By Staff
March 28, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Ministry of Seniors’ Affairs selected the City of Burlington to receive the Age-Friendly Community Recognition Award which was presented last Monday.
Pictured above (l-r): City staff Mandy Newnham and Rob Axiak; BSAC members Sheila Burton and Jim Thurston.
The award recognizes communities and municipalities that are working to meet the needs of Ontario’s growing older adult population by creating enabling environments that encourage social connections and ability to age well.
In July 2017 Council adopted the Burlington Active Aging Plan as a living document intended to evolve with the community and to provide actionable changes to improve the lives of Older Adults within Burlington.
The nomination for the recognition award was submitted by the city’s Burlington Seniors Advisory Committee.
Mayor Rick Goldring with the Hon. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.
In February of 2017 Mayor Rick Goldring welcomed the Hon. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, to the Art Gallery of Burlington for a roundtable discussion on seniors’ housing needs in Burlington. Dowdeswell wanted to learn more about issues, ideas and initiatives of importance to the people of Burlington.
The Roundtable included representatives from Joseph Brant Hospital, the Burlington Seniors’ Advisory Committee; Halton Region’s social services, planning and health senior managers; Habitat for Humanity; private developers; seniors’ housing specialists; and City of Burlington senior managers.
Each of the 15 representatives was asked to consider and comment on the following two questions:
1. What are the current housing opportunities for seniors who want, or need, to find a new home in Burlington?
2. As the number of seniors continues to increase in our city, where should we place our focus in providing new housing opportunities to allow seniors to continue living in Burlington?
The outcome of the visit was the creation of a Task Force that was to be a one year initiative starting in May 2017 and led by the Office of the Mayor.
To date there hasn’t been a single word from the Office of the Mayor on the Task force he created.
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What I find interesting is that the Burlington Seniors Advisory Committee, which is a City Committee, nominated their own City for the Award.
This article captures the malaise that’s gripped the public sector. In place of real action, public sector organizations have cranked up the number of awards they hand out to each other. It’s become a massive orgy of self-congratulation. Most of these awards I’ve never heard of before, and I’ll never hear of again.
They’re nothing more than photo-ops for the politicians or well-paid public sector executives. The politicos hope these announcements serve to distract us from asking them why we’re not getting better service or representation.
As a senior, I am trying to find recent initiatives by Goldring or City Hall that would have made Burlington more age-friendly. I can’t find any. Anyone know?