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February 24th, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON
 Indeed, whoever it is did make it through a cold cold night. The Sleepless For Our Community event, that’s the evening people sleep in their cars overnight to raise funds for those in our community who are experiencing poverty-related challenges. The funds raised will directly support programs that provide essential services such as housing support, food security, mental health resources, and job training to individuals and families in need. 
February 24th, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON
Ontario’s health care crisis is deepening at a time when the province already has the fewest hospital beds per capita in the country and the lowest per capita health care funding of any province. The province has the fewest hospital staff per patient in Canada. As a result of being funded under their operating costs, Ontario hospitals have a combined deficit of over $800 million this year. A health care system in crisis at a time when Premier Doug Ford sent $200 cheques to almost every person in the province. Hospital workers, health care advocates, and community supporters will make a statement outside St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto opposing the elimination of at least 750 positions—cuts at a hospital that is already understaffed – that will increase patient wait times and affect the quality of care.  1,850 are on stretchers at hospitals every single day “These job cuts will have a devastating impact,” said Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU). “This hospital plays a vital role in Toronto, and it is downsizing significantly at a time when demand for its services is surging. The Ford government’s continued underfunding is pushing Ontario’s hospitals past the breaking point, and the impact can be measured in the suffering of patients and those who love them.” A health care system in crisis. Public opinion polls consistently rank health care as the No. 1 issue for Ontarians, yet the government continues to cut and privatize essential services. “The hospital funding policy of the Ford government is letting down communities across the province,” said Sharon Richer, secretary-treasurer of OCHU. “250,000 people are on surgical wait lists.1,850 are on stretchers at hospitals every single day. ERs are closing routinely.” Since taking office, the Ford government’s increases to hospital funding have not kept pace with inflation, population growth, ageing, or the rising cost of drugs and medical technologies.  The fear amongst many is that the Premier is building a private health care system rather than fund the existing public system. “This government can imagine funding a $100 billion tunnel that no one has asked for, but it refuses to fund the actual costs of a vital service like our hospitals,” says Hurley. “We need to talk about a plan to staff up our hospitals, to get patients on wait lists into surgeries, to get patients off hallway stretchers into beds and to meet the demands of an aging and growing population. We want to have that conversation urgently.” Health care advocates warn that these layoffs are part of a broader push to privatize more services, creating a two-tier system where only those who can afford to pay get timely care.
February 22nd, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON
Catching up politically … We will know late Thursday night – Friday morning at the latest what the results of the provincial election are going to be.  Doug Ford has a lot to think about during the week we are going into. Will the public punish Doug Ford for calling a snap election that many people feel wasn’t necessary? Will Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie have managed to get through the impact Ford Nation has had on this election? Has Doug Ford earned being returned to office?  Has Marit Stiles changed minds – enough to be returned as the Leader of the Opposition in a minority government? She certainly served the public with her getting a devastating report from the Auditor General and a strong report from the Provincial Integrity Commissioner Has Marat Stiles managed to get through to the public? Will the NDP and Liberals combined hold the balance of power and leave Ford leading a minority government? And if that happens – will he stick around? Continue reading What’s it going to be: A Ford majority; a Ford minority or a total wipe out for Doug Ford
February 21st, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON
It was one of the best hockey games ever broadcast with the very best players on the ice. The best social media comment we’ve seen so far.
