 By Pepper Parr
April 14th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
I didn’t know John Calvert. I knew of him. He was Director of Planning in Mississauga at a time when Hazel McCallion was Mayor – and he survived – Hazel was one tough cookie.
I was sent a copy of the letter Calvert wrote to Mayor Marianne Meed Ward expressing his profound disappointment on how the National Homes development on Brant was proceeding.
John Calvert has lived in Burlington for more than 30 years. Watching the shape, look, and feel of the city disintegrate has bothered him for some time.
 John Calvert: Deeply hurt and disappointed I had to ask a friend for contact information and see if Calvert would take a call from me.
He said he would and we had a ten minute talk.
I heard a very distraught man who was deeply hurt talk about the Due Process that he did not feel had taken place and the need for public input on planning decisions.
He agreed with me that people were excited when Marianne was elected Mayor – many believed that the development proposals on the table were going to ruin the city.
Calvert said he “likes Marianne” he just didn’t seem to like what she was doing.
“It took me some time to write the letter” said Calvert. “I showed it to my neighbour Ed Doer who was heavily involved in the opposition to the National Homes development; he said I had written what needed to be said.”
When Mayor Meed Ward went to France to take part in the 75th WWII anniversary she went with Calvert’s wife who was one of the Burlington residents who made the Juno Beach reception centre possible. Calvert told me that the two women travelled together and got along very well.
Calvert said he was asked to speak at one of Meed Ward’s campaign funding events. “I did so willingly” said Calvert
Calvert knows the ins and out of the planning profession. He told me that the communities we build today will determine the kind of society we will have a couple of decades later.
He talked about the lack of amenities in a community that was to have 233 homes – which may have been chiselled down to 215.
“The traffic problems will be horrendous.”
Calvert hopes that this Council decides to take a sober second look at what is being proposed.
The issue for Calvert is trust and quality in developments. By quality he doesn’t mean quartz counter tops and shiny high end stoves. He means space for people to live, back yards where there is room for one of those large Italian families and parks where children can play and enough room for a child to learn to ride a bicycle.
Calvert said he was excited when Meed Ward came along – mistakes that had been made were going to be corrected. Now it doesn’t look that way.
“Someone has to stop this” he said
Related news item:
The Calvert letter
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
April 4TH, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Easter isn’t about coloured eggs and the Easter Bunny.
Starts with Palm Sunday, then Good Friday, then Easter Sunday.
This Sunday we remember when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowds waved branches and laid down coats and shouted “Hosanna!”
 Children in churches around the world will take part in a Palm Sunday procession. In many churches there is a procession with the children walking into the Sanctuary waving palm tree leaves and singing hymns.
Covid-19 has put a serious crimp on church attendance. My church, Hamilton Mennonite, sent out a note saying they “need help to do a different kind of Palm Sunday processional, and anyone of any age can participate! Here are the steps:
 1) Print the attached palm branch colouring page (as many as your household needs)
2) Colour (or otherwise decorate) it
3) Take a Picture of your artwork (horizontal is best). Include you holding it, if you want, or add your name to it.
4) Email it here or to Alissa at hmcpastor@cogeco.net by Friday night (or 1st thing Saturday morning if you must!)
Watch for the Photo Processional this Sunday morning in worship!
I’ll go on line to see how my Pastor handles the procession.
Think about what that procession was all about; the trial that took place, the decision to crucify a man named Jesus – that part is all fact – well documented.
The balance of the story, the Risen Lord – on the third day he rose – is pure faith – you either believe it or you don’t.
Much of our core social philosophy and fundamental social beliefs comes out of a Christian perspective. We now have many who bring a Muslim perspective to the way lives are lived.”
With parents struggling to keep their children active and at least a little entertained painting hard boiled eggs seems like a good idea and the hunt for the treats that are part of the secular Easter will keep the kids happy for a couple of hours.
You might give some thought to telling them what the season is really all about.
It isn’t the Easter Bunny is it?
On Sunday 9:45 – Join live here:
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
April 2, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
 Spouting Donald Trump regularly spouts so much misinformation that the American public has almost become immune to him. But almost a hundred thousand people have signed a petition calling for Trump to end his daily COVID-19 briefings, claiming he is politicizing the crisis and using the news pressers as just another partisan political rally.
Fortunately nobody is making that kind of complaint on this side of the border. As tedious as the PM and premier’s daily briefings have become, there is usually some newsworthy item to justify pre-empting our favourite day-time TV reruns. And unlike the combative Trump, our leaders appreciate the seriousness of the situation and have been careful to play nicely with each other.
Doug Ford, whose poll numbers were in the toilet only a few months ago, has almost overcome his bully-boy countenance, dutifully earned after attacking teachers and Toronto’s city council. His fight over the carbon tax with the federal government now seems like distant history, as he regularly heaps praise on the PM and his deputy PM.
 Doug Ford is coming across as a much more focused and stronger reader. But his populist instincts of overreaching continue to get him into trouble, as for example when he advised workers to just walk off their jobs and promised not to let anyone get evicted for not paying their rents. But his past stumbles, most recently the illegible license plates, are forgotten and forgiven as this epidemic now interminably occupies our lives.
Compared to our southern neighbours, Canada is in a better place. But our numbers are still growing and there is no end in sight. And if there is a recovery strategy it has to be a best kept secret, as new numbers roll-in every day telling us that things are only getting worse – not better.
We’ve seen how China, despite bring hampered initially by its knee jerk denials, was finally able to lock down the virus only with a dramatic quarantine, exhaustive travel restrictions, a shuttering of virtually all business and the mandatory wearing of face masks in public. We’ve also seen how South Korea is claiming limited success by aggressive testing and tracking, isolation, travel bans, and… face masks.
But Canada is not following either of these models. Our first COVID-19 case arrived from China near the end of January, yet it took another month to restrict International travel. Arriving passengers were neither tested nor quarantined until enough infected people had arrived for the virus to become a self sustaining problem.
 It was a different time: The Prime Minister was welcoming refugees into the country almost every day. We just kept counting the infected and dead until, by early March, we had joined the rest of the world in suffering the consequences of this deadly and growing epidemic. So we started ratcheting down our economy by a series of half measures. Mr. Trudeau announced voluntary internal travel restrictions but not a ban, and only partially closed the US border. And Mr. Ford shuttered some, but not all, non-essential Ontario business.
Our chief medical officer of health keeps telling us that all we need to do is wash our hands and keep our social distances. Social distancing is a good idea but how is that even possible for those who need to make the daily commute to their job by subway or bus, for example. So what about the masks which worked so well in Asia?
