 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON January 24. 2013 It was back in 1986, when Roly Bird was Mayor of the city. At that time there was a regular Mayor’s Breakfast – an event that gave the wheelers and dealers and wanna be’s an opportunity to get together and network – they didn’t call it that then – it was just the way local politics was done.
Someone came up with the idea of having the Mayor give an annual address. They needed a name for it and decided they would model it after the State of the Nation address used in the United States. Burlington was keeping one step ahead of Oakville which still have Mayor’s Breakfasts.
Burlington has been doing this ever since. This morning, on a crisp Canadian winter day, more than 400 people drove out to the convention centre on Burloak, drove around looking for a parking spot and did what Roly Bird introduced them to back in ’86; get caught up on what’s happening at city hall.
These State of the City addresses gives the Mayor a chance to trot out the list of things that have been done – sort of like a shareholders meeting where all those holding preferred shares get to enjoy their dividend.
This event is put on by the Mayor; his office controls the flow and the event. No questions get asked and you’re given phrase after phrase of the kind of stuff only a public relations specialist can write.
On balance Burlington is in good shape. At some point the people at city hall are going to stop trotting out all the MoneySense magazine ratings. It is a fine city but we seem to have let ourselves be defined by our geography. The “gem” or the “jewel” of a waterfront (with a pier that is coming in at three times it original cost) and an Escarpment that makes the city both rural and suburban at the same time. The city is not yet at that point where it can say it is urban or urbane.
We now know that the property either side of the QEW is our Prosperity Corridor and we were assured that city council will approve the Official Plan and the rezoning that is going to be needed to get IKEA into the property it has optioned on the North Service Road.
Council will pass the changes to the Official Plan and give IKEA the rezoning it wants and it’s then a done deal, said the Mayor except for three words that are laden with possible very serious problems. Goldring mentioned “two other processes” that we must go through – the Regional government and the Conservation Authority.
Region because Walkers Line is a Regional Road that is nearing capacity and the Conservation Authority because of a creek that is on the eastern edge of the property.
While Burlington wants the IKEA move to happen – the Region isn’t as close to the issue and are not facing the same pressure. There are 1 million visits to IKEA now – making it the city’s biggest tourist attraction (which got the only laugh Goldring was going to get with this address). The new location is expecting to get 1.5 million visitors annually. Walkers Line in its current form cannot handle that traffic and the two lanes that make up the North Service Road certainly can’t handle the traffic going into the location.
THE QEW cannot be made narrower so is any width for the North Service Road going to come out of the land IKEA has optioned? The next problem then is the railway line at the north side of the property. Is IKEA’s hope to make their site wider?
 That red line is the railway tracks – the thin black line is the creek on the east of the property. Getting 1.5 million cars through the Walkers Line intersection is not going to be an easy transportation exercise. Mayor Goldring misleads when he doesn’t tell the full story. In the world of planning and design all is possible – but it is not easy and the Mayor misleads his audience when he says “two other processes” – when he should have said two bloody big hurdles that we don’t know quite how we are going to get over and if you’ve got any good ideas – give me a call.
The QEW is a provincial road so we are going to have to work closely with them
The Mayor then used some rather good public relations spin and turned this problem into what you are going to hear called THE PROSPERITY CORRIDOR which will stretch from Guelph Line to Appleby line on both sides of the QEW. That prosperity is going to amount to two million square feet of new office and industrial space and 6,000 high value jobs.
The Mayor talked about the role the IKEA project played in “helping us shape the new direction for the Burlington Economic Development Corporation” (BEDC). That was an impressive piece of public relations spin. The Mayor’s former Chief of Staff, Frank McKeown felt the best thing that could be done with the BEDC, which wasn’t performing all that well, was to “blow it up”.
There are some 20 people on the BEDC board. It looks like a federal cabinet that has to meet the demographics of a large diverse country. A board that size has people there to ensure that their interests are protected. The objective should be to get the smartest people you can find to do the job forget who they represent. Paul Subject, a member of the board, didn’t expect to have to jump into the fray when he put in more time than he expected working through the way the BEDC would re-shape itself to meet the very real problems it was facing.
The city hasn’t approved the budget that is going to be needed to re-shape the BEDC; the Mayor didn’t mention that one either.
The proof is always in the pudding – and this one is still in the pot. The people who do the thinking in this city are going to find themselves re-thinking and perhaps re-shaping the council that leads them. See that as a heads up.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 6, 2012 — The environment, global warming – yeah, yeah, I know. Those icebergs that are falling apart way up north. And the hot summer – it all means something – at least that’s what they tell us…but then there are those who tell us it is just a phase the earth is going through.
I know there is something different about the weather – it was certainly hotter last spring and that false signal all the tender fruit trees got put a big dent in the fresh fruit market. But was that global warming or was it just a weird stretch of weather?
Sometime we need a big bold signal. And that was what Bloomberg’s Newsweek magazine said with its cover this week.
It was also a part of what Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig said recently about GO transit capacity and the crucn we are facing as the Region grows by 100,000 people each year. Then he made a statement that stunned me. He said “A full 70% of residents in the GHTA never use transit.”
GHTA means the Greater Hamilton Toronto Area. I checked with the GO press relations people to be sure that number was right. It was.
GO ridership has increased 21% over the past five years and at peak times is operating at 110% of capacity. McCuaig adds that “without at least doubling transit mode share, the average daily commute will jump from 82 to 109 minutes in 25 years. In rush hour, using the QEW to get to downtown Toronto the commute is easily 90 minutes. Being able to use the HOV lane cuts that quite a bit – but that lane is certainly not anywhere near its capacity.
After reading the McCuaig comments my mind went back to that Newsweek cover and suddenly the dots were connected. It is the environment – and we are stupid.
 Bloomerberg Newsweek magazine cover – has the point been made yet? The article in the magazine set out the point and the problem.
When mainline media take on an issue and use their ability to put up stunning graphics you know something is amiss.
New York magazine had a very strong visual showing New York city with part of it in close to total darkness while other parts of the city had power.
Parts of Burlington were without power for a period of time – not short to those who had no light and a fridge that would only keep its temperature for so long.
What does a single person do. If you’re one of the 70% in the GHTA who hasn’t taken transit – there is a simple step you can take.
 New York city. This is what it looks like when the lights go out in a major city. Global warming? If you live in Burlington and you don’t drive and you are attending a city council meting and want to take part in the debate as a delegation you want to hope that you are up early if the list is long. I have seen situations where d delegation has had to leave because if they did not they would miss their bus.
Last budget the city took thousands of dollars out of the transit side of the budget and used it to “shave and pave roads that were said to be in serious need of repair.
We close down bus routes and limit the schedule. And we continue to build communities where a car is essential.
It is global warming and we really can be stupid – this time our stupidity has the potential to make it impossible to live on this planet.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON October 12, 2012 Someone seems to have forgotten who got the ball rolling when it came to fighting the application Nelson Aggregates planned to make for an additional license to take stone out of the ground on the Mt. Nemo Plateau.
According to Roger Goulet, it was Isobel Harmer and her daughter Sarah along with Dick Lyons who held that very first meeting more than seven and a half years ago.
 PERL wants to ensure that when this quarry is mined out that the site is properly rehabilitated and returned to the public. The depth will make it a magnificent lake when water is allowed to build up. In a press release the city lauds almost everyone except the PERL people. It was the research that PERL folks did on the Jefferson Salamander which had one of its few habitat on the Harmer family property.
Councillor John Taylor, whose ward encompasses much of the Escarpment, and who knows the people who fought with him on an issue he is very passionate about, seemed to have forgotten who his allies really are when he said: “My thanks go out to the city’s legal team, including environmental lawyer Rod Northey of Fogler Rubinoff in Toronto. City staff demonstrated the values that we as a community cherish. They showed a passion for the environment and a commitment to preserving the Niagara Escarpment.”
The best the Mayor could do was say: “This is excellent news for the people of Burlington and for the Niagara Escarpment, a world biosphere reserve.” To his credit however, the Mayor did arrange to buy one of the limited edition prints of Mt. Nemo that decorates his office.
PERL has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and still owes a significant amount to various creditors, yet made no mention of PERL when Taylor said: “My thanks go out to the city’s legal team, including environmental lawyer Rod Northey of Fogler Rubinoff in Toronto. said Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor. “City staff demonstrated the values that we as a community cherish. They showed a passion for the environment and a commitment to preserving the Niagara Escarpment.”
 Few in Burlington fully understand how much harm was being done to the Escarpment as a result of the quarry. Thus topographical map shows where the quarry is in relationship to the Escarpment. The site is shown in red outline. The land Nelson Aggregates wanted a license to quarry is just below the existing quarry. PERL wants to work with the public to come up with a plan to protect all of the plateau. What would you do with this part of the city if you had a voice? To his credit Taylor did put out a second statement the next day recognizing the PERL contribution. One would have thought every elected or appointed official would have bumped into each other getting to a microphone to talk about how important it is to have public spirited citizens doing the hard work that brings about results like this Ontario Municipal Board decision.
Public accolades are not that important to the PERL people. They will meet next week to celebrate a bit more and then buckle down to planning a very public celebration and then move on to their Nemo 7g project, which is a look at a much more far ranging plan for the Mt. Nemo plateau and – to ensuring that something useful gets done with the quarry site Nelson is still taking stone out of.
The longer term plan, which is to let the site fill up with water over time, was put together more than 25 years ago and Roger Goulet thinks that plan is very much out of date.
While Nelson Aggregate is not a part of the Nemo 7G organization, one would hope that there might at some point be talks with Nelson to perhaps turn the whole thing over to PERL and let them do what should be done with the site.
It’s a pretty big operation and, if Burlington can follow the pattern that we see in St. Mary’s, ON, where the old quarry was turned into a swimming pool for residents, a very respectable park could be located on that property.
PERL wants to now transition itself from an advocacy group, formed to fight a major battle, into an organization that moves on to the next step which is to ensure there is a community based plan for all of the Mt. Nemo plateau.
They formed Nemo7G to gather community input and form a 7-generation vision for the Mount Nemo plateau.
The vision is to develop and implement a multigenerational plan that will balance sociocultural, technological, ecological, economic and regulatory factors to protect and enhance the natural, recreational and spiritual qualities of the Mount Nemo plateau for current and future generations.
 It was Isobel Harmer and her daughter Sarah who were the early advocates for a community response to an application by a mining company for a second license to take stone out of the Mt Nemo plateau. Dick Lyons was at the table with the Harmer’s PERL has taken on the task of providing the leadership and mobilizing community members, governments and businesses to develop and participate in defining a 7 generation plan
The objective is to preserve our natural capital while improving the diversity and quality of living for all forms of life on the Mt. Nemo plateau through collaborative, educational, energy-efficient and spiritual means.
The first step is to educate the community, businesses and governments on the values of the community and the natural heritage of the Mt. Nemo plateau and ideally transform the quarry into a world renowned, economically self-sustaining site that embodies the spiritual, environmental and recreational aspirations of the community.
Big job – you bet it is. But PERL has shown that it has the organizational depth plus the level of ongoing commitment needed to stick it out and not back down. Now, given the grace they have shown this past few days, they should be able to take the talks that have already taken place with Nelson Aggregates to a new level and work with that company to come up with a long range plan that will benefit the immediate community as well as the people who live south of the Dundas – 407 corridor who see Mt. Nemo as a nature walk destination.
 That clump of land in the middle of the quarry will eventually become a small island in a man made lake. Burlington city council has held receptions for all the Olympians who represented Canada in London and Monday night council will recognize the magnificent achievement of Brandon Wagner: who competed in men’s wheelchair basketball in the London 2012 Paralympic Games where he won a Gold medal.
Not to take away one bit of the recognition that young man deserves, nor diminish the inspiration he will be to thousands of disabled men and woman, but the Mt. Nemo we know today will be there for centuries after we are nothing but ashes. PERL is making sure it doesn’t get turned into a super highway with parking lots and picnic tables.