February 21st, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON
The clock is ticking for Liberals to vote in a ranked ballot online starting February 28th to select Canada’s next PM. Among the finalists will be the two current members of Parliament, Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould. Both of these candidates, as former Finance Minister and former Government House Leader respectively, can share some of the credit and/or accept blame for the governing Liberal record going back to 2015. Freeland’s platform now disowns some of that record though she had served as Trudeau’s number two. She would axe the carbon tax and cancel the increase in capital gains taxation. Freeland also proposes imposing a 100% tariff on Tesla electric cars and bribing Canadian doctors and nurses to return here to work. Burlington’s Gould is promising to cut the GST to 4% for one year, enhance employment insurance and initiate a guaranteed income program. Former MP Ruby Dhalla was disqualified as a candidate for the leadership of the party on a unanimous vote by the leadership and expense committees to drop her from the contest. Dhalla served with Paul Martin and pivots to the ‘right’ of the party, proposing to deport ‘illegal immigrants’ and slamming drug users with life sentences. Baylis, a Montreal businessman, would limit senators and MP’s to 10 years in office. And among other ideas he’s also keen on recognizing a Palestinian state.  Mark Carney speaking to Liberals in Hamilton. But the heavy betting is on former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney. Carney played a key role in navigating Canada through the 2008 global economic downturn and as Bank of England Governor helped that nation through its Brexit transition. He held a UN post as climate envoy and had previously served as special advisor to Mr. Trudeau. However, Carney sees himself as an outsider, never having held a parliamentary seat. But he has brought a breath of fresh air to the Party, which as the polls tell us was in critical need of a re-set. Carney has racked up the greatest number of Liberal Cabinet endorsements to date. Recent polls indicate that as leader he could bring the Liberals back from a double digit lag to a dead heat with Mr. Poilievre’s opposition Tories. That is something that has brought fear and panic into the Conservative camp which had been ever so keen to capitalize on Trudeau’s plummeting popularity. And that means Carney needs to watch out for dirty tricks. In that vein social media trolls falsely posted that Carney’s recent meet and greet of Liberals in Vancouver was AI doctored to create the illusion that the crowd was bigger. Carney is an economist but he knows the campaign of disinformation and lies about carbon pricing has poisoned that economic instrument, so it is destined for the history books. He plans to introduce a middle income tax cut to compensate for loss of the carbon tax rebate, however. Carney plans to run a balanced budget regarding government spending though he has not ruled out borrowing for infrastructure projects which would benefit future generations. Mostly Mr. Carney needs to attribute the climate of economic uncertainty Canadians are now facing for much of his growing popularity. US president Trump’s economic war on Canada starting with tariffs on some of our most important exports has this country on the defence. And Canadians would prefer to see an experienced professional at the helm rather than someone like Mr. Poilievre, who has almost never held a real job outside of working for the Conservative Party.  Rivers, upper right (where the red dot is) covering Mark Carney during a speech he gave in Hamilton earlier this week. I was invited to one of Mr. Carney’s meet and greet meetings in Hamilton recently. He addressed the crowd in a soft spoken, sincere tone, without bashing his opponents. I found that a refreshing change from the dynamics of what we’ve seen too often in Ottawa politics. Let’s hope it continues.
Background links: Liberal Leadership – Carney – Karina Gould – Dhalla –
February 21st, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has made a large drug and gun seizure and multiple arrests as part of an operation to dismantle a drug supply network operating in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).  Police display the items that were seized in police raids including $250,000 of bundled currency. Project Regal was a lengthy investigation that began in the town of Oakville and the city of Brampton and has now concluded with five arrests and more than 50 charges. Between February 8 and February 10, officers executed eight search warrants at residences in Oakville, Brampton and Toronto. As a result of the warrants, the following items have been seized.
February 21st, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON OPINION First in a series. We seem to be quite good at forgetting what a candidate for public office has done in the past. Looked at seriously what Doug Ford has done since he was elected is stunning. Recall his attempt to install a police friend (Doug Ford has a lot of police friends – a son-in-law is a police officer) as the Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.  Ron Taverner: a Superintendent who who leads the force’s Etobicoke divisions Ron Taverner, 72, was controversially named by Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government to become the next chief of the OPP in late November. He later requested that the appointment be delayed, and the government said it would “respect” the request while the province’s integrity commissioner reviews the circumstances of his selection. Taverner, a longtime family friend of Premier Doug Ford, did not meet the original requirements for the job posting. The government said it lowered the job qualifications to attract a wider field of candidates. He was later approved as the next OPP commissioner by the Ontario cabinet. Ford has repeatedly denied any involvement in Taverner’s appointment, and said the decision was made by a hiring panel.  Doug Ford with Ron Taverner Taverner — a 51-year veteran of Toronto police who leads the force’s Etobicoke divisions — said he decided to withdraw to protect the integrity of rank-and-file police officers, given the controversy surrounding his appointment. Julian Falconer, a lawyer who represents a senior police officer said: “While long overdue, the premier and Superintendent Taverner have finally recognized what the rest of Ontario has known for some time: that a longstanding family friend of the premier cannot serve as the head of the OPP,” the statement read.
 By StaffFebruary 21st, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
 Via Twitter she said: “Taxes are a good thing”- how much is the concern. This didn’t come up during the debate at Port Nelson United Church earlier this week In a Tweet (call it an X if you must)@AndreaGrebenc said:
Spoke to a friend who lives in California who recently had ankle surgery.
