By Pepper Parr
September 26th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The most effective way for municipal Councillors to get exposure is a photo op. They don’t have to say very much – just stand still, smile and wait for the cameras to click.
Public office has its price. While councillors will tell you that transparency and accountability are something they live by. Not always, and let’s leave it at that.
Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns
Whenever a councillor travels there is a hell of a hullabaloo. And if they travel to some country on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean it is seen as a junket with little in the way of benefit to local taxpayers.
Last Thursday ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns was waiting for her visa to be issued. In our conversations with Kearns before she left, we were not able to learn just where she was going. “I will have something for you when I get to Africa” she said.
Nothing from Kearns so far. We do know that she is keeping in touch with her constituents by cell phone.
We did learn that the trip Kearns is on is being paid for by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), who are delivering a federal government program.
One of the programs is: Partnerships for Municipal Innovation – Women in Local Leadership (PMI-WILL)
Women who were part of the Leadership (PMI-WILL) project.
This project is part of FCM’s portfolio of gender equality and women in local government initiatives. It is implemented in Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Sri Lanka, and Zambia.
Leadership (PMI-WILL) project is a transformative initiative running from 2021 to 2027. Funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) in partnership with five Local Government Associations, PMI-WILL operates in five ountries across two continents: Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Sri Lanka, and Zambia. The project is dedicated to fostering gender equality by increasing women’s participation in local governance and enhancing the capacity of municipalities to deliver inclusive, gender-responsive services.
We don’t know who selected Kearns; we can say that there probably wasn’t a better choice on City Council.
Kearns is smart, when relaxed she is a very compelling speaker with a wicked sense of humour.
Canada will be very well represented. Burlington has every reason to be very proud that Lisa is representing the federal government
Isn’t this a Federal responsibility? Are Burlington taxpayers paying for this yet another council boondoggle via FCM?
Editor’s response: YEs, this is a federal response. The federal government asked FCM to run the program and FCM asked Lisa Kearns to represent Canada in Africa. So, the event and the work Kearns is doing did not come out of the city’s coffers.
Yes, funding the federal government comes out of the taxpayers. And yes there is just the one tax payer – you people.
Try and see the upside. Canada has a very very strong reputation around the world. That reputation is the result of hard work done by Peace Keepers we have sent to hot spots around the world. When you travel around the world many of you put a Canadian flag on your ruck sack or your luggage holder. The last thing you want is to be identified as an American.
That respect the Canadian flag has didn’t just fall off the back of some truck.
I am always amazed at how small the thinking is within a small segment of Burlington.