The virus is respiratory. I’m not a medical doctor but even I know that means the pathway for the infection starts with the mouth or nose and moves out by a cough, sneeze or even talking. The virus apparently lasts a relatively long time on some surfaces (counters, doors and grab rails and grocery produce) but it gets there when an infected person coughs or sneezes near or onto those surfaces – or touches them after sneezing into their own hands.
 Masks were essential in China – Rivers wonders why they are not essential in Ontario  World wide data on the morning of April 2, 2020 So the Chinese authorities believe wearing a mask reduces the contagion. But our Dr. Tam, the World Health Organization and the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) are still telling us not to wear a mask in public unless we are already infected and contagious. But couldn’t people be contagious and not display symptoms? And shouldn’t they stay at home if they are sick? And why do doctors and nurses wear masks?
Given the enormity of the epidemic spreading across the USA, the CDC is apparently on the cusp of recommending that everyone should start wearing a mask in public. Of course there aren’t nearly enough masks in America for all the people, so the CDC will likely offer a ‘how-to’ make and keep clean (for re-use) your very own cloth mask.
This would no doubt give Donald Trump something new to announce at one of his press availability sessions. But how will he explain why he didn’t do this sooner? Trump’s poll numbers have never been higher. This is amazing given how he has totally mismanaged the COVID-19 issue. Trump was aware of the epidemic when he banned commercial flights to China back in January.
But his administration fumbled terribly. Having decided to develop their own test kits they failed to get them done in a timely fashion. They failed to enforce social distancing. And their business as usual attitude allowed the virus to spread such that the US is now the global epicentre of the pandemic. And they don’t even have enough face masks to protect their own health care workers, let alone their population.
The US infection rate has been doubling every four days and is now 200,000 – more than twice China’s. The US chief medic has projected that the outbreak could rise to a million infections or more in that country alone. It is very likely that US deaths, already greater than those in China, could reach 100,000, even if they all start to wear masks tomorrow. That is twice as many fatalities as all those American soldiers who died in Vietnam.
Canada’s political leaders are also witnessing a rise in their approval ratings. That is a natural phenomena, particularly In the early stages of a crisis like this. We want to believe in our government and leaders in a time of uncertainty. For example, George W Bush, one of American’s worst presidents by almost any account, saw his approval rating skyrocket after 9/11 as the country looked to their president for leadership.
The approval we’re giving Mr Ford and Trudeau is unlikely to last if this epidemic continues too long or gets worse, however. And that approval will disappear if the public discovers that our governments have failed to protect us because of some kind of prejudice by our chief medical officer against wearing face masks – even if they have to be homemade ones.
 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. He developed the current policy process for the Ontario Liberal Party.
Background links:
Trump Petition – Ford Overreach Ford Risen – Mask Use –
Trump Worst Leader – South Korea – US Death Toll – More Masks –
Dr. Tam– Face Masks –
By Pepper Parr
March 31st, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
I was surprised to learn that there isn’t always someone from city council at the Emergency Coordinating Group (ECG).
I knew that the Mayor and the City Manager were never in the room at the same time. Tim Commisso told me in a telephone interview that he is putting in 15 hour days and stick handling 200 + emails. He has deep experience at the municipal level and has seen a city through a disaster. But he is not a young man and he doesn’t have as much as he needs in the way of bench strength.
A State of Emergency does change the ground rules – but it shouldn’t dilute the level of on-the-ground democracy.
Running a city under a State of Emergency is not business as usual.
The politicians have to let the experts do what they do.
However, there isn’t a reason in the world why at least one member of Council cannot be in the room. They are not in the room to participate – they are in the room to witness, record and to serve as a hobble on bureaucrats that could go too far astray.
They are not there to ask questions. A good committee chair would ask the Councillor if there were any questions or suggestions at the end of a meeting.
Right now we have a Mayor saying everything is going just fine. That may well be the case.
We are not suggesting there is anything amiss. It is when the proceedings are transparent that things don’t go amiss.
Our Mayor would be serving her constituents’ interests well if she advocated for having at least one member of Council at that table or on-line.
Sharman was right to bring this to the attention of a very concerned public.
Related news story:
Councillor Sharman finds being elected means squat during an emergency.
 By Pepper Parr
March 29th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
This came to us from a Gazette reader: Carol Gottlob has been with us from the very beginning.
I’ve never taken advantage of any opportunity to be a passenger on that bike; today she can put on her helmet and the rest of her safety gear and enjoy the freedom the road offers – and those roads will be close to empty today. Ride with the wind my friend!
Tips from a Road Warrior by Carol Gottlob:
 Carol Gottlob with her 750 Honda Shadow. In these times of new rules governing our lives to keep us safe in the time of CoVid, I would like to provide some simple tips from the perspective of a motorcyclist.
As a motorcyclist, I AM A RISK TAKER. This is pointed out to me at every opportunity when I tell people I ride a 750 Honda Shadow. I am well aware of the risks. They are calculated risks, and along with them, are some useful protocols to reduce those risks and improve my safety and the safety of those I share the road with. Here they are, and here is how you can apply them to your current self protection plan:
1. Keep your engine and brakes in good working condition. This equates to keeping yourself healthy by eating well, exercising and getting rest.
2. Wear protective gear. I don’t go on my bike without a helmet, gloves, and a safety jacket at the very least. You should not go out of the house without a mask, gloves or sanitizer if you are going to be in a grocery store, liquor store or gas station.
3. Ride at a safe distance. When we ride in formation, we are staggered, and the higher the speed, the further apart we are distanced to allow time for emergency braking. Remember to keep at least 6 feet apart when walking outdoors, shopping or talking to your neighbour on the front porch.
4. Ride defensively. Don’t assume everyone is going to follow the rules. Be watchful, especially at the intersections! But also remember to be polite if someone makes a mistake.
5. Know where you are going. Plan your route so there are no surprises, such as construction or a road closure. Likewise, plan your shopping trips efficiently so that you know which stores are open, get what you need and leave the stores quickly so others may enter.
6. Obey the traffic laws. Pull over and stop your engine when the cops pull you over. There’s a reason they’re pulling you over. It’s usually because you have been doing something unsafe, such as speeding. Listen to the authorities, for the same reasons.
7. Help others in distress. If you see a fellow rider by the side of the road, stop and ask if they need help. If you see a friend or a neighbour having trouble in these times, ask how you can help.
8. Enjoy the freedom and the journey. When you’re riding a motorcycle, it’s not because you want to or have to get somewhere, it’s because you enjoy the open road, the adventure and the friendly waves from other riders. In other words, make the best of this journey we are all on together. There will be lots of stories to swap when we stop our engines, take off our helmets, settle down with a beer and appreciate sharing the experience with other like-minded folk.
We are all risk takers on this blue green planet hurtling through space.
