By Joe Gaetan
January 21st, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
If you were willing to brave minus-10-degree weather on January 20 to attend the Focus Burlington event, you would have found a packed room – not with optimism, but with frustration.
Residents spoke passionately about not being heard when they delegate at Council. They spoke about a budget driven largely by staffing costs while many live on fixed incomes. They spoke about property taxes rising roughly 44% in four years. They spoke about wages and benefits for municipal employees outpacing those in the private sector. The grievances were real, measured, and deeply felt.
What you did not hear, however, were answers.
Five member panel answered questions put to them by Stephen White.
Not from the expert panel. Not in the form of solutions, timelines, or suggestions for change.
Panel members Alan Harrington, Brad Harness, Eric Stern, Mark Carr and Pepper Parr answered questions and responded to audience concerns.
No one explained how strong mayor powers – now embedded in Burlington’s governance – will result in anything other than more of the same if the same mayor is re-elected in 2026. No one addressed the issue or return of daytime Council meetings, a basic open government tenet and issue for residents who want to observe or participate.
There was no discussion of how reserve funds are increasingly repurposed for major events, such as the FIFA Caravan, while residents are forced to submit Freedom of Information requests just to see the letter of intent – a document that other cities, such as Chatham, provide freely and transparently.
There was no meaningful reflection on whether Burlington’s council structure still serves the community, despite the recent ward boundary review resulting in only minor adjustments – effectively locking in the status quo for years to come.
And critically, there was no acknowledgement of how the City will ensure we never again experience a situation like the Burlington Aquatic Devilrays (BAD) bid – a process marked by confusion, delay, and a troubling lack of clarity around governance and accountability.
There was also no reckoning with the growing trend of pre-announcing events – such as the Sound of Music festival or the FIFA Caravan – long before the final decisions has been made. That practice undermines trust, raises false expectations, and begs a simple question: what happened to engagement?
What happened to respect – when Councillors scroll on their phones instead of listening to delegations?
What happened to transparency – when budget increases are framed in ways that minimize their apparent impact?
What happened to open government – when it takes months just to consider reviewing an RFP process that clearly failed public confidence?
The Focus Burlington event revealed something more important than any single budget line: a widening gap between City Hall and the people it serves. Residents are not merely upset about money. They are upset about process, access, accountability, and being treated as an inconvenience rather than partners in governance.
Listening is not the same as hearing. And hearing is not the same as acting.
Until Council – and the Mayor – are prepared to move beyond carefully curated responses and into genuine reform, Burlington will continue to host rooms full of frustrated residents, and panels full of explanations that go nowhere.
Democracy does not fail all at once. It erodes quietly – incrementally. The voices in the room on January 20 were not angry – they were warning us.
The question is whether anyone in power is prepared to listen.
If you are interested in changing things by running for office, the next Focus Burlington event to be held in February is just for you.
Joe Gaetan is a frequent contributor to the Gazette. He attended the first Focus Burlington meeting
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In 2018 ECoB was successful in bringing residents out to meet and hear about the candidates running for election and reelection.
Residents at the time felt that they could stop or slow down the overintensification of the downtown. We were naive enough to think changing the council and the mayor would accomplish this.
As the person instrumental in finding and booking venues I will tell you that City Hall was not helpful. We were unable to rent any city facilities and had to go to the Director of Education to be able to use the auditorium at Haber High School (because” the City of Burlington often partners on community events”).
What will be the catalyst this time around? Don’t drink the kool-aid if those running for election or reelection lead you to believe that the council has any control over the development taking place in Burlington. As someone recently said “That Ship has Sailed”.
What I learned from the ECoB experience is that it takes a “newbie” council a long time to become familiar with the job. Turning over the council completely is not in the interest of the residents of Burlington.
We need to have at least 3 members out of the 7 of the sitting council to be part of a new elected council in 2026. Who those 3 members will be could be very interesting.
For me the major catalyst will be a candidate that promises not to use the Strong Mayor powers. I would also like to see less of the WOKE incentives like yellow and blue benches. More thoughtful spending of my taxpayer dollars when it comes to events like a FIFA Caravan day ($200,000.00 plus when all is said and done).
In the event that no one steps up to organize debates in each ward plus a mayoral one I would suggest that each person running for election or reelection have individual town hall type meetings where residents have the opportunity to speak to the candidate to find out who they are and what they stand for.
Elections are not about popularity contests. If the only reason you are voting for a candidate is because they are nice it does not bode well for how effective they will be as part of the City Council.
We must always be take into account that what is promised in election campaigns can sometimes never happen.
I have said previously that knowledge is power.
In 2026 residents of Burlington will have the chance to be heard don’t squander this opportunity. You must VOTE.
I commend FocusBurlington for their initiative in organizing this community forum. It is not a simple nor easy task and, often, the disadvantages to public profile and acceptance can outweigh the benefits. Well done and thank you!
