Kearns puts her platform in language anyone can understand: Simple, Real, Tangible, Actionable.

By Pepper Parr

May 22nd, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

We have tried to keep the reports on what Councillor Kearns said to an audience to a reasonably readable size.  The Wednesday evening event was the first occasion she laid out what her platform was about.

When she took to the podium, Kearns said she had a 14-page speech; I shuddered.

The fundamentals of the Kearns platform to elect her as Mayor of Burlington.

“We’re ready for action” said Kearns. “I am going to be behind the pilot for on-demand transit. We need to take some pressure off the handy van that’s used for a very real purpose, and I respect that purpose. But we also have a lot of places where it’s just too far for people with whatever situation they have to get to the main transit area. I’m looking forward to this pilot on micro on-demand transit.  Are we privatizing transit? No, we are not privatizing transit.

“But what I want to pilot is a service that runs from Burlington Mall, down Brant to Lake Shore, west to Mapleview, then in and through to the GO stations and then on to  Burlington Centre. I’d like to see something that is reliable, predictable, and gets you to the places you want to go.  I see this as a pilot, a sort of trolley bus loop.”

Kearns told her audience she was looking for things that were: Simple, Real, Tangible, Actionable. A burst of applause rippled across the room when she made that statement..

Parking in the downtown core – a mess that is getting messier. Kearns said she is “working on that right now within the Burlington Downtown Business Association. There is a report going to Council later this week that starts a process of creating an approach that will add an additional parking garage east of Brant.

Kearns told the audience that “We are a destination” which I personally find a bit of a stretch.  The waterfront is a jewel, but it is getting to the point where capacity is reached on occasion.

When it came to how the city is run financially, Kearns was crystal clear.  “I  will be focused on saving.”  When I was in the private sector I brought prices down, I streamlined processes.

“One of the things that I’ll bring forward is an operations report. I want to know exactly what’s happening in the city every single month.  Some departments operate as silos where some don’t know what the other departments are doing and that is “because there’s no mechanism or venue for public-facing accountability.

Kearns: I want to be focused on savings every minute of every day. I want to be delivering savings.

“I expect to know how many places are overdue, what projects are on, What’s late, what hasn’t been implemented every single month?

“I will ask for that. I want to be focused on savings every minute of every day. I want to be delivering savings.

“In the last budget, I brought forward two items that would result in three-quarters of a million dollars in savings. I scoured the budget and asked all the hard questions. I took out all the frills, I moved things around. I brought a sense of reality to the budget.  Unfortunately, I did not have the across-the-board support I needed.  I did the work. I brought a rationale that wasn’t accepted.  Let me tell you why: “That’s not part of the culture right now.

“I want to get the city’s finances to the point where the culture becomes:  If I don’t spend it, then I don’t get it next year. We are going to go back to each and every department and project and make sure that the funds allocated to them are being spent. We’re all making really hard choices. And so should the city.

“My policy will be increasing investment revenue. If  you look at the city Barrie, they are coming in with really low taxes, because they have a more progressive tax investment policy. We are going to do that. We are going to make  more money on the money that we already have. Burlington has a savings account savings account. It’s really big.

“I am going to launch a full sponsorship portfolio with engagement, because I know that each and every one of the people in Burlington love the city so much, they want to see it thrive. We just need to create the path and the tools to do that. Did you know that in Brampton, since 2019, they were able to garner over $5 million of additional revenue just from sponsorships. That takes pressure off the tax base. That creates a sense of civic pride that showcases the amazing people who are investing in Burlington and making Burlington a part of that journey.

“And you know what we’re told when we ask why this isn’t happening in Burlington now? Because it isn’t in anybody’s portfolio. I want to create a celebration net; a way to celebrate our sponsors. Let’s thank them. Bonzel does our fireworks, Rogue Sisters do music in the park. Do we have any other sponsors here that I’m missing? I know we have BDBA sponsors. I know we have that, but all of you should have your hand up, if you can. Because we are creating the right environment for you to want to invest or do something to help bring culture and recreation to our city. So we’re gonna do that.