Ride safe, my friends.
By Ray Rivers
March 27th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
 This is what it has come to in Italy – and what we are probably going to see in New York city where the infection numbers are now higher than Italy. There is no cure and there is no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best we can do is prevent human-to-human contact. It is a respiratory system disease much like the SARS epidemic we faced only a few years ago – but more contagious. And the only way we know to prevent its spread is to shut down the workplaces, shops and entertainment facilities and send everybody home.
No work, no income and that, for many of us, means no way to pay for food and rent. In fact a million Canadians have so far applied for employment insurance. So the federal government has responded with an emergency rescue package, the centre piece of which is a basic income of $2000 a month for those who apply.
That emergency package only runs for the next four months. The government had wanted to be given emergency taxation and spending power to extend the package, until the end of 2021. But the opposition called that a bridge too far. So Parliament will need to be recalled by this summer if an extension is required.
It is uncertain how long this epidemic will last but it’ll likely be beyond the summer and maybe up to a year. Chinese authorities are confidently sending Wuhan, where the virus started, back to business in early April. That will be about four months after the outbreak was first made public.
 Streets in Chinese city were emptied. No one was allowed out. That sounds ambitious but then Wuhan’s lockdown was more complete and earlier than what is going on in the rest of the world. And the economic damage is substantial – estimates of 20% declines in retail. But even if all is well with the recovery, the export orders will be absent from the rest of the globe in its own lockdown.
It remains to be seen if the Wuhan virus will return, and with a vengeance. Even if Canada’s social distancing helps flatten the curve we are unlikely to be safe until those folks on the other side of the longest undefended border get their act together. For example, the recent alarming jump in Quebec’s virus numbers has been partly been attributed to travel – likely snowbirds returning from Florida.
Canada’s border is only partially shut down now and this virus is a persistent bug, so we will never be virus free as long as the US isn’t. The US is a basket case. Delayed and inadequate testing; a fractured health care system, short on public health; and an incompetent president in denial and determined to reopen the economy regardless how bad this gets, all work against an early recovery.
So given this scenario, the question is why the Trudeau government didn’t annualize the $2000 basic income provision, extending it to at least the end of the 2020. In fact why not just announce a permanent universal basic income.
 Public sentiment favours the idea of a Universal Basic Income – have we taken that first step in Canada? The idea of universal basic income (UBI), also called a guaranteed annual income, has been around for ages and has been supported by economists and politicians on both sides of the political right/left divide. It is a natural cousin to our system of single payer health care and other social programs. Only corporate and political leaders, ignorant of facts, yet fretting that wages might have to increase, have kept UBI from becoming policy.
UBI involves a lot of cash outflow, but it can replace the costs of many lesser programs and it could, of course, be made taxable income. Employment insurance, welfare, and a host of other supplementary social income programs could be eliminated. Indeed, the efficiency of sending everyone one cheque a month instead of a couple must appeal to anyone who dislikes the breadth of our bureaucracy.
That partly explains why right-wing economist Milton Friedman was an early advocate. Progressive Conservative strategist Hugh Segal who designed Ontario’s now cancelled UBI pilot project was another. Former democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang had been offering Americans $1000 a month as his main campaign plank. And UBI also is nested the various versions of a Green New Deal.
 The province had a UBI program – it was a pilot in three city’s – Hamilton was one. Doug Ford cancelled it. Mr. Ford axed Ontario’s pilot UBI before it could demonstrate results, though early indications were positive on all fronts – consistent with other pilot experiments elsewhere. But then this is the premier whose first reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic was to front up $100 million dollars in emergency funding- roughly seven dollars per person.
The main thing about UBI is that, like a security blanket, it reduces uncertainty among families, and individuals, and small business owners – about keeping food on the table and a roof overhead. That is an essential piece of solace in times of crisis, and we are in the worst crisis in our lifetimes.
It is said that we should never let a good crisis go to waste. And that is exactly what will happen if we don’t act on this opportunity for a national and permanent UBI.
Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
China
Yang’s UBI – 70’s GAI – Romney $1000 –
Canada’s GAi – Ontario UBI – Federal Power –
By Pepper Parr
March 27th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
With so much news coming at us from every direction – there are times when we might miss something or mis-interpret something.
 Troops Canada might send to protect our border from Americans feeling COVID19 in New York When I heard the piece about the President of the United States thinking of putting American troops along the border we share with the Americans my first thought was – that can’t be right.
Did Donald Trump think thousands of Canadians were going to head for the United States ?
If anyone wants to put troops on the border – it should be Canada.
Given what is in the process of hitting New York city – one can expect thousands to be getting in their cars with as much as they can pack in the trunk and heading for the border hoping we will let them in.
This is a crazy world. Hang tight.
  Couple of gems were sent to us yesterday. Two residents, walking along Centennial Trail came across these painted stones. Anyone know who put them there?
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 Andrew Drummond
March 24th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
There are those that believe that in the current crisis there is no room for opposition to the government. I disagree. We need to dispense with political games, but it is even more critical now that we question our government to ensure that they are pressured into taking the correct action to protect us all.
Nothing in the below article is a personal attack, but it is an articulation of how the government on Monday failed to take adequate steps to protect Ontario.
Monday afternoon, Premier Doug Ford made what was possibly his most statesmanlike address to the province promising a total shutdown of non-essential businesses in Ontario for the next two weeks as we all desperately try and “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 epidemic.
 Ontario Premier Doug Ford He genuinely seemed to empathize with the Ontario public and promised strong action to slow the spread of the virus. After the announcement, it was made clear that a list would be provided of what was considered essential later Monday evening. As has been the case for a number of announcements from this government, the details do not match the headlines.
Ontarians know that this fight is important. There are medical experts who have made the case that it is critical to both the safety of our elderly population and to the health of our economy that we slow the spread as soon as possible. Those arguments do not need to be repeated here. What is important to know from Monday’s announcement is how little is covered by this “shutdown”.
The government has listed 74(!) different categories of businesses that qualify as essential, many of which are written in incredibly vague language so that nearly any business except a wedding dress store would qualify. Below are some of the worst examples of exemptions to the “shutdown”.
Exemption #1: Businesses that supply other essential businesses or essential services with the support, supplies, systems or services, including processing, packaging, distribution, delivery and maintenance necessary to operate. (This is so vague to include pretty much any business that sells product to a grocery store. Is a makeup supply store really essential?)
Exemption #9: Businesses that supply office products and services, including providing computer products and related repair and maintenance services, for individuals working from home and for essential businesses (So the computer paper supply store is allowed to stay open, noting that there is a separate exemption [#14] to cover IT professionals).
Exemption #47: Businesses that provide products and services that support research activities. (This would make “essential” any company that has ever sold a product to a university).
