By Pepper Parr

March 5^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The arguments begin today.

Milton Greens, the developer who wants to put 98 high end homes on what is golf club land.

Millcroft Greenspace Alliance and Millcroft Against Development have each raised significant sums of money to oppose the development at the Ontario Land Tribunal that begins today.
he both want as many of their supporters as possible tuning in today for the hearing.

The hearing is scheduled from Tuesday March 5 to Thursday March 28 through virtual meetings. You may log in at the link below.  Only lawyers and those speaking at the meeting will have cameras and microphones on.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/719383509  Access Code is 719-383-509

David Donnelly, the lawyer representing Millcroft Greenspace Alliance will make an opening statement today and will continue representing the group throughout the hearing.

MAD has their team in place with local planner Allan Ramsay representing them.

It will be some time before there is a decision – many feel the hearing would not have taken place if Mayor Meed Ward had been able to convince the Minister of Housing to issue a Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) would have brought everything to a halt.

That as the community knows didn’t happen.

 

By Pepper Parr

March 4^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

He kissed every ring in the room and mentioned there was “the hint of a tear” in his eye on the news of City Manager Tim Comisso moving on to something a little less stressful.

“It’s a delight to be back with you today on behalf of Alinea delegating to comment on the presentation you’ll hear later from your Economic Development department on the city’s vision for what we are now at least temporarily calling the project at 1200 King road”, said Lou Frapporti.

“As you are keenly aware this will be the first public presentation relating to the project; the first the community will hear about the scope of the vision for King Road that we have been been engaged with you on for the past several years. It is a moment in what has been years of reflection, engagement, conversation and exploration on the subject of the remarkable potential.

“The thoughtful development of this parcel of land presents engagement that began over three years ago at the Alinea corporate launch event which many of you attended, Where CEO Paul Paletta made the commitment to begin a new chapter in the company’s history  – moving beyond transactions to the building of relationships in the community, which are premised on first listening to you to better understand your priorities and vision for your community manifested through these lands.

“Having met with you and listened to you over the last several years, we have been particularly moved by Councillor Galbraith’s passionate championing of his constituents and their needs in this project. Councillor Sharman’s thought provoking suggestions regarding innovative approaches to fostering well-being and soliciting strategic partnerships. Councillor Nisan’s encouragement of our prioritizing sustainability in the development. Councillor Bentavegna’s engagement around the importance of anchoring sports and recreation in the effort. We have all benefited from the Mayor’s leadership not only here but regionally as well in urging rapid action in addressing the housing crisis.

“I’d also be remiss in not pointing out that we have greatly benefited from the thoughtful engagement of your staff at every level, whose effort and input has been invaluable today and will be critical in the future. Having benefited from a better understanding of your needs and vision it’s been our pleasure to begin recruiting and engaging leading partners here and abroad to assist in realizing the vision that we and you I believe share in relation to development of this parcel of land.

“Whether it is in the recruitment of post-secondary institutions or arena and recreational partners or to the engagement of thought leaders here and elsewhere in a variety of disciplines, all critical to the outcome will be presented later today. We have and will continue to have the very best organizations available and committed to you and this project as it moves forward.

“Work which collectively centers on a vision that demands our close collaboration, and ultimately nothing less than the best will be required of us. A quick look at this map explains why this is a massive blank canvas of land not only at the geographic heart of the city, but of the population and transportation epicenters of the most significant economic cluster in Canada, and the second most significant in North America. It’s a future city on a hill in its own right, that can advance a remarkable range of important outcomes, not only for those that live work, learn and play in this community or will in the future, but for the region as a whole.

“All of these and more outcomes and benefits will be pursued: they can and will be realized in our work together on this project. And with all of this in mind, I humbly submit that the moment demands that we stop to reflect on the sobering reality that we collectively face. In all of this. We really have just one shot to advance so many of the city’s priorities in the development of what is arguably the most significant greenfield site in the city.

“Are we going to capture it? It’s not an exaggeration to say that owing to the nature scale, location and quality of this and other development assets in the community. This council, staff  have it in their power to materially transform this community in almost unimaginable ways at an unprecedented pace.

“With a remarkable in growing list of aligned stakeholders, almost all the decision makers necessary to determine these outcomes are in the room looking at each other today.

