 By Pepper Parr
April 10th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
Is there anyone saying the provincial government is doing a good job in managing the pandemic – the only people who are saying anything positive are the politicians. Their advisors have been pressing for stronger measures to stop the spread of Covid19
Ontario is caught between a rock and a hard place. We don’t have any facilities where we can manufacture the virus and we are having problems getting the vaccines the federal government has ordered.
 Managing the supply of the vaccines under contract isn’t working very well. The federal government has contracts with just about every vaccine company but none of them are delivering on time.
There are delays upon delays. The supply was so short that the rate at which second doses of the vaccines was increased. Difficult to understand how the scientists can invent something and issue instruction saying the product should be applied four weeks apart and then, when the province finds they don’t have enough to deliver on that prescription – they make the second dose months later – and that seems to be OK.
It has to be because the supply just isn’t there.
 Listening to the advice of people who put the public ahead of politics is proving to be a challenge for the Premier. The politicians are playing political games – Prime Minister says I sent you 2 million doses – and the Premier replies – sure you did – yesterday.
This is beginning to look and sound like a Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera.
We failed the seniors’ community, because the most of the long term care homes are run by the private sector where profits come before service.
We can of course vote the politicians out of office – any assurance that the next lot that get elected will be any better?
The public service is a good place to work. That sector however, seems to have forgotten what serving actually means.
There have been some upsides. The science community has performed, for the most part, superbly. They were able to come up a vaccine in a very short period of time. And the leadership from the science community has pressed the governments to listen.
Finding men and women who bring courage, tenacity and a belief that public service is a calling is the challenge for the rest of us. Hoping for the best isn’t going to be enough.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
 By Ray Rivers
March 30th, 2021
BURLINGTON,, ON
OPINION
Erin O’Toole gave up a huge opportunity to advance the theory that he is a new kind of conservative. He says he wants to move his Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) into the more electable political centre of Canadian politics. That would allow him to challenge the centre-left Liberals for that block of voters who can make the difference between forming government or lingering in opposition.
 Conservative leader Erin O’Toole But then his response following the Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of federal carbon pricing disappointed a growing number of Canadians who have come to accept the carbon tax as a necessary treatment for our fossil fuel addiction. And it took only a few hours after the court announcement for two of his biggest provincial allies on the tax, Scott Moe and Jason Kenny, to desert him, concluding they would now surrender and likely develop their own provincial carbon taxes.
Ontario has not yet said what it is planning to do, except that it will respect the court decision. Presumably that means doing nothing but watching the feds collect the money and redistribute it as they have been doing. Ford, who came to power after the political assassination of former leader Patrick Brown, killed Brown’s plans for a provincial carbon pricing scheme with great aplomb.
 A label that just wouldn’t stay in place. Ford then dismantled the in-place efficient Ontario’s cap and trade carbon pricing system at a cost of at least $5 million . That move is costing the province an additional $2 billion annually in revenues. Then Ford allocated $30 million in his losing effort to fight the federal carbon tax, and spent another $4 million advertising against the tax.
Then there was the cost of producing sticky labels mandated to go on to gas pumps across the province….and promptly fall off again. Fortunately the court decision against the stickies saved Ford, a former label company executive, the embarrassment of presiding over a law and a label that just wouldn’t stay in place. All in all, not bad for a government promising to cut waste.
The Supreme Court ruling has left everyone trying to figure out where O’Toole really stands. On the one hand he has to be admired for entering the lion’s den of his party’s last convention, to declare that climate change is real. Unfortunately the lions disagreed and, behaving like the dinosaurs they are, sent a red-faced O’Toole home, mumbling something about killing the carbon tax anyway.
But the paradox of promising to develop a Trudeau-beating climate plan and promising to kill any kind of carbon pricing scheme at the same time has never dawned on him. He has continued to push the big lie that the tax hurts the poor and the disadvantaged which – thanks to the rebate – it doesn’t. But then why should a little truth get in the way of well-established anti-tax ideology?
He is right, though, that the carbon tax would eventually kill jobs – oil industry jobs in an industry on its way to irrelevance. Recall how politicians in Quebec used to worry about the loss of asbestos industry jobs, even as the workers were dying from asbestosis. That debate ended and despite all the fears, the world did not.
Once all of the provinces introduce their own carbon taxes, the federal tax might almost be moot. Except to be effective a carbon tax has to keep increasing. So that means that the feds will still be setting the rules. And that is why the court decision is so important; to keep carbon pricing advancing and on a level playing field across the country.
It’s clear that O’Toole hasn’t thought this all out. But he is still apparently working on his own climate change plan, which will be handicapped without the incentives offered by higher carbon prices. What might he include then? He could be expected to offer even more subsidies to the oil companies as they try to bury their emissions, something called sequestration. And he might commit to more nuclear power? But don’t expect him to mention carbon pricing.
 Emissions: They are killing the planet Quebec recently committed to ban the sale of gasoline powered cars by 2035. Mr. O’Toole could hitch onto that as a national policy. There is also speculation that the USA under the Biden administration may be looking at a gas guzzler ban as well. Banning the sale of appliances which use fossil fuels, like gas water heaters, would be an even more effective way of curbing the demand for carbon based fuels. Though one can only imagine how those dinosaurs that compose O’Toole’s base would react to that idea.
But no matter what final policy package Mr. O’Toole selects as his plan, to be effective it will have to involve the eventual closure of much of Canada’s fossil fuel industry. And those jobs and all that oil income for the western provinces, where his political power lies, is why he rejected the carbon tax in the first place.
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province.
Background links
O’Toole on Carbon Taxes – Supreme Court – Conservative Dinosaurs –
By Pepper Parr
March 25th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
Political leadership is something that has to be grown.
They don’t just fall off a tree like a ripe apple.
Public service is seen as honourable with good salaries and wonderful benefits.
The current city council has a very young group of people. They had an exceptionally steep learning curve and at least two have yet to get to the point where they are competent. They may never get there.
 If Lisa Kearns jumps to Queen’s Park – that opens up the ward 2 seat. The ward 2 council seat is now in play – that will become official when Lisa Kearns comes out of her political closet and confirms that she will carry a Liberal flag come the 2022 provincial election. She will do so when it is to her advantage.
Question then is – who will replace Kearns? Kimberly Calderbank has said she will run again.
Roland Tanner has realized that he would have been a terrible Councillor and has decided to stick to his information technical pursuits. His 905er podcast does not appear to be any better than his description of how he would do as a politician.
The word abstemious might apply.
There is a young man in the city who appears to be grooming himself for a shot at the ward 2 council seat.
David Vandenberg, studied political science at McMaster, served as campaign manager for Rick Goldring in 2018 – that didn’t turn out very well – more the candidate than the campaign manager.
 Name a charity group that needs help – and David Vandenberg will be there. Vandenberg gets involved in organizations focused on helping other people. He is currently part of the Wellington United Church Meals Ministry that prepares take-out meals. It grew out of the Friday Night Community Dinners that were cancelled due to Covid19 issues.
The giveaway sign that David Vandenberg was going to throw his hat into the ring was the Burlington Dave podcast that Vandenberg hosts four times a year.
Vandenberg explains his podcast pursuit this way:
 The Vandenberg score card “Burlington is full of folks of all ages who strive every single day to create a virtuous, equitable and compassionate community. Reflecting on over a decade of local engagement, I have had the privilege of learning about our community, the heroes within it and the landscape in which we live – here in Burlington, Ontario.
“I hope to highlight some of our local heroes, business champions, and heritage and community issues through this blog.
Vandenberg introduces himself to people who visit his Facebook page this way:
“If we have not met before, thanks for popping by! If we know each other, welcome back! My name is David Vandenberg. I am a passionate community leader and speaker in the Halton Region. My deep commitment to innovative community and city-building inspired me to work in the advocacy space for local organizations.
 Vandenberg on a Zoom call “I am a recent McMaster Grad who now works as the Operations Manager of the Meal Bag Program at Wellington Square United Church. Outside of work, I love to capitalize on our proximity to hiking and biking trails, sit on boards of local charities and advocate for issues and people that are close to my heart.
“Building bridges is what I do. I truly believe that when we work together in our community, we can drive a bigger social impact. I hope you enjoy hearing about some of the incredible people, businesses and stories I have to share with you here in Burlington.”
That is about as political as a profile can be.