Exemption #67: Land registration services, and real estate agent services and moving services (Considering Realtors an essential service is possibly the biggest example of how little the government cares for shutting anything down at all).
Exemption #70: Businesses that support the safe operations of residences and essential businesses (A retailer of floor rugs could for example easily make the case that they are supporting the safe operation of homes).
The government either cares about letting people stay home and be safe or they do not. There is not a middle ground to this. The COVID-19 is the greatest threat to Ontario in at least a generation and it demands strong action to fight it. The action announced today in Ontario is not the strong action that is required, nor does it match the action the Premier promised Monday afternoon. The 74(!) exemptions show that the government is trying to ensure as much business remains open as possible while pretending to take a hard line.
The most dangerous aspect of COVID-19 is that an infected person is extremely contagious for up to an entire week before they show any symptoms. As a result of the actions taken today by the Ontario government, many Ontarians will be going to non-essential work while contagious. While there they will infect their colleagues. Those colleagues will then go on to infect others and the disease will spread much more rapidly.
If Ontario took COVID-19 seriously and legitimately shut down every non-essential business, it is possible that we could come through this in a “best case” period of time, even though no one at this point knows what that is. But if the government insists on taking half measures and making speeches for the sake of appearances while shirking from taking the necessary steps to combat this, Ontario is going to be suffering through this crisis MUCH longer than it had to.
The complete list of exemptions can be found here
Andrew Drummond was the NDP candidate during the last provincial election.
By Ray Rivers
March 23, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
It is frustrating, feeling helpless as we watch the daily roll out of pandemic numbers continue to rise, with no apparent end in sight. The PM and our provincial and federal health officials conduct these daily press conferences if only to confirm that indeed, each day is worse than the day before. If only we could keep more social distance between us and wash our hands more often….
We act as if we are strangers to a pandemic, even though we’ve lived with some lesser viral epidemics, like SARS. And then there was the Spanish Flu back in 1918. My grandmother in Manitoba lost half of her children to that flu.
 Apparently a “must see” movie – it’s available on line. But if you really want to get depressed you can watch the 2011 movie Contagion, which is scarily similar to what we are experiencing today – life imitating art. It should have been required watching for our health officials. Then perhaps they would have sounded the alarm bell earlier.
On Thursday I finally did a grocery run. I had decided the crowds at Costco last week would jeopardize social distancing, so avoided that. Besides, I wasn’t sure I’d cope watching all those folks filling the back of their pick up trucks with hand sanitizer and whatever else they could get their un-sanitized hands on.
But I was bored with staying around the house and there was absolutely nothing worth watching on TV except those depressing press conferences and the re-runs of Contagion. It is a lot quieter out there in the city now.
The supermarket parking lot was half empty and customer traffic light. I had masked up before entering the store, making me only one of two customers who took that precaution. The store clerks were mostly wearing gloves and were keen to wipe down the cart handles as you entered. And some of them actually managed a smile, though nobody can be too happy these days.
This Wuhan Virus, COVID 19, is a respiratory disease so is most likely transmitted via one’s mouth or nose – sneezing, coughing or even the spray of moisture droplets as someone speaks to you. So I am always going to wear a mask when I go out to shop, especially where there are queues like in a supermarket.
When it came to pay I noticed that the cashier was easily within my one metre social space, and I couldn’t help thinking how much more comfortable I’d be if she was wearing a mask as she spat out “will that be debit or credit”. No doubt she probably would be more comfortable too. I was thankful for my mask, but wished I’d worn glasses as well.
At the height of the epidemic in Wuhan everyone in public had to wear a mask or they’d be arrested. And that, in concert with the quarantine, brought China’s epidemic to heel. Of course Asian populations are used to seeing people wearing masks. It protects them from the overwhelming pollution coming from cars and trucks and industry there.
 Columnist Rivers in costume? Western attitudes are rooted in stereotypes. Bank robbers, bandits, ninjas and storm troopers all wear masks to hide their identities. And while the courts are sorting out whether a Muslim woman can say her citizenship oath under cover of a niqāb, one pretty much has to go bare-faced to work in Quebec’s public sector. Medical, dental and industrial/construction trades mainly use face masks to protect themselves.
There is a lot of mixed messaging originating from our health experts about whether the public should be wearing face masks to help contain this new virus. They’ll tell you that it’s more important in public health for the infected person to wear one – which doesn’t explain the doctor’s mask. And some experts will tell you that an improperly fitting mask provides improper protection, which they imply is worse than no protection at all.
But more than likely they know there won’t enough masks to go around if we all start wearing them. Especially if we are all wanting to use the disposable single-use version. Ventilators, masks, gloves and hand sterilizer are all in short supply, so much so that doctors have been approaching veterinarians to raid the cupboards.
Why didn’t our health authorities anticipate this back in January, when we still had lots of time? Same reason they didn’t call for a travel ban until the virus started to be transmitted within the community, I’m guessing. Likely this is one of those compromises in public policy. Act too early and be called a panic artist or act too late and be labeled as dithering.
 Bus driver is protected from the passengers. But it’s not too late to call for everyone who serves the public to be wearing face protection. Nobody should catch this virus from a store clerk or bus driver. And you can’t practice social distancing for two or even one metre on crowded subway or bus. Fortunately some stores are installing plexiglass cashier shields to protect their customers.
Still, everyone needs to ensure that they’re neither infecting nor being infected. I’ll be proudly sporting a mask every time I go out, even if it means sterilizing and re-using my limited supply. Even if a mask won’t stop me being infected, it would show that I care about the health of all the people prepared to serve in these difficult times.
Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Contagion – Best and worst Cases – Sleeping at the Switch –
Masking – Experts on Masks – Supplies –
More Supplies – Dithering – Better than a Mask? –
By Pepper Parr
March 22, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Premier Doug Ford has said time and again that he will do “Whatever it takes” and for the most part he has lived up to that statement.
As Premier he is looking pretty good. Confident, forthright; no flip flopping. Perhaps a little bragging about the province’s industrial might – but Ontario is the economic engine of the country. I can put up with Doug Ford’s briskness: no forced empathy from this guy.
We are in the midst of a crisis and Ford appears to be doing what needs to be done.
 Regional Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Meghani – not a politician in sight as she addresses the public. The Regional Medical Officer of Health (MoH) is learning to be less bureaucratic and explaining the decisions she has made. She is making the right decisions. She will be a stronger MoH when this crisis ends.
Burlington’s Mayor is doing her best – my own view is that her pleading for the public to be more sensible and responsible isn’t going to do the trick.
The Mayor declared a State of Emergency in the city. It isn’t clear to me just what kind of power she has to force people to do what needs to be done.
