunal that heard the arguments come down in favour of the environment citing the endangered status of the Jefferson Salamander.
The legal costs for the city of Burlington were $2.1 million. PERL is still believed to have a significant legal debt. Time for a big fund-raiser; Sarah get the guitar.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 12, 2013 If you haven’t filled in the days of Spring Break week yet – there is an event at the Performing Arts Centre that is not only fabulous entertainment for the young ones but the price is actually comfortable. Jamie Adkins and his Circus Incognitus is taking place at the Performing Arts Centre March 14th. The man is an absolute delight and the younger kids will roll in the aisles laughing.
And there are still plenty of seats left. This event should really be a SOLD OUT production. The illustration below shows what was available at 10:oo am on Tuesday.
 The dark blue dots are the seats still available. The site lines are excellent in the Main Theatre. No need to be up close for this production. We are beginning to see some cross promotion between the Performing Arts Centre and local commercial operations. The Different Drummer Bookstore has announced a contest that gives the winner four tickets to The Gruffalo which takes place at the Centre on April 13th at 2:00 pm in the afternoon.
“Jolly sing-alongs, visual gags and a license to roar in raucous fashion sets the seal on this successful comedy for everyone over three” was the way one reviewer described the production.
 The Different Druimmer is holding a contest for a set of four tickets to The Gruffalo – nice bit of cross-promoting. Programing for children is a subtle game – get it right and the kids are theatre goers for life. Get it wrong and they are lost for a long time. Jamie Adkins and The Gruffalo are close to as good as it gets in terms of programming for the young ones.
The Centre is toiling away at building a young audience – they are also still open to hearing from anyone who feels they can serve on the Board that has some vacancies. One Burlington resident sent an email asking: Please send me information regarding board seats.
While the request didn’t offer much in the way of background and qualifications from the person asking for information, the response from Ilene Elkaim, the Board member apparently responsible for new Director recruitment didn’t offer much encouragement.
The information regarding the board is on our website www.burlingtonpac.com. You can find the information on the Board of Directors page.
Hope this helps.
Ilene Elkaim
On behalf of the Board Recruitment Committee
It is critical for the Board to get it right during the fiscal year the Centre is going into. It is now evident that the Board is going to have to be much more involved and prepare itself for a rigourous business plan review that Budget & Corporate Services committee chair Councillor John Taylor has said is a condition of his going along with the funding requested for this year.
 More than 5000 of these blue bins were given out at two locations in the Region – line ups were gargantuan.  By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 11, 2013 If you were wondering why it took so long to get a bigger blue bin last Saturday – we can tell you . There were 3500 people at Corpus Christi and 1500 at the Mohawk Raceway in line waiting to pick up their bins. Retailers should be so lucky.
Media people at the Region advised that an estimated 1,500 vehicles visited the Mohawk Racetrack to pick up an Information Kit, Blue Box and GreenCart. An estimated 2,500 Blue Boxes were given out at the Mohawk Event and 1,000 GreenCarts.
Approximately 3,400 vehicles attended the event at Corpus Christi, where an estimated 3,500 Blue Boxes and 1,400 GreenCarts were picked-up in addition to Information Kits.
As a result of the high turn-out that occurred at each location on Saturday, the Region is reviewing options for the remaining planned events to reduce wait times. That’s a good idea.
 There were more than 3000 trucks and cars in this line up – all to get that free 22 galon blue bin. If sitting in your pick up with all eight cylinders idling isn’t your idea of how to spend a Saturday morning the Region will distribute Blue Boxes and GreenCarts at the Halton Waste Management Site, Monday through Saturday, the Halton Regional Centre, Monday through Friday and at the Robert C. Austin Operations Centre located on Trafalgar Road in Georgetown, also Monday through Friday. Blue Boxes and GreenCarts are available at these locations throughout the year.