 David Vandenberg with his Mother Our first reaction to young Vandenberg is – Good Luck to you, young man. Your heart appears to be in the right place.
And then we ask: Have you ever had a full time job at which you were more than a volunteer. We are aware of some internships you’ve done – all good.
We would like to see situations where you worked hard, got promotions and added responsibility. Were placed in situations where you gained what the soft liberal set call “lived experiences”.
There was a quote you put up on the Facebook that impressed me.
If that is the way you think, if you really have that level if realpolitik you just well might grow into a credible and effective politician.
Goodness know the city could use more of those.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
“You have a variant (B.1.1.7) that’s 50 per cent more transmissible and you’re using the same tool box and control efforts that barely worked against the previous variant…So of course the prevalence will increase. It might be a bit more or a bit less but if you’re reopening and you have a more transmissible variant, cases will increase. It’s not even really rocket science.” (Chris Bauch, University Research Chair in the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo).
By Ray Rivers
March 21st, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
That vaccines are rolling out across the province is comforting, except that we’ve hardly made a dent in getting to herd immunity. About a million doses have been administered and we need more like 20 times that amount to allow us to get back to some kind of normal. And now we hear that there is a third wave of infections on our doorstep, driven by the variants which are as much as 50% more contagious, demand more hospitalization and are more deadly. So, we are in trouble.
 A field hospital set up by the Army in a parking lot at Sunnybook hospital For over a year now we’ve been in some kind of tiresome on-again-off-again series of restrictions against interpersonal contact. But Ontario’s premier has an itchy trigger finger and can’t break the habit of jumping the gun. He’s done this before. Despite predictions of a second wave last autumn, Ford relaxed public health restrictions resulting in record breaking infection numbers, nearly full hospitals and about 1000 more fatalities. And then Ford refused to re-impose further restrictions until the end of the year, again despite medical advice, and after the virus had firmly embedded itself in our community.
And now, even as Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table has told him that we are headed for an ever greater third wave of infections, Mr. Ford is threatening to lessen restrictions on congregate activity rather than tighten them. Having rescinded the stay at home order he has just recently authorized more establishments to reopen. Despite all the impressive compassion he delivers at his media briefings, he clearly doesn’t get it – doesn’t understand the dynamics in play – or it’s all just an act.
 The image on the right is what scientists think the spike portion of a variant virus looks like. Right now we are in the midst of a race between the new virus variants galloping at full speed to infect and kill more people versus protecting enough folks from the virus through vaccination. And the virus is winning. We know this virus continuously mutates, and it’s pure math that the more virus present, the greater the probability of mutation. Just look at the UK, South Africa, Brazil and more recently California. Who knows, there may be an even more powerful variant around the corner?
We have been told that by September everyone in the country should have been administered the vaccine. In as little as six months, then, we might be in a position where the viral contagion no longer will keep our businesses shut and our families and friends distant from their loved ones. It’s a long time but not as long as what the Premier’s failed public health policy has put us through so far. We either choke the virus by locking down or we face the potential consequences of a viral epidemic largely left unchecked.
So Mr. Premier. It’s time to stop gambling with our health and declare a proper lockdown. This province needs a new game plan to check the virus while we get the rest of our population protected with vaccines.
We need a complete province-wide shut down of all congregate activities which are not completely essential, and some kind of compensation for those people whose incomes will be lost in the process. We need another stay at home order and possibly a Quebec styled curfew. We need to close the Ontario border to interprovincial travel, as Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces have done. And we need to keep it that way for at least three weeks, from what the experts are telling us.
It’s not an impossible task. China, where the virus originated, did this last year. The country has had an occasional outbreak since, imported from outside the country, but has been able to trace and isolate all contacts. And life is pretty much back to normal there now. It is the same story with Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. There are no Chinese or New Zealand variants being created. And their communities have not had to experience second, let alone third waves of infection.
We only need to look at the Atlantic provinces which are Canada’s star performers in fighting the epidemic. History will show that those jurisdictions which dealt effectively with the epidemic have come out of it relatively unscathed. Meanwhile those which failed, like Ontario, have seen their small businesses devastated by the on-again-off-again restrictions; witnessed increases in inequality, mental illness, government debt; and, sadly, unforgivable loss of human lives.
New Zealanders went back to normal last year after only a few weeks in total lockdown. Today, the only way the virus enters there, as it did everywhere else, is by international travel. But even a single new case warrants a total lockdown there, including area roadblocks and severe penalties for those flaunting the rules. Had Mr. Trudeau followed the lead of his friend, Jacinda Ardern, we would have had an effective quarantine system in place over a year ago, holding those foreign variants in check.
 New Zealand Premier Jacinda Ardern, won re-election based on her leadership during the Covid 19 crisis in her country. Will Ontario re-election Doug Ford based on his performance. Prime Minster Ardern is a hero in her country for leading the people in their fight to eliminate the epidemic. She won an overwhelming parliamentary majority in her last election, something rare for any country with a proportional representative electoral system, and the first such win in New Zealand’s history. She is so well regarded that NZ scientists recently named a newly discovered subspecies of the weta, a giant flightless cricket after her – the Hemiandrus jacinda.
We also recently uncovered a new species here in Canada, identified first in the west end of Toronto. It has been tentatively named the the Etobicoke slug. Still, I doubt anyone would suggest renaming it after our premier, despite the sluggish way he has been dealing with the epidemic. And besides wasn’t there a 70’s Canadian pop group with that moniker?
Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province.
Background links”
Third Wave – Variants The COVID Story – Australians – Atlantic Success –
Jacinda – The Etobicoke Slug – Doug and the Slugs –
By Pepper Parr
March 19th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Set out below is a statement the Mayor posted on her Facebook page.
What disturbs me is what a colleague described as “… so much “me too, me too” that it’s embarrassing – like something out of High School.”
 Mayor Marianne Meed Ward Missing is any sense of grace or civility. Mayor Marianne Meed Ward knows that her Council colleague Lisa Kearns earned the identical professional designation but our Mayor was not able to congratulate the ward 2 Councillor for her accomplishment.
Missed was an opportunity to tell people that Burlington is probably the only municipality in Ontario (perhaps the whole country) to have two people on council who have earned the designation and both are female.
What is wrong with this woman – it isn’t just all about her.
Where are her oft used phases: collaboration, working together as part of a team. Meed Ward says frequently that Burlington has a “giddy up” city council.
The statement explains why several of the Councillors don’t want to put up with the way the Mayor interacts with them. Not a good sign as Council moves into the final term of their mandate.
Time for a reset if she expects to get re-elected.
This is such a disappointment after the success of getting a new Official Plan in place and changing where high rise developments will appear.
She can be better than this.
 By Blair Smith
March 19th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
A press release received today from PSD CITYWIDE announced “North America’ Top 20 Open Cities”.
PSD is a corporation with offices in Burlington that serves the municipal sector as consultants, advisors and software providers.
 The organization that gave the city the award published a lot of background material for the municipal sector. Their award sounded like something worth knowing about and certainly something worth celebrating. The ‘presser’ begins with “Today, PSD announces North America’s Most Open Cities with the City of Edmonton, Alberta maintaining their number one spot for the fifth consecutive time. Next, Ottawa, Ontario moves into the second place spot, with Winnipeg, Manitoba coming in third. All top 3 organizations achieved excellent scores and made great strides this year in all three competency categories.” According to the ranking, the City of Burlington is tied with the City of Coral Gables as the 9th Most Open city in North America.
On its face this appears to be a remarkable achievement and one certainly worthy of having a temporary primacy of place on the COB and/or Mayor’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and various other social media accounts. However, appearances (and awards) can be deceptive. First, just how many jurisdictions were included in the ‘competition’ and analysis? Remember there are over 400 municipalities in Ontario alone. How many more (or comparable governance bodies) across Canada; how many state and county organizations? The number must be well into the thousands. But, according to the press release, only 41 organizations across North America participated. Is the response then even statistically relevant?
Secondly, to implicitly associate Open Government with the survey’s three evaluation contexts for “open data” is perhaps both misleading and inaccurate.
Open data does not automatically equate with open information and most certainly does not, in itself, constitute open government – not even close. So, the sampling is statistically insignificant, the association perhaps misleading and the ranking virtually meaningless when you consider the sample size. Even so, how did the responding organizations do? How shining is their example? Well, the average score of the 41 was a completely miserable 34.9%. Burlington in the exalted 9th position was barely above 50%.