Large numbers of people were reported in Spencer Smith Park on Saturday, and at Mt Nemo – people who didn’t seem to know what “social distancing” is – if they did, they ignored the need to social distance.
Our City Councillors seem to have parked themselves on the side lines, letting the Mayor do all the talking.
During the flood in 2013 then Councillors Sharman and Dennison went door to door asking people if they were all right. Hundreds had flooded basements.
 Wearing sandwich boards might be a bit much for some of our Councillors – if they care about the people they represent they will get out there with them – at a socially acceptable distance of course City Councillors can’t knock on doors with this crisis but surely they can summon some of the innovative ideas they used to get elected.
All we are seeing at this point is their repeating what the Mayor is saying – which is good as that keeps the message consistent.
The Mayor speaks for the city and to her credit she is doing a good job.
 How about each Councillor buying half a dozen signs – putting a clear message on them and setting them out in different places in their ward. Real Estate agents do it all the time. The city Councillors represent the people in their wards and it is incumbent upon those Councillors to get out as much as they can – yes, at an acceptable social distance – and communicate.
They are basically sitting at home, collecting very good pay cheques and waiting this out.
Get out there and communicate. If they are stuck for ideas – try this: Spend some of the expense money you have and buy some sandwich boards – put a message on them and move them around the ward.
Do something!
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 18, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
By any other name it’s a community mitigation strategy. But really, social distancing sounds something an advertising executive would dream up. Is it one or two or three meters, and does that mean we don’t need to wear a mask, not that there are any on the empty store shelves? How does one practice social distancing at the security check-in at the airport, or the checkout line at Costco, or at the dinner table in the nursing home?
The Chinese have suffered the onslaught of this COVID 19 coronavirus the most so far, shouldering the largest death rates and biggest blow to their economy, the second largest in the world. But their infection numbers have tumbled in recent days and now they claim most of the new cases are from people coming into China from somewhere else.
 This is what they mean by social distance – it works. Was their apparent success in beating the virus into the ground due to social distancing? Well if that means forcing everyone, by law, to wear a mask in public. Or if all the cinemas and restaurants, etc. are to be shuttered. Or if all travel is banned as it was in Wuhan city and Hubei province.
 Those dogs are not being sold as a pets. Wuhan was where the bug first appeared. It is believed to have mutated or skipped from some kind of disgusting piece of wildlife being sold in the ‘wet markets’ of Wuhan to those stupid enough to eat just about anything. It’s that archaic cultural thing. Rhino horn powder to get you excited and bat soup to help you find your way in the dark. But isn’t that what also gave us SARS a little over a decade ago.
The Chinese authorities have now permanently banned the sale of wildlife everywhere and they have expressed outrage that Mr. Trump has decided to name the disease after the place where it originated.
In apparent retaliation, one Chinese official has claimed that the US army had brought the disease to Wuhan. Russian trolls had also been making those claims, but the last time the American military was anywhere near Wuhan had to be just before Mao came to power. That would make it an incredibly long lived dormant virus.
 An example of cultural differences – this one just isn’t all that healthy. Donald Trump has been accused of racism before and he is no stranger to the blame game. But for some reason China has just expelled some US journalists. Chinese authorities do have a nasty habit of hiding the truth so perhaps this is odious, and not just some kind of retaliation. They had muzzled their own scientists and social media during the early days of the outbreak, for example.
But back here in Canada we have finally done what our health experts said we shouldn’t ever do, that it would be counterproductive. We have banned travel, by airplanes anyway, and closed our borders to all but the Americans. Still it is worrisome that the degree of coronavirus infection in the US is not reliably known, and what numbers they do have are likely underestimates. So wait for it.
And now emergency laws are being enacted in each province to shut down any place anyone would want to go. That should keep us at home except for buying groceries and drugs, and maybe going to work. And then there is this social distancing.
Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Social Distancing Meaning – Travel restrictions –
Trump’s China Virus – China Wet Market –
By Ray Rivers
March 7th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Haven’t we seen this movie before? In the Tin Cup, Kevin Costner plays a talented golfer whose ego compels him to try the same impossible shot over and over again – until he loses. It’s a different game but the US Democratic Party appears headed for a replay of 2016, except this time with more of a duffer holding the club.
Barring an upswell of support for the lone democratic socialist in the race for president – it appears that the moderate Joe Biden has overtaken front running Bernie Sanders in delegates for the Democratic leadership convention in July and will become the standard bearer for that party. That could be an almost perfect repeat of 2016, where Bernie was summarily shown the door.
 Joe Biden – Thinking? But at least Clinton, unlikeable as many found her, was cogent and could finish a sentence without stumbling into cognitive dissidence. Joe Biden has yet to prove that he can speak in anything resembling complete and coherent thoughts. Even the current president is, arguably, a better communicator. It will be so much entertainment watching these two statesmen of yesterday’s politics face-off in debate.
 Bernie Saunders: Doesn’t appear to be what the Democrats want. Bernie calls himself a democratic socialist but his policies, like Canadian-style single payer health care are hardly revolutionary. Still, whether it is the language or just plain ignorance on the part of American voters, they can’t get their heads around government managed health insurance.
Perhaps they haven’t heard of Medicare, universal seniors’ health insurance, has been in place since the 60’s and spends $740 billion a year accounting for almost 4% of U.S. gross domestic product and over 15% of total US federal spending. They’d rather let the private insurance companies dictate how much medical care they get and where – and pay twice as much as the rest of the world for the privilege of having less accessible health care.
They don’t deserve Bernie, one might say – but it won’t matter anyway. He’s not likely to gain enough support from the party loyalists to become their standard bearer. They’ll never vote for a communist as Trump would, no doubt, have explained, given the chance.
 Donald Trump: He does manage stress well. But he won’t have to since the odds are now that Biden will be the Dem’s candidate. And Trump might still likely win, despite his own record. He is the proverbial Mr. Teflon after all, and absolutely nothing he has done sticks to him, not even after being impeached. He learned long ago that the more outrageous you are the more people love you. And the bigger liar you can be the more they will believe you.
Almost half of Americans continue to support him, despite or perhaps, because of his antics. And his trump card will be Biden’s somewhat messy history in poor old ever-troubled Ukraine. Biden was implicated in the political maneuvering to remove a former prosecutor there. And his son bagged a whack of cash just to sit on the Board of a Ukrainian petroleum enterprise, a job for which he had no apparent qualification – other than being the US VP’s son.
It worked with Hillary – Benghazi and her improper emails – and Trump will ride this horse until nobody trusts Biden, despite his mostly impeccable political career. So if I were placing a bet today I’d put my money on Trump – as I did last time.