The surgery cost $33K …and not all the bills are in yet.
No wonder people go broke or are miserable or sick inthe US.
Taxes are a good thing!
February 21st, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON Once a magnet attracting job-seekers from across Canada, Ontario’s economy continues to sputter even as premier Doug Ford proclaims himself the “jobs protector” in the province’s current election campaign. Ontario’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked up 0.1 percentage point in January, accord to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey, hitting 7.6 per cent. Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province to have a higher unemployment rate and the only other province where the jobless rate rose in January.
The national unemployment rate fell 0.1 points to 6.6 percent, seasonally adjusted. Except for one month in 2023, Ontario’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate has not been better than the national rate since April 2020, 58 months ago. Construction jobs weak as housing targets missedEmployment in construction remains below levels of summer 2023 held back by a housing industry recession the took hold after unchecked speculative run-up created a market explosion in spring 2022. To reach housing goals, Ontario has set a housing starts target at a pace of 12,500 unit starts per month, which has never met. December housing starts were only 44 per cent of target. Despite poor construction sector jobs performance, several construction unions have endorsed Doug Ford for re-election, many of which have received significant amounts of public money. Retail jobs down amid affordability crisisAbout 40,000 jobs in retail sales have disappeared since the Christmas sales season of 2021 before an affordability crisis became to set up. Housing asking rents and sales prices peaked in 2022, leaving less income available for retail purchasing. Though retail sales are at new peaks in the rest of Canada, Ontario retail sales remain below levels of spring 2022. Auto plant sell-off symbol of industry strugglesJobs in manufacturing are also below a recent peak as the auto industry, which anchors many other manufacturing businesses, faces new impacts from the 2018 CUSMA renegotiation and the on-going threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. A counter-strategy funded with up to $52.5 billion in federal and provincial money aimed has leveraged $46.1 billion in private investment to refound the sector around electric vehicle production. But the effectiveness of these investments in now in doubt due to cancellation of EV purchase incentives by the new U.S. Administration. A stark symbol of the jobs challenge made headlines as Linmar, a Guelph, Ontario-based auto parts company, listed for sale a newly-constructed EV parts plant in Welland before it had built a single part.
February 20th, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON
Despite the fact there isn’t any signage when you arrive at the doors showing this is a polling station the place is reported to be “packed”. “Big lineup in the hallway. Mostly seniors.” A good sign maybe?
February 20th, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON All that snow withstanding – Summer camp registration at the Art Gallery of Burlington is now open. If you know a kid who loves art, this is the camp for them. They spend most of the day in the studio, with trips into the galleries and breaks for snacks, lunch, and outdoor time throughout. Registration HERE
Bursaries Thanks to the generous support of the Burlington Foundation the AGB is proud to offer an Arts Program Bursary for children from low-income families. Through this program we are able to offer a limited number of camp bursaries for children and youth to attend our camps free of charge! The bursary application form opens at 10 am on February 14, 2025 for families seeking bursaries for camp programs in the 2025 year. This includes March Break Camps, Summer Camps, and PA Day Camps. When applying for a bursary, do not register for camps — your child(ren) will be registered for camp by AGB staff if they are selected as bursary recipients. Families who want to send multiple children to camp can include information for all campers in their household on their form. Successful applicants will be notified by email and asked to confirm acceptance of the bursary to finalize registration for camp. Deadline for Submissions March Break Camps (March 10 – 14, 2025): bursary application cut-off date is February 21, 2025. Parents will be notified by February 26 if they have been selected.