Really, this is hardly something worthy of a press release; if it does perhaps the banner should read “North America’s Top 20 Most Open Cities Are Still Closed Shops To Their Citizens”.
Blair Smith is a retired provincial civil servant who delegates frequently at city hall and has very strong views on both open data and open, transparent municipal government.
By Pepper Parr
March 16th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
How did this get so screwed up?
The province had months to create a web site that people would use to register for a Covid19 vaccination.
They day they opened it up – it failed. They appear to have fixed it.
 On the same day the retired Army General who was overseeing the distribution of the vaccines in the province quits. Maybe the $20,000 a month he was being paid (this on top of an Armed Forces pension) wasn’t enough. Or maybe he stood back and saw nothing but a disaster on its way and chose to step aside. Question – did he get vaccinated before he quit?
There are very legitimate concerns about one of the vaccines; the AstraZeneca vaccine is reported to have resulted in blood clots in some people.
The Prime Minister assures us that the batch that had the problems is not the batch of vaccines that we are using in Canada. Do you feel assured? I don’t.
Remember the thalidomide tragedy; those poor souls only recently got acceptable support and compensation.
For those who don’t recognize the word thalidomide it was a pharmaceutical that was prescribed for pregnant women. Far too many gave birth to children with no arms – just stubs instead of a fully formed arm.
Tragedies like this happen when governments fail to do the job the public expects. There is good reason to ask if the same kind of incompetence, let’s be candid and call it what it is – stupidity, is happening to us now.
We have failed terribly to ensure that we would have access to the vaccines the government should have known would be needed.
The buck on situations like this rests at the very top.
Instead all we are getting from the leadership at the federal and provincial levels are bromides – people are beginning to become frightened; the last thing we need is a public that no longer trusts and begins to do what human beings do – look out for their own interests.
The best source of the news and information people need in Burlington comes from the Regional level – The Public Health Unit for Halton struggled like everyone else at the beginning to get organized.
When this is all over hopefully there will be an opportunity to tell the full story about the job these people have done.
In the meantime, we wait. There is more that can be done. Governments react to protest – if you are worried, scream blue murder and let the leadership at the federal and provincial levels know that what they are doing is just not good enough.
There have been a few examples of superb leadership – try naming one.
Elections will take place in the not too distant future.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
 By Jan Mowbray
March 16th, 2021
MILTON, ON
I have a real problem regarding the dearth of information available with regard to vaccinations.
Living in Halton, specifically Milton, my friends and I are exhorted to visit the Halton Region website for vaccination information, which I have done several times now. It’s been time wasted so far. The only information there pertains to the 80+ crowd and while I would never wish to deny the group early dibs at the vaccine – God and everyone else knows how hard this pandemic has been on seniors – where am I in the picture?
 But what about the 70 plus group, which is where I am? Why is there no reference at all on the Region’s website for the rest of us – the +70s, the 60’s etc.? Even a vague mention that you have our backs would be encouraging, that you know we’re here and waiting, with increasing impatience.
In Toronto, they’ve gone from vaccination information for the 80+ group, front line workers, and many others. No mention of the 70+ cohort but I’ve seen quite a bit of information for the 60+ to get their shots.
All very good for those living in Toronto but meanwhile, back here in Halton, how about information for vaccinations for those below 80?
I got a Tweet today from one of our regional councilors telling me to visit the Halton website for vaccination information. Thanks, Mike, been there, done that. I’m no more aware than I was before your Tweet. Not happy. I just want some, ANY, information.
Jan Mowbray was a member of the Town of Milton council for two terms
By Pepper Parr
March 11th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
If you are a true democrat there is nothing nicer than an election.
If you’re a candidate – the push for power and a chance to get things done that you believe need to be done can be quite a rush.
2022 is an election year for both city hall and the provincial legislature. And this time around we just might see people holding a seat at city hall thinking they rather like the seats in the Legislature.
The Liberals are out looking for a candidate – a number of people have been approached – two and maybe three council members.
 Some Liberals thought she was too divisive. Not, surprisingly, the Mayor, who we thought had her eyes on the seat that Jane McKenna currently holds, would be in the running.
Meed Ward could not walk away from the work she has set out for herself, and the city of course, after just one term as Mayor.
We were surprised to hear Liberals saying, not suggesting, that Meed Ward was too divisive. I didn’t see that one coming.
 Councillors Stolte, Kearns and Nisan: were all three invited to look at Queen’s Park. Two of them were.
The Liberals we are hearing from – no one is talking for attribution and the current President of the Burlington Provincial Liberal Association isn’t returning our calls, suggests to us that Lisa Kearns has indicated she could get used to travelling to Toronto for work.
I have been working on a sit down meeting with Kearns (she knows what I want to talk about) for the best part of this week – we haven’t managed to line up dates that work for both of us.
Bit of cat and mouse going on.
While 2022 is well over a year away, in the world of politics you begin organizing and putting out the feelers to the financial people.
The day of the big big dollar donations is over – takes a lot of work to bring in those hundreds of $50 and $100 dollar donations.
In 2022 things will get a little rushed as well – the province will send us to the polls on October 3rd and the municipalities will do the same thing on the 24th of October.
 Doug Ford – He just might have a deal for you. Covid19 has messed up everything taking place – it will probably do the same with the provincial date.
If Doug Ford can get a bit of a break and get enough of us vaccinated before those variant strains of Covid19 begin to run rampant he would be smart to call a snap election.
Problem with that is we really haven’t seen very much in the way of smart thinking so far have we?
The scientist’s world-wide have gotten us to where we are and for that we should all be grateful.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Pepper Parr
March 8th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
Woman’s Day 2021
Is it going to be different this year? If it is, I suspect we will not be aware of it right away – social change works that way.
 It is a starting point. Is the #meToo movement behind us? It shouldn’t be. It’s work is not done yet.
The shift is taking place, more women are now serving on the boards of major corporations. Women are now heading up some of those corporations.
Sexual harassment, which is not always that well defined, but that is no reason for not tackling the issue head on.
It isn’t enough for woman to be standing up and telling about how they were mis-treated – some of the behaviour they experienced WAS criminal. Some was misunderstood – that however does not let men off the hook.
Changes are taking place within the world of both men and woman. I can’t speak for the woman in this world – they are quite capable of speaking for themselves.
My thoughts today are – how do men adapt. Awkward question – but it too has to be addressed.
 That is a painful experience Wearing pink high heels one day a year isn’t going to do it. Mouthing a couple of words when you think you might be quoted isn’t going to work either.
Men are going to have to begin to listen and learn to hear what is being said.
Women are equal – truth be told they really are more equal than men. They actually get it and are forgiving enough to understand that many men don’t get it.
Being forgiven doesn’t mean you continue with the old habits. Those habits came out of the society we men were raised in and while that doesn’t excuse the behaviour it is enough to allow us to reflect on what did take place and to resolve that we have to change.
Start with simple honest respect and learning to say you are sorry.
Most of us have experiences in our past that we are not proud of; today could be the day we think about what we did and resolve to be different.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Ray Rivers
March 6th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
“I’ll slash funding for English TV and CBC News Network, and end funding for digital news.”
(Erin O’Toole – Feb 14, 2020)
He said it plain – no love wasted for the national broadcaster, even on Valentine’s Day.
 Erin O’Toole – Defeated Andrew Scheer in the leadership contest – now he wants to form a government. There were issues which I really wanted Erin O’Toole to clarify for me when I set out to request our interview. First, O’Toole has promised that his climate change plan would deliver faster carbon emission reductions than Mr. Trudeau’s plan. And he would do it without the provision of a carbon tax, which would be relegated to the dustbin in an O’Toole government. And he’d do all this while pushing for more oil pipelines and oil.
So what and where is it – this magic plan? Well it’s still a secret. It’s still being developed. It probably has to stay that way, until he becomes PM, so the NDP don’t take credit for inventing it should the Liberals implement it. The mind boggles.
Another issue is Mr. O’Toole’s preoccupation with firearms. It’s true he spent a good part of his life in the military, but he ended up as a flight navigator. You’d think he’d know more about a compass than a gun, so perhaps this is just pistol envy. Still he has made this a major plank in his platform.