Our Burlington asked the regional communications experts why there was no distribution points south of the QEW and were told that “, there is simply no location large enough that can accommodate a large volume of vehicles. We have encountered this problem when planning our Special Waste Drop-Off Day events for hazardous waste and E-Waste. Most schools and public facilities do not have adequate space to hold the events and the traffic would impact residential neighbourhoods. Newer schools and facilities that are north of the QEW have more space.”
All true, but the parking lot outside the yet to be opened Target store at the Burlington Mall is basically empty and one can bet that Target would have bent over backwards to help out on a project of this size. An opportunity lost.
What this experience tells us is that the people of Burlington take waste management serious and will go that extra mile – literally- to get a bigger blue box.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. March 11, 2013. It was just before 3:00 am on the first day of Spring Break. Three youths, one male and two females, were on a park bench on a pathway in the Cavendish Upper Middle Road part of the city, when a male wearing a balaclava approached and demanded valuables from the three youths.
The group, the male with two females, refused to give up anything and a scuffle between the male and the assailant took place during which the male victim sustained blunt force injury to his head, face and upper body.
The two females were unharmed, and the suspect fled on foot.
 Blunt force trauma can result in serious long-term damage. The victim was transported to local hospital by ambulance with injuries that are described as serious but non-life threatening. No shots were fired. Police conducted a search of the area and the investigation is ongoing.
The suspect is described as a white male approximately 5’5” with an average build, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants, and a black balaclava.
Anyone with information or who may have witnessed the suspect or a vehicle in the area is asked to contact the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905 825-4747 ext. 2316 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 11, 2013 The need for more sophisticated corporation communications is being driven by the realization that the time has come to tell the citizens of the city just what did happen at the foot of Brant Street with the construction of the pier.
When you are really guilty you hire the best lawyer you can afford and forget about the old, reliable but not too bright family lawyer.
And that’s where Burlington is. When the city manager admitted that he is looking for communications people who can handle delicate situations; something that calls for more than his in-house people can handle – you know there is hard news coming.
Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven in his newsletter to his constituents says that the pier is on time and that it will probably open in June and goes on to say: “The bad news is that the legal wrangling continues over what went wrong and who is responsible.”
 Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven is the first to tell his constituents what’s about to happen to them – it isn’t going to be pretty. Craven was a member of Council when many of the decisions were made and all of the Significant Seven were at the horse shoe when the decision was made to re-tender the construction job original given to Harm Schilthuis and Sons Ltd. and eventually hired Graham Infrastructure at a significantly higher price.
The city did have an opportunity to settle this matter as recently as less than a month ago – they chose not to allow the city manager or their lawyers to talk settlement. Does the city still have the same lawyers? Or has a decision been made to send them packing?
No one is saying very much at this point – so one has to beat the bushes and read between the lines; but there is something going on out there.
Councillor Dennison talks about the “Grand” opening. He’s going to take the highest road he can find – BUT, he was there when it all began. Don’t let him forget that.
It will be interesting to hear what Councillor Taylor says when he is given an opportunity to comment. Don’t expect any one of them to issue a media release. They are going to hunker down and hope that the “communications specialists can cover for them.
Might be a good time to go to the Councillor Meed Ward web site and listen to the comments she made during the election campaign that put her in office. She was the only one who wanted the city to work things out with Harm Schilthuis and Sons Ltd.
 The issue is over the design of the original pier and the compromises that were made with the design when the 180 metre length proved to be too expensive and it got cut back to the current 130 metres. There were short cuts made – that proved to be too short for Harm Schilthuis and Sons Ltd.
Add to that the issue as to whether the construction work came under rules in place to build a bridge. That’s an arcane, complex difference – but it just might be what the city loses its case over. The people at city hall who made those decision are no longer there – most just moved on to another municipality. The only one left is Tom Eichenbaum and he is certainly taking the heat these days. And it is going to get hotter – that’s why the “communications” specialists are being hired.
Do you get it now? There’s more.
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