“That said, the history of development is replete with examples of squandered opportunities, crushing incrementalism, short sighted thinking parochialism, the paralysis of nimbyism and resistance to change – Yes, bold action entails risk, but in the end, the greatest risk we face is not the risk of action, it is the risk of inaction of missed opportunity of not being worthy of the moment our not seizing the opportunity together to bring about the transformative change that is within our collective grasp. In this and in the related projects of which you are all very familiar you have the collective power to be to be the most significant public and private leaders in this city’s history, transforming this community for generations to come. A transformation that moves you beyond simply being the best midsize city to live in Ontario, or the fourth or best, whatever in Canada, but to being one of the most remarkable cities anywhere in the world to live. I truly believe that’s possible.

 

“I have lived here in the past and aspire to live here again working for leaders like Paul and Michael Paletta who are deeply invested in every way imaginable in the success and well-being of the community. I have every confidence will get there together.”

A classic example of covering all the bases.

 

By Pepper Parr

March 4th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

An update on the occasions when the city of Burlington decided I should be banned from entering city hall.

They do this by issuing Notices of Trespass.

The first one was delivered to me by James Ridge, in September 2017

Ridge served me with a Notice of Trespass – something I learned much later that he didn’t have the authority to do – which I am pretty sure he knew at the time.

At the time I was stunned; what bothered me most was that the decision to issue a Notice of Trespass  was based on a report on my behaviour that the city had done by an outside law firm engaged to investigate a complaint.

I was never interviewed, I was not given a copy of the report and thus had no way of defending myself nor did I know what it was I was supposed to have done.  The first ban was for one year.

I met with a number of lawyers; few had any experience with this kind of thing.

I decided to wait out the year and cover city hall as best I could without stepping into the building.

A year later I had not heard from the City.

The first Notice of Trespass expired one year later September 2018.

In October of 2018, then City Manager James Ridge issued a second Notice of  Trespass that was for an indeterminate length of time.

This time I knew why I was being served with the Notice of Trespass

Let me provide some context around this second incident.

When there was a Planning matter that I needed some clarification on I would call the planner on the file and ask some questions.  Most, but not all, were a pleasure to work with; they answered the questions often providing additional information.

Some were a little edgy: they weren’t sure just how much they could say and they didn’t want to annoy the Director of Planning who, at the time, was Mary Lou Tanner. She wanted to be aware of what I was talking to planning staff about.

I had suggested to Tanner that when I was communicating with planning staff by email I bcc her on every email.  That way she would be in the loop and could step in if she was concerned.

Up until that point there was a decent relationship with Mary Lou, or at least I thought so.

On what was Halloween Eve  of 2018 I sent Ms Tanner an email. The response was one of the automated “I am not at my desk” things.

Now appreciate this – I am talking to someone I felt I got along with reasonably well and it was during the day of Halloween Eve – and the person I wanted to talk to wasn’t available.

I responded with the following:

A second Notice of Trespass came from City Manager Ridge in October of 2018.  This notice was for an indeterminate period of time.

Some might feel the email was inappropriate – I could live with that.  Ridge in his second notice of  Trespass said:

You were clearly notified at that time that your pattern of behaviour directed at staff constituted harassment and a number of restrictions were imposed on your access to city hall and city hall staff under the Trespass to Property Act, R.S.O. 1991, c. T.21.

Two things: Ridge did not have the authority to issue a Notice of Trespass and exactly what can be defined as harassment appears to be whatever the city says it is.  Every opinion I got did not define the Halloween Eve email as harassment.

And that is where things stood.  The pandemic took over the way things worked everywhere and everyone did the best they could.

In June of 2023,  there was a motion on a Council Agenda to pass a bylaw related to Notices of Trespass.

Turns out the city did not have the right to issue Notices of Trespass unless there was a bylaw allowing them to do. .

What we had then was the city issuing Notices of Trespass when they didn’t have the authority to do so.

Some time later, September 27^th, 2023 I had occasion to send an email to Blake Hurley who was now the City Solicitor.

I didn’t get a response from Hurley but did get a response from the law firm the city had hired when we sued every member of the 2018 Council.

The law firm told me that the Notice of Trespass that had been issued in October of 2018 had been withdrawn in July of 2019.

That was a surprise to me. I didn’t recall getting any notice from the city.  I checked the computers I use – What the city maintains they sent didn’t get to my computers.

Given the seriousness of the matter – requiring a credentialed journalist to be escorted by security while in city hall – is serious stuff.

It was my view that when advising me that the Notice of Trespass was being lifted, a responsible City Manager would have asked me to drop by for a short meeting during which he would advise me that the Notice of Trespass was no longer in place and then talk about how we could put together a working relationship that first ensured media, working for the public interest, would have access to key personnel and that there were clear procedure for interviewing staff.