He points out that the biggest trouble with today’s gun control is the lack of public education about guns. And then in one breath he declares that Canada’s firearms control system actually works really well, and efficiently.
And then in the next breath says that his top priority would be to scrap the existing Firearms Act. And he’d cancel the requirement for vendors to keep a record of who purchased guns. And while he was at it he’d also kill the legislation the Liberals recently introduced banning assault rifles, high capacity ammunition magazines and silencers.
 Leader of the Opposition Erin O’Toole figuring it out That would mean potentially allowing powerful military-type weapons systems including the M16, AR-10, AR-15 and M4 firearms, onto our streets, or at least our gun cupboards. He has received an A grading by the lobbyist outfit CCFR (Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights).
O’Toole has gone after the Trudeau government for not doing more to stop the smuggling of firearms across the US border. And he may have the answer. Just make these weapons legal here as well, and smuggling would be unnecessary.
A third of his Tory membership are COVID action deniers. Or at least they want the governments to stop restricting economic activity and get back to normal, whatever that can be when this epidemic is killing our senior citizens and threatening to spread like wildfire. For example, Flamborough Glanbrook MP David Sweet, having himself come back, quilt-free, from a foreign vacation, says let it rip.
O”Toole himself is ignoring this growing chorus of voices around him who are telling him to be like Texas. You have to die from something anyway, right? But it does take a lot of courage to go after Trudeau for not doing enough to keep the virus out, when a sizeable chunk of his membership is saying let it be.
 It was the R. B. Bennet, a Conservative government that formed the CBC Finally what is it with O’Toole’s promise to defund the CBC? It is a little difficult to appreciate why the federal Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) has such a long standing animosity against Canada’s national broadcaster. After all, the CBC was a service originally initiated back in 1932 by R.B. Bennet, a conservative PM.
One might think the Tories object to the cost of the annual subsidy paid to the CBC, some $1.2 billion a year. But a sizeable subsidy is annually paid out to the other Canadian broadcasters, private though they are. And if it’s about the cost, why squash the English television and digital news services, ironically the only part of the corporation which brings in advertising dollars? It may actually cost more to kill the CBC than to keep it intact.
 CBC – the country’s most trusted news source. No question the other networks wouldn’t mind seeing the CBC gone. It’s still competition, even though they already have a much greater audience. But the CBC/Radio Canada is the most trusted news media in the country. And we are in the midst of a brave new world of fake news. One only needs to look south of the border and the role fake news played in the assault on the US Capitol.
In fact over 80% of Canadians support our national broadcaster and want to see the CBC continue and even expand its broadcasting agenda. So why would someone running for prime minister want to unstick the glue that in many ways keeps us all together, including our remote indigenous population and Francophone Canada.
 Erin O’Toole – knows how to fight back. We do know that this contempt the Tories harbour for the national broadcaster goes back to the troubled relationship Mr Harper had with the media, and the CBC in particular. He even tried to set up his own news system and in the end the party turned to the right wing extremist paper, The Rebel. In fact a former director of the Rebel ended up running Andrew Scheer’s campaign.
Erin O’Toole, after being criticized for his party’s association with The Rebel, swore off giving any more interviews to that right wing rag. He must have sworn off the Burlington Gazette as well, because he and his office ignored my requests for an interview. I got an immediate automatic email thanking me for contacting him, both times, but then it was crickets. So we didn’t really have a discussion, but I’m still waiting for that phone to ring.
Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province.
Background links:
Let the Pandemic Roll – David Sweet – Recovery Plans –
Trust in the Media – Polling – Anti-Choice –
The Rebel – Climate Plan – CCFR –
O’Toole on Guns – CBC – CBC Public Support –
By Pepper Parr
March 4th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
Once the decision is made to settle on just what the tax rate for a year is going to be the politicians get to justify it.
Each brings their own perspective and point of view to the decision that has been made and want to ensure that their constituents are aware of the work they did and why they deserve their vote at the next election.
Burlington has a seven member Council.
In this article I want to focus on the role Councillors Stolte, Nisan and Mayor Meed Ward played in producing the tax rate.
The 4.14% increase is the city’s portion of the taxes collected and used to pay the bills and ensure that there are reserves in place to protect when there is a financial failure. That number is what matters to the people who pay the taxes.
The tax payment you send the city happens to include the tax rate set by the Region for their expenses and the tax rate the Boards of education set to keep the schools operating. The city collects all the money and sends the Regional levy to the Region and the school board levies to the school boards.
 Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan – served as Chair of the Committee that debated the city budget The debating and bickering that takes place to arrive at a tax rate takes place at a Standing Committee. This year that committee was chaired by ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan. Mr. Nisan did not cover himself with glory while doing the task; he was difficult, less than fair to some of the Council members and tended to be authoritarian while doing the work.
He was acrimonious, discourteous and rude at times when the job of chair calls for a deft, mature understanding of the wishes of each Council member, drawing them out and letting a consensus come out of it all.
On far too many occasions it was clear that Nisan did not understand the numbers – he would say “that is nice to know” when it was actually essential that the Chair have a solid grip on what each number meant.
 Chief Financial Officer Joan Ford; always ready willing and able to mentor members of Council Burlington has a Chief Financial Officer, Joan Ford, who bends over backwards to explain what can at times be arcane and difficult to understand. She is always ready, willing and able to mentor the Chair – Nisan didn’t appreciate or take advantage of what was available to him.
Mr. Nisan has shown a preference for aligning himself with the Mayor and championing her wishes and aspirations rather than creating a path of his own. It is hard to be certain just what Rory Nisan does stand for.
Like every other member of Council he will have to stand for re-election in 2022. He doesn’t have a lot of time to let his constituents know and see who he really is and what he wants to get done. Other than wanting to be the Mayor’s choice for Deputy Mayor – it is hard to point to something that has made a difference. There was a splash pad set up in his ward – but that idea was put in motion by his predecessor.
The Mayor said at the beginning of the budget proceedings that the 4.99% increase budget Staff brought in was not going to fly – her target was 3.99% and she fought hard to get that number.
She didn’t have the support of enough of her council members to make it happen – some found the drive for that 3.99% was misplaced and that the purpose of the budget was to serve the needs of the citizens and not the aspirations of a politician.
Meed Ward, to her credit, realized the 3.99% was not going to happen. “The goal is not going to be met,” she said; “let it go” and she did, adding that there is no shame in aiming high.
The Mayor said on numerous occasions that her objective was to “leave more money in the pockets of the tax payers”. The words had a populist tinge.
 Took positions that challenged what others were advocating; kept pushing for more transparency. Councillor Stolte was the star of the budget debates – she consistently, but respectfully, challenged the views of her colleagues and questioned the Clerk on several of the decisions he made.
Saying:
“My comments in regard to whether or not to endorse the 2021 Operating Budget will be highlighted in two components today.
“In regard to the tax rate that we have landed on, I believe it is the result of a great deal of hard work by our Finance Department and this Council, and a great deal of effort to balance the needs of the community with solid financial stewardship and protection of City assets.
“There is still a great deal of work to be done within the City of Burlington to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and the financial inefficiencies that are inherent in an overly bureaucratic organization, but we have begun to see some positive changes in this regard and I look forward to the citizens of Burlington reaping the financial savings from these improvements in the future.
“The second component of my comments is in regard to the PROCESS involved when staff and Council are tasked to determine the priorities, sacrifices and compromises necessary to manage a city budget.
“It was mentioned earlier today that I had brought forward a Staff direction in March of 2020 that was unanimously supported by Council. It stated to:
“Direct the Chief Financial Officer to plan a Council Workshop in June of 2020 with the subject matter of “Vision to Focus – Budget 2021”. The purpose being to allow staff and Council the opportunity to collaborate on high level priorities, values and vision leading into the 2021 budget process in an effort to concentrate the focus and priorities of Council.”
“Comments may be made that this plan was impacted due to COVID-19 but in hindsight, the 2021 budget still needed to be dealt with and the need to collaborate with Council on focus and priorities, at the start of that process, still should have happened.
“I am disappointed that another Budget cycle was completed without the benefit of a more collaborative Staff/Council process at the outset and I appeal to our City Manager to commit to ensuring that this process improvement is implemented for the next Budget cycle for 2022.
“Curiously, as we endeavored to land this Budget, further process and best practice challenges came to light.