What Kearns didn’t mention was the Burlington law firm that provided funding for the recreation centre when it initially opened in 2013. The facility was known as the  Haber Community Centre.  The sponsorship agreement wasn’t renewed and transitioned to the Alton Community Centre.   Did anyone go after the firm to get a second-year ten-year commitment?

Kearns talked to people before and after her presentation. Engagement as it is supposed to take place.

“Let’s talk a little bit about audits. I’ve been the audit chair for the entire term.

“I can’t promise you 0% taxes, and I won’t, because that’s actually quite reckless. But I will make sure that you can get every ounce of value or every single dollar, and to prove that, we’re taking on audits at my direction to go and look into certain portfolios and see that they’re performing as they should be. You are all doing that at home. Am I getting enough groceries for what I’m spending? Am I getting enough good shows for the cable that I’m knowing, that I’m getting a streaming thing? You’re all doing that at home? Why are we not doing it at the city?  “We must and we will.

We are going to control the in-house consulting that is done is out of control. The amount that we’re paying city staff, human capital is a very valuable resource, is something we have to keep in the city. We need our ts, our experts, to stay with us, to to be part of the fabric that is the city. We need them to carry down that expertise and inspire and empower the next folks that are coming up through their careers. We can’t do that when we’re constantly sending money out to consultants who, you know, take their lunch box and go home at the end of the day. We meet them in our city, so we can’t keep wasting money on consultants.

“I will be striking a budget committee and council. I’m going to keep the Pipeline to Permit committee but repurpose it to a Budget committee. The budget will be looked at every single month. What savings are coming forward? What processes have been improved? What are we doing in our investment portfolio? Where are we on our revenue projections with our new partnerships and sponsorship policy?

Eric Stern, a citizen leading Focus Burlington, made heavy use of the numbers in that three-inch budget binder.

“We need to have a call on our money every single minute. And we are going to do it transparently in public because we cannot continue to produce a budget once a year and surprise you with a big heavy three inch binder and then say we’ve done a workshop that’s less than an hour.  We’re not doing that.

“So watch for the striking of a new budget committee.

“We are going to centralize procurement. We don’t have centralized procurement right now. Engineering goes off and does its thing. Different departments go off and do their things. That’s a huge risk to the city, that’s a liability. That’s about guaranteeing that we’re getting the best value for money.  A new procurement file will be brought forward into one of the Standing Committee cycles.

“Budget impacts will be a part of every single report. Before you even scroll down in those reports, you’re gonna know what it’s going to cost you, because how can you make a decision before looking at what it will cost?  “Does anybody go to the store and not look at the price tag? Of course not.

People hung around after the presentation for close to an hour.

“Engagement. Real, real workshops on the budget. No more blended foolery, no more blended rates. The city is responsible for the city’s portion, and that’s what we will be accountable for. The 5.7% decided on this was not acceptable. That is why   I did not approve the budget. I didn’t approve it last year as well.  Does anybody know how bad it feels when you have a big credit card that’s due, and you got all that kind of debt you have to pay? Well, the city has that too. We will begin to chip away at that. We’re spending about $10 million in operations money to service the debt that the city has. That’s $10 million not going into your community.

“Does it feel good when you have to pay interest on your credit card? Does it feel like you had to pay something, and you got nothing in return? Well, that’s exactly what debt servicing on the city’s budget feels like. Imagine what we can do with $10 million a year who weren’t paying down debt.

“We are going to talk about a management review and staffing.  Staff work very hard and the work that they do each day is very, very important. We are going to do a bit of a flip – we are going to make sure that the folks doing the work are empowered and compensated to make sure we have as much management as we actually need.  I want to maybe shave off a little bit of that bureaucracy that’s kind of slowing us down a little bit.

“So you’re going to see a big change there; see it as a heads up”

Wrapping up her talk Kearns said: “That’s it.”

Wow!

There were about 250 people in the room – the rest of the city hasn’t heard this yet.

Enjoy.

Kearns put on quite a show.