February 19, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON
It was a typical Burlington event: polite. The three candidates, who were on the platform, knew their briefs, some better than others, and spoke clearly and to the point. The all candidate meeting took place at the Port Nelson United Church in Roseland, the epicentre of politeness in Burlington  Andrea Grebenc was the favourite going into the debate and left as the favourite. Andrea Grebenc was the favourite going into the debate and left as the favourite. Megan Beauchemin, the New Democrat suffered from being a late starter. On paper she looked very good; the profile is what the NDP looks for. Unfortunately, the party structure had decayed, there wasn’t much in the way of an organization. Beauchemin relied on her husband to do a lot of the rebuild and run the campaign at the same time. She stumbled a bit but she was certainly a very credible candidate. She is employed as an automotive engineer (took a leave of absence to be the candidate)  Kyle Hutton, the Green candidate was ahead of the other two on the innovative and bold ideas. Kyle Hutton, the Green candidate was the best speaker, he knew the issues and was ahead of the other two on the innovative and bold ideas. Hutton said in an interview before the all candidiate,that the Greens could pick up 12 seats and have party status, which was a stretch. All three candidates were fortunate to have a very good moderator working from a script that he had carefully put together. There were some light moments – he never let it get out of hand. In their closing statements Grebenc’s passion was very evident. She has been seeking public office ever since she leaving the public school board where she served very well.  Megan Beauchemin, the New Democrat candidiate. Megan Beauchemin struggled – but the future potential is clearly there. The structure of the event had different people, selected before hand, ask questions based on specific interests: Housing, transit, budgets, health, education, livable income, and the minimum wage. The only subject that didn’t come up was Regional government. The failure on the part of Progressive Conservative candidate Natalie Pierre to be on the platform surprised everyone; the reasons given were very weak – pathetic as well.
February 20th, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON
While Winter storms continue to create havoc across the country, including the city of Burlington, the need for keeping blood products at optimal levels is important. The heavy snowfall, ice storms and extreme cold have resulted in hundreds of cancelled donation appointments. During storms, many people offer acts of kindness, such as helping their neighbours clear snow, shoveling out cars or providing warm spaces for those in need. Donating blood is another way people can give back to their community.  These donours are well past the 100 mark. Kudos to them. Open appointments to donate are available in Burlington at 1250 Brant Street. Eligible donors are asked to book at their earliest convenience — and consider inviting a new donor to join you. If you’ve never donated before, now is the time to join a community of people committed to saving lives. Every day this winter, we need 450 new donors across Canada to help fuel Canada’s Lifeline. Beat the winter blahs and get Canada’s blood pumping! Help people right here in your community and across Canada. Book now on blood.ca, use the GiveBlood app or call 1 888 2 DONATE (1-888-236-6283).
February 20th, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON
Dan Jacobs sent in a comment that we are upgrading to a news story. Based on what Jacobs said in his comment it would appear that he has some role within the Progressive Conservative party.  John Greven explaining why Natalie Pierre was not sitting in the chair reserved for her at that all candidate event on Tuesday. He maintains he was the person who spoke directly with John Greven, the debate moderator, about Natalie Pierre’s failure to take part in the all- candidate event on Tuesday. “As the person who spoke with Mr Greven directly, and for a significant period of time, he most certainly did receive a direct response.” The issue was not how direct the response to Pierre’s failure to show up was – the issue was that she didn’t show up. A “ commitment that Natalie would personally call every person in attendance who wished to speak with her” is worse than saying the dog ate my homework. “We also provided a QR code and link that people could use to book in times to speak with her.” Really? The public was told that Natalie was going to be out knocking on doors not sitting by the phone waiting for disapointed constituents to call her. Jacobs adds: “ At no time was it mentioned that there is any policy in place regarding debates, because there is no such policy.” Interestingly, Progressive Conservatives across the province are not taking part in public debates. Jacobs also said: “If this is a direct quote, then Mr Greven has show (sic) his partisanship by fabricating the response.” Greven did no such thing. He was fair, decent and reflected the concerns of the community when he talked about the missing Natalie Pierre. “In addition” said Jacobs, “ no less than a half dozen additional representatives of the organizers asked the same question about Natalie’s attendance by phone, e-mail, and by attending the campaign office, and all were provided the same response.” And that makes the failure to appear acceptable?  Progressive Conservative candidate Natalie Pierre chose not to use the table set up for her use. She didn’t show up for the debate. The Progressive Conservatives are a political party that wants to stay in power and they will do whatever they can to continue being the government of the province. The public understands that and on the 27th they will decide if they want to continue being governed by that political party. What reason does Natalie Pierre have for not showing up? Because they told her not to? Where is the independence and the responsibility to represent the people that elected her? Natalie Pierre decided that she would not run for re-election then changed her mind and announced that she would seek office again. Failing to win will put her out of her misery. The decent woman who was nominated was destroyed by a political party that lost its moral footing when it elected Doug Ford. Salt with Pepper is an opinion column reflecting the observations and musings of the publisher of the Gazette, an on-line newspaper that is in its 12th year as a news source in Burlington and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
February 19th, 2025 BURLINGTON, ON Tuesday, March 04
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