“When we began this term of Council in early 2019 we were oriented to understand that we would receive recommendations from staff in regard to agenda items that needed to be discussed in private, behind closed doors.
“Over the last two years the regular practice has been for Council to receive advice that we “need” to move into Closed Session and this recommendation is always accepted by Council without debate, as merely a point of procedure.
“During the 2021 Operating Budget process I presented an amendment which became the topic of much debate with the City Clerk and City Manager’s Office.
“It was recommended by staff that this amendment be discussed in private, behind closed doors.
“I challenged this recommendation and it quickly came to light that this was a very rare occurrence for a Closed Meeting recommendation to be questioned by Council and I was informed that it was inappropriate for a Councillor to question a staff recommendation of this nature.
“This is not how the municipal democratic process works … Staff’s role is to make their best professional recommendation and our role on Council is to assess this recommendation and concur or contest based on whether or not we believe the recommendation represents the best interests of the residents of Burlington.
“Ultimately, the decision on the Budget item was in the hands of Council, where it should be…but the process involved in this discussion was what was of concern.”
Stolte’s comments have the potential to bring about a change in the way council meetings are managed. The doors need to be open as much as possible.
This Council worked very hard to produce a budget that met the needs of the tax payers and at the same time underlined the goals they had when they sought election to city Council.
There are lessons in the budget experience for every member of Council; hopefully they will take the time to reflect on what took place and learn from both the mistakes and the successes.
This council was supported by a well-tuned finance department who met every challenge put to them and then some.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Pepper Parr
February 26th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Is there a provincial election in the wind?
The province released a media background piece on some forthcoming legislation called Ontario Taking Steps to Make it Easier and Safer to Participate in Provincial Elections.
The media release explains that new legislation would help modernize the voting process in a COVID-19 environment by taking steps to make it easier and safer for people to vote, become a candidate, and protect provincial elections against outside influence and interference.
The Protecting Ontario Elections Act, 2021, would, if passed, help guard against threats such as the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, under-regulated third-party advertising, irregular campaign spending, and collusion.
 Doug Ford – can he be re-elected? “We strongly believe that Ontario voters should determine the outcome of elections, not big corporations or unions, American-style political action groups or other outside influences,” said Attorney General Doug Downey. “That’s why we are proposing legislative action to protect Ontarians’ essential voice in campaigns and to make it easier to cast a vote safely in an advance poll or on election day. These amendments would help modernize Ontario’s electoral process and ensure it is updated to meet urgent challenges, including COVID-19.”
The proposed reforms build on the Ontario legislature’s 2016 decision to ban corporate and union donations to political parties and help ensure individuals remain at the centre of the electoral process.
To protect Ontario elections, 19 legislative amendments have been proposed to:
• Make it more convenient and safer for people to vote in a COVID-19 environment by increasing advance polling days from five to ten, changes first proposed by Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer;
• Double the amount individuals can donate to a candidate, constituency association, leadership contestant or party from $1,650 to $3,300 per year, protecting the essential voice of Ontarians in campaigns;
• Extend third-party advertising spending limits from six to 12 months before an election period and introduce a definition of collusion to help protect Ontario’s elections from outside influence and interference; and
• Clarify the rules that allow Members of Provincial Parliament to maintain individual social media accounts before, during and after a writ period, as well as pave the way for the legislature to set other social media rules.
Elections Ontario has reported that the scale of third-party advertising in Ontario is greater than at the federal level, and Ontario is the only province in Canada where third-party spending is counted in the millions of dollars, rather than in the thousands. In 2018, third parties spent over $5 million during the election period and the six months prior to the election.
“Each and every Ontarian is a driving force of our democracy – from casting their votes to volunteering on campaigns or putting one’s name on a ballot,” said Attorney General Downey. “We want to ensure that the electoral system continues to evolve to protect their central role as individuals and promote fairness in the electoral process for everyone.”
 She can draw the crows but hasn’t been able to translate those faces into voters. Nice to know that they are keeping themselves busy at Queen’s Park. One wonders how the current Progressive Conservative government would fare if they had to face the electorate. Lots to complain about – but have you looked at the other two choices. Andrea Horwath does not seem to be able to win an election. A new leader could make a difference – is there anyone with real strength and profile on the NDP benches? Look hard and let me know what you find.
As for the Liberals – their leader has yet to run for a seat in the Legislature. Other taking a few cheap shots at the province for goofs on the Covid19 file, Del Duca hasn’t made much of a mark.
There is a group planning a policy convention – something the Liberals badly need if they are going to learn anything from the Kathryn Wynne disaster. A good stiff broom is needed if the Liberals are going to be competitive. If they can find a way to tap into and reflect what the people of Ontario really want they could form a government.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Pepper Parr
February 15th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
We are for the most part proud of the country we live in. Most of us were born here, many chose to come and many were invited to be here.
Think about the War Brides, or the Syrians who arrived at the airport to be greeted by the Prime Minister who was handing out winter coats.
We do not show our pride the way our friends to the South do. We seldom choose to wear a flag but we enjoy the feeling we get when we see those Olympians walking into a stadium bearing that flag.
We are for the most part a tolerant people. We respect the government that leads us and are quick to boot them out when they don’t live up to what we expect of them.
 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau handing out winter coats to families arriving as refugees from Syria So what to make of the Prime Minister we have? His lineage excited most of us – another Trudeau – that would be nice. Yes, there were and still are many who did not share my view of what Justin Trudeau was going to be able to do.
There are now reasons, too many of them, to ask – what happened.
We are going to get the vaccines we need – the when is the question and where they are going to come from is a huge concern.
It sounded as if every pharmaceutical country in the world had a contract with the government of Canada. We had so much in the way of vaccines in the pipe line that we were deciding who we were going to let have some of the vaccine we wouldn’t need.
COVAX, an organization Canada was part of putting in place a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and others. (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX.)
It was in place as a distributor of the vaccines that would be made available to the third world countries.
 Karina Gould as a newly minted Minister for Democratic Institutions defending a decision not to go forward with a different approach to federal elections. Karina Gould, a Member of Cabinet and currently serving as the International Development Minister was left carrying the ball again as she did her best to explain what COVAX was, the role Canada played in its creation and assuring Canadians that what Canada draws down at this point would be returned when we had a surplus.
Recall that Minister Gould once had to defend not going forward with something other than First Past the Post in future elections. She had been Minister of Democratic Institutions for less than a month when she has handed that ball.
Now we learn that Canada is going to have to draw down some of the vaccines we need from COVAX. That is so embarrassing.
This gets added to the list of embarrassments that is getting pretty long.
There was that unfortunate trip to India, there was the shameful way MP Jody Wilson Raybould and Jane Phillpot were treated when they showed the courage to stand up for what they believed to be right and got tossed out of Cabinet for it. Turned out they were right as well.
Add to that the need now to find another Governor General because a mistake was made in the failure to fully vet the one we had.
 Former McKinsey Consulting, Global Managing Partner Kevin Sneader now the Ambassador to China. Another example of poor vetting. And, the latest, learning that our Ambassador to China was the top man at McKinsey Consulting, Global Managing Partner Kevin Sneader. The firm that agreed to pay a $6 million fine for advising on how to best sell prescriptions of OxyCodone , the addictive drug that has been the responsible for the death of hundreds of young men and women from over dosing.
What is so galling is that we get told almost every time he speaks that we are going to have all the drugs we need and that everyone will be vaccinated by September.
Are we absolutely certain those vaccines are going to be in the hands of the provinces so that they can pass everything along to the provinces who will in turn get it into the hands of the Public Health Units who will oversee that actual vaccinations.
Did the people in Ottawa who were overseeing the purchasing of the vaccine take the steps needed to ensure that we had the supply we needed. Did they not realize that the vaccines being manufactured less than a half day drive way – in Detroit – were going to go to Americans. Goodness knows that country really really needs all the help it can get to dig themselves out of the hole their then President put them in.
 Chrystia Freeland, currently the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister. Did someone not ask if there would be problems with the European Union that determines what goes where in Europe?
Was there not a risk analysis done – looking really hard at just what we were up against?
There is going to be a federal election soon. Justin Trudeau will look for a time when his image is going to be as good as he can make it and then we will be asked to re-elect him.
The choice for the Liberals is to hold a leadership convention very soon and choose Chrystia Freeland as Prime Minister and have her face the public.