The behaviour report the city had done in 2017 is, to this day, a document I have never seen.  It was issued by then city manager James Ridge who did say prior to the 2018 election that he would let me have a redacted copy of the Notice when the election was over.  Of course we all know what happened to Mr. Ridge.

While withdrawn, the document does exist, filed away somewhere, and easily brought forward again should it serve some city purpose.

Our motto – Informed people can make informed decisions – is behind everything we do.

I don’t believe the current administration is fervent in wanting an informed public.  They pay lip service to the concept but the proof is just not in the pudding at their table.

So here is where it all stands:

Any notices telling me that I was not permitted to enter city hall without an escort are no longer in effect.

However, the city tells me – If I ever do what they maintain I did they can use that report to kick me out again.

This is bullying and intimidation.

They are what they are – they do what they do.

 

By Ray Rivers

March 2^nd, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

         

“I came to office as Prime Minister determined to place the environment at the top of our national priorities,”( Brian Mulroney 2019)

It must have broken his heart when his daughter, the first Attorney General in Doug Ford’s Ontario government, led the provincial legal case against Canada’s new carbon tax.  Brian Mulroney was too good a politician and father to criticize her but his praise of former federal environment minister McKenna said a lot about his views on climate change.

Brian Mulroney was a fish out of water in today’s conservative camps.  Unlike his federal Conservative Party compatriots today, who can’t even agree that climate change is real, he understood that one of the most important responsibilities of any government is stewarding the environment.  With that possibly in mind he argued that “In the final analysis, successful leaders do not impose unpopular ideas on the public, successful leaders make unpopular ideas acceptable to the nation.”

His record of achievement on the environment was impressive.  He initiated ongoing  bi-national efforts to clean-up the Great Lakes.  He negotiated the 1991 Acid Rain Accord with a reluctant American president.  He hosted and facilitated the 1987 Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer, a landmark and successful global environmental treaty.  And he implemented the federal Green Plan in which every member of his Cabinet was charged with environmental responsibilities.   In 2006 he was recognized as Canada’s ‘greenest’ prime minister.

Some might say he was a leader before his time when it came to the environment.  But that would be in contrast to his fellow conservative provincial leaders, particularly those today in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.  Alberta is the dirtiest province in Canada when it comes to generating climate warming pollution.  And yet its upcoming budget bans the production of new clean energy and places a whopping tax on electric vehicles.  And the province is slashing spending on forest fires management in the mistaken belief that all the pollution they pour into the air will not come back to haunt them as it has in previous years.

Brain Mulroney began his career as a labour lawyer and became a skilled negotiator and the master of the compromise.  However he failed twice to convince Canadians to allow changes to our constitution in order to obtain Quebec’s signature.   The Meech Lake accord and, even more so, the Charlottetown referendum, involved just too many compromises for too many Canadians.

The inadvertent upshot of those initiatives and their failures was the creation of the BLOC Québécois separatist party and the enhanced popularity of the Reform Party, both of which contributed to the ultimate demise and disappearance of the political party of Canada’s first prime minister.  This was a sad ending to a party which less than a decade earlier had claimed the largest electoral victory in Canadian history, winning over 50% of both seats and the popular vote.  Mulroney had notably won a virtual sweep of seats in Quebec, something unheard of since the Sir John A. MacDonald government had hanged Louis Riel, nearly causing a civil war.

Mulroney came into office promising to better handle government financial management than Mr. Trudeau who had apparently lost his way among inflation, stagnation and stagflation.  But Mr. Mulroney’s government never came close to balancing the budget either.  In fact the deficit in the last budgets of both leaders were almost identical in real terms.   And Mulroney’s GST coupled with continued high interest rates precipitated one of Canada’s worst recessions since the 1930’s.

There was this darker chapter to Mr. Mulroney’s career, where his ill-advised dealings with a corrupt German lobbyist led to betrayal of the very ethics which he had once employed to discipline members of his own cabinet.  But we are all human and we all make mistakes, even prime ministers.  As Mr. Mulroney said in a 2011 TVO interview, nobody is perfect.  Still Brian Mulroney continued to be regarded with respect and called upon for his counsel, including by newly minted PM Justin Trudeau over renewal of the North American trade deal.