But eight months until November can be a long time in politics, especially in an era of the dreaded COVID 19. Already prognosticators are spouting dystopian scenarios, including a potential death toll in the millions and a dramatic economic crash. Tourism is already dying and those romantic ocean cruises are destined to become a quaint piece of ancient history.
Trump didn’t cause COVID-19, nor the recession which will accompany the pandemic. But his penchant for borrowing money to get tax cuts for the wealthy has led to a 50% increase in the size of the US deficit. And that will limit his ability to help finance any kind of recovery.
 Joe Biden playing a game of golf with former President Barak Obama Whether that nasty disease will register a difference in November, or even in July, when the Democrats stage their leadership convention, remains to be seen. But for the US president, who owns a couple of golf courses, he should appreciate that he is still in the rough and his second swing at winning the presidency may miss big time.
And as for the democrats, they’re looking for a mulligan, but may well be headed for the tin cup. They’re convinced they can hit a hole in one using the same swing as the last time – which ended up just getting them a big fat bogey.
Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links
Tin Cup – Democrats – Biden and Ukraine –
 By Pepper Parr
March 6th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The frantic emails came in at 5:47 pm; then 5:55 pm and again at 6:04 pm
The writer was frightened – the person had written a comment in the Gazette on the Millcroft story and thought she had to provide her full name for authentication.
Her comment, which is published as Name Witheld said:
Where is this developers conscience? How much money is enough? For residents who have their life savings in their home, with respect Mr. developer, how do you sleep?
These are seniors, couples, families who invested in a dream. We live both on and off the golf course. We are not rich, we work hard because we love our community, our schools, and our greenspace.
Safety? Please do not hide behind this pathetic excuse. Sweet dreams, Mr. developer.
You have one hell of a fight coming your way!
The emails to us went:
I am a resident of Burlington who today wrote a Letter in response to the MAD story. I did not know that you would use my full name. Could you please remove my last name and just call me xxxx. I am very frightened as I’m alone with two kids right now. I did not intend for my full name to go out there. Please can you help me. It says it is being reviewed.
Minutes Later
Please do not use my name in the opinions column currently being moderated. I thought I had to put my full name just for you to authenticate. I am a scared mother of 2. Please either remove or change my name to xx.
Thank you! Please let me know ASAP
Later
Hello I mistakenly used my full name in your editorial option section about Millcroft March 4.
Could you please remove the opinion or at least write me as xxx not my full name. I thought I had to leave my name for authentication. I did not want my last name used. Please help me.
Please understand I’m terrified.
Later
Hello, I wrote an opinion on the mad article. My name is xxx xxx can you please not use my last name. I am a scared mother as it is. Please just call me Please. I’m going to lose sleep over this. I thought I had to put in my full name.
Thankyou… please either erase it or just use my name xxx.
 The full colour is part of the housing stock Argo Development wants to add to the Millcroft community. The grey part is development that already exists. We published the comment and find ourselves asking: what kind of a city is this – that a person would fear that they would be harmed for saying what they think.
The number one city in the country eh!
Related news story:
Scope and scale of the development
 By Pepper Parr
March 4th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette prides itself on maintaining a comment section. It gives space to people who have no other way of voicing their concerns. Are they always right? Hell no – there are a couple that are close to certified crackpots who entertain if nothing else; see it as our comics section.
The current flood of appeals to the LPAT has arguments on both sides of the issue. The following are comments that deserve a wider audience – thus our decision to publish them as opinion pieces.
 Albert Facenda, a small Burlington based developer Albert Facenda responding to Gary and Graham:
Gary and Grahame. You are correct that in 2005/2006 council conceded the downtown to the wishes of the Province. I believe it was the Liberals at the time. Our Mayor ran as a Liberal in 2007. Do we have any evidence that she was opposed to these decisions at the time?
Is she protecting the citizens of Burlington from over development in the downtown core as you have pointed out? I think not.
Environmentalists created the Green Belt with their doom and gloom scenarios. The Greenbelt created the shortage of land, creating Intensification the “Build up not out philosophy.” I don’t like intensification. But I will tell you the town of Grimsby was voted 2nd to Burlington as the best City to live in category. Take a drive through there and you will see construction everywhere. I predict Grimsby will be #1 this year. One of the reasons would be that it is the place to raise your family for those who can’t afford to live in Burlington. Remember what the Mayor said: ”The Downtown is only1% of Burlington” a significant number according to her.
 Tom Muir, once described as “acerbic” Tom Muir in reply to Anne and David Marsden.
The appeals will be made public in due course. That is how it works.
In any case, what would you folks do with all the details of all the appeals?
This is a huge number of appeals at once and I would think that this was in fact expected by the city, or at the least, not a surprise. Didn’t surprise me.
The quality of the appeals at this stage is largely irrelevant. They seek to change the entire approved development rights for likely the entire downtown and GO station planning areas to what the appellants want. They want more at any cost it seems – it’s that simple.
It is possible to appeal an entire OP and Zoning. This is not about specific applications and proposals. It’s a grab for the whole enchilada, a saturation bombing.
 By Eric Doubt,
March 4th, 2020
GEORGETOWN ON
If you change the name Halton Hills to Burlington this Open Letter could have been written for Burlington as well.
In the links to additional material there is a link to a Gazette article – someone in Halton Hills likes us.
During a recent Regional Council meeting one of the representatives from Halton Hills admitted that there was homelessness and people sleeping on park benches in her community.
The person on the park bench spends another winter night in the snowy, wet, subzero weather. Some people in our neighbourhood are helping and the authorities and agencies are fully aware and actively seeking solutions. Similarly, you may be aware of others who are homeless in your neighbourhoods.
 There is homelessness in Georgetown(1). Some of us are vaguely aware that there may be. Some of us may try to do something about it but find it hard to create change. Some of us get upset or become disappointed and frustrated with failed efforts and a few may try to do more or learn more. Some of us just walk by the bench and say it’s just too bad and it shouldn’t be and don’t know where to turn, so turn away.
There is homelessness all over the world – in all developing countries, as well as those countries with the highest standards of living. There (here) it’s a chronic social problem driven by many complex factors including economic and social inequality, apathy, discrimination, impacts of mental illness, family dysfunction, alcoholism and drug addiction. Despite many well-intended and well-resourced studies and valiant efforts, we can’t seem to cure or prevent it.
Somebody had to come up with a different approach. What if we provided homes for the homeless; how might that change the paradigm?
The good news is – it’s been studied, researched and tried and it works. Quality of life gradually improves including: addiction behaviour, health, state-of-mind, ambition and action towards education, self-improvement and a return to society as a full participating member. The research is there and the results are proof.