She’s running the country now as it is.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
“The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.” (Article 2 of the Olympic Charter)
By Ray Rivers
February 10th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
There is an open letter signed by parliamentarians from all of Canada’s political parties, indigenous leaders and human rights organizations demanding that, given China’s record of human rights abuses, the 2022 Olympic Winter Games must be relocated away from China.
Those abuses are so significant that the former and current US governments have labelled China’s actions with its minority Uighur population as genocide.
 Hitler hijacked the 1936 Olympic Games – would China do the same in 2022 Not relocating the games would be an unfortunate case of history repeating itself. The 1936 Olympics were hijacked by Adolf Hitler. Opponents of the Berlin games argued that allowing the Nazi regime to host the games would just embolden Hitler and allow him a propaganda victory. Showcasing the international games would demonstrate to the German people that the rest of the world was OK with his policies of second class citizenship, ethnic cleansing and ultimately genocide (eventually) for Germany’s Jewish population.
In addition to the Canadian effort, there is group of 180 international human rights associations calling for a complete boycott of the games. Boycotts are problematic, as history has shown, and they rarely work. For example, after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan most western nations boycotted the 1980 Olympics which were being held in Moscow. The games still went ahead; the Soviets continued to occupy Afghanistan for a decade thereafter; and the western athletes, whose careers were on the line, suffered the most.
 Coal being shoveled off rail cars in China for use in generating plants There is a long list of grievances which China’s president for life, Xi Jinping, has been ramping up over recent years. Of course China has a terrible human rights record with respect to its treatment of the Uighur, Falun Gong, Hong Kong and Tibetan populations. China has also replaced the US as the leading source of climate change emissions, and despite participating in the Paris climate agreement, the country is building more new coal burning power plants than the rest of the world combined.
The nation has been developing its military at break neck speed. And with its now powerful navy has claimed sovereignty over the South China Sea which puts it on a collision course with any number of it neighbours and the USA. And of course there is a long simmering cold war with India over their mountainous shared border.
China has threatened war and forced occupation of Taiwan, an island of 24 million people with a democratic government, and which has been independent since 1949. And its history before that, except for a brief period post WWII, had been as a colony of Japan. The USA may have no formal security treaty with Taiwan but has 30,000 troops stationed there. So it is doubtful that the US would stand by and allow the Chinese to invade without a fight.
 Patrons at a wet market in Wuhan, China It has been a year since we first heard of COVID, but World Health Organization (WHO) inspectors have finally been allowed to visit the birthplace of the virus which caused COVID 19. Though, nobody really expects them to discover how this pandemic actually got started. Chinese officials have sanitized the wet (seafood) market which they claim have been location zero. And all of the Chinese citizens or officials who could have shed light on the situation have either been kept out of sight or been velcro-lipped.
The theories propagated by Chinese authorities are that the virus arrived in Wuhan aboard a load of American frozen food or that SARS-CoV-2 originated from a bat virus which transited through an infected pangolin to complete a zoonotic leap into the respiratory tract of an unsuspecting shopper in Wuhan’s extensive wet market.
But neither theory holds water. For one thing neither bats nor pangolins were on sale at the Wuhan wet market at the time. The closest candidate bat would have been a 7 hour train ride away but was probably too busy hanging upside down in its bat cave to make the journey.
Another theory, once advanced by former president Donald Trump, and largely dismissed because of that, is that there was an accidental leakage of the virus from the Wuhan Virology Laboratory. Located just up the street from the wet market, this is China’s only Level 4 bio-safety laboratory with a mandate to study and experiment with these kinds of viruses. And located behind its walls is the greatest collection of dangerous bat viruses ever assembled in one place.
The Chinese obviously deny this lab leak theory. And the team of visiting WHO inspectors say it’s a long shot. But this would not be the first time that WHO has been pressured by the Chinese. And given the lack of transparency and all the secrecy, can one be sure all the inspectors have seen is a really thorough cover-up of the evidence?
For Canada there is another reason to avoid the games in China. Just ask our two Michaels who have been held in miserable captivity for over two years. Their crimes were that they were valuable hostages which China’s strongman thought would make good trading fare for their Huawei executive whom we, in turn, continue to detain. Australia has recently updated its travel advice for China to warn that authorities have detained foreigners on alleged national security grounds and that Australians may be at risk of arbitrary detention.
 The Canadian Olympic Team at Winter Olympic Games The choice for Canada is pretty clear. We need to work with other nations to convince the international Olympic committee to either cancel the games or shift the location to a more appropriate venue in keeping with the mandate, goals and the spirit of the Olympics. Unless that happens Canada should boycott the games in Beijing and seek alternate venues and exhibitions for our athletes.
The last thing Canadians need to see on their television sets next February are our proud athletes marching through Beijing sporting a large maple leaf flag as they pass by prison cell holding one of our Michaels.
As a postscript China is now claiming it will sanction any nation which boycotts the games. Seriously?
What would they do if the games are moved to a more acceptable location?
Ray Rivers, born in Ontario earned an economics degree at the University of Western Ontario and a Master’s degree in economics at the University of Ottawa. His 25 year stint with the federal government included time with Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Agriculture and the Post office. Rivers is active in his community; has run for municipal and provincial office.
Background links:
About the Olympics – Olympic Charter – Wuhan Lab –
A Lab Leak – Was it the Lab – More Lab Leaks –
US and Wuhan Lab – A Leak? – Move the Games –
Human Rights Groups – All Parties Call for Moving Olympics –
 By Pepper Parr
February 11th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Part 3 of a four part series
What is the Burlington Lands Partnership?
The Burlington Lands Partnership (“BLP”) is a flexible, multi-dimensional and integrated approach that seeks to address multiple areas of municipal strategic land management including acquisition and development.
For the City, the BLP will initially focus on achieving tangible and measurable community benefits and returns in three areas: supporting economic growth and direct job creation, completing “city building” projects and delivering much needed affordable housing.
Oversight and strategic direction will be provided by a new steering committee that is ultimately accountable to Burlington City Council. The committee is proposed to consist of the Mayor, the City Manager, the Council member serving as current Chair of the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee, key senior municipal staff, and representation from Burlington Economic Development (both the Board and staff).
Additional partner-based stakeholders such as community leaders, the heads of community organizations, and representatives of private corporations are proposed be part of smaller project specific task forces that are accountable and report out to the BLP Steering Committee.
The Steering Committee, which is the group that will look for partnership opportunities they can research, determine the risk and decide if there is enough in the way of benefits to the city to proceed. If they come to consensus, they take their decision/recommendation to city Council where the decision to proceed will be made.
There doesn’t appear to be much in the way of public participation or opportunities for people to delegate. The Steering Committee meetings will not be public.
Why is the Burlington Lands Partnership Needed?
• There are several strategically positioned and emerging municipal land development opportunities within Burlington, but there is no single entity that has the mandate and resources to realize the opportunities for the long-term benefit of the City.
• There is widespread support for the City to take a greater strategic role in targeting municipal land development in Burlington.
• Burlington has many active community organizations and not-for-profits which could engage in mutually beneficial partnerships to aid in developing communities within Burlington.
• A partnership in this form allows for the City, Burlington Economic Development (Burlington EcDev), and a coalition of public and private sector partners to pursue additional funding and strategic partnerships including but not limited to the Halton Region, Province of Ontario and Government of Canada.
The widespread support is not something that Gazette has heard of or become aware of and this council does not have a mandate to undertake something as large as what is being proposed..
Mandate of BLP
Throughout 2020, urbanMetrics was engaged by the City of Burlington to assess the viability, function and structure of a municipal corporation or other strategic land entity to facilitate the development of City owned lands with a focus on economic development and city building initiatives.
 There was once a house on the corner of this property that was owned by the city. It was torn down to increase parking in the Caroline – John Street intersection. Little thought was given to creating a parking lot with a permeable surface to aid in rain water run off. City bureaucrats seldom have their ear to the ground and are rarely aware of what the public wants. The study was undertaken in conjunction with a governance study conducted by MDB Insight to examine the role of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation. The recommended approach to a strategic land development entity, which was subsequently brought forward and recommended by the City Manager as the Burlington Land Partnership (BLP).
• The internal strategic real estate structure would involve Burlington EcDev, as well as other, potential partners, such as Halton Region, other public agencies, private industry and private and public institutions including not-for-profit community groups, as required.
