By Staff
August 7th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Those lazy easy going days of August are upon us.
Let the serious stuff slide for a while. Get out and enjoy the summer – yes it is hot; if you want to complain about the heat, can we first talk about just why it is so hot?
But that would be getting away from enjoying the summer.
There are people doing the work that needs to be done to make a civil society work. Dozens of candidates are walking the streets of the city looking for support.
In the fall the pace will quicken and larger questions as to the kind of city you want will have to be answered.
There are going to be changes; two of the seven members of council have retired and two other members are running against each other for the job of Mayor. Three of the seven will not be there come the end of the year.
Deciding who should be sitting in those council seats is a large part of what being a tax payer is all about – and we are all tax payers.
ECoB –Engaged Citizen of Burlington (ECoB) are organizing debates for every ward in the city and a debate for those who want to be Mayor.
ECoB has worked with the city and the Halton District School Board and have the following locations and dates in place. The city locations (they are indicated with an asterisk *) are not fully confirmed.
Ward 1: Thursday October 4th – at East Plains United Church
Ward 2: Monday October 1st, Burlington Baptist Church
Ward 3: Wednesday September 26th, Brant Hills Community Centre *
Ward 4: Thursday September 27th, Tansley Community Centre *
Ward 5: September 19th, Robert Bateman High School *
Ward 6: Haber Recreation Centre – Date has yet to be confirmed
Mayoralty debate: October 9th, Burlington Central High School.
The debates start at 7:00 pm with doors opening at 6:30 pm.
Mark Carr, the Cogeco moderator of their The Issue, will moderate the ward level debates. ECoB is asking for questions people would like to see put to the candidates. You can send those questions to ecob47@gmail.com
The format will be to have each candidate answer the same question and then to have short debate between the candidates.
The debates in wards 1 and 2 will be interesting given the number of candidates, The only clear one–on–one debate will be in ward 4 where Shawna Stolte is running against incumbent Jack Dennison.
ECoB is in the process of partnering with the Canadian Federation of University Women to run the Mayor debates. The plan is to have Dorothy Borovitch moderate. Ms Borovitch was a recent Burlington Best Award recipient and moderated the debates between the candidates running for the Burlington seat at Queen’s Park.The debate for those who want to be Mayor
ECoB, a citizens organization that has made a difference in the city has put a lot of work into making the debates, which are critical, to a successful election.
Will these debates be available on YouTube for those of us who cannot attend?