You have to love the Finns. Four of them, a social scientist, a doctor, a politician and a bishop devised the principle called “housing first” over a decade ago. When I first read about this, I was dumbstruck. This article (2), one of many, describes the initiative: “As in many countries, homelessness in Finland had long been tackled using a staircase model: you were supposed to move through different stages of temporary accommodation as you got your life back on track, with an apartment as the ultimate reward.
“We decided to make the housing unconditional. To say, look, you don’t need to solve your problems before you get a home. Instead, a home should be the secure foundation that makes it easier to solve your problems.” Finland now has the lowest rate of homelessness in the EU and is on the road to eradicating it.
Now, let’s bring it home – to Medicine Hat, Alberta. Watch your jaw drop. This western city has been blazing the trail toward functional zero chronic homelessness in Canada, having supported and housed 1166 homeless individuals since 2009. There are currently fewer than seven individuals not yet ‘at home’ in their community, today (3, 4)
A conceptually simple, concrete and sustainable solution, but it raises many issues of social and political will and resource allocation.
What if our community tried the same thing and became, like many other communities well on the road, an example of innovative, collaborative and successful social action? We did it on a smaller but very successful scale for our Beer Fest and the Canada Day flag competition and fly over.
It begins with individuals, – citizens, politicians, community and business leaders, who have the social consciousness and conscience, and the will to act and demonstrate leadership.
Let’s take a look around and challenge potential candidates. I believe an action force comprised of three powerful groups within our community could launch our own Halton Hills Homes First program and succeed. The partnership would consist of leadership from Mayor Rick Bonnette and our strong municipal council – human resources from a cooperative of local service organizations led by Habitat for Humanity – coupled with the experience and capacity of a major local developer prepared to give back.
If you Google ‘’housing first”, you will learn about the many pros and cons, failures and successes, frustrations and challenges and yes, critics, naysayers and deniers. But, you will also understand that it’s the best idea yet and that may convince you to have second thoughts next time you walk past that park bench in your neighbourhood.
Media links:
1.https://www.burlingtongazette.ca/homelessness-in-halton-what-are-the-stats-and-what-are-the-reasons/
https://www.theifp.ca/news-story/9187415-demand-for-homelessness-prevention-services-rising-in-halton/
2. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/03/its-a-miracle-helsinkis-radical-solution-to-homelessness
3. https://www.thestar.com/calgary/2019/12/22/medicine-hat-said-it-eliminated-homelessness-in-2015-heres-how-the-city-is-working-to-keep-it-that-way.html
4file://localhost/. https/::caeh.ca:bright-spot-medicine-hat:
By Pepper Parr
March 1st, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been found in 47 countries.
We may be be close to declaring a pandemic, which is when a whole country or the world is infected. China, Iran and Italy are struggling to control the spread of the disease. The disease is now being spread in the United States.
Ontario has now found 19 people who are infected.
There is much that is not yet known by this virus. It appears that most people do recover from an infection.
The damage to the economy has been significant; the New York Stock Exchange recorded the largest drop in its history.
 Biggest one day drop of New York Stock Exchange prices in its history. “The game has changed with Italy and also with the new case in California,” People have every reason to be concerned – deeply concerned.
Japan has closed all its schools.
It has been suggested that the Tokyo Olympics might be cancelled.
None of this is said to be alarmist – however we do have a serious problem on our hands.
Ontario learned a lot from the SARS outbreak – those lessons are serving us well.
The provincial Medical Officer of Health and the Ministry of Health has a constant flow of information – we are informed at the federal level and the provincial level.
We are not informed at the Regional level.
The disease is now in Canada. It is being passed from person to person. That does not mean the ravages of the 1918 Spanish flu is about to overcome us – but it does mean things have changed and public behavior has to change.
The public expects leadership from the people who we have put in place to lead. The Medical Officer of Health is a critical part of protecting us. Saying nothing is just not acceptable.
In the event that the virus gets completely out of control what does the average uninfected person do?
What does a person who suspects they might be infected do?
What does a person who is infected do?
If there are say 100 people in the Region infected – what do we do?
Is there a plan in place?
We have plans for people to use recreational centers when the weather is sub-zero and dangerous to be out in.
The public is advised when there is a West Nile virus concern – the Gazette publishes those notices regularly as we do with an outbreak of measles.
 Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton’s Medical Officer of Heath. The public has not heard a word from the Regional Medical Officer of Health on the COVID19 virus.
The public deserves better.
The Medical Officer of Health for the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health board told a local newspaper in that community that “It’s more of a communication event than a medical event for us.”
The communications advisors at the Region said the Medical Officer of Health had no comment when the Gazette asked for a comment.
 A report on Halton’s alcohol consumption took up more than 45 minutes during a Regional Council meeting The Regional Medical Officer of Health did advise Regional Council recently that Halton could well have a alcohol problem; the Regional rate of consumption is 5% higher than the provincial rate.
There is something wrong with the priorities.
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
February 26th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Justin Trudeau landed about right. After all, he couldn’t have ordered the RCMP to intervene in the non-violent blockades even if he’d wanted. Of course that won’t stop critics from attacking him. The NDP argued he should have met with the hereditary chiefs and further discouraged the police from moving in. And the Conservatives virtually demanded he invoke Canada’s emergency legislation and send in the army.
But after two weeks and with no sign of dialogue in the works, he told Canadians that enough is enough. He was careful to distinguish between the dispute over the gas pipeline, which had ignited this conflict, and the other protestors with other complaints, primarily in Ontario and Quebec.
These other complaints might be about historical aboriginal injustice. Or perhaps it’s just some folks looking for a diversion from reading about the imminent threat of coronavirus, or maybe just a chance to get out of the house and do some good old fashioned civil disobedience.
 The idea that Mohawks were defending the rights of the Wet’suwet’en all the way in B.C. is a stretch. Given the history of indigenous peoples in Canada, the idea that Mohawks were defending the rights of the Wet’suwet’en all the way in B.C. is a stretch. And who were they supporting anyway, since not all the hereditary chiefs are opposed to the construction? In fact, a majority of Wet’suwet’en leaders support and have signed on to the pipeline.
So why were the tracks at Belleville blocked when the prime responsibility to resolve land issues around this pipeline resides with the B.C. government, not the feds and certainly nothing to do with Ontario? And even the RCMP in B.C. operate under contract with the province. So there is little that some guy in Ottawa is going to achieve by sticking his nose in.
Still, it is easy to understand why this Coastal GasLink pipeline is an affront to some of the Wet’suwet’en. The land is ‘unceded’, meaning the title is still undetermined, even though they have lived on it for centuries and consider it theirs. Then another affront came when opposing chiefs suggested another route for the pipe, only to be ignored.
And, of course, first nations are all about natural conservation and this project is all about hazardous fossil fuel development.
 Gas pipe being laid. The natural gas, methane, in the pipe will be shipped to overseas markets – so one might think there would be little environmental consequence to Canada or B.C. But methane is not the clean fuel that used to be advertised. Methane gas is as much as 70 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2 depending on the time frame. And the production and transport of methane results in leaks, called fugitive emissions of the gas. The federal climate assessment puts fugitive gas emissions just under 10% of Canada’s total emissions.
Of course fugitive emissions, like any self respecting fugitive, tends to be a little hard to pin down, so we’re not sure how high they really are. It is estimated that between 1992 and 2012, fugitive methane emissions accounted for 7% of the world’s greenhouse gases. And it is estimated that the world annually loses $30 billion in fugitive gas emission value.
And the concern about the further development of fossil fuels is likely the reason why so many non-indigenous folks came out to join the protests and blockades. Their children will be thanking them when everyone reduces their carbon footprint. But it is a long way and a lot of burnt carbon to join the real blockade up in Wet’suwet’en country, so they need to protest here.
 Protesters blocking rail service But protesting railroads everywhere is a really dumb idea. The railroads and even the rail companies have even less to do with the gas pipeline than the Mohawks do with the Wet’suwet’en. And even with those diesel guzzling train engines, rail travel is the most efficient way of moving goods and people. And that means rail travel makes for a smaller footprint than other transportation, excepting a bicycle or electric vehicle. So, for all those protestors who are just there to support their ancestral brothers and sisters and hopefully help kill another fossil fuel project, they need to rethink what they are doing.
It’s not the protesting but how these fine folks are protesting. The pipeline at issue carries only natural gas. But instead of attacking natural gas and the companies behind it, these rail line protests are hurting commuters and tourists and those who rely on rail for goods and services – and that eventually is too many of us.
Canadian acceptance of some kind of new deal with our aboriginal folks has never been more positive and with a compliant federal government more than eager to act. One can only wonder how those attitudes might shift should these blockades continue for any length of time – or this minority government fall.
 The message from the Indigenous community – they want the land back. And if you really want to make your protest meaningful, instead of creating havoc for commuters and others reliant on our rail systems, why not make the punishment fit the crime. Protest the use of natural gas. Call your gas company today and cancel your gas contract. Buy an electric heater to get you through the season until you can replace your furnace with a 90% carbon free heat pump.
And if you really want to be heard, sign onto your favourite social media and ask all your friends and family to also eliminate their gas bills and get rid of gas. And seriously, isn’t it better to be sitting at your iPad in the comfort of your home tweeting, or whatever, rather than freezing in the cold Ontario winter in the midst of shivering crowds and in the season of coronavirus?
Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Protests – Gas Emissions – Train Protests –
Reconciliation is Dead – Emissions –
By Pepper Parr
February 25th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
At a Standing Committee earlier in the month we thought we heard Mayor Marianne Meed Ward say that she was taking a course on governance. It was a passing comment.
We follow up with a note to the Mayors communications aide and asked where she was taking the course and who was paying for the course – they aren’t cheap.
 The Mayor is studying for the designation of Chartered Director. Monday evening the Mayor said that she was studying for a Chartered Director designation. She made no other comment.
The Mayor’s communications aide told the Gazette earlier this month that: “This is being paid for privately and will have zero impact on the taxpayers of Burlington.”
Who is privately? If the Mayor is receiving a benefit for something directly related to her work the public has a right to know where the money for the benefit is coming from.
This is not to suggest that there is anything untoward going on.
Our view is that first: Congratulations to the Mayor for deciding to take the course – it is not an easy course – there are a lot of people who register, attend the classes but find that they haven’t don’t the work needed to be able to pass the examination.
Before being accepted into the course an assessment based on five key areas which are central to organizational direction and governance.
- Vision, Purpose, Values and Ethics
- Strategic Thinking and Stakeholder Management
- Delegation to Management
- Discharging your Duties as a Director and as a Competent Member of a Collective and Responsible Body
- Exercising Effective and Accountable Leadership
This is not an easy undertaking.
The Mayor may have been given a scholarship, who gave it to her?
Burlington is going to be better off with a Mayor who has the designation.
It would have been better for the city to have paid the fees. Sure a lot of people would have howled. Meed Ward will be a much better Mayor – she already is – due to what she has learned.
This is all a little awkward – being a public person means you are always in the public eye – usually because that is what successful politicians do for a living.
For the time being the public is going to have to accept that the Mayor is getting some valuable training that will benefit all of us which is paid for by – we don’t know who.
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 Staff
February 19th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
 Milton MP Adam van Koeverden in a former occupation. Adam van Koeverden, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth and to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Sport,) is the Member of Parliament for Milton, which includes a large part of northern Burlington.
He spoke yesterday in the Emergency Debate related to the Indigenous community protests taking place.
He said:
Madam Speaker, I sat in relative awe of a lot of people today listening to a variety of statements and perspectives. Like a lot of things, that is what makes the House great: a lot of different perspectives and opinions.
However, there is a degree to which this issue and the people involved in the project are being co-opted to reinforce multiple political narratives. One thing that is clear is that this issue severely lacks consensus. I have heard tonight conflicting reports of support from locals as disparate as the opinions in the House.
 Protests across the country have impacted commercial operations and put in stark relief what the country is going to have to do to recognize and respect the rights of the Indigenous community. We can certainly all agree, I hope, that a peaceful process and a resolution that results in no violence is in everyone’s best interests. However, the language that we have heard from the Leader of the Opposition is anything but peaceful, as he suggested that indigenous people “check their privilege”. The Leader of the Opposition doubled down on that statement today when he urged haste and force.
I am grateful that my colleagues on this side are able to learn from history and not repeat the mistakes of the past.
My question for my colleague refers to his prior role as parliamentary secretary and his important work on the Indigenous Languages Act. Could he elaborate on the value of listening, even to a small minority, to reach common ground, sometimes in the absence of consensus?
By Pepper Parr
February 19th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
During the very difficult meeting at which the Audit Committee discussed the report the auditor had prepared on what wasn’t working with the CRM system the city had decided to install, Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns said she asked staff what she had to do to be a good city councillor.
 Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns. Wanted to be a good Councillor – staff didn’t help. This was very shortly after she had been sworn in.
Kearns reported that the senior people she spoke with told her she should trust staff and work with them.
Staff mislead the new Councillor; whether knowingly is for them to determine.
What Staff should have said to the new city Councillor was:
Hold us accountable.
That began to happen Wednesday of last week when Lisa Kearns and Paul Sharman asked some very hard and pointed questions about what had gone wrong with the Customer Relations Management system.
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