• Oversite and strategic direction would be provided by a steering committee that would ultimately be accountable to Council. The City Manager, as staff lead, would be responsible for strategic managerial leadership and would serve as chair of the steering committee. Outside consulting expertise would be engaged as needed.
The mandate of the organization or partnership would be on leveraging real estate to:
o Maximise opportunities for economic growth and job creation;
o Develop and implement city building projects; and
o Create opportunities for the development of affordable housing.
Ultimately the BLP should have access to City staff and other resources to seek, identify and develop strategic land opportunities into viable projects; to direct the acquisition and disposition of related City lands; to undertake land and facility development visioning and design; to obtain necessary planning approvals; and to fully engage with outside partners.
• Initially, the BLP should be tasked with seeking, identifying and developing opportunities into viable strategic land projects. A number of opportunities have been presented through the urbanMetrics and Cresa studies. These, as well as others that may be identified in the future, need to be more formally prioritized and envisioned complete with detailed project plans, recommended by the BLP Steering Committee and approved by City Council.
• The BLP would be the first step towards the creation of a municipal development corporation, however this would not occur until 2023 (at the earliest) following a reporting to Council on the activities and accomplishments of the BLP in 2021/22.
• Establishing the BLP as a first step, achieves a good balance among the opportunities, the desire for augmented internal strategic land capabilities, the current resource capacity limitations and the need for due diligence and caution.
The longer term goal is to have the city getting into the the development business. Is there a supportable collection of data that identifies the public buy in on an idea of this magnitude? The is not a small potatoes idea.
After an initial start-up period of two years, the organization should be evaluated on an annual basis, with respect to achieving measurable results related to:
o Supporting job creation, business creation and economic expansion;
o Developing and implementation of community-wide “City building” projects;
o Realizing tangible affordable housing opportunities and increased housing supply;
o Fiscal impact (increased assessment base/taxes, development charges, other fees);
o Enhancing the profile of the City and contributing to the public identity of Best City to Live in Canada;
o Supporting the City’s 25-year Strategic Plan, Council’s Vision to Focus 4-year work plan and community planning and other land related policies; and
o Delivering value for money and cost effectiveness to Burlington taxpayers.
 The city basically built the Pier twice. Seeing a set of benchmarks that would be used would certainly help the public decide if the idea has merit and serves the public and not the career aspirations of the bureaucratic cohort at city hall.
Remember the Pier.
BLP Working Groups
To be determined by the Steering Committee with approval by Council on a project- by-project basis as part of a separate project brief/plan.
Duration and Transition
The Burlington Land Partnership will function during an initial “pilot period” of two years including 2021 and 2022. A report on the strategic activities and outcomes of the BLP will be presented to Council prior to the end of their 2018-2022 terms and will include recommendations for consideration for the 2023-2026 term of Council.
The BLP represents a transitional approach that allows for the expansion of organizational capacity and a build-up of expertise that will in turn enable further consideration by Council of a formalized municipal development corporation (MDC) in line with other municipalities in Ontario and utilizing the powers allowed under the Municipal Act related to municipal corporations.
Overall, the Steering Committee will make recommendations to Council and decisions (where applicable) in the best interest of the City as a whole.
Agendas and Meeting Notes:
Agendas (including confidential materials as it related to property and legal matters) will be published ahead of meeting date, including attached documents required for discussion and decision making. Deadlines for attachments need to be respected to provide adequate time to read all required material to allow for comprehensive participation. If required, agenda items may be deferred at request of BLP member if materials are not distributed by deadlines.
BLP agendas and meeting notes will managed/prepared by the City Manager’s Office (CMO) and shared confidentially with Steering Committee members, City Clerk and Council Members.
The only thing left to do is order the new business cards.
Part 1 of a 4 part series.
Part 2 of a 4 part series
By Pepper
February 9th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
A regular eagle eyed reader who follows the Mayor on Twitter brought this to our attention.
He points out that the flag used in the tweet is not the correct version
He then adds that we cannot use his name saying “I don’t want to be in her bad books.” adding that “errors are errors.”
The unfortunate part of this is that there are people who feel they will be in the “bad books” of an elected official if they call them out on something. This is really unhealthy for a democratic society.
What, though, if we have a Mayor who is spiteful with a vengeful streak?
What do you do then?
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Pepper Parr
February 3rd, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
It was one of those walk-on items; a piece of city business that wasn’t on the agenda.
It came from the Mayor who did not appear to have consulted with her peers before the meeting.
There was a certain awkward silence, which is hard to pick up on when the meeting is virtual and you can’t always see all the players at the same time.
It was short; set out as a Staff Direction it read:
Direct the Executive Director of Legal Services to undertake a detailed review of the feasibility of enacting a city wide health protection bylaw to be funded from the Contingency Reserve fund and report back by Q2 of 2021.
My first reaction was – what is this all about? Don’t we have a Public Health Unit at the Region that focuses on public Health?
The motion wasn’t actually ready – Council took a few minutes break while the short paragraph was typed up and put up on the screen.
 Kelven Galbraith, Chair of a Standing Committee waiting for the Mayor to complete the writing of a Staff Direction Kelvin Galbraith who was chair of the meeting asked if there were any questions. Rory Nisan, who seems to be the person that automatically supports whatever the mayor puts forward said he was very interested to see where this could go.
Angelo Bentivegna was next with his standard “two quick questions” approach. He wanted to know more especially about the “detailed” part and just how much of the Contingency Reserve fund was going to be used. He asked “how far are we going to get into this” and added that at this point he could not support the Staff Direction.
Council had just come out of a two hour CLOSED session on the Meridian Aldershot Quarry and were scheduled to do a hard stop at noon – with that hour just minutes away.
They needed to take a lunch break after which City Manager Tim Commisso spoke saying he felt that Bentivegna deserved a more detailed answer to his concerns.
Commisso pointed out that the Legal Services budget was not public. He seemed to be aware of what it was the Mayor wanted to bring forward and pointed out that Council can do whatever it wants to do.
Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman said he had concerns over the scope of what was before Council. He wanted to know who will do the actual work and noted that there is a Public Health Unit at the Region adding that he was not clear on just what was being done.
 Nancy Shea Nicol, Executive Director Legal Services At that point the Executive Director of Legal Services spoke saying she could put together a Terms of Reference document.
Commisso then said that this was something that was dealt with in the CLOSED session. Which CLOSED session?
 City Manager Tim Commisso Commisso was referring to the CLOSED session that had taken place earlier in the day relating to the Meridian Aldershot Quarry where Air Quality issues were part of the discussion.
We were aware that the city had included outside legal counsel with a background in environmental matters.
Commisso said there would be a specific lead role and that “Nancy will provide executive guidance that would provide a “consolidated approach”.
A muddy picture was getting muddier.
Councillor Stolte then spoke saying she wanted more information. She would later vote to move the matter to Council later in the month at which time the City Solicitor would have more information for them.
Councillor Kearns wanted to see a more honed in approach to whatever it was the Mayor wanted done. Reference was made to where this fit into the V2F document (Vision to Focus) by Kearns but not before she could say that she thought the city was lucky to have Nancy Shea Nicol on Staff (she is the Executive Director of Legal Services) because she was “an amazing person.”
Kearns wanted to know if this was an internal look at public health; did it include audio, smells – adding that the wording was obtuse and needed fine tuning and could be the equivalent to opening a Pandora’s box.
She wanted the matter deferred to Council.
 Mayor Marianne Meed Ward Meed Ward then spoke saying that “we are constrained” about what we can say and that the public will not know what we are talking about and what can be shared with the public.
Withholding information is the beginning of a slippery slope that leads to deliberately hiding information from the public.
What the Mayor did not share when she spoke was that previously the Executive Director of Legal Services had been asked to find lawyers with environmental experience.
Those lawyers are what we at the Gazette believe were speaking to Council in that CLOSED session.
In the fullness of time all the facts will come out. What we don’t want to hear is that the approach the Mayor has taken was what was best for the city.
Weeks before the 2018 election took place we said that of the three candidates running for the Office of Mayor Meed Ward was the only real choice.
And she is certainly in the process of making her mark on the city. She is also creating a profile of being bold and courageous and doing good things.
What is also being left is the view that she always knows best – this is not a view that is shared by most of her colleagues. The collaboration and a collective will of Council is not as evident as the Mayor would like it to be.