Time for the city to recognize all of its heroes.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON September 4, 2012 Our Burlington is going to shift gears a bit and spend less time covering city council meetings and some city council committee meetings. The shift will be gradual and the focus will move to finishing items that were started and want to finish. But we will no longer cover council committee meetings on a regular basis.
The web site was designed to be a newspaper on a web site; something that would cover as much of what goes on in the city as possible without the space constrains the print media faces. We had the added advantage of being able to maintain the content and make it available at any time. No one wraps fish bones with our pages.
As an experiment and as a response to the Shaping Burlington recommendations – Our Burlington has succeeded.
Why the change? Energy, financial, legal, but mostly the realization that what we started out to do, was not achievable by one person and at this stage in my life, it is not prudent to use the limited resources of a retiree for a project that might produce enough revenue to cover the cost of operation.
We foolishly thought the job that needed to be done could be done on a part time basis. The truth was that the job required seven days a week with me at the keyboard till well past 1:00 am far too many days.
My wife, the reason I came to Burlington, wondered what she had gotten herself into. We haven’t been able to spend the time together that we expected.
We haven’t been to a play yet this year – haven’t managed a night out to a movie either – thank goodness for DVD’s.
We are at the $20,000 level in terms of real cash we have spent on the newspaper on a web site – could have gotten elected to Council for that amount of money.
I am fortunate to have a small circle of advisers who don’t, for the most part, have a political axe to grind. Their advice has been consistent – make the changes you need to make
I started a theology class at McMaster a year ago, and while I bought the text books, I didn’t get to read most of them and I completed just one of the term papers. I hope that in the months ahead I will have the time to continue my study of Isaiah and perhaps return to the classroom. The choice was the Waterfront Advisory Committee or Isaiah – wisdom prevailed. That committee has four more meetings left in its life – they won’t be ignored.
I migrated from Toronto, where I lived in The Beach and found life rich and fulfilling there. I am an urban animal and loved, fed off and contributed to the community I lived in. It will come as no surprise to you that I was the founder, 45 years ago, of a weekly community newspaper that still publishes 40 pages a week.
The world of suburbia is not one that I have taken to very easily. I used to be able to get into Toronto once every three or four weeks for my “urban “fix” but the demands of the web site curtailed that pleasure.
 Without the Escarpment – we might as well merge with Oakville. Burlington has so many positive things going for it: the geography is such a gift, your children will not be shot to death on the main streets, it is for the most part a crime free city, although that is changing with the number of criminals who see this city as easy pickings.
What constantly surprises me is how Burlington, with all that it has going for it, is so bland. We are known for nothing. A city as wealthy as this one is, doesn’t seem capable of excelling at something. We have a terrible school board; one that doesn’t seem to care about real education and is close to incapable of listening to the parents of the children who attend the schools it runs. Senior people within the Board of Education actually deliberately fail to tell parents the truth. And they get away with it. Thank Mike Harris for that one with his decision to gut the system of school trustees we had.
Burlington accepts gas prices that are usually three to four cents a litre higher here than they are in Hamilton, yet far too many people go bananas when members of Council get a pay raise that is determined by an independent citizens committee. The city has values that are incompatible with each other.
This city fails to appreciate the amount of time our Council members put in. Few fully understand that their council members do double duty as Regional Councillors. And we pay them a portion of what they are worth.
The seven of them oversee a city that has more than 1,000 full time equivalents and they oversee a budget that is one of the largest in the city. And we pay them something around $120,000 a year; little wonder we are not able to attract the kind of talent the city needs to serve as council members.
 The Mayor is out close to every evening each week. His ward is the whole city and every one wants a piece of him. Not a healthy life for a man with daughters that need face time. They are out close to half of the evenings in a week; they take telephone calls at home every night. The amount of time Mayor Goldring spends on civic business isn’t healthy.
There is a lot to look into: What do the sales numbers at the Performing Arts Centre look like? If they were great we would be hearing all about them. We’re not hearing anything – that’s a clue.
Where are we with employment lands? Council and some member of the community got their nickers in a knot when it was announced that a church was going to be built on a piece of land that faced onto the 407 – which meant an opportunity for a corporation to show their name and trade mark to those passing by was lost. I kind of thought that a cross was a pretty good trade mark and one that I certainly want to see out there for everyone to see. But the Economic Development Corporation spokesperson didn’t see it that way, Unfortunate. Was there the sound of relief when we learned that it was going to be an Anglican church and not a mosque?
Speaking of employment lands – what is going to be done with the downtown core? Are we going to build a new city hall and stop paying rent to property owners? Is city hall talking to Paletta International about some kind of a land deal? And is it time to know more about what the Paletta’s have planned with their other property holdings? The tendency is to look at developers as rapacious – but if we knew the full story of the Paletta family, I think there is a great success story to be told. We will see what we can do at that level in the future.
Eagle Heights and the development at Tremaine and Dundas needs more attention. There was some very good citizen involvement on the Tremaine development that we have yet to tell you about.
 For a park of this dimension – this was the best that could be done for the Official Opening. Had they called it Apeldoorn Park – there would have been hundreds of people on the site – still a chance to change the name. The story of the City View Park will unfold once the Pan Am Games are over – it is a little on the messy side. Now that the city has pulled the plug on the re-development of the Roads and Parks Maintenance building on Elgin the embarrassingly little park that was going to have the name of our sister city Apeldoorn attached to it won’t happen. Hopefully the Dutch community in Burlington will push to have City View Park, from which by the way – you can’t actually see the city – or so I am told by my colleague David Auger.
The Pier needs constant watching – we appear to have the construction issues under control – the legal issues and the financial fallout from that has the potential to take the cost of that pier up to as high as $20 million. Ouch!
 Beachway Park – one of the most significant stretches of water open to the public in the province. The Beachway has tremendous potential for the city – but the city is going to have to get a wiggle on and actually take charge of this one – or we will end up with next to nothing.
The Official Plan review is going to need all kinds of help. As a subject is as dry as toast and some very creative initiatives are going to have to come out of city hall if the public is to get an opportunity to have a meaningful part in this process. That will need to be followed.
The development of the east waterfront – with all kinds of possibilities has to be given a new home. The demise of the Waterfront Access Committee means there is no longer a focus on this part of the city – other than what the Planning department chooses to do. It will get developed – there are developers who already have dibs on critical pieces of the puzzle. The when and the how any development down there takes place is something this city can and should determine. Former Toronto Mayor David Crombie talked about the power of a “bully pulpit” but Mayor Goldring hasn’t managed yet to master that skill.
Ensuring that the Escarpment isn’t abused and ravaged by highways that really aren’t needed is an ongoing concern, as is what we are actually going to do with all that property between Dundas and Derry Road –there is very little real farming going on in that part of the city. Instead it has become an enclave of the very well off who have large estates – there is a 20,000 square foot home looking for approval on Cedar Springs Road – and that is just the beginning.
For those with more money than they can count – there are some great offerings along Guelph, Walkers and Appleby Lines.
The quality and calibre of our representatives at the federal and provincial level is disappointing. Is this the best we can do? The Tory’s had to recruit McKenna who brought no experience or predilection for politics. Marvellous Mike Wallace was to be the Mayor that followed Rob MacIsaac into that office but Cam Jackson pulled a fast one and scooped up that prize. Then when Jackson was booted out as Mayor he wasn’t exactly able to go to Wallace for some kind of a federal appointment.
The city has treated Jackson terribly. He wasn’t a disastrous Mayor. He didn’t do anything illegal. And yet there wasn’t a dinner for him to wish him well and send him along to the next phase of his career. Cam Jackson was a career politician. Many claim he was a career politician in high school – a genuine product of the community. His treatment since losing office has been pretty shabby.
This city can produce better than what we have in terms of federal and provincial representation. It’s out there – it just has to be encouraged, nurtured and supported.
So – you can see – there is a lot to be done.
We’ve also found that our readership, which has grown 10% every month for the past six months, and we haven’t spent a dime on advertising or promotion, wants more about their community and what takes place where they live.
Sports has been all but neglected and for a city with some 10,000 kids playing soccer and six Olympians amongst, that is a serious oversight.
And then there is the Board of Education and the Police Services Board and the Region. It just never ends.
We will persevere.
.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 26, 2012 City Hall wants to know what you think about City Talk, the publication they produce three times a year that devotes half its pages to material from each council member and the rest to projects taking place in the city and listings of events.
Asking the question is a bold move – if the public says the thing is a waste of paper and money, will the city decide to no longer publish the magazine and then reduce the Public Affairs department budget by at least one staff member?
The department has a manager and two and a half staff plus a summer intern.
 A staff writer with the Public Affairs department, Oliver Lee on the right works with council members at public events directing the flow of what takes place. Staff writers produce the media releases as well. In this photograph Lee directs General Manager Scott Stewart, Councillor Lancaster and Mayor Goldring While the Public Affairs department touts the magazine as something that is vibrant and essential to keeping the public informed – that’s not the word we hear on the street.
The magazine is distributed to 70,000 homes; costs $20,000 to produce and requires 105 hours of staff time to edit. We are told that the publishing cycle is six weeks long and that much of that time is eaten up by Council members who want to edit and re-write their contributions.
Council members have web sites, email lists and all kinds of media access – they don’t need city funds to produce a magazine that, despite the comments Public Affairs makes, isn’t read or kept on coffee tables or kitchen counters.
 The Public Affairs department, which publishes City Talk, is run by Donna Kell, Manager Public Affairs. She directs a staff of 2.5 people plus a summer intern. Public Affairs is managed through the Clerk`s office – not the best place for something as sensitive and important as the way the city talks to its citizens. Media releases and public information should be under the firm hand of the office of the city manager.
The Mayor has his own people to manage and craft his message. Public information is too important to be at the Clerk`s office level where media really isn’t understood. The city Clerk is a very powerful position; almost semi-judicial in its scope and level of responsibility. Most of the documents the city signs require the signature of the city Clerk.
 A very short profile of the newly appointed city manager. One doesn’t come away from this piece knowing very much about the man that runs the administrative side of the city and works to turn the direction from council into everyday policy. More “happy talk” that journalism.
 Nice layout, nice pictures but not very much about just how significant this project is. It is one of the first times in the province where a Library Board, City Parks and Recreation staff and the School Board manage to work out the significantly different mandates they have and produce what will prove to be a sterling example of how cooperation can work. The Summer 2012 issue had 28 pages, that includes the front and back cover, of which 14 pages were used by council members. Each council member got two pages to talk about the ward and the work they’ve done.
There is an opportunity here to save $60,000 a year plus 300 hours of staff time. It isn’t something the Public Affairs department will advocate, but someone in city hall obviously suggested asking the public what they think – sounds to me like this is the first step to getting rid of the thing.
But if the city is looking for a way to communicate meaningful information then how about a list of the top ten complaints that come into the city switchboard. List those top ten for each quarter of the year.
There are city publications that are worth the money spent on printing them – the Parks and Recreation magazine is a good example. City Talk is not a good example.
Some of the money saved could be shuffled along to Council members – add it to the office budget they have now.
Public affairs wants you to tell them what you think. Don`t let them down.
Chances are that you can`t find your copy of City Talk – it went into the recycling box. We have set out a couple of pages of the publication below. It`s not a pretty picture.
Public Affairs wants to hear you.
What should we add?
What should we remove?
What type of articles do you want to read?
What type of articles should we leave out?
How can we make City Talk better for you?
The city has posted an online survey: Click here to complete the survey.
The survey closes Aug.10, 2012. Summer isn’t the best time of year to go to the public for opinions – everyone is away for at least some of the time. Extending the deadline to middle of September would make more sense – but then perhaps the Public Affairs department doesn`t want too many responses.
If you prefer, you can email your thoughts and opinions to:
citytalk@burlington.ca with your comments.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 18, 2012 Arnold Koopman has a problem. He is organizing a visit of a group of dignitaries that will include the Mayor of Apeldoorn, Burlington sister in Holland, to take part in the official opening of a park that he understood was to be named the Apeldoorn Park.