I believe, following on the excellent summaries of Joe Gaetan and Gary Scobie, that we are all aware of the problems and the fairly high hurdles facing us in correcting a dysfunctional City administration (this my personal assessment). A first step, perhaps, is to identify what we would like to see as corrective measures to the deficiencies. These then can become preferred planks in the policy platforms of prospective candidates, form the basis for evaluating their campaign commitments and provide a means of selecting one candidate over another. At the very least, such a “platform” offers a reasonable means of cutting through the avalanche of election rhetoric to differentiate one candidate from another. Hopefully, we won’t be faced with the same old crew.
I have developed my own comparison grid around the elements of:
• Open and Accountable Government
• Traffic and Transit
• Fiscal Reform and Stewardship
• Climate Change
• A Restructured City/Regional Relationship, and
• Housing Development
For each I have listed a series of desired features or outcomes. It took some time and effort but it has allowed me to clarify in my own mind what I would like to see moving forward and to articulate my expectations of the 2026 candidates. It is a useful exercise to complete – both for individuals and for collective interest groups. I recommend it.
Municipal governments. elected by residents are responsible for providing essential services such as infrastructure, community services, planning and development, utilities and waste, policing and governance – passing bylaws, managing budgets and ensuring accountability.
Ensuring accountability and transparency is one of council’s roles under section 224 of the Municipal Act, 2001 (the Act), and is a priority in maintaining public trust. The issue with this Mayor and Council is its practices and behaviours do not promote nor deliver transparency nor do they take ownership for their decisions. The lack of accountability means that the Mayor, Council and staff work with impunity until there is an election at which is the only instrument of change available to residents.
The budget is a perfect example where its creation has totally ignored the economic realities of the past four years and the uncertainties that lie ahead. Residents are worried about their financial and employment security while those living on fixed incomes agonize as to whether their savings will be sufficient to sustain their basic needs. Unlike most residents who work in the private sector, salary/wage increases have not been consistent. According to the Fraser Institute
government-sector workers (from federal, provincial, and local governments) enjoyed a 4.8% wage premium, on average, over their private-sector counterparts in 2024. Also according to the Fraser Institute, government employees retire 2.2 years earlier than private sector employees but also are 2.3 times more likely to have a pension guaranteeing retirement income.
The Mayor, Council and staff need to realize that they are supposed to be working in the best interests of the residents who pay their salaries and to whom they are accountable.
Burlington City Council needs to revert back to evening council meetings, so that those who work during the day are able to attend and engage with city council on city matters.
There also needs to be a good review and cancellation of many yearly and ongoing events and projects that are endorsed and run by our Burlington Council and city staff which are costing residents unnecessary money on their property tax bills each and every year such as the following, to name a few:
Love My Neighbourhood (Grants): https://www.burlington.ca/en/community-supports/love-my-neighbourhood.aspx
Telephone Town Halls: https://www.getinvolvedburlington.ca/telephonetownhall
Food For Feedback Event: https://www.getinvolvedburlington.ca/foodforfeedback
The Bench Program
Community Surveys
Flag Raisings (time and money for city staff to diarize etc. and council members to attend; which just accounts to more photo ops). Does Burlington City Hall really need 6 Flag Poles? Maybe some can be eliminated during the upcoming renovation of Civic Square.
In October 2026 we need to vote in a mayor and council who will respect the residents and their tax dollars by focusing on needs and not wants and no more vanity projects.
Then there are the forgiveable Loans for ARU’s up to $95,000 each: https://www.burlington.ca/en/building-and-renovating/steps-to-build-an-additional-residential-unit.aspx
And the Neighbourhood Community Matching Fund of up to $10,000 each:
https://www.burlington.ca/en/community-supports/neighbourhood-community-matching-fund.aspx
All of this money and incentives come from tax payers.
Thanks for the summary Joe. In my notes I had a few more issues that were at least mentioned.
Mark Carr pointed out he served on a 17 member Council years ago Suggested 12 Councillors, two from each ward (one city and regional, one city only) to provide more contact points for citizens, spread the work and end such a small number of votes (4) from carrying a motion (more diversity of opinions). I heard no one disagree with that.
Budget of over 1000 pages is too complicated for even Councillors to understand and communication to the public is terrible. Public wants to know Burlington percentage increase only. They’ll figure out how the region and education parts fit in and fit into the end result.
Brad Harness pointed out that Burlington, unlike most cities, has no staff directory online to show departments and who works in each and their contacts. Staff already is well hidden by Service Burlington and hard to reach, so this is not appreciated by the public.
As to the next election, doing what ECoB did in 2018 is recommended – debates in each Ward by all candidates would hopefully bring more people out to hear the issues and candidates and prod more people to come out and vote. We only get one choice every four years, then have to live with it.
Thanks for the added context, there was a lot to absorb.