A Gazette reader recently made a comment that this Mayor wants everyone to know that She Is in Charge – democracies don’t work that way Your Worship.
What we will learn in the fullness of time is that Council will try and pass a city wide health protection bylaw that will relate to the quality of the air and what corporations will not be able to do when their product or the work they do releases pollutants into the environment.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
“Ford threatened to shove an incendiary device into the “ying-yang” of any Pfizer executive if they did not give Ontario more coronavirus vaccines.” (CP24 – January 21, 2021).
By Ray Rivers
January 24th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
It would be funny if it wasn’t so deadly serious. Pfizer is reducing its shipments of COVID vaccine due to the need for a stoppage to upgrade its production facilities. So it is disappointing. But the company says it will still meet its commitment for total shipments by the end of March, and beyond.
That sounds reasonable given that its other customers will also suffer delays, including European nations where the our vaccine is actually being manufactured. And remember that hardly anyone had even heard of COVID last year at this time, so getting any kind and amount of vaccine here is a blessing.
 The speed with which the vaccine was produced was impressive.  Premier Doug Ford: not having a good day. But that’s not good enough for Ontario’s fearsome premier who has called the Canadian president of Pfizer to complain, and is threatening to rent a truck and cross the land border to demand a million doses from newly installed US president Biden.
No doubt Ford’s demand would be well received, except that as bad as it is here with COVID, the US is worse. And does Ford really think Biden will give him a million doses when his biggest election promise was to inoculate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office.
Ford was largely responsible for the surge of COVID cases in Ontario. He loosened restrictions on social activity too rapidly in the late fall. But that he owns the surge hasn’t stopped him from casting about to lay the blame on someone else. In this case it is the Trudeau government and their contract with Pfizer. But it’s not the first time. He went after the Prime Minister over sloppy border control, though in that case rightfully so.
Not to be outdone in the crazy game is Ford’s BFF in Alberta, Jason Kenny, who has threatened to bypass the federal government and buy vaccine directly from…. somewhere. But his biggest headache today is that newly elected US president Biden has cancelled the Keystone oil pipeline, which Kenny was counting for extra cash on to help get Alberta out of its current hole.
Obama and Biden cancelled the pipeline back in 2015, but then Trump OK’d it again. Kenny must have thought Trump would win the US election because he poured $1.5 billion into the project and gave another $6 billion or so in loan guarantees. I guess he wasn’t reading the papers because everyone knew that Trump wouldn’t get re-elected, except Trump, of course.
 Not. the best of friends it would appear. It was Biden’s election promise and Kenny went ballistic when the new president followed though on it. Kenny demanded Trudeau do everything but launch a nuclear missile on Washington to get him to change his mind But how could Canada apply trade sanctions over a pipeline permit that is entirely in the hands of the US president and over US territory? How does the PM ask Biden to compensate Alberta because its premier was betting that Biden wasn’t going to win.
There is a faint hope that some rules of the old NAFTA might still apply and help Kenny get some kind of compensation, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. There were a thousand jobs on the Canadian side building the pipeline to nowhere – the Jason Kenny line. Those jobs are gone and Albertans will likely eat the $1.5 billion and more.
Losing Keystone is not the end of the world. Oil production in Alberta will still continue unabated as will selling it to the US. Keystone was significant only because it would have allowed Alberta to export even more oil than it already does. So Alberta’s oil industry will continue to operate, it just won’t get bigger – at least not until the federally owned Trans Mountain pipeline twinning is operational.
 Tesla 3 – Take a ride in one – appreciate the near total silence. But the reality is that fossil fuels are a dying proposition. Tesla sold almost a half million electric cars in the USA last year and now everybody is getting into the game. After all, gas powered vehicles cannot be sold in Norway after 2025, the UK by 2030 and Quebec and California after 2035. Does anyone other than Jason Kenny think the world needs another oil pipeline?
Jason Kenny might get some of his billions back by whining to Trudeau and Biden, and taking his case to NAFTA. But he won’t get Keystone back. There is no future for oil in Alberta, or anywhere, and the sooner Kenny comes to that realization the better for the people he serves.
Ontario should be glad that Doug Ford, as embarrassing as he can be, and not Jason Kenny is premier of this province. Now if only Ford could get our COVID numbers down.
Background links:
None of that Crap – Trudeau Letter on Keystone – How is it Going Jason –
Keystone Options – Raging Jason –
By Pepper Parr
January 20th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Clarification:
Mayor Burton resigned from the Halton Police Services Board on January 11, 2021. The Police
Services Act, provides that the Head of Council is to be one of the members of
the Board unless he chooses not to serve. Regional Chair, Gary Carr has decided to assume the
vacant position. This is effective immediately upon swearing- in and does not require confirmation
by Council. The term is for the remainder of this term of Council, to expire November 14, 2022 or
when a successor is appointed.
There is probably going to be a change in the way the police services for the Region are going to be managed and led.
The Police Services Board has held 15 hours of meetings so far to determine what, if anything, they want to do with the current police chief who was out the country with the permission of Oakville Mayor Rob Burton who was the Chair of the Police Services Board.
 Oakville Mayor Rob Burton Burton resigned as the Chair last week but is still a member of the Board.
There has been considerable public reaction to the decision the Chief made in asking for permission and then actually leaving the jurisdiction when the province was under a lock down.
Burton realized he was in a difficult position and had to resign as Chair. His political future is something that we will look at later.
What to do with the Chief. There are clearly some differences within the Board – fire him? – how, when he had permission.
 Halton Regional Police Chief Stephen Tanner talks with Sgt Davies, the man who heads up the accident reconstruction unit. One of the options is to find a way to settle with the Chief – that will turn out to be an expensive option and one that will be hidden from the public. There will be a statement about thanking the Chief for his service and wishing him well in the future.
If the Board decides to fire the Chief he will most certainly sue for wrongful dismissal. That law suit will be public and that’s something the Region does not want.
The rank and file police are not happy people. Their Chief was not there for them when they needed him.
Clayton Gillis, the president of the Halton Regional Police Association, said Saturday he has heard claims made by a whistle blower on Twitter. He said he doesn’t engage in the social media platform.
“From my conversation with the Chief and the statement he released yesterday, I know that he has described his travels as ‘personal business matters’ and a ‘property matter.’ I don’t know any other details or if the rumours … are accurate,” he said.
“We will be seeking a more transparent, fulsome answer to why he travelled beyond what’s been given as an answer thus far,” Gillis added.
The Police Services Board will be holding another meeting on Thursday (January 21st) that will like the previous two, in a CLOSED session.
What will be different is that Halton Region Chair Gary Carr will be attending. His decision to become involved suggests that a decision will be made.
Don’t expect whatever decision is made to be made public on Thursday.
The decision made will be released to the public at a meeting that is open to the public on January 28th. There will be a Special meeting on Thursday the 21st. It will have one item on the agenda – electing a Chair and a Vice Chair for the 2101 term. There may be other items discussed but they will be done in a Closed session.
There are two options before the Police Services Board. Fire the chief or accept his resignation. If the Board fires Tanner it will result in a legal claim for a lot of money. Any claim would be made public and be messy – the optics will not be good.
The best in the way of optics is to carve out a deal with Tanner to pay him to just go away. The Board will not make whatever payment there might be public. It will get buried somewhere in the Regional Budget.
Tanner was a good police Chief; he was one of the police officers who earned a degree in psychology at the University of Guelph. He was a strong supporter of promoting women and putting them in positions where they could gain the experience to become leaders.
When he returned to Halton from Kingston where he was Chief it was a homecoming event. He was given his old police badge, returning to a community that was both fond of and proud of the man,
He made the wrong decision and a series of circumstances may result in a career coming to an end. This is the hard part of being transparent and accountable.
As for Burton – his future prospects are cloudy at best. The result of the 2018 election for the office of Mayor are set out below.
The people who run election campaigns will tell you that Burton can be beaten.
The first column is the election day vote, the second is the advance vote, the third is the total and the fourth is the percentage
| Rob Burton |
19,236 |
3,682 |
22,918 |
49.64 % |
| Julia Hanna |
16,565 |
2,866 |
19,431 |
42.09 % |
| John McLaughlin |
3,345 |
471 |
3,816 |
8.27 % |
Rob Burton could be toast as Mayor of Oakville as well.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
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