The name of the park that is to be officially opened is currently the Elgin Park. No one knows why the park, that is to undergo a major upgrade, was called Elgin – probably because it is on Elgin Street.
 Tulips, Hollands gift to Canada, were planted at Civic Square last May. The Dutch would like to see a park commemorating the sacrifice Canadians made liberating Holland. An opportunity to do just that got missed last week. The Dutch should hold out for something bigger. If what we heard at a city council meeting was correct – there are no plans to change the name. Koopman doesn’t want to invite all those people from Holland in the fall of 2013 to stand there watching the flag of Apeldoorn be raised over the Elgin Park which will have what the city is calling an “Apeldoorn feature”.
This has the potential to be somewhat embarrassing but that’s where things stood at the last city council meeting and that’s where they will stay for at least the next six weeks.
 Ed Dorr has been a leading part of the Dutch community’s effort to have a park named after our twin city in Holland. He’s not there yet – but don’t count these people out. Apeldoorn and Burlington were twinned in May of 2005. The work on twinning the two cities began in 2003 – October 16, 2013 will be the tenth anniversary of the start of the talks. May 2015 will be the tenth anniversary of the agreement. The Dutch community in Burlington might well tell the city to let the Park they are re-developing remain as Elgin while they find a park that is worthy of the significance of the relationship between Holland and Canada.
The kerfuffle came about when the city found it had to replace the Roads and Parks Maintenance structure that is to the east of the very small parkette that is south of St. Luke’s Anglican church.
At the time the city decided that if they were replacing the building this was a good time to upgrade the park as well. Then why not use this park upgrade as the opportunity to create an Apeldoorn Park? Good question and so the city began to work up plans to remake the park, get the new maintenance building in place and do our part of the understanding that existed between Apeldoorn and Burlington for each city to have a park dedicated to the other.
When all this was being discussed at city council Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward was against the project – she called it one of those “nice to have” projects we couldn’t afford. But Meed Ward saw which way the wind was blowing and didn’t see any point in fighting this one – so she became an active advocate for the park and was knee deep in the planning.
But there was an appetite for the park to have at least an “Apeldoorn feature” so the plan went forward – but no one ever did anything about the name.
It was a bit of a shock to the Dutch community. They were fully expecting a nice Park that would be called the Apeldoorn Park. They weren’t getting much of a Park to begin with – it’s almost a sliver of a thing.
Arnold Koopman left city hall wondering what his adopted city was doing to his people.
The Dutch are a persistent people – city Council has not heard the last of this argument.
There was one of those opportunities to cement a relationship with an important part of the community – but we blew that one.
The discussion went back and forth and really didn’t go anywhere. Mayor Goldring then asked Koopman if he would be happy with calling it the Apeldoorn Park on Elgin. Koopman grabbed that one, but Goldring failed to turn the comment into a motion – and so it’s Elgin Park until somebody does something about a name change.
 Councillor Blair Lancaster at the Mundialization ceremony at city hall last May – there was a chill in the air and there may be a bit of a chill from the Dutch community around the delay in naming a park for our twin city in Holland. It would have been nice to see Councillor Lancaster fight a little harder for the Dutch community. She is Council’s representative on the Mundialization committee that handles the relationship we have with Itabachi in Japan and Apeldoorn in Holland.
I think the Dutch should tell the city to keep their tiny park and advocate for something that reflects the contribution the Dutch have made to both Burlington and the whole of Canada.
The city of Apeldoorn has put back their plans to build a park they are going to call the Burlington Park. Economic conditions in Europe are such that spending is being pulled in everywhere – so we have a couple of years to come up with something that reflects the dignity the relationship we have with Apeldoorn deserves.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 30, 2012 Council will meet this evening and probably approve the repairs to the Drury Lane pedestrian bridge, approve a bunch of paving contracts. They will also hear from the BurlingtonGreen people about the turbine they want to see on the Pier. It won’t be a long meeting, there doesn’t appear to be anything contentious on the agenda.
What I hope we hear this evening is an announcement from the Mayor that he and Councillors Lancaster and Sharman will be off to Saskatoon to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference. So far we have not heard a word about this event at a public meeting.
Politicians tend to shy away from talking about those occasions when they are going to be spending public funds on themselves. Mayor Goldring is given a sum to be spent on the things a Mayor does. He proudly reported that he had not spent all the money he has given – which I personally think is failing to do his job. He was given the money to use – use it.
 Three of the magnificent Seven are off to Saskatoon. Goldring, Sharman and Lancaster pack their bags for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention. The rest of the country gets to see what we have to offer. The community elects people to represent them. The seven people we elected in Burlington oversee the spending of $ 116 million operating budget and close to $22 million in capital spending and the employment of more than 1000 people. The decisions they make impact directly on the quality of life we live in this city. We need to trust them and they need to trust us – and that means telling us everything they do.
In the past few days, as I drive down Guelph Line (in my car and not on my bike) I have seen dozens of young men and woman wearing those bright safety vests planting plants, flowers and shrubs. My tax dollars are being used to pay for those people and plants and in the next few weeks I am going to be treated to what I think will be a delightful scene. I think that was good spending.
I think sending Goldring, Lancaster and Sharman to Saskatoon is also good spending – but while the Mayor will comment on the plants and how nice they make the city look – he is loath to talk about occasions when funds are spent on sending Council members to conventions.
At this point we don’t have an adequate process for determining what we should pay these Council members and if they dare increase their salaries by more than $100 there is a huge howl from the public.
I don’t agree with some of the decisions they make. Some of the comments made at Council border on real dumb and uninformed. There are times when a Council member hasn’t done their homework. There are times when they get into the details of a project – that’s what staff are there to do – but on balance this is a good council doing good work. This is our Council. They work hard, they are diligent.
We have a new city manager who left a larger city to come to Burlington because the Council where he was didn’t work the way the Burlington Council works. And the Mayor he parted ways with in London was an experience he did not want to endure any longer.
Let three members of our Council be off to Saskatoon – serve us well and don’t mention that Burlington is the second best city in the country to live in too often – it will grate on your colleagues. Also, a real close look at the data that got us the award isn’t all that positive.
And please, be more open with your citizens – trust them so they can trust you. You didn’t intend to hide anything – you just didn’t want to raise the ire of those who howl when you spend anything and then complain loudly when you don’t rake up the leaves fast enough or clear their sidewalks of snow in the winter. You’re dealing with the public – the good, the less than good and the very unpleasant.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 28th, 2012 – Biting the hand that feeds you is never a wise thing to do. Ticking off the people who sign your pay check might be called just plain dumb.
Telling a Ward Councillor in Burlington that you don’t particularly want him to attend a meeting you have called in the Councillors Ward and announcing the meeting without informing the Councillor borders on suicidal. It gets better. Jeremy Freiburger also advertised the events in the local newspaper without informing the Council members.
Two of the Burlington Council members are going to be away on the dates the events are to take place in their Ward’s. Councillor Taylor will be on vacation and asked for an “interview with Freiburger. Councillor Dennison will be in Apeldoorn, our twin city in Holland the day the Cultural Conversation is to take place in his ward.
 Cultural guru doesn't make any friends with Burlington council members - tells them they are not wanted at public Cultural Conversations. Freiburger advised the two council members that they weren’t actually wanted at the meeting. Freiburger explained that council members sometimes influence voters unduly. Ouch! Most politicians believe that it is the voters who influence them.
Councillor Jack Dennison looked a little dumb struck when he heard those words and he too asked for an “interview with Freiburger.
Councillor Taylor told Freiburger that he had chosen the wrong place for the event in his ward; Councillor Lancaster added that holding two events at Tansley Woods was a mistake as well.
Cultural has its sensitivities and politics has its nuances – Freiburger may have the sensitivities of culture down pat – but he has a lot to learn about the nuances of politics. Trust Councillors Taylor and Dennison to straighten him out very quickly. Councillor Lancaster may also have a couple of choice words for Mr. Freiburger.
Jeremy Freiburger is the cultural guru the city has hired to oversee the development of the Cultural Plan that will come in at a little over $100,000 – $61,500 of that is provincial money, the rest came from you dear taxpayer. If done properly a sound cultural plan can make a difference – the plan is the easy part – it is the execution of the plan that matters and that calls for as much collaboration as possible.
Telling Councillors that you don’t want them at an event in their ward that will deal with something as sensitive as culture is not what is meant by collaboration.
Mr. Freiburger may find his reception at the “interviews” he will be having on the 7th floor of city hall a little on the frosty side.
Freiburger also oversees the city’s Public Art Plan and is shepherding the choice of art for the front of the Performing Arts Centre, which by the way is progressing nicely – there is interest from local artists, regional artists, national and international artists.
This particular piece of public art is being funded to a very significant degree by local businessman Don Laurie of Dan Laurie Insurance, a company with offices in Burlington and Hamilton.
That one has a bit of a tussle going on over just how much the city has to say about what goes on property, which the city points out to the BPAC people is property that the city owns.
The Memorandum of Agreement between the city and BPAC has yet to be signed, that has been going back and forth between the city and the lawyers for more than a year – so in actuality the BPAC people are basically just squatters. But that’s another story we will follow up on for you.
Freiburger was taking Council through the process he is using to get the Cultural Plan completed and in place by the end of March next year. That is going to be tight and Freiburger is going to need Council on his side – he didn’t have them with him Monday morning.
There are plans for a very significant amount of public involvement beyond the planned ward meetings. Interaction with the Sound of Music and the Children’s Festival is included in the plans.
 Cobalt Connects is a simple concept - Freiburger went for a sophisticated look and what is really top level design - that works for the arts and design community. Burlington's city council just didn't get it. Freiburger is a decent presenter – he would talk and then break for some back and forth question and answer. Freiburger is a big believer that there has to be strong leadership if a Cultural Plan is to become effective and he wanted to know how Council felt about cultural management – pointing out that Burlington tends to prefer external relationships for cultural management.
“Does Council” he asked “have feelings regarding the development of internal cultural expertise vs. external?” He got his answer – Council felt that the city could manage its own cultural plan – it just needed to put one in place.
“How often do you want to hear from us” Freiburger asked Council. At least once a month they replied – they are going to keep this guy on a short leash.
There is a lot of rally good stuff in the plan that has been put together. We will report in more detail later in the week. It was given to the council members in a workshop setting – at some point it will work its way to Council Committee – that’s where the pruning will get done.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 19, 2012 You’re sometimes damned if you do and double damned if you don’t.
There was a black bear the police had to shoot in the woods around Mountainside Park . They did exactly what they were supposed to do. Can you imagine the public outrage if that animal had gotten anywhere near one of the schools or, heaven forbid, anywhere near a child. The lawsuits would have been something they would have to deal with later as well.
The comments and news stories on the decision the police made to shoot the bear are hard to understand. This was a wild and very dangerous animal that was an immediate threat to the people in the area.
The police fired four bullets into the chest of the animal and it died almost instantly. Yes there would have been an initial burst of pain and that is regrettable. That the police fired the four shots quickly and that the aim was true in each instance is a reflection on their training and discipline.
 Regretable, unfortunate - but killing the bear was the only option the police had. Public safety was the prime concern. To have the police now defending the decision they made is close to incredulous. Senior people within the police service are now spending their time explaining what they did minute by minute and you can bet the issue will be raised at the Police Services Board as well. Hopefully someone on that Board will make a point of publicly thanking the police for the action they took and maybe someone will make a comment on behalf of the police.
The bear could not be tranquilized for several reasons. First, the police did not have the equipment nor any personnel to tranquilize the bear. Second, in order to tranquilize the animal it would first have to be up in a tree. That would have meant having the police somehow badger, chase or scare the animal and get it to climb up a tree. An extremely dangerous thing to attempt – the bear could have just as easily panicked and bolted off much faster than the police could ever move.
What if while frightened the animal had bolted further away? It got to within 30 feet of a residential dwelling as it was. Imagine if there had been a child in the yard or on the porch of that residence – that bear could have been on that child in seconds.
If there is anyone to criticize it is the Ministry of Natural Resources for basically abandoning the Halton Police. They did nothing for the police other than to ask for a DNA sample and some hair from the bear. You can bet there will be some questions asked about the way that Ministry failed to respond.
The police did their job; they did it quickly and efficiently. Involving the aboriginal community in the burial of the animal was a wise and sensitive mood on the part of the police and Burlington’s Animal Control people.
A point to keep in mind – there were two bear sighting in the Milton area earlier in the week. The wild animal experts don’t think the bear shot in Burlington is the same bear sighted in Milton. The Regional police aren’t certain the two bear sightings were of the same animal – so we “might” have two bears some distance from us wandering around the countryside.
Should one of those bears venture into parts of the city where people live, work and play – the police should, if they are unable to get help and support from the Ministry of Natural, do exactly what they did on Wednesday.
What we would like to have heard was a statement from our local MPP Jane McKenna, saying she will inquire as to why the Ministry of Natural Resources was unable to help. That she apprently didn’t do so, is disapointing.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 8, 2012 There was a line from the film Cool Hand Luke, that starred the late Paul Newman, where a prison guard said “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” At the time Newman was doing everything he could not to communicate. The ending was a tough one.
One got the feeling that while delivering a very brief update to a Council Budget and Corporate Services committee meeting, General Manager Scott Stewart wanted to use those words but chose to be a little more diplomatic, which for Stewart is a stretch at the best of times.
 City General Manager Scott Stewart doesn't take this smile to hospital meetings. Stewart reported that the city had not been able to arrange a meeting with the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital (JBMH) until sometime in August to discuss the Contribution Agreement that is to be signed between the hospital and the city. That’s the document that is going to take $60 million of your dollars and slide it across the table to the hospital. The city has just over $4.8 million of the $60 million saved already but we are going to have to borrow much of the rest of it so the hospital can begin the build.
Stewart added that it looked as if the agreement would get worked out between the city and the hospital by email; which has got to be about as archaic as it gets – they are less than a twenty minute walk away from each other. Saying they are not available until sometime in August is basically the same as saying: ‘we don’t want to talk to you, so go away – but send us the money you have to give us’.
Apparently the real reason for not being able to meet before sometime in August is a combination of vacation schedules, commitments that can’t be broken – we all go through those problems. However, if you really want to meet – you make it happen. Unless of course there is a problem that is insurmountable – and that would be what? Wait for it. The lawyers, the lawyers can’t clear time for a meeting until sometime in August.
What are the lawyers doing in the room at all? Surely senior city people and senior hospital people can put together the basics – all we are doing here is setting out what they will do with the money we send them – then give it to the lawyers and let them make sure that all the niceties are covered, shake hands and then deliver the cheque.
Is the city negotiating with the hospital? We will know when the Contribution gets to a city council committee.
The city is required to help fund the renovation of the hospital and it has taxed its citizens and used a significant portion of last year’s surplus to come up with our share. The hospital has to raise an additional $60 million.
Burlington does not have a choice in this matter – the province mandated that we give the money to the hospital. We apparently don’t give the funds directly to the hospital corporation but to the hospital Foundation which in turn passes it along to the hospital.
The relationship between the city and the hospital corporation is getting a little caustic. The city needs an agreement that sets out a “responsible and timely release of funds” and given that we are going to have to borrow much of our contribution we would like to be able to plan the flow of funds. Burlington maintains a very strong, positive relationship with the Performing Arts Centre where more than half a million dollars is sent every year. They find a way to work through the differences with the Seniors basically because they meet and work through the issues.
With the city being required to come up with $60 million, the hospital, one would hope, would accept the fact that they have a new partner and not a junior partner either, and they have to learn to share the responsibility of working with the community to raise the funds and get the hospital to the point where it is not the mess it was when current president Vandewall was brought in.
 JBMH president Eric Vandewall is reported to be working on his schedule and making time to meet with the city. Dinner with senior city staff was a good start. The egos that are at times all too visible, have to be left at the door so that an adult relationship can take place.
When Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital president Eric Vandewall appeared before a city council committee last year he made the statement that the hospital would match the city contribution “dollar for dollar”, which made a number of Council members feel a little better about turning over tax payers’ dollars to the hospital. That good feeling has come close to evaporating.
General Manager Stewart and the city manager are to have dinner with the hospital president and some of his leading people, which will undoubtedly include VP Communication Mario Joanette – who might manage an explanation as to just what is wrong with the communications.
There have not been any announcements from the hospital foundation on how they are doing on the raising of their $60 million. We are told that there is a very big announcement coming and to expect a number of announcements at the Crystal Ball Gala, which takes place later this month. We are told it is a sold out event with more than 100 people learning they could not get a ticket. This Gala event – and it is quite the event, being held at the Mercedes Benz dealership on the North Service Road, is where the hospital Foundation may announce what it has collected to date in the way of its fund raising efforts.
The Foundation people are good at what they do – they don’t have any problem communicating. Things are a little different on the hospital administration side.
While the city does its best to meet with the hospital to work through the agreement on how the JBMH people are going to spend the tax dollars we give them – the city’s Planning Department is able to talk to the hospital people about the actual construction of the building – reported to be a seven storey building on land that currently serves as a parking lot.
Site Plan approval for the structure is anticipated in late May or early June with approval expected in September or early October. So far the public has very little information on what’s going on. It seems like a ‘send us your money and don’t ask any questions’
Site plan approval will include traffic impacts, archeological investigation, storm water management and public consultation. The city will have to deal with all this in a relatively short period of time.
The archeological aspects could turn out to be interesting. The land the hospital was built on is part of the original land grant to Joseph Brant and there are reported to be some strings attached to just what can and cannot be done with that land.
 It's supposed to be all about the hospital and its desperately needed re-build. Can they all not just get on with it? Councillor Marianne Meed Ward has been a very strong proponent of ensuring that the public is given every opportunity to comment on developments in the city and has been very vocal about the amount of time the public has to read the reports and given the time to form their opinion. Meed Ward is a member of the hospital board and while there is an evident conflict in sitting on the hospital board and sitting as a Councillor, especially when there is serious and significant tension over the wording of the Contribution Agreement, but that does not seem to bother Meed Ward. Can she act for her constituents to ensure they are given the information they need and at the same time sit on the hospital board and argue that information should be made available and that the public, who after all are picking up a significant part of the cost of the redevelopment, be given every opportunity to comment?
Elections cost money. Anyone running for the office of Mayor needs people who can write the cheques to cover the cost of an election campaign. Meed Ward doesn’t accept campaign funds from developers but she would be comfortable with getting funds from the kind of people who attend social events with impressive ticket prices.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 23, 2012 The Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital shouldn’t have asked the Mayor of Burlington to take part in the visit the Minister of Health and Long Term Care Deb Matthews made to the hospital.. The Minister was playing crass politics hoping to shift any blame that might arise out of a failure to get their budget passed this Tuesday.
The provincial Liberals should not have targeted Burlington MPP Jane McKenna with the Robo Calls – served no purpose other than to confuse an issue. McKenna hasn’t been able to get her two cents worth in on the hospital issue which happens to be in her riding. While not a member of the government – she is the local MPP. The RoboCalls calls were a neat political shot that began when the Premier came to the city and ended when the Minister of Health descends upon the hospital to suggest that if the government falls the people of Burlington only have Jane McKenna to blame. None of this should have happened last week in Burlington.
The government is a minority one and they have to work things out with their partners. That the Progressive Conservatives have just walked away from the budget without hardly reading the thing reflects very badly on them – but there isn’t much that is going to change the minds of either Tim Hudak or Jane McKenna.
 It was the day the Minister failed to show up with the cheque - but provincial minister Ted McMeekin sweet talked the crowd into believing it would eventually arrive. He's sweet talking the Mayor of Burlington these days. The old fox is still at it. The Mayor of Burlington should have explained to the hospital people who invited him that he had just come back from an appointment with his dentist where he had some root canal work and wasn’t going to be available. Your worship – you shouldn’t have let them sucker you into that one. Ted McMeekin , the Minister of Agriculture and MPP Ancaster – Dundas – Flamborough – Westdale played you on this one – not good for your reputation. They need you more than you need them.
Jane McKenna should have walked right into the meeting with the Minister and the hospital big wigs and confronted Deb Matthews and then publicly given out the Ministers home phone number and asked the 1,000 people that called McKenna’s office to call the Minister at her home and tell her to negotiate with the NDP. Show her that you can be just as silly and as stupid as she was. McKenna then might begin to negotiate with the government as well. The Progressive Conservative position on this budget is very weak and very juvenile. Rise to a higher standard Ms McKenna.
Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward shouldn’t have attempted to reduce the funds needed to support the Burlington team that is going to negotiate with the hospital on the Contribution Agreement.
Meed Ward should either resign from the hospital board or at least recuse herself until the way in which city funds are going to flow to the hospital has been fully worked out and agreed upon by both sides. Or she should give up her Council seat and represent just the interests of the hospital.
Not quite sure how a municipal politician who speaks loudly and eloquently about transparency feels she can sit on two boards that are into some serious negations and working on a project that is bigger than anything this city has worked on in the past.
Mead Ward then went on to let everyone who didn’t read what happened at city council in local newspapers or on Our Burlington, published her views on her Facebook page:
 Is she talking out of the hospital side of her mouth or the city side of her mouth? Disappointed budget committee voted today to spend $50,000 on PR consultant to develop a communications plan on the hospital, and a few meetings with a legal consultant to draft our long awaited contribution agreement. Support the latter in principle, but it costs a fraction of $50k. Don’t support the need for PR program. Curiously, city’s press release on this decision leaves out the $50k price tag. Will post once it’s online.
The news release is now posted, and the costing has now been added at my request.
Support the need for legal expertise with background in working with Infrastructure Ontario to draft our contribution agreement with the hospital, worth no more than $15k (and that’s generous!), but we don’t need to spend extra dollars for the public relations/strategic communications firm which will bring the total tab up to $50k for the taxpayers.
Bad enough to make a serious tactical mistake but to show that you really don’t understand the issues just adds to the track record. Shouldn’t have happened in Burlington last week.
All three political parties will meet in the Legislature on Tuesday. The government will make the changes in the budget that the New Democrats will demand – the Liberals are after all a minority government and they have to share the power they have with the other political parties. The Progressive Conservatives have to accept the responsibility to accept their share of this minority government.
The budget will pass and the Liberals minority government will move on to running the province.
We are into a new week – let`s see if we can play nice this time and make better things happen for Burlington.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 10, 2012 You can see the battle lines beginning to be drawn. The positions are being staked out. The issue will probably come down to – what kind of a city do we want? What do we want the downtown core to look like? What are we prepared to give up to get the development and the growth we need that will put some life into Brant Street?
Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward has started to stake out her position with a piece she did in her on line Newsletter which got into the hands of a Hamilton Spectator reporter and showed up as a fairly long piece in the holiday Monday newspaper.
 The development is to include the full block with a 17 story high rise, a parking garage and a medical complex. The issue is a development known as Medica One that has missed a critical deadline required in the application they made to rezone the property they had assembled at Caroline and John Streets. Because of the deadlines that were missed Meed Ward says the zoning application has to go back to Council – which is sort of back to square one and get fought out all over again. Only this time Meed Ward sits as a Council member and not just a delegate – and she appears to have the planner on her side as far as the technicalities go.
Meed Ward didn’t like the height of the buildings when she was just a citizen; she felt the buildings should have been set back quite a bit further to create a better street-scape; something people could relate too. At one committee meeting in 2009 she said: “City Hall and the developer have worked behind closed doors for two years, without the community at the table. The staff report only became available to residents June 14, which leaves little time for us to review and respond.” She was strident and focused then and she will be just as strident and focused when this comes back to Council.
Mayor Goldring agrees with Meed Ward on the technicalities. The city planner also agrees. The Mayor thinks there is a way to resolve the deadline problem. Mead Ward is going to be saying – “not so fast”. Bruce Krushelnicki, the city planner, is a stickler for the rules and he will insist that Council debate the original zoning application and make a new decision.
During the debate on this project back in 2010 when Meed Ward wasn’t a council member she had major problems with the height and with the way the proposed 17 story structure was going to relate to the street-scape. Add to that her concerns about the impact the building was going to have on the neighbouring streets.
And that`s where the differences come into play.
 A city block with small one and two storey structures was to be the locale for a high rise project that some think the city needs while others feel the scale is out of proportion to the community. This could go to the OMB. Mayor Goldring believes the city needs development and that the downtown core needs all the help it can get. Meed Ward sees the health of neighborhoods as more important and this time she has a platform she didn’t have in the past. The city has to grow – the province set out the growth requirement in it’s Places to Grow policy. The city is desperate to create jobs, high paying, high tech jobs and Medica One was seen as the first new building that would attract and house those jobs. The complex was to consist of affordable units for younger people, a parking garage and a medical complex that would be close to the significant number of senor citizens in that community. Nick Carnacelli and his Garden Gate development company got the zoning changed he needed and then basically did nothing. Most of his time, energy and funding was put into a project he has going on in Hamilton.
Since getting the zoning changes he needed Carnacelli then went on to buy the Pearl Street Café properties and hold them for redevelopment. You can see a developer banking significant pieces of property – is there a larger plan, or any kind of vision. Doesn’t appear to be one.
However, it is evident that something is going to happen with the Riviera Motel property at the bottom of Elizabeth and that just might spark a burst of development in the downtown core. The Conservation Authority has given the Mayrose Tyco group a solid boot in the bum and told them to get on with the development or find themselves having to deal with more stringent water’s edge set back rules that will leave them with less property to build on.
Mayor Goldring complained on more than one occasion about the lack of any progress on the site.
Meanwhile, Carnacelli got OMB approval to add more height to his property assembly at John and Brant as well as more height for the property in the Old Lakeshore precinct where the two Lakeshores merge. Lots of capacity for future development but no shovels in the ground.
 Marianne Meed Ward is on the other side of the podium this time - sits as the Council member for Ward 2 where a developer got a zoning change she opposed. There are those on the 6th, 7th and 8th floors of city hall who feel strongly that Meed Ward has harmed the city’s relationship with the developers and that several have put projects on hold or just not put shovels into the ground because of her intrusions.
The city needs the additional assessment – there aren’t going to be anymore of those large residential developments like Alton in the north east part of the city coming along. Meed Ward has always had a “thing” about developers – she wants to see them not just putting up buildings but developing in a responsible manner with more than just an eye to putting a couple of benches and a patch of green outside the building that rises 17 stories above the street.
She didn’t take a dime in election funding from developers last time and she won’t take as much as a nickel next time either. Expect developers to get together and talk about putting together a fund to defeat her in 2014. Can she be beat? Everyone can be beaten in an election but Marianne Meed Ward is a true civic fighter with a constituency that just loves everything she does.
There is though a significant number of people who can’t stand what she is doing. I continually get asked what I think about what she is up to. The people with perceived influence in the city don`t appear to have all that much time for Marianne Meed Ward. Does that matter?
Meed Ward has made a significant change in the way the city uses Section 37’s of the Planning Act. A section 37 of the Act allows a developer to pay a sum of money to the city in exchange for additional height and density in a development.
In the past these Section 37 agreements were worked out between the Planning Department and the developer. Meed Ward wanted the people who live in the community to be at the table when these Section 37 deals were worked out and not just hear about them when a decision is made.
The orchids on Upper Middle Road, west of Appleby Line are examples of Section 37 deals that Meed Ward wants to see come to an end.
 The developers dream. The Mayor's nightmare? The ward Councillors second chance. All this noise from Meed Ward was manageable by senior city staff when she was just a citizen delegating – now she has a platform and a much higher public profile. That hasn’t made her any friends at city hall – which doesn’t seem to bother Meed Ward. Her objective is to convince her ward constituents that she can bring about change and then take that message to the larger community.
With the city’s Official Plan about to begin the required five year review, expect to see Meed Ward front and centre promoting her view of what the city should be.
She seems to have a clearer vision than the Mayor – or at least we are hearing more of her vision. Add to that her courage – some would call it brash and stupid, but Meed Ward will call for a recorded vote and be the only person to vote for her motion – and do it three times in a row.
But the city knew, or should have known, that was the kind of Council member she was going to be. Former Mayor Cam Jackson was close to terrified at what Meed Ward would do as a Council member. That problem evaporated for him when he lost the election.
Rick Goldring is a different Mayor but he is facing a council member who wants the job he has – if not the next election then certainly the one after that. Can Goldring handle the onslaught for the next two and a half years? . He is going to have to improve his game on several fronts to keep ahead of Meed Ward. It will be fun to watch.
While both Meed Ward and Goldring are new to their jobs; Meed Ward as a Council member and Goldring as Mayor, who also has four years’ experience as a member of the Jackson administration, she is much faster on her feet than the Mayor. She is also far more media savvy than the Mayor.
At this point the Mayor is seen as the more solid of the two but Meed Ward wants that 8th floor office and she has lots of time to plan and build the support she needs. She has a clear vision; something Goldring might have but not one the public has seen.
At this point Goldring talks of having delivered on most of the campaign promises he made – not that many people can remember what those promises were.
Does Meed Ward have the lines she needs into the people with the money in this city? The developers certainly aren’t excited about her being Mayor but she has a dedicated ward fan club and she runs the best Citizen’s Advisory Committee in town and she has shown she can adjust her position to the prevailing winds.
She was opposed to the development of a parkette on the Elgin Street property where the city has a maintenance facility. Burlington had been discussing doing something similar to what was being done in our `twin`city in Holland. The Appledoorn city officials decided to hold off for a year due to financial constraints and Meed Ward thought that’s what Burlington should have done as well. Council didn’t see it that way and voted to proceed. So, while opposed, Meed Ward jumped in and made the project her own and is now deeply involved with architects and plans for the improvement of the area. It wasn’t necessarily a good idea – the site is too small and the facilities building has traffic that isn’t compatible with the children`s playground right beside the property.
She opposed the way the city decided to resolve the Pier construction issue – Meed Ward felt the city should have dealt with the original contractor and worked something out with him. She made her case – it didn’t hold and so being the trooper she is – she went along with the decision. She is however waiting to see just how much the city has spent on lawyers fees on this one. If the city doesn’t win it`s court case and recover all it’s costs – the howl from Meed Ward will be loud and long.
 She leaked or is believed to have leaked information to the media about the Pier (it wasn’t to us) and then had to deal with the ire of her fellow Council members on that one.
Does Meed Ward have the support of her fellow Council members on the Medica One development? Probably not. But the city has a Planner who is as ethical as they come – he will insist council follow the rules. This is going to be a three way play.
The Mayor will be for it and want to find a way to accommodate the developer.
Meed Ward will argue against giving the developer the same rezoning and demand that the city get much more for what the developer wants. If you have any doubt where Meed Ward is heading – read one of her recent community newsletters.
The Planner will stick to the rules – no fast ones with Bruce Krushelnicki.
As the motto on the city`s crest puts it: Stand by.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 24, 2012 It was, and still is, a very good idea. It needed more time and after realizing that the quality of the submissions weren’t quite what he had in mind when he announced the event; Mayor Rick Goldring scaled back his Mayor’s Cabaret and announced a new date.
The event is a good one – it represents the first foray for this Mayor into sponsoring an event that becomes his legacy for the city. Everything the Mayor does is political and he is on duty 24×7. He gets calls to do the darndest things and show up at the most unusual places. They range from cutting a ribbon at a barbershop opening to taking part in the handover of a cheque to a community group.
Every Mayor has to determine what kind of Mayor he or she wants to be. Goldring needed his first year to get a feel for the office and to figure out how city hall really worked and then to pull together the team he needed to do his job and then settle into a pattern of relationships with his fellow Council members.
 Mayor Goldring gets asked to attend all kinds of retail store openings - and he tends to attend. He also gets asked to take part in cheque presentations and when it is for a community group that is helping the disadvantaged - the Mayor attends willingly and hangs around for a lot longer than most do for the run of the mill photo-opportunity. Here the Mayor takes part in the presentation of a cheque for the Camelot Community Centre. Goldring has done that rather well. But the being a public Mayor is still a work in progress. Should a couple of guys who have opened up a muffler shop with the money they got back from beer bottles that were returned to the Beer Store have the Mayor on hand to cut the ribbon for their official opening? I mean, who really cares?
Is the Mayor supposed to be at the beck and call of anyone that has his phone number? This Mayor does want to hear from people and he is a good listener. For every politician the next election starts the day after the ballots for the last one are counted.
The Mayor is the voice of the community. Should there be a community emergency – he is the guy who goes into a Command Centre at City Hall with the Fire Chief and runs the show.
Hamilton’s Mayor goes to public events and wears the chair of office – Goldring has yet to do that; he’s not that much of a showman and tends to be more low key. However, he does get challenged with when to say no to a request that he appear. Say no to a potential voter? Not easily.
 Mayor Goldring on the left and Joanne Taylor on the right with a student at the Camelot Centre. Goldring spent close to half an hour talking to the students and having a piece of cake with them; it was more than a photo opportunity. The Chief Magistrate performing at a high public level. What is the balance to being the Chief Magistrate and at the same time being a politician running for office? What kind of a Mayor does Burlington want? How does Mayor Goldring hear what the public wants in terms of what the Mayor does and shouldn’t do? It is a tricky business trying to be all things to all people.
Early in his mandate Goldring found himself surprised and a little non-plussed when people approached him in the super market aisles and wanted to shake his hand. He was at times taken aback when people thought it was a big deal for the Mayor to show up at an event.
It took him awhile to get used to the change in his status and there were times when he dropped the ball – literally at the tossing of the first ball at a Burlington Twins opening season game.
Being a politician means being in the public eye – all the time – which plays total havoc on personal and family life. The seven people who serve as Council members are out almost every evening, every weekend and whenever someone has something that is important to them.
Most politicians certainly go for the photo opportunity. Some members of your Council head for the television cameras like moths to a flame. All that media attention tends to warp a personality and as a result you get the kind of civic leadership you want because you put them in office..
What do you want your Council member to do for you? Listen to you of course, but what happens on those occasions when the Council members want to hear from you and you don’t show up?
The bulk of the Council members wanted public input from the community and five of the seven held events in their wards inviting people to attend a short workshop where they got a chance to talk about some of the specifics in the budget ad to talk about the trade-offs they would like to see. City Hall staff went to considerable effort to make the events interesting.
But the turnout was – well it wasn’t great. Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven didn’t hold a public event nor did Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward. Both directed their constituents to the event the city held. Councillor Taylor put on an event. No one showed up. Councillor Dennison held an event and 14 people showed up. Councillor Sharman held an event – five people showed up. Councillor Lancaster held an event ran two advertisements in a newspaper and distributed flyers and not a single person showed up.
Councillor mentioned at his event that there was a time when 45+ people attended his budget information sessions. What has changed?
The seven members of Council are both civic minded people who are in the business of serving the public and getting re-elected. And if you don’t think losing an election hurts both emotionally and financially – you’ve not been paying attention.
The seven people who serve you decide how much of your money is going to be spent on taxes and you can’t refuse to pay or take your business somewhere else.
Former Prime Minister John Turner recently told a television interviewer that “democracy doesn’t just happen”. He got that right.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 7, 2012 Now look at what you’ve done Mike. The Dippers have called for a study on the inappropriate use of secret sessions at all of the federal government committees where legislation is studied, debated, altered and approved. Had you not attempted to slip through a motion that would allow for those secret meetings the Dippers would never had known that the subject needed study.
And for this to happen on the anniversary of your being sworn in as a Member of the House of Commons in 2006 – well, this is a real let down. With six years as an MP under your belt you now qualify for that deliciously fat federal pension – which is going to be kind of awkward to square when you meet with seniors later this month and tell them that you are bringing them some help with their income tax returns. It is not easy being an MP – but you already know that.
Now for those readers who do not read what comes out of Ottawa every day – some background.
Burlington`s Conservative MP Mike Wallace tried to introduce a motion at the government operations committee, of which he is the vice chair, that would force the public to leave the room whenever the committee is determining such matters as which witnesses to call and what subjects to investigate. Conservative MPs on other committees introduced similar motions.
Marvelous Mike explained at that time that witnesses at the government operations committee would still be heard in public. “But then” he added “we go in camera to discuss who we are going to invite next and what study we are going to do, all that kind of stuff. It gives members of Parliament an opportunity to speak frankly about what should be next for the committee to study.” It also keeps the public from knowing anything about certain witnesses.
The Dippers were certain that the government was up to something and given that they are now the official opposition they felt they had to do something and because they didn’t know what to actually do – they opted to call for a study.
The federal New Democrats are trying to ensure that the Conservative government does not push the debate at Commons committees behind closed doors. Chris Charlton, the NDP Whip, introduced a motion Tuesday at the procedures and House affairs committee calling on the committee to begin a study of the “inappropriate” use of secret sessions at all of the committees where legislation is studied, debated, altered and approved.
“I think it’s really important that committees stay one of the accountable and transparent parts of Parliamentary process which they have always been,” Ms. Charlton said going in to the committee room.
“Unfortunately,” she said, “I think we have seen that the government members are increasingly anxious to move things in camera so that media can’t have access, Canadians can’t have access, and no one is sure what is happening behind closed doors.”
They were talking about you Marvelous Mike and I don`t think they were being very nice. The least they could have done was congratulate you on the anniversary of your being sworn in as an MP – goodness knows, most of those Dippers aren’t going to make it to that, heaven on earth day, otherwise known as becoming eligible for a fat pension. Most of them are one term members at best.
“For most Canadians, what happens inside committees is sort of insider baseball,” said Ms. Charlton. “But the reality is that when pensions, for example, are being debated in this House, Canadians have a stake in what happens. And by being able to makes submissions to committees, by having the media report about what’s happening in committees, they are informed about what this government is doing. It’s a critical part of accountability.”
Marc Garneau, a Liberal member of the procedures and House affairs committee, and by the way a former astronaut who was the first Canadian to go into space, said he agreed with Ms. Charlton.
The Committees should be “as public as we can be,” said Mr. Garneau. “There are a few occasions when it has to be in camera, but, as much as possible, the principle should be that it should not be in camera so the media and the public have maximum access.”
 By Pepper Parr
Burlington, Ont. –Jan. 26, 2012—McMaster University has selected Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital as the preferred site for the Halton McMaster Family Health Centre, the city, Halton Region, McMaster University and Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital (JBMH) announced jointly today. Nice news, but notice the city of Burlington isn’t in that list of names.
Now, pay very close attention to the language used – the JBMH is their preferred site, which is a long mile away from being THE site. The decision isn’t theirs to make – theirs being McMaster, the Region or the JBMH.
“This is an important announcement for Burlington, and demonstrates a partnership that is devoted to enhancing health care in our city,” Mayor Rick Goldring said today at the Burlington Convention Centre during his State of the City address. “Creating a teaching hospital here in Burlington will raise the quality of health care for the people of Burlington and provide a great complement to the redevelopment of Joseph Brant hospital.”
It might – but isn’t there going to be a teaching element at the new hospital being built in Oakville? Does anyone really think that the province, who happen to be a little short of cash these days, is going to build a teaching hospital in Burlington? Great if we can get it – but I don’t think it’s in the cards girls and boys.
The city and the region have committed $10 million to McMaster University as part of the Ron Joyce Centre, housing the DeGroote School of Business, on South Service Road. This project included a commitment by McMaster to open a Halton McMaster Family Health Centre in downtown Burlington.
Well, McMaster has reneged on Burlington in the past (recall the plans – heck even an announcement and a sign saying parking lot # 4 on John Street was going to be the home of the McMaster/DeGroote School of Business – but somehow the buildings migrated a bit to the south and east of our downtown core.
 The Oakville hospital is under construction. Their Foundation has raised more than $18 million. Staff have donated $675,000. JBMH doesn't even have a sign announcing their re-development. There is a drawing. “One of the key initiatives in the Citizens’ Priorities – Halton Region’s 2011-2014 Action Plan is to attract new physicians to establish medical practices in Halton,” said Regional Chair Gary Carr. “A partnership such as this will help to bring new physicians to the Region, and give more residents access to a family doctor.”
 The new Oakville hospital is under construction. Hamilton has two hospitals. Is the provincial government going to pay for a large new hospital when there are hospitals less than a 15 minute drive away? Tough to do when the province admits they don't have any money. There are more than 30 other communities looking for money to build hospitals. Milton is in desperate shape. Doctors are going to come to Halton Mr. Carr but they will be settling in at the NEW Oakville Hospital where there is already a hole in the ground with a fixed price contract signed and more than $18 million raised buy their hospital foundation – of which more than $675, 000.00 came from the staff.
McMaster anticipates using two floors, and about 15,000 square feet (1,394 square metres), of Joseph Brant as part of the Phase 1 project. All parties hope to be operational at Joseph Brant by the end of 2013.
These guys have taken the Liberal Party resolution to allow the public sale of marijuana too seriously and are clearly setting aside some of their allowance money to buy good weed and a little less on single malt. McMaster wants those two floors of space and if they have to jerk the public around to get it – well tough on the public. We’re talking turf here people, not to mention budgets.
“Although we are still working through our approval process, we know this location for the family health centre will be an excellent opportunity to strengthen our ties to Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital for the benefit of the hospital, the residents of Burlington and Halton and the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine,” said Dr. David Price, chair of the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. “This centre will also serve our expanding family medicine program in the Region.”
Pipe dreams, pipe dreams and terribly mis-leading. 2013? – they won’t even have a hole in the ground by then.
Dr. John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences, added: “This is an important step of our move towards having learners from our medical school and many of our health science programs involved in health care throughout Halton.”
The site plan application for Phase 1 will be submitted to the city’s planning and building department in May. Public consultation will help the community better understand the plans at Joseph Brant.
Are these people assuming that the Memorandum of Understanding between the city of Burlington and the JBMH will be signed by May? It’s been, what, five months in the making so far. There are people on Burlington city council who don’t want as much as a dime moving out of the reserve fund that has something in excess of $4.8 million in it at the moment. If one counts the votes on the Burlington city council – I don’t think there are enough to slip this one past the public.
If this Burlington city council gives the JBMH any of the money raised through a special tax levy and all the city has to show for it is a parking garage – every member of council is at risk of not being elected. Burlington has put up with The Pier debacle and are going along with their Mayor and his decision to complete The Pier. They will not go along with paying $60 million for a parking lot.
On Aug. 10, 2011, the province confirmed that the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital re-development project is approved. This project, with a budget of more $300 million, will result in a significantly rejuvenated hospital.
You do recall dear readers that we were in the middle of a provincial election and the Liberals were going to say whatever they had to say to stay in office. One of the things they said was that Burlington was going to get its hospital. Recall too, that the Minister who was on her way to Burlington to deliver that good news didn’t make it. She didn’t make it at the polls either – she lost her seat.
“We are very pleased to have the new Halton McMaster Family Health Centre on our hospital site,” said Dr. Dwight Prodger, Chief of Staff at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. “There will be many benefits to Burlington and area residents with the HMFHC being located here including improved access to family medicine and specialist physicians and it will also help increase the hospital’s ability to recruit and retain new physicians.”
They will be pleased as punch to get a teaching hospital settled in at the JBMH.. Using lines like “very pleased to have” suggests this is a done deal. Go back to that headline – a teaching facility is their “preferred” location.
The project will proceed in two Phases. The hospital will begin with an RFP process and tender on Phase 1 in 2012 and construction in 2013. Phase 2 will go through a similar process with the tender award in 2014.
This sounds a little like the early stages of The Pier – recall that there was a plan that called for a much larger pier but when the prices came in – well things got cut back a bit. Expect lots of cutting back on this one as well. It just might get cut right back to the tap root.
In December 2009, City Council approved a municipal contribution of $60 million for the proposed hospital redevelopment plan. The city is working on a Memorandum of Understanding and contribution agreement with the hospital that will outline when and how Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital will receive the city funding.
This is true. The when and how of those funds moving from the city’s bank account to the hospitals is far from settled.
The city began collecting $1.2 million in 2010 and 2011 through a special tax levy. City Council earmarked $2.4 million from previous years’ surpluses, and now has $4.8 million committed in a reserve fund earning interest. The tax levy amounts to $4 for each $100,000 of residential assessment.
This is also true but it doesn’t mean that we are going to see a teaching facility at the JBMH.
The city has shown leadership in committing $60 million for the hospital redevelopment, and taxpayers have confirmed they think this money should be spent on improving our community hospital.
This too is also true – more true is that city put their money where their mouths are. The JBMH Foundation has yet to announce that they have raised as much as a dime. They did have a nice group photo taken.
The Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital redevelopment and expansion is a $300 million-plus project. The planned civic contribution is $120 million. The Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation has committed to raising $60 million through a fundraising campaign in addition to the city’s contribution of $60 million.
Nice statement but no announcement from the Hospital Foundation as to how much they have raised. There are a number of traditional major donors who are keeping their cheque books in their pockets. When the redevelopment of the hospital is real – they will write cheques.
A telephone survey by Ipsos Reid in November 2009 found strong public support for the hospital redevelopment project and for a municipal contribution. Ninety per cent of Burlington residents surveyed agreed the project was important, and 72 per cent of those surveyed were supportive of the project when told about the proposed $60 million municipal contribution.
So? Can you imagine anyone saying they don’t want an improved hospital.. Burlington people are quite decent and they would see the need for the city to pay a portion.
Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital was built in 1961. The last major update and refurbishment was more than 40 years ago. The redevelopment of the hospital is expected to include: 10 new operating rooms, a new intensive care unit, 76 new in-patient beds, an enlarged and improved cancer unit, new diagnostic imaging and laboratory areas, enlarged parking facilities; and an expanded outpatient surgical suite.
Those enlarged parking facilities are where the Burlington tax dollars are going to go. Someone needs to put a hobble on all this.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON January 26, 2012 He managed to get through a 25 minute speech without once saying a word about The Pier, but did tell the Burlington Chamber of Commerce, State of the City audience that the city is in good shape.
Mayor Rick Goldring chose to point to the opportunities and left his audience with the impression that the challenges we have are all manageable without detailing just what those challenges are. The deficit the city faces with its infrastructure; the very real political problems he faces with the re-development of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, where he has to front $60 million of the $300 million cost and hope that he can survive the damage when the province doesn’t come through with their portion of the funding in 2014 – which is an election year for the Mayor. Goldring opened the kimono just a little when he said: “…we didn’t anticipate the timing of the announcement or the fact that the city taxpayers along with donours have to front end $60 million each over the next six years.” Mr. Mayor, if the provincial government does it to you once – you just know they are going to at least try to do it to you again, so don’t bend over.
 Old Lakeshore precinct continues to be "the jewel" that has yet to find a crown. No mention was made of the opportunity to play a leading role in the development of the Mainway Beach west of Spencer Smith Park, that has been languishing for more than a decade. That opportunity, to do some significant and very innovative development in that part of the city, looks as if it is going to get away from us and be in the hands of the Conservation Authority, because Burlington hasn’t come forward with any solid plans or initiatives. The Waterfront Advisory Committee has let the city down terribly on this one. It had the opportunity to develop and present some creative ideas that would offer some solutions to make much more out of the western beach and the Old Lakeshore precinct. The Mayor can’t do it all.
While things appear to be under control with the plans the province had to ram a road right through Lowville, the fact is that the Minister who told the Mayor that the road would not be built is no longer the Minister responsible for transportation. Saying “we are committed to keep our 50/50 rural urban split, meaning that all new development must occur south of the Dundas-407 corridor” is one thing. Putting a stake through the heart of the idea of an Escarpment highway is another matter. The Mayor is going to have to rely on rookie MP Jane McKenna to ensure that we don’t get horn swoggled by the province should they try to argue that Burlington is going to have to take it on the chin for the greater good of the province and all those jobs that will result in trucks being able to roar across the Escarpment with products bound for the U S of A.
 Thordon Bearings, a Burlington based technology company with a bullet proof vest made out of patents and trade secrets. Burlington could use a few more of these. The American economy is in such poor shape that Burlington would be better selling products to China and India. We would be even better off if we could create intellectual property industries and sell ideas and technology to South America and some of the developing countries. Thordon Bearings and EcoSynthetix are great examples of what we are capable of – and at that level Mayor Goldring was dead on when he talked about the opportunities for on-going executive education at the McMaster DeGroote School on the South Service Road. The disappointing point the Mayor made was that less than 4% of the McMaster business students who do a co-op program – there were in excess of 140 of them in 2011 – worked with Burlington based companies. This city is letting top notch talent work on co-op programs with companies outside of the city – probably our competitors. We should be and could be providing at least 20% of those students with co-op opportunities. Not because we want to give them work experience but because we want to be able to pick their brains and use their developing skills and energy. They just might find a future vice president as well.
Burlington has been on the cusp of breaking through an economic barrier for a number of years but the city doesn’t have any class A office space. Hopes have reigned supreme for more than a decade for the development of some first class office space. Goldring told his audience there are three major development applications approved several years ago – but there are no shovels in the ground yet. Can he use a cattle prod to get something moving on this? Someone is going to have to get very creative and put together a development in the downtown core that involves the federal and provincial governments who will take some space in a new building to ensure it is economically feasible for the first five years. You know the phrase – if you build a better mousetrap they will come – but you have to put some cheese in that mousetrap. We seem to have forgotten that.
 Is Brant street going to see some class A office space or will it always be retail that is consistently challenged to be viable? An appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board for a change to the Official Plan that would allow for more height on property at Brant and James Street favoured the developer who can now put up seven floors as of right and can ask for an additional three floors. The understanding within the Planning department is that the developer will make it a mixed use building with retail on the ground floor and both residential and commercial above that. The developer used the same model for another development five or six blocks north on Brant and one block east where a 17 story building, a parking garage and a smaller structure that hopes to attract medical practitioners.
The city’s heritage problems didn’t get as much as a mention but the Performing Arts Centre got the favourable comments it has gotten since the day it opened. However, no one is saying anything about what the revenue and expense number for the BPAC look like.
The Mayor did announce one very interesting program that is just being launched. InnovateBurlington is an intern program that was put together by an advisory committee that saw the need for an innovative, entrepreneurial community of graduate students who could gain some meaningful work experience during which they would develop strategic projects for local corporations. Burlington needs a little more ginger in its commercial diet.
Innovate Burlington is a partnership between the BEDC, the city, the Chamber of Commerce, The Centre for Skills Development and Training and McMaster University. These were the founding forces that took part of Rick Goldring’s election platform and grew it to the point where it was ready to be made operational and given to the BEDC to operate at least during the early stages.
Serious problems with retaining the really significant heritage homes in the city weren’t addressed. We can’t be a world class city if we ignore and demolish the important heritage homes. A city that forgets its roots will, like a tree, eventually topple over. Freeman Station is still out there waiting to be saved.
 Mayor Goldring tells Chamber of Commerce audience that he is just taking care of business. Mayor Goldring is developing as a speaker. For some reason he came across as a little rushed this morning – sounded as if he needed to get all the words out before people left the room to get to their offices. Public speaking can, and should be, entertaining. It has a pace of its own and hopefully over time Goldring will develop a style that is a little less rushed. As for content and style it had a line that will certainly get picked up by others and I think you can expect to see it in his campaign literature. He said the 21st century is going to be about the ability to learn, unlearn and relearn. He can put that on a T shirt and win an election on it. And make no mistake about it – short of a calamity, Goldring is a two term Mayor and maybe even three. Based on what we have seen so far from this man – we should be so lucky.
Whenever you talk to someone who has lived in Burlington for more than ten years you will hear again and again how great a city this is to live in. It does have great geography going for it – but it doesn’t have much in the way of buzz going for it.
We talk about the high tech, high paying jobs we want to attract. The people who do the innovative thinking at work need a city that is innovative, fresh, growing with at least some excitement in it. Goldring clearly underlined that point when he said: “the state of a city is an attitude, a feeling, a level of confidence about how things are going”. We are confident – are we complacent as well?
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON December 28, 2011 – In the world of politics it is called getting ahead of the parade. When there is some news you know is going to create some controversy, you get out in front of it and do your best to control it, put it in context and frame it with as much positive data as you can. Smart people do that –they work at creating the agenda rather than being the agenda.
Come Tuesday of next week, Eric Vandewall and others at the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital (JBMH) will be the agenda when what they are paid each year is made public. The province decided some time ago that what hospital administrators are paid is public information and can be learned through a simple access to information request.
Several local media then gave the JBMH a call a few days before Christmas and asked – “well just how much are you paying the lad?” and were told that the media would have to wait until January 3rd, which is what the rules call for. All the hospitals in the Burlington-Hamilton area got together and agreed that they would all release the numbers at the same time. In the commercial world that’s called collusion and if they were selling something we would call it price fixing, but I digress.
 Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital CEO Eric Vandewall is about to tell us what he gets paid annually. He didn't volunteer this information. Hospital administrators are paid with tax dollars and Ontario has for some time made the salaries of those paid by the taxpayers public information. It has been called the Sunshine list and is released each year.
The public relations people at JBMH had an excellent opportunity to be seen as complying openly and willingly with the new rule – but instead of doing that they decided to drag their feet and leave the impression that they really don’t want you to know – and come Monday they will be the news story of the day unless there is a natural disaster somewhere in the world.
I have always wondered why intelligent, highly paid people do such stupid things. It’s kind of scary when you think about it. They don’t seem to be able to think much beyond the end of their noses or they are far too focused on their own self-interests – either way – scary.
These are the people we pay very well to make good decisions on our behalf and when they behave like this – stalling for what amount to less than two weeks one wonders – why?
A positive news story would state what Vandewall is paid and then put it in context with say what the city manager is paid ($214,000+ for the last one) and what the President of McMaster University is paid and then look for what some of the publicly traded companies are paying their CEO’s. Help the public see and appreciate the value we taxpayers are getting for the dollars that go into their pockets.
The medical community has always had a rather high level of arrogance about it. One had to just watch Vandewall when he last appeared before city council. He wanted money the city had set aside as its share for the re-build of the hospital and the sooner the better was the message he was sending. Vandewall told council that the hospital Foundation would match what the city was putting up, $60 million of your dollars over a six year period. Add the city’s $60 million to what the hospital Foundation was committed to raising and you have a handy $120 million.
 Hospital Foundation Board - needs to raise $60 million. So far has only managed to get their picture taken. Nice picture though. Problem is the Foundation has yet to raise a dime, at least they haven’t reported any funds being raised but they did have a nice picture taken of themselves. In due course the Foundation will raise its share but right now the hospital needs to lay its hands on some cash so the early prep work for the eventual re-build of the hospital can get done.
One of the first layers of that work is the building of a parking garage. Why a parking garage first? The hospital has to clear some land that will be used to add the new extensions to the hospital and they need a place to put the cars currently parked on the hospital lot. So, they thought, why not get the city of Burlington to pass along some of the money needed to build the garage.
 Parking space - someone has to come up with the money to pay for a parking garage so that these cars have a place to go. Burlington city council isn't very keen on city money being used to pay for a hospital parking lot. Not so fast, say the folks at city hall. Before as much as a dime of city money goes to the hospital, the Memorandum of Understanding (or whatever they are going to call the document that sets out who gets what and who does what) has to be signed. That document has been in the negotiation/development stage for more than four months now. Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor is keeping a very close eye on this one – he’s not about to see a big chunk of the city’s money get used to pay for a hospital parking garage. Taylor was heard to mutter something about maybe having the parking lot revenue go to the city.
All the Senior people at City Hall get their names published in the Annual Sunshine list (Its officially known as the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act), if they earn more than $100,000. The list comes out early in August – we’ll see that you get a copy. Eric Vandewall earns well in excess of $100,000; he may well be the best paid civil servant in the city, an accolade he isn’t going to want to wear on his lapel.
 Hospital CEO Eric Vandewall stalling for time while waiting for a provincial government Minister to show up to announce that the hospital re-build would be funded. The Minister never arrived. This isn't the last time the provincial government is going to let the CEO down. Good talent has to be paid the going rate and there are not a lot of exceptional hospital administrators in the province. Vandewall was brought in to clean up a real mess and it would appear that he is doing a very good job at what he is being paid a very good salary to do. The public needs to appreciate that his job is to get the new hospital Burlington has wanted for some time built – and the faster the better.
Part of the problem is that the kind of hospital Vandewall is beavering away to get built down on Lakeshore Road may not be the kind of hospital Burlington needs for its aging population. There is reason to believe that Burlington might be much better served with a community type hospital and have Hamilton and Oakville handle the type of medical situations that calls for the high tech/emergency level care.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the needs of our aging population are probably not best met with the type of hospital JBMH is slated to be rebuilt into. What is best for the city is not yet clear but no one seems to want to ask the question: What kind of hospital is going to meet the needs of our changing demographic and at the same time meet the needs of the current growing population. But there isn’t a politician in this city who is going to stand up and ask that question publicly. It would be really interesting to hear what people within the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care think is best for Burlington long term.
He has to do this job and get it done while working with a government that seldom tells him the truth and happens to be broke and isn’t likely to come through with the money needed to do the rebuild. Eric Vandewall has a very tough five years in front of him. He isn’t going to be able to do what he was hired to do – through no fault of his own.
So he looks at the pile of cash Burlington is sitting on and looks for ways to get it out of the city’s bank account and into the hospital’s. Good luck Mr. Vandewall. There happens to be a wily old coot sitting at that Council table and he isn’t at all keen on seeing city money used to pay for the building of a parking garage. Part of the garage ? – probably.
When they all learn what you’re being paid – they are going to make you work very hard for every dollar of it.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 26, 2011 – Burlington`s Strategic plan calls for the city to set aside $10 million a year for the next six years to pay for a part of the upgrading of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital which the province has promised would take place in 2013. The Mayor`s Inspire series speaker last week seemed to suggest that an upgraded hospital was not what Burlington needed.
Globe and Mail health columnist Andre Picard, an eminent policy analyst in the health field and the recipient of numerous awards including the Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service Journalism, the Canadian Policy Research Award, the Atkinson fellowship for public policy research and the Centennial Prize of the Pan American Organization. He was named Canada’s first Public Health Hero by the Canadian Public Health Association and was honoured as a champion of mental health. He is a four-time finalist for the National Newspaper Awards. In other words he is thought of as someone who knows what he is talking about. So when he suggests that upgrading of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital was not necessarily the best thing to do with the limited resources available we might want to sit up and listen.
 Andre Picard, a noted authority on heath services policy and lead columnist for the Globe & Mail was just a little cool to the idea of a new hospital for Burlington at the Mayor's Inspire series last week. Picard outlined the need for community delivered health services which led to Our Burlington asking Mr. Picard this question: If you are calling for a community based system to deliver health service because that is more cost effective delivery and better health – then does Burlington need a major upgrade to the Joseph Brant Memorial hospital ?
Picard equivocated a bit with his answer when he said it would depend on there being hospitals close at hand that could deliver the kind of service that only a hospital can provide and then added that he thought an upgraded hospital in Burlington was probably a good thing, more or less. More or less? That wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement was it?
Using his criteria – one could argue (and the provincial government might well do that) that there are excellent hospitals in Hamilton and Oakville which are a very short ambulance drive away. You can get to a Hamilton hospital from Lowville faster than you can get to JBMH.
Does Burlington then need an upgrade to its hospital? Asking that question in this city and you have really put the fat in the fire. All three candidates in the recent provincial election swore on their Mother’s graves that they would fight mightily to have the province give a firm commitment – with a date attached to it – guaranteeing that our hospital would get the upgrade it needs and which we were promised.
And now we hear from one of the best thinkers in the country suggesting that a new hospital in Burlington might not be what’s best for the community. Isn’t that ducky?
We know the province doesn’t have any money, and we know that our economy is getting more wobbly every week. But no one at the provincial level is suggesting that Burlington might want to look at a different model to meet the needs of its aging population.
The city did, what it thought was best, and what the province required them to do, and that was put up $10 million a year for six years to pay for a portion of the cost of the upgrade, we have been told was totally necessary.
The city and the hospital are still working out how the $60 million the city is going to put into the kitty will be spent. At this point it looks like the city’s money will be used to pay for the building of a parking lot, because the space now being used to park cars is needed for the expansion that is planned. The city hasn’t written the cheque yet – maybe they want to put a hold on it and ask the hospital to sit with them and take another look at the plans.
 Andre Picard, speaker at the Mayor's Inspire series has given Mayor Goldring much to think about, when he came out as less than enthusiastic about the planned JBMH upgrade. That will take a level of political courage that is seldom seen.
The long term outlook for a new hospital in Burlington just might need a real hard look before we do something really dumb. Added to Picard’s Wednesday evening comments, were remarks made in the provincial Legislature on Thursday, where an NDP member read out the list of hospital upgrades the province is talking about – more than 20 of them. In the economy we are in it just can`t happen. And someone needs to begin to be much more honest with the people who live here, pay the taxes and expect the public health services they need
Every candidate in the last provincial election said they would ensure that we got the hospital upgrade – what wasn’t asked was – do we need a hospital upgrade? Every candidate said, what they thought you wanted to hear. Not one of them had done their homework. One of them, Liberal candidate Karmel Sakran, used to sit on the hospital board and was as close to the center of political power as one can get – and he never suggested, that perhaps the hospital model we are working within is the wrong model.
All the candidates just mouthed, what they thought the voters wanted to hear. Should the province decide that Burlington is not the place for a large expensive hospital, and that we should have a number of community care centres spread throughout the city – – just wait for the political howling.
 JBMH president Eric Vandewall might want to have lunch with Inspire speaker and noted authority on public health service delivery and talk about the best form of public insitution to meet the needs of the community. Mayor Goldring might want to sit in on that lunch - even pick up the tab if some sensible thinking comes out of the meal. Picard`s comments suggest that Burlington might not have made the smartest move. Is the city – that means both the citizens, its city council and the senior hospital staff plus the Board of Directors – courageous enough to ask the hard questions like, is this really the best thing for the city and its citizens?
One would hope that the Mayor would take the opportunity to have dinner with Picard and ask some hard-nosed questions. Maybe even ask for some advice as well on how we determine what is best for the city. In the meantime, don’t write the cheque that would deliver the $20 million plus sitting in the bank.
Let’s be absolutely sure we are doing what is best for the community and not just what’s best for the medical community who would love to have a shiny new building.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 16, 2011 – It was a Community Services Committee meeting; that meant Scott Stewart was on deck and that meant an Update on The Pier. It was short – less than 50 words actually – which meant there was nothing really happening and Stewart suggested that perhaps Pier Updates could be dispensed with. ‘Not so fast laddie’ was the response he got to that idea. Councillor Dennison said there “was significant enough concern” in the community and that putting out the report lets people “at least know there is something going on”. Meed Ward chimed in saying she was supportive of continuing the updates at every second Community Services meeting. “It is not a lack of trust” commented Meed Ward. “Things do happen, things did happen. This is a prudent course.”
Then Meed Ward upped the ante a bit and asked when there might be some information on how much money has been spent on lawyers and what the legal strategy was going to be regarding the Pier going forward.
Stewart, along with Acting City Manager Kim Philips, advised the committee they could expect something at the December 14th committee meeting. Meed Ward wanted more than an ‘expect something’ but the best she could get was that there would be some material on what the strategy should be on releasing information about legal costs but there would be no numbers.
 General Manager Scott Stewart on the left and Councillor Meed Ward second from the right (Helen Wallihura in the middle) This is not the last time Meed Ward will be using hand gestures to communicate with Stewart. Meed Ward and Stewart bantered back and forth on what exactly the committee was going to get. “All expenses on the Pier” asked Meed Ward – “No,”, responded Scott Stewart. ” there will be an overview and discussion around a strategy then discussion around the costs.” It was like pulling teeth from a hen. It was clear that staff really didn’t want to talk about this and equally clear that Meed Ward did want to talk about how much money had been spent suing the various parties that were involved with the building of the Pier during what is now called Phase 1.
Staff kept talking about looking for a strategy within which they could then release specific financial data on the Pier. How much are you prepared to bet that much of this “strategy” stuff will get discussed in closed session?
One got the sense that staff (city solicitor Nancy Shea Nicol was not at the meeting) wanted to say as little as possible but that cat was out of the bag and Meed Ward wasn’t going to put it back in.
Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison made an important point when he advised the committee Wednesday evening, that Burlington has not been involved in any construction related litigation in more than 17 years – which made the announced attendance of city solicitor Nancy Shea-Nicol at a December 14th committee meeting all the more interesting because the city now has law suits being pressed on a number of corporations that were involved in the design and phase one construction of The Pier.
The city has brought in outside legal counsel – understood to be Weir & Foulds, a Toronto law firm that has been a leader in municipal matters, advising on every step they take. The city has also had a law firm overseeing the procurement of material for the second phase of The Pier. Ms Shea-Nicol must spend the better part of a day each month approving invoices that several members of council are just itching to know what the total amount is on the invoice.
Councillor Meed Ward made The Pier an election issue during her campaign for public office and she now wants to know just how much the city has spent on legal services. She had wanted the city to go back to the original contractor and work out the problems with Henry Schilthuis and Sons, (HSS) but the city decided not to “kiss and make up” nor did they like the look of the offer Schilthuis insurance company put on the table.
 The real legal issue that is costing the city a small fortune is these steel beams which were found to be defective after a crane accident during phase 1 construction. Councillor Meed Ward wants to know how much the city has spent on legal costs and the city solicitor doesn't want to tell her - yet. The completion of the Pier, for an additional $5.8 million, is now in the hands of Graham Infrastructure, who now have a construction trailer on the site and may soon begin removing all the deficient steel that is in place and have things ready for the new ‘up to spec’ steel that will be available sometime in the spring.
Shea-Nicol, the Director of Legal Services as well as Solicitor for the city and was once a planner who, in the words of the city’s Director of Planning Bruce Kruszelnicki, moved to the “dark side” and took on “robes” which are not made of silk but perhaps that honour will come her way in the future. She certainly understands the need for a strategy but does tend to keep every scrap of information that crosses her desk tucked into a drawer or a brief case she locks. The idea that a public has to be informed if they are to make responsible decisions seems to evade her. The view seems to be that ‘we the lawyers know best’ which is fine but there is an obligation to let your client know what you are doing and why – and the client is the city council but is not just the city council. The people who pay the taxes have a big interest in all this.
In the meantime Shea-Nicol will battle with council and say as little as possible until she is absolutely certain the city has kept its powder dry and is ready to negotiate the best possible settlement for the city. Let’s just hope the parties on the other side don’t come across anything during the ‘examination for discovery’ sessions that could jeopardize the city’s claim.
While the Director of Legal Services will put forth a strategy which council will debate – it is the city council that decides what it wants to do – yes of course with advice from the legal counsel, but one would hope that common sense would prevail and that respect for the taxpayers would be top of mind.
This council has a tendency to believe that everything their lawyers tell them is exactly what they should be doing – and that is not responsible local government by any stretch of the imagination. A council has an obligation to fully inform its citizens and to call to account in-house lawyers who might be in thrall to colleagues who are with large prestigious firms in Toronto. Burlington’s city council has kept information on the cost of this legal mess from the public for far too long.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON October 7, 2011 – We said at the beginning of this election that for the Liberals to win the Tory voters had to sit on their hands and some of the New Democrats had to hold their noses and vote Liberal. Neither of those things happened in Burlington and the city is basically where it was when this all started – a women representing the riding who is younger than the one we have and in need of a mentor to show her the way around the Legislature.
The Lady Jane is on her own now – even though there are people who know Queen`s Park exceptionally well, who talk of mentoring Jane McKenna, she would be wise to seek her own counsel an not let any of those who have been that route take her under their wing.
It was our view that McKenna was woefully unqualified for the job she now has, but she is the member for Burlington and we accept the will of the voters.
McKenna could of course make a name for herself and change the course of history in Ontario by giving Dalton McGuinty a call and crossing the floor of the Legislature to sit as a Liberal. The party would be grateful and groom her as a parliamentary secretary and promise that if she could learn that job she would be made a junior cabinet minister in a couple of years.
The Legislature needs to elect a Speaker. The Liberals just have to sit tight and not put up any candidates and let the other parties fight it out for the job. The Speaker doesn`t vote – except in a tie vote but if The Lady Jane crosses the floor there will never be any tie votes. McGuinty would have the government he needs to run the province the way it needs to be run for four more years.
Laura Secord, who came from a part of the province just to the west of Burlington, and look at what she did for the province ? Possibilities here Jane. Think about it.
Assuming you do cross the floor, you would do so on the condition that McGuinty give you an unconditional guarantee that the hospital will be funded – do that and you`ll have the seat until you are well into your eighties. You might manage to beat Hazel McCallion`s record for political longevity.
Give Regional Chair Gary Carr a call, he was once the Speaker at Queen’s Park, – he`ll tell you what you have to do to cross the floor. He`ll forgive you changing your political colours if you get the hospital for Burlington. While you`re at it – ensure as well that roads don`t get built through the Escarpment – and gosh they just might put up a statue of you somewhere in Spencer Smith Park.
We are looking at a possible Great Moments in Ontario history here Lady Jane.
Minority governments have worked for Ontario before and with a strong enough Liberal government in place to put up a good Cabinet things will go well for the province. Ted McMeekin may well get a phone call from the Office of the Premier and be asked to return to Cabinet now that Sophia Aggelonitis is no longer a member of the Legislature. She took a real drubbing whereas Ted McMeekin did just fine up against a very popular public personality.
The Liberal government of course does have a situation on its hands. It didn`t quite have a majority when things settled down for the evening and everyone went home. There might be some recounts, there might be a seat that slips from one side to the other but that isn`t something the Liberals want to count on.
Ted Chudleigh, representing the northern part of the city is going to have to cultivate his soil a little more attentively – don`t think he expect Indira Naidoo-Harris to do quite as well as she did. Chudleigh is an old hand at the game and if he polishes the apples a little more and delivers something for his riding he should be all right next time around.
Redistribution, which will be in place for the next federal election and if this new Ontario government can stay alive for a four year term that redistribution will apply to the province – so both Halton and Burlington will see changes in their boundaries for the next election.
And that next time could be sooner than we want. If we end up with a minority government its days will be numbered. We have a very spunky leader of the New Democratic Party in place and she is going to make Tim Hudak, who will be Leader of the Opposition, wonder at times if he really has that job. Andrea Horwath has found her mojo and she won`t be doing any backing down.
Tim Hudak has some serious re-thinking to do on some of the positions he took during the election. Ontario has a number of very serious financial problems to deal with. This is not the time for the Opposition to be obstructionist.
But it could be the time for a woman who does have one very strong personality trait going for her – the woman has chutzpah – this is time to let it really work for you, for the city and the province Jane McKenna.
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