Perhaps his greatest international accomplishment was leading the fight to end Apartheid in South Africa and freeing Nelson Mandela, the man who would lead that country out of its miserable past.  Mulroney played hard ball by imposing sanctions on South Africa, then softer ball convincing Mrs.Thatcher and Ronald Reagan to join with him in securing a better future for the people of that country.  To this date, he is regarded as a hero by South Africans.

Mulroney was fond of saying that history judges people primarily by what they accomplished.   And he accomplished much over his two terms in office, particularly with regard to the environment.  One’s legacy is about what is left behind for future generations after their time.  And what could be more important to our children and grandchildren than the state of the planet we leave for them.   And in that regard Brian Mulroney left a legacy for which we should all be thankful.

Ray Rivers, a Gazette Contributing Editor, writes regularly applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking.  Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington.  He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject.   Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa.  Tweet @rayzrivers

 

 

 

Background links:

Climate Change –   Post Mortem –   Financial Management –

 

By Staff

March 2nd, 2024

BURLINGTON. ON

 

A break that municipalities seldom get the Federal Court of Canada ruled in favour of the Halton Municipalities with respect to CN’s proposed truck-rail facility in the Town of Milton. The Court found that the decisions of the Federal Minister and Cabinet failed to fulfill their duty to protect human health.

On March 1st, “The Court noted Federal Cabinet’s decision was flawed and unreasonable,” said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. “Our concerns about the health and safety of our residents have been heard loud and clear and we are very pleased with the Court’s decision.”

The project cannot now proceed without going back to the Federal government for reconsideration, including a full evaluation of the effects of the project.

“This has been a long battle to protect the health of our residents,” said Milton Mayor Gordon Krantz. “We are delighted that our concerns have been heard.”

In 2020, the Environmental Review Panel found that CN’s proposed truck-rail facility in Milton would have significant adverse effects on the health of Halton residents.

This is the only project ever subject to a federal environmental panel review found likely to cause significant adverse effects on human health. There are also additional concerns about safety due to the potential for increased traffic. The project site is located within one kilometer of more than 34,000 residents, one hospital, 12 schools, and two long-term care homes.

By Staff

March 1st, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Yesterday we did a short piece on MPAC – Municipal Property Assessment Corporation and what they can tell you about your property.

We provided you with some data – there was more;  When you log into the MPAC web site you can learn:

 

There is a map that lets you zoom into property locations.  It’s a little on the tricky side to use – be patient.

Your home is the largest asset most people own.

Different types of property get assessed differently.  Golf courses and retirement homes are assessed under different rules.  The hospitality industry property assessment is based on the revenue potential.

Learn more about what you are being taxed based on the value of you home.  Know what the assessment is and how that determines what your taxes will be.

MPAC website HERE

Related news story:

Not much available to the $500,000 price range

By Pepper Parr

March 1st, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

Part 1 of a series

Burlington has had a seven-member council since 1997, when Burlington had a population of 139,000. Since the last review, the population of Burlington has increased from approximately 160,000 in 2005, to approximately 186,948 in 2021, according to Census population data.

The Municipal Act, 2001, provides the legislative framework for municipalities to change its composition of council and review ward boundaries. A municipality is authorized to “divide or re-divide the municipality into wards or to dissolve the existing wards.”

The Act requires that a municipality provides public notice that a ward boundary by-law has been passed within 15 days after the by-law is passed. The notice must specify the last date for filing a notice of appeal. The Act states that within 45 days of the ward boundary by-law being passed, it may be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (Formerly the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, and the Ontario Municipal Board before that).

For any changes to be in effect for the 2026 Municipal Election, the by-law establishing new ward boundaries must be in force before January 1, 2026. This means if the by-law establishing new boundaries is appealed to the OLT, the notices of appeal must be withdrawn, or the Tribunal must have issued an order to affirm or amend the by-law before that date.

The Act also provides a mechanism where electors of a municipality can present a petition to Council asking them to pass a by-law dividing or re-dividing a municipality into wards or dissolving the existing wards. The petition requires the signatures of 1% of the electors in the municipality or 500 electors in the municipality, whichever is less.

If council does not pass a by-law in accordance with the submitted petition within 90 days of receiving the petition, any of the electors who signed the petition may appeal to the OLT to have the municipality divided or re-divided into wards or have the existing wards dissolved. The Tribunal is required hear the application and may make an order dividing or re-dividing or dissolving the existing wards. It is important to point out that in this scenario the Tribunal becomes the decision maker for establishing ward boundaries with little input from the municipality.

By Staff

February 29th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Climate change as viewed from a high rise.

Later in the day: