Close to the biggest development the city has ever seen - but most citizens are not aware of the details.

By Pepper Parr

June 11^th, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

OPINION

The Burlington Economic Development & Tourism corporation (BEDT) was onside.

Anita Cassidy: Burlington Economic Development & Tourism

From an economic development and tourism perspective, the proposed consideration of a community event centre, conference and multi-purpose facilities, recreation amenities, cultural space, and supporting infrastructure is particularly significant.

Burlington continues to benefit from its strategic location within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area; however, Burlington currently lacks certain destination-scale facilities required to attract larger sporting events, tournaments, conferences, cultural programming, entertainment opportunities, and associated visitor spending. Facilities of this nature warrant further evaluation given their potential contribution to economic activity, destination development, community vibrancy, and quality of life.

Other than Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns, every Council member and the Mayor asked – “when can you get to shovel ready” or language of that nature.

Council sat as a Standing committee for two days – then sits for half of today – rare for this crowd.

It was hard to see any due diligence-type thinking.  The comments made by Council members didn’t reveal much.

Councillor Sharman did go on about traffic congestion.

The ability to hop on a GO train from Appleby GO line station through to Aldershot could keep a lot of cars off the roads.

The item goes to the City Council meeting on the 23rd??? where the vote that will allow Alinea and the other partners to begin working with city staff on the three phases get casy in stone.

The Gazette has already commented on the lack of participation from the average citizen.  The special interest groups spoke for the development.  The all had much to gain.

The average citizen will be impacted in a way that we can only imagine at this point.

Staff committed to brisk public engagement – doing that after in principle decisions have been made is typical for the Burlington view of public engagement.

Staff appear to have lost the ability to inform people about important issues. There was a time when the public showed up.

There was a time when people showed up when there were issues they were aware of and cared about.  The Council Chamber was at a Standing Room only.

Lou Frapporti: His “There are moments …” statement is one of the best he has ever made.

Between now and the Council meeting on the 23, there’s an opportunity for each Council member to get the story of this development out to their constituents.

There are risks – they are manageable if they are fully understood – the public just doesn’t know enough at this point.  The for the situation we are in rests on the shoulders of this Council

Lou Frapporti made the case very well when he said:  “There are moments in the life of a city when the future is unusually visible. This is one of them.”

The report on the three investigative phases is to be due Q2 2027

Built out – this is what the community will look like. 9000 new homes, an event centre with a hotel and acres of